Israel, Palestine, Anniversies and Peace

According to the Hebrew calendar, today is Israel's Independence Day. Independence -- according to the Western calendar -- was declared May 14, 1948. Israel's 60 years as a nation-state have been anything but peaceful, and the future is still clouded by events on the ground. Since 1967, Israel has occupied Gaza and the West Bank. These were areas originally designated as Palestinian territory by the UN in 1947 (actually a larger area than that), and de facto borders were created after the 1948 war which left Gaza under Egyptian control and the West Bank as part of Jordan.

Numerous efforts at peacemaking and nation building have risen and fallen over the years. There is no one solution that's been embraced. Fear reigns on all sides. The two-state solution, which is the one most sought after, has as yet failed to take hold. Palestinian resistance continues to take Israeli lives, while Israeli occupation takes lives and livelihoods. The West Bank is crisscrossed by Israeli controlled roads, that divide the territory in unsustainable ways. There is a wall/security fence that instead of staying at the Green Line (1967 borders), meanders through Palestinian territory, so as to bring into Israel proper the numerous settlements.

The LA Times carries an interesting story about Palestinian interest in a bi national state that would guarantee both Jewish and Palestinian rights -- equal before the law. This one-state solution has one draw back from a Jewish perspective -- it would effectively seed control to the Palestinians, who have a higher birth rate than does the Jewish community. For many Palestinians such a solution has benefits, however, because it prevents Hamas from installing an Islamist regime, which many moderate and secular Palestinians have no use for.

Later today I hope to post an interview I did this morning with Anna Baltzer, a Jewish American peace activist who has embraced the Palestinian cause. I think you'll find the conversation stimulating and provocative.

I welcome a conversation about this most important issue of our times.