Re: Israel & Palestine
Posted: Tue February 13, 2024 8:48 am
Anders wrote:A two state solution with the entire West Bank and Gaza as one state, is extremely unlikely to function well and peacefully, and to be one Israel or even the Palestinian population will accept.
No one accepts the current situation. What everyone does accept is that people have a right to self determination, and without a Palestinian state or a single state where Palestinians have equal rights, that isn’t possible. We know that a single state is impossible in every way because it turns a Jewish state into something that no longer has a dominant Jewish majority - something we know would not be considered by Israelis (or Palestinians, for other reasons). That leaves the status quo as the only other option - some kind of ceasefire and security arrangement, like we’ve had countless times over the decades with the same inevitable flashpoint that occurs every now and then.Anders wrote:A two state solution with the entire West Bank and Gaza as one state, is extremely unlikely to function well and peacefully, and to be one Israel or even the Palestinian population will accept.
Surprised here, this is a weak position from you Rob. The current situation is a three state solution and it is one of the primary weaknesses in the Palestinian cause. If you want a two state solution, one of them has to go.Rob wrote:No one accepts the current situation. What everyone does accept is that people have a right to self determination, and without a Palestinian state or a single state where Palestinians have equal rights, that isn’t possible. We know that a single state is impossible in every way because it turns a Jewish state into something that no longer has a dominant Jewish majority - something we know would not be considered by Israelis (or Palestinians, for other reasons). That leaves the status quo as the only other option - some kind of ceasefire and security arrangement, like we’ve had countless times over the decades with the same inevitable flashpoint that occurs every now and then.Anders wrote:A two state solution with the entire West Bank and Gaza as one state, is extremely unlikely to function well and peacefully, and to be one Israel or even the Palestinian population will accept.
I think 10/7 shook everyone loose from that stance. When this is over, Palestinians will either be on their way to guaranteed statehood, or they will continue to be two million people being ruled over by people they don’t want ruling over them - the same people who they’ve been fighting against our whole lives. Not sure how a 2 state solution isn’t universally seen as the only viable path. The fact that it looks unlikely at the moment doesn’t matter. Nothing ever looks possible until it happens. In reality, the process itself is already somewhat known - what really ought to happen is to go back and fix a previous “mistake” - the 1948 partition seems to have forgotten to create two states even tho it clearly separates two peoples. Seems like an important thing to not do. No one is really asking to give Palestinians anything that wasn’t given to Israelis (in response to atrocities against Jews not committed by Palestinians), in accordance with what anyone in a western democracy would consider just.
I’m not sure I follow. If you’re dividing the Palestinians into two as in Gaza + West Bank, I get it, but any future Palestinian state will be (at least at first) one state for both territories (and hopefully someone thinks to have a road or strip of land that connects them). And it may be that all this time divided has caused the two territories to become different, and maybe they’ll each want their own state one day, too. But that isn’t what’s in front of us.Bi_3 wrote:Surprised here, this is a weak position from you Rob. The current situation is a three state solution and it is one of the primary weaknesses in the Palestinian cause. If you want a two state solution, one of them has to go.Rob wrote:No one accepts the current situation. What everyone does accept is that people have a right to self determination, and without a Palestinian state or a single state where Palestinians have equal rights, that isn’t possible. We know that a single state is impossible in every way because it turns a Jewish state into something that no longer has a dominant Jewish majority - something we know would not be considered by Israelis (or Palestinians, for other reasons). That leaves the status quo as the only other option - some kind of ceasefire and security arrangement, like we’ve had countless times over the decades with the same inevitable flashpoint that occurs every now and then.Anders wrote:A two state solution with the entire West Bank and Gaza as one state, is extremely unlikely to function well and peacefully, and to be one Israel or even the Palestinian population will accept.
