Israel's choice: Make peace or disappear
In order to save Israel, we must immediately separate from the territories and their inhabitants.
By Tzvia Greenfield Tags: Israel newsThe student senate at Berkeley University in California recently passed a resolution calling for divestment from Israel. Prof. Judith Butler, the feminist theoretician, expounded to the enthusiastic audience on her new "Jewish" vision, which calls for renouncing the State of Israel. In this way, the intellectual elites once again expressed their strong belief in the theological principle whose basis is opposition to Western culture.
For these intellectuals, the Palestinians' struggle against Israel symbolizes the heroic uprising of the rejected and oppressed against the conquerors who have deprived them of their humanity and delegitimized their local narratives. And in this mythological and theological arena, there is no chance whatsoever of holding a sane debate based on facts and common sense.
Treating Israel as the worst representative of Western colonialism is particularly ironic given the Jewish people's minuscule size and Europe's virulent anti-Jewish history. Neither Russia's control of the Chechens, Irish grievances against the British or Basque grievances against the Spanish evoke the harsh criticism that Israel does. Perhaps because it does not pay to confront the Russians, while Britain and Spain really do offer their minorities democratic equality and full civil rights.
Israel, on the other hand, continues to control the Palestinians and the territories by force. And in order to maintain its Jewish identity, it also has no intention whatsoever of granting them equal civil rights. One does not have to be a critical intellectual to understand that this internal contradiction, in a state that considers itself advanced, Western and democratic, is untenable.
There is thus no way to avoid a solution that chooses one of two options - either withdrawing from all of the West Bank and establishing an independent state for the Palestinians, or granting full rights to everyone who lives under Israeli control, Palestinians as well as Jews. In that case, of course, Israel would lose its Zionist identity as the state of the Jewish people - and if it is even possible for Palestinians and Jews to live together after 100 years of hatred, the Jewish residents of Palestine would immediately turn into an insignificant minority that is at the mercy of the millions of Muslim Arabs round about.
A development of this kind, which would destroy the Zionist project, would cause most Jewish residents of the former Israel to abandon their country and try to find new solutions for themselves on an individual basis - assuming, of course, that what happened before the Holocaust would not repeat itself, and that the millions of new Jewish refugees would be able to find safe havens for themselves in the democratic countries of the West. A horrific scenario like this would take the entire Jewish people back to its historic situation of weakness and victimization, and it is hard to imagine it could take place without a tremendous upheaval.
Yet another terrifying possibility, of course, is that Israel would consciously renounce its own self-definition as a Western democracy. It would then gradually turn into a dictatorship that defines itself as Jewish. It would use armed force to continue to control all the territory west of the Jordan River, and would continue to deny the Palestinians' right to either freedom or equality. A choice of that kind would destroy Israel as a modern state, and accordingly also its ability to defend itself and to develop as a secure, flourishing, 21st-century society.
In this case as well, it is clear that most of the country's intelligentsia, and indeed anyone with initiative, would leave Israel. Israel would remain with its religious population and its rightists - some of whom are capable of defending it, but most of whom are devoid of high-level development and management skills. The Israeli-Jewish dictatorship would thus suffer from a substantive weakness that would eventually lead to its defeat at the hands of its Muslim enemies.
It is sad to think that this process has apparently already started: The collapse of education and higher learning, together with the political corruption and the tremendous growth of those sectors that are not prepared to share the social, economic and military burden, is encouraging the more talented and diligent Israelis to leave the sinking Jewish ship.
Even if treating Israel as the country that embodies the ultimate evil in fact expresses a new and ugly incarnation of traditional anti-Semitism, which always viewed the Jews as the representative of all the world's ills, the truth is still simple, but difficult to face: An Israel that does not allow the Palestinian situation to be resolved has effectively announced its own inexorable death, via the gradual destruction of the resources of knowledge and talent that have enabled it to develop and defend itself until now. In order to save Israel, we must immediately separate from the territories and their inhabitants.
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Feminist theoretician Prof. Judith Butler. |
| Photo by: (Lior Mizrahi) |
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They had all this land prior to 67 and there was no peace only attacks..Stop the nonsense and reort intelligently.
Israelis should simply wait until they have a true partner for negotiations, that is a unified group of Palestinians that truly accept the existence of Israel as a Jewish state. Then, Israel would be rational in compromising. To simply give up land with no guarantees or to give up on the Zionist experiment altogether would be disastrous. As far as the latter option is concerned, every Jew should remember what life for Jews was like before the existence of the state of Israel.
PLO was formed long before Israel administered the West Bank. In other words, no matter if Israel pulls out of the West Bank, they will never be accepted by the Arab Muslims, simply for the fact that they exist. Can you understand that?
You write as if Israel is totally innocent. As an Arab, I know very well that Arab governments have been very blind, ignorant, and cruel in their policies against Israel. Nonetheless, Israel's colonization of Palestinian territory - regardless of what Zionism mandates, it would be selfish to disregard the humane existence of the Palestinians - has further polarized the Arab population. Moreover, Israel possess one of the world's largest reserves of nuclear weapons - are we not entitled to fear that just as much as Israelis fear Iran? Really in the end both sides have made the same mistakes. Every new military strategy pursued by both Israel and its Arab neighbors promises more unjust deaths to both Israeli and Palestinian children. If we were ALL peaceful and disarmed, coexistence would be less of an impossible vision as it is today. Israel and Palestine would coexist harmoniously. A very militaristic peace agreement would do nothing to solve your concern - the Arab-Israeli hatred that has further exacerbated the political issue.
You maybe a professor but intelligent you are not. Quite frankly I couldn't care less what you think sitting in your academic isolation. There are lots of things my country does that i don;'t agree with as I am sure the same applies to you regarding the US,but that doesn/t mean we should disappear because you don't agree how we run things. Sure the Palestinians should have a state, so let them stop the violence and rhetoric of distroying us first..
You're too emotional and defensive to actually listen to what Butler says. I would say take some time away and then come back to Butler's writing, but I don't think it would do you much good. You merely use Butler as a means to your own ends.
affairs.he is trying to play off various parties against each other.if he want s to talk to israel we have elected a representative and that is netanyahu.
The cardinal question is has somebody the legitimacy to claim a territory he left for almost 2 millenniums... Has somebody the right to claim a territory on the base of a biblical promise... If the answer is "Yes" then many, many geopolitical situations ought to change.
... so Washington wants to have a look at this impediment first hand... and is in fact doing Bibi a favour...
Yes, build bombs and bunkers and submarines, and be at all times ready to take half the world down with us if ever an enemy tries to destroy us. BUT, we must make peace too. We owe our children both a strong defense and a peaceful Israel.
Usually falls flat once they announce it. These people have nothing better to do,as with the Berkeley incident.They try it,and a couple of days later it just disappears the way it begins.Sick with the lot of them.
what for?we have a prime minister.he was elected by the nation.is this divide and rule by the feckless obama? yishai should tell obama what to do with his invation.
Dear Cynic, to what "civilized world" are you referring? And what do you mean by "civilized"? Can you be more specific, and less template? Thank you.
Divestment from Israel seems to be quite popular in the civilized world at present, and there seems to be a direct relationship between that and the continuance of the Israeli illegal occupation and settlement expansion. Perhaps the Israelis and their foreign sycophants should take note of that, before they have no friends left.
What if the next military attack on Israel was met with such violent and sustained reprisal that it rendered the stupidity of Hamas, Hezbollah, Syria and whomever totally without answer? That is the way successful wars have always been fought. Maybe the whole post-1945 methods are up for reevaluation.
Every possibility mentioned in this article is very logical and makes alot of sense. It is an excellent response to those who think that Israel can maintain the status quo for ever.
The future of this existance depends on peace for all.
gaza declared war on israel.we defended ourselves unlike the french who fight in afghanistan and kill civilians without any reason.
The writer mentions something to the effect that Israel must accept a Palestinian existence. Okay....but what about an Israeli existence. There has been no acceptance of Israel since 1947 by those countries still at odds with the Jewish state.
Great article. Thought provoking and self prophesing.
