Israeli right winger endorses one state solution!

[S.A.M.]

(was trying to sneak up from behind). Haven't even read your post closely yet. Anyway, I'm right here :bugeye:

Is VOA liberal or conservative?

American media on the one state and most important, on the Palestinian right of return.

Could One-State Proposal Provide Middle East Peace?

In recent years, with the peace process at a seeming standstill, some academics and policy analysts have revived calls for a single state. They propose one nation that would encompass present day Israel and Palestinian territories, offering equal citizenship for Jews, Christians, Muslims and others.

Most significantly, it would solve the issue that the two-state proposals have not been able to work out: It would allow for the return of some 4.5 million Palestinian refugees now living outside of Israel, the West Bank and Gaza.

Bernard Avishai: The End Of A Two-State Solution?
The alternative to a two-state solution is not a one-state solution. It is war, Bosnia-style. It is one thing to become exasperated by the occupation and to start throwing around the term "apartheid." It is quite another to start believing that this little hyperbole is all you need to know about the situation, or that a democratic solution for Israel and Palestine must ultimately conform to South Africa's -- one state, "one-person, one-vote." The idea that the occupation is producing a single country -- or that an eventual Arab majority will be able to vote Israel out of existence -- is about as realistic as expecting to drive in Jerusalem without being cut off in traffic.

The next decade will qualify as interesting times

 

[hypewaders]

VOA has a very different ideological pedigree than other national radio shows like BBC World Service or Deutsche Welle. VOA was heavily ideological (distinct, unabashed propaganda) in its WWII inception and throughout Cold War days. Then followed a slow steady trend toward integrity in recent years, and the neoconservatives never really completed a VOA takeover. I don't listen to VOA often, but editorial continuity in ideology at VOA is as scizophrenic as are the parade of US leaders. The last time I listened in, VOA was heavily criticizing the neglect of PTSD treatment for returning war veterans, and criticizing the DOD for de-emphasizing/repressing soldier suicide data.

Under the VOA umbrella, I think there are pockets of journalism, working hard to produce excellent and objective programming.

http://www.youtube.com/user/urduvoanews

I'm curious what you think of the objectivity in Urdu VOA coverage.

The next decade will qualify as interesting times

I think those of us saying that today will be astounded at our understatement in 10 years.

 

[S.A.M.]

http://www.youtube.com/user/urduvoanews

I'm curious what you think of the objectivity in Urdu VOA coverage.

Its essentially Pakistani news for, probably, Americans of Pakistani origin. I haven't monitored it since the news is extremely focused on the local perspective but it seems to be fairly objective in terms of the issues that are of concern to Pak expats. But perhaps a Pakistani could give a better assessment of how far that is correct.

 

[Mr.Spock]

John Mearshimer in The American Conservative:



Where are the American "liberals" on this issue?

" The bottom line is that Israel will not be able to maintain itself as an apartheid state over the long term because it will not be able to depend on the American Jewish community to defend such a reprehensible political order."

Iran and most of the Arab countries do. I dont see anyone criticizing them.

 

[S.A.M.]

Dammit!!!

The strangest part of it all, is that there will not be any peace in Israel while the left wing secularist has any hold at all. Its when only the "mad" settlers and religious Hasidim remain that peace will come to Jerusalem.

The right for some strange reason is more faithful to its own ideology than the left in Israel.

link

Endgame
It's an idea for solving the conflict that sounds like a vision of the end of days: Grant Israeli citizenship and equal rights to all the Palestinians in the West Bank. And who is proposing the one-state solution? Right-wingers and settlers

"The prospects of the negotiations with Mahmoud Abbas do not look promising. President Obama undoubtedly thinks otherwise, but if Abbas speaks for anyone, it's barely half the Palestinians. The chances of anything good coming of this are not great. Another possibility is Jordan. If Jordan were ready to absorb both more territories and more people, things would be much easier and more natural. But Jordan does not agree to this. Therefore, I say that we can look at another option: for Israel to apply its law to Judea and Samaria and grant citizenship to 1.5 million Palestinians."...

Once the sole preserve of the political margins, the approach is now being advocated by leading figures in Likud and among the settlers - people who are not necessarily considered extremists or oddballs. About a month before Arens published his article, Knesset Speaker Reuven Rivlin (Likud ) said, "It's preferable for the Palestinians to become citizens of the state than for us to divide the country." In an interview this week (see box ), Rivlin reiterates and elaborates this viewpoint. In May 2009, Likud MK Tzipi Hotovely organized a conference in the Knesset titled "Alternatives to Two States." Since then, on a couple of occasions, she has called publicly for citizenship to be granted to the Palestinians "in gradual fashion." Now she is planning to publish a position paper on the subject. Uri Elitzur, former chairman of the Yesha Council of Settlements and Netanyahu's bureau chief in his first term as prime minister, last year published an article in the settlers' journal Nekuda calling for the onset of a process, at the conclusion of which the Palestinians will have "a blue ID card [like Israelis], yellow license plates [like Israelis], National Insurance and the right to vote for the Knesset." Emily Amrousi, a former spokesperson for the Yesha Council, takes part in meetings between settlers and Palestinians and speaks explicitly of "one land in which the children of settlers and the children of Palestinians will be bused to school together."...


..."The assumption of the left is that once it hides behind the international border, everything will be permitted. But it's clear already now that not everything is permitted and that the principle of proportionality is shackling Israel in Gaza - so what will happen in Judea and Samaria? In fact, it goes even deeper. There is a moral failure here. After all, the left has long since stopped talking about peace and is resorting to a terminology of separation and segregation. They are also convinced that the confrontation will continue even afterward. The result is a solution that perpetuates the conflict and turns us from occupiers into perpetrators of massacres, to put it bluntly. It's the left that made us a crueler nation and also put our security at risk."

http://www.haaretz.com/magazine/friday-supplement/endgame-1.302128

 

[Fraggle Rocker]

Where are the American "liberals" on this issue?

You can take Carter as their spokesman on this issue. They're becoming increasingly impatient with Israel.

Obama ran as a liberal and compared to McCain he certainly is one. But Congress is not ready to cut Israel loose--our most loyal, nuclear-armed ally in the Middle East. So he's walking a tightrope trying to appear liberal with his socialized medicine and all that crap, but he's not taking any strong liberal positions in international politics.

The American Jewish community is becoming increasingly disenchanted with Israel. The old generation of Orthodox Zionist Jews are dying off, and the younger generation of secular assimilated Jews don't share their positions on the key issues.

The old Orthodox Zionist Jews have a stranglehold on Israel's politics. I read a couple of days ago that they intend to change the Law of Return if they can get away with it. They want to deny citizenship to converts who were converted by Reform or Conservative rabbis, and only accept those who were converted by Orthodox rabbis. That's going to keep a lot of mixed couples from immigrating to Israel because--at least in America--most mixed marriages of a Jew to a convert are NOT Orthodox. Orthodox Jews simply don't outmarry! This will help the Orthodox rabbis keep too many non-Orthodox people from becoming citizens--and voting.

 

[Mr.Spock]

7% of the population. The 30% was after immigration from Europe increased in the early 1900s.

http://israelipalestinian.procon.org/view.resource.php?resourceID=000636

History doesn't begin in 1948

it doesnt begin in 1914 either.

 

[StrawDog]

it doesnt begin in 1914 either.

And it certainly did not begin 5770 years ago. :m: