Trump's recognition of Jerusalem as Israel's capital is cruel. It may also hasten peace.
It is time for "two-staters" to finally be honest about their politics.
Would it be the worst thing in the world for the American government to recognize Jerusalem as Israel’s capital?
Trump said in a speech today that the U.S. will officially recognize the city as the capital of Israel and move our embassy there from Tel Aviv, a decision that has been met with near-instant outrage by Muslim leaders and heads of state. In advance of Trump's announcement, Turkish President Recep Erdogan, for example, called Jerusalem "the red line for Muslims."
Now, of course, Israel’s capital is in Jerusalem. But most of the rest of the world refuses to recognize that political geography — or will not, at least, until there is a viable Palestinian state living in peace and security alongside Israel. The world, in other words, has dangled recognition of Jerusalem as Israel’s capital as a kind of peace process carrot.
The United States has, for many years now, supported this international consensus, electing to keep its embassy in Tel Aviv with almost everyone else’s. In this context, the Trump administration’s decision to transfer our diplomatic offices to Jerusalem is a slap in the face of international public opinion. Perhaps more importantly, however, it may signal the death of the two-state solution.
There are many reasons to think that’s a bad thing. For one, the Trump and Netanyahu administrations are clearly acting out of a desire to inflict further harm on the Palestinians, who have been failed by years of sclerotic, unimaginative and generally feckless leadership.
Furthermore, by international law, East Jerusalem belongs to Palestine.
But I also think that Trump's move may have a silver lining. American diplomats insisted for many years that the two-state solution remained a viable option, even while the rest of the world knew this was merely a ruse intended to give Israel time to create more facts on the ground. This, despite the fact that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu hardly played along, making it rather clear where he stood.
By moving to crush any lingering Palestinian hopes for a national capital in East Jerusalem, America and Israel may say they are still open to a two-state solution, but in reality they are really signaling that that the two-state solution is pretty much dead. They broadcast that the occupation of Palestinian land, and the dispossession of the Palestinian people, will (and should) be accelerated.
This makes the issue more complicated for me.
I am with those who believe the only possible solution for Israelis and Palestinians is, contrary to the two-state option, something that we might call the one-state solution.
Some one-staters advocate for a unitary, secular state, where all, Jewish, Muslim and Christian citizens, are equal before the law. (Think of is as a non-confessional democracy on the model of the United States). Others propose a binational confederation in which Palestinians and Israelis enjoy extreme autonomy but pool certain functions of the state — defense, for example, or foreign affairs.
All of these potential solutions seem farfetched, and perhaps unrealistic. But all of these are more moral, and more sustainable, than the unfolding tragedy that is the status quo. Moreover, none of these are really that new, either.
So when I advocate for a one-state solution, I’m merely asking for two-staters to be honest about their politics.
Of course, killing off the diplomatic process very likely isn’t going to be good for Palestinians — or Israelis. But what is the point of investing all of one’s political energies in a ruse? Because that’s all the two-state solution ever was.
Even the most generous offers extended to Palestinians never afforded them the possibility of a viable and sovereign state. Even the most generous Israeli and American offers still assumed a bisected Palestinian state, a West Bank riven by an expanded Jerusalem, Israeli sovereignty over the Jordan River Valley, implicit control of Palestinian borders and a defense force essentially limited to a robust police department.
That is not, by any definition, an independent country. It’s a slightly more autonomous colony.
Ultimately, the two-state solution sounded nice on paper, but partition hardly ever ends well—look at India and Pakistan or, well, Israel and Palestine. The British made conflicting promises to Zionists and to Palestinians, the consequences of which are with us until this moment, and likely for many years to come.
And the status quo? That’s no solution, either.
It’s not shocking that Israel would be uncomfortable with a militarized Palestine. But it’s not clear why Palestinians should accept a nation unable to defend itself from the country that has occupied and colonized them. In other words, even the most generous two-state “solution” was really a one-state solution, proposing a Palestine dependent on and thereby subservient to Israel.
By ending the fiction of the two-state solution, and moving the American embassy to Jerusalem, Trump has finally made explicit what we all knew implicitly. Thus disabused of the charade, the real work can begin. Namely, realizing a solution that gives Israelis and Palestinians the equal dignity and sovereignty they deserve, which cannot be realized except through a shared state.
