I am visiting your site for the first time. I will defintely be following your postings.

Thank you Richard.

If the security fence curbs terrorism and thereby allows steps toward peace…

That’s a lot of hypotheticals. First, we don’t know yet what impact the fence will have on curbing terror. While terror has declined there are many factors that have contributed to this & it’s hard to know how much credit to grant the barrier. Second, the barrier & making steps toward peace have little to do w. ea. other. I could just as easily argue that if the fence DID stop terror that it would induce Sharon not to negotiate at all with the Palestinians.

Most of us know that Sharon doesn’t want a Palestinian state & would do everything he could to avoid such a development (though events beyond his control may force him to accede to such an eventuality). So having an impermeable fence could have a soporific effect on the peace process.

The fence is not a solution to the conflict. It lulls Israelis into a false sense of security & distracts them from the cold hard fact that they must negotiate with the Palestinians & make some hard compromises if they want peace.