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Will the two-state solution go the way of the defunct peace process?

Binyamin Netanyahu’s proposals are likely to be nothing more than a rehash of approaches that have f

In the last week, press reports have suggested that the Israeli prime minister, Binyamin Netanyahu, is preparing to give a key speech on the peace process in the next few months, and many have flagged up as the hook his planned visit to the US in May. Claims of an imminent bold proposal have met with a good deal of scepticism from Palestinians and Netanyahu's domestic political opponents alike. Analysts have described the talk of a new plan as a "trial balloon" and a "public relations exercise aimed first and foremost at Washington".

Netanyahu's new plan, should it materialise, is rumoured to be based on "the establishment of a Palestinian state within temporary borders" as part of an "interim peace agreement with the Palestinian Authority". Other reports have been even vaguer, claiming that Netanyahu is proposing "a phased approach to peacemaking", but leaving open whether this includes temporary borders.

Such an approach is similar to proposals previously put forward by the foreign minister, Avigdor Lieberman, and ex-defence minister Shaul Mofaz, both of whom emphasised the need for a long-term interim agreement. Lieberman's plan is said to entail Israel holding on to at least 50 per cent of the West Bank, while Mofaz would have Israel keep 40 per cent of the territory.

Last week, the senior Fatah official Nabil Shaath claimed that five months ago Netanyahu told the Palestinian Authority president, Mahmoud Abbas, that Israel would demand control of 40 per cent of the West Bank for "an extended period".

These percentages correspond to the major settlements built by Israel in the West Bank since 1967, and the wider infrastructure of colonisation and de facto annexation. As the human rights group B'Tselem has described, 42 per cent of the land area of the West Bank is controlled by settlements. Human Rights Watch's report Separate and Unequal detailed how the 60 per cent of the West Bank known as "Area C", where Israel has "full control of security, planning and building", contains "substantial amounts of water resources, grazing and agricultural land", as well as the "land reserves" required by Palestinian towns for development and growth. UN officials have estimated (PDF) that 44 per cent of the West Bank has been "largely designated for the use of Israeli settlements or the Israeli military".

If Netanyahu is indeed preparing a proposal along these lines, then it is nothing more than a rehash of approaches that have repeatedly failed. This "new" way forward by the Netanyahu/Lieberman coalition brings together the essence of Oslo ("phased transition") with Israeli intransigence (unilateral definition of "borders" and imposition of conditions). Remember that it was the former PM Yitzhak Rabin who in 1995 stressed that "the country's final borders" would include "a united Jerusalem" and key settlement blocs.

There are other recent indications of Netanyahu's intentions, such as his visit to the Jordan Valley, where he reiterated Israel's aim of maintaining a presence along the West Bank's eastern flank. The PM has appointed a radical right-winger to lead the National Security Council, while talking with the far-right National Union party about joining the coalition. Even as he promises to demolish unauthorised settlement outposts built on private Palestinian land, Netanyahu is legalising "settlements and homes built without permission on state land".

Perhaps one of the more revealing comments this month came from an interview with Israel's strategic affairs minister and deputy PM, Moshe Ya'alon. Responding to a question about a Palestinian state, Ya'alon said that the "intention is to leave the situation as it is: autonomous management of civil affairs, and if they want to call it a state, let them call it that". The government, he said, will "keep what exists now" and let the Palestinians "call it whatever they want".

In other words, the Israeli government has nothing to offer except the same tired messaging while apartheid is consolidated. It is a short-term strategy that is taking the entire "two-state solution" the same way of the defunct peace process.

Ben White is a freelance journalist specialising in Israel/Palestine.

54 comments

Bolshevik's picture

When Daniele says 'the NS should look into this' does she mean that she will ask her fellow Islamist Mehdi Hasan to see what he can do to eliminate all non-Islamist, all pro-Israeli, all pro-Jewish al anti-racist (ie anti anti-Semitic) comments from this site? Oh and by the way perhaps Mehdi and Daniele can insert a green crescent on the NS logo? How dare these subhuman Jews use a gentile site to expose our lies!!!

sven king's picture

PM Netanyahus Response to the Savage Murder of the Fogel Family

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=avpvqiRIsTI&feature=player_embedded

sven king's picture

Islamic Antisemitism

The Koran on the Jews
“Strongest among men in enmity to the believers wilt thou find the Jews…” (5:82).

“Curses were pronounced on those among the Children of Israel who rejected Faith, by the tongue of David and of Jesus the son of Mary: because they disobeyed and persisted in excesses.” (5:78).

“Is it ever so that when they make a covenant a party of them set it aside? The truth is, most of them believe not. And when there came to them a messenger from Allah [Muhammad], confirming what was with them [the Torah], a party of the people of the Book threw away the Book of Allah behind their backs, as if (it had been something) they did not know!” (2:100-101).

“The People of the Book know well that that is the truth from their Lord. Nor is Allah unmindful of what they do” (2:143-144).

“Fight those who believe not in Allah nor the Last Day, nor hold that forbidden which hath been forbidden by Allah and His Messenger, nor acknowledge the religion of Truth, (even if they are) of the People of the Book, until they pay the Jizya with willing submission, and feel themselves subdued” (9:29).

“And the Jews say: Ezra is the son of Allah, and the Christians say: The Messiah is the son of Allah. That is their saying with their mouths. They imitate the saying of those who disbelieved of old. Allah (Himself) fighteth against them. How perverse are they!” (9:30)

The Jews killed their prophets (2:61; 2:87; 2:91; 3:21; 3:112; 3:181; 3:183; 4:155; 5:70), and boast “we killed the Messiah, Jesus the son of Mary” (4:157).

“Allah hath heard the taunt of those who say: ‘Truly, Allah is indigent and we are rich!’ We shall certainly record their word and (their act) of slaying the prophets in defiance of right, and We shall say: ‘Taste ye the penalty of the Scorching Fire!’” (3:181)

“Why do not the rabbis and the doctors of Law forbid them from their (habit of) uttering sinful words and eating things forbidden? Evil indeed are their works.” (5:63)

“The Jews say: ‘Allah’s hand is tied up.’ Be their hands tied up and be they accursed for the (blasphemy) they utter. Nay, both His hands are widely outstretched: He giveth and spendeth (of His bounty) as He pleaseth. But the revelation that cometh to thee from Allah increaseth in most of them their obstinate rebellion and blasphemy. Amongst them we have placed enmity and hatred till the Day of Judgment. Every time they kindle the fire of war, Allah doth extinguish it; but they (ever) strive to do mischief on earth. And Allah loveth not those who do mischief” (5:64).

The Jews “strive to do mischief on earth” – that is, fasaad, for which the punishment is specified in 5:33: “they will be killed or crucified, or have their hands and feet on alternate sides cut off, or will be expelled out of the land.”

sven king's picture

The Koran puts forward a clear, consistent image of the Jews: they are scheming, treacherous liars and the most dangerous enemies of the Muslims. This theological tenet provides a basis for Islam’s deeply-rooted anti-Semitism. Regardless of the actions of Jewish individuals today, and regardless of what policies the State of Israel follows, the Koran justifies an unrelenting form of anti-Semitism that will be extremely difficult to root out from the Muslim world.

And this is by no means confined to an “extremist” fringe. The Koranic impulse toward anti-Semitism is evident in the attacks on Jews emanating from Islamic preachers and scholars worldwide. Take, for example, “Jews as Depicted in the Qur’an,” an article posted in 2004 on the website Islam Online. The website’s founders include the prominent Islamic theologian Sheikh Yusuf al-Qaradawi, who is hailed as a moderate reformist by Western Islamic apologistsThe article, written by Sheikh ‘Atiyyah Saqr, formerly of Al-Azhar University, copiously cites the Koran in depicting the Jews as a gang of corrupt, deceitful cut-throats.

The Jews, he says, “used to fabricate things and falsely ascribe them to Allah.” Supporting this, he quotes the verse condemning Jews for claiming Allah’s hand was fettered (5:64) and another asserting that some People of the Book say “we have no duty to the Gentiles” and in doing so, “speak a lie concerning Allah knowingly” (3:75). He adds a third verse in which some Jews, asked for money, scoff that “Allah, forsooth, is poor, and we are rich!” (3:181)

The Jews, continues Saqr, “love to listen to lies.” This is essentially a straight rendering of the Koran’s claim that the Jews are “men who will listen to any lie” (5:41). They also spread them: “There is a party of them who distort the Scripture with their tongues, that ye may think that what they say is from the Scripture, when it is not from the Scripture. And they say: It is from Allah, when it is not from Allah; and they speak a lie concerning Allah knowingly” (3:78). They dare to distort “Divine Revelation and Allah’s Sacred Books. Allah says in this regard: ‘Therefore woe be unto those who write the Scripture with their hands and then say, ‘This is from Allah,’ that they may purchase a small gain therewith. Woe unto them for that their hands have written, and woe unto them for that they earn thereby’” (2:79).

sven king's picture

Saqr also notes that in the Koran Allah says the Jews have broken “their covenant,” and consequently he has “cursed them and made hard their hearts” (5:13). Indeed, says Saqr, “they never keep their promises or fulfill their words” – to demonstrate this, he quotes this Koranic passage: “Is it ever so that when ye make a covenant a party of you set it aside? The truth is, most of them believe not.” (2:100).

