Israel needs the two-state solution not to please the gentiles, but because of Jewish values, and the lessons of Jewish history.
It was a matter of time, and the writing has been on the wall. The Palestinians have warned a number of times that if negotiations would not move forward, they would resort to either of two strategies: the first is to dismantle the Palestinian Authority and to hand Israel the responsibility for administering the West-Bank; the second is to ask the United Nations to recognize a Palestinian State within the 1967 borders.
Fortunately for Israel, the second strategy looks more likely now. Argentina's Cristina Kirchner has joined Brazil's Lula and recognized the Palestinian state. They probably set the precedent that will draw in more South American countries, and many countries of the Third World. Quite a few Western countries will be happy to join. Soon the Palestinians will be certain to have a majority in the UN General Assembly and will ask for recognition, learning from the Zionist movement that achieved the same on Nov. 29, 1947.
Is this bad for the Jews? I don't think so, even though it would be vastly preferable for Israel to strive actively towards the implementation of the two-state solution rather than being dragged into it kicking, screaming and haggling for more gifts from Uncle Sam for a ninety day settlement freeze.
But, the self-appointed defenders of Israel's interests from the right will argue, "This is naive! Bibi has been vindicated by the last installment of Wikileaks; we all know now that the Palestinian problem is not the real issue in the Middle East! The real problem is Iran! We can now finally convince the world that they should stop pressuring us on Palestine!"
Well, it's time to clarify something. Those of us who have, for decades, argued that Israel needs to stop ruling the Palestinians have, in the last years, reverted to arguing that this is in Israel's interest because Israel is maneuvering itself into unprecedented international isolation. But this was basically a rhetorical ploy to reach narrow-minded right wingers.
The real reason why Israel needs the two-state solution is not that we want to please the gentiles. The true motivation for insisting on the two-state solution is that we want this state to have a Jewish character. By Jewish we don't mean that it should be a theocracy; or that it should give Jews more rights than to Arabs. We mean that the State of Israel must learn the lesson of the history of persecution that Jews have endured for two Millennia.
This persecution was due to one of the most unpalatable characteristics of human nature: to think and feel in tribal terms. Jews were persecuted because they had a different religion; because they behaved differently, and because they insisted on their right to determine their own identity. First we were persecuted on religious grounds, then on spurious racial conceptions of purity.
It has taken humanity most of history, including the Holocaust, to come to realize that we need a conception of human rights that transcends the boundary of all nation states. The overwhelming majority of Jews around the world have enthusiastically embraced this idea. If only the world had reacted to the Nazis the way they, belatedly, reacted in Bosnia and, just in time, in Kosovo! If only it had been clear then that all human beings, never mind their color or creed, have the same rights!
But, the standard right-wing interlocutor will say, "This whole conception of human rights is a sham! Look at Iran; look at Saudi Arabia; look at Egypt; look at Hamas; they keep using the notion of human rights while trampling them in their own countries. Why should we be the ones that take the idea of universal human rights seriously?"
The answer is simple: because it is based on universal justice. We Jews pride ourselves that we have upheld notions of justice as non-negotiable; that we have always believed that ethics is not a matter of power, but of objective goodness. That's why Jews played a central role in the Civil Rights movement in the US; that's why Jews fight against racism and other forms of discrimination all over the world. The argument, 'but others don't behave as they should', has never been the Jewish way of thought.
Hence, it is a pity if Israel will have to be dragged into the two-state solution by international pressure rather than moving there on its own initiative. The Jewish people has survived because it has never believed that might is right; because it has insisted that there is no compromise on issues of principle. I firmly believe that the current wave of nationalism sweeping Israel is but a brief historical episode; that the majority of Israelis have been swept into it by panic, manipulated by professional fear-mongers. Once we return to the Jewish tradition of tikkun olam, of sticking to principle rather than being guided by fear, we will reconnect to our historical source of strength.
Israeli–Palestinian conflict - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
PBS NewsHour: The Israeli-Palestinian Conflict
Why the United States needs to press for a "two-state" solution ...
A One-to-Two-State Solution - NYTimes.com
Time Running Out For A Two-State Solution? - 60 Minutes - CBS News
eric 14: by 'pleasing the gentiles' I'm addressing an unfortunate tendency on Israel's right to claim that Israeli liberals who want the two state solution are 'self-hating Jews' who want to 'please the gentiles'. My piece is meant to make clear that Jewish liberals, both in Israel and around the world, have a clearly defined ethical worldview. Of course we share many aspects of this worldview with liberals from nations, ethnicities and religions.
NTT: quite unfortunately I am not just preaching only to the converted. If there were not many right-leaning Jews (and right-wing American Christian supporters of Israel) who do not think that Israel should strive for the two-state solution on its own, I wouldn't have to write this.
