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Israel and the Occupation Myth

(Wall Street Journal Europe) Danny Ayalon - The recent murder of a family of five in Itamar shocked Israelis to their core. A terrorist broke into the Fogels' home before stabbing and garroting to death the two parents, Udi and Ruth, and their children Yoav, 11, Elad, 4, and Hadas, who was only three months old. The violence and terror visited upon Israelis has little connection to "occupation" or settlements. Pogroms happened not only before the "occupation" of Judea and Samaria, but even decades before the State of Israel was reestablished. In 1929, 67 Jews were hacked or bludgeoned to death in the Jewish community of Hebron. Israel was assured in the past by the international community that if it just retreated from Gaza and Lebanon, peace would flourish and violence would come to an end. In both cases, this hope proved deadly wrong, and millions of Israelis have been subjected to incessant attacks from these territories since the retreat. This is not about "occupation" or territory; it is about meaningful coexistence. The writer is the deputy foreign minister of Israel.
2011-03-30 00:00:00
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