There is not moral society in the world, particularly the US, which would even conceive of such an idea no matter how upset it is with Israel. The US is the sole and final arbiteur of and Israel's fate, and it is still its most successful act of nation building, ,
In the regions of Basque, Northen Ireland, and Chechnya, the general public is considered assimilated and of the same nationality. But Palestinians? Are they given the same rights as Israelis? Can they build homes in Tel Aviv? Can they vote for the Knesset? Do they share the same standard of living as their neghbours in nearby settlements? No, all because they're not jewish. THAT's the difference!
How many time must it be repeated until it finally sinks in? We are here to stay; we will not move to The Bronx, L.A, Montreal, or, (from the heat to the frying pan), to Miami. Believe it or not, the millions of Palestinians in Gaza and the West Bank or not going anywhere either. So here we are, nose to nose ready to kill each other or, if just a bit more sane, ready to make peace. Israel is the stronger side, there is in fact no comparison between the pain we can cause the Palestinian and the pain we could feel at their worst. The onus is therefore on us to accommodate the Palestinian needs and demands which do not actually threaten the future of the Jewish State. Saying that there is no partner is a cop out; a fair and honest approach will be meet with a positive response from the other side. After all, Palestine needs peace at least as much as Israel
well said
There is not moral society in the world, particularly the US, which would even conceive of such an idea no matter how upset it is with Israel. The US is the sole and final arbiteur of Israel's fate.
Ah yes, it takes a critical intellectual to come up with this toady tidbit: "Yet another terrifying possibility, of course, is that Israel would consciously renounce its own self-definition as a Western democracy." Ah yes, as much a possibility of this happening as UC Berkeley voting to support the NRA. Is this nutbar for real? This kind of moronic postulating passes for "critical intellectualism"?!? And ya know, like, when is this renouncement going to take place? When Elvis and Michael Jackson ride into Jerusalem on a white donkey and declare themselves the messiah reincarnate? No doubt this "intellectual" professor would have us believe that too. Theoretically, of course...
"It would then gradually turn into a dictatorship that defines itself as Jewish. It would use armed force to continue to control all the territory west of the Jordan River, and would continue to deny the Palestinians' right to either freedom or equality." DING! DING! DING!
Cast Lead caused israel more enemy and a rise in Anti-semetism in Europe and Americas
The israeli people should be angry and shocked by the incompetant so-called "israeli leaders" representing them. If israeli was smart, they would have made peace with the palestinians a long time ago!
"Barak Is The Only One That Can Make Peace..."
Good for you,at least someone has a bit Sachel amongst all these comments that I have read through tonight.Nuclear warfare will be the armaggedon unless the world wakes up and realises the True enemy,Not us the israeli~s,the jews,the world has an enemy that it quite hasn`t understood yet or chooses not to acknoledge,but time will tell,when it`s too late!
This is beneath contempt and does not deserve an answer! From a Non-Jewish Canadian
Since Prof. Judith Butler is Jewish, all this talk about antisemitism as the cause for singling out Israel is a foolish diversion. And the comparison of the Palestinian condition to the Chechens and Basques is foolish too. The latter are full citizens of their country, so whatever their grievances, they are of definite lower order than the Palestinians'. Zvia Greenfield's conclusions however, are correct and well known to many who tend to think rationally. A continued occupation will ultimately result in a one-state solution with a Jewish minority, and the end of Zionism. All the rest is commentary.
What does it take for you to realize? The root of the entire conflict is about Israel's RIGHT TO EXIST as a Jewish State. So long as Hamas/Fatah/Hezbollah/Iran/Syria/Lebanon/Saudi Arabia/Et Al refuse to accept even the basic premise of a Jewish home in the middle east, there is nothing to talk about.
Peace will come either when: 1) The Arabs destroy Israel 2) The Arabs realise they cannot destroy Israel, no matter what Islam may teach Neither of these is about to happen.It may be that the current wave of Islamic Fundamentalism will have to go the same way as pre-1967 semi-secular Arab nationalism - this too will not be soon. But it will come when the centuries-overdue reform of Islam happens.At present Arabs feel that to allow Israel to exist is a betrayal of their faith, their past and their Prophet. Meanwhile Israel can do without those left-wing intellectuals conspicuously missing until the 3rd Aliyah or later. It is not about the occupation - it never was - it is about the existance of a non-islamic state anywhere in the ME.
