liberals, conservatives, israel and the like

A difference in thought process between Liberals and Conservatives and how it relates to Israel.

There is a sad looking man held prisoner by the local authorities. He is given his meals, but he must stay in a small cell. He is not allowed to speak to anyone. He can read, but only books that are approved. He is allowed written communication with the outside world, but the letters are censored. Everything that he writes or receives is scrutiniuzed carefully before being permitted. Approximately three quarters of what he writes are rejected. He is not allowed any visitors, not even family. This has been his situation for 20 years. In short the man leads a miserable existence.

Liberals look at this man and their hearts go out to him. What kind of people would keep a kindly old man behind bars like this in such inhumane conditions? They become activists on his behalf, hand out flyers, speak about the corrupt regime and in general make nuisances out of themselves. The media picks up this cause as well, and write articles about miserable prison conditions. They interview the warden, but only include statements that make him sound like a facist.

Conservatives, on the other hand, ask questions like "why is ths man locked up like this?" They find out that he was convicted of violent actions, including rape, armed robbery and battery. They find out that when the authorities tried to put him in general confinement with contact to other people he would become very aggresive and start fighting. They heard about threatening letters that he continuously tries to send to his former victims and relatives of his former victims. And they say, forget keeping him locked up - society would be better off if he were dead.

A lot of my topics come from my conversation on the train each morning. And my discussion partner feels that looking at history and the background reasons why the Palestinians are in the horrible situations that they currently are in is not relevant. He sees the Arab on the street as an innocent bystander and blames the corrupt leadership for all the background and history.
We both agree that they are in a bad situation, but I see it as their own fault and he sees it as a situation that they were basically forced into. Maybe not by the Israelis, maybe by accident of chance, but not a decision that they made. I blame the current situation on the Saudis, Iraqis, Jordanians, Syrians, Lebanese and Egyptians for not integrating these people into their own countries. I blame the Palestinians themselves for not making a sacrifice for peace, but expecting everyone else to do it. He says you can't blame the people either here or in other countries, because their leadership won't do it. I say leadership reflects the people, whereas he disagrees.

Are either of us right? Probably not.

Here's an interesting idea, it can be the basis for the new peace plan.
How about if we make another bold step and offer to split integration of all the Palestinian people currently in Israel and refugee camps in the surrounding Arab countries. Maybe we can include the US, Europe and Canada in this split as well. Each country will be obligated to fully integrate them as citizens into society. Unfortuantely there will be very little interest from any party aside from Israel, because the goal is not to end the suffering, it is to wipe out the Jewish State.