Freshman Illinois Congressman Joe Walsh has proposed that Israel annex the West Bank if Palestinians persist in seeking statehood. Ali Abunimah writes:
Walsh’s House Resolution 394 calls for:
“Supporting Israel’s right to annex Judea and Samaria in the event that the Palestinian Authority continues to press for unilateral recognition of Palestinian statehood at the United Nations.”
“Judea and Samaria” is the name Israel gives to the Israeli-occupied West Bank.
…There’s just one tiny catch. What happens to the almost three million Palestinians who live in the Israeli-occupied West Bank if they are annexed by Israel?
Does Israel then have the “right” to expel them? Do they live under permanent second class status, as African Americans did before US Civil Rights legislation, or like blacks in South Africa under apartheid?
Or is Walsh actually proposing a one-state solution in which Palestinians get to vote in Israeli elections?
Walsh is mysteriously silent on this crucial point. I have put the question to him via Twitter (@RepJoeWalsh):
@avinunu
Ali Abunimah.@
If Israel annexes West Bank as you propose, should Palestinians living there get equal voting rights? Yes or no? cc @
