The post in which I finally answer the question I am asking from just about anybody commenting on the Israeli Hamas conflict: what can we do to solve the problem?
I am quite seriously jaded by this whole subject. The Jews and the Arabs are fighting and the whole world around them cheering and jeering the performance. I don’t blame the Jews and I don’t blame the Arabs; they are just like the circus animals prodded to perform for our entertainment. The pawns on the board of the geopolitical chess-game.
There is a conflict ever since the state of Israel was created over 75 years ago. The Arabs of the region made it absolutely clear that they will not tolerate the existence of the Jewish state. The Muslim states refuse to accept Palestinians as immigrants. In Syria (for example), there is no birth-right citizenship. If you were born to ‘refugees’, you will be treated as a refugee for your whole life. So will be your descendants for many generations.
It could be argued that all of this is by design. That the Jews were never really given a chance to succeed and have peace. That the Muslim Arabs were destined to stay ‘refugees’ in perpetuity. That Israel was destined to be a permanent conflict zone. All of it for profit, power and control. At whatever cost. The US alone spends about four billion dollars a year on Israel, while also giving support to the Palestinians.
If we add to this the money given to them by the EU, some individual EU countries and the neighboring Arab states, support for the two sides is roughly equal.
All of it is quite disgusting. Keeping the Jews in a permanent state of war and the ‘Palestinians’ in a forever welfare limbo.
Who is paying for it? You and I, to the tune of billions every year.
Who is benefitting from it? Not you, not me, not the Jews and not the Arabs. The only interest this serves is that of politicians, weapon manufacturers and the global Western hegemonic order.
What I find the most disheartening is how alone I feel with my position arguing for a permanent solution. I have several Jewish friends subscribing to this blog, yet not one stood up to give me their perspective.
I challenged
, and to offer a vision of what they would consider a solution. No reaction.Caitlin is too consumed by her vehement anti-Israel sentiments; John is just defending the Western hegemonic status quo and Slavoj is just his relativist self.
After all this frustration, here is MY answer to the question: what would I consider equitable, feasible and humane? What would I consider an acceptable (and ‘final’) solution?
The answer is one state with defendable borders, from the river to the sea.
Without Palestinians. Coexistence was tried for 75 years and it didn’t work out. It is time to try something else.
Palestinians in Gaza, Judea and Samaria should be given a deadline (let’s say three years) by which they should sell their property and move.
Every family/person should be given some compensation (let’s say one to two years of average income in the country they are moving to.)
Arab countries should be incentivised to accept them as permanent residents with a path to citizenship. Cutting all foreign aid by the Western world if they refuse would be a good incentive.
Instead of spending money on arming Palestinian terror groups, the Arab countries should spend that money on resettling them.
Instead of spending money on arming Israel, The US should spend that money on compensating Palestinians for leaving.
Although I did not find proper data about the ‘aid’ provided to ‘Palestinians’, I believe that the cost could be recouped in a few years from the savings on the military expenditures alone.
It does not have to be ugly and it cannot possibly be uglier than it already is.
Unfortunately, the whole world seems to want ugly. The uglier the better. Brutally murdered Jews and blown up ‘Palestinian’ children. Because that’s entertainment! Manipulative and propagandistic; talking to our emotions, feeding our anger and righteous indignation, but above all, feeding our deep-seated racism and/or antisemitism.
The level of antisemitism in the Western world is appalling and, in the end, providing a perverse justification for the actions of Israel. The hatred directed at them reinforces the need for a defendable country of their own. Since the world shows no interest in a decent solution, Israel has no choice but to do it the ugly way, which in turn feeds back to the same emotions, righteous indignation, etc. etc.
It would be a lie to say that I am all alone. The idea of the ethnic Jewish state is slowly percolating into the public consciousness.
Netanyahu is advocating it, Bill Maher mentioned it and some commenters of Zizek, like @socraticpsychiatrist stand for it.
The two-state solution idea is dead. The only question is whether the transition will be decent or bloody.
I am not very optimistic. There is too much money and power at stake. If the Global hegemon, after losing Iraq, Afghanistan, Syria and Ukraine, would lose control over the Middle-East as well, that would be the end of its hegemonic position.
My guess is that they will do anything to hang onto it. The military industrial complex will do anything to hang onto its profit.
The preconditions of peace in Israel are the following:
International acceptance of the concept of an ethnic Jewish state.
The renouncement of the unrealistic (and genocidal) dream of a Palestinian state.
International support for the resettlement of all ‘Palestinians’ from Gaza and the West bank.
The options are either this, or endless terrorism and state violence. The change starts with people like you and I recognizing that ending the violence is the only truly moral choice.
So, where do YOU stand? Let me know in the comments.
The first reaction to my last post was this comment from a personal friend:
“I would be pleased to comment on this topic [….] but not on a wide-open posting platform.
[…] There are those "woke" individuals who troll for any possible comments by politicians to use to ramp up public backlash and to demand that person's resignation over what is a personal viewpoint.
I won't subject my excellent public service record to such blatant cancel-culture keyboard warriors. […]"
The second reaction was a subscription cancellation.
Where do you stand, if you dare to stand up?
Are we already at communist levels of self-censorship?
Dear Zork,
This is a long, painful problem I am afraid without solution. Your suggestion is very sincere and touching. But. I don’t think the world is ready now for a ‘from river to the sea’ Jewish state. Especially now with the vitriolic antisemitism everywhere in the Western world. Jews can’t even be victims if they are raped, killed, taken hostage. The world does not accept jewish suffering and victimhood. You know what, I am also fed up with victimhood status. The problem with October 7th was, that shattered the false beliefs that Jews can live safe side by side with the arabs in their own country. They can’t. How do you envision the arab and gazafrei ‘from the river to the sea’ Israel? It sounds attractive for me. Who will enforce it? The Palestinians are not welcome even in the neighbouring arab countries, because they are afraid of them. In Egyipt the Muslim Brotherhood caused mayhem, In Jordan only the Queen, Rania who is palestin origin, stands on their side, but the rest is afraid from them. Where will they have to go? Canada? Russia?
In my humble opinion the status quo is the only livable solution. Maybe I am mistaken.
(Zork, would like to talk to you when possible. I won’t be here for two weeks, when I come back I call you. Please let me know.)
Thank you,
Judit