Opinion
Arabs don’t want 2 states
Dan Calic
Published: 27.05.10, 11:19
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1. The two state solution not for this generation.
Nora Tel Aviv   (05.27.10)
(End).
2. Just keep playing the game-Status Quo.
Janice Cohen ,   ירושלים   (05.27.10)
Until "Jordan is Palestine" makes itself available.
3. Balfour has no right to promise Palestine to *false Israelis
n.d   (05.27.10)
4. To #3
Canadian ,   Tel Aviv   (05.27.10)
You're right, g-d promised it to the Jews. Palestine is a name given to the land by the Romans after they destroyed Israel. There was never a national Arab movement for a "Palestinian" homeland until after 67' because Palestine is a myth and factually never existed. These Arabs are Jordanian.
5. to #3 I keep asking myself if the person who
ghostq   (05.27.10)
copy past pali propeganda knows anything about Judaism or even lokal history. AND as always they got no answers.
6. but the Brits gave something is not their's in the first pla
Ahmad ,   nablus   (05.27.10)
therefore, all the article is baseless, false, and has no merits whatsoever. Only a moron and an idiot would give up his homeland or part of it to a bunch of colonists from afar. I am happy to see some one get it after 90 so years of colonization of Palestine.
7. to #6 :) when haj amin al Husseini call to arabs
ghostq   (05.27.10)
to leave they left, sound like either they knew it's not theirs or they r morons. as for palestine the brits refers that to the population of british coloney including jews(trust me I checked) unless you want to be referd as british. :)
8. Nor does Israelis
Indigenous ,   Nablus- Palestine   (05.27.10)
9. two states
ed ,   reno,nv.,usa   (05.27.10)
you have got to be blind if you believe the arabs want a two state solution. it is only one more step to thier goal of no Israel and no Jews.
10. For lack of anything else Western leaders support 2 states
Sam ,   Canada   (05.27.10)
It appears that Western leaders are playing along with Arab declarations of supporting 2 states. They have no other idea what to do and are just buying time hoping to prevent terrorism and oil boycotts. They wish to do this with peace talks and nagging Israel for concessions. Arab leaders are playing on the fears of Western leaders to encourage them to force Israeli territorial concessions. This until they gather the guts to take on Israel by war again. It's all a farce. Arabs are thinking time and numbers are on their side so no compromise is necessary and Jewish nudniks and dreamers are telling them and us they really do want to compromise.
11. Does Hamas support a two-state solution?
Orly ,   Jerusalem, Israel   (05.27.10)
Over the past year, in which we've seen numerous concessions of the terrorist group on religious matters (capitulating to the lax religious interests of their electorate), Hamas has expressed willingness to negociate with Israel (what it promised it would never do during the 40 years it waited on the platform of "no compromise"). The quote in the article is outdated. Hamas was elected democraticly and as each fatwa (religious edict by pain of death) turns to an opinion and then again to a mere suggestion, we see democracy at work. Hamas, the terrorist organization that does not embezzle the international money it receives to make its leaders righ (as seen in Fatah) but only to stockpile weapons while its leaders live a modest lifestyle, is ready to talk peace. After all that calling for giving them a chance to experience democracy, we sure seem to be the ones refusing to give democracy a chance.
12. to #6, and #1
Golan ,   modiin   (05.27.10)
The Brits took the land of Israel from the Turks (whose land it was not) and gave it to the Hashemite loser brother Abedullah (whose land it was not) the Arab whose people invaded the holy land in 650 CE (whose land it was not) from the Christians (whose land it was not) who took it from the pagans (whose land it was not) who took it from the Jews (whose land it was.) So what is your point? Land ownership is political. You never really own your house as long as the government, any government can take it away from you. As for #1, the only chance there ever was for a peaceful two state solution was when the world and some Israelis tried it with Yasser. As the mythical leader of an Arab "Palestinian" people only he could do it. This leaves us with only the population transfer option.
13. #6 Ahmed: You are wrong. The British, unfortunately
Tzfoni ,   Liberated Israel   (05.27.10)
had every right to give the land away as they saw fit. They defeated the Ottomans and the cardinal rule of law is that to the victor go the spoils. Detrimentatlly, the British of the day were ignorant fools and instead of living up to their prmises in the Balfour Declaration, they made an about face and created an artificial state. named Jordan. Jordan consists of 86% of the Arabs that squated in Jewish ancestral lands. Jordan is your homeland! You have no claim to mine. So do us all a favor and stop rewriting history. It only serves to confuse and creates needless animosity.
14. All the more reason we should!
Michael Steiner ,   Bahrain   (05.27.10)
Of COURSE they don't want two states! Two states would mean relinquishing their dream of ever destroying Israel. Their aim is one state; and whether they attain it thru military conquest (extremely unlikely) or by waiting until we have no other choice but to accept a single-state solution, it does not matter. The outcome will be the same: The end of Israel. Dividing the land roughly along national lines is the only way we can secure long-term future for Israel. Everything else will send us on another two millennia of peregrination around the world.