When one people dominates others, that domination inevitably ends in violence — look at Iraq and the Kurds, or Syria and her Sunnis, or Bahrain and the Shia majority. You can’t dispossess a people, except by force, and the exercise of that force is necessarily and inevitably morally corrosive.
That isn’t the only reason running roughshod over the Palestinians is so dangerous for Israel. At a time when the Middle East is overwhelmed by sectarian feuds, and sorted into the kind of grand alliances and rivalries that can precipitate catastrophic regional wars, the last thing Israel needs is instability and unrest inside its borders too.
That argument doesn’t give the Palestinian plight the attention it deserves, but it’s hard to know what other line of reasoning might break through.
Haroon Moghul is a commentator and author of three books. His most recent is a memoir, "How to be a Muslim: An American Story."
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Interesting opinion piece. Doing the same thing we've been doing since 1948 has produced.......well, nothing. I guess we will find out if this makes any difference.
Please keep your comments on the subject of The U.S. Supporting the the Israelis using Jerusalem as their capital and how that may play out. Keep insults about individuals, near and far, in your head, not in comments here.
Hasten peace? Deleted for skirting. D.
Please make your comment something rational to discuss. If you have more than a 3-5 word opinion, please feel free to tell us.
Jerusalem is part of the bargaining for ME peace. Trump just gave it away for nothing. There is nothing that would suggest that will be helpful in the future, you just shot your load. Time will show who is right. And if people are killed, this is on Trump.
That's what I meant - how would this hasten peace?
just for fun
The Antichrist makes peace with Israel and then the shit really happens
Bullshit, there is no bargaining with people who believe something is theirs which is not and that is EXACTLY what the Muslims/Palestinians believe, that they own Jerusalem.
That works both ways; in almost all negotiations and litigations, both sides believe, or at least contend, that their side is the "correct" side.
REALITY often does not recognize the elusive, often arbitrary entities that go by the names of "Right" and "Wrong". In the end, what should matter, for the good of humanity, is neither of those wolves-in-sheep's-clothing, but rather … the "TRUTH"!
But truth is the enemy of power, and, power the enemy of truth.
The failure to negotiate with the objective of WIN-WIN … is a fool's errand.
Trump just gave away a bargaining chip for nothing in return. I don't care what you think about the status of Jerusalem, you have nothing to do with either (Israelis or Palestinians)! As peace brokers we can't do that, we just lost our leadership and violence is already started. One of the most stupid international things hes done, and that is saying something.
You said it!! Wait until Jesus brings the Title DEED to Israel!
WARNING TO THE NATIONS: DON’T DIVIDE THE LAND OF ISRAEL
Joel 3:2 in which the Lord says, “I will gather all the nations and bring them down to the valley of Jehoshaphat. Then I will enter into judgment with them there on behalf of My people and My inheritance, Israel, whom they have scattered among the nations; and they have divided up My land.” The Bible is very clear: the Lord is going to judge all the nations for dividing up the Land of Israel. Let the United Nations and the United States and the European Union and the Palestinian Authority and the Israeli government itself be warned.
Bible Prophecy as regards Jerusalem and the End Times is nonsense.
A bargaining chip? What good is a bargaining chip with an intransigent Palestinian government that has never bargained, never made one compromise (which sure as hell is a necessity when bargaining) and has continually walked away from the table?
No, if people are killed it will be on those doing/ordering the killings.
Very true Buzz! Nothing has changed because of the waivers since the law was passed. It's time to let the Palestinians have the west bank on their side of the wall and build another one around Gaza. They can have their state.
As to the protesters in Israel I propose sending in busses and deporting protesters to the new Palestinian state.
No side comes to the bargaining table unless compelled by "reason" with a hope to "winning" something of actual value … be it tangible or pragmatic …
There is almost always a belief/sense-of-conviction on both sides of the table, that "our side is the 'side of right/correctness' and, for that reason we should/must prevail!"
Once sides agree to "come to the table," be it in the spirit of "good faith bargaining," or, as a last resort that precedes aggression, or, a protracted, unsatisfactory-to-both-sides-status-quo, the oft-illusory sense of what and who is "right," and what and who is "wrong," if not abandoned for what is "true" and what is "real," will inevitably lead to impasse, third-party mediation/conciliation … or a collapsed negotiation.
