Paris summit to declare two-state solution only way to peace

[Little Tich]

Source: Times of Israel

Draft statement will affirm international community will not recognize any changes to pre-967 lines without agreement by both sides

In a strong message to Israel and the incoming Trump administration, dozens of countries are expected this weekend to reiterate their opposition to Israeli settlements and call for the establishment of a Palestinian state as “the only way” to ensure peace in the region.


France is hosting more than 70 countries on Sunday at a Mideast peace summit, in what will be a final chance for the Obama administration to lay out its positions for the region.


According to a draft statement obtained by The Associated Press on Friday, the conference will urge Israel and the Palestinians “to officially restate their commitment to the two-state solution.”

It also will affirm that the international community “will not recognize” changes to Israel’s pre-1967 lines without agreement by both sides.

Read more: http://www.timesofisrael.com/paris-summit-to-declare-two-state-solution-only-way-to-peace/

[geek tragedy]

1. It's not the only path to peace.

A binational state with strong protections for all of its people regardless of faith or ethnicity would also do the trick.

In fact, it will have to.

The dialogue should start shifting towards ripping up Oslo and giving the right to vote to everyone living in areas permanently subject to the control of by Israeli government.

This kind of conference is well-intentioned but that ship has sailed.

[Mosby]

2. A more realistic possiblity

Is allowing Jordan to annex about half of the WB and create a protectorate or something. A lot of settlements would still have to go but it would give the Palestinians the ethno-religious purity that they say they want. It's the only way to deal with Hebron, an issue that is conveniently ignored in most 2 state plans. The border in that area would still be a mess though.

A binational state is unworkable for too many reasons to list.

[geek tragedy]

3. What makes you think Jordan wants the WB?

Or that the Palestinians want a king?

[Mosby]

4. the Palestinians have been lead by dictators for almost a decade now

Last edited Sat Jan 14, 2017, 09:14 PM - Edit history (1)

I don't think the Palestinians like this arrangement, but they are obviously incapable of affecting change. The people of Palestine are chained by Hamas, a terrorist group in Gaza and Fatah, a tribal group in the WB. There are no indications that anything will change in the near or midterm future, in fact the descent into tyranny and totalitarianism in the WB is almost complete, the only step left is for the current dictator, Abbas to name his successor, which is ongoing as we speak.

The Palestinians are the largest ethnic group in Jordan, making up more than half of the entire population and yet they have almost no representation, receive no social benefits, can't work in the government and are heavily taxed.

Creating a joint Palestinian and Jordanian protectorate in part of the WB and on the other side of the river would go a very long way to make up for the historic injustices the Hashemites have inflicted on the Palestinians.

[geek tragedy]

8. You didn't answer the first question.

[Little Tich]

5. Unfortunately, the West Bank is an economic wasteland,

and I don't think there's any incentive whatsoever for Jordan to take over. The situation in the occupied territories is Israel's own making, and Israel can either make the occupied territories into a viable Palestinian state (which is physically impossible) or fully incorporate them into Israel.

[Little Tich]

6. Yeah, I agree.

I think this conference should've happened 10 years ago when things appeared to move forward, and a Palestinian state could've been possible.

At best the conference will declare the parameters for a viable Palestinian state which then can be used to show that it's not going to happen. Apartheid is an Israeli national strategy, and any measures that would make things better for Palestinians won't be permitted. That the Paris summit is taking place at all is a clear indication that the world has invested a lot of political capital in the two-state solution, and it's not pleased to see Israel killing it.

[Donald Ian Rankin]

7. For once, Netanyahu was right.

Netanyahu has called the event futile, rigged and “a relic of the past”, adding: “It’s a last gasp of the past before the future sets in.”

For once, I think he's right. We need to accept that Israel has successfully killed the two-state solution, that the settlements and occupation are here to stay, and that the only way forward is international pressure on Israel to grant all the Palestinians full citizenship and equal rights.

[Mosby]

9. But no pressure on the Palestinians to do anything, right?

Good luck pressuring Israelis to commit national suicide.

[Donald Ian Rankin]

10. They've already committed it.

The only way Israel could conceivably have existed permanently as a Jewish state in Palestine was along side a viable Palestinian state, and they've systematically made that impossible.

What is needed now is pressure from the outside world on Israel, and support for the Palestinians, to make the inevitable as quick and painless as possible - which, sadly, will still be slow and very painful.

What I suspect will happen now is that Israel will continue to expand and oppress, the Palestinians will stop calling for a homeland and start calling for citizenship, it will become harder and harder to pretend that Israel is not an apartheid state, support for Israel will become first a partisan right-wing issue and then a fringe position, international pressure will mount, and ultimately Jewish Israelis will end up in a similar grim position to white Zimbabweans. That's moderately appalling, but less appalling than letting government of the Palestinians, by the Israels, for the Jews continue unchecked.