Page 49 - Signs of the End

THE SIGNS OF THE END 13

The very roads between the settlements are also in jeopardy
as we discussed above. The Jewish settlers are concerned about
being ambushed on these roads. The Israeli military spokesman
mentioned above indicated that a radical solution is being
proposed for this problem. They are actually thinking about
having two separate road systems throughout Yesha, one Jewish,
the other Arab. The respective authorities would then police
their roads. Such a remarkable construction emphasizes the
difficulties involved in solving these problems.

"Peace for Peace, not Land for Peace"

The slogan often quoted by the proponents of the peace
agreement, by both Jew s and Arabs, is "Land for Peace," that is,
Israel must be willing to exchange the territory it captured in
1967 in order to have peaceful relations with its neighbors.

Yesha contends that this is a shortsighted and dangerous
position and that trading its hard-won strategic land exposes the
nation to war, not peace. They propose a different slogan, "Peace
for Peace." In other words, they want to establish peaceful
relations with their Arab neighbors without surrendering any
territory in exchange for the Arabs establishing peaceful
relations. No exchange of land is necessary, in this viewpoint, if
the Arabs are serious in their desire for peaceful relations.

Rallies at Wall and Knessett

During our first week in Israel, our TV crew w as able to get
footage on two major protest rallies that occurred on the same
day. One w as at the Western Wall and the other was on the
spacious grounds of the Knessett. There were several thousand
people at the Wall rally in the afternoon, and it was estimated
that there were from 50,000 to 100,000 people at the nighttime
rally at the Knessett. Both rallies were designed to register
protest over the government's peace agreement with the PLO.

One of the things that Yesha most resents is the feeling that
Israel is being pressured into an unwise settlement with the
Arabs by the U.N. in general and the U.S. in particular. This
process w as begun in earnest during the Bush administration,