Been there more than once.
And if/when religious dogma and ideology fuel either or both sides' sense of "right and wrong," … "good faith bargaining" begins and ends with that deal-breaker!
And that is why, IMHO, this will never be settled.
Unless God is the arbitrator in the dispute, it will likely never be settled.
Otherwise, hope you have been well and prosperous.
The Bible and its prophecies have little if nothing to say about the present state of Israel 🇮🇱 in the end times. What it does have to say about the end times and what happens thereafter is of crucial importance to ones salvation.
I'm watching the news right now and the riots have started. That was expected, but they are contained at the moment. The danger is that they are going to spread to other countries our embassies and our personal will be in danger.
Is what Trump did right or wrong, it would seem that many believe it's going to lead to more violence and it could involve other ME countries.
The author of the article did make some good points re partition and what it has and is leading to. IMO it's going to lead to a lot of violence, both sides will become more militant in their position and well, we know how that goes.
But haven't both sides been 'militant' in their positions since around 1948 or so? I thought the best chance for peace was when Israel agreed on the two-state solution and then Arafat threw it back in everyone's face. I think there would have been a whole lot of suffering and deaths that would not have happened. The Israelis did, in fact, give back the West Bank and what happened after that? A divided Palestinian Government and attacks from the West Bank. It's obvious, what the world has been doing is not working.
Sorry to nitpick; but the Israelis gave back the Gaza Strip. They still have massive settlements in the West Bank.
The reason the Palestinian government divided is because Israel didn't allow free travel between West Bank and Gaza. Once Hamas gained power power in the Gaza Strip there was no way the Palestinian Authority could remove them.
As for this action by Trump. The only resolution this will bring is a one state solution- with whatever Palestinians that are left living with no power or rights. Just like the Arab part of the Knesset now.
Yes, sorry, you are right. My mistake.
So, the next question is, since everything else has failed, what would work, besides the mass extinction of the Jewish populace in Israel?
As your boy Trump would say, "believe me," that is not gonna happen. Never again.* It's just that kind of hysteria mongering (on both sides, okay?) that's made solutions to this disaster fail time and time again.
* and that goes for our home grown, "Jews Will Not Replace Us" nazi scum, too. Don't think for a second Israel hasn't got their number (and faces and names).
In the future, on my articles, please refrain from saying silly things like 'Your boy Trump'. Trying to categorize people to fit what you think their beliefs are as opposed to discussing the article is counter-productive to any type of debate
I can give you my ideas; but fixing the Middle East is far beyond my pay grade. (It might be beyond anyone's pay grade)
1) I would send Jimmy Carter and Bill Clinton to negotiate with both sides. Each have gotten farther than anyone in getting both sides to agree to anything. They would be given an open ended negotiation time table. If they could get either side to budge further on anything it would be a miracle at this point.
2) Trump moving the US Embassy and recognizing Jerusalem as the Israeli capital is a huge mistake. Jerusalem has holy places for all 3 major religions. It should become the religious capital of the world- with all 3 major religions sharing an equal stake in running, maintaining, and security. This is effectively off the table now. I think the timing of it was intentional. The Middle East has never been more divided. With Egypt and Saudi Arabia squaring off against Iran over potential nuclear weapons and ME supremacy, there really is no one left confront Israel. The Palestinians will get a minor uptick in funding from other ME countries to carry on the fight; but that is about it. The Palestinians will be facing second diaspora.
3) Forget the US being an unbiased broker for peace. We never have been, and that includes when Obama was in charge. There is no denying Israel is a key US ally in the region. We support them militarily, economically, and in the UN Security Council. Maybe if the Russians and Chinese were invited for the negotiations the Palestinians might feel there is someone looking out for their interests? I would say the Arab League should be included as well; but they can't agree on anything now.
Would it work? Doubtful in the extreme; but real diplomacy has not been tried for a very long time. The US playing broker simply does not work for the Palestinians.
I agree something has to change; but Trump's decision is not the right type of change.
Arabs living within actual Israel have more rights than Arabs living anywhere else in the Middle East.
This move is nothing more than Trump paying back right wing donors like Sheldon Adelson and evangelical Christians who want to force the one state solution down everyone's throat.
