Eruption in the Middle East

There are many criticisms to be made of Stanley Diamond’s “Eruption in the Middle East” in the Winter 1957 DISSENT. Two main points, however, seem to illustrate the failure of his argument.

1. Mr. Diamond says that “The indicated immediate solutions seem rather obvious. First, the Arab refugee situations must be quickly ameliorated. These people are rotting away in an irredentist no-man’s land, and most of the border incidents are rooted in their disaffection.”

There is certainly no arguing with the importance of relieving the suffering of Arab refugees. But to claim that this should be a first step in the solution of the Arab-Israel dilemma is not so sound. The first step is the acceptan...