And now... some quotes

Parece que citar coisas de que gostamos, ou com as quais concordamos, é um dos passatempos favoritos da blogosfera.
A propósito de uma polémica sobre Israel em que me meti há uns dias, e sobre a qual nada mais tenho a dizer (por enquanto..), li hoje na Economist umas frases interessantes (é de sexta-feira, mas tenho tido mais que fazer...).
A revista preferida de 11 em cada 10 conservadores (eu também gosto muito...) puxa as orelhas a Israel sobre os últimos acontecimentos por aquelas bandas e aconselha a Casa Branca a pôr os seus amigos na ordem. Como era, precisamente, isso que eu queria dizer, poupo-me a mais esforços:
[texto integral aqui]

In Palestine, worse than it looks
In Iraq, the case for optimism is that most Iraqis are liable to withhold their support from the jihadis because most of them are still willing to believe that the Americans mean it when they say they intend eventually to leave. In Palestine, for all the fine words of George Bush and the “road map” about the imminence of an independent Palestinian state alongside Israel, almost no Palestinians expect Israel voluntarily to give up the West Bank and Gaza to make this possible.

Whose fault is that? The blame game in Palestine has revolved in circles both vicious and tedious for more than a century. In this present round, neither side emerges with credit. Israel complains that although the road map calls plainly on the Palestinian Authority to disarm and dismantle the terrorist groups, it has failed to make any serious effort to do so. The Palestinians retort that this would plunge them into a civil war at a time when Israel gives no serious sign of being willing to freeze, let alone dismantle, the Jewish settlements that have spread through the occupied territories since 1967 and obstruct the emergence of a free Palestine.

This, alas, is not just a matter of Israel failing to get its message across. Many members of Ariel Sharon's ruling coalition oppose the idea of an independent Palestine and say frankly that they will do whatever they can to thwart it. America needs to make it plain that these Israelis will not get their way. It is right to denounce outrages like the one this week in Jerusalem. But if America is to build a new Middle East it must give the Palestinians the same hope as the Iraqis that foreign military occupation really will soon come to an end.