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| Version 1 | Version 2 |
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| Israelis look beyond Gaza truce | Israelis look beyond Gaza truce |
| (about 14 hours later) | |
| By Hugh Sykes BBC News, Jerusalem Many Israelis disagree over what this man means by "occupation" | By Hugh Sykes BBC News, Jerusalem Many Israelis disagree over what this man means by "occupation" |
| Egypt has mediated a truce between Israel and the militant and political Islamic movement Hamas. | Egypt has mediated a truce between Israel and the militant and political Islamic movement Hamas. |
| When I met exiled Hamas leader Khaled Meshaal in a safe-house in Damascus, he told me a long-term peace depends on Israel ending its occupation of the West Bank, withdrawing from settlements, ending incursions into Gaza and opening the crossing points into the strip to enable trade and aid. | When I met exiled Hamas leader Khaled Meshaal in a safe-house in Damascus, he told me a long-term peace depends on Israel ending its occupation of the West Bank, withdrawing from settlements, ending incursions into Gaza and opening the crossing points into the strip to enable trade and aid. |
| Though its charter defines its objective as liberating the whole of the pre-1948 territory of Palestine, Hamas also says it would accept a two-state solution based on the boundaries that were in place before the 1967 war. | Though its charter defines its objective as liberating the whole of the pre-1948 territory of Palestine, Hamas also says it would accept a two-state solution based on the boundaries that were in place before the 1967 war. |
| One Hamas supporter said to me, "We have to be realistic." But many Israelis don't believe it. They believe the charter. | One Hamas supporter said to me, "We have to be realistic." But many Israelis don't believe it. They believe the charter. |
| A columnist at the Jerusalem Post, Amotz Asa-El, definitely believes the charter. | A columnist at the Jerusalem Post, Amotz Asa-El, definitely believes the charter. |
| "When Meshaal says occupation," he told me, "he means something entirely different from what Israelis like me mean when we say occupation. He is discussing Tel Aviv and the rest of pre-1967 Israel. I am sure of it." | "When Meshaal says occupation," he told me, "he means something entirely different from what Israelis like me mean when we say occupation. He is discussing Tel Aviv and the rest of pre-1967 Israel. I am sure of it." |
| 'Cancer of occupation' | 'Cancer of occupation' |
| At the opposite end of the Israeli political spectrum, Victoria Buch - a professor of chemistry and an anti-occupation activist - believes Israel "should negotiate with Hamas". | At the opposite end of the Israeli political spectrum, Victoria Buch - a professor of chemistry and an anti-occupation activist - believes Israel "should negotiate with Hamas". |
| If I beat you up, you are going to become dangerous. If we talk to each other, that is the only safety from you that I can have Victoria Buch About 400 Israeli families lost loved ones in a decade of Hamas suicide bomb attacks, on buses, in markets, at the Dolphinarium in Tel Aviv. | If I beat you up, you are going to become dangerous. If we talk to each other, that is the only safety from you that I can have Victoria Buch About 400 Israeli families lost loved ones in a decade of Hamas suicide bomb attacks, on buses, in markets, at the Dolphinarium in Tel Aviv. |
| Victoria Buch is adamantly opposed to such violence. | Victoria Buch is adamantly opposed to such violence. |
| "The terrorist acts which Hamas perpetrated against Israel citizens were atrocious," she emphasised, "and I am totally opposed to hurting unarmed people." | "The terrorist acts which Hamas perpetrated against Israel citizens were atrocious," she emphasised, "and I am totally opposed to hurting unarmed people." |
| She then cited the Jewish philosopher, Yeshayahu Leibovitch, who opposed holding onto Palestinian land after the 1967 war. He said the occupation was a cancer which would eventually destroy the state of Israel. | She then cited the Jewish philosopher, Yeshayahu Leibovitch, who opposed holding onto Palestinian land after the 1967 war. He said the occupation was a cancer which would eventually destroy the state of Israel. |