The Jews also refuse to believe in the prophets Allah has sent them, even Moses, telling him: “O Moses! We will not believe in thee till we see Allah plainly” (2:55). They are hypocrites (2:14; 2:44) who “grow arrogant” before the messengers of Allah, refusing to believe in some and killing others (2:87). They are so arrogant and haughty that they “claimed to be the sons and of Allah and His beloved ones” – a fault they share with the Christians: “The Jews and Christians say: We are sons of Allah and His loved ones” (5:18).

All that represents damage the Jews do to their own souls, but Saqr -- and the Koran itself – doesn’t stop there. The Jews also wish “evil for people” and try to “mislead” them. “This is clear,” says Saqr, “in the verse that reads: ‘Many of the People of the Scripture long to make you disbelievers after your belief, through envy on their own account, after the truth hath become manifest unto them’” (2:109). They “feel pain to see others in happiness and are gleeful when others are afflicted with a calamity,” as is demonstrated, according to Saqr, by this verse: “If a lucky chance befall you, it is evil unto them, and if disaster strike you they rejoice thereat” (3:120). The Koran, Saqr points out, accuses them of “taking usury when they were forbidden it, and of their devouring people's wealth by false pretences” (4:161).

Even worse, “it is easy for them to slay people and kill innocents,” for “nothing in the world is dear to their hearts than shedding blood and murdering human beings.” Saqr grounds this on the Koran’s assertion that the Jews “slew the prophets wrongfully” (2:61). The Jews are characterized, says Saqr, by “cowardice. . . . To this, the Qur’an refers when saying: ‘Ye are more awful as a fear in their bosoms than Allah. That is because they are a folk who understand not. They will not fight against you in a body save in fortified villages or from behind walls” (59:14). Saqr also excoriates the Jews for their “love for this worldly life” – as does the Koran: “And thou wilt find them greediest of mankind for life and (greedier) than the idolaters” (2:96).

Saqr concludes on an optimistic note, voicing hopes that some day Muslims will be able to mete out punishment to their enemies; “Almighty Allah told us that He’d send to them people who’d pour on them rain of severe punishment that would last till the Day of Resurrection. All this gives us glad tidings of the coming victory of Muslims over them once Muslims stick to strong faith and belief in Allah and adopt the modern means of technology.”

One should consider Saqr’s interpretation in light of Iran’s feverish attempts to acquire a nuclear bomb, alongside the repeated vows by Iranian president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad to wipe Israel off the map. For Ahmadinejad and his ilk, eliminating the Jewish state is not just a foreign policy goal; it is a religious imperative.

Luddite's picture

Joseph A . Luddite - don't make me laugh. Who's trying to make you laugh, you disgusting anti-semite!!!

Joseph A's picture

I am a Christian - You may want to look in the Bible - plenty of very strong anti-Jew feelings, message, beliefs et al.. whatever you want to call it in there.. So if the game is to use holy books to find extrimism I believe all the Abrahamic faiths have something that we can all point to that is agaisnt others. BUT still I don't expect you to do that. Cue.. the antisemite charge.. and all other nonsense under the sun... A further word of encouragement to you Daniele, the voice of reason shall ultimately prevail against those of these bigots of varying shades.. must just grate on them that Muslims dare to exist in the world. 'All Animals are equal' clever fable and we shall all remain equal whether you like it or not people..

Daniele1's picture

Put your hand up any one who doesn't think that Israel is Paradise on Earth and its people the loveliest, most generous and most neighbourly on Earth!
You are all disgusting anti-Semites!!!

Nate's picture

For a two-state solution that avoids the problems with territorial division and occupation, take a look at the recent issue of the Middle East Journal. The article on the "Interspersed Nation-State System" describes the theoretical and functional basis for a state structure that exists primarily over people rather than land. This means a two-state solution that does not need to divide territory.

Under this concept, the Israelis and Palestinians would each have a separate state; however, citizens of each state would have access to 100% of Israel-Palestine. This satisfies the nationalist urges on each side and also resolves many sticky issues including the right of return and the settlements.

jdledell's picture

I am an Israeli citizen having lived there in the 1980's. My entire side of the family reside in the settlements and I am still in Israel twice a year for the Holidays.

While apartheid is a loaded term it comes closer to describing the conditions in the West Bank than anything else. Palestinians who are citizens of Israel do live better than fellow arabs in other countries. However, the same CANNOT be said for Palestinians living in either Gaza or the West Bank.

Netanyahu's plan is to permanently control the Jordan Valley as well as most of the rest of Area C. That leaves Jenin, Nablus, Ramallah, Bethlehem, Jericho and Hebron as six isolated city Bantustans. By definitrion that is apartheid.

Don't bother calling me an anti-semite of self-hating Jew. My grandfather was Irgun and my family has all done IDF duty.

Milton's picture

Put your hand up anyone who doesn't think islamofascist Iran, islamofascist Sudan, Hamas (gay-crucifying)controlled Gaza, fascist Syria, apartheid Pakistan, Islamist Saudi Arabia, loony Libya, authoritarian Jordan, Hezbollah controlled Lebanon, Islamist turkey are not paradise on earth and their peoples the most generous and neighbourly on earth. Golly you must be islamophobes! And isn't it just amazing how these vile states just don't seem to attract any criticism from the above commentators.

Daniele1's picture

Milton:
Sorry, silly me! I should have said:
"you are all anti-Semites, self-hating jews or/and Islamofascists AND Nazis."
Just because we criticise Israel doesn't mean we love Islamist States.It is like saying "you dilike spiders, so you must love snakes"."you critice Israel, you must be a Nazi".
What make you write such stupid statements? I don't even think that you believe it. You are being disingenuous in order to shut down the debate and intimidate or exasperate commenters to the point when they conclude that there is no point commenting about this issue.
I'll tell you my opinion about those states when we discuss them. But after all, Israel is the civilized state, you keep telling us, it should therefore respect human rights and show the example to all these "savages".
Jedledell:
Thanks for a helpful contribution. But be prepared to be called a self-hating Jew.

Dibble's picture

No Daniele it is the selectivity of your 'criticism' that is objectionable. I don't recall a single criticism from you when the Islamist butchers of Sudan murdered 400,000 people in Darfur simply because they were non-Arab Blacks. I don't recall any criticism from you about the persecution of Christians in Pakistan. I don't recall any criticism from you about the persecution and murder of the Bahaiis and Kurds and women and gays and Christians in Iran. But Israel .... Oh golly it's just beyond the pale. The selectivity is attributable to your anti-semitism.

Bolshevik's picture

Joseph A you take exception to the use of the term 'primitive savages' to those who stab to death a baby and describe the act as a 'heroic operation' tell what would describe them as - enlightened?

Ariely's picture

What s the status in Muslim countries?
*Iran- more than 200 gays have been executed
*Iran- Teachers were hanged up because teaching Bahai religion.
*Iran Women low- Virgin women to be executed is raped by a guard ahead execution.
*All over the Muslim countries: Christians are being persecuted and are under run.
*Building or repairing of non Muslim shrines is either forbidden or severely restricted
*Limited woman rights
* Acceptable honor killing of doters and wife's
*People conversing from Islam to other religions may get by low death sentence
* Political parties are either forbidden or limited.
*Iran- By low only Shia Muslim cab be president, army chief, judge.

The so called human rights organization or democratic supporters don't blame, vote resolutions or demonstrate against Muslim countries.
What is the definition of this behavior? Hypocrite!
--------
The Arabs/Iran are building a false Myth.
They will not be confused with real facts!
Unfortunately some innocent people (or not?) from the west are joining the false chorus.

By the Israeli law and practice all citizens are:
Equal by low-----Full political rights----– Equals in universal human rights –--religious freedom–--Citizens express freely–--Women equality–--Social rights equality–- study on same universities---- sharing the same medical treatment in hospitals- serves as judges and lawyers- play in the same sport clubs--share equally all public infrastructures-- and more…..

Is this is apartheid??
Should Israel changed in line to Muslims countries?

JustWade's picture

If it is ever reached, the current and any other artificial “peace agreement” will be illegitimate before it is ever signed because (1) all people living in Palestine regardless of religion, race, origin, etc. (hereinafter “All People of Palestine”) were never given a choice on how they want their land to be governed, and (2) all contracts signed under duress are null and void.
The biggest problem in Palestine is that the Zionist regime never offered a choice to All People of Palestine on how they want to govern their land because the Zionist regime cannot exist as a democratic entity. If there was ever any democratic process in Palestine, Zionists would have been outvoted and the Zionist regime would have never existed. That is why the Zionist regime is the occupier because it does not offer choice (i.e. democracy), but instead imposes its regime (i.e. occupies). Imagine if Russians would simply occupy a town in the U.S. where they are in significant numbers and attempt to create a Russian state there without giving the rest of the Americans living there a choice. Imagine then if they would try to institute a “peace agreement” that would attempt to legitimize their occupation. The “peace agreement” would logically and legally be illegitimate because the Americans were not given a choice.

Under all countries’ laws, any contract is null and void if it is signed under duress. The current Palestine “peace agreement” process reminds me of The Godfather movie where the mafia boss (i.e. the Zionist regime) made a guy “an offer he could not refuse” by placing a gun (i.e. Zionist conventional and nuclear arsenal) to his head and making him sign the contract. Like the mafia boss’ offer, any “peace agreement” other than the choice for All People of Palestine is a crime, and the contract is legally null and void.

The bottom line is that All People of Palestine never wanted to divide their land into artificial two states the way the occupation and this “peace agreement” attempt to divide it. From the beginning of the Zionist regime to its unavoidable end, All People of Palestine and the region never wanted the Zionist regime and they do not want it even more after all the atrocities the Zionist regime committed. I just cannot believe how the Zionist regime can be so ignorant to think that this or any other “peace agreement” that does not allow people to choose how they want to be governed will last and ensure its people’s survival. The Zionist regime fails to realize that no matter if it succeeds in muscling this “peace agreement” by unspeakable historic coercion tens of millions of moral people around the world will oppose it until it is corrected, and until justice and free choice prevail. Also, ever increasing number of Jewish people are realizing that Zionism is becoming a destructive force for them and are leading the global resistance to it.

P.S. feel free to copy this comment, email it to other bloggers, and repost it on other blogs, newspaper websites, Facebook, Twitter, and other social networking websites, and include it in any correspondence/lobbying with senators, state representatives and any other public officials so the public learns the truth…

Milton's picture

Last year 9 IHH Turkish bar/knife wielding islamists are shot dead after being seen on video beating the hell out of Israeli soldiers armed with paintball guns. The world went mad. The 'killing' was condemned by Cameron and miliband. Condemned bu theUN GeneralAssembly. Sites like this called the Jews murderers and Nazis.

Two nights ago Islamist knife to death a family of five including a baby. The murder is hailed by Hamas as an 'heroic operation' And ......total silence. I'd love to know how the islamists and pro Palestinians here Daniele,boxthejacket, josephA, justify the stabbing to death of a baby? Can we perhaps have some comments comparing Moslems to Nazis? Or does such fascist abuse only get reserved for Jews. Could we perhaps have some advice as to what the 'proportionate' Israeli response to stabbing a baby to death should be? May we have some comments along the line of Hamas having no right to exist - or is that just fascist talk reserved only for israel? I

Luddite's picture

Joseph A
12 March 2011 at 20:42
Israeli apartheid! Israeli apartheid!! Israeli apartheid!!!

Let's talk about the Arab expulsion of the Jew. Very few Jews still live in the Arab-Muslim world, mainly in Morocco, and, to a lesser degree, in Tunisia. There are also a few thousand in Iran. The Iranian Jews aren't allowed to emigrate. Otherwise, the entire Arab and Persian world have been emptied of its Jews. We have to remember that what happened to 60 per cent of Israel's Jews is directly related to the history of the Arab nation states. When the Arab nation states were created in the Islamic Arab world, there was no longer any place for the Jews in in the Arab world.

swatantra's picture

There is ony one solution for that troubled land and that is a One State Solution, a secular State neither Islamic nor Jewish nor Christian. Its the only peaceful solution. In the end, all the peoples will have to accept it.

AndJee's picture

The main Zionist claim is that they have a supreme right to some of Palestinian territory because they lived there thousands of years ago. Let’s examine the core and real nature of this claim.

Firstly, this claim is mistaken and selfish in its core concept because Zionists fail to recognize that history is a continuum and that there were other people living in majority in Palestine before the Jews and also after the Jews. Zionists simply cut history at a convenient point for them and claim ancestral ties to the land as of that convenient point.

Secondly, whatever the claim, it is beyond absurd to try to shape modern world based on thousands of years old maps. Imagine if the rest of the world would be reshaped by who was on the land thousands of years ago. It would cause horrific wars, countless refugees, and unimaginable human suffering, exactly what is happening in Palestine.

Thirdly and most disturbing, Zionist goal was to establish a Jewish state wherever possible. Palestine may have been a preference, but Palestine was not the only location that Zionists planned as their state in modern times. Another location was Argentina where Jews have been migrating for hundreds of years for the purpose of establishing a state. Also, locations in Europe were on the list and that’s why the Catholic Church was killing/expelling Jews since Roman times (read the history of the Holly Inquisition). Whatever the location, Zionist plan was to simply occupy the people living on the land even if that would mean imposing a regime worst than Nazi Germany’s from which they escaped. And Zionists would just use a different ideological coloring than the one used in Palestine in the attempt to rationalize the occupation.

In conclusion, the main claim on which the Zionist regime is built in Palestine is erroneous, selfish, and a lie. I am categorically against generalizing, and recognize that many Jews are against the crimes the Zionist regime is committing and that many Jews are leading the global resistance to it. They should be proud.

