I don't think it would make much sense to ask the Palestinians to apologize first since they were the original victims in this whole feud (that now has Americans facing a risk of nuclear attack). That's like asking a victim in a self-defense case to apologize to the attacker for hurting him while she was trying to stop him from killing/raping her. None of the violence that the Palestinians have directed at the Israeli Jews would have occurred if the Zionists of 1948 not wronged them by taking their land. That simple truth explains everything that has happened since.
I should make it clear that I don't think there's much the Israelis could say in the form of an apology that would be effective in moving the Palestinians toward real peace. They took the land and don't intend to give it [all] back. The only thing the Israelis can really do is express their apologies through actions that seek to `make amends' for the suffering they put the Palestinians through. If/when an extreme generosity peace deal is brokered, the Israelis would have to invest themselves in efforts to build the Palestinians a modern economy. It might be helpful if they said things like, "I'm sorry that this whole thing happened and I hope we can be friends now." Ultimately, just being kind and helpful to the Palestinians would be all the apology they would need in order to go forward without bitterness.
The apology that the Palestinians need to hear is from America. We are the ones who enabled the Big Theft to happen. Because we are the most powerful and influential nation on the earth and also because we have often presented ourselves as defenders of victims and as outspoken proponents of justice, the Palestinians have been especially incensed by our failure to recognize their victimization in this whole affair. We inserted ourselves into their dispute with the Israeli Jews and we made it impossible for them to obtain justice through their own efforts. What makes the idea of a U.S. apology especially poignant is the fact that the Palestinians have long nurtured a hope that if only they could get us to listen to them, we would be able to see the injustice that had been imposed on them.
The extreme generosity approach I am recommending would still allow the Israelis to ultimately get away with theft, but it should still be successful in eliciting the Good Will of the Palestinian people because it would be suddenly generous. They've been fighting for scraps of dignity without success in their negotiations with the US and Israel over the past 30 years because they've had absolutely no leverage in their negotiations. From that gloomy perspective, the prospect of finally getting everything they've been asking for [at the negotiating table] plus much more and then, to top it off, a U.S. apology, is the kind of thing that can produce a cathartic change within all parties.
LarryInNYC asked for a clarification on whether or not I am "...advocating peace between Israel and Palestine, or the wholesale eradication of Israel." I want to make it clear that I am not advocating the eradication of Israel. I regret that the conflict between the Israelis and the Arabs has been so bitter and profound that one cannot express any amount of sympathy for one of the parties without being accused by the other of harboring 'disguised hatred.' Please understand that my earnest desire is for the Jews in Israel to live in peace with their Arab neighbors.
As far as my own personal experience is concerned, I have only known Jews who have been kind and appealing in various ways. But the fact that I have liked the Jews I've met does not mean that I can ignore historical facts. I know that the Jews were victimized horribly in the last century, but that does not make them---collectively---a Sinless People for all time. It almost seems as though they have become---in the minds of some---the world's only true Victim Race. Whenever they hear that the Israelis are involved in a dispute with some other people, they naturally assume that it must be because they are again being victimized by people who have a pathological hatred of Jews. It can't possibly be because these Jews might have done something wrong.
Like it or not, because human nature is what it is, it is always quite within the realm of possibility for a tribe of people who were once victimized to turn around and become victimizers of others later on. It's something that happens. Believe me, I'm not saying that we need to start hating the Jews; I'm just saying that we need to get them some peace and the only moral way they're going to be able to achieve it is by agreeing to an extremely generous settlement in favor of the Palestinians.
My website: Nontrivial Pursuits
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