I think 10/7 shook everyone loose from that stance. When this is over, Palestinians will either be on their way to guaranteed statehood, or they will continue to be two million people being ruled over by people they don’t want ruling over them - the same people who they’ve been fighting against our whole lives. Not sure how a 2 state solution isn’t universally seen as the only viable path. The fact that it looks unlikely at the moment doesn’t matter. Nothing ever looks possible until it happens. In reality, the process itself is already somewhat known - what really ought to happen is to go back and fix a previous “mistake” - the 1948 partition seems to have forgotten to create two states even tho it clearly separates two peoples. Seems like an important thing to not do. No one is really asking to give Palestinians anything that wasn’t given to Israelis (in response to atrocities against Jews not committed by Palestinians), in accordance with what anyone in a western democracy would consider just.
I think the Palestinians divided themselves (obviously Israel is also to blame for this division) and it's not realistic to think the ruling parties (Hamas and Fatah) will suddenly agree to be friendly with each other and Israel. They are two distinct entities with distinct experiences over the last 75 years. So really it would be three states because connecting them would never work. Look at the map, where would that connection be? Would you recreate the divide but this time in Israel while creating a high speed channel for Hamas to move people and weapons into and out of Gaza? Or would you surround the southern two-thirds of Israel in Palestinian territory creating an indefensible border for the Israelis? It's three states, with Gaza under perpetual military occupation (maybe Arab, not necessarily Israeli) or two states with Gaza emptied by the kind of horrifying force the world rarely sees outside of African civil wars. I say "or" here because I believe Israel would use nuclear weapons before surrendering and clearly sacrificing Gaza is worth it to avoid nuclear war.Rob wrote:I’m not sure I follow. If you’re dividing the Palestinians into two as in Gaza + West Bank, I get it, but any future Palestinian state will be (at least at first) one state for both territories (and hopefully someone thinks to have a road or strip of land that connects them). And it may be that all this time divided has caused the two territories to become different, and maybe they’ll each want their own state one day, too. But that isn’t what’s in front of us.Bi_3 wrote:Surprised here, this is a weak position from you Rob. The current situation is a three state solution and it is one of the primary weaknesses in the Palestinian cause. If you want a two state solution, one of them has to go.Rob wrote:No one accepts the current situation. What everyone does accept is that people have a right to self determination, and without a Palestinian state or a single state where Palestinians have equal rights, that isn’t possible. We know that a single state is impossible in every way because it turns a Jewish state into something that no longer has a dominant Jewish majority - something we know would not be considered by Israelis (or Palestinians, for other reasons). That leaves the status quo as the only other option - some kind of ceasefire and security arrangement, like we’ve had countless times over the decades with the same inevitable flashpoint that occurs every now and then.Anders wrote:A two state solution with the entire West Bank and Gaza as one state, is extremely unlikely to function well and peacefully, and to be one Israel or even the Palestinian population will accept.
I think 10/7 shook everyone loose from that stance. When this is over, Palestinians will either be on their way to guaranteed statehood, or they will continue to be two million people being ruled over by people they don’t want ruling over them - the same people who they’ve been fighting against our whole lives. Not sure how a 2 state solution isn’t universally seen as the only viable path. The fact that it looks unlikely at the moment doesn’t matter. Nothing ever looks possible until it happens. In reality, the process itself is already somewhat known - what really ought to happen is to go back and fix a previous “mistake” - the 1948 partition seems to have forgotten to create two states even tho it clearly separates two peoples. Seems like an important thing to not do. No one is really asking to give Palestinians anything that wasn’t given to Israelis (in response to atrocities against Jews not committed by Palestinians), in accordance with what anyone in a western democracy would consider just.

