The nearly complete mastery of U.S. politics that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu again displayed in Washington last week belies a dark reality for the Jewish State. That is the startling prospect that it has sown the seeds of its own destruction, one which will come to its ghastly fruition in a matter of a few years.
That stark judgment is not mine alone. Many of us who have marveled at Israeli's achievements in building a thriving state and society have hoped it would secure this remarkable feat by coming to terms with the people whose land it once was, and to do so on fair and sustainable terms. It is increasingly clear this will never happen with Israel's cooperation, however.
Three developments in the past week are emblematic of the coming disaster.
First is the fabricated fear of Iran's nuclear program, one which poses no immediate threat to Israel -- much less an "existential" threat -- and very likely never will. Even if Iran at some future time managed to build a few nuclear weapons, Israel's nuclear arsenal (reportedly 200 bombs at the ready) would serve as a deterrent, to say nothing of U.S. capability.
In this light, then, Netanyahu's alarmist rhetoric about Iran, echoed by his legions in the United States, really serves another purpose -- taking the Palestinian issue off the political agenda here and there for the foreseeable future. President Obama has not mentioned Palestine or the "peace process" for several months. As everyone admits, without U.S. pressure, the peace process -- already moribund -- is dead.
Without fear of even a discouraging word, the Israeli state punishes Palestinians in its manifold ways: invading and trashing a television station run by one of the most internationally respected Palestinians in the West Bank, for example, or conducting air strikes in Gaza. The notorious Jewish settlements in the West Bank continue to be built at an alarming rate. Those agitating for a "Greater Israel" that will in effect include all of Palestine, and one more beholden to religious militants, are getting their wish.
A second, ongoing drama is the Arab uprising, with attention now focused on Syria. Israel last week offered humanitarian assistance to civilians brutalized by Assad's regime. But Netanyahu wants a weakened Assad to remain in power, just as he wanted Mubarak to survive the rebellion in Egypt. A democratized Arab world will demand -- is demanding -- an end to the occupation of Palestine, and the issue itself radicalizes the Arab uprising to the benefit of the Salafis, the most "Islamist" factions that will support Hamas and possibly a new intifada.
Just two weeks ago in the ancient Al-Azhar mosque in Cairo, Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh vowed to liberate Jerusalem to the ecstatic roar of the Egyptian worshipers -- a scene, as many observed, that would have been unthinkable a short time ago. Egypt is forming a strong relationship to Hamas, a sharp change in regional dynamics.
Instead of seeing the Arab transformation as a serious, even mortal challenge, Israel is digging in its heels and dismissing the small prospects for a peace agreement with the Palestinians -- a move that would neuter many of the Arab radicals.
A fitful and fragile détente between Fatah, which controls the West Bank through the Palestinian Authority, and the more militant Hamas, which controls Gaza, is a tacit admission by the Palestinians that they also must tack with the democratic winds. But the moves to unify are decried by Israel as a sure fire way to bury the peace process for good.
The third recent and noteworthy event occurred not in the region but in Cambridge, Massachusetts -- a student-organized conference at Harvard on a "one state" solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. For many, such a solution -- recognizing that a two-state agreement is improbable and that there is in effect one state from the Mediterranean to the Jordan River -- is a harbinger of the destruction of Israel. Demographically it likely is, since Arabs would outnumber Jews in that state in a few years. Were Palestinians to be given basic human rights, like voting, they would likely be in control.
Even the faint prospect of a one-state solution proffered in an academic conference was so upsetting that the Israel Lobby condemned Harvard for hosting the two-day meeting and leading panderer Sen. Scott Brown (R-MA) demanded that Harvard cancel this exercise in free inquiry and speech.
One can easily see why Israelis are alarmed by one-state talk. But of course it is the logical outcome of what Israel is actually doing. It shows no sign of serious negotiations to create a Palestinian state. It builds settlements in East Jerusalem and the West Bank with practically no restraint. It isolates Gaza, strengthening the hand of the most extreme elements. It scoffs at the democratic impulses of the Arab transformation, and may soon be surrounded by Arab states not longer willing to accept the status quo. And it attempts -- successfully so far -- to distract everyone with inflated threat assessments regarding Iran.
When Palestinian statehood prospects are a shambles and a Greater Israel is a fact on the ground, the global community -- minus Washington, of course -- will insist that Palestinians be given citizenship in Israel. Thus a one-state solution is indeed unfolding before our eyes, a creation not of Cambridge academics or Arab militants, but the State of Israel itself.
