Israel/Palestine: Stuck in the Middle

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Friday May 08, 2009 · 9:53 AM PDT

2009/05/08 · 09:53

Despite the fights that break out in the comments to my diaries, I'm very moderate on the issue of a final status agreement (or, to use another word, peace) between Israel and the Palestinians. This is to say that I agree that the occupation must end, that Israel should not annex parts of Palestinian territory, that the Palestinians have every right to a viable sovereign state, and that both Israel and the Palestinians will have to make large concessions in their initial demands of one another.

But the journalists writing on the topic do their best to drown out moderate voices, choosing instead to embrace ridiculous positions, whether from the right or the left.

aemathisphd

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Wednesday May 06, 2009 · 10:17 AM PDT

2009/05/06 · 10:17

I find communists funny because they continue to embrace an obviously failed political system that, invariably, stagnated at the stage of dictatorship of the proletariat and culminated in massive violations of human rights and, in most cases, democide. But I got a pleasant surprise from the CPUSA's People's Weekly World when they published this article today on their Web site, although I don't think the CPUSA intended to be quite as frank.

aemathisphd

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Wednesday April 29, 2009 · 2:46 PM PDT

2009/04/29 · 14:46

I usually log I/P diaries, but something happened to me today that I thought I'd write a diary about because, as a wise man pointed out to me, unless the argument is made public, then I haven't convinced anyone of anything.

aemathisphd

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Friday April 24, 2009 · 9:13 AM PDT

2009/04/24 · 09:13

A lot of comments on yesterday's diary took issue with the fact that I addressed the issue of Israel as "the Jewish state" claiming to represent all of Diaspora Jewry and did not address what it means to Israel's non-Jewish minorities if Israel is a Jewish state by definition.

Here's the promised diary.

aemathisphd

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Thursday April 23, 2009 · 9:05 AM PDT

2009/04/23 · 09:05

Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin "Bibi" Netanyahu is responding to pressure from the Obama administration by stating that any negotiations with the Palestinians must be predicated on the acceptance of the idea that Israel is "the Jewish state" or, as reported in other outlets, "the national home of the Jewish people."

Diaspora Jews sometimes take offense to such language. It's not that we deny that Israel is a Jewish state or even that we (or most of us) deny that Israel should be a state in which Judaism and people of Jewish ancestry have certain privileges.

But my issue here is the specific language that has been used. Granted, Bibi probably made his remarks in Hebrew, but Hebrew does have a definite article in the language. (There is no indefinite article in Hebrew.) I.e., when one says in Hebrew that Israel is "the" Jewish state or "the" Jewish national home or whatever, it's clear in the language that the definite article is being used.

And that's a problem.

aemathisphd

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Wednesday April 22, 2009 · 2:44 PM PDT

2009/04/22 · 14:44

A poll was published today on the Web site of Israel's largest daily newspaper stating that most Palestinians and most Israelis want a two-state solution.

So much for Bibi's "nationalist" mandate.

Here are the results:

Results of the poll, commissioned by the grass-roots OneVoice Movement, indicate that 74 percent of Palestinians and 78 percent of Israelis are willing to accept a two-state solution.

The margin of error on the Palestinian side was 4.1 percent and 4.5 percent on the Israeli side, the group said.

So the Palestinian number could be as low as 69.9% and the Israeli number as low as 73.5%. That's still more than two-thirds.

The sticking point, it appears, is that most Israelis are still reluctant to divide Jerusalem. So here's my suggestion: Don't.

aemathisphd

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Tuesday April 21, 2009 · 10:59 AM PDT

2009/04/21 · 10:59

In the next four years there is going to be a permanent status arrangement between Israel and the Palestinians on the basis of two states for two peoples, and it doesn't matter to us at all who is prime minister.

That's Rahm Emanuel, allegedly speaking to an unnamed Jewish leader in Washington. (As the person who supposedly heard this has not identified him- or herself, it's not safe to say yet whether this statement was actually made.) I had hoped that Obama had tapped Emanuel for the purpose of being his pit-bull with regard to the likelihood of a right-wing government emerging in Israel that is opposed to a two-state solution. It appears that he may have done exactly that.

aemathisphd

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Saturday April 11, 2009 · 3:30 PM PDT

2009/04/11 · 15:30

Some people who think themselves pro-Palestinian will defend Hamas despite Hamas's own repeated violations of decency. The smear tactics they will use — not against Israel but against those of us who would reject the legitimacy of Hamas as long as it continues to target people who committed no wrong except being born in Israel — apparently know no bounds. I'm going to review a few I've seen over the last day or so here.

aemathisphd

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Thursday April 09, 2009 · 3:21 PM PDT

2009/04/09 · 15:21

Today is the first day of Passover and the seventh anniversary of a Hamas suicide bombing in Netanya, on the Mediterranean coast, where thirty Israeli civilians, many of them senior citizens, were killed while celebrating a Passover seder. It was the worst Hamas suicide attack against Israel ever.

aemathisphd

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Tuesday April 07, 2009 · 9:44 AM PDT

2009/04/07 · 09:44

In the last few diaries I've written there have been statements to the effect that newly appointed Israeli Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman of Yisrael Beiteinu, with his horrid opinions about Arabs and saber-rattling against Iran, represents the "mainstream" in Israel. Furthermore, it's been alleged that the Israeli populace voted against the two-state solution in the February 10 election. Is this actually true?

aemathisphd

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Monday April 06, 2009 · 9:10 AM PDT

2009/04/06 · 09:10

Probably not, but it's fun to imagine. Here's why.

aemathisphd

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Wednesday April 01, 2009 · 9:01 AM PDT

2009/04/01 · 09:01

On his first day on the job, new Israeli Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman has decided to declare that his nation's government is not bound by agreements made by the previous government, specifically the Annapolis agreement that Israel would continue to negotiate for a two-state solution with the Palestinians.

Apparently previous statements made by Lieberman that he now supported a two-state solution, probably designed to woo Kadima's Tzipi Livni into some kind of coalition deal, were untrue. So much for peace for Israel in the near future.

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Israel/Palestine: Stuck in the Middle

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Israel: More on the Idea(l) of a Jewish State

Israel: "A" Jewish State or "The" Jewish State?

Israel/Palestine: Jerusalem? Really?

Israel/Palestine: Rahm Emanuel Lays Down the Law

Israel/Palestine: The Standard Responses

Israel/Palestine: Why Hamas Is Not a Partner for Peace

Israel: Does Lieberman Represent the "Mainstream"?

Israel: Could It Be the Beginning of the End Already?

Israel: Here We Go...