Useful Soundbites…. Brief sentences which sum up key issues
4th edition - 12 January 2007	Click to Print

..... on how the conflict is not about a Palestinian state

"The old equation was ' Palestinians want state, Israelis resist'. The evolving new equation is 'Israelis want two states, Palestinians and Islamist front want to destroy Israel as part of their jihad against the West....." - Saul Singer, Jerusalem Post, 8 January 2007

.... on how Hizbollah used civilians as human shields

"...Hizbollah must stop this cowardly blending.... among women and children...." - Jan Egelund, UN head of humanitarian relief, 24 July 2006

.... on how Hizbollah held Lebanon hostage and started the 2006 war

"Hizbollah's provocative attack on 12 July was the trigger for the crisis..... Hizbollah is hold an entire nation hostage and set back prospects for negotiation of a comprehensive middle east peace....." - Kofi Annan, UN Secretary General, 20 July 2006

.... On how thousands of Palestinians became refugees

The Palestinian refugee problem was not caused by the creation of Israel. It was primarily caused by Arab rejection of the creation of Israel….

… On Hamas and the concept of a Jewish state

… Hamas is not opposed to the existence of a Jewish state. It’s just that, in the words of their former leader Sheikh Yassin, they favour a Jewish state in Europe, not in the Middle East….

.... on Israel's influence in the Arab world

It is not Israel which hinders democratic development in the Arab world. It is the demonisation of Israel which hinders that development.... Israel is a scapegoat for democratic failure, not the reason for that failure

…. On Yasser Arafat as a “fighter for freedom”

Yasser Arafat did not “personify the Palestinians’ fight for freedom”. Quite the opposite, he personified the failure of their fight for freedom

…. Yasser Arafat and the hopes of the Palestinian people

Yasser Arafat did not “keep alive Palestinian hopes”: far from it, he repeatedly destroyed the foundations for hope

…. On Palestinian national rights

…The Palestinians do not enjoy national rights today, not because the Jewish people created Israel, but because the Palestinians themselves rejected Israel…

… On Palestinian human rights

The struggle between Israel and the Palestinians is not about Israeli security versus Palestinian human rights. It is about Palestinian human rights against Israeli human rights – the basic human right of Israelis to life.

… on incitement in the Palestinian media and educational system

Palestinian childrens’ schoolbooks incite hatred towards Israel. There are few better indicators of the true intentions of a society than the topics being taught to that society’s children. That is why Israel demands that the incitement cease.

…. on the route of Israel’s security fence

Palestinian terrorists do not distinguish between Israeli civilians inside Israel and those beyond the Green Line. They are all targets for deliberate attack. It is those terrorists who determine the route of the security fence, not Israel.

…. on ending the occupation

It is not the Israelis who refused to end the West Bank occupation in 2000-1, but the Palestinian leadership.

… on Palestinian violence and the occupation

It is not the occupation which has caused the Palestinian violence, but the Palestinian violence which has prolonged the West Bank occupation.

…. on the suicide bombers

The Palestinian suicide bombers are struggling not for the freedom of Palestine, but for the destruction of Israel.

They do not oppose the occupation but the idea of a Palestinian state living side by side with a secure Israel.

Israeli Arabs are in greater danger from Palestinian suicide bombers than they are from Israel’s armed forces.

… on the desperation of suicide bombers

The suicide bombing campaign is not based on despair, but based on the manipulation of despair by groups who cynically plan mass murder.

…. on the election of Ariel Sharon

The election and re-election of Ariel Sharon are not the cause of the Palestinian violence, but the result of it.

… on Israel’s checkpoints and closures of the Palestinian territories

These checkpoints are not Israeli collective punishment. They are Palestinian collective self-punishment.

… on Israel 's security fence

Israel 's security fence is not the inevitable result of Israeli policies, but the inevitable result of Palestinian policies.

…. on Israel’s military measures

Palestinian violence is the cause of Israel’s military measures, not the result of those measures.

…. on the reoccupation of Palestinian towns

Far from achieving self-rule for the Palestinians, terrorism has provoked Israel into re-occupying the towns from which it withdrew in the 1990s.

Israel is not an eager occupier, but a reluctant re-occupier.

…. on the Palestinian demand for a “right of return”

The Palestinian right of return, if exercised without limit, would result not in a two-state solution but a one-state solution – no Jewish State of Israel.

If the Palestinians do not compromise on the right of return, peace will be impossible to achieve.

The ‘right to return' is presented as a formula for “absolute justice”. In fact the ‘right of return' is a formula for absolute stalemate and conflict without end.

… on the USA and Israel

The USA is not “biased towards Israel ” at the UN. It opposes bias against Israel at the UN….

.... on the cycle of violence

You may describe Israel and the Palestinians as being in a "cycle of violence".  But be clear about this cycle.  Mr Arafat is pushing the pedals, while Israel is squeezing the brakes...