Opinion
The psychological roadblock
Steve Rubin
Published: 15.01.12, 21:08
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16 Talkbacks for this article
1. Genius, ha, ha
Sidney ,   USA   (01.15.12)
When did even one of these Muslim countries ever vote even once in the UN for the Israelis against the Palestinians?
2. Equivalent of a Bomb in TA.???.. He makes me puke!
Alan ,   SA   (01.15.12)
3. Baloney - I don't believe the Palestinians at all
Brian Cohen ,   Judean Peoples Front   (01.15.12)
Look at what the Palestinians claim and then we'll look at the reality: " Erekat says: “Settlements to Palestinians are the equivalent to a bus exploding in Tel Aviv to Israelis. That's the ultimate threat. It's land, it's future. Settlements are put there to stop us from having our future - independent state, freedom.” 1) The Palestinians try to equivocate between building a house and slaughtering 2 dozen people. Sorry, but a fight over land is not the same as murder. The Palestinians have dreamed this one up on their own, and shoved it down their own throats to the point that even they believe this garbage logic. 2) The ultimate threat is a few settlements? Get real, people. There are no new settlements and there haven't been any in over a decade (so says Peace Now, not me). According to the gullible press, these settlements are taking up 80 or 90 percent of the west bank, right? Wrong. They are all of 2 percent. 3) Settlements are put there to stop Palestinians from having their future? Oh crapola! Israel has already agreed to the 2-state solution and an independent Pal state. The Palestinians can't negotiate because half of their head is in Ramallah (Fatha) pretending it wants peace, while the other half of their brain is in Gaza (Hamas) and says it will "never" make peace with Israel. So they Palestinians themselves can't agree that they want the 2-state solution. 4) Freedom. Bet you didn't know that over 90% of Palestinians in the west bank are ruled by....Palestinians, Not Israel. In Gaza, every single Palestinian is ruled by Hamas, not by Israel. The Palestinian psychology is flawed. It is a lie. It is media spin designed to pull the wool over the eyes of sympathetic westerners who fill the Palestinian coffers with billions of dollars, while the Palestinians refuse to negotiate. Erekat is a known liar. His most famous lie was the infamous and fictitious "Jenin massacre" that never was. Erekat told the cameras that 500 Palestinians were "massacred" in Jenin by the IDF. Independent human rights organizations investigated and revealed that there was indeed intense fighting in Jenin between the IDF and heavily armed terrorists. The unanimous conclusion was that Erekat lied, and while dozens died in the fighting on both sides, it was war, not any "massacre". So Erekat is known to be flawed. He is known to be a liar. Why should we believe him now?
4. oil and water
iraj   (01.15.12)
jews and arabs are like oil and water and do not mix. Arabs living with economic in autonomy with jordanian citizenship would be one way. A second way is for all of them to leave to jordan. A third way is the next 3 wars with hezbollah will see hezbollan and syrian missiles slaughter most of the arabs so I sugggest they all leave now to save their skins and move to jordan, europe and tunisia. Most jews do not wish to live in arab countries but a few have empathized and conceded so much that they should get out of israel and move to arab countries-take these guys and gals-avinery, burg, dekel, turgeman, olmert, avinery,sarid, ramon, peres,ami oren, levy, marcus. Take them all with you and good riddence.
5. Mediators can not overcome psychological barriers
Daniel ,   Tel Aviv   (01.15.12)
No proposal from any mediator will feel neutral/be accepted as long as psychological/cognitive barriers such as biases in construal and devaluation of compromise are present.
6. The writer has created his own facts
John ,   NZ   (01.15.12)
"On one hand, Israelis are psychologically wounded by the Palestinian Authority’s lack of resourcefulness in curbing the incitement of violence" This is a lie, the PA has not attempted to curb incitement, it has actively incited. Abbas the, unelected president, stated that the holocaust did not happen and he leads the incitement.