"There is no instance of a nation benefiting from protracted warfare." - Sun Tzu Good advice thousands of years ago, and still good today.
Sorry Judith Butler,but this has been our home for,close to 6000 yrs and we have every right to be here,you really haven`t done your home work well!ISLAM does not won`t peace only world domination,first the Jews must go,and then anyone who does not convert to Islam.Leave us alone,yet the UN focuses on Israel as always been the aggressor,give us a break and set your sights on Zimbabwe or Sudan for the likes of `Democracy`!!!!!
turks and greeks have each gone to their own side of the island.so let it be with us here.let us exchange arab villages in israel with settlements in judea.we will then no longer hear about inequality of treatment.
Since Prof. Judith Butler is Jewish, all this talk about antisemitism as the cause for singling out Israel is a foolish diversion. And the comparison of the Palestinian condition to the Chechens and Basques is foolish too. The latter are full citizens of their country, so whatever their grievances, they are of definite lower order than the Palestinians'. Zvia Greenfield's conclusions however, are correct and well known to many who tend to think rationally. A continued occupation will ultimately result in a one-state solution with a Jewish minority, and the end of Zionism. All the rest is commentary.
very intelligent and astute observations but wrong conclusion. There is no way to separate in such a small area, and no reason to exclude Jews from Judea and Samaria. Arabs must learn to accept being a peaceful minority in a Jewish state with the same rights as any other minority, such as Jews in America which don't have equal rights either. voluntary relocation should be encouraged through economic incentives to maintain strong Jewish majority. Separate microstates will never lead to peace w/o the acceptance of peaceful coexistence and tolerance, there will always be disputes that could lead to violence.
Here we go again. Do you really think giving up the West Bank is going to bring an era of peace? Tzvia, wake up. The Arab-Israeli conflict is not a political war. It is a religious war. This will never be over so long as Jews have any control over any biblical land. So, where do we go? Want to move back to Russia? Poland? Germany? You pick.
This woman's stupidity is eclipsed only by her ignorance of the Almighty and His plan for His chosen people. It would be laughable if it wasn't so tragic. In the end, she will stand in His presence to explain her opposition to His plan of the ages.
Existence of Israel among so many Arab coutries itself is a miracle. So far so good but after 30-40 years on USA will not be a super power ecnomically. At that point USA will not be able to defend or afford Israel.There is no doubt in my mind that with one more attack like world trade center the american citizen will start asking their government to change their alliance with Isreal.
U.C. Berkeley n.f.l. shalom
Nice, clear exposition. And if Iran proceeds to acquire nuclear weapons, the process of exodus will certainly accelerate.
...light'n up a little,nuke Tehran
the world hates child killers; something you people do not understand; stop buying anything made by isreelies
if israel starts ww3 by attacking iran then we would have world wide antisemitism on such a scale that all the clever jews(including tzvia greenfield) would have to go bak to live in israel and would have to defend it anyway/.
...there would probably be only a handful of jews in Israel and the rest of us would have moved to the US and Europe long ago. They have been very resilient bearing in mind that they have had the Americans and Europeans lined up against them for so long. We were the arm that the west used to strike out against the pals. Based on that, I say their resilience has been not only heroic, but also legendary.
Let's face it. Israel was built on a lie. It was sustained for the past few decades on a combination of lies and American stupidity. Now it is time for us to face facts: the project has failed and we must prepare ourselvces for a new reality. Time and events wait for nobody.
we will soften or surrender.it will never happen. the jewish people are resolute and immovable.
that was a very good article - the comparisons with other nations that have colonised are correct and something to think about
of our own when they turn against us.i include some haaretz journalists.the answer can only be jewish minds and ideas and thoughts like much else follows a bell curve where among our millions there are a few on either extreme of the curve.these extremists are activists few in number but loud in decibels.
we had a period after the 1940s when they were too shame-faced to continue the antisemitic wars.but that truce is over. the truce of the haters is no more reliable then a hamas or hizballah truce.so be it.
for us it is the jewish state reborn after millenia.we are an inventive people.i dont think we need worry.
