So Obama visits Israel. Despite the famously frosty relationship between Bibi (Netanyahu, Israeli prime minister) and Barack (Obama), things seem to be going well.
Bibi says he will let the Palestinians have a state, so long as they are good. And don't ask for their bit of Jerusalem. And let settlers colonise most of their land.
Obama says it is very important to let the Palestinians live in a peaceful Bantustan. But the grown ups will decide who they are allowed to be friends with.
Why America is so beholden to Israel is an interesting question. I think it is something to do with Evangelical Protestantism. People may rail against the 'Jewish' or 'Israeli' lobby, but only about 1.7% of US citizens are Jewish. It is the weird fixation some sects of American Protestantism have with Israel and ancient versions of the bible that cause the trouble. There are not enough Jewish voters to make much of a difference. There are quite a few Muslim voters to counterbalance. It is the evangelical protestants that make the issue important. And the mythology that you really can't go anywhere without AIPAC and the Israeli lobby. The description of America's friendship with Israel also entailed the word 'eternal'. I think this kind of shows how the whole thing is packaged for religious fanatics.
The Palestinians demand a state within the 1967 borders (including East Jerusalem) and the refugees' right of return to the ancestral homes. The UN and polite opinion agrees with the 1967 borders thing, but also agrees to do nothing about it. No one really thinks that it will happen soon. The Americans have got so intertwined with the Israelis that they have ceased to be polite. Prominent Americans subscribe to the Israeli dogma that Jerusalem is "the eternal and indivisible capital of Israel". Wow. Eternal. Was this a revelation from the Most High?
There are other dogmatic statements that the pro Israel lobby tries to make people say. They insist that everyone recognise "Israel's right to exist". This is emotive. The Holocaust proposed a final solution of eliminating all Jews, that is eliminating Israel. The dogmatic statement regarding Israel's "right to exist" leads you to agree rather than get on the side of the Nazis. I find it insidious and divisive. Perhaps Bibi Netanyahu should be asked if he recognises Palestine's 'right to exist'? It is in light of the 'right to exist' dogma that Israel describes Iran as an existential threat. In aquiescing to the 'right to exist' dogma you are also pressed to recognise Israel's right to exist as a Jewish state. This is not something I can agree to. I see religion as a personal choice. I would be glad to have a country called Israel within the 1967 boundaries operating as a democracy. I would expect all citizens of that country to have the same rights. Jewish people may constitute a majority, but if many Jews and Arab citizens later come to define themselves as secular, would they need to be deported to maintain the Jewish majority?
But back to the 1967 boundaries. These are viewed as the borders of a future Palestinian state. If you take the time to look at the map of Israel & Palestine, you will notice this gives the Palestinians two areas, the West Bank and the Gaza Strip. Can these to pieces of land really form a single state? I would suggest not. States with non contiguous territory only really work if you can get from one part to the other via the sea.
So the 1967 boundaries are compromised. And even if Israel was prepared to take all their people back behind them, I am not sure a two state solution could work. Therefore I think the time has come to recognise that the two state solution is a non starter. The world has tried to negotiate it time and again. We have all tried and we have failed. The Israelis blame Palestinian intransigence. Likewise the Palestinians blame Israeli intransigence. Whatever. The two sides cannot reach agreement.
There is only one solution. A single state. Let all the people of Israel and Palestine live together in a single state. Israel has consistently refused to recognise Palestinian sovereignty over the West Bank and Gaza Strip. Israel also declines to recognise this land as occupied. Normally Israeli government ministers refer to this land as 'the territories'. Fair enough. Let it be a single territory Israeli territory and Palestinian territory, a single state. One person, one vote.
Neither Jewish nor Muslim. Just a single secular state. A democracy.
Jews may well be in the minority in ten or twenty years' time. Unlucky. The Israeli people and government have had plenty of opportunity to put a palatable deal before the Palestinians. They have not put Palestinian good faith to the test. Just as Israeli policy has strangled the two state solution before it was fully born, the US Israeli lobby, in tying itself so tightly to Evangelical Protestantism sows the seed of its own demise. Religion is a dying force in American society. If evangelical protestants could guarantee you an American majority, we would have a republican president. Tying your colours to that mast nowadays puts you in the minority.
No comments:
Post a Comment