Great article! Reading the headline I was concerned that it was going to be the same one sided analysis that I frequently read! It is not! So much of the discourse right now is about assigning blame in a difficult and complex situation! I believe strongly that we need to let that go, let go of our biases and look to the future! I also be…
Great article! Reading the headline I was concerned that it was going to be the same one sided analysis that I frequently read! It is not! So much of the discourse right now is about assigning blame in a difficult and complex situation! I believe strongly that we need to let that go, let go of our biases and look to the future! I also believe that the west needs and actually even the UN need to look in the mirror and understand the role they have played in perpetuating this crisis! Extremism on both sides is not conducive to any effective solution! There has to be an acceptance from both sides that Israel is here to stay, as is a Palestine! I also believe that there needs to be an agreement to this from surrounding nations including Iran. Everyone deserves peace! Everyone deserves prosperity. For the record, this is from a Jewish Zionist woman! Zionism at its core is the belief that Israel is the Jewish homeland and that it must continue to exist! I am not a genocide supporting, baby killer nor am I a self hating Jew! Having a middle of the road perspective has cost me relationships within my Jewish community and from my friends on the left! Who knew that promoting peace would make me and many others such a pariah!
Things are so dire that we're really disinclined to assume that we can even find consensus with the person on the 'other' side. But sometimes the worst part of the conflict immediately precedes the most unexpected reconciliation. Things were horrific immediately before the Good Friday process, e.g. People had grown so disgusted with the PIRA and the loyalists that they rushed to support a deal that finally marginalized the militias. I think if we push the right levers, here, people will make a similar decision. Hopefully that will thaw the hardened positions you're describing. It might seem impossible now, but it's a better plan than more war.
I think it's hard for there to be an acceptance that Israel and Palestine are both here to stay when Israel (backed by America) has the capacity and the desire to wipe Palestine from the map. And not just the Israeli government but a substantial majority of the Israeli populace. Personally, I think a two-state solution is a mistake. I'm much more in favor of one state. Israel can be an ethnostate or a democracy. It can't be both.
Are their no Canadians to suggest our solution? Has it worked THAT badly?
Levesque did not lead to Trudeau shelling pockets of resistance near Eaton's.
Turned out we just had to change the name to "Eaton" and something in there about their own pension and justice systems and all kinds of little, honestly, little concessions of partial independence. Les Anglais may bitch and whine about how lucky, lucky Quebec gets special treatment, but....it seems to have worked. No killings.
The new Trudeau could change the story with the "Canadian 1.5 State solution".
I'm kidding. Of course. Or, really, providing a Poilievre fantasy issue.
You can absolutely devise a version of reality where a one-state solution works — there's already plenty of Arab Israelis, e.g., who have a good amount of political power, in normal times. I just don't think it's the reality we're living in. It's not like this was a functional relationship that had tensions arising from inequality (Quebec, Northern Ireland) it was a fundamentally unworkable relationship from the very beginning. It would have been nice if the world had figured this out in 1948, instead of shrugging and moving on, but here we are.
Separating would also be *very good* for Israeli politics. If a division were fair and amicable, it would finally remove, I think, that existential dread that Israelis face.
I guess if Israel was founded almost a century prior and they had fought a seven year war with only one Arab neighbour, then maybe there would be some equivalencies. Sadly, Israel was the last country in the region carved out by the Colonial Powers and seems to have paid the price from the start.
The entire area as stands today was created by Colonial Powers. Before that it was the Empire of the day that decided the delineation. If it was done in 1848 we wouldn't be having this conversation but, rather mostly symbolic sharing as in Canada.
Great article! Reading the headline I was concerned that it was going to be the same one sided analysis that I frequently read! It is not! So much of the discourse right now is about assigning blame in a difficult and complex situation! I believe strongly that we need to let that go, let go of our biases and look to the future! I also believe that the west needs and actually even the UN need to look in the mirror and understand the role they have played in perpetuating this crisis! Extremism on both sides is not conducive to any effective solution! There has to be an acceptance from both sides that Israel is here to stay, as is a Palestine! I also believe that there needs to be an agreement to this from surrounding nations including Iran. Everyone deserves peace! Everyone deserves prosperity. For the record, this is from a Jewish Zionist woman! Zionism at its core is the belief that Israel is the Jewish homeland and that it must continue to exist! I am not a genocide supporting, baby killer nor am I a self hating Jew! Having a middle of the road perspective has cost me relationships within my Jewish community and from my friends on the left! Who knew that promoting peace would make me and many others such a pariah!
Things are so dire that we're really disinclined to assume that we can even find consensus with the person on the 'other' side. But sometimes the worst part of the conflict immediately precedes the most unexpected reconciliation. Things were horrific immediately before the Good Friday process, e.g. People had grown so disgusted with the PIRA and the loyalists that they rushed to support a deal that finally marginalized the militias. I think if we push the right levers, here, people will make a similar decision. Hopefully that will thaw the hardened positions you're describing. It might seem impossible now, but it's a better plan than more war.
Thanks for reading, and for the kind words!
I think it's hard for there to be an acceptance that Israel and Palestine are both here to stay when Israel (backed by America) has the capacity and the desire to wipe Palestine from the map. And not just the Israeli government but a substantial majority of the Israeli populace. Personally, I think a two-state solution is a mistake. I'm much more in favor of one state. Israel can be an ethnostate or a democracy. It can't be both.
Are their no Canadians to suggest our solution? Has it worked THAT badly?
Levesque did not lead to Trudeau shelling pockets of resistance near Eaton's.
Turned out we just had to change the name to "Eaton" and something in there about their own pension and justice systems and all kinds of little, honestly, little concessions of partial independence. Les Anglais may bitch and whine about how lucky, lucky Quebec gets special treatment, but....it seems to have worked. No killings.
The new Trudeau could change the story with the "Canadian 1.5 State solution".
I'm kidding. Of course. Or, really, providing a Poilievre fantasy issue.
You can absolutely devise a version of reality where a one-state solution works — there's already plenty of Arab Israelis, e.g., who have a good amount of political power, in normal times. I just don't think it's the reality we're living in. It's not like this was a functional relationship that had tensions arising from inequality (Quebec, Northern Ireland) it was a fundamentally unworkable relationship from the very beginning. It would have been nice if the world had figured this out in 1948, instead of shrugging and moving on, but here we are.
Separating would also be *very good* for Israeli politics. If a division were fair and amicable, it would finally remove, I think, that existential dread that Israelis face.
I had the good luck to catch the lecture a decade or so back, from Dr. Ali Abunimah at U.Calgary about his one-state crusade (whoa, wrong word!).
He made a very persuasive case, and Wikipedia says he is still pushing it, calling the two-state option the impossible, never-happen one.
That's a good observation. Those parallels did not occur to me!
I guess if Israel was founded almost a century prior and they had fought a seven year war with only one Arab neighbour, then maybe there would be some equivalencies. Sadly, Israel was the last country in the region carved out by the Colonial Powers and seems to have paid the price from the start.
I agree. The problems stem from Israel being carved out by the Colonial Powers.
The entire area as stands today was created by Colonial Powers. Before that it was the Empire of the day that decided the delineation. If it was done in 1848 we wouldn't be having this conversation but, rather mostly symbolic sharing as in Canada.