CHAPTER 11
The war between Israel and the Arab world is not an ordinary one between states. In an ordinary war states clash over some grievance, a piece of land or economic advantages. After the war, some kind of peace arrangements are made, tracing new boundaries or allocating rights, sometimes by agreement, sometimes by dictate of the victor. Our is a different war, a clash between two great national movements going on now for three generations. It cannot be ended by a peace settlement of the classic type, with representatives of the two sides assembling in conference around a green table, each party stating its demands, a compromise hammered out and embodied in a solemn peace treaty.
Many concrete problems are bones of contention between Israel and the Arabs, yet not one of them constitutes the real cause of the war. While solutions to these problems must be found, as we shall endeavor to do, one must realize that no solution will be practical unless the genuine causes of the war are removed. Quite simply: Israel must recognize that it belongs to the Region and must take a positive attitude toward the national aspirations of the Arab peoples. The Arab world must recognize that Israel exists and has become a legal and permanent part of the Region.
This mutual recognition is the focal point of the problem. Without it, all talks about a Regional peace settlement are nonsense. Without it, all foreign intervention and attempts at mediation, well intentioned or otherwise, i 8 o