Comments on: Who’s running? David Harris of AJC declines to debate Walt and Mearsheimer

By: Alex Safian

Alex Safian — Fri, 17 Jul 2009 17:14:40 +0000

Harvard's Alan Dershowitz has offered to debate Walt and/or Mearsheimer, but WM have refused on the grounds that Dershowitz is not an "expert." All the more reason for them to debate him — with their great expertise they will demolish him, right? Plus Dershowitz is sure to draw a crowd, both at a public event and on C-Span. So why are Walt and Mearsheimer so afraid to take on Professor Dershowitz?

By: Shingo

Shingo — Mon, 13 Jul 2009 10:03:22 +0000

Yes I should rephrase that. The 1967 borders was the best of a bad scenario and I suspect, one that even the Palestinians would accept today. The 22 Arab States who sidnegd the peace initiative regard the '67 border as acceptable, and even Hamas is willing to support a 2 state solution along '67 borders, so while such a border may not be respectable as such, it is practical.

By: Shiri

Shiri — Mon, 13 Jul 2009 07:38:18 +0000

If you are not disputing Israel's duplicity, and its reasons for refusal to declare its borders, then it seems to me that you are also acknowledging that there was nothing respectable about Israel prior to 1967. And yes, the decision about a state's borders is up to the state, in agreement with its neighbors and the international community. The Green Line is the internationally recognized boundary of Israel's territory, buy it is not officially a border until and unless Israel declares it so. Israel is still in the process of adjusting its borders outward, and officially, albeit illegitimately, included the Golan Heights and Greater Jerusalem as part of its territory. If not stopped it will eventually also declare the West Bank and most likely Sheb`a Farms as part of Israel. The US and the international community (and how very VERY interesting that you mention the US separately from the international community) have not officially recognized the Golan Heights and Greater Jerusalem as being part of Israel's territory, but in a very real way they have accepted it as eventually they will accept most if not all of the West Bank as part of Israel. But to return to your original statement, there was nothing respectable more about Israel prior to 1967 than there is now, the wishful thinking of nice, liberal Zionists notwithstanding.

By: Shingo

Shingo — Mon, 13 Jul 2009 05:02:38 +0000

I am not disputing Israel's duplicity, and it's reasons for refusal to declare it's borders, but the green line is what is internationally recognized as Israel's borders, whether Israel want to declare it or not. After all, if it were up to a state to declare it's borders, Mexico would love a chunk of the US back, but there is the small matter of what the US and the international community is prepared to recognize.

By: Shiri

Shiri — Mon, 13 Jul 2009 03:35:14 +0000

Yes, it is up to a state to declare its borders, and as the Head of State in 1948 it WAS up to Ben Gurion, and he refused explicitly stating his reason, which was to allow for territorial expansion. What, exactly, is respectable about that? The green line is not a border, it is an armistice line, which Israel has refused throughout its history to accept as its border. The notion that somehow Israel was a wonderful, respectable country prior to 1967 is pure myth. Israel has always been what it is now – an ethnocracy whose establishment and maintenance depended and continues to depend upon massive ethnic cleansing, territorial expansion, a constant state of aggression, and suppression of the full rights of ethnic minorities.

By: Shingo

Shingo — Mon, 13 Jul 2009 03:21:32 +0000

It wasn't up to Ben Gurion to declare the borers so much as the borders that are internationally recognized. You've heard of the green line I take it?

By: Shiri

Shiri — Mon, 13 Jul 2009 02:51:36 +0000

Ben Gurion refused to declare borders in 1948, and Israel continued to refuse to declare borders until this day. I repeat, what borders would that be specifically, since Israel has never had borders?

By: Shingo

Shingo — Mon, 13 Jul 2009 02:29:11 +0000

The borders that existed prior to the 1967 war. The borders, for example, that do not include the West Bank and East Jerusalem.

By: Shiri

Shiri — Mon, 13 Jul 2009 02:02:21 +0000

What borders would that be specifically?

By: Shingo

Shingo — Sun, 12 Jul 2009 23:41:29 +0000

"What was respectable about the situation that existed prior to '67?" The borders for a start.