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What Refugees Do

(Jerusalem Post) Michael Boyden - The past century is replete with tales of displacement and renewal, in a story that accompanies war all over the world. Unlike so many of the Palestinians, who go around with the keys of their former homes in their pockets, claiming a right of return to Jaffa, Acre, and Lod, others built new lives. That's what refugees do. If the Palestinians are ever to live in peace with Israel they will have to stop playing the old tapes and come to terms with reality. It is time for the Palestinians to move on. During these past days we have witnessed the sight of thousands of traumatized Jewish settlers being removed from their homes. Israel has as much right to the settlement of Neve Dekalim as Britain has to the Falklands - perhaps more so. And yet, Israel is different. Where else would you see soldiers and police ousting their fellow citizens from their own homes and houses of worship in the quest for peace? These things don't happen in the real world, where power and force determine sovereignty. Will the Palestinians be prepared to compromise, or will they continue to talk of a Palestine stretching from the river Jordan to the Mediterranean Sea, with Jerusalem as its capital? If the former, then the sacrifice paid by the Jewish settlers of Gush Katif will have been worthwhile. However, if the Palestinians, as in the past, "never miss an opportunity to miss an opportunity," then most Israelis are likely to draw the conclusion that the price was not worth paying and that we must simply, like most nations in our world, carve out our own niche. The writer is director of the Rabbinic Court of the Israel Council of Progressive Rabbis.
2005-08-26 00:00:00
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