PrintSeptember 28, 2010
Why Territorial Solutions Won't Solve the Arab-Israeli Conflict
President Obama's latest effort to promote a "two-state" plan, his September 23 speech at the U.N., avoids the real problem. (Barry Rubin's analysis of that speech is masterful.)Obama, his predecessors, and most other politicians and pundits base their "solution" on the false assumption that the conflict between Israel and its neighbors is over territory. If this were so, the conflict could have been solved a long time ago. The basis of this conflict, however, is not territorial or political, but religious -- and this misunderstanding explains why such plans fail. True, most non-Arab Muslims aren't jihadists; they don't want to fly airplanes into buildings or blow up supermarkets and buses. But what does Islam say, and who is the authority? If Islam contains both radical and moderate traditions, and both are authentic, how is one to differentiate? Conventional wisdom says that we must distinguish between radical and moderate Muslims and...(Read Full Article)
