Peace Now: 1948 Borders.

 Yes, we want Peace.  Peace is NOT the absence of hostility.
Peace is a process where BOTH parties wish to embrace each other, and do not fear the other party.

A good start to REAL peace is NOT  the 1967 borders.  The real answer to peace is the FIRST  two state solution proposed by the UN in 1947/1948.


It will require much thought on both sides.

First:  The "west bank" and "east Jerusalem" were partially annexed in 1967 by Israel.

They based this on several precedents, especially that of (then) Trans-Jordan which annexed the land intended for the 1948 Palestinian state.

So. Let's start out resolving a few issues.
1) Two state solution.  Agreed.
2) Land mass.   Perhaps if Jordan gives up the land IT took, Israel might give up some additional land.

3) Jerusalem: An International City.  Fine.  Jordan's 19 years of custodian-ship of Jerusalem shows that not one Jew was allowed into Jewish religious locations during that time.  In the almost 45 years Israel has administered East Jerusalem, millions of Muslims and Christians have been allowed to worship freely there.
Point?  Israel will administer the international city.

4) Right of Return:
I'm Jewish.  Therefore I answer a question with a question.  Why is it that in 1948 there were ALL of these refugees?  Because the Muslim leaders told their populations to leave, and "let us push the Jews into the sea", and then you can come back.

Whoops.  We bad.  Now you are homeless.  Instead of offering you citizenship in Lebanon/Syria/Jordan and Egypt, we will make you third class citizens, and call you Refugees, and NOT make you legal citizens of our countries.

Let's see if some reparations can be made by the Arab countries who refused to give their brothers citizenship  for over 60 years.

SO:
To summarize:   1947 borders.  territory concessions.  Real peace, and a real future

MidEast Peace: The Truth Hurts: 1929 Riots

OK: You want the truth?

Arab/Palestinian hostility to Israel, (and I maintain; blatent anti-Semitic) behavior dates WAY back before the establishment of the state of Israel in 1948.

In 1929, arabs rioted, and killed (129(?*) jews), in a town called Hebron . Hebron is now in
what is called 'disputed territory'.

When this happened in the late 1800's and early 20th century, we called this a "POGROM".

This is NOT a question of simply continuing to exclude palestinians.

It is REALLY about the 1948 UN partition plan. Which was NEVER EVER accepted by ANY arab country.

UNTIL this peace plan (originally proposed in 1948--search my blog for 'mideast UN')
is ACCEPTED by all the MUSLIM AND arab countries there can be NO peace in the mid-east.


When the arab world FINALLY accepts the right of ISRAEL to exist as a country (as proposed in 1948) THEN we can continue on the road to peace.

Until then, it is only a PIECE that Israel wants; a piece of paper with a SIGNATURE on it, saying yes, we agree that there should be two states.


OH yes, I agree that there will be some problems.


1) getting arab/muslim acceptance will be tough.
2) Agreeing that there should be TWO states is a good start; but there will be more problems too!
3) Joint administration of Jerusalem? Jordan failed in 19 years of rule. Not one Jew was ever able to visit. Israel has shown that this will work, as we have been completely open.
4) LAND of the two states. I will leave this for another message, at another time, because JORDAN annexed 50% of the future state of PALESTINE, and will need to FINALLY give it back!!!

cheers

...pass it on...


* corrections welcomed on the exact number killed. This is from memory...

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OK, you wanted a Political discussion: Here goes.

The background I believe that:
* We're HEADING into a DEPRESSION. We're (now) IN a depression!
* It's going to be as BAD as the last one.
* I call this Depression 2.0
* The current failures only bring us 25% into the problem!!
* According to Robert Reich (former Sec'y of Labor under Clinton): The only number that he EVER saw, defining the
depression was that the unemployment rate hovered around 25%.
* We need a new deal.
* After 58 years of NO Health Care Reform (since 1950!) it will FINALLY be coming soon...
* We've managed to WASTE a FULL generation (from Zero to thirty) with decaying social, educational, and interpersonal skills.
* Our nation is no longer DOING (producing) anything.
SO, from these few premises, I have extrapolated a great deal of items to FIX our society...

