From: Brian D Williams (talon57@well.com)
Date: Thu Apr 18 2002 - 08:35:57 MDT
>From: Harvey Newstrom <mail@HarveyNewstrom.com>
>I must have misunderstood you when you said "The only current
>solution is for them to battle it out till one party is
>eliminated." I thought you were endorsing this as the only option
>currently possible. I thought you rejected the first alternative
>by saying "no negotiation is possible" and rejected the third
>alternative because it didn't exist yet. Therefore, I thought you
>were endorsing genocide as the "only current solution." It was
>this option that I claim is unextropian. The first option of
>negotiation would be extropian, as would the third option of
>finding another solution.
Thanks for clearing this up, it was clearly a misunderstanding. You
get +2 points for peacemaking (Save! Win Valuable Prizes!).
Maybe a brief summary of my thinking/position will help clarify
this.
I favor a negotiated settlement to the troubles in the Middle East,
I think the result of this settlement includes both Israel and a
new and sovereign Palestinian state.
Some of the problems:
1) Terrorism, the PLO has returned to it's use, both as a
negotiating tool to try and get a better deal, and possibly to
achieve Arafats lifelong dream of destroying Israel.
I oppose terrorism 100%, the one thing we should make clear is that
terrorism is not a valid negotiating tactic and will not be
tolerated.
2) The land, I favor modified borders to the 1967 boundaries which
proved indefensible.
There is an interesting possibility on the land I have not seen
discussed yet. Modern Jordan is composed of land that has largely
been historically Palestinian, in fact 80% of it's population is
Palestinian. Since the issue will come up sooner or later, why not
divide Jordan and unite the Palestinian part.
3) The Settlements, some of these settlements are no more than
suburbs of existing Israeli cities and were built in areas where
the borders were weak, I tend to favor keeping these, others are
not so strategic and I think it should be made clear to those
living there that under the settlement this will be Palestinian
land, and they are therefore subject to Palestinian law.
4) Resettlement, probably the most difficult issue. About 450,000
Palestinians fled Israel at the Arabs insistence during the 1947
war, although some did resettle, others did not.
Here's the rub, 820,000 Jews were kicked out of surrounding Arab
lands and their property/possessions confiscated. 546,000 of these
were resettled in Israel with no more than the cloths on their
backs and at great expense.
Any discussion of this issue will need to include ALL refugees.
>Also note that I never said you were unextropian or that you had
>chosen an unextropian option. I think you are defending yourself
>more than defending any idea which called unextropian.
I was facing multiple opponents at the time. ;) Thanks again for
making the effort to square this.
Brian
Member:
Extropy Institute, www.extropy.org
National Rifle Association, www.nra.org, 1.800.672.3888
SBC/Ameritech Data Center Chicago, IL, Local 134 I.B.E.W
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