EUROPEAN/AMERICAN RELATIONS: WHO LEADS?
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the Palestinians were trying to get together a world committee of
famous men to express solidarity. They had come to this well-known
Indian. He said, "Fine, I wi ll join your committee, but I want a guaran–
tee for the continuation of a secure and independent state ofIsrae\." The
Palestinian left and that was the end of the story.
Jules Olitski:
I think the issue of the settlements is a false issue. There
were wars between the Arabs and Israelis that had little to do, if any–
thing, with the settlements .
If
tomorrow the settlements suddenly disap–
peared, I rather doubt that the European nations would take a
benevolent view towards Israel-maybe for a week-and then they
would be back hating Israel. Further, even if there were no settlements,
there's been a determination since the beginning of Israel, not only by
the Palestinians, but by all of the Arab nations, to destroy Israel entirely.
I doubt that this would change-settlements or no settlements.
Conor Cruise O'Brien:
I don't think that the settlements are a cause of
Arab hostility. That goes much further back and deeper. Therefore, if
the settlements were withdrawn, Arab hostility would not cease. But if
the settlements could be withdrawn-and there are great difficulties
there-armed hostility to Israel would lack the leverage that it now has.
It
would lack the purchase and plausibility that it now has, and it would
cease to be covered with the sort of liberation theology that the Arabs
are now able to generate.
If
the settlements could be withdrawn, Israel's
position, both in the West and in the region itself, would be greatly for–
tified. Arab hostility would not cease. But it would lack its main pur–
chase and cover. This would be a significant gain for Israel. Nothing
would enable Israel to reach a genuine spontaneous peace with all its
Arab neighbors. That certainly will not happen within the next fifty
years. But Israel would be better off if it could remove the pretext which
the settlements offer and the plausibility which they confer on hostility
to Israel.
David Pryce-Jones:
There was a part of Edith's question which we did–
n't answer, wasn't there? When she discovered the mosque in Perugia
and so on . It's a very real question. On the whole, I am in favor of immi–
gration, but I am not in favor of reverse colonialism.
If
they are coming
to our countries in order to take over those countries and to convert us
one day to the Islamic Republic of Great Britain, as Dr. Ghayasuddin
Siddiqui wants, I would not be in favor of that.
It
goes against the tra–
ditions of the country too strongly to be acceptable. It would lead to
