May 7, 2008
IN WHICH CASE, THERE'LL BE NO ISRAEL:
Some Palestinians see a future with Israelis: Frustrated by years of failed peace talks for a two-state solution, some are giving up hope of independence and pushing the idea of a single democratic state with equal rights for all (Richard Boudreaux and Ashraf Khalil, 5/07/08, Los Angeles Times)
Frustrated by years of on-and-off peace talks with Israel, Palestinians are losing hope for an independent homeland, and some are proposing a radically different cause: equal rights for Palestinians and Jews in a shared state.A "two-state solution" has been the basis for Israeli-Palestinian negotiations for nearly 15 years and remains the declared aim of both groups' highest elected leaders and the Bush administration. But its advocates are increasingly on the defensive, and not just against militant Islamists and Jewish settlers who have long opposed partitioning the land.
Majorities on both sides dismiss the current U.S.-backed peace talks as futile. And a small but growing number of moderate Palestinians contend that Israel's terms for independence offer less than they could gain in a single democratic state combining Israel, the West Bank and the Gaza Strip.
This, of course, is exactly the eventuality that Ariel Sharon was trying to avoid by forcing a state on the Palestinians. He understood the demographics and the Anglospheric ideology as his successors do not and that were the Palestinians to demand only their rights as Israelis they'd get them and soon outnumber Jews within the single state. Posted by Orrin Judd at May 7, 2008 8:25 PM
Multicultralism, the idea that every culturee is as god as every other culture--is abslutely toxic to a democratic state.
The enemies of the folk, if they should ever gain the upper hand, desire not to join, but to overthrow. What results is "one man, one vote, once."
Posted by: Lou Gots at May 8, 2008 4:02 AMIt'll remain a democracy, just not a Jewish state.
Posted by: oj at May 8, 2008 6:15 AMOdd that 'moderate' Palestinians seem to understand that their lives would improve much more in an "Israeli-like" state than in one ruled by either Hamas or Fatah.
However, "partition" would likely rear its ugly head, should such a state come about. We're not talking a 90-10 ratio here, and it's what these people live for.
Too bad Israel can't import about 2 million Texans (or Georgians, or Coloradans). It would fix several of their problems in one swoop.
Posted by: jim hamlen at May 8, 2008 7:35 AMWould would they partition a state they'll control soon?
Posted by: oj at May 8, 2008 10:26 AMIf the demographic breakdown (Arab-Jew) is 55-45, or 60-40, then partition will be inevitable. Just look northward to see what happens when there are inconclusive divisions in society.
Of course, the Palestinians could always ask for their own 'immigrants' to speed up the process. Supposedly there will be 100 million Yemenis in a few years.
Posted by: jim hamlen at May 8, 2008 10:57 AMI don't get it. Why will the Palestinian majority let the Jewish minority have a state?
Posted by: oj at May 8, 2008 1:32 PMThree letters - IDF.
Posted by: jim hamlen at May 8, 2008 2:12 PMTotally off base. This great issue of our time is not to be decided by speeches and majority votes.
Posted by: Lou Gots at May 11, 2008 3:12 AMJust demography and morality.
Posted by: oj at May 11, 2008 6:36 AM