Six Arguments Against The One State Solution
July 28, 2008 23:56 by BackSpin Editor
Professor Saree Makdisi continues peddling a one-state solution:
The only question now is how much longer this negation can go on, and how long it will be before a state premised on it is superseded by its opposite, an affirmative, genuinely democratic, secular and multi-cultural state, the only kind that can offer Jewish Israelis and Muslim and Christian Palestinians alike a future free of discrimination, occupation, fear and violence.
The picture Makdisi paints is too good to be true.
Last year, I offered Five Arguments Against The One-State Solution. The sixth reason occured to me now. (Some of the links are updated.)
1. There’s no shame in the concept of a Jewish state for the Jewish people.
2. The one-state solution negates Palestinian national aspirations just as it negates Jewish national aspirations.
3. Jews and Arabs don’t share the language, history, religion, culture, or values required to make a bi-national effort work. Case in point: without an iron-fisted ruler, Yugoslavia disintegrated along ethnic lines and “Balkanization” became part of the world’s lexicon.
4. Among themselves, the Arabs have no history of successful multi-ethnic states. Lebanon is spiraling into civil war. Sectarian violence continue in Iraq (don’t rule out a partition). And Christian Arabs are fleeing the Mideast in droves. What’s to inspire Israeli confidence?
5. The South African model doesn’t apply. Among the many differences between the two regions, Benny Pogrund points out that South Africa’s blacks and whites had a cohesive leadership who could sell power-sharing to their constituencies, as well as economic interdependence. This is not the case with Israelis and Palestinians.
6. How can Israel possibly negotiate a one-state solution with West Bank Palestinians as if Hamastan — which the PA may now designate as a “rebel region” — doesn’t exist?
Brad Brzezinski
5:31 am
Jul 29, 2008
#5 The South African Solution:
It is correct to say it does not apply but it is also well worth mentioning that the South African and Zimbabwe solutions were the same and South Africa is currently headed down Rhodesia Road. This despite Mandela’s birthday and the general assumption that all is well.
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Cynic
8:10 pm
Aug 02, 2008
The South African model doesn’t apply as they, the South Africans, have still to resort to Suicide Bombers and bulldozers in their murderous criminal attacks on society.
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R.I.P. One-State Solution; Long Live 3-State Solution? | TWO METER ELEVEN
8:55 pm
Sep 12, 2012
[...] A bi-national state was an absolute non-starter for the Israeli mainstream. 6 Arguments Against the One-State Solution explains why. [...]
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Frank Adam
12:29 pm
Sep 20, 2012
As 2 above declares and 4 above infers, a one state solution negates Palestine Arab aspirations and mainstream.
The most important practical politics now is for Israel to avoid doing anything that looks as if she is winding up this “Oslo” episode in the overall conflict as the two state project first give her perfect legitimacy to treat the Arabs EAST of the Green Line as foreigners to whom there are no obligations of state services of any sort.
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Gary Katz
10:59 pm
Oct 24, 2012
The problem of Palestinian leadership is that they act like they’re the ones who won the war in ’67.
They have yet to show that they deserve any upgrade in the status of their political limbo. At best, a country called “Palestine” would be a terrorist, welfare state. Ugh, no thanks!
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Frank Adam
6:41 pm
Oct 28, 2012
Has anybody ever seen or met an Arab or Arab state that is: “an affirmative, genuinely democratic, secular and multi-cultural state?”
While Arabs and Moslem extremists demonstrate with the underlisted slogans and catch phrases, why should we believe any guff from any Arab apologist talking Enlightenment liberties as taquiya for the benefit of Western useful idiots?”
* “We love death more than you love life!” So affirmative!
*”Down with all the man-made laws [corollary to Sharia supremacy]!” So democratic!
*”Hang/Kill/Execute all who insult Islam!” So secular and so multicultural!
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Gary Katz
6:54 pm
Oct 28, 2012
Frank, Turkey kind of used to be, but Erdogan has been forcing it down more of an Islamist road.
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Ed Hausman
6:44 pm
Oct 29, 2012
Turkey is not an Arab state. But one reason their republic minimized ethnic conflict was the widespread transfer of populations and territories at the time of the Ataturk revolution. Only suddenly now, Israel is told that transfer would be “ethnic cleansing”.
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Gary Katz
7:03 pm
Oct 29, 2012
Ed, good point. I was thinking more along the lines of Middle Eastern Muslim states.
As to your second point, you’re right again; Israel has always been subjected to a double standard, compared to all the other countries in the world and all the history of the world. All the people who say Israel stole Palestinian land conveniently forget that the land belonged to the Jews long before the Arabs acquired it. To overcome this simple logic, I’ve noticed that Palestinian leadership is now starting to claim their ancestors were Canaanites!
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Frank Adam
7:24 pm
Oct 31, 2012
First the Palestine and other Arabs have been stealing history at least since a sa student in the early 60′s I first heard a claim to be Canaanites in that the Arab in question was accusing Joshua of stealing the land of Israel.
Second the only reason the Arabs fled or were turfed out of battlefield villages in 1948 was they were intending to do the same to the Jews of the country.
This sort of complaint by a criminal that the has been forestalled on his own evil intentions is in Israeli idiom…”to play the robbed cossack.” Everybody,”Ahhhhh….”
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Gary Katz
7:43 pm
Oct 31, 2012
Frank, you’re right. It’s somewhat analogous (although not completely) to someone who stops making payments on a car, the dealer repossesses it, and the guy accuses the dealership of stealing his car. Ironically, Muhammad admitted Israel was the land of the Jews, a fact conveniently ignored by many Muslims.
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