| "I don't want to live in fear," said Victoria Buch. "If I beat you up now, you are going to become dangerous to me. But if we talk to each other on civil terms, that is the only safety from you that I can have." | "I don't want to live in fear," said Victoria Buch. "If I beat you up now, you are going to become dangerous to me. But if we talk to each other on civil terms, that is the only safety from you that I can have." |
| Bunkered down | Bunkered down |
| In his Jerusalem flat, Amotz Asa-El has a bomb shelter. All new Israeli dwellings must have one. | In his Jerusalem flat, Amotz Asa-El has a bomb shelter. All new Israeli dwellings must have one. |
| href="http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/shared/spl/hi/pop_ups/08/middle_east_enl_1213954584/html/1.stm" onClick="window.open('http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/shared/spl/hi/pop_ups/08/middle_east_enl_1213954584/html/1.stm', '1213955606', 'toolbar=0,scrollbars=0,location=0,statusbar=0,menubar=0,resizable=1,width=400,height=478,left=312,top=100'); return false;">Amotz Asa-El argues the experience of the Holocaust means Jews cannot afford to repeat their "gullibility" href="http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/shared/spl/hi/pop_ups/08/middle_east_enl_1213954584/html/1.stm" onClick="window.open('http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/shared/spl/hi/pop_ups/08/middle_east_enl_1213954584/html/1.stm', '1213955606', 'toolbar=0,scrollbars=0,location=0,statusbar=0,menubar=0,resizable=1,width=400,height=478,left=312,top=100'); return false;" >Enlarge Image | |
| It is next to his bedroom. It's a small room with thick reinforced white-painted concrete walls, and steel plates fixed to the air vents - to prevent shrapnel from getting in. | It is next to his bedroom. It's a small room with thick reinforced white-painted concrete walls, and steel plates fixed to the air vents - to prevent shrapnel from getting in. |
| Many Israelis are not only afraid of Hamas, but of Iran. They believe the threats uttered by President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad - who recently described Israel as "a rotting corpse" - are genuine, not rhetorical. | Many Israelis are not only afraid of Hamas, but of Iran. They believe the threats uttered by President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad - who recently described Israel as "a rotting corpse" - are genuine, not rhetorical. |
| I asked Amotz Asa-El if he thought there should be a pre-emptive strike against Iran. He quoted another Jewish thinker, who advised: "Whoever rises up against you to kill you, you go ahead first and kill him." | I asked Amotz Asa-El if he thought there should be a pre-emptive strike against Iran. He quoted another Jewish thinker, who advised: "Whoever rises up against you to kill you, you go ahead first and kill him." |
| "The menace is out there," he added. | "The menace is out there," he added. |
| "I don't even have a photo of my father's parents, who perished in the Holocaust," he went on. | "I don't even have a photo of my father's parents, who perished in the Holocaust," he went on. |
| "They had ample time to leave Europe when Hitler rose to power. Had they done that - and not chosen to listen to people who didn't believe the menace was there - they might have survived." | "They had ample time to leave Europe when Hitler rose to power. Had they done that - and not chosen to listen to people who didn't believe the menace was there - they might have survived." |
| He said he was not prepared to "repeat their gullibility". | He said he was not prepared to "repeat their gullibility". |
| Members of Victoria Buch's family were also murdered by the Nazis - a grandmother and an aunt. | Members of Victoria Buch's family were also murdered by the Nazis - a grandmother and an aunt. |
| She says that "starting wars" is not the way to eradicate the threat from Iran. | She says that "starting wars" is not the way to eradicate the threat from Iran. |
| Quite the opposite; she believes bellicose Israeli statements about stopping the Iranian nuclear programme by whatever means are "making sure that the future of Jews in this country is in danger". | Quite the opposite; she believes bellicose Israeli statements about stopping the Iranian nuclear programme by whatever means are "making sure that the future of Jews in this country is in danger". |
| Previous related articles by Hugh Sykes: | Previous related articles by Hugh Sykes: |
| The view from Damascus | The view from Damascus |
| Iran's Lebanese 'aircraft carrier' | Iran's Lebanese 'aircraft carrier' |