Palestinian Authority Calls Two-State Solution “Unacceptable”

[shira]

Palestinian Authority Calls Two-State Solution “Unacceptable”
July 27, 2011 – 3:27 pm

While the Fatah-led Palestinian Authority insists to the world that it is ready for peace with Israel, one of its key spokesmen has announced to the Arabic media that they will "never accept" the two-state solution.

The Middle East Media Research Institute (MEMRI) recently translated an interview given by Fatah Foreign Relations Chief Nabil Shaath on Arabic News Broadcast (ANB) on July 13th. In it, Shaath declared (emphasis is ours):

"(The French initiative) reshaped the issue of the 'Jewish state' into a formula that is also unacceptable to us – two states for two peoples. They can describe Israel itself as a state for two peoples, but we will be a state for one people. The story of 'two states for two peoples' means that there will be a Jewish people over there and a Palestinian people here. We will never accept this – not as part of the French initiative and not as part of the American initiative."

Contrary to Shaath's assertion, the two-state solution is the only internationally-accepted framework for peace. And every day the Palestinian Authority refuses to accept Israel as the democratic homeland of the Jewish people is one more day that peace is delayed.

http://www.cicweb.ca/scene/2011/07/palestinian-authority-calls-two-state-solution-unacceptable/
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-CkImOGcHcw

UN recognition will only lead to the PLO and Hamas extending the conflict, working for total victory in a 1-state humanitarian nightmare. Not so good for the millions of Palestinians whose suffering and misery will only continue as the conflict goes on.

It's clear why the USA and Israel are against UN recognition and for negotiations towards 2 states.

Funny how these stories don't make international headlines. I heard the media was too pro-Israel...

[thereismore]

1. I think that two states are not the problem. It's the separation of peoples that is. nt

[shira]

2. "Separation of peoples." What do you mean by that? n/t

[thereismore]

13. Well, he seems to be objecting to segregated peoples in two states, not

two states per se.

[holdencaufield]

20. Am I missing something here?

Israel is already a state for MORE than two peoples. Israel is a multicultural country with significantly more ethnic diversity than most European countries. How many Muslims/Arabs serve in the French Parliament?. Has Israel ever proposed a burqa ban?

As for the separation of people's -- isn't this precisely what nations do? They set apart peoples of different ethnic, cultural and ideological difference into discrete units that can make laws according to their collective mores. Were not India and Pakistan specifically created to allow both Muslims and Hindus to have a place they could call their own? When (it's only a matter of time) the Palestinians switch from resistance mode to statehood mode they have the choice -- they can create a democratic state for ALL the people currently living in their borders (Muslim, Jew and Xtian) just as Israel has done -- or, not.

[azurnoir]

35. Perhaps that is why Israel wants to be the Jewish State to make itself clear

about multiculturalism to its non-Jewish citizens. to let them know their place?

[shira]

37. Do you think things would get worse for non-Jewish citizens once Palestine recognizes Israel...

....as a Jewish state?

[holdencaufield]

40. Why MUST there be a Jewish State?

Israel IS a Jewish State. Not a religiously Jewish State -- but a demographically Jewish State. That fact shouldn't cause anyone concern unless they have a problem with Jews being a statistical majority in any particular location The question liberals and people concerned with social justice have to ask is, WHY Israel must exist as a Jewish State in the first place?

History has shown over and over that a minority Jewish population isn't safe in a non-Jewish host nation. Humans, looking for a boogey-man to blame their problems on will seize upon the easily identifiable Jews and turn on them. It could be property seizure, mass expulsion or extermination but it will happen given enough time. This systematic programming of Jews as source of evil is so ingrained in some people's minds that they can't have a political discussion without attributing almost mystical levels of treachery and perfidy to any Jewish (and by extension, Israeli) actions.

The fact that there must be a Jewish State in this world for Jews to survive is a shame upon the rest of the world. But, exist it must.

[shira]

3. Arafat against 2 states and Oslo (video from 1995)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i3tFYmMpd3A

[shira]

4. Arafat signed Oslo Accords as Trojan Horse

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wD_KQMJqPeA&NR=1

[shira]

5. Arafat denounces Oslo Accords in english (1994) after "recognizing" Israel

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yDj7bg0lN44

[shira]

6. (From July 2011) 6 in 10 Palestinians reject 2 state solution and 66% say goal is one state...

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=124x358320

[Name removed]

7. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[damntexdem]

8. A racist Israel dominating a Palestinian state is not a solution.

Increasingly it appears that the only true solution would be the destruction of the so-called state of Israel.

[shira]

9. Well that's a fine humane position to take. One state with Hamas and the PLO in charge.

Another repressive, totalitarian state like Syria, Egypt, or Jordan is just what's needed in place of a liberal democracy....

....and after rivers of bloodshed to boot!

:eyes:

[LeftishBrit]

17. Neither is war.

Since when was the 'destruction of a state' a true solution to anything? Sounds like the sort of thing the Bushies would support!

[Igel]

18. Kto kogo.

It was said that capitalism is the oppression of man by man, but communism is the oppression of man by man.

Since writing intonation without ToBI is really hard, it helps with subscripts: Capitalism is the oppression of man-2 by man-1, communism is the oppression of man-1 by man-2. The point is, both are oppression, even though one is considered better by the other. Man-1 considers capitalism better; man-2, communism.

Since we can't have racist Israelis dominating a Palestinian state, the only solution is to have racist Palestinians dominating Jews in one state, in other words, going back to the 1920s and '30s. Smooth.

[King_David]

19. You and which army, damntexdem ?

'the only true solution would be the destruction of the so-called state of Israel.'

You forget,the Jews of today are not the Jews of the past.

We are strong !!

