Israel vs. Hamas

Remove all ads!

LKD,
thanks. I believe, fervently, that the Holy Land is for Muslims and Jews and Christians.

A hudna, in the absence of any other credible alternative, is the most realistic, pragmatic and doable solution. Will it be easy? I doubt that anything in the crappiest conflict globally today ever will be. As for unified Palestine, other countries (read: the US, Israel and their satraps i9n Egypt or the like) not meddling and propping up parties will help achieve unity. Without western support Fatah would have been swpt away a while ago-. That old neo-con Edward Luttwak had a point when he amorally called for conflicts to burn out un-interfered with.

I have to add that I am sort of drunk rigjht now, so excuse likely typos.

 

As I expected, the Israeli Supreme Court has, unanimously, revoked the ban on two Arab parties. I wrote that the Central Elections Committee's ban of the Arab parties was initiated by the two ultra right parties Yisrael Beiteinu and National Union-National Religious Party, just ahead of next month's national vote. The unanimous revocation of the ban speaks a clear language legally; there apparently wasn't even a reasonable case to the claims.

I think that the matter has to be viewed in face of Yisrael Beiteinu's and their head Avigdor Lieberman's policies, in particular with his stance towards Arabs (more here). Interestingly enough, Avigdor Lieberman, gained most from the war in Gaza, surveys say.

PS: On that note, I see a dangerous road ahead for Israel. By 2030, a third of Israel will be Arab, and social peace inside the country is increasingly threatened by the Iron Wall tactics of the Zionist right-wing. Some Israelis, notably Avigdor Lieberman, see the demographic trend as a threat to Israel's identity as a Jewish State. Liebermann apparently dreams of making Israel, what, 'Arabrein'? That might not be so easy to accomplish without significant negative consequences.

The three weeks of bloody conflict in the Gaza Strip and a crackdown on dissent inside Israel have fuelled slow-burning anger among members of Israel's Arab minority (mind you, not among Muslim Arabs living in Gaza or the West Bank, but Israel's 'own' Arab citizens) and will continue to sow division. The ban of the two Arab-led political parties from competing in the national vote did it's part to aggravate those sentiments.

According to Wiki, Arab citizens comprise almost 20% of the population of Israel. The majority identify themselves as Palestinian by nationality and Israeli by citizenship. There is research that supports that the overwhelming majority of Arab citizens of Israel would choose to remain Israeli citizens rather than become citizens of a future Palestinian state.

PPS: In this demographics are the key. There is notable emigration of Jews from Israel. Compared to average Israelis the fertility rate of orthodox Jews is considerably larger (1,7 for seculars - 6,7 to 8,5 for Haredi Jews). The religiously orthodox as a rule of thumb generally adhere to the right, Zionist wing in Israel. Their growing numbers suggest that their views will reflect in greater political influence, suggesting a further tilt in Israeli politics to the right, and an intensification of antagonist policies.

Add to that oversized personalities like Libermann and it is rather predictable that these politics will drive the Israeli Arabs into the Arab realm altogether, leading to Israel facing both the Palestinian Arabs and the Israeli Arabs. Liebermann's tendencies suggest to me that he doesn't see this as an undesirable result. It would give credence to his claims, and allow him to put into reality the policies he prescribes. Speak about 'rainmaking'.