Friedman fears a nation with equal rights for all

New York Times columnist Thomas Friedman is a little worried that a one-state solution may be coming to the Middle East because both Israel and Palestine supposedly aren’t serious about building a two-state solution. Now whose fault would that be? Perhaps a US government (and Zionist lobby) who have indulged Zionist violence and settlements for decades:

I understand the problem: Israeli and Palestinian leaders cannot end the conflict between each other without having a civil war within their respective communities. Netanyahu would have to take on the settlers and Abbas would have to take on Hamas and the Fatah radicals. Both men have silent majorities that would back them if they did, but neither man feels so uncomfortable with his present situation to risk that civil war inside to make peace outside. There are no Abe Lincolns out there.

What this means, argues the Hebrew University philosopher Moshe Halbertal, is that the window for a two-state solution is rapidly closing. Israel will end up permanently occupying the West Bank with its 2.5 million Palestinians. We will have a one-state solution. Israel will have inside its belly 2.5 million Palestinians without the rights of citizenship, along with 1.5 million Israeli Arabs. “Then the only question will be what will be the nature of this one state — it will either be apartheid or Lebanon,” said Halbertal. “We will be confronted by two horrors.”

Text and images ©2024 Antony Loewenstein. All rights reserved.

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