Steven Plaut
Let’s Give it a Try
It was but 24 hours after the Saudi compromise peace initiative was
implemented. The US was pleased. So was the EU. The Israeli Left had
led the campaign to adopt it and in the end the Likud voted in its favor.
What have we got to lose?, the said. Let us try it, give it a chance.
Things could not possibly be any worse. We will not know if it will
produce peace until we give it a try!
Israel returned to its 1949 borders. All of the settlers were expelled.
East Jerusalem was the Capital of Palestine. Israel was paying tribute
renamed compensation for refugees. The world breathed a sigh.
And exactly 24 hours afterwards, the war began. Tel Aviv was
obliterated in a bombardment of missiles and rockets. Haifa was wiped out
by missiles launched by the Hizbollah. Israeli Arabs flocked to the
streets and lynched every Jew they could lay their hands on. Armies from
Syria and Egypt crossed the borders to end the Israeli aggression once and
for all. They were joined by Saudi battalions armed by the US.
And as the Jews were herded into concentration camps, the Jewish
intellectuals, journalists and poets could be heard saying, "Hey let’s
enter these nice camps. What have we got to lose? Let’s give it a try.
It could not possibly get any worse."
Steven Plaut