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 @
Oh my god this bimbo (Walsh) is so dumb he thinks that’s a threat!!
I was just about to post this in another thread;
link to haaretz.com
Do these folks really have no shame?
Andre :
“Do these folks really have no shame?”
++++ No they dont, but something else greyish thing between of ears is missing, which has even more blasting effect to behaviour.
I’ll say this again. The Prez’s job is foreign policy.
The Congressmen should be fixing our domestic problems first.
You know he won’t answer, 8-), because even neofascists know that what they intend is wrong. Tony Judt’s last comment is still the best
“What I do know is that since I wrote that in 2003, everyone from Moshe Arens through Barak to Olmert has admitted that Israel is on the way to a single state with a potential Arab majority in Bantustans unless something happens fast. That’s all that I said in my essay. But ok, since it looks as though Israel is determined to give itself this future, what will it look like? Hell. “
In my view (massively minority view, it seems), there is still a chance to achieve 2SS — by multi-lateral state-level BDS aimed at requiring Israel to remove all post-1967 settlers and dismantle wall and all post-1967 settlement buildings (leaving highways, I suppose). COSTLY, BUT POSSIBLE TO DO AND POSSIBLE TO VERIFY.
If, on the other hand, there should be an (another) expulsion of Palestinian Arabs from Palestine, there would be no clear way to reverse this other than opening Israel to re-population by ALL Palestinian refugees, including those of 1948. How the international community could do that escapes me, but it would be the end of Israel, and perhaps bringing about the “end of Israel” would be the only path available at that point.
The MASSIVE TURMOIL FOR ISRAEL that I have been proposing since 2008 would be small compared to actually ending Israel (or compared to whatever it would take to (safely for the participants) flood all of Israel with Palestinian refugees.
Republicans are “Turnerizing” the campaign for the next POTUS; the public debate for Joe & Jane to consider is, “Gee, Who loves Israel more?” They will have to decide this burning issue concerning who will defend their America more “over there,” from Iran, from the Muslims who want Sharia Law and to take away baby Jesus, and which candidate will keep God’s promise to stand by the Jews or go to hell, or keep the Jews from being pushed into the sea, while they multi-task, looking for food, food stamps, a shelter, a home, or a way to keep it, a job, a temp job, a way to get some Pampers for their babies, or a way to pay off school loans, etc.
Maybe this will FINALLY bring about the backlash, when more people finally see the Israel-pandering out in the open.
Like Israel is more important to Tea Party voters than jobs or health insurance.
This Walsh cat should worry about the local government “annexing” his house – Pay your child support Joe!!!
link to suntimes.com
All jokes aside – Israel will probably be “allowed” to annex this territory – there is nothing to stop them from doing it. Total War seems more likely every day.
They can annex it if they like but no country will recognise it, just as no country on earth has ever recognised Israel’s unilateral annexation of East Jerusalem.
In fact, I’d like to see an ICJ ruling on Israel’s occupation of the 22% of mandate Palestine (half the ‘arab state’ partition) Israel swiped in 1948 and 1949. The fact that Israel declared it’s borders to the UN as those of UN181 means all that land between the partition boundaries and the green line is technically outside Israel’s borders, and also under occupation.
Israel has done a great job of sweeping this little factoid under the carpet.
any possibility Israel operatives are using Joe’s child support problems to pressure him to make this godawful resolution? It’s been done before.
How far to the right do the Republicans have to go before Obama responds and makes it an election/partisan issue?
They are giving Obama all the opening in the world to do ‘right’ thing, but sadly he’s seems to weak and timid to do anything with it.