Israel is imploding. Not much they can do about it now. Jews will start deserting the Zionist project and as the Author correctly points out. The international community is growing steadily weary of Israel,s Aparthied behaviour and isolation/boycotts are being planned. Only a matter of time. Some of us have been saying this for 3 or four years. In the futiure people will say. Ah, Israel, wern,t they the people who never missed an opportunity to miss an opportunity.
it will not be moved.if the worst comes to pass and the whole world turns against us will stand up for ourselves knowing we have no alternative.
The whole world is CHOOSING to become the enemy of Israel. AntiSemitism is pervasive worldwide, and always has been! That is a fact. It is also predicted prophetically in the Bible that the whole world will be against Israel in these days in which we live. I've read the Book, I know the ending, and it is very good for Israel, her precious people, and for those who "bless" her. Conversely, there is not a happy ending for those who "curse" her. I always pick the winner, and I bless Israel and pray for the peace of Jerusalem!!!! Shalom.
According to the left there is only one solution and it is theirs. That solution is to give in to the enemy and maybe they will be nice to you. If there really is a demographic problem, that problem will eventually exist inside of the 1948 borders. What will Ms. Greenfield do then? Will she still be living in Israel?
And that is what this article comes down do.
100% Jewish. My maternal Grandfather was a Jew,whose family emigrated from Germany to the USA sometime in the late 1800's,thereby escaping the horror of the near-extinction of Jews in Europe during WWII. I BEG of you, ALL Israelis, please learn the lessons of your own history and that of WWII in particular.There is NOTHING you can do to change the irrational minds of fanatics who choose to be your enemies. Remember 1948,1967,1973,etc. Nobody fought those wars FOR you, except you. You have the RIGHT to self-defense and preservation as a nation! Above all, return to HaShem and the Torah,remind yourselves of His ETERNAL promises to you,His BELOVED people. Being prepared with a strong defense is absolute wisdom. Count the timea Joshua was told "Only be of good courage". Shalom.
go the same way.Islamists there are in ascendancy!
This article is one of the biggest breaths of fresh air I have ever had on Haaretz. Excellent and to the point...this is an almost exact scenario of what the possibilities and future looks like. I would only hope that an article like this could push closer to peace.
...the devil is in the details though, and one cannot expect Israel to be the only side ot make concessions. Even though the following analogy is not correct since Jews are the natives of Israel. Perhaps Judith Butler and her people should move back to Europe and give America back to the Natives, who they murdered by the millions and who still after 200 years of independence still suffer grievances.
Another example of pure intellectual masturbation. The chattering classes have to make noise to remind us of their existance The world views them as irrelivent, both the well fed, and the hungry, who are too busy working hard too feed their families, to stop to listen to their cacophony. Zvia Geenfield? She just feels so good whne she plays the naughty little haredi girl
One of the reasons for the need of a Jewish state in the late 19th century was to rescue the Jews from the antisemitism and the pogroms of Europe. Today, no les areason is because of the 'judith Butlers' of the world, who would mix ustogether in a liberal 'mish mash' state where we cannot express our full religious and ethnic identity, and where we would have to give full equality to the 'other', which would partially emasculate our own exclusive ethnic identity. A 'Jewish state' means 'the full expression of self' and a deluted 'state of all its citizens' means denial of 'national self' which Prof. Shmuel Ettinger called in Hebrew "shmad leumi", in other words, opting for the 'religious self' only. In order to maintain this we need a 'two state' solution, but necessarily according to the borders that Greenfield suggests.
hold tight until obama gets kicked out. dont give in. everyone knows palestinians are evil filth every country with lebanese immigrants knows how they are. the real world is behind israel, the left wing nut jobs are just in power and vocal. do not give an inch of israel! palestinians have no right to any land, no right to anything at all. they should be thanking their false god they are permitted to live!!!
to those that wasn't aware of the ruthlesness of the Jewish State. The slaughter of over 300 children and the aditional 1000 helpless trapped civilians, some in camps.It revoked the horrors of WWII and the Guernica of Palestine was exposed to the world to see. Those that defended the Israeli actions were all of a sudden considered right wing loonies and the Jewish world was split between these loonies and Jews with Jewish values. No Hasbara in this wide world could help. Trapped women and children running for their lives under a rain of napalm filled our TV screens. Even the White House started to ask the question "Is this in US interest"?, NO was the answer and Israel lost a soul mate. US security interest is vital to the US and Israel will always come second. A fork in the road developed and the US went left and Israel to the right. The Palestinians, burried their dead women and children, confused to the silence of the world. They wised up to and turned to the young President.