Luddite's picture

Daniele, it's often very difficult to confront ones own bigotry.

Coleridge's picture

It is perhaps unsurprising how the terrorist attack on the Fogel family has attracted such little uk media attention. There are photograps of the slaughtered children in the Jerusalem post and Haaretz. The toddlers Including the baby were stabbed repeatedly and cut into pieces by the brave resistance fighters from Hamas. Personally I think the proportionate response to this islamoNazi savagery is to flatten gaza

Daniele1's picture

Many of the Arab States you are talking about, the West has been supporting their dictators there, heading with America, the big pimp in chief. The Arab nations are now trying to get rid of the dictators WE supported for decades with arm sales, big hugs and what not!
So it is a bit rich to complain how disgusting these dictatorships are when your friends the Americans have been busy for decades, making sure they stay that way, in the name of "stability".The revolutions taking place at the moment are not advocating Islam. All these people want is democracy and freedom.
In any case if you hate your neighbours so much, maybe you shouldn't have gone to live there in the first place.How can you live there with so much hate in your heart for the people around you. What extremists Arabs do is not to be defended, that goes without saying, but that what happens when extremists are in charge on both sides.
Luddite:
"it's often difficult to confront ones own bigotry". That goes for you too, Luddite and friends.I am not the one calling other people "savages". You are and you should know better than branding a whole population as evil and primitive.

Bolshevik's picture

What about the hatred that motivates the Hamas scum to knife to death a baby? Notice - still a refusal by the islamists to condemn this savagery. They refuse to condemn it because in reality they support it.

sven king's picture

@ Joseph A - There are lots of hateful things written all over the place, but it is only MUSLIMS who are carrying out acts of terror, violence, oppresion and much much more in the name of ISLAM as setout on the KOran.

Luddite's picture

Daniele, it's plain to see you are Anti-American, is it all Americans you hate or just the white ones, you are clearly bigoted and racist. All the worlds problems is the fault of Europeans and the yanks. That's rather a simplistic world view, but bigoted people do tend to hold simplistic views.

Daniele1's picture

I don't hate all Americans! did I say that?? I hate American foreign policy. Slight difference.I've got great American (white) friends.
You on the other hand hate all Arabs.
Never mind I am the one who is simplistic, racist and bigoted...etc..
My fault for trying to have a rational discussion with morons like you.

Julia Harris's picture

@ Danielle and others... look you’re not being truly objective here. Israel has been at a constant state of war since its inception. It’s been at war with Muslims and it knows only too well the consequences if you show a weak hand or let your guard down. It has a right to exist in that land as anyone else, Muslim do not have the deeds to the middle east and are not the only people to have lived and existed there. As they are the ruling majority that have expunged and eradicated those infidels who haven’t converted to Islam, no one ever mentions the rights of those people.
The rules of engagement in that part of the world are different too anywhere else...look at the vile slaughter of a Jewish family just days ago...a 4month old boy with his throat deliberately slit - pure hatred and evil. They were handing out sweets on the street to celebrate the killings...I mean, its sickness of the highest order and they celebrated in Iran too an elsewhere no doubt, why?

Because Jews and Israel are a scape goat for all the ills of the Islamic nations. Bottom line is more Muslims kill Muslims on a daily basis, its like talking about weather... but the focus always reverts back to Israel as if the wicked Islamic regimes and terror groups have come kind of moral high ground – it makes you sick.

Bolshevik's picture

This is so absurd it should be framed. Arabs/Muslims have dictatorships because of the Jews who are allied to the Americans! We are also racists against all Arabs. The bigot Daniele ought to know that 20% of israels population are Arab. Many such as the Druze and beduin serve loyally in the IDF. We certainly don't hate them. We do however hate the Islamist Hamas scum who knife babies to death. How unreasonable of us!!

swatantra's picture

Israel have no intentions of seeking a peace settlement. So all this talk is a complete waste of time.

Luddite's picture

Many on the political-left will not be happy until the last Jew in Palestine is walking quietly into the gas chambers. The brutal truth is, many Arabs don't want peace with Israel they simply want the democratic state of Israel wiped from the map. Jewish history teachers the Jew, no one will defend them but themselves.

Daniele1's picture

The only difference between atrocities committed by the Israeli army and Hamas extremists is that of efficiency. You can kill many more babies with bombs than with one knife.The bombing of Gaza was a war crime and a cold blooded collective decision, the actions of the Hamas extremists is that of psychopathic killers.
Your friendly bigot.

Joseph A's picture

@ jdledell & Daniele Thank You!

Between these others and their self-righteous and simplistic view of the world one would almost lose hope without voices like yours.

