Like a Broken Record, the Conflict Continues
Israel promises "harsh and disproportionate" action if rockets continue to hit Israel. Israel won't talk to Hamas, doesn't recognize them as a legitimate government, but even if extremists not under their control act, Hamas is still responsible. When we hear the words harsh and disproportionate, that usually means destruction not only of military posts, but civilian areas as well. As we saw in the most immediate conflict, Israel went after infrastructure, making Palestinian life even harder.
What worries me most though is the rising level of the rhetoric on the part of the Israeli leadership. Even the most "moderate" of these leaders, Ehud Barak, talks tough, and his rivals talk even tougher. It's almost to the point of seeing who's the most willing to wipe out the Palestinians. Most worrisome is the return to power of Likud, which is likely to happen, and the rise of a fascist-like right wing movement in Israel led by Avigdor Lieberman.
Lieberman's right wing Yisrael Beiteinu party stands even with Labor, which for decades ran Israel. Yisrael Beiteninu's platform includes reducing the rights of Israeli Arabs and taking a hard line against the Palestinians. It is a party rooted in the Russian immigrant community. Their platform calls for a "two state solution" but with a twist -- the removal of Palestinians from Israel proper.
From Wikipedia:
Thus, we must be careful about what is being proposed as a two state solution. It could lead to ethnic cleansing. This is why in the end, I'm not sure that a two state solution will work. I'm afraid that it will lead to just such a situation -- on both sides. But at the same time, with the current state of affairs, will a one-state solution work?
And just think about this whole issue from an American perspective -- that is from the perspective of a constitution that promises freedom of religion and speech, that grants rights of citizenship to all people no matter color, creed, or national origin.
What worries me most though is the rising level of the rhetoric on the part of the Israeli leadership. Even the most "moderate" of these leaders, Ehud Barak, talks tough, and his rivals talk even tougher. It's almost to the point of seeing who's the most willing to wipe out the Palestinians. Most worrisome is the return to power of Likud, which is likely to happen, and the rise of a fascist-like right wing movement in Israel led by Avigdor Lieberman.
Lieberman's right wing Yisrael Beiteinu party stands even with Labor, which for decades ran Israel. Yisrael Beiteninu's platform includes reducing the rights of Israeli Arabs and taking a hard line against the Palestinians. It is a party rooted in the Russian immigrant community. Their platform calls for a "two state solution" but with a twist -- the removal of Palestinians from Israel proper.
From Wikipedia:
This plan to trade territory with the Palestinian Authority is a revision of Lieberman's earlier calls for the forcible transfer of Palestinian citizens of Israel from their land. Lieberman stated in April 2002 that there was "nothing undemocratic about transfer."11 In May 2004, he said that 90 percent of Israel's 1.2 million Palestinian citizens would "have to find a new Arab entity" in which to live beyond Israel's borders. "They have no place here. They can take their bundles and get lost," Lieberman said.12
Thus, we must be careful about what is being proposed as a two state solution. It could lead to ethnic cleansing. This is why in the end, I'm not sure that a two state solution will work. I'm afraid that it will lead to just such a situation -- on both sides. But at the same time, with the current state of affairs, will a one-state solution work?
And just think about this whole issue from an American perspective -- that is from the perspective of a constitution that promises freedom of religion and speech, that grants rights of citizenship to all people no matter color, creed, or national origin.
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