It promotes the peace that comes when one side in a conflict has eliminated the opposition, not come to agreement with them.
The question is what will the Palestinians say?
Well, it's more than just the Palestinians. The Israelis have their claimed rights also. I don't see how anything else has worked at this point in almost 70 years.
they want to hasten Armageddon. As if they could force God to do something....
never mind my answer. AMac says it all below much more eloquently than me
We can’t force anything. Armageddon has nothing to do with any of today’s political entities. It is a future final battle between good and evil.
There is nothing strategic regarding "PEACE" in this deal by Trump … NOTHING!
It is a POLITICAL PANDERING to Evangelical Christians who, in their religionist-delusional psychotic state, believe that the Messiah will show up when Israel becomes the home of all Jewry, AND, a pandering to Orthodox Jews who, in their ethnocentric-delusional world, don't want a two-state solution!
Oh, and a $35 million dollar contribution to the Trump campaign by Sheldon Adesldon!
A fucking political payoff!
Trump gave away the store, and America and the world are now further away from Middle East peace than before …
It's politics and money and Kleptocracy enabled by religionist buyouts and sellouts.
The UNHOLIEST OF MARRIAGES!
A pox on all their houses … including that of radical Islamists who also bastardize religion to attain power!
I was raised by Jewish parents with whom I argued endlessly regarding the inherent dangers of the "psychotic state of mind" called "religion". If I said it once to them, I said it hundreds of times … "One day, religion will bring the world to its knees!"
We're getting closer all the time.
You know AMac, it's interesting to note that sometimes things happen after a period, and it doesn't matter to many how it went down. I'm not questioning the motives of Trump, be they political, ideological, religious or monetary.
When we throw support at something, we have to live with our decisions. Sometimes people show up to the party that we'd rather not be there, but while they're there, if they happen to do something constructive, we accept it.
There are people who stand foursquare against this move. I don't understand their motives, but I'm going to go out on a limb and speculate that it's not because they are card carrying supporters of Iran, Hezbollah, Erdogan, Hamas or any of the other dictatorial pigs who have come out against this.
Linkage is a complicated game.
It was a huge bargaining chip tossed in the can to pander to religionists with nothing gained ... other than the votes of myopic delusionals and $35 million to a political whore!
You've put all those comments up there as if they're quotes from someone else's comment. Is that the case or, if not, which are yours?
Oh, look at that.
The first comment was AMac, the rest is mine.
That's weird...
Too late to fix.
Nothing gained in the advancement of peace ... only the emotional satisfaction that in the end, will cause more real harm than an ethnocentric sense that justice has been somehow served.
The false sense of the self-ascribed superiority and orthodoxy of tribalism and nationalism, has been and will continue to be the impediment to world peace as the political and religious power brokers exploit the needs of those who find reality to be an insecure place.
You are arguing that this move makes the prospect of peace more distant.
I am arguing that we are no worse for the wear, and possibly closer.
Look at the news from 30 days ago. Look at it from 6 months ago. Try a year, if you like. There's no difference in the situation from then until now. There is still the railing, the threats, the acts of terrorism against citizens, still the declarations and the resolutions by UNESCO that seek to revise and distort the long history of the of the Jewish people and the State of Israel in Jerusalem, nonbinding and having no legal standing.
So tell me AMac. After the initial thrashing about by the Arab world, and the EU nations with deep business ties to Iran, what will be different?
How are we closer?
This is the first(!) incidence of the Palestinians being shown that perhaps they are no longer dealing from strength, and perhaps - before they lose another piece of pie - they should haul ass to the negotiating table and get what they can. Absolutely nothing has stuck in my craw more deeply than the Palestinian air of superiority in this conflict. Here is a reminder that they are nothing more than a Chihuahua, nipping at the heels of a Rottweiler.
It' about time.
Yes, it is about time. You have said it all and quite well.
Until all sides capitulate and compromise, which will never happen, there is no movement in the direction of peace.
Religion is always part delusion and fantasy and the power brokers will always exploit that by talking peace and fomenting discord.
The Golden Rule is the only viable course to peace which is why the clerics and politicians will always work against it; both politicians and clergy thrive on separatism, ethnocentrism and haters or rejection of the “others”.
It’s not rocket science.
It’s P.T. Barnum for those who find reality to be an insecure place.
