Rabin Memorializers Pretend Separation From Palestinians Never Took Place
by Benyamin Korn
American Jewish peace activists sponsored a full-page advertisement in The New York Times last week, complete with a large photograph of the late Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin, urging implementation of Rabin’s dream of “separation between Israel and the Palestinians.”
They are either living in some kind of time warp or intentionally distorting Rabin’s legacy. Under the Oslo Accords, Rabin already implemented that separation, 20 years ago this autumn. And it’s still in effect.
The Nov. 4 ad in the Times was sponsored by the S. Daniel Abraham Center for Middle East Peace, an institution that has long advocated Israeli concessions to the Palestinians. Invoking the memory and image of Israeli Prime Minister Rabin, they headlined their ad with his words: “Separation between Israel and the Palestinians is the best solution for resolving the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.”
Pretending that no such separation ever took place, the ad goes on to demand the immediate creation of “a demilitarized Palestinian state” next to Israel.
Leave aside, for the moment, the fact that Palestinian leaders have said, again and again, that they will never accept genuine demilitarization.
Leave aside the fact that “demilitarized Palestinian state” is an oxymoron, because a state that is “demilitarized” one day can quietly and gradually become militarized, and Israel would face world condemnation if it tried to intervene.
Instead, let’s consider the fantasy that Israel and the Palestinians need to “separate.”
Separation? Been there, done that. Look where it got us.