Columnist Roger Cohen from the New York Times is one of many who has painted the late Prime Minister of Israel, Yizhak Rabin, as a hero because he apparently was prepared to give away half of the land of Israel for peace: this despite the fact that Israel had been forced to defend herself from three wars initiated by the Arab countries around her. The Arabs lost in 1948, 1967 and 1973, yet it was expected and continues to be that Israel “return” land for peace, return to the 1967 borders with agreed upon swaps.
Cohen, like too many other pundits, bases the two-state solution on Resolution 181 of 1947 which was Resolution 181 then there would be reason to continue to force a two-state solution. But what we tend to forget or ignore is that the Arabs did not accept the two state solution in 1947 while Israel did and instead went to war and lost. And legally that makes resolution 181 moot. Referring to that resolution as the legal reason for continuing to attack Israel for not giving up more land for peace is specious.
