J-Street (a liberal anti-Israel lobbying group that presents
itself as a response to AIPAC),
writes the following:
Respecting Israel's right to defend itself, we urge leaders
there to recognize that there is no military solution to what
is fundamentally a political conflict between the Israeli and
Palestinian peoples.
Unfortunately, this is a lot more easily said than done. Israel
has been in negotiations with Fatah seeking a political
compromise, but there's no deal that they can strike that would
stop rocket attacks against Israeli civilians. Last month, when I
spoke to Maen Areikat, the deputy head of the negotiations
department for the Palestinian Authority, he said: "We cannot
control the firing of these rockets from Gaza." And he also
conceded that Hamas would never abandon its desire to wipe Israel
off of the map. Therefore, Israel has no political options to
stop the rocket fire. Furthermore, what political solution can
there be between Israel and the Palestinians, if there isn't even
political unity among the Palestinians?