15. GOOD ARTICLE
ABRAHAM ,   TORONTO   (05.27.10)
maybe its time to go on the defensive with articles like this. Israeli PR has largely been a disaster. Articles like this should be placed in mainstream newspapers across the free world Wake up Israel---The internet is the new battleground !
16. Follows is a list of opportunities and offers rejected:
Jehudah Ben-Israel ,   Qatzrin, Israel   (05.27.10)
1917 - Balfour Declaration, rejected 1920 - San Remo Conference, rejected 1922 - League of Nations, rejected 1937 - Peel Commission offer, rejected 1947 - UN Resolution, rejected 1948 to 1967 - No state was set up in the Jewishlly "cleansed" territories of Samaria, Judea, Gaza and eastern Jerusalem 1967 - Israel's offer, rejected 1978 - Begin/Sadaat offer, rejected 2000 - Barak/Clinton offer, rejected 2005 - Gaza state first, rejected 2008 - Olmer/Bush offer, rejected 2009/10 - Netanjahu's offer to talk, rejected This is a pattern of nearly a hundred years of rejections or refusal to take advantage of opportunities to set up an independent Arab state which would coexist peacefully with the nation-state of the Jewish people. This explains the refusal to accept Israel's right to be, to exist as the nation-state of the Jewish people on the part of the present Arab leadership as well as the refusal to accept a peace treaty as an "end of the conflict".
17. ARABS ARE NOT FREE TO TALK BUT PALESTINIANS
ATİLLA KARAGÖZOĞLU   (05.27.10)
ARABS ARE NOT FREE TODAY. I MEAN THIS. THEY ARE UNDER CONTROL OF THE WORLD POWERS. BUT BUT PALESTINIANS THEY ALWAYS WORKED FOR FREEDOM. NO OTHER NATION DESERVE TRULY INDEPENDENT STATE AS PALESTINAIANS TODAY.
18. Why are people blind deaf and dumb
Sagi   (05.27.10)
It is beyond my understanding as to why people pesistently deny the facts. The Arabs want only one State. The name of that State is The World. They proclaim this loud and clear, yet nobody wants to believe them, I for one do.
19. #14Why would Arabs stop attacking at Jewish imposed borders?
Sam ,   Canada   (05.27.10)
If Israel unilaterally divided the land along national borders the Arabs would not stop attacking. We've already seen that in the north and the south. We don't see any readiness of the Arabs to accept a Jewish-majority Israel in the long term. Keeping Jewish heritage sites and maintaining security borders are at present a greater concern to most Jews than Arab demographics.
20. Reply to Ahmed from Nablus
Jonny ,   South Africa   (05.27.10)
Ahmed from Nablus- the same could be said about Jordan, Lebanon, Saudi Arabia to name abut a few states in the region. Starnge that Joradn never became a Palestinian Stae, even when they occupied the West Bank prior to 1967.
21. to #17 world power? r you watching the power
ghostq   (05.27.10)
rangers again? you know Israeli producer bought the rights of the show back.
22. # 16 this is very helpful in understanding the
Gila Shamir ,   Kibbutz Maabarot   (05.27.10)
historic context of Arab rejectionism.
23. Arabs most certain want 2 states
Kyle ,   Southpark, CO, USA   (05.27.10)
They want both states for themselves.
24. More Palestinian Myth, Ahmad
Glen ,   Tel Aviv, Israel   (05.27.10)
nor was it "Palestinian" - there were very few Arab people in the region; they were brought in deliberately to make up numbers when they saw Jews coming in. Read the real history books and see that half the "Palestinians" were Albanian and other E. European Muslim "SETTLERS" - and that's from non-Jewish history books Ahmad.
25. :: #16 - “list of opportunities” my a$$!
Matty Groves ,   Fairport   (05.27.10)
It is laughable that Eitan would present the forced imposition of a ‘Jewish State’ in the region of Palestine as an ‘opportunity’ for the Arabs! The Arab nations and People had every right to reject such an ‘offer’ and ‘opportunity’ just as they have every right to reject Rabin’s so-called ‘vision of peace’ which Haber is so fixated upon regardless of the fact that such a magnanimous ‘vision of peace’ consists of nothing more that isolated Palestinian ghettos in Gaza and the WB. In truth Haber is the sole pallbearer of this ‘vision of peace’ as this idea died with Rabin, thankfully we now have Obama’s ‘vision of peace’ which will be imposed upon Israel with no ‘special’ concessions in Israel’s favor.