Until all sides capitulate and compromise, which will never happen, there is no movement in the direction of peace.
And that is becoming less and less Israel's problem.
Well, not too late for me to respond. First off, Jerusalem is recognized as the official capital of Israel by just a small number of countries besides Israel. The US is the only country besides Israel to recognize the entirety of Jerusalem as the official capital. Russia recognized the western half of Jerusalem last Spring but this is more in keeping with the idea of a two state solution to the region with a divided Jerusalem as the capital of both states.
Israel's claim to have the sole historical legitimate right to claim Jerusalem rests on unstable historical ground. Before it was one of the capitals of the two Jewish kingdoms and before there were actually any Jews in the region, it was called Caanan and included most of the current countries of this region: Palestine, Israel, Jordan, Lebanon. Even the OT tells us that Jews were foreign to this region having migrated westward from Babylon (i.e., Iraq). So, from the point of view of Arab inhabitants (none of whose ancestors had any part in the diaspora of Jews from the region 2,000 years ago) they have as much of a modern as well as an ancient claim to the city as Jews. The fact that the city was taken from them by force just reflects what has been the case for this area for thousands of years. In fact, that's how ancient Jews (again according to the bible which is also what orthodox and conservative religious Jews use as their justification) acquired "title" to Jerusalem in the first place: by bloody conquest. In fact, the OT tells us that Jews received orders from
"himself" to completely destroy the Caananites. I don't believe much of anything in the bible but devout Christians and Jews claim it's factual so they ought to believe it, right? In short, my point is that there are multiple historical claims to whom this land belonged to originally so it's really BS to try to pick just one on that basis much less on some religious BS.
As you said above: "linkage is a complicated game," indeed.
Based on what, wishful thinking?
Based upon what I wrote after that snippet that you took from my post.
And BTW, any form of "analysis" that anyone makes involving predictions of what might happen going forward involves some form of speculative thinking.
I'm no different than anyone else.
Saying and being are two entirely different things.
It's that attitude that makes your optimism about this being a step toward peace null and void.
And that's exactly what you've been doing.
First off, Jerusalem is recognized as the official capital of Israel by just a small number of countries besides Israel. The US is the only country besides Israel to recognize the entirety of Jerusalem as the official capital. Russia recognized the western half of Jerusalem last Spring but this is more in keeping with the idea of a two state solution to the region with a divided Jerusalem as the capital of both states.
There are nearly 200 nations in the UN. Every single country, from the most wonderful of democracies to the worst of autocratic thugocracies gets to pick their capital city. All, that is, excepting ONE.
Israel's claim to have the sole historical legitimate right to claim Jerusalem rests on unstable historical ground.
Let me refresh your memory. In 1967, rejected warnings from Israel and opened an aggressive war against Israel by bombarding Jerusalem. In response, and in self-defense, Israel captured east Jerusalem, then controlled by Jordan.
Before it was one of the capitals of the two Jewish kingdoms and before there were actually any Jews in the region, it was called Caanan and included most of the current countries of this region: Palestine, Israel, Jordan, Lebanon.
There's no country "Palestine". The same people who do not allow Israel to name their capital city ALSO acknowledge that "Palestine" is not a country. So please, show some consistency.
Even the OT tells us that Jews were foreign to this region having migrated westward from Babylon (i.e., Iraq). So, from the point of view of Arab inhabitants (none of whose ancestors had any part in the diaspora of Jews from the region 2,000 years ago) they have as much of a modern as well as an ancient claim to the city as Jews.
If you're invoking the OT, then I guess you have to include the fact that Abraham PURCHASED a large plot of land in Hebron from the Hittites for 200 pieces of silver. If you're going to honor that document, again, please be consistent.
The fact that the city was taken from them by force just reflects what has been the case for this area for thousands of years. In fact, that's how ancient Jews (again according to the bible which is also what orthodox and conservative religious Jews use as their justification) acquired "title" to Jerusalem in the first place: by bloody conquest. In fact, the OT tells us that Jews received orders from
"himself" to completely destroy the Caananites. I don't believe much of anything in the bible but devout Christians and Jews claim it's factual so they ought to believe it, right? In short, my point is that there are multiple historical claims to whom this land belonged to originally so it's really BS to try to pick just one on that basis much less on some religious BS.