This is a truly excellent article. And let's not forget the global background. The United States is in comparative decline and China is on the rise. How will Israel survive, without friends, in a world dominated by a culture which pays no attention to Israel's assumed specialness?
And please dont forget that Judith Butler is creating the new jew!!!!! Laughable. In relaity, the sky is not falling apart. At the end of the day it is not Israel the factor that rejects a peace initiative, but the palestinians. Americans most probably will advance a peace plan based in the lines of Clinton's proposals of 2000. This plan was accepted and defended by Israel in Taba while the palestinians rejected first and wanted to improve later in Taba. In present times it is most likely that it will be impossible for the palestinians to accept what they have already rejected. Therefore it will be no deal. Most likely that the "present status quo" will be preserved for the next few years. Neither war nor peace. Probably Israel won't keep building settlements. But who needs that?
What other Jewish leader is there now that Sharon is out of the picture?
sj: "only a tough strong israel survives....I say build more weapons, more nukes, hardened sites, bunkers for all....because flat out war WILL come." The article suugests that many Israelis will not choose to stay in the scenario you paint. Especially the well educated, more secular, who have a different vision of the world, and who see co habitation with others as fair, and in fact desirable. So then you are left with settler and religious whackos. Not so much of a country.
If Tzvia Greenfield would just disappear things would be much better for everyone
Far right-wingers are destroying the Jewish State from within with their insane occupation of the West Bank. By destroying the possibility of a Palestinian state, they are sentencing the Jewish State to disappear and paving the road to the prospect of a binational state where Jews will only be a minority. They are destroying Israel for the sake of occupying a few houses in East Jerusalem., That's insane.
Israel is frightened of defining itself. Lack of defined borders is the physical representation of this fear, inability to choose between one state and two state is the mental representation of this fear. Those who want neither two-state nor one-state because of a logic already laid out by many commentators that does not need re-elaboration here, harbor a hope that things will resolve themselves by events, never mind how they happen or what the hardship, that see the remainder of the Palestinians both within and without the Green Line somehow ending up somewhere else. Few will say so in so many words, but that's how it is. Would even Jabotinsky have enjoyed the spectacle of today's East Jerusalem and teenage settlers displacing Arab refugee families from their homes in our name? Ms Greenfield is right about such a path, Einstein was right, Yishayahu Leibowitz was right, but who's listening?
"only a tough strong israel survives....I say build more weapons, more nukes, hardened sites, bunkers for all....because flat out war WILL come." Sure, superjew. The problem is that your government is steadily making enemies of every nation on earth. That is not only disastrous, it is dumb.
This article explain the same vision as the vision of Irans president: The jewish stae will disappeare. The actual political system is digging itself its grave. Irans president has never announced the destruction of Israel. He has only predicted its selfdestruction.
If we assume that establishing israel was a natural process, then this process must be in accordance with natural universal laws. The process can be either reversible or irreversible. changing process-conditions may determine either direction. All assumptions for future change in conditions assure the possible reversibility of this process.
There is another side. Israel cannot make peace with itself. The other side is not ready to recognize and live in peace with the Jewish state. Half the other side which proclaims this in the most vocal way is 'Hamas'. The other half of the other side teaches it to its schoolchildren. The arrogance of the Left is believing it only depends on 'their side' if it that is Israel is 'their side'.
