One-state solution won’t work in Israel
By Letter to the Editor on March 27, 2020.
Gwynne Dyer calls for one state for the Arabs and Jews (March 14 Herald). He did not mention whether this state would be democratic or autocratic.
The Palestinian Authority is an autocratic state. Its leader, Mahmoud Abbas, was elected president in 2004. Another election was supposed to take place in 2009. This election was cancelled. Abbas is now in the 16th year of his four-year term. Israel has had three elections in two years and is contemplating a fourth to arrive at a democratic consensus. Israel is a country with a democracy on steroids. Palestinian media is not free to criticize the government. Reporters have been threatened and jailed for exposing corruption. By comparison, Israel’s media is totally free to be critical of the state and its institutions and does so with gusto.
The court systems in both countries are incompatible. In Palestine, courts are used to settle feuds and to punish the regime’s opponents. By comparison, Israel’s courts are preparing to charge the prime minister with corruption as they did in the past with another prime minister, Ehud Olmert, who was actually incarcerated. No Palestinian court would ever contemplate charging President Abbas.
The two cultures are totally incompatible. Combining them into one state would result in chaos. Having another chaotic state in the Middle East is not what the world needs.
Here is the bottom line: the one-state solution is the strategy employed by the Arabs to destroy Israel. Israel will never agree to commit national suicide. Surely a superb journalist like Gwynne Dyer knows this.
Larry Shapiro (proud Canadian)
Rancho Mirage, Calif.
9-8
sorry to copy and paste the same entry twice, but it is the only way to respond to ignorance, and hater fearmongering. the usual blah blah blah of the self serving. the letter is imbued with racist, self promoting, egotistical, fear/hate mongering nastiness. proud canadian, you proclaim, from the usofa?! further, what proud canadian stands for denying human rights and racism?
1) the land is only a historical right based on self serving writings. there are other writings and historical evidences that suggest the land belongs to others.
2) the most recent previous owners of the land were palestinians. the disregard not only for their longstanding presence there at the time, but also over the millennia, remains an affront to decency and humanity.
3) that some jewish peoples still choose to deny full citizenship, love and respect to non-jewish people is rather disgusting and racist, is it not? should the rest of the word not welcome jewish peoples as full citizens, and with due love and respect as all human beings should be afforded?
4) the effect of point 3 on palestinians has been a horror show. do terms like hate crimes, crimes against humanity, apartheid ring a bell?
5) some jewish peoples would rather kill and die than love and share – kind of sick, really.
6) how about we all grow up, reach out, love a lot more, and stop buying into lies, rhetoric, and the spin doctors that promote hate and greed and racism. why is it so hard to share? for shame.
by the way, larry, do you not find it curious how you miss the fact that your writing comes while you take space on indigenous land, whether it be there in the usa or canada? and that fact is without dispute.
No one owns land to any legitimate degree. Land is only “owned” until someone stronger takes it from you.
Colonizing and conquering has occurred since day 1 and will continue to occur. You would be hard pressed to find any society that hasn’t been conquered and their lands taken. It will happen to us as well. As such, the “I was here first” argument, is only relevant among kids in a playground. That’s where the real hammer comes down! lol
Pretty hilarious to read about how wonderful Israel’s democracy is – when Netanyahu is a petty thug being indicted for corruption. Nevertheless, he’s blindsiding democracy and taking the helm.
Why, if Netanyahu was Palestinian he would be called an autocrat.
(Friend of Stephen Harper and member of the IDU, as well.)
Palestinians have been under occupation since Israel was created from their lands.
They had a free and fair election in 2006 but the “wrong” party was elected so the world, led by Harper, thumped their chests and declared the election invalid.
Sit down Israel; you’re embarrassing yourself and those of us who once supported you.
https://foreignpolicy.com/2020/03/27/benjamin-netanyahu-political-wizardy-prime-minister-extended-term/
quite right, d p, on this entry and in your reply to the other letter. i believe if netanyahu was palestinian, in addition to facing quick justice for corruption he would also be held to account for war crimes and crimes against humanity.
I agree with your comments on this topic as well.
Sad things didn’t work out differently for Israel but it was never called on its outrageous behaviour, so it has just gotten worse.
Old enough to recall when Israel’s secret service, Mossad, used Canadian passports to go abroad and assassinate – whomever they wanted, really.
There may be elections for some residents in Israel. And perhaps you can call it somewhat of a democracy. But it is mostly a police state. You can be locked up indefinitely and not be formerly charged with anything. You can just be pulled off the street and your family has to go looking for you . The first question the authorities ask is ,”Are you Jewish”? This is when you inquire about the whereabouts of your friend who has been locked up for the last few days, because they have an Arab friend..
It’s a mess. It is not humanly possible to solve. The UN should control Jerusalem and it should belong to the world. Many Jewish residents are like most people and just involved in their own little world, so they don’t see it. And of course some want and need to believe that their children will actually have a peaceful future there.
I agree with many of the comments here. And those who say that Palestinians are the last victims of Hilter and that the Bible is not a real estate guide.