Word: plo
(lookup in dictionary)
(lookup stats)
Dates: during 1980-1989
Sort By: most recent first
(reverse)
WHILE WE JOIN the majority in their condemnation of the PLO's violent methods and expressed intolerance towards the state of Israel, we cannot agree with their suggestion that the organization as it now stands must be shut out of a dialogue on the Mideast's future...
...PLO represents the aspirations of many, if not all, Palestinians and is an important political force in the Mideast. The United States deals with many countries which have goals we cannot agree with and which use force to accomplish those goals, the Soviet Union and the People's Republic of China, for example, Iraq and Syria have fought against Israel's right to exist and use terrible violence against their own citizens. We deal with those countries to achieve our own goals...
Likewise, to make a realistic effort towards Mideast peace, we should negotiate with everyone possible, including the PLO. If we really want to end violence in the Mideast; we cannot shut our eyes to the Palestinian problem nor with their organizations away...
Over the course of 10 years the PLO had built up in Lebanon a state within a state (in order to achieve this the PLO was directly responsible for massacres far worse than the one for which Israel was held indirectly responsible--but I suppose a PLO Commission on massacres is unlikely) complete with a small, but well-equipped army. If we combine this with the fact that the PLO's declared purpose is the destruction of Israel, one wonders not why Israel invaded, but why it waited so long to end a situation intolerable to any sovereign nation...
...Bisharat seems not to see this, for he argues that Israel, fearful of peace with the PLO, sought to wipe out this increasingly viable negotiating partner. It is clear that the Begin Government is not exactly enamored with the prospect of co-existing with a Palestinian state on the West Bank, but then, let us fairly note, the PLO is equally (if not more) hesitant about accepting Israel as a neighbor. Neither is ready to negotiate, but Israel loses little by delay. The PLO, on the other hand, in refusing to cease calling for Israel's destruction, demonstrates that...