Article published by the Gatestone Institute, 17 January 2018. © Richard Kemp
The critical question of why the Middle East seems unable to achieve peace has just been rigorously considered again, this time by Michael Calvo, an international lawyer, in an important new book, The Middle East and World War III: Why No Peace? It is worth being read by all political leaders, academics, journalists, students and anyone who wants to understand why there is no peace and what may happen.
The book analyzes why the Israeli-Palestinian/Arab/Muslim conflict has not been resolved, in spite of the Oslo Accords and many years of active involvement by the European Union, individual European states, the US, Russia and the United Nations.
The long-term Palestinian use of terror, for instance, looked at chronologically:
to achieve Palestinian political goals, to influence Israeli politics, to favour a given Israeli candidate for the post of Prime Minister, to compel the Israeli government to conceal more land, to prevent a final peace settlement by maintaining a state of conflict that could eventually lead to total war, to erode Israeli and American resolve and to demonstrate to the Arab population that peace is not an option and that the existence of the Jews on their land cannot be recognized.
Some of the attacks occurred just when foreign representatives landed in Israel, ‘to prevent the revival of the peace talks’. Jason Greenblatt should take that into consideration.
There is, according to Calvo, also a psychological and religious preparation for armed conflict with Israel, the manipulation of the media and of minds, the practical preparation of the armed conflict and its planned outbreak, as well as its control by the Palestinian leadership. The terrorists are elevated to heroes and role models. Palestinian policeman, armed individuals, adolescents and adults, sometimes a father or even a mother of young children, are ready to kill Jews by any means and even to blow themselves to pieces for their cause to reach paradise. But they were not born jihadists. They were, and are still being, incited to become jihadists. Continue reading