When the talk is about a specific current topic of Israel and you try to dig up everything under the sun, from homosexual killing which we can safely say most on here oppose to.. the charge of antisemitism when someone disagrees with your view, cheapens all Jews. People can legitimately be against the Policy of the State of Israel and not hate Jews, and as much as you claim freedom and equality for all Israelis including the 20% Arab population - as soon as someone criticises Israel you forget that 20% Arab Israeli and say we hate Jews - surely by your mentality we must hate Jews and Arabs if that is the consequence of criticising the State of Israel..?

You my friends are the racists - not the other countless voices both here and out there who have a concern for the human race and not only one group.

Think.... lest we all end up in the abyss..

Good points about the Arab and North African revolutions, if you're so much in support of democracy why not support them..? Instead we hear of the Israeli government during the Egypt uprising trying to get the Mubarak government to stay and also my God you people who claim to know all about the region stop conflating Arabs and Persians and the many more diverse peoples into one..

AndJee's picture

The only solution for a lasting piece is absolute democratic process (that we Americans cherish so passionately) for the entire territory in question, otherwise, the peace will not last. All people who lived there without regard to religion, race, etc. should vote on how they would like their one country to be run. I favor one state solution because two states would only attempt to “legalize” Zionist occupation that will be remembered in history until it is corrected by future large scale conflicts, so no lasting peace will result.

The only issue with the fair democratic process is what to do with all manipulated Jewish people who the Zionist regime imported for decades to increase the Jewish population from around 100,000 to over 5 Million since the start of the occupation. This is obviously an attempt to unjustly manipulate any future democratic process by forcefully increasing the occupier’s population at the expense of others. Any compromise other than the absolute fair democratic process with no manipulated population will be temporary with terrible conflicts looming to correct it in the future.

The truth is that the Zionist regime will not accept any democratic process even if the manipulated Jewish population is included because it cannot exist as a democratic country as Zionists will be outvoted by all others who live there (Zionists were in an infinite minority before the occupation). The Zionist regime can only temporarily exist through the force of its arms as a one people country where only select ones can vote and where different laws apply to different people.

The world must stand up against the Zionist regime by cutting all diplomatic and economic relations with it. Many countries have already stopped all relations with the Zionist regime and others are in the process of doing the same. We Americans need to completely distance ourselves from this oppressive regime through urging our state representatives and senators to do what the rest of the world is doing.

Luddite's picture

Daniele, bigotry is awful, and you are bigoted, or is it in your world bigotry is the soul preserve of the white-man. European and American. It's folks like you, that makes this world a sad place to live.

bolshevik's picture

Her views are so extreme and so mired in Jew-hatred she is either an Islamist or a neo-Nazi. A child would appreciate that the IDF never targeted children. Sadly, innocent civilians died because Hamas launched their rockets from populated civilian areas. Ham as and Islamic jihad target jewish kids. The sent their suicide bombers to blow up buses carrying kids to school between 19995-2005 killing a thousand and maiming tens of thousands. They slaughtered teenage girls at a tel aviv discotheque and then quite openly celebrated the murder of these children.
People like Daniele are so mired in their fanatical hatred of Jews that they just fail to see the distinction.

Sam's picture

This article is tendentious and biased, but the author is entitled to his opinion: however, the use of the hateful word 'apartheid' is unforgivable, specially when he is referring to a state the Muslim citizens of which live better and have more rights than their brethren in the rest of the Middle East.

Daniele1's picture

Thanks for your intervention here ,Joseph. Very appreciated in a middle of fanatical rantings against me and others.
I conclude now as there is no point carrying on posting when so many fanatics are hijacking the site. The NS should look into this.

Luddite's picture

Daniele, please carry on, free and open debate is everything. It keeps the devil from opening the door?

swatantra's picture

You could well say the same of the 'bantustans' in S Africa compared to the abject poverty to be found in other parts of free Africa.

koski's picture

The Lord will have compassion on Jacob; once again he will choose Israel and will settle them in their own land. And the house of Israel will possess the nations as msnservants and maidservants in the Lord`s land. They will make captives of their captors and rule over their oppressors. On the day the Lord gives you relief from suffering and turmoil and cruel bondage. Isaiah 14,1-3

Dibble's picture

Daniele evidently believes that equating Jews with their 'Nazi tormentors', referring to Gaza as a 'concentration camp', accusing Jews of being anti-Arab racists is just normal and entirely legitimate comment. When her lies are exposed she claims this site has been 'hijacked'. How clear the totalitarian Islamist mindset is exposed!!!

annie's picture

The moment one reads the word apartheid used by someone claiming to be an expert in Israel and the as yet non existent Palestine, then you know you are dealing with propaganda and not knowledge. Further,t his evil misuse of the 'a' makes a mockery of those that truly experienced apartheid in South
Africa, against which a disproportionately high number of Jews fought against.

