Ostrow's Israeli strategy reminiscent of 1930s fascist tactics
I was bemused and bewildered by Dan Ostrow '02's editorial in the Nov. 20 edition of the 'Prince' concerning Israeli diplomatic strategy. His remarkably bizarre distinction between "positive" and "negative" actions seems to completely ignore historical "positive" actions. After all, the land to be "literally carved out of parts of Israel" to form a Palestinian state are territories that Israel quite "positively" occupied in warfare. How absurd to return them? How absurd, indeed, when the allies carved France out of the Nazi hegemony over Europe! Or might we want to give at least a nod toward international law?
Ostrow complains that, despite earnest Israeli attempts to find peace, the violence has continued. But who would blame the Palestinians for rising against an occupying force that has only narrowly escaped multiple international condemnations for apartheid-like racism (most recently articulated this summer by Rabbi Ovadia Yosef, spiritual leader of the Shas party, who announced that Palestinians are "snakes")? Perhaps the violence is rooted in institutional factors, not some natural serpentine predisposition of Arabs to killing. And maybe, through negotiation, an agreement can be found that will end injustice on both sides. Of course, such an argument rests on notions of justice, notions quite foreign to our columnist, it seems.
Ostrow concludes with the bold assertion: "If one has enough strength, one need not negotiate." And so we have a phrase that taps beautifully into historical precedent. As we saw after the Munich Pact of 1938, a certain German chancellor shared Ostrow's approach to international diplomacy. Poland, anyone? Matt Frazier '02
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