Which two states?
The "two state solution," has become the mantra of the chattering classes, the perceived wisdom of the preconceived mind. But, the "two state solution" we currently need to be worrying about is that between the Palestinians controlled by Hamas in Gaza and the Palestinians controlled by the PA in the West Bank. Can there ever be a solution to these two states? Making a unity Government for the Palestinians is a serious problem, because if there would be such a creature then it would mean that Hamas has been granted recognition by Fatah and the international community, and that would in effect stop any peace process between Palestinians and Israelis. But, we don't really need to worry about a negotiated solution for Palestine, because Hamas will never give up its control of Gaza and will continue to strive to take over the West Bank, so all indicators are downward. In Egypt, where almost continuous negotiations have been going on for months, they finally declared an impasse, no agreement could be made due to fundamental differences betweent eh two sides!
In the past few months, Pres. Abbas and PA Security Chief Mohammed Dahlan have both stated publicly in Egypt that they do not recognize Israel as a Jewish State. Dahlan supported Hamas's right not to recognize Israel as the PA has not done so, and Abbas said he would "never" recognize Israel as a Jewish State, repeating what he said at Annapolis. This is notwithstanding the supposed recognition that the PA gave to Israel under Yasir Arafat, except that it was never actual recognition, the Palestine National Committee only voted to "consider" recognizing Israel, and that was never followed up. So the whole thing is based on a crude sleight of hand, that Arafat was very good at. Pres. Clinton and his team deliberately overlooked this trick in order to engage Arafat in further (useless) negotiations.
On the other hand, both Ehud Barak when he was PM, agreed to give almost everything to Arafat at Taba (after Arafat walked out of the Camp David negotiations) including recognition of a State, and PM Olmert recently stated that he had offered such a possibility to Pres. Abbas, but it was not responded to. The fact is that the Palestinians are not ready to run a State, they are neither prepared organizationally nor economically. The fact is that if Abbas or any other Palestinian leader did make a deal with Israel they know that they would immediately be assassinated by their enemies, including Hamas. So there is no possibility of a so-called "two state solution" to the Israel-Palestine conflict in the foreseeable future and believing otherwise is purely wishful thinking.
Now Pres. Obama and many of his advisors apparently are supporting a "two state solution" because at least it gives them a rosy vision of the future to look forward to, i.e. "two states living side-by-side in peace and security." Ask any Palestinian if that is his real vision for the future and he'll laugh at you.
Here is an indication of the actual situation: last week an Arab woman, Wafa Younis, living in Jenin, brought a youth orchestra she had organized there called "strings for peace" into Israel to play for an Israeli audience including some Holocaust survivors. Apparently it was a really nice event. When she returned to Jenin, she was first fired and her orchestra was disbanded, on the official grounds that she had endangered the lives of the students and put them in a "political situation." Then she was abducted by a group of armed men, one of whom she identified as Zachariah Zubeidi, former head of the Aksa Martyrs' Brigades in Jenin but who now cooperates with the PA police, and her life was threatened if she stayed in Jenin and she was taken to the border and expelled to Israel. She is lucky to be alive. This is the reality of the attitude of the official PA towards Israel, no cooperation, no recognition!
That is why Israelis, who are not stupid, recognized the true situation, decided that it is useless giving more "gestures" and further concessions to the PA, that have not yielded anything in Palestinians becoming less intransigent and ready to compromise, and so elected a more right-wing government. Until the Palestinains change the only thing that can be done is to try to help them (on the West Bank) develop economically and learn how to organize a civil society. Even the b$4.5 that has been offered to rebuild Gaza is going wanting, because the Palestinians cannot agree on how to organize themselves to receive it.
So if anyone wants to know, that's why PM Netanyahu has stopped using the term "two state solution," just as Secty of State Clinton has stopped using the phrase "war on terror." As she said at her press conference in London a few days ago, there is no point in using a phrase that has little actual meaning now.
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PS. Chag pesach sameach to my readers!
In the past few months, Pres. Abbas and PA Security Chief Mohammed Dahlan have both stated publicly in Egypt that they do not recognize Israel as a Jewish State. Dahlan supported Hamas's right not to recognize Israel as the PA has not done so, and Abbas said he would "never" recognize Israel as a Jewish State, repeating what he said at Annapolis. This is notwithstanding the supposed recognition that the PA gave to Israel under Yasir Arafat, except that it was never actual recognition, the Palestine National Committee only voted to "consider" recognizing Israel, and that was never followed up. So the whole thing is based on a crude sleight of hand, that Arafat was very good at. Pres. Clinton and his team deliberately overlooked this trick in order to engage Arafat in further (useless) negotiations.
On the other hand, both Ehud Barak when he was PM, agreed to give almost everything to Arafat at Taba (after Arafat walked out of the Camp David negotiations) including recognition of a State, and PM Olmert recently stated that he had offered such a possibility to Pres. Abbas, but it was not responded to. The fact is that the Palestinians are not ready to run a State, they are neither prepared organizationally nor economically. The fact is that if Abbas or any other Palestinian leader did make a deal with Israel they know that they would immediately be assassinated by their enemies, including Hamas. So there is no possibility of a so-called "two state solution" to the Israel-Palestine conflict in the foreseeable future and believing otherwise is purely wishful thinking.
Now Pres. Obama and many of his advisors apparently are supporting a "two state solution" because at least it gives them a rosy vision of the future to look forward to, i.e. "two states living side-by-side in peace and security." Ask any Palestinian if that is his real vision for the future and he'll laugh at you.
Here is an indication of the actual situation: last week an Arab woman, Wafa Younis, living in Jenin, brought a youth orchestra she had organized there called "strings for peace" into Israel to play for an Israeli audience including some Holocaust survivors. Apparently it was a really nice event. When she returned to Jenin, she was first fired and her orchestra was disbanded, on the official grounds that she had endangered the lives of the students and put them in a "political situation." Then she was abducted by a group of armed men, one of whom she identified as Zachariah Zubeidi, former head of the Aksa Martyrs' Brigades in Jenin but who now cooperates with the PA police, and her life was threatened if she stayed in Jenin and she was taken to the border and expelled to Israel. She is lucky to be alive. This is the reality of the attitude of the official PA towards Israel, no cooperation, no recognition!
That is why Israelis, who are not stupid, recognized the true situation, decided that it is useless giving more "gestures" and further concessions to the PA, that have not yielded anything in Palestinians becoming less intransigent and ready to compromise, and so elected a more right-wing government. Until the Palestinains change the only thing that can be done is to try to help them (on the West Bank) develop economically and learn how to organize a civil society. Even the b$4.5 that has been offered to rebuild Gaza is going wanting, because the Palestinians cannot agree on how to organize themselves to receive it.
So if anyone wants to know, that's why PM Netanyahu has stopped using the term "two state solution," just as Secty of State Clinton has stopped using the phrase "war on terror." As she said at her press conference in London a few days ago, there is no point in using a phrase that has little actual meaning now.
__________________________________
PS. Chag pesach sameach to my readers!
posted by Jack Cohen at 1:41 PM
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