April 8, 2011
To the Editor;
I read Prof. Schwartz’s almost 6,800 word essay, PROPOSAL FOR AN ISRAELI PEACE INITIATIVE, not for his insights, which are nothing new, especially if one is familiar with Obama’s and the world’s insights, if you can call it that, concerning Israel and the Israel – Palestinian/Arab ongoing war that leads Obama and the world to incessantly demand that Israel alone must prove she is sincere about achieving peace by making ever more unilateral and unreciprocated concessions to Palestinian demands.
Rather my interest in Schwartz’s piece was more akin to just wondering where he ultimately would end up.
Shwartz’s views on the status quo and what Israel needs to do to change it for the better, are all stitched together with the threads of ifs, ands, buts, couldas, shouldas, wouldas, maybes, hopes, possibilities, perhaps and the like.
Moving from point to point, that often are just variations on or re-statements of points earlier made, Schwartz repeatedly offers the same views in support thereof.
Guessing that Schwartz would end his piece from where he began, with what Israel and only Israel must do for the sake of peace and to turn the tide of world anti-Israel conventional opinion, was a safe bet.
Schwartz neither surprises nor disappoints in that regard.
Schwartz’s views, insights and advice to Israel however, certainly do surprise and disappoint. His proposal for an Israeli peace initiative is fundamentally premised on the principle that “might makes right”.
Schwartz’s advice to Israel on how best to secure peace and the world’s good will, therefor amounts to nothing more than counseling Israel to capitulate to the will of the majority world opinion.
Great advice that. NOT!
Bill Narvey