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Daniel Pipes, a well-respected scholar and intellect who sits on the Emet board of advisers has been a long-time friend and someone whom I have grown to admire greatly. I, therefore, found his editorial in Friday’s New York Times, titled Annexing the West Bank Would Hurt Israel somewhat surprising, on many levels; not the least of is that it constitutes a radical departure from the philosophy of his vaunted “Israel Victory Project.”
Daniel defended his stance, by referring to the Aristotle definition of virtue, “as the midpoint between two extremes.”
First though, a word about whether or not the Aristotelian Mean applies to the situation in the Middle East. In a society dominated by Islam, where the prevailing ethos is hegemony and submission, (which is what “Islam” literally means), sometimes one must exercise the courage to do what is difficult to survive. As Aristotle wrote, “Courage is the mother of all virtues because without it, you cannot consistently perform the others.”
The underlying premise of “The Israel Victory Project,” in Daniel’s words is, “The reigning assumption for 30 years has been that the Palestinian-Israeli conflict can be resolved through negotiations, diplomacy mediation, compromise and painful concessions. It has not worked.” Pipes suggests instead “a completely different approach, which looks at the historical record and notes that conflicts generally end when one side gives up.”
“A loss on the battlefield,” says Pipes, “does not necessarily mean defeat” – in the eyes of the Palestinians.
Read the full article here.
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