William Astore: With Iran, Threat Inflation Is the Threat
At the end the more they kill, the more they kill the peace.
Everyone in that area has lost someone from their family.
All men and women in Israel go to army service and breath that stressfull military air and motivated to see muslims as target enemy. And Palestinians are under invasion and everyday they see Israel as the reason of their all problems and suffering.
After so much blood it's nearly impossible to finish the blood and find the peace.
Even they divide the country and make 2 free countries and deal on every single problem, this social and psychological trauma can't be forgetten untill 3rd generation. I mean it would take 50-60 years to forget the war if peace could built today.
For a faster solution Russians should have attack to Jerusalem and try to invade while Jewish and Muslim people fight together to protect their city which is even funny for a movie script but more realistic than the current solution expectations.
http://open.salon.com/blog/mzafrullah/2010/03/09/a_synagogue_and_an_odd_memory
As I note in the above article the Jews have suffered throughout their history because of their trait of using their advantage to the hilt. (Now, come to think of it the immortal Shakespeare captured this trait in “The Merchant of Venice”!)
One can easily see why you're alarmed at the Jewish state. The Palestinians have rejected 3 state offers and have offered nothing but war in return. It must be difficult for you think straight when the annoying reality points to Arab leadership avoiding peace.
At this point in time the coalition of Hamas and Fatah hangs by a treat but that will not be so forever. If there is no more land to create a second state, that is acceptable to the Palestinians, the end of the Jewish State is unavoidable. Israel will be forced to allow Palestinians to vote and they will vote for their interests. When that occurs Jews will be leaving Israel in droves. They will move to either this country or Europe. It must be difficult to live in a siege oriented society for all your life.
They must really believe something is going to happen that will make all the Palestinians just go away. Whatever they imagine, it's got to be ugly for everyone.
Chris Hayes Up program this past Sunday ventured into territory that MSNBC and many other MSM outlets have refused to go. Again could easily be too little too late to support a two state solution
http://upwithchrishayes.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2012/03/11/10644505-sundays-show-march-11#comments
I am amazed by how often I am hearing many of the individuals (all non Jews) I know who have been lobbying, petitioning, meeting with their Reps for decades about this issue who are now calling for a one state solution based on what Israel has been doing by building and expanding illegal settlements. Seems like the efforts and willingness of many more young and older Jews who have just been willing to get involved with this critical issue over the last five to 10 years (better late than never) may possibly be too little too late. Israel's actions and the willingness of many to ignore this issue for decades has created a situation where the one state solution is the only solution.
I don't know which is more disgusting- right-wing Israel stealing more Palestinian land and water or right-wing Israel lying about want a two state solution when they are doing everything in their power to make that impossible.
They don't want two states. They only what ONE. JUDENREIN PALESTINE
Finally, I would caution you against relying on the 1.1% figure as if it were some sort of cure-all. In broad terms, having Israeli settlements on only 1.1% of the West Bank makes it seem like it would be extremely simple for Israel to just move back to the Green Line, since it's only 1.1% after all, and the continuing refusal to do so can only be explained by Israel's intransegence (that is, if the 1.1% figure is accurate).
The only ones who suffer from these constant predictions of impending 'victory' are the Arabs themselves. Rather than conceding over what is a minuscule piece of territory (circa 200 times smaller than the combined area of the Arab League states!), this constant brainwashing causes the Arabs to obsess about it, while ignoring the infinitely more pressing issues in their own society. The result is lack of progress, so that the economic and cultural gap between Arabs and Israelis (and the rest of the world!) is widening...
I don't think the Palestinian government should be able to deny citizenship to such settlers; when you take the land, you also take the people on it, but requiring the renunciation of Israeli citizenship for the retention of Palestinain citizenship and residency is certainly withon their range of options.
a) disassociate itself completely from Israeli atrocities,
or
b) use Israel as a proxy to take on everyone who displeases them.
It would be interesting to find out which you find the most attractive.............
So you are advocating that the US militarily overthrow the democratically elected government of an ally??
You have really lost it.
The latest IAF extra-judicial assassination & attacks on Gaza are just one example of the "Jewish state" & current right-wing leadersracism, excuses & provocations to refuse negotiations; premeditated conflict & illegal colonization of Occupied Territories is spelling the end of Israel, and deservedly so.
I guess Netanyahu was so pissed he didn't get the US suckered into war with Iran or advanced weapons he wanted he just had to attack Gaza; a cowardly act by a cowardly leader with no vision for the secure future for Israel or Palestinians. Only with a just resolution will there be peace in