'Palestinians' to demand Israeli citizenship?
The Washington Times' Armand De Borchgrave reviews all the reasons why there's not likely to be a 'Palestinian' state around here any time soon, and then comes up with this zinger:Palestinian and other Middle Eastern movers and shakers behind the scenes have been saying the two-state solution effectively consigns Palestinians to perpetual neocolonial poverty. And the movement for a one-state solution for Palestine has been gathering momentum behind the scenes.The 'Palestinians' don't exactly 'produce wealth for the Israeli state.' The days when they did much of the dirty work in this country (construction, trash collection and other heavy labor) are long since gone - their place having been taken since 2000 by foreign workers imported from countries like Roumania and Thailand.
"One-staters" now argue it is better for Palestinians to be poor, marginalized and discriminated against citizens of a post-industrialized, wealthy, democratic state (Israel), with the possibility of advancement within a democracy, than being the stalemated citizens of an undeveloped Third World state led by a tyrannical elite (the Palestine Liberation Organization).
Lama Abu Odeh, a Palestinian-American professor and author teaching at Georgetown University, says: "The demand for citizenship in the state of Israel provides a golden opportunity for Palestinians to make the PLO/PA historically redundant, and through the discourse of citizenship lay claim directly to the wealth they produce for the Israeli state."
There is nothing more disarming of Israel, writes Mr. Abu Odeh, "than the Palestinians who scream, 'We want to be citizens of the state that governs our lives, taxes our wealth, and annexes our land and gives nothing in return.' " The legions of experts who have staked their careers on a two-state solution cannot suddenly switch gears. But it would behoove them to pay close attention to the one-state advocates now postulating below the radar.
And while he is over the top in much of what he says, Abu Odeh is correct that a 'Palestinian' demand for Israeli citizenship would make a lot of Israelis awfully uncomfortable (at least coming from those 'Palestinians' who currently live in Judea and Samaria). But then, non-violent demonstrations against Israel would also make Israelis feel uncomfortable, and we haven't seen those take the place of suicide bombings and other terror attacks yet either.
My guess is that the day the 'Palestinians' living in Judea and Samaria seriously and non-violently demand citizenship for themselves is the day that a whole lot of Israelis discover that maybe paying 'Palestinians' to leave isn't such a bad idea after all. Of course, that's going to leave the 'Palestinian diaspora' sitting right where they are in Jordan, Egypt, Syria, Iraq, Lebanon and other Arab countries - with their treatment by their 'brothers' being a perpetual pox on the Arab world.
posted by Carl in Jerusalem @ 12:33 AM
5 Comments:
"palestinians" may be good at demanding things but Israel is no more required to grant them citizenship than Lebanon, Syria, Iraq, Egypt, Kuwait, Libya .....
The "one-state solution" is of course a weapon, a sword of Damocles, to hold over the heads of Israeli leaders much akin to the "demographic time-bomb" so they will panic into surrendering land and formally partitioning the country. This worked beautifully with the likes of Olmert and Livni who could not embrace a Palestinian state fast enough.
From the data and forecasts I've seen, it is still an open question as to whether Israel's Jewish character would be threatened if the GOI were to annex J&S. Palestinian birthrates have slowed considerably in recent years even as Jewish (mainly Orthodox) birthrates have accelerated. There is also credible evidence that Palestinian population statistics have been overstated.
I'm not suggesting annexation would be a bowl of cherries; it most assuredly carries its own risks -- not the least of which would be non-recognition by both the Arabs and the rest of the international community and therefore, a continuation of the conflict. But it has merits which should be given a full airing before writing it off as "national suicide".
True. Many countries have lots of illegals and stateless persons who have not been granted citizenship. The day Israel grants the Palestinians citizenship is the day the Arab countries endow it on the Palestinians living in their midst without even basic human rights.
"One state solution" is a "ticking bomb" threat--if Israelis do not accommodate a Palestinian state on their borders within a certain amount of time, the alleged "demographic threat" will swamp the West Bank with millions and millions of Palestinians. Never mind that these population predictions are bogus.
What about a "one state solution" with Jordan?
Beware of Arnaud deBorchgrave. He has been a vicious, disgusting Israel hater since the late 1960's. he also is of the Buchanan/Roberts/Taki/Rockwell paleocon persuasion. Everything he writes should be suspect.
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