But....
We need to make sure that a number of issues are resolved ALL at once.
If we don't do them ALL at once, its like juggling three RUNNING chain saws, but dropping one!

Here's what I came up with:

We need to do the FOLLOWING to FIX our Society:
* Create A Living Wage
* Create a National Single payer Healthcare
* Create a National 3-4 year draft (or alternate service)
* Create a Federally paid Day Care starting at six months
* Implement Tax Reform on the ULTRA Rich
* Lobbying (Political Reform)
* Education
* Infrastructure (road /bridge/Systems repairs)
* Lack of Training/futures
* Truth and Reconcilliation Commission
* A new "Manhattan" project, focusing on Energy INDEPENDENCE

See my other blog: http://sos-newdeal.blogspot.com for more details.

MidEast: Peace in the Holy Land: An Op-Ed

'Peace in the Holy Land'

is the title of Nobel peace prize winner Jimmy Carter, the former President of the United States. Is it realistic? Is it biased? Can it be achieved? President Carter is now on the talk show circuit to try and publicize his book. His last book, "Palestine Peace Not Apartheid" was widely seen by those in and outside of the Jewish community as extremely biased against the Jewish state....

President Carter comes with a history. Yes, he did get Sadat and Begin to a peace treaty. No, the cold peace between Egypt and Israel hasn't been an overwhelming success.

I agree that we need a two state solution to the 'Palestine Problem', but as the last sixty years has proven, there can be no peace, until a piece of land has been given to both parties.

Starting the peace process using the 1967 borders is like balancing your checkbook without your bank statement. You can arrive at a solution, but the problem will not be resolved, because you don't have all the information you need to fix the problem.

I contend that ignoring the politics of the British Mandate period (1917-1948) is just like balancing your checkbook without all the information you need.

British Mandate policy on the territories it administered totally distorted and affected the entire Mideast. After defeating the Ottoman Empire in the 'Great War', Britain was charged with administering all the territories fairly for its people.

In this Britain totally failed. Sir Winston Churchill, in one of his earlier overseas postings made a mistake that stills reverberates to the current day. In a move which today looks strikingly partisan, Sir Winston (in 1924) gave one half of the entire Palestinian territory that Britain was "watching" to a person (in Jerusalem) that was giving him problems.

This land, which would later be called, "Trans-Jordan' has FIFTY percent of the land from the 'Palestinian Mandate', that the League of Nations authorized Britain to administer until new nations could be created there. This country (Trans-Jordan) is also the nation that annexed ALL of the land (25% of the original "mandate") designated to be the Arab Palestinian state by the U.N. resolution in 1948.

It's startling to think that "Sir Winston", so totally messed up the entire Mideast, with a simple proclamation in 1924.

One of the most important things all Jews can do is to: first learn more about this, and second, to demand that the borders of the two state solution be based on the U.N.'s 1948 Resolution. However, the most important step we need to take as Jews, is to demand that all Arab states ratify and accept the U.N. 1948 two state Resolution, and that there are two states there, Israel, and an Arab/Palestinian state.

In the eighty years since the British gave half of the proposed two states of Palestine/Israel away, it has been shown time and time again that the Arab countries (and its people) do NOT respect the right of the Jewish state to exist. It is futile for Jews to support a 1967 border. It is futile for Jews to support a 1956 border, or a 1980 border. The only way that the Jewish land can survive is if ALL of its people understand that the 1948 two state solution does the following:

1. Establishes Two different states, an Arab/Palestinian state AND a Jewish State (Israel).
2. Establishes two states with borders that are SUBSTANTIALLY different then the borders after the war.
3. Establishes that a great deal of the PALESTINIAN state resides in what is now JORDAN.
4. Forever will put to rest (since the Arab states will need to ratify this before getting their land) any question of a Jewish state existing (or not existing).
5. Makes the question of Arab treatment of the Palestinian 'refugees' a question of second class treatment.. Why were the residents of the west bank in Refugee camps for twenty years under Arab rule? Where were the Human Rights activists then?