Please correct me if I'm wrong, but nowhere in any of the posts in any of the seeds relating to this topic have I invoked the Jews religious right to this land from more than the last 125 years.
And again, that makes me no different than anyone else, including you.
My attitude represents a small pimple on the ass of the elephant sized issue that we are addressing.
Is this the sign of some humility that has never been evident before? One hopes. In any case, thanks for admitting you've been blowing smoke.
And thank you for giving no weight to anything that I've written, given my studies on the topic and having borne witness to a great deal of these events.
/S
FINALLY, someone has also said what I've been saying all along.
I thought we were talking about Trump here, not Hillary. Trump is a rookie in that game compared to the Clintons.
One requires humility to recognize humility. You have none of the prior so fail miserably at the former.
Your "studies?" In propaganda I guess. Otherwise that's simply the most hilarious thing I've ever seen on a forum like this.
I hope that doesn't get back to your Scumbag-in-Chief. He'd be might upset to be called a rookie at anything, much less running scams and lying. Those are his two strongest points.
Nah, his strongest point is he found a way to beat that nasty old sea hag.
Yet, he's still possessed by her and obsessed with her and so are all his toadies. She still wields amazing power over him and you. I love it that she still drives you all to madness and absurdity.
Hardly but I do find your projection on the topic hilarious. Yep, now that IS funny.
Au Contraire! It is the digressive left that is so obsessed with Trump! How DARE he beat the entitled queen??? Hillary cant get over it either! Its amazing how much shit they can try to throw at the wall and none of it sticks! Trump has improved the economy that Obama destroyed and he cant get over it either! Put on your big boy pants and get over it already!
Hasn't religion done that for a couple millennia?
Yes! And the religionists having learned one damned thing from the evidence.
I know you must have meant to write "not having" there and I would just point out that "learning" from history is not something religious zealots of whatever stripe are known for.
Thank you for correcting my omission … I typed it on my iPhone and often screw up because of the small print.
CORRECTION READS … "Yes! And the religionists having learned NOT one damned thing from the evidence."
You know as well as I do brother, Religionists always claim a righteous connection to what they want. hell the impulse if so powerful that even the non-religioists claim the same connection...
"Got mit Uns"
Everyone in their righteous zeal claims "God is with us".
This is probably the first step in a long awaited resolution, probably be a very bloody resolution yes, but resolution none the less.
Middle east hate isn't going anywhere, there has been no action in the Israeli side for so long the Arab side is fracturing. There is a power struggle for the future of Arabist ideals.
One that has been going on for centuries....
One that is occupying most of the Arab attention for the last ten years or so....
Israel is on the back burner at this point in time, and the Palestinians have lost most of the Arab support they have enjoyed for decades.
The Arabs are in a war for their own religious identity.
And that is far more important at this time than Israel.....
I more-or-less agree with your entire comment … so let me just add the following;
What manner of self-serving hypocrite sees Trump's declaration as anything other than political pandering and prostitution for $35 million from a con man and liar who disgraces his so-called "Judaism" by his deeds?
What Jewish individual gets in bed with Trump, a con-man who states that "There are some fine people among the Neo Nazis," who listens to Stephen Bannon, and, who has neither the balls nor political inclination to tell David Duke … "Go fuck yourself -- I want neither your praise, your support or your vote!"
All in positions of power and influence who piss in our faces and tell us "it's raining" -- and who rely on the support of haters who hate in the name of their religionist dogmas, must surely laugh at such stupidity when away from the spotlight.
Every sellout must has a buyer and … Proverbs 11:29.
― Frank Herbert , Chapterhouse: Dune
It's "Gott," unless you meant something else.
Christians believe the Messiah showed up, did what He needed to do to save the world from sin and allow us to be redeemed about 2000 years ago. As for the 2nd coming as King of Kings and Lord of Lords with a loud cry and every eye shall see, that’s not that far at all in our future.
I have not seen a single commentator come out since the announcement and say "this helps put a two-state solution forward".
This move is all about Israel declaring victory in the dispute and forcing a one state solution with the blessing of the United States (Trump).
I seriously doubt if the majority of Americans who have an opinion on the issue support the one state solution for Israel and Palestine.
John,
As much as I'd love to address your points, I'm going to demur.
I'm not interested in being labeled today. It's too happy a day for me.
