Monday, March 05, 2012

The New Solution: Triangularization

I have mentioned Dr. Mordechai Nisan previously, regarding his new book as well as an op-ed of his on Islam. He has taught Middle East Studies at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem and I consider him a close friend.

His new op-ed, "The 3-state solution", has just been published at Ynet and he asserts that a "Two-state solution shoves Israel, Palestine into never-ending claustrophobic embrace" and that a "new political paradigm" is required.

Extracts:

The Palestinian question has over the decades dominated political discourse...The Jewish national character of Israel and her basic national interests have been gravely challenged...With no Palestinian acceptance of the right of Israel as a Jewish nation-state, any further step beyond the steps that have been launched since 1993 in the direction of a future Palestinian state must be avoided at all costs.

...Judea and Samaria cannot be abandoned. Multiple security benefits accrue to Israel from controlling the terrain. A Palestinian state there would exacerbate rather than resolve the Israeli-Palestinian dispute...

Lebanon as a Christian homeland and a religiously pluralistic state became confounded with the Palestinian question...The up-to-date demographic tally estimates the Palestinian population in Lebanon as numbering approximately 400,000 people...A sweeping solution that would offer permanent resettlement arrangements for Palestinian refugees out of Lebanon would satisfy all the communities of the country, Christian and Muslim alike, neither of whom favor the naturalization of the Palestinian community...The Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan is home to a Palestinian majority population, now long ensconced in the country, of refugees, intellectuals, and businessmen, whose opportunities for advance are limited by the monarchy and the Transjordan East Bank elites.

...we have seen the virtual Palestinization of Jordan...As a consequence, the transformation of Jordan into a Palestinian state would be a just resolution of the innate incompatibility between regime and society; and the hoisting of a Palestinian national flag in Amman would be a beacon of hope and a political magnet for other Palestinian groups – especially those in Israel and Lebanon...we are proposing the consolidation of three national entities – Israel, Lebanon, and Jordan – with the Palestinian question given a solution in a broad regional shift of power, populations and identities.

...Herein is the conceptual attraction of the proposal, its moral axis and political reasonableness; and this while politicians, diplomats, pundits and assorted trouble-makers and cynics persist in pushing for a two-state solution west of the Jordan River, shoving Israel and Palestine into a never-ending claustrophobic embrace whose dreadful consequences will be borne by the peoples on the ground...

...The alternative approach proposes a triangular solution for three peoples in three countries, separating and disengaging communities and encouraging in particular Palestinian migration...a truly New Middle East.

...The small interloper Hashemite family in Jordan would be left without a kingdom. And this would be the beginning of a major step toward justice and democracy, as the “Arab Spring” blows flurries of freedom for the Palestinians in a country that might be (re)named “The Republic of Palestine.” Rhodesia after all became Zimbabwe and Cambodia became Kampuchea - so Jordan is Palestine.

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1 comment:

imhad said...

I don't believe that this proposed 3-state plan has a realistic shot at being implemented without causing a near-global military conflict.

Listen, when Moshiach comes, he'll sort it all out in a few minutes. But, until then, it is the job of every Jew to make his/her little corner of the universe a little less imperfect.

Forget the big, sweeping plan. Identify and focus on key incremental improvements -- the kind that can make a real difference in people's lives.