Feedback | 24 May 2003

Comment on The reek of injustice by Emma Williams (17/05/2003)

Whilst I commend Emma Williams’ for painting a graphic picture of the hardships endured by the Palestinian population, she is wrong to suggest that Israelis are deluded over this fact. Unlike that of its neighbours, Israel’s media is diverse and objective allowing a clear perspective of the conflict. I myself have watched numerous documentaries on Israeli television chronicling the suffering of the Palestinians.

Far from being deluded, Israelis view the current quagmire in terms of a trade-off, for as harsh as the reality is, the IDF’s tactics have (to a measure) succeeded in bringing the Intifada under control. Therefore whilst Israelis realise that the peace process can only gather steam once the Palestinians return to some semblance of ‘normal life’, they are naturally reluctant to compromise their own fragile security to meet this end. As much as Israel’s detractors would argue otherwise, the one and only exogenous factor that could mitigate the terms of this trade-off is the quelling of terrorism.