Of course there are risks involved in the two-state solution. Many Palestinians, primarily of course Hamas, have not accepted Israel's existence. But it is an illusion to think that the status quo is tenable, either politically or morally.
Finally: I don't expect any positive developments from Netanyahu's current government, but I hope that sanity will prevail in the end.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tC05YXbYF8Q
and Peace on Earth.
so what exactly do you mean?
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You know what is really cool about multiculturalism is the way you can be insulted by those different from yourself but it's okay! I speak as a non-Muslim non-Jew, non-Christian, non-atheist, non-agnostic. But hey it's okay I don't think that's defining me negatively.
Two state solution leaves Jerusalem insoluble. Make Jerusalem self-governing city which can still be religious capital of Judaism but not political capital of Israel.
I am in not in favor of a negotiated peace. I would like an imposed peace. At the moment we have an imposed war. A negotiated peace is impossible. One gentile's opinion..
You also argue that ""Israel needs to stop ruling the Palestinians". What I don't understand is: who are you arguing with?? With the vast majority of Israelis who (in many polls, as well as in many elections), had said precisely that? With Netanyahu who said of Palestinians: "We do not want to rule over them. We do not want to run their lives. We do not want to force our flag and our culture on them. In my vision of peace, there are two free peoples living side by side in this small land, with good neighborly relations and mutual respect, each with its flag, anthem and government, with neither one threatening its neighbor's security and existence"?
You, Mr. Strenger, are preaching to the choir. Unfortunately, the Palestinian "leadership" does NOT support "two states for two peoples". At most, their version of "two-states" boils down to "one for Arabs now, the other for Arabs in the near future". This is not willingness to make peace, but more of the same Arab struggle to deny the Jewish nation a state of their own. This is the only obstacle to peace and the only reason why, unfortunately for the Palestinians, they will probably never have a state of their own.
Kosovo organ donor ring: the Israeli connection
Most international trafficking rings have involved wealthy Israeli patients on 'transplant tours' (The Guardian)
And the case you cite appears to concern a Turkish Surgeon with Israeli brokers.
As the Jerusalem Post (cough cough...) stated. "...media like to shed light on supposed Israeli involvement in organ trafficking, but what this case shows is that the networks behind the story have much deeper and more disturbing roots."
It is simply about evil people and that transcends nationality.
"In a 1938 speech, "Our Debt to Zionism", he said: "I should much rather see reasonable agreement with the Arabs on the basis of living together in peace than the creation of a Jewish state. My awareness of the essential nature of Judaism resists the idea of a Jewish state with borders, an army, and a measure of temporal power, no matter how modest. I am afraid of the inner damage Judaism will sustain—especially from the development of a narrow nationalism within our own ranks, [ ] ."[13]"
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Albert_Einstein's_political_views
Human Rights are universal , the author recognises this.
Given the distrust between the parties, all we can ask for is human decency (cf Avishai Margalit's excellent 'The Decent Society') that respects human rights; and that, for the time being, means the two-state solution.
This gets me to the second point: I have no pretensions of defining what 'true' Jewishness is. But I most definitely have a preference for the modern version of Jewish identity that has made an effort to draw conclusions from the horrors of the 20th century - including the holocaust. I am completely aware that there are highly ethnocentric versions of Judaism for which I have zero sympathy. So while I cannot speak for all Jews on the planet, my perspective reflects the majority of Jews on the planet, who are liberal in their politics and universalist (rather than tribal) in their ethics, even though a vocal minority attracts most of the attention.
The ideas of moving to Universalism are the roots of Christianity, which is, of course, rooted in Judaism. Universalism was a big threat to the Tribal leaders and tribal social structures of the times.
You mention the Bosnia, but do not mention recent attempt at the complete Genocide of Bosniaks.
Barak, the Israeli Defense Minister recently said Israel needs continued aid from the US because Israel is surrounded by different systems. Think about what he is saying there. Sounds like the Serbian Nationalist argument to justify the slaughter.
"Israels Right To Exist" is a Divine right, isn't it?
Or, is it just "right of conquest"?
Either way, from all we've seen for the past 50 years, "Jewish Values", then and now, condones wholesale thievery and murder, ... as long as the "chosen people" can get away with it.
We don't have to visit Israel to know that non-Jews there are 2nd & 3rd class citizens.
That's the "reality".
However I wish to differ on this point:
If Israel is "dragged kicking and screaming" into a two-state solution, that mean a few extra things:
1) Israel did not give up on Judaism's 3000 year old Holy sites currently in Hebron, Nablus and elsewhere.
2) Israel can haggle for more in the eventually-forced-upon deal