A letter to Walid

Here's a response I wrote to a question posed by someone (Walid) with whom I'd been having a running dialogue with about the Israeli-Palestinian issue:

Walid, I’ve always said that regardless of history, or who’s to blame for what, that for a true peace, I, as an Israeli would be willing to give up almost everything. What does that mean? It means that if I were able to gaze into a crystal ball and see a true, honest, and everlasting peace as a result, I would be willing to live w/o the West Bank (save for the largest of the “settlements”), Gaza, East Jerusalem (a very tough one for me), and the Golan Heights (this from someone who raised a family there). But I’m not willing to cede those “cards” for simply another piece of paper that can be signed with disappearing ink. The Oslo experience was an eye opener for many Israelis. For years during that “experiment” there was not a single Israeli presence in Jenin, Ramallah, Bethlehem, or Nablus. The PA had full control of over 90% of the Palestinian population (population, not land). This was a perfect opportunity to show the world, and convince Israel that they (the Pals) could take advantage of this door ajar, this window. No IDF, no checkpoints, no curfews. True, it was small step, and maybe not enough for some Palestinians. But after so many decades of vitriolic hatred, it seems reasonable that Israelis wanted to do this in phases. Give a little, everything works, give some more. But I think you know what happened. Jenin became “terror central” and Israel was fed a constant diet of death and destruction. The education system that was to have been overhauled not only wasn’t, it was made worse, if that were possible. What did Israelis see with regard to Gaza and Lebanon? We finally got out of Lebanon, back to behind the internationally recognized border (please no Shebaa Farm references anybody, it’s insulting), and still, not good enough. We tore our own country apart and left Gaza, albeit unilaterally. But still, even unilaterally, here was a chance to show the world and Israel that okay, it’s not much, but we will do something with this opportunity, to prove to the world that we deserve the next “phase”. Instead, tunnels, Kassams, and Hamas. So where do we go from here? Hamas has made it clear from the start, and has reiterated numerous times since, they will never recognize an entity called Israel. What other country in the world must continually justify its’ existence? It’s not a matter of “you only make peace with your enemies, not your friends”. How does one negotiate with someone who doesn’t believe you have the right to exist? And as such, how can one ever put trust into agreements signed? So in answer to your question Walid, I don’t want a “Greater Israel”, and believe I speak for the vast majority of Israelis. Give me my tiny little pre-’67 Israel, with minor adjustments, leave me alone, and I’ll be happy. But, because I don’t trust Syria sitting on the Kinneret, because I don’t trust that a Palestinian state sitting a few kilometers from Ben Gurion won’t be looking to eventually “take back” Yafo, because there are still no pictures of Israel on any maps in the schools of the Palestinian children, all of those things are out of the question for me. I don’t have answers anymore Walid, I just know that I won’t commit national suicide in the name of “peace”.
Respectfully,
Sabashimon