If someone could explain how this move promotes a two state solution, I would be willing to listen. To my knowledge no one has done it yet, on NT or anywhere else.
What else can we conclude but that this move suggests that Israel will "declare victory" and move toward a one state "solution".
Well, John, you're not going to like this answer, and yes, you are going to label me. I've decided that it's more important to respond.
There area 2 states, as divided by Britain in the Palestinian Mandate. A Jewish state and an Arab state were formed. The Jewish state is Israel, and the Palestinian state is Jordan. When all is said and done, Israel will welcome whomever wants to remain in the territories, and whoever doesn't want to be there will have an expansive Arab nation to emigrate to.
I'm going to predict that there will be a handover of land to Jordan, and to Egypt as well. That's a more realistic outcome to this.
It doesn't matter what I think, I am nothing but an observer. It matters what the Palestinians think.
I just don't see how this move promotes peace.
As I wrote to AMac, it does not make it more distant, but can make it closer.
If the Palestinians finally recognize that they are not, nor have they ever, been dealing from strength, they may be prompted to move more rapidly towards negotiations, before losing another piece of pie. Their cause is losing interest rapidly, and the reality is that the world has more consequential fish to fry than some specious anti-Semitic campaign promulgated by the Arab League and endorsed by the UN and EU.
You are assuming that Jordan and Egypt will want a expansive Palestinian population. Especially Jordan, where a large influx of Palestinians with full rights could overwhelm them politically.
I believe that anything anyone predicts for the future of this conflict has to make assumptions.
As far as Jordan is concerned, please note that it is already 2/3 Palestinian, so additional absorption would not create a different dynamic than already exists. Looking forward to the next, obvious question.
I think you are right that Jordan and Egypt would not want more Palestinians, and in fact NO country does or would. I had a solution which is just a dream. I would give them a big chunk of the Sinai Peninsula joined to Gaza, that is at least equal in size to the West Bank, and a hell of a lot of money to develop it, and the Palestinians would be required to release the West Bank to Israel. If such an agreement also included peace treaties between the Palestinians (including Hamas) and Israel for an true end to conflict, then Israel would have to allow free passage for the Palestinians to the Temple Mount and other Muslim holy sites, and across to Jordan. Another benefit would be that all the Palestinian lands would be contiguous rather than separated. Surely ALL the nations that could do so would contribute to make it possible, since it would end an ongoing problem for the whole world. Of course a good price would have to be paid to Egypt for the land.
It would increase the Palestinian Mediterranean Sea coast and enable them to develop a golden resort coast. I'm sure that if such were to happen Israel would help to develop the new area - after all, didn't Israel already make the desert blossom?
A One-State solution, John? That's nothing but a dream by those who ignore what the combination of demographics and birth rates will do to a democracy that is bound to become an Arab/Muslim majority, and don't think Israel doesn't know that would be the result. Israel is, and will forever be a "Nation for the Jews" or a Jewish nation, as was stated in the preamble to the UN Partition documentation. Unless, of course, Israel would like to be RiGHTLY criticized forever as an apartheid nation if it does not give Arabs/Muslims equal rights to vote, in what is now and intended to always be the only genuine democracy in the Middle East.
The only way this couldn't be a disaster is if Trump made this recognition of Jerusalem contingent on the Israeli government actually abiding by the 1967 accords and the many promises it's made (and broken) to this country--it's staunchest ally--to not build and remove existing settlements in the occupied territories and make the two-state goal of that 1967 agreement a tangible reality. But there's no evidence that Trump is even aware of the history of this matter much less gives a fuck about it so I really doubt that's what underlies this move.
What nobody wants to bring up is that the "Palestinians" really don't care about either a one or two state solution. Their Hamas masters simply want to wipe Israel off the face of the Earth. They still believe they can somehow prevail. So they are "outraged" by this action and resort to lobbing their puny little rockets into Israel again....then we get the standard media display of some supposedly injured civilian (never a Hamas terrorist) being carried through the streets while some relative sobs wildly. Pure political theater. Same old shyt.
Neither side cares enough about peace to work for it. That would include Israelis. Not all of them, but enough, just like on the Palestinian side.
Just as we even see in our own "democracy" it only takes a few rightwing hypernationalist extremists to fuck everything up.