To summarize, I believe that negotiations based on any borders except the 1948 borders will NOT lead to peace, will not lead to a cessation of violence, and are useless. This does not mean I do not want peace. I do. However, if the Arab world really wants Peace, they have to, 'put some blood' in the deal, and also make concessions. Israel has made many many concessions in the past (remember we occupied Sinai not once in 1967, but also in 1956 too, and were forced to give it back under threat by President Eisenhower) , but has not gotten peace for ANY of its concessions. Until the Arab world also has to feel pain, there will never be peace.

This is my answer to George Mitchell, who also failed in 1991 to come to a fair and honorable peace.

MidEast: The Ultimate Peace Plan

How's this for an idea?

The ultimate solution for the Middle East (read Israel/Arab states) problem.

It's simple, not a one state solution, but a two state solution.

Hey, going back to the 1969 borders isn't good... Going back to the 1967 borders ISN'T enough

It's time to go back to the 1948 borders.

Yes, I said the

1948 borders

That is the Two state solution proposed by the United Nations in 1948.
Two separate states, one Jewish, one Arab for the solution of the mandate administered by Great Britain.

History

In 1918, (World War I), the Allied Powers defeated the Turkish (Ottoman) Empire, and created today's modern middle east.

Complete with the Oil crisis, (hint: Lawrence of Arabia was after oil!), political mis-deeds, and ignoring the desires of the local population, the British rule of the
Palestinian Territory (or the British Mandate, as it is commonly known) was a terrible crisis in itself.

Arab resentment against Jews did not start in 1967 after Israel occupied the West Bank. No, there were "pogroms", against the Jewish settlers of Palestine as early as 1919.

In one especially memorable moment, a future leader we'd one day call, "Sir", took the political initiative to take one of the leaders of the Arab riots against the Jews, and offer him a very sweet deal to leave. The highest authority of the land, British High Commissioner Winston Churchill decided to offer the instigator of this riot land, (far away from the riot's location in Jerusalem) if he would go there for good.

Unfortunately, this arbitrary decision by Sir Winston forever ruined the effective two state solution, because he took exactly half of the mandate's territory, and gave it to the Mufti of Jerusalem, in what became the state of Trans-Jordan. (Today known as Jordan).


More on 1948
The UN in 1948 understood that the two sides needed to be separated.
That is why they offered one quarter of the remaining mandate territory to both sides, for an equal Jewish and Arab state.

Jews Yes, Arabs No.
Well you know the rest. The Jews chose to call this land Israel. The Arabs chose to NOT take the land, figuring they could kill all the jews and take ALL of the land instead.

Guess who lost? Not the Jews, but the Jews. Well, technically we won, but we lost, since we didnt have anyone that wanted to acknowledge that we actually existed.

Fast forward 1948 to 1956.
War Number two: Over the Suez canal and Sinai.
Israel captured the canal, as well as the entire sinai after a second war was declared. Israel made the mistake of listening to the world powers and giving back the land captured, hoping for peace

Fast Forward 1956 to 1967
War number three. Once every ten years. This time Israel destroyed the entire Egyptian air force on the ground. We captured much of the territory that was mandated by the UN to be JEWISH land in the 1948 plan.

Fast Forward: 1980 Israel again gives back large amounts of land for peace
We gave the ENTIRE Sinai desert back to Egypt, in return for what is today called a "cold" peace...

The Ultimate peace Plan?
Use the 1948 borders. Tell the arabs that all arab nations must agree to this.
take the LAND from the 1948 proposal and give to the Palestinians.

