Stuart Appelbaum
A few weeks ago US ambassador to Belgium Howard Gutman upset the lobby when he said that Israel's actions were fostering anti-Semitism in Europe.
Well NY labor leader Stuart Appelbaum has adopted a similar argument, blaming the crisis of the two-state solution on Israel. He says that Arab contempt is being fed by Netanyahu's high-handedness. The NY Jewish Week's Doug Chandler reports on a speech to the Jewish Labor Committee last week by its president, Appelbaum, and the walkout by a Netanyahu gov't official. The occasion was a Human Rights Dinner:
Speaking before more than 350 guests, most of them from various trade unions, Appelbaum condemned what he called “new expressions of contempt for Israel within the Arab world,” a reference to the movement to delegitimize Israel. That contempt, he said, is at least partly rooted “in the conviction that Israel will never accept the right of the Palestinians to an independent state.”
But Appelbaum added that Israel was “cursed with a right-wing coalition government that’s regularly giving credence” to that point of view. While Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu “talks a good game about a two-state solution,” he said, his administration “shamelessly” promotes “the construction of illegal settlements on the West Bank” — a policy that “severely impedes negotiations.” It’s a situation that Appelbaum likened to the employer “who comes to the bargaining table, telling us he wants a contract that’s a win-win for both sides, while, at the same time,” instructing his lawyers to work on petitions that would decertify the union.
As a result, he said, Hamas, which he branded a “terrorist” organization, is winning new support, while moderates who were once ready to negotiate peace are now backing away from that stance.
As Appelbaum concluded his remarks, calling on guests “to send a message” to the Israeli government in favor of “good-faith negotiations,” Shlomi Kofman, Israel’s deputy consul general in New York, rose from his table and walked out of the event. Meanwhile, the remarks seemed to elicit a lukewarm response, failing to win the robust applause that followed other speeches
Thanks to Meretz USA.
W h a t ? ? ?
Netanyahu and ” Good Faith negotiations”?????
A contradiction in se.
Hardly conceivable even after re-incarnation.
Which body would survive such a soul??????
:)))
O.K.
But still the bizarreness of the foreign country Israel being an issue in everything in the US from union bosses to political parties to churches…is the most bizarre aberration in the history of the US.
I don’t think there is any parallel comparison in country in the world having this kind of foreign country fetish , ever.
yes, and a fetish which it is a virtual taboo to actually discuss dispassionately, and look at the reality of. The official who stomped out just typifies the attitude – we, who are guests here, will refuse to listen to the arguments, will spread hysteria and hyperbole around any raising of the subject or questioning of the fetish. We will accuse anybody who does of some kind of racism, although we are not quite sure exactly what kind. Not only that, we demand that you engage in endless foreign wars for our beliefs, which must never be discussed, since merely discussing them is some kind of existential threat to us. So shut up, pay up and make war for us, even if bankrupts you.
Israel is still sending relatively housetrained ambassadors and representatives to the US. Give it another few years and Israel’s changing demographic makeup will be reflected in its choice of envoys. Shas and Yisrael Beiteinu people . Likudniks like Danon. That will be the end of the US love affair with Israel .
Drip drop, drip drop…
Reading the news today that several MKs want to ban MK Ahmed Tibi from the Knesset for being a ‘traitor’ and the fact that ‘Baby Bibi’ Danny Danon wants to introduce a bill that will ban a MK if 75 % of the Knesset votes for it, makes me wonder, in light of the Republican party’s official stance as going for a One State.
There are now almost 750,000 settlers beyond the green line. They’ll get beyond a million within this decade.
So, how much longer? How much longer will the world pretend that the 2SS is viable (and ignore the fact that the only way Israel agreed to it was when they could build settlements like crazy, like Ehud Barak did)?
When will the narrative shift that we’re dealing with a de-facto One State, which denies millions of it’s citizens the right to vote and is on the cusp of banning all Arab parties from the Knesset which had a ceremonial token role anyway?
