Good fences make good neighbors
If we’re destined to divide the land, let’s keep some Arab Israelis out
The Halutsa dunes in the south of the country are an open, unpopulated area; they are the land reserves of our small and crowded Israel. Yet every time, a new delusional figure wants to hand this area over to the Palestinians in the framework of a land tradeoff. Based on this logic, we shall keep the settlement blocs in Judea and Samaria, and in order to prompt the Palestinians to maybe agree to this we shall give them other territory instead.
So far this sounds reasonable. However, this is where it goes wrong. Places like Kfar Bara, where radical Sheikh Raed Salah resides, or Umm al-Fahm, where hate-filled anti-Israel protests are being held, are slated to remain in Israeli territory. Yet the empty and quiet desert region in Halutsa is slated to be filled with Palestinians from Gaza.
There’s a story about the Moscow police deciding one day to launch a campaign aimed at encouraging a kinder attitude to residents. At one point that day, a woman walked up to a policeman on the street and bombarded him with endless, meaningless questions. The policeman was fed up, but he got an order earlier so he had to stay polite. Eventually, he told her: “Lady, you stay here, and I will go to hell.”
Redraw the border
So I say, Raed Salah and your ilk, you stay home, and we shall go to hell. Or more accurately, we will redraw the border so it’s west of you. After all, if we listen to what you say and look at the flags you wave during your rallies it appears that you’re on the other side of the border anyway. You can keep on looking for an Israeli flag in the rallies held by those Israeli citizens all you want. The only place you may find it is burned, next to the American flag, under the feet of the masses.
The latest delusional figure to consider the Halutsa tradeoff idea, according to media reports, is our prime minister. In the framework of his touching efforts to enter the annals of history he again brought up this silly and odd idea.
Separation between population groups in conflict is a tested recipe for quiet. In Cyprus we have seen quiet prevail since the Turks are on one side and the Greeks or on the other. The same is true in other locations worldwide. A good fence makes for good neighbors. If we are destined to divide this country, the division should be such that it would create quiet for many years and generations to come.
Will turning quiet and patrol areas into friction points, while on the other hand keeping current friction points within our territory the best and most desirable solution? Apparently not.