Unfortunately, for Jordan, a good deal of that land was annexed (stolen) from the Palestinian state by Jordan in 1948, when they declared war on the new state of Israel.

Perhaps we should also go back and undo the 1924 granting of half of the mandate's land mass to trans-jordan...(aka jordan).


Duh... The real peace is with the 1948 borders, when the ARAB states agree to what was proposed SEVENTY years ago.

They could have had peace seventy years ago.... but chose to act as the oppressed peoples instead.

Let's go for 1948 as our peace solution!

Carter: GO HOME

You HAVEN't helped the peace process.

Hugging a 'known terrorist'

Laying a wreath at the grave of someone who assassinated 13 Israeli Athletes in 1972??


If he really cared about the Palestinians, he would have FORCED Egypt to
TAKE back the Gaza Strip in the 1979/1980 Peace Treaty between Egypt and Israel.

Did you know Israel was DESPERATE to get rid of the ENTIRE Gaza strip in 1980???

And now... Israel is no longer in the Gaza Strip,, and what happens??

The (law-loving) Palestinians in the Gaza strip:

(still) Shoot rockets into Israel
RIOT, and tear down the border into Egypt, and shoot at egyptian army when they
tried to close the border...

STILL claim that israel is in charge, despite the fact that they FORCIBLY removed all THE Jewish residents of the Gaza Strip, and GAVE the land to the Palestinians.

And now, one of the fertile farm lands that was in Gaza, is now ruined...
They had a ongoing, VIABLE tomato farming operation that exported to Europe.

Now??? it's back to the Desert it was (before 1967) for the past thousand years.

In general, the 'arab' occupants of the Biblicial state of Israel have a PRETTY poor
track record on farming, and keeping the land from becoming desert again...

HumorR: Rove Testimony under "cone of silence"™

Over at Don Davis's Blog
He has this great headline with a photo of my all-time FAVORITE MEL-Brooks (written) TV SHOW,"GET SMART"!

"Under Bush’s plan, White House aides such as Karl Rove and Harriet Miers would testify under the infamous “Cone of Silence” employed in the iconic 1960’s spy show, Get Smart."

Just to ensure that no public leaks of testimony occur, Bush added that “only Republicans will be allowed into the Cone of Silence, with the exception, of course, of Joe Lieberman.” However, as Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid pointed out, “Lieberman’s head might be too big to fit under the Cone.”

Thanks to Don at http://satiricalpolitical.com for this great item.

PS: if you're NOT a regular reader of my poetry blog, please see my new epic poems on:
The Dixie chicks were Right!

Pop Goes the Wolfowitz (architect of our Iraq war policy!)

Presidential Knowledge (an oxymoron)

Markb in nj!

mideasT: Iran's President: :Holocaust just an excuse.

Hooo Haaa.

He's Done it again. Iran's President says "Just an Excuse!"

He answers a question with a question... Are we sure he ISN'T JEWISH???

Dianne Sawyer asks:

Let's turn to Israel for a moment. I do not want to debate again the whole question of the Holocaust — whether the Holocaust is a myth, which you have said. Would you be willing to go to Auschwitz and see their documentation? You're a scientist. Would you be willing to look at the room with documentation?

Ahmadinejad: Do you think it would solve any problem?

Sawyer: It would be information for you if you genuinely believe it's a myth.

Ahmadinejad continues:

Well, one of the methods used for concealing the truth is diverting a topic.

Question is if Holocaust is true. ½ of the Palestinian issue, why for the excuse of the Holocaust we have an illegitimate government in Palestine?

Mark says, EXCUSE ME???

HAD the FERSUGENER Arabs ACCEPTED the 1948 UN two state solution to the ISRAEL problem there would TODAY be TWO STATES... AN Arab state (Palestine), and Israel

What a interesing DIVERSION of the truth...
THe UN proposed TWO states in 1948.
The jews accepted and the ARABS rejected this, and attacked the new state.

REVISIONIST history again!