And what happens when the narrative shifts?
I’m willing to bet, since I am poor, nothing than for the sake of it, that it’ll happen within 5 years. I think that if Iran wasn’t going to get attacked soon we could look at a 3 year window, but the Iran needs to happen first and the aftermath has to play out.
So within 5 years is my baseline scenario, somewhere around 2017. And I’m talking major turning point, even the conservative outlets too(aside from the fantical pro-Settler WSJ) like the British Telegraph, the American National Interest and so forth. Even these people. Not just as a possibility, like now, but de facto conventional wisdom as established truth.
Anyone want to bet against and/or differently, and if so, why?
A fantasy of your own making. Still, it gets you off the hook, so what do you care.
“The land swap option will still be viable 5, 10 and 50 years from now”. 5, 10 and 50 months is probably a better planning basis, but the 2 state solution is probably long gone. Make sure you have a ticket for a helicopter ride off the Embassy roof or be prepared to face the steel. Just kidding, your a talker. No steel for you as long as you have said ticket.
So, applebaum and meretz want to put a different face on the same policies – shocking- we’ve been watching this movie for years. the israeli “left” is no better than the right, they are just better at paying fealty to the big boss, the US
if I were a US “labor leader” id be careful about attacking others for “talking a good game” but not following through, or carrying out a different agenda, this seems to be the trademark of US “labor leaders”…..
This is great news. Labor leaders at a public meeting, to the Jewish Labor Committee no less, calls N’hu’s bluff. Places blame where it belongs.
Drip, drip, indeed.
Well, Krauss, you need to get the whole picture. Not even the Palestinians seem so favorable to the two-state solution. Fatah and Hamas seem to be reconciled and are on track to form a government of national unity. FYI, Fatah does not accept Israel as a Jewish state (its official ceremonies, however, incite to hatred against Jews indiscriminately, Israeli and beyond), while Hamas does not accept the existence of Israel itself. So where do you see the willingness of the Palestinians for a two-state-solution? More fantasy than reality. Moreover, can you imagine that they agree to accept ONE state of Israel of which they become citizens? But if their intention is to eliminate it, how can you assume that they would like to join? Impossible, my friend.
The presence of 750’000 settlers is not a problem, if there is the willingness on both sides to find a compromising solution. But there isn’t. Israel knows that giving up the settlements does not mean peace (at least until the Palestinians do not radically change their eliminative aims). The Palestinians, for their part, will not stop wanting to eliminate the state that they think is the cause of all their woes and troubles (at least as long as there are Jewish settlements and, I would add, Israel itself).
So, I would not be sure that the narrative shift will happen soon, or that it will happen at all. And if it happens, who knows if something will change? Or do you think the world will attempt to impose the One-state solution to the two contenders, as it attempts to impose today the two-state solution?
Bet a penny that One it has the same chance of success as Two – that is, no chance.
“Fatah does not accept Israel as a Jewish state”
Of course not. That would be morally wrong.
“The presence of 750’000 settlers is not a problem, if there is the willingness on both sides to find a [sic]compromising solution. But there isn’t”
Indeed not. Any compromise would require Israel to make concessions to morality and decency. Israel just isn’t prepared to do that.
“The presence of 750’000 settlers is not a problem, if there is the willingness on both sides to find a compromising solution. ”
Settlers out is the only solution . otherwise give everyone the vote and forget about Israel
Settlers out is the only solution . otherwise give everyone the vote and forget about Israel
Settlers out isn’t the solution since this would not lead to peace. And the Palestinians are the first who will not agree to get the vote by Israel. So forget about it.
If the settlers stay put Israel is F#####. And good riddance. It would be wonderful to have a state run on Jewish values sometime.
Settlers out isn’t the solution since this would not lead to peace.
Rubbish. Always the Palestinians’ fault, never the Zionists’ fault, eh Jonah.