April 01, 2008

The real meaning of land for peace?

A long time ago I stayed on a "left-wing" kibbutz just at the foot of the Golan Heights. I had hoped then for a two state solution where there would be an Israel and a Palestine. The kibbutzniks were big into Peace Now. I remember one of the things that put me off zionism altogether was that these "peaceniks" coined a slogan, "an Israel free of strangers". I asked one of them about this (this was 1981) and she told me that when the Palestinians get a state it would be better for all of "the Arabs" to live there. As they say now, "we are here, they are there". And this was the zionist left. Now everyone, from the nearly late Sharon to the generous Ehud Barak, wants a two state solution but look what it entails according to this Jerusalem Post report:
A total of 76 percent of Israeli Jews give some degree of support to transferring Israeli Arabs to a future Palestinian state, a poll commissioned by the Knesset Channel revealed, Monday.
So when well meaning but unthinking people speak of a two state "solution" don't forget to mention what that "solution" entails.

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