There are fairies at the bottom of the garden

At least that is what Peter Preston of The Guardian must think. He probably believes in the tooth fairy, Father Christmas and anthropogenic global warming as well.

Why do I say that? Because Mr Preston still believes that the Israel/Palestine conflict is the root of Islamic terrorism. Please notice that it says "the" root. In other words, every example of atrocity, hatred and violence towards the west, the Jews and Israel can be traced back to the Israel/Palestine conflict.

This is a fascinating idea. That somehow, back in the 1930's, the Grand Mufti of Jerusalem had the foresight to envisage this future Israel/Palestine conflict which led him to collude with the Nazis in eradicating the Jews before Israel was created?

Amazing!

Or that the Arabs of Hebron were so concerned about the Israeli occupation of the West Bank that they went on the rampage murdering 67 Jews - in 1929!

And as we all know, it's the US support of Israel which makes them such a target. As one Arab ambassador told a couple of US diplomats when asked why Muslim terrorists were targeting US interests ......


"… that it was founded on the Laws of their Prophet, that it was written in their Koran, that all nations who should not have acknowledged their authority were sinners, that it was their right and duty to make war upon them wherever they could be found, and to make slaves of all they could take as Prisoners, and that every Musselman who should be slain in Battle was sure to go to Paradise"

Except that was in 1768, the two "diplomats" in question were future presidents John Adams and Thomas Jefferson - and Israel was still some century and a half away.

And, of course, there are frequent references in Islamic religious texts to killing Jews going back some 1300 years or so before Israel existed - as long as there has been Islam, oddly enough, which suggests that the Israel/Palestine conflict is not THE root of Islamic terrorism, but merely a recent symptom and expression of it.

Preston manages to go through his piece without actually saying what form a "resolution" of the Israel/Palestine conflict may take. He doesn't mention it because he knows exactly what it must be - to "wipe Israel off the map". That is the only solution to the present conflict which will satisfy all the interested Muslim parties. Until they all recognise the rights of the Jewish people to live in peace within their own nation in what has always been their historic homeland (and was for 4000 years or more before there was even such a thing as "Islam") there will never ever be a resolution to the Israel/Palestine conflict.

If the Palestinians want a homeland and peace they can have it. It is entirely up to them. As Somaliland has proved (and with a lot less fuss and considerably less aid and funds than the Palestinians) it is possible to build a stable, successful democracy in a strife torn region if that is what the people want and if they are allowed to do so. Perhaps Somalilands success is due to the fact that the west largely ignores it - maybe if we did the same with Israel/Palestine they'd find their own solution?

I doubt it. Whether the Palestinian people genuinely want peace or not is contentious. For me, there is very little evidence to suggest that they want anything other than to destroy Israel and kill Jews. What is certain is that there are a number of outside influences who definitely do not want any middle east solution that allows Israel to exist. Increasingly, this viewpoint appears to be gaining ground (though rarely stated explicitly) not just among Muslims, but with western journalists and opinion formers too.