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The real estate war
By Gideon Levy

This miserable war in Lebanon, which is just getting more and more complicated for no reason at all, was born in Israel's greed for land. Not that Israel is fighting this time to conquer more land, not at all, but ending the occupation could have prevented this unnecessary war. If Israel had returned the Golan Heights and signed a peace treaty with Syria in a timely fashion, presumably this war would not have broken out.

Peace with Syria would have guaranteed peace with Lebanon and peace with both would have prevented Hezbollah from fortifying on Israel's northern border. Peace with Syria would have also isolated Iran, Israel's true, dangerous enemy, and cut off Hezbollah from one of the two sources of its weapons and funding. It's so simple, and so removed from conventional Israeli thinking, which is subject to brainwashing.

For years, Israel has waged war against the Palestinians with the main motive of insistence on keeping the occupied territories. If not for the settlement enterprise, Israel would have long since retreated from the occupied territories and the struggle's engine would have been significant neutralized. Not that a non-occupying Israel would have turned into the darling of the Arab world, but the destructive fire aimed at Israel would have significantly lessened, and those who continued to fight Israel would have found themselves isolated.

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The war against the Palestinians is therefore unequivocally a territorial war, a war for the settlements. In other words, in the West Bank and Gaza, people were killed and are getting killed because of our greed for land. From Golda Meir to Ehud Olmert, the lie has held that the war with the Palestinians is an existential one for survival imposed on Israel when it is actually a war for real estate, one dunam after another, that does not belong to us.

The situation is different with Syria. For 33 years, the Syrians gave up the military effort to reinstate their occupied lands. Israel can pass a dozen Golan Heights laws to annex it, but occupied territory remains occupied territory. During those three decades, the prevailing view in Israel was that there was no need for peace with Syria: The Syrians sat quietly anyway, so why give them back the Golan?

This is the same dangerously foolish thinking that characterized the first 20 years of the occupation of the West Bank and Gaza. The Palestinians sat quietly, surrendered under the Israeli occupation boot, and it did not occur to anyone to return their territory. Instead, Israel established the settlements. Only when the Palestinians woke up and realized they were going to lose their lands forever did they begin a violent campaign; and only after blood was spilled, did Israel wake up from its dreams and realize that it could not hold onto all of the territories forever. Thus, with regrettable delay and years of bloodshed, the recognition of the PLO, the Oslo accords, the disengagement and the convergence were born - all partial and fake solutions meant to postpone the end of the occupation.

We did not need all of that with the Syrians - after all, they sat quietly all of these years. Now comes the war in Lebanon and proves that this was a mistake. Although the Syrians sat on the sidelines, the danger from that direction was not removed and the delusion that the Golan would forever remain in Israeli hands, without our being asked to pay for its occupation, is now slapping us in the face.

But the current war could yet turn out to be only an appetizer for the coming wars, which will be far more dangerous. The saying that time is on our side is another delusion. The Arab and Muslim world has armed, in all of this time, and the danger of nuclear weapons and long-range missiles is already hovering over our heads. The only response to that is maximum neutralization of the flashpoints, before the bomb arrives. But Israel has chosen to close its eyes and build its future on a horrifyingly temporary quiet, or on more and more war operations.

Just when territory is losing its military importance because of the development of new fighting technology, Israel is using security excuses to stay in the territories. Former-prime minister Ehud Barak criminally missed the opportunity to sign a peace treaty with Syria after he got "cold feet," as witnesses said, and retreated at the last minute. That's how it works with us. When the other side is quiet, why return territories? And when they do go to war, "there's nobody to talk to," and certainly not while we are "under fire."

While we are ready to jump on any war bandwagon, as in this time, we endlessly procrastinate when it comes to peace negotiations. Now, too, when Syria, pushed around by the U.S., desperately wants to return to the "family of nations," is an excellent time to try to make peace with it - but there are those who say now is not the time. What will the Americans say? They, after all, are against any deals with Bashar Assad of "the axis of evil."

