It seems that Israel’s 60th birthday is not triggering wild celebration around the world. Even the American discourse is changing. The cheers are muted.
In Le Monde Diplomatique, they are openly savaging the "ethnic cleansing of Palestine" and repudiating the settlements, and quoting Avraham Burg.
Here in the Philadelphia Inquirer, an editorial celebrating Israel’s birthday is a little dejected. The U.S. is the only one supporting Israel, and it may be that way for generations, the editorial says. Well, think about that; why is that? (Do we want to be in Iraq for 100 years?) The editorial writer seems to understand that’s not a good answer, but can’t take that on. Meantime, the peace process seems busted. To which the editorial adds,
In that context, the future for Israel is murky.
Meantime, the LA Times does its readers a tremendous service by openly addressing the idea of a one-state solution in Israel/Palestine.
Palestinians who favor the idea say they would have no problem living
with Jews as equals. If Jews were to give up their superior status and
allow Palestinians the right to vote and move about the country, they
say, Islamic extremists would lose their appeal.
Emphasis mine. Radical notion–that took 60 years?
The article quotes the Israeli Meron Benvenisti, who is for one state.
"Israelis and Palestinians are sinking together into the mud of ‘one
state,’ " he writes. "We need a model that fits this reality. . . . The
question is no longer whether it will be bi-national, but which model
to choose."
I haven’t seen such a fair treatment of Israel’s crisis in the American mainstream press before. It was written by men named Richard Boudreaux and Ashraf
Khalil (yes with help from Batsheva Sobelman in Jerusalem). I assume they are non-Jewish. That is a necessary part of this crisis: America needs non-Jewish Americans to speak their minds on these issues!
P.S. The Times went further, here with a blogpost where Khalil lists lots of sources on the one-state question, including Electronic Intifadah and Ali Abunimah, as well as Uri Avnery’s opposition to it. God bless America.