7. Mr. Rubin is completely out of his mind
Gee ,   Zikron Yaakov   (01.16.12)
"the failure by both sides to fully commit themselves to previous agreements aimed at leading to final-status negotiations." Actually we did fulfill our obligations and then some. The Arabs have yet to even fulfill a single one. They have also violated absolutely every line of every agreement they have ever signed. "more traumatizing than any rocket fired from Gaza into Israel" Try being on the receiving end of one of those rockets and then make your moronic comment. What we really need is no mediators at all. They have done more harm than any good (which to date is zero). The Arabs know that whatever they demand the rest of the world will demand as well. Time to turn off the welfare and tell them to act like human beings.
8. Steve Rubin is delusional
clearsighted   (01.15.12)
Mr. Rubin, \s\am preaches genocide of the JEWS not Israelis, or Zionists but JEWS!!!!! That means Jews in Judea and Samaria. That means Jews in the Shomron and the Galilee. That means Jews in Buenos Aires and Johannesburg. That means Jews anywhere. So, my unwillingness to negotiate with religion-inspired genocidal maniacs is not a psychological barrier, you moron, it's my instinct for self-preservation. Israel doesn't need more mediators. It needs a lot fewer Rubins.
9. I stopped reading when you compared building to destroying.
Jake ,   USAj   (01.16.12)
10. Good article-Some fresh ideas
Andi ,   Israel   (01.16.12)
It may or may not help, but its some fresh thinking and better than all the other takbacks here regurgitating the same stuff we've been hearing for the last 60 years. The writer isn't saying that settlements are like blowing up a bus (Erekat said it), or that Israel should withdraw immediately from all disputed territory. He is just suggesting an alternative approach to solving the problem, which could give Israel some serious diplomatic benfits too with new countries.
11. It would really help if Abbas stopped praising terrorists...
Be real   (01.16.12)
and started cooexistence education instead of coninuing hate education. Why no trust: Because the facts speak for themselves
12. #3 baloney
Larry ,   Los Angeles   (01.16.12)
BALONEY should be capitalized because not only are the Pals full of BS, but the author seems to take them at face value and does not understand the Arab mentality when it comes to bargaining .
13. fakestinians
Sam M ,   UK   (01.16.12)
The real barrier to peace is the knowledge that the pals are an entirely fictitious entity, a creation of pan arabism to deny the Jews their right to their historic homeland. They are overwhelmingly descendents of arab refugees who came to settle in Israel from neighbouring arab states due to the prosperity created by expanding Jewish communities in Israel and not the indigenous inhabitants they claim to be. The solution is for Israel to hold fast and refuse the outrageous demands of these squatters whose ultimate goal is the destruction of the Jewish state. Their true intentions were revealed by abbas's recent speech to the united nations in which the Jewish people's connection to the land of Israel was simply airbrushed away by this fatah thug. Annex all of Judea and Samaria and leave the pals to govern themselves in their own cities. This land should then be used to build homes for Jews. And if they don't like it then tough shit they should have taken that into consideration before they tried to pull a fast one!
14. Finally some sense
OpenMinded ,   USA   (01.16.12)
Thank you Mr. Rubin for an open minded, fresh approach to this issue. I am truly saddened by the right-wing, narrow minded responses thus far to this article. People who brand the Palestinians as "fakestinians" i.e. deny their humanity, or writer's like Rubin as anti-Semitic are clearly part of the problem, not part of the solution. This is the sort of insightful rhetoric that is in the worst interest of Israel and her people.
15. do not kidding
sara ,   jerusalem   (01.17.12)
behaviors affect the psychology as the psychology affect the behaviors ....once in a wedding party the immam said that evrything is praying and thanking god .a man asked ..even the bar of shawerma ,the immam said even the bar of shawerma then the man said i think it will be more thankfull if it is full of meat ....
16. "BIG" ISRAEL= historical&geographical COMPROMISE for BALANCE
Jerry ,   The Netherlands   (01.17.12)
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