"the Jewish residents of Palestine would immediately turn into an insignificant minority that is at the mercy of the millions of Muslim Arabs round about" Now knowing this why does the Israeli establishment from Israels inception to this day still persist on going down this path which will ultimatly lead to their own destruction. The article also points out that both russia and europe have a history of anti semitism but it doesnt mention the muslim world. Thats because until Israel was created by the UN under british supervision as a base for the western nations and a crusader afixiation of a fundamentalist backword belief of taking the holyland through bloodshed where Jesus himself preaches otherwise. Is the root cause of this mistrust and now we have this stand off where the jewish state is cornered and armed to the teeth with nukes which is particularly scary knowing their aggresive military tendancies to launch pre-emtive attacks when they see discent, Gaza, lebanon sound familiar
Obama will eventually be gone, maybe 3 years, maybe 7 years, and a Republican strongly under the influence of the Evangelical Christian Zionists would be his likely replacement. At that point things would be back to the George Bush years. Israel can probably maintain the status quo until then, though it would need a Livni or Olmert-type, not Bibi. But Turkey will determine whether the status quo can be maintained. It has excellent, shrewd leadership now, and Erdogan just might succeed in emasculating the military, which is Israel's strong ally. If Turkey turns, Israel had better scurry to make peace.
the state of israel is probably the most dangerous modern place for jews morally and physically, Judith Butler is as smart as a person can probably be and Israel lives on a sea of US money and political protection while prosecuting a settler colonial occupation. As the author states, you can't be a jewish democracy, you get one or the other. But her racist notions about muslims, matches the similar notions other cultures have toward jews. The main reason non-Jews in the middle east hate Israel is because of Israeli actions, before the 20th century there was no safer place on earth for jews than the middle east, any ideas on what might have changed since then, hmm, any ideas?
Israel's choice: to destroy its enemies or disappear. by bringing those that want your house inside and giving them a room you do not reduce their desire to put you in the sea, as has been demonstrated again and again from 1993.
same old liberal claptrap. only a tough strong israel survives....I say build more weapons, more nukes, hardened sites, bunkers for all....because flat out war WILL come.
I'd like to hear you speak of violence once your entire family has become victim to bullets. War is no solution, and never has been. Everyone is entitled to a peaceful life - regardless of the political inventions under the umbrella of a 'vision'. No vision is legitimate if it places one person over the other. One state of coexistence is much holier than two divided by a history of bloodshed. As Einstein said (and this is in reference to # 5), maybe it is about time we learnt from our history. One state, one people, uniform peace, and coexistence.
I'd like to hear you speak of violence once your entire family has become victim to bullets. War is no solution, and never has been. Everyone is entitled to a peaceful life - regardless of the political inventions under the umbrella of a 'vision'. No vision is legitimate if it places one person over the other. One state of coexistence is much holier than two divided by a history of bloodshed. As Einstein said (and this is in reference to # 5), maybe it is about time we learnt from our history. One state, one people, uniform peace, and coexistence.
Good article, but Ireland is not 'a minority' of Britain. It is an independent country.
Give it a rest, amigos!
...it's about Israel and only Israel... Any thought whether Palestinians are also a part of the solution? Do you expect anything from them beyond plain rejection of negotiations? Neh...
succeed in finding a path of honest cooperation and coming to terms with the Arabs, we will not have learned anything from our 2000-year-old-history and we will deserve the fact which will beset us. I am afraid of the inner damage Judaism will sustain--especially from development of a narrow nationalism within our own ranks."
The State of Israel has the responsability of the lives of its Millions of Citizens.The question is.Make peace with whom? the terrorsts from fattah,the terrorists from hamas?Meanwhile there are the hizballah,syria and iran in the mix...Israel cannot worry about the whims of crack heads in Berkeley,or pot smokwers in Manchester or any other dreamers that would sacrifice another 6Million Jews,to appease the devil.
Uhm, I won't get into the rest of the article. But, UC Berkley's divestment resolution was voted for, then vetoed, and then subsequently voted down. There's no divestment resolution in force at Berkley or any other U.S. college. The author needs to check their facts. Dave K from Philly
As it has been said often lately, American and all other Jews outside of Israel must make a choice. They may no longer support democracy where they live AND the theocracy of Israel. The time has come. Israel is on a path to self destruction. Jews are welcome in the US and anywhere else. Israelis will not be welcome anywhere in a very short time.
Well done