26. First sentence = false
Smith ,   VT, USA   (05.27.10)
The first sentence of this article is pretty flat-out false. The British did not offer all of Palestine / Trans-Jordan to Judaism. There were many vague and often conflicting promises and reports made by the British, but please give me a citation of this one, as I can't find it in all my research. One can fairly say that the British offered *access* for Jews to all of Palestine, but the entire land was never offered as a purely Jewish homeland. Since the "12%" quoted here appears to be implicitly referring to the land of a Jewish state, and not just area of allowed residency, I'll also point out that if you include Judea and Samaria as Israeli territory, Jews are a minority in that land still, and non-Jews are all reproducing faster than Jews. Having a "Jewish state" with a minority Jewish population rather defeats the purpose, no? If you're going to argue against giving away land for any Arab/non-Jewish state, then it would be good to also propose a solution to this demographic issue.
27. QUESTIONS FOR ABBAS AND ADVOCATES OF PALS STATE
tony   (05.27.10)
Can Abbas and advocates of Palistinian give us any historical record as to: 1. When Palistine was founded and by whom? 2. What were its borders? 3. What was its capital? 4. What were its major cities? 5. What constituted the basis of its economy? 6. What was its form of government? 7. Can you name at least one Palestinian leader before Arafat? 8. Was Palestine ever recognized by a country whose existence, at that time or now, leaves no room for interpretation? 9. What was the language of the country of Palestine ? 10. What was the prevalent religion of the country of Palestine ? 11. What was the name of its currency? Choose any date in history and tell what was the approximate exchange rate of the Palestinian monetary unit against the US dollar, German mark, GB pound, Japanese yen, or Chinese yuan on that date. 12. And, finally, since there is no such country today, what caused its demise and when did it occur? 13.You are lamenting the "low sinking" of a "once proud" nation. Please tell me, when exactly was that "nation" proud and what was it so proud of? 14.And here is the least sarcastic question of all: If the people you mistakenly call "Palestinians" are anything but generic Arabs collected from all over – or thrown out of – the Arab world, if they really have a genuine ethnic identity that gives them right for self-determination, why did they never try to become independent until Arabs suffered their devastating defeat in the Six Day War? 15.What factors had led to the series of wars and who started the wars?
28. Israel is the nation-state of the Jewish people based on:
Jehudah Ben-Israel ,   Qatzrin, Israel   (05.27.10)
1) Historically, Israel is the a renewed of Jewish sovereignty in the Land in question in which Zion, that is Jerusalem, is at its center and the capital city of the Jewish people since King David set it up as such, hence Jerusalem, DC (Jerusalem, David's City). 2) Ethically, Israel as the nation-state of the Jewish people is the manifestation of the universally accepted right of all peoples, including that of the Jewish people, to national self-determination and independence. 3) Legally, Israel it being the nation-state of the Jewish people is based on the Balfour Declaration, 1917; the San Remo Conference, 1920; League of Nations decision, 1922 and the United Nations resolution, 1947, all of which are part of a body of laws called "international law". Also, part of it is Israel's acceptance at the UN as a member state in good standing, 1949, it being the nation-state of the Jewish people. And to clarify, most states worldwide are nation-states and each has its minorities within them: Poland, Greece, Portugal, Denmark, Sweden, Lithuania, etc., etc., etc. The Arabs, to this date, reject Israel's right to be, to exist as the nation-state of the Jewish people and refuse to see a peace treaty with it as the "end of the conflict", thus the Arab Israeli conflict, both local and regional, goes on.
29. Mr Calic's revisonist history
John R ,   NYC USA   (05.27.10)
In the 1922 British census of the Palestine Mandate, the land East of the Jordon River was virtually 100% Muslim. For the land west of the Jordon it was 11% Jewish,9.6% Christian and the balance Muslim, Druse and Bedouin. Jordon was given the land east of the Jordon River and language was taken from the San Remo accord to encourage Jewish immigration in the west under the Mandate. No where in the Mandate did it specify the exact coordinates of a Jewish State because if it did (with those demographics )you would have guaranteed a civil war. Winston Churchill at the time said as much. In 1947 approx. 1/3 of the population west of the Jordon was Jewish. In UNGAR 181 the UN partitioned the remaining Mandate around that Jewish population and created Israel(which Israel formally accepted from the UN in a letter prior to the vote on 181) Both the Barak plan and the Omert plan had Israel both gaining territory (in violation of the UN Charter) and trading Negev Desert for illegal WB settlements(the illegality was confirmed in a 2004 ruling by the World Court ( per art 93 of the UN Charter Israel must respect those rulings). In 2002 the entire Arab League approved a 2 state plan whose main problem was right of return which Abbas is forgoing in the current plan.Hamas is a byproduct of Israel's pathetic foreign policy which has made it the most hated country in the world. Mr. Calic is spewing rhetoric but not the truth.
30. Not the wall, the IDF
Rafael ,   Yerushalayim, Israel   (05.27.10)
Well thought out article but for one mistake. It is not the security wall that has suppressed terror from Judea and Samaria, but the IDF return to the Arab cities of Judea and Samaria. The wall is a collusion of politicians, contractors and cement suppliers. Unsavory people have made fortunes on the wall which scars the landscape and does not provide a security solution.
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