But hey, wait for it - next we will hear from these self acclaimed experts 'I meant Zionists, not Jews'

They're masters at misinformation, but not much else.

StrangerMob's picture

Why would Zionists want to discuss any peace agreement with the Palestinians when they have overwhelming military supremacy, seemingly ultimate power, and apparently bright future? Because the future is completely opposite and Zionists know it.

1. All military powers in history with no exception ultimately came crashing down. Someone stronger always comes, and it does not take a rocket scientist to see (just look around you) this coming and not ending well for the current military power in Palestine. Forward-seeing Jewish people under the Zionist regime already started packing up and leaving for Australia, South America, and the U.S. before this occurs.

2. It is obvious that the Zionist regime survives mainly because of its external allies who so far provided it with money, weapons, political support, access to markets, etc. After countless U.N. human rights violations, killing of its allies’ citizens (search on youtube for American “Rachel Corrie” video of Zionist bulldozer crushing her to death), forging of its allies’ passports in acts of murder, etc. its former allies are increasingly turning against the Zionist regime. Who would want to be remembered in history as an accomplice in international murders and especially of their own citizens.

3. Not only that the list of remaining supporters is growing thinner, but an international coalition is formed and growing larger of countries that are cutting all economic and diplomatic relations with the Zionist regime.

4. No country ever survived a complete isolation from its neighbors. No person of the area currently under Zionist occupation can obtain any type of visa from any of the surrounding countries for any reason – a complete land lock.

5. Well attended speeches take place almost weekly at colleges and universities across the U.S. and the world condemning the Zionist regime, their remaining supporters, and companies that do any business there. These speeches are often lead by moral Jewish people, church leaders, business people, etc., in addition to traditional peace activists.

6. The West where most of the traditional supporters of the Zionist regime are located is loosing global influence. China, the Middle East, South East Asia, Russia, South America, etc. are emerging as new pockets of economic and political power where the Zionist regime has angered most of the population.

7. Not only that the West is declining, but Zionists are loosing political control in the declining West. Diversity is bringing minority groups into politics, groups that are actively opposing the Zionist regime.
In conclusion, the Zionist regime is negotiating now because its future is changing for much worse. It knows that it temporarily exists now only through the force of its arms and this will be short-lived. It knows that it is at its peak and a downturn has come. It is a mistake to negotiate with the Zionist regime at the present time. But, if you have to negotiate, do not accept anything less than a single region in question (single state) where all who live there are equal. Any other “solution” would just reward the Zionist regime at the time of its demise. If the Zionist regime wants true piece, let’s not make it dependent on Zionist political and land acquisition goals, but on democratic vote for all who live there and making everyone equal (something we Americans cherish so passionately).

Luddite's picture

Daniele. I'm a left-wing socialist what the fuck are you?

Coleridge's picture

The real obstacle to peace is islamofascist Islamism. Islamists break into a Jewish home and knife's a mother, a father and 3 young toddlers to death including a baby aged 1 month. How exactly can you stab to death a baby? This happened in the Israeli town of Itamar.
The neoNazis of Hamas hailed this barbarity as a 'heroic operation'. How exactly does one make peace with such primitive savages?

Milton's picture

People need to get used to the fact a two state solution is already in existence. The Palestinians have their own state it is called Jordan. It was part of mandatory Palestine and severed in 1922. It comprises 78% of Palestine and it's population is 80% Palestinian. They have their own state

jie4v7i14's picture

If jews are so clever, brought us the nuclear bomb and psychology and all that, why are they such an arse with their Israel? Puzzles me that does.

boxthejack's picture

People would do well to read Ben's book 'Israeli Apartheid' in which he explains the similarities and differences with the South African version.

Or you could take a drive on some of the Israeli-only roads that carve up the Palestinian West Bank. Or spend a few hours waiting for a soldier to let you cross the checkpoint on your way to work, if you're among the lucky ones who have a permit. Or you could try a fight your way through the Israeli court system to retain land that your family has farmed for generations, only to have your trees uprooted by settlers. Or you could spend some time with a West Bank resident who married a Jerusalem resident and see how they manage their family life.

And the Jordan red herring is laughable. Palestinian claims to the land are based on the fact that they've toiled on its soil for generations, not that the British called another bit of land Palestine as well.

Koski's citation is telling: my Palestinian neighbours are indeed being made captives in the name of ethnoreligious supremacism, though it seems a little unjust that the Arab peoples to whom Jews fled from Christian anti-Semitism should be paying the price. Don't you think?

Luddite's picture

Pat Condell latest rant against islamic-fascism. YOUTUBE

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