So, there it is, another excuse to miss a golden opportunity, another mendacious excuse. As in the case of the peace with Egypt, the move that has guaranteed Israel's security for years far more than any war, and which was put together behind the America's back, America would not be able to oppose a peace agreement with Syria. Now, after we've hit Hezbollah and ruined Lebanon, the prime minister of Israel should declare: the Golan for peace. That could contribute a lot more to our security than a thousand useless daring operations in Baalbek, but it would take a lot more courage than going off to fight another unnecessary and useless war.
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  1.   Mr Gideon Levy I thank you! 11:11  |  Lebanese Jew 06/08/06
  2.   Gideon Levy The Real Estate War 11:14  |  Terry 06/08/06
  3.   Real Estate 11:14  |  Dieter Hoffmann 06/08/06
  4.   Thank you Gideon Levy 11:24  |  Jonathan 06/08/06
  5.   IMPRESSIVE 11:25  |  Jay A Friedman 06/08/06
  6.   olmert is a chicken 11:26  |  cohibano 06/08/06
  7.   on the contrary,these assertions are not in evidence, sir... 11:29  |  Elie 06/08/06
  8.   What fresh hell is this? 11:30  |  Amos Magram 06/08/06
  9.   Pipe dream 11:35  |  Richard 06/08/06
  10.   Our children & your Children 11:36  |  Syrian 06/08/06
  11.   A MISERABLE FOOL and a MISERABLE NEWSPAPER 11:37  |  Standing for Israel 06/08/06
  12.   Grow up Gideon 11:39  |  Richard 06/08/06
  13.   Real Estate, Gidon Levy and Berlin??????? 11:39  |  Northern Civillian 06/08/06
  14.   real estate war 11:40  |  camille 06/08/06
  15.   #3, Peace Now 11:45  |  Fritz 06/08/06
  16.   Levy: Skipped Over the Syrian Occupation of Lebanon 11:47  |  Ovadiah ben Avraham 06/08/06
  17.   Gush Shalom 11:47  |  Rowan Berkeley 06/08/06
  18.   "getting more and more complicated for no reason at all"??? 11:51  |  AA 06/08/06
  19.   Gideon Levy 11:51  |  paul rosenbaum 06/08/06
  20.   Jordan, Lebanon, Syria were once Jewish land! 11:51  |  Daisy 06/08/06
  21.   Jordan, Lebanon, Syria were once Jewish land! 11:52  |  Daisy 06/08/06
  22.   land for peace 11:55  |  jorge ernesto toer 06/08/06
  23.   to #5 Syrian 11:56  |  Richard 06/08/06
  24.   In a democracy even fools can write an article. 11:56  |  S Judah 06/08/06
  25.   Gideon Levy a terrorist? 11:58  |  Dav 06/08/06
  26.   To Terry #2 11:58  |  Serenity 06/08/06
  27.   Gideon Levy 12:02  |  Roland 06/08/06
  28.   God bless Gideon Levy for saying this vital truth 12:03  |  Clickfool 06/08/06
  29.   One State Solution 12:04  |  Azzie 06/08/06
  30.   Oh, wait a minute, Gideon 12:10  |  Clickfool 06/08/06
  31.   Gideon Levy: Craven and Phony 12:11  |  Patricia 06/08/06
  32.   What fresh hell is this? 12:12  |  Amos Magram 06/08/06
  33.   and destruction.. 12:14  |  Perter 06/08/06
  34.   Water pipe dream 12:14  |  Bor de Wolf 06/08/06
  35.   gideon Levy 12:18  |  vered 06/08/06
  36.   jordan,lebanon, syria were once jewish land 12:22  |  robert 06/08/06
  37.   Real Estate 12:22  |  Joey 06/08/06
  38.   There will be peace in this region the day 12:23  |  Joe 06/08/06
  39.   Occupying land? 12:24  |  bob 06/08/06
  40.   to #15,16 Israel was once.... 12:25  |  NS 06/08/06
  41.   OK Daisy go back to your kitchen 12:25  |  Serenity 06/08/06
  42.   The real estate war 12:25  |  nosmo 06/08/06
  43.   Gideon please explain the return of all of Sinai, all of Gaza? 12:27  |  Isaac 06/08/06
  44.   Haaretz 12:28  |  Jonathan 06/08/06
  45.   The Real Estate War 12:29  |  Chuck 06/08/06
  46.   Gideon Levy 12:29  |  Marc 06/08/06
  47.   Syrian - will you teach your child to kill himself? 12:29  |  Richard 06/08/06
  48.   No!! No!! 12:37  |  CL 06/08/06
  49.   Northern civilian and vicious pasts 12:37  |  sh 06/08/06
  50.   Gideon When would you support Israel? 12:39  |  patriot 06/08/06
  51.   #1 Lebanese Jew and "Total Destruction of Israel" 12:42  |  Scientist 06/08/06
  52.   land for peace no longer works 12:43  |  Alon 06/08/06
  53.   Levy and Iran 12:53  |  Curious 06/08/06
  54.   Gideon Levy lives in another planet 12:53  |  MG 06/08/06
  55.   Ignorance? 12:54  |  Michael 06/08/06
  56.   didn`t you forget something ? 12:54  |  kees 06/08/06
  57.   Gideon Levy is a follower of NETUREY KARTA ideology 12:54  |  Ben 06/08/06
  58.   The real estate war 12:55  |  Lauro Merhi 06/08/06
  59.   Intelligent, incisive 12:58  |  Nadir 06/08/06
  60.   Ignorance? 13:03  |  Michael 06/08/06
  61.   God bless Gideon for his consistent lies 13:03  |  David Teich 06/08/06
  62.   Geseon Levy is a person who makes troules to own people, to Isr 13:05  |  Vital 06/08/06
  63.   Go live in "Palestine" 13:06  |  Nancy Shapira 06/08/06
  64.   Both sides of the divide 13:07  |  Walid 06/08/06
  65.   What about the three NOs ? 13:09  |  Edmond Danijean 06/08/06
  66.   Water pipe dream 13:10  |  Bor de Wolf 06/08/06
  67.   G. Levy 13:11  |  Boutros 06/08/06
  68.   The real estate war 13:17  |  Avi Lev 06/08/06
  69.   Alois Brunner, biggest Nazi war criminal is in Syria. 13:17  |  Joel Meyers 06/08/06
  70.   Interconnected 13:18  |  David 06/08/06
  71.   Gideon Levy`s view is completely in line with NETUREY KARTA 13:18  |  Ben 06/08/06
  72.   Mr. Levy and Haaretz are honest and need 13:20  |  Mark 06/08/06
  73.   Dieter Hoffman 13:22  |  Roland 06/08/06
  74.   Peace is for the Brave 13:22  |  Tore Hartveit 06/08/06
  75.   Gideon Levy lies about Barak`s offer to the Assad the dictator 13:23  |  Dan Patton 06/08/06
  76.   @2 Terry 13:26  |  Jeroen 06/08/06
  77.   Day #20 13:28  |  Roland 06/08/06
  78.   #28 changing Borders 13:30  |  Dan 06/08/06
  79.   learn from Chamberlain.. 13:31  |  Dave 06/08/06
  80.   Whee is my response 13:32  |  Azzie 06/08/06
  81.   #37 Not worth considering ! 13:34