"Pro-Israeli" and "Pro-Palestinian" are Not Mutually Exclusive Terms

The other day, guest speaker Aryeh Green, a long-time advisor to human rights activist and former Israeli minister Natan Sharansky as well as a proponent of Sharansky’s ideas on how to increase respect for human rights throughout the world, laid out a unique and important solution to the so-called “Palestinian-Israeli Conflict.”

Green pointed out that two democracies, that is, nations in which citizens are not persecuted for their beliefs, have never gone to war against one another. Therefore, in order to promote peace in the region, make Palestinian society democratic. The relentless Palestinian terror war against Israel is a result of the anti-Semitic educational system enforced by Palestinian dictators. As such, it is the job of existing democracies to encourage “moderate” Palestinians (and here Green clearly distinguished TRUE moderates from Mahmoud Abbas) to speak out for freedom , for with international support these moderates can overthrow the existing terrorist governmental system. And any person, once he is unencumbered by dictatorial government and propaganda, will simply want to live in peace so that he can lead his life in the way he chooses.

Seen in this light, the “conflict” is not really between Palestinians and Israelis, but rather between Palestinians and their own leaders. To want the best for Israelis is to want the best for Palestinians, for the extent to which Israel lives in peace and security is directly proportional to the extent to which Palestinian leadership affords Palestinians the ability to think and act freely. In Green's words, “I am one of the most pro-Palestinian people I know, and I am most certainly pro-Israeli.”