Monday, August 08, 2005

A "Ruined Country:" Araft's Palestine

Miriam has a first-rate summary up of The Atlantic's current article on Arafat and how he destroyed Palestine. (Note to Rick Santorum fans: The Atlantic is published in Boston)

By my lights, the most interesting bit, was Ehud Barak, on the record, explaining why he offered Arafat the famous Camp David land deal that made so many right-wing Jews shake with righteous indignation.

In short, Barak claims that he wasn't trying to give away the country. He says that he was trying to claim the moral high ground, by making what he thought the world would perceive as a fantastically generous offer, but what he knew was an offer Arafat would never accept - because it didn't contain Jerusalem.

If this is true, not a few people owe Mr. Barak an apology.