• JoBo@feddit.uk
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    8 months ago

    Israel in its current form has no more legitimacy than Apartheid South Africa had. I lived through that struggle, with right-wing politicians bolstering the apartheid regime and sending arms as ordinary people protested it. We eventually won that battle and eventually we will win this one too.

    FWIW, there is no mirror image here. There is one two-state solution and two one-state solutions.

    The two-state solution has been made impossible by Israeli settlement activity (which picked up substantially during the Oslo negotiations and has continued at a furious pace ever since).

    The two one-state solutions are: a single, secular democratic state with equal rights for all its people and equal right to return for Palestinians; or a single Jewish ethno-state with Palestinians imprisoned in occupied enclaves with no access to the outside world other than what their imprisoners agree to.

    The latter one-state solution is what the Israeli right are trying to achieve and, as with Apartheid South Africa, the global right (and the arms industry) are rooting for them to succeed. The rest of us have to fight it, as we did with South Africa, and also East Timor, and are struggling to do for Myanmar, the Congo, Somalia and East Turkmenistan. And would for North Korea, if there was any leverage available.

    Israel does exist and will continue to exist but it has absolutely no right to exist in its current form.

    • ghostdoggtv@lemmy.world
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      8 months ago

      Kind of ironic how blind Lemmy is to the possibility of a federal constitutional solution to the problem. Nobody who would really want the conflict to end is allowed into the conversation.

    • Rapidcreek@lemmy.worldOP
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      8 months ago

      Yes, the cause of most of this is the hardliners that put Bibi in power and keeps him there to this day. I would question the apartheid moniker since Israel is fairly diverse. It has something like 40% Arab population who also serve in the IDF. It has the most diverse populations in that part of the world.

      • JoBo@feddit.uk
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        8 months ago

        The Arabs who serve in the military, other than Jewish Arabs, are Bedouin and Druze, whose ‘community leaders’ chose to participate in conscription because military service is fundamental to success in Israeli society. Palestinians often regard them as the worst, not because of a sense of betrayal but because Arabs in the IDF often feel the need to prove which side they’re on. The Israeli refuseniks are, for the most part, able to refuse because their family is willing and able to support them economically.

        Palestinian-Israelis do not (and cannot) serve in the military, along with the most extreme in the settler-movement ( a sore point for many Israelis, who are forced to do national service to keep these extremists safe in occupied territory).

        The apartheid charge is (largely) based on the different laws and rights which apply to citizens of Israel vs Palestinians under occupation. Israel does treat its Arab citizens and, especially, East Jerusalemites (who have residency but not citizenship) , differently in many ways. But, even if you insist on ignoring the racist minutiae of Israeli law, you don’t get to say they’re responsible only for their citizens (+/- permanent residents). They’re maintaining an apartheid system in the Occupied Territories (and East Jerusalem) and you don’t get to pretend that this somehow doesn’t count

        • Rapidcreek@lemmy.worldOP
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          8 months ago

          Israelis are Israeli. Palestinians are Palestinian. There is Palestinian law and Israeli law. Two separate places, much like any other places in this world.

          • mosiacmango@lemm.ee
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            8 months ago

            Where in the world are the state of Palestine’s sovereign rights recognized? Do they have control of their own borders? What is the name of their ambassador to the UN?

            • bartolomeo@suppo.fi
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              8 months ago

              What is the name of their ambassador to the UN?

              Riyad Mansour. A better example would be “who controls Palestinians’ birth register and therefore who is legally a Palestinian?” Or “who controls the currency and decides the monetary policy for Palestinians?”. Not to mention water, electricity, gas, communications, movement, even whether or not Palestinians get to sleep on any given night.

          • JoBo@feddit.uk
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            8 months ago

            There is no Palestinian state. Israel is the (illegal) occupying power and has been since 1967, with a stated intent for the Occupation to be permanent. The system is closely equivalent to South African apartheid, with genocidal intent on top.

            Words have meaning. Israel cannot maintain a permanent Occupation, controlling everything and everyone entering or exiting the Occupied Territories, and also pretend that Palestinians are responsible for their own wellbeing. That’s not how it works and if you were under the impression that it is, you have some reading to do.

            • Rapidcreek@lemmy.worldOP
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              8 months ago

              There are no Israeli in Palestine. They were forcibly removed by Israel years ago. There was no occupation. Words have meaning.

              • JoBo@feddit.uk
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                8 months ago

                Yeah, you’re going to have to expand on that because it looks like a denial of reality. Are you under the impression that Israel is keeping Israelis under occupation?

                There are many older Israelis who regard themselves as Palestinian Jews (“I didn’t come to Israel, Israel came to me”). There are many Israelis living in the Occupied Territories, and many of the non-militant amongst them say they would choose to become Palestinians in the event of a two state solution.

                I’m not sure if you know these people exist but you also seem to be having trouble acknowledging that Palestinians exist and are the ones who are living under occupation and that is … a bit of a headfuck. Can you explain yourself a little more clearly?

                • Rapidcreek@lemmy.worldOP
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                  8 months ago

                  Israel’s plan of unilateral disengagement from the Gaza Strip and North Samaria put forward by Prime Minister Ariel Sharon was carried out on 15 August 2005. The purpose of the plan was to improve Israel’s security and international status in the absence of peace negotiations with the Palestinians.

                  There are Palestinians that do live in Israel, and are therefore under Israeli law. Sometimes those laws can be onerous.

                  • JoBo@feddit.uk
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                    8 months ago

                    Ever heard of the West Bank? Know anything about the blockade of Gaza? Which planet are you on?

          • ghostdoggtv@lemmy.world
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            8 months ago

            A 3+ state solution with a federal union of independent lower states for Israel and Palestine would actually solve the problem. Broaden your horizons.

            • Zaktor
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              8 months ago

              This has the same problem as the two state solution - the settlements have stolen Palestinian land. If you can’t resolve that issue for the two state solution, it’s still a problem for 3+.

              • ghostdoggtv@lemmy.world
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                8 months ago

                So fucking what, that can be resolved diplomatically at the first levantine congress. I’ll do the writing if they want. The two state solution fails to create a venue at which to resolve these problems and Israel will not submit to UN authority except by force, and Palestine does not have a seat at the table with the UN. I seriously think it’s time for the United States to intervene militarily.

      • Linkerbaan@lemmy.world
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        8 months ago

        Since israel is occupying the west bank militarily and seizing land there. And people in the west bank can’t vote…

        It’s a full on apartheid. Every major NGO declares israel an apartheid.

        Also it’s so bad that Arab israelis have fled israel out of fear of persecution. One has recently won a court case in the UK on the grounds that israel is an apartheid persecuting it’s Arab citizens.

        Palestinian citizen of Israel granted UK asylum in case said to be unprecedented

        ‘Hasan’, 24, argued he would face persecution in Israel on grounds of his race, faith and its ‘apartheid regime’

        • Rapidcreek@lemmy.worldOP
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          8 months ago

          The Wesr Bank has their own government separate from Gaza. Palestinian security forces in the West Bank have retained limited security relations with the Israeli counterparts in the IDF and Shin Bet since re-establishment of relations in 2005. The parties cooperate on prevention of Hamas and Islamic Jihad activity in the West Bank, which is considered a threat by both parties.