dimejinky99 wrote:This is big. Support for this genocide is crumbled internationally
I get what you’re saying, and I’ve heard about how different these territories have become, but that seems a stretch to accomplish right now. Gaza is in no position to be able to govern itself. At least there’s a shell of the institutions you need in the West Bank, and with the promise of statehood, I think a bridge can be made. And the maps I’ve seen for a 2 state solution all have an access corridor to travel between the two areas.Bi_3 wrote:I think the Palestinians divided themselves (obviously Israel is also to blame for this division) and it's not realistic to think the ruling parties (Hamas and Fatah) will suddenly agree to be friendly with each other and Israel. They are two distinct entities with distinct experiences over the last 75 years. So really it would be three states because connecting them would never work. Look at the map, where would that connection be? Would you recreate the divide but this time in Israel while creating a high speed channel for Hamas to move people and weapons into and out of Gaza? Or would you surround the southern two-thirds of Israel in Palestinian territory creating an indefensible border for the Israelis? It's three states, with Gaza under perpetual military occupation (maybe Arab, not necessarily Israeli) or two states with Gaza emptied by the kind of horrifying force the world rarely sees outside of African civil wars. I say "or" here because I believe Israel would use nuclear weapons before surrendering and clearly sacrificing Gaza is worth it to avoid nuclear war.Rob wrote:I’m not sure I follow. If you’re dividing the Palestinians into two as in Gaza + West Bank, I get it, but any future Palestinian state will be (at least at first) one state for both territories (and hopefully someone thinks to have a road or strip of land that connects them). And it may be that all this time divided has caused the two territories to become different, and maybe they’ll each want their own state one day, too. But that isn’t what’s in front of us.Bi_3 wrote:Surprised here, this is a weak position from you Rob. The current situation is a three state solution and it is one of the primary weaknesses in the Palestinian cause. If you want a two state solution, one of them has to go.Rob wrote:No one accepts the current situation. What everyone does accept is that people have a right to self determination, and without a Palestinian state or a single state where Palestinians have equal rights, that isn’t possible. We know that a single state is impossible in every way because it turns a Jewish state into something that no longer has a dominant Jewish majority - something we know would not be considered by Israelis (or Palestinians, for other reasons). That leaves the status quo as the only other option - some kind of ceasefire and security arrangement, like we’ve had countless times over the decades with the same inevitable flashpoint that occurs every now and then.Anders wrote:A two state solution with the entire West Bank and Gaza as one state, is extremely unlikely to function well and peacefully, and to be one Israel or even the Palestinian population will accept.
I think 10/7 shook everyone loose from that stance. When this is over, Palestinians will either be on their way to guaranteed statehood, or they will continue to be two million people being ruled over by people they don’t want ruling over them - the same people who they’ve been fighting against our whole lives. Not sure how a 2 state solution isn’t universally seen as the only viable path. The fact that it looks unlikely at the moment doesn’t matter. Nothing ever looks possible until it happens. In reality, the process itself is already somewhat known - what really ought to happen is to go back and fix a previous “mistake” - the 1948 partition seems to have forgotten to create two states even tho it clearly separates two peoples. Seems like an important thing to not do. No one is really asking to give Palestinians anything that wasn’t given to Israelis (in response to atrocities against Jews not committed by Palestinians), in accordance with what anyone in a western democracy would consider just.
I’m not sure any reasonable person would disagree that if we could just make it one country with full rights for all, that would be best and easiest. This is never, ever, ever happening. At least not in our lifetimes. Israeli Arabs live there peacefully, yes. But as Arabs in a Jewish states. Their numbers keep them at a healthy minority. The entire point of Israel was to have a Jewish state - that ceases to be the case in a one state solution, and in my opinion you’d need to immediately get ready for the imminent civil war, with all sides now having access to what I assume is a pretty powerful arsenal.Anders wrote:Also the Israeli Arabs (or Israeli Palestinians) are the same people as the Palestinians of Gaza and the West Bank. Same ethnicity, same version of the religion, shared history, still living in the same historical land.
Exactly. The only way to get two states with contiguous borders is the Palestinians abandoning Gaza to Israel in exchange for the forced removal of all Israeli settlements in the West Bank and the abandonment of all future claims to that land by Israel. This would make life much safer for Israel and Egypt and the Palestinians that lived in Gaza because they would now border Jordan, which is like 90% ethnic Palestinian due to the original partition in the 1940s, and Israel could no longer block them from receiving Arab support as a condition of obedience.Anders wrote:You would split Israel in two with the access corridor, and of course, Israel will never agree to that.