Mideast Peace -- it's possible..

Believe it or not, it IS  possible.
However, you cannot look back to the borders of 50 years ago to solve this problem.

First of all, the 1967 borders are not perfect, not permanent.

In order to serve, and obtain peace, we need to look at what happened in 1947, when the British mandate ruling over Palestine was dissolved.

The Brand new U.N. declared two a would be created from that land.

Bingo, it's a start. The Jews accepted, and called the land is historic name, Israel.

The Arab/Palestinians living there said, "no way",I want my land AND that land, and thus 13 Arab nations attacked Israel all at once.

Let's stop with the ears and go back to the UN deal of 1947.

That deal isn't perfect, but it's borders are in someway better then the B.S. borders of 1967.

Oh yeah.  Here's the reasons both sides won't be interested.

1) the Israelis won't like the fact that the UN plan calls for Jerusalem to be an open city.

1a) given the fact that Jordan controlled the old city of Jerusalem for 19 years until 1967 and not one new was ever allowed inside, Israel had a much better record over the past 50 years of granting access to all religions, and making the city open.

2) the Arabs, especially Jordan, won't like the fact that almost one half of the land allocated to the Palestinian state is in Jordan, on the OTHER side of the Jordan River.
2a) if we also go back another 30 years we see there was never a state of Jordan before then.
I
2b) if you look at the reaction of all of the Arab countries to the Palestinian refugees at the campus on their soil, not ONE of them offered citizenship to any of the refugees, and they were never allowed to leave their camps.
2b1) had they been given citizenship, a great deal of the problems of the camps world not have occurred.

Simple solution, complex problems.
Won't ever happen. Sigh.

It's the TWO state solution-- with the 1948 borders...DOY

The ONLY real peace in the mideast is simple.

When ALL of the arab countries accept the 1948 two state solution to the BRITISH PALESTINE problem (similar to their stupid assed partition of INDIA and Pakistan)

THEN we will all have peace.

Check out this blog.


I have previously (too lazy to look and quote myself, feel free to comment to it..)
mentioned that the problems are

1) ALL arab countries declared war on the newly created state in 1948.
2) The local religious leaders (the Grand Mufti of Jerusalem) told all the Arab residents to LEAVE, so we can wipe out all the Jews, and you can come back in a few days .  (THIS by the way is the CAUSE of the 60 years of REFUGEE camps in ALL the arab countries (JORDAN/Lebanon/Syria and Egypt)...  (none of which EVER gave ANY of those refugees CITIZENSHIP in their countries, despite being born there...

3) The fact that the 1948 borders include HALF of the state of Jordan.   THAT is a REAL show-stopper. OR is it?
4) The state of Jerusalem as an international city.  I accept this.  I just don't accept the United Nations OR Jordan as administering it.   THE UN vacated the borders in 1956, and Jordan really didnt do a good job of administering it FAIRLY during the 19 years they controlled EAST Jerusalem.


SO it's total bullshit for the Palestinians to try and declare a state at the UN.

and (Low expectations man that I am)  I really don't hold much faith in the United States' support of Israel.  However, President Obama has done the absolute minimum to support Israel, by saying that he will veto this attempt at the UN security council for statehood.

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 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.

MusiC: Sir Paul Still has IT!

OK... SIR Paul can STILL Rock I guess.. EVEN if he COULD still retire (in the US) since he's 66...

The BBC says "McCartney wows Quebec"

In his only scheduled live appearance in North America this year, Sir Paul, said: "I think it's time to smoke the pipes of peace and to just, you know, put away your hatchet because I think it's a show of friendship."

He played Beatles, Wings and solo songs in the outdoor concert - part of the 400th anniversary celebrations of Quebec.

Before the concert, Sir Paul said they should "smoke the pipes of peace".

Speaking in a mixture of French and English, he told the crowd: "Bonsoir les Quebecois [Good evening people of Quebec]."

Before the concert, many artists and politicians said his presence in Quebec was inappropriate because of the 18th century British conquest of Quebec.

Love (and music) conquers ALL

Peace. Love. Happiness
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OK, you wanted a Political discussion: Here goes.

The background I believe that:
* We're HEADING into a DEPRESSION.
* It's going to be as BAD as the last one.
* 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.