:bounce: :bounce: :bounce: :bounce: :bounce: :bounce: :bounce: :bounce:


ETA : thanks to the Jewish State and the IDF.

[bemildred]

10. "They can describe Israel itself as a state for two peoples, but we will be a state for one people."

I don't see the problem. Certainly the new state has a right to avoid the sort of ethic divisiveness that has been so damaging for Israel.

[shira]

11. You must've missed the bolded part of the OP, b/c that's where the problem lies.

As to a state for one people, Abbas was quoted as saying not one Israeli will live in a future apartheid Palestinian state....
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=124x340975

I wonder if you'd have a problem with Netanyahu saying the same thing, but WRT Palestinians.

It's also odd you have no problem with Shaath's statement, given you're for one secular democratic nation between the river and sea....

[bemildred]

12. No, I read it all. It's not Abbas they are talking about or quoting either.

But In any case, what Abbas means is that any Jews in the new state must become citizens of the new state, so the settlers can either move to Israel or become citizens of the new state of Palestine. It is a rejection of the notion of having two classes of citizens.

[shira]

15. Abbas meant no Jews and everyone knows it...

http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3929819,00.html

The original reports in Arabic are clear he meant Jews, as everyone besides the Jews within Israel are considered Palestinian (whether Christian or Muslim).

After he was caught, his handlers tried to make his statement more PC.

[bemildred]

23. You and people who drink the same KoolAid are far from "everyone". nt

[bemildred]

14. The sentence I quoted clearly agrees to two states, yes?

And agrees that Israel can call itself anything it likes?

[shira]

16. Okay, I see what you mean but...

...what are 2 states when Israel must allow full RoR according to Shaath?

The 2 states would both be Palestinian.

[bemildred]

24. Anyone with a brain knows there will be no full RoR in any peaceful settlement.

It is what is known as a "bargaining chip", because legally the Palestinian position is unassailable, and it will cost something to get it resolved, but that is far from meaning that the Palestinian diaspora is going to all want to all move to Tel Aviv. They want COMPENSATION, which Israel does not want to PAY, and that is the real issue with RoR at this point,

[shira]

26. Compensation was offered in the 2000-01 Barak/Clinton offer, as well as Olmert's....

And Abbas didn't even make a counter offer in 2008, saying the compensation wasn't enough....

[bemildred]

27. Exactly. nt

[shira]

28. Exactly what? Oh, nevermind.... n/t

[bemildred]

29. Exactly this:

"They want COMPENSATION, which Israel does not want to PAY, and that is the real issue with RoR at this point."

[shira]

30. Yeah, bullshit. They want full RoR as well as compensation and they make this clear...

...over and over again in the Arab press.

And 66% of all Palestinians understand it perfectly, as they're for 2 states so long as that ends up in 1 state via full RoR.

[bemildred]

31. I was just explaining what I meant, I had no illusions about you considering it seriously. nt

[shira]

39. From day one, the PA has insisted to Palestinians it will never give up full RoR...

...and that anyone who settles or negotiates for less than a full RoR is a traitor who concedes that Israel has a genuine right to exist as a Jewish state.

In no way is the PA working for peace by preparing Palestinians for the day they will have to forego full RoR.

Never once in Arabic to Palestinians or to others in the region has a Palestinian leader admitted he would have to settle for less than full RoR...

[azurnoir]

21. What a desperate attempt at propaganda,

The PA does not reject a 2 state solution that is what they are going to the UN for, they do however reject Israel as the Jewish State which no matter how hard you try to spin it is not the same as rejecting Israel's existence

[holdencaufield]

22. What is the objection?

Why -- if Palestinians are truly interested in having their own state -- do they give a fetid dingo's kidney how Israel defines itself as a state? Do they object to Japan as a Japanese state?

Refusing to accept Israel for what it already is makes no sense if they're interested in a Two-State Solution. It only makes sense if their ultimate goal is a ONE-State solution (an Arab State).

[bemildred]

25. I dunno if it's "desperate", but it's definitely bullshit. nt

[azurnoir]

34. "desperate" in this case means bullshit

I was being too polite

[shira]

38. An Israel with full RoR is just another Palestinian state and that's what Shaath is calling for.

Realize that within the W.Bank and Gaza refugee camps still exist.

Those people will stay there until........?

There's no use defending the indefensible position of the PA.

[King_David]

32. I agree,A 3 State solution looks like the more likely outcome nt

[azurnoir]

33. again LOL wish away but if UN recognition does indeed happen

it will be for one Palestinian State and only one Palestinian State but your wish to further isolate the people of Gaza is noted, oh BTW has Israel made good on the promise of allowing materials to construct new homes for the civilians they left homeless more than two years ago happened yet?

[King_David]

36. I am not an Israeli spokesman,

Google it !

[holdencaufield]

41. Historical Parallels

So many people fail to realize that just one year prior to the establishment of the State of Israel, the states of India and East/West Pakistan were established under nearly identical circumstances. Britain, looking to dismantle it Empire in the wake of World War II, created three partitions to separate the culturally similar but ultimately contentious Hindus and Muslims -- and their various minority populations. Nearly 15 million people became refugees and chose to, or were coerced to(depending on who you ask), leave their homes and settle in a different partition. Arguments over the lines of partition led to a horrendous death toll (none is quite sure but a medium figure is half a million deaths) and, to this day, the lines of the partition are under dispute and armed conflict continues.

Ultimately, the two halves of Pakistan (East and West) could not agree on a government and fought a war to become Pakistan and Bangladesh -- making the sub-continent, along with India, a THREE-STATE solution.

Where there isn't a parallel is how practically no one outside of the region cares (or even knows) about this massive conflict that continues to this day -- but, are obsessed with de-legitimizing Israel and examining its every word and action with a proctoscope.

[King_David]

42. Yes a very interesting parallel nt