Over on the Jerusalem Post, congressman Joe Walsh of Illinois is calling for the creation of a single state between the Jordan river and the Mediterranean Sea. He writes:
It reminds me of that definition of insanity: doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results. By that definition, everyone who continues to cling to the delusion of a two-state solution is insane. There is no such thing as a two-state solution. It cannot work, it has not worked, and it will not work.
It is true that it has not worked and it is probably true that it will not work, but it is utterly false to suggest that it cannot work. Of course it can work. But it can only work if the Arabs allow it to work. It will not work so long as they absolutely refuse to accept Jewish sovereignty on Jewish land. It is Arab intransigence that is killing the two-state solution, nothing else.
As much as progressive-left Jews would like to blame other Jews... Jewish conservatives, the Likud, Avigdor Lieberman, the evil "settlers" (like the Fogels) with blood dripping from their sharpened fangs... for the death of the two-state solution, such blaming is little more than a product of Jewish Stockholm Syndrome. After all, if the problem is really one of "bad" Jews then it can be dealt with. We just need to scold and malign and marginalize and demean those bad Jews until they shut the hell up and move elsewhere and then everything will be A-OK and the Palestinians will, at long last, accept a state for themselves next to the Jewish one.
But, sadly, the problem here is not Likud, nor the evil settlers, nor even that arch-demon Avigdor Lieberman, but the Palestinians, themselves.
The Palestinians have broken their word again and again. They continue to intentionally fire rockets at innocent Israeli families and children, and they have betrayed the fundamental tenet of the two-state solution they tout by cutting Israel out of negotiations and going directly to the United Nations.
Moreover, the Palestinian Authority continues to incite violence against Israelis. It pays the salaries of imprisoned terrorists convicted of killing Israelis and glorifies suicide bombers at public events. The PA’s magazine Zayzafuna recently presented Hitler as a role model for the Palestinian youth on account of all the Jews he had killed.
The Palestinians have proven themselves to be absolutely murderous. What they want is a single Palestinian state from the river to the sea, just as the congressman wants a single Jewish state from the river to the sea. The difference is that the Jews have always been willing to compromise while the Arabs have never been willing to compromise. He is right, of course, that the Palestinians, a people born from the greater Arab world specifically for the purpose of opposing Jewish national rights on Jewish land, continue to incite hatred among their own children toward Israel and toward Jews, in general. It is the very hatred that they whip up among themselves that is the cause of their own misery. And while Arabs in the Muslim Middle East have been hating on Jews for a very, very long time, it is only within living memory that they have had to pay any price for their ongoing persecution of the Jewish people.
This solution is the best one for everyone, especially the Palestinians. They will trade their two corrupt and inept governments and societies for a stable, free and prosperous one. Those Palestinians that wish to may leave their Fatah and Hamas-created slums and move to the original Palestinian state – Jordan. The British Mandate for Palestine created Jordan as the country for the Palestinians. It was the only justification for its creation. Even now, 75 percent of its population is of Palestinian descent. Those Palestinians that remain behind in Israel will maintain limited voting power, but will be awarded all the economic and civil rights of Israeli citizens. They will be free to raise a family, start a business and live in peace, all of which are impossible under Arab rule.
Limited voting power.
That, right there, is the problem. Israel obviously cannot be a democracy if it only offers limited voting power to any groups of people under its sovereignty. Therefore, what Israel needs to do is not take all of Judea and Samaria, but simply declare its final borders, remove the IDF to behind those borders, and wish the Palestinians the very best luck in the world as they create their brave and beautiful new future under their own, surely democratic, government in downtown Ramallah.
And then say "bye-bye."
Good-bye and good luck.
Giving "limited voting power" to the Palestinians within Israel's borders is not keeping with the Zionist vision of Israel, or with the vision of our ancient prophets. Two states for two people is the only possible solution that gives both people the right to sovereignty and to self determination.
ReplyDeletePrecisely, Dusty.
ReplyDeleteAnd this is why Israel must take matters into its own hands and unilaterally declare its final borders.
My suspicion is that there is a big reluctance, in part, because of the Gaza withdrawal which resulted in 8 thousand? 10 thousand? rockets over 5 years.
Something quite like that.
But we obviously cannot count on the Palestinians to agree to a negotiated settlement. We need to clearly understand that this is not their aim.
And we should not be shy about saying so.
Mike
Walsh is an idiot.
ReplyDeleteThere have been times when Israel wasn't really interested in a two state solution but in say the last 20 years Israel has shown it is willing to negotiate for a two state two people solution.
Until the Palestinian leaders are willing to give up their demand for right of return of loosely defined refugees, there isn't a way to get a final resolution.
The way to proceed is to get an agreement on the 1967 issues of land where Israel exits most of the West Bank and Gaza and East J.. Issues of the old city and how the refugee will be compensated and settled into the Palestinian state and issues of the old city may have to wait.If a negotiated deal cannot be met on the 1967 issues, Israel may have to take unilateral steps to get out of the most of the West Bank adn Gaza. The current situation cannot continue. Walsh's solution is not acceptable.