One Pakistan is enough
We don’t need nuclear-armed, terrorist-run Palestinian state next to Israel
Chaos in Pakistan has the world sweating; they have The Bomb – actually, lots of them, and they've already distributed the technology and parts to other countries, like Iran, North Korea and Libya, which send them on.
Think of this probability: Under a sovereign state of Palestine, the "West Bank" (and Gaza) resembles Swat Valley. Run by various terrorist and tribal leaders, composed of warring factions, they acquire SAM missiles and small tactical nuclear weapons.
If the threat of nuclear proliferation from Pakistan is worrying, allowing Arab Palestinian terrorists access to such WMDs – as part of a sovereign state – invites disaster for the entire region.
Both Pakistan and the Palestinian Authority are engaged in civil wars between Muslim secularists and religious extremists, in which the latter seem to be winning.
Pakistan is fighting for some form of democracy and has institutional support, but the Taliban are becoming stronger; Palestinians are smothered by totalitarian, terrorist-controlled corrupt regimes and Hamas is predicted to take over, sooner or later.
Similar battles being waged in many Muslim countries should trigger alarm: WMDs in the hands of Jihadist terrorists could wipe Israel out and trigger a nuclear world war.
A policy of caution and containment, therefore, is essential. It includes the following steps:
- Albeit hoping for peace, adhere to reality. The PA/Hamas are unreformed supporters of terrorism; neither accepts Israel's right to exist. Under the circumstances, offering them legitimacy and sovereignty increases the danger posed by Islamic terrorists. Jihad is the name of their game; we need to understand those rules.
- Security trumps inconveniences and sometimes even civil rights. There is no “moral high ground” in giving terrorists the opportunity to kill.
- Inability to present alternatives to unrealistic and unworkable agendas traps us in past mistakes, conventional thinking, spin masters and those of little or no faith or interest in Israel's survival. "Land for Peace" (Oslo Accords, Road Maps, etc.) have led to more, not less terrorism.
- World (and Israeli) leaders must stop apologizing for Israel's existence and excusing continuing failures and incompetence by PA. It's time to take responsibility.
- There are other solutions. Arab Palestinians who desire national self-determination can look to Jordan - a Palestinian state in all but name.
- All UNRWA activities should be terminated; those who receive assistance should be given citizenship in the countries in which they reside, or offered residency in another country. UNRWA funds currently used to maintain Palestinian servitude should be earmarked for constructive goals.
Rather than advance the cause of peace, a sovereign second Arab Palestinian state is just the reverse. The closer Arab Palestinians get to statehood, the more chaotic and violent they become; such a state, therefore, may in fact be 'the greatest obstacle to peace and stability in the Middle East.'
Without an institutional structure and cultural environment that condemns terrorism, violence and incitement a Palestinian state will become the new Pakistan, and just as dangerous.
The average Palestinian knows this better than anyone else. That may explain why, given the choice and chance, hundreds of thousands of Arab Palestinians and refugees escaping Muslim African countries are clamoring to get into Israel.
One Pakistan is enough; the world hardly needs another in Palestine.
The author, a former assoistant professor of History, is a writer and journalist living in Israel
