Can Israel survive without a two-state solution?
Can Israel survive, as a Jewish state without a two-state solution - one that partitions Jerusalem, which is holy to both Muslims and Jews?
The numbers don't lie - there are more Palestinians than there are Israeli Jews. So without apartheid, Israel cannot remain a Jewish state and a democracy unless something changes.
OutFront tonight: Jeremy Ben-Ami, Jstreet Executive Director and Morton Klein, President of Zionist Organization of America.
Hamas leaders in Egypt for cease-fire talks involving Israel
A delegation from Gaza was in Egypt Monday to hash out more details of a cease-fire deal between Hamas and Israel, less than a week after the truce ended an eight-day conflict.
The continued talks are a key part of the agreement, which called for "total cessation of all hostile activity" and discussion of topics such as opening border crossings and easing Israel's economic blockade in Gaza.
While new negotiations were under way in Egypt Monday, there were reports of violence along the Gaza-Israel border.
Hamas police and ambulance operators said Israeli soldiers injured two civilians when they fired at Palestinian homes east of Rafah City in Gaza. An Israeli military spokesman said the soldiers fired warning shots in the air and later shot toward the legs of "Palestinian rioters" who were damaging a security fence at the border and trying to enter Israel.
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If America had been asked to accept a "two state" solution during the Civil War by other nations would it have? Should it have? The issue for Israel is demographics and the entire rationale for its being a nation. Much like the issue in the US, where older white males are no longer the majority, there is a time in the not to distant future where Arabs muslim and non-muslim will form a significant portion of the populous in Israel. South Africa is a prime example of what could happen in Israel should it continue on the "ghettoization" path. There were muslims in the first Knesset and Palestinians, those in the West Bank and Gaza, should in fact be given a vote and have representation in the Knesset and form coalitions and be active participants in the governance of the entire nation. We as Americans from any of our assorted groups would accept no less why would we believe that other people are so different concerning land that both sides have fought and died to claim. The recent announcements concerning military integration, the deportation of Africans and the departure of Ehud Barack raise the potential for a new single state approach to the issue. Livny has broached the subject prior to losing her leadership position to Shaul, who himself left the coalition government. I would say that Hamas and Fatah were wrong for thanking Iran instead of the UAE and Qatars of the region in helping the ceasefire a rethink is needed by both sides, even as the talks between Fatah and Hamas are offering the first chance in at least a decade for a real long term solution and one in which the people of Israel can been seen as the beacon for stable democracy and problem solving in the region rather than the emanating point for regional conflict.
Tell Ben-Ami to get a real job. He is an apologist and advocate of the Palestinians who are not advocates of peace. Morton Klein was more logical in his argument and Ben Ami pulled the typical Palestinian line by saying that the question you asked was not “the question.” The real question was what he wanted to answer. Saying that the Palestinians wanted a “two state solution” is giving them something they never had any valid claim to, and when he said for 100 years they have been arguing is a misconception because you can’t find the word Palestinian as people in any book before 1964 when Arafat established the PLO. So, it’s less than 50 years. The Palestinians are not “a people.” They are a “want to be people.” The Ottoman Empire owned the area for 400 years and never recognized Palestinians.
Everyon knows Palestinian Muslim and Christians alike lived peacefully in historic Palesting for decades before the state of Israel was created. They still do. If Palestinian Christians have left Bethlaham, its because they can no longer live under this bruital, racist occupation any longer, not because they don't get along with their Muslim neighbors. This is a fact. You can ask any Palestinian Christian. This guy is just trying to change the redirect the focus from the real issue which is Israel's decades of war crimes committed in the territories. Everyone recognizes it except for the United States. Just because the IDF wear uniforms doesn't make them any less accountable for the calculted genocide they have committed under the guise of security.