'We were incredibly stupid'
Of course, Avineri reaches the wrong conclusion (he calls for a redeployment of IDF forces in Judea and Samaria, removing the remainder of the blockade on Gaza, and a thinning of the civilian population by paying Jewish residents to leave Judea and Samaria), but the mea culpa with respect to Oslo and the 'Palestinians' intentions is fascinating.
I have the entire article in Hebrew (it was sent to me by email). I'm translating the key paragraphs below:
The initiators of Oslo and the process' supporters saw the Israeli-Palestinian conflict as a conflict between two national movements, and believed - as I believed - that in direct negotiations between Israel and the PLO, a solution could be found to the territorial and strategic issues that are the source of the dispute between the two movements. It was not simple to persuade Israelis - and even the Labor party - that there was a national movement on the other side, and that although it had terrorist aspects, at heart it is entitled to fulfill its independent national self-definition, just like Zionism. The viewpoints of Golda Meir on the subject ("there is no Palestinian nation") have not been forgotten, and the fact that the initiators of Oslo managed to overcome this tradition of denial, to which even the Labor party was a partner, was an accomplishment.Wow. What an epiphany!
But the basis of this concept had a mistake. All of those who supported the Oslo process believed that we were talking about a dispute between two national movements, and that the other side felt the same way.
We were mistaken.
The Palestinian side does not believe that we are talking about a dispute between two national movements: It believes that we are talking about a dispute between one national movement - the Palestinian - and a colonial imperialistic entity that will eventually die off. Therefore, the parallel that appears in the Palestinian textbooks is Algeria. It isn't the Israeli presence on the West Bank that is Algeria, but rather the entire Israel is Algeria, and the Israelis will disappear one way or the other, just like the French settlers were expelled from Algeria.
This is the reason why the Palestinian title for the two-state solution is different than the Israeli version. The Israeli stance talks about "two states for two peoples" but in the Palestinian version the phrase "for two peoples" does not appear. It only talks about "two states." If someone thinks that this is just poor phrasing, he should ask his Palestinian counterpart to express an opinion about the "two states for two peoples" version and he will sooner or later get the answer that there is no Jewish people. This is also the reason why the Palestinians refused the version suggested by [John] Kerry "an agreement between two nation states."
The truth is - and every Oslo supporter must recognize it - that in the Palestinian narrative, the Jews are not a people or a nation, but only a religious group, and therefore they are not entitled to a state. This is also the reason for the across-the-board and uncompromising opposition of the Palestinian side to recognizing the State of Israel as the State of the Jewish People. Even those who believe that Benjamin Netanyahu raised the topic only to complicate the negotiations, must contend with the fact that the Palestinian refusal to contend with the topic derives from the simple reason that the Palestinians believe that there is no Jewish people.
The source of the dispute is not borders, settlements or even Jerusalem. And of course, this is connected to the Palestinian refusal to waive the principle of the right of return. There are good reasons to criticize the Netanyahu government's behavior during US Secretary of State John Kerry's efforts to revive the negotiations, but to ignore these deep-seeded views constitutes a lack of intellectual honesty.
Labels: Israel is a Jewish state, Israeli Left, Middle East peace process, Oslo accords, two-state solution
posted by Carl in Jerusalem @ 12:33 PM
2 Comments:
To all those people living in the Land of Oz.
We are in a World wide Islamic Cultural War or 1400-year-old Jihad.
We each see a different parts of it in the world and if you put all the violent parts together it adds up to only one cause: an 1400 year old Islamic Cultural War. It is the same as that joke of four blind men touching the elephant.
Arabs and Palestinians are controlled by it and do not know it!
It is not about land, rights or settlements, water or being politically left or right. If it were it would have been solved long ago. It has not.
It is Cultural War that means Islamic Culture must destroy Western Culture or Western Culture must destroy Islamic Culture. It is a Genocidal War.
Muslims have been fighting each other and others for 1400 years or more. There is no reason that it will stop now. If we want peace we must change Islamic Culture.
The book "Culture and Conflict”, explains it clearly. It shows that current cultural conditions in the Arab Middle East will not support internal development, advancement or peace until there is a major cultural change. “It is critical that we understand our enemy. That is step one in every conflict,” RR. Philip Carl Salzman, INSB # 978-1-59102-587-0.
You can learn and it is never to late.
Islam is Evil. What part of Evil do people not understand? Islam enslaves your mind, your body and your soul. It must be destroyed.
They use “Takiah” the Islamic law to lie in order to advance Islam.
The 1400-year Islam Cultural War is taking over Europe for the Third Time and Now Threatening America.
Only knowledge and working together will win this battle.
The Third Choice by Mark Durie: One choice become Islamic, second a slave, third death. Add one choice if you act now, Freedom.
Culture and Conflict, by P. Salzman: Shows we are in an Islamic Cultural war.
The Arab Mind by R. Patai: US military uses this book training their soldiers and officers.
Infidel by Ayaan Hirsi Ali: The first book about Islamic Tribalism. Good for young women.
Lifting the Veil by I.Q. Ali Rassooli: a translation of the major religious books. On the web at http://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=Idiots+Guide+to+Islam&oq=Idiots+Guide+to+Islam&aq=f&aqi&aql&gs_sm=3&gs_upl=1605l1605l0l1848l1l1l0l0l0l0l0l0ll0l0
The Prince by Machiavelli: the methods use by Feudalistic kings are the same methods Islam uses today.
From Time Immemorial: by J. Peters This book was commissioned by Arafat
Books of Islam Culture War Against Israel
BattleGround, Fact and Fantasy in Palestine: by S. Katz
From Time Immemorial: by J. Peters
Most can be gotten used for very little try Alibris.com or ABEBooks
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