Palestinian statehood actually is in Israel's interests

[FAH1223]

(1) The PLO will cease to represent the Palestinian people at the UN, and the PA will replace it as their presumed state.

(2) The PLO, which represents all Palestinians (about 12 million people in historic Palestine and in the diaspora), and was recognised as their "sole" representative at the UN in 1974, will be truncated to the PA, which represents only West Bank Palestinians (about 2 million people). Incidentally this was the vision presented by the infamous "Geneva Accords" that went nowhere.

(3) It will politically weaken Palestinian refugees' right to return to their homes and be compensated, as stipulated in UN resolutions. The PA does not represent the refugees, even though it claims to represent their "hopes" of establishing a Palestinian state at their expense. Indeed, some international legal experts fear it could even abrogate the Palestinians' right of return altogether. It will also forfeit the rights of Palestinian citizens of Israel who face institutional and legal racism in the Israeli state, as it presents them with a fait accompli of the existence of a Palestinian state (its phantasmatic nature notwithstanding). This will only give credence to Israeli claims that the Jews have a state and the Palestinians now have one too and if Palestinian citizens of Israel were unhappy, or even if they were happy, with their third-class status in Israel, they should move or can be forced to move to the Palestinian state at any rate.

(4) Israel could ostensibly come around soon after a UN vote in favour of Palestinian statehood and inform the PA that the territories it now controls (a small fraction of the West Bank) is all the territory Israel will concede and that this will be the territorial basis of the PA state. The Israelis do not tire of reminding the PA that the Palestinians will not have sovereignty, an army, control of their borders, control of their water resources, control over the number of refugees it could allow back, or even jurisdiction over Jewish colonial settlers. Indeed, the Israelis have already obtained UN assurances about their right to "defend" themselves and to preserve their security with whatever means they think are necessary to achieve these goals. In short, the PA will have the exact same Bantustan state that Israel and the US have been promising to grant it for two decades!

(5) The US and Israel could also, through their many allies, inject a language of "compromise" in the projected UN recognition of the PA state, stipulating that such a state must exist peacefully side by side with the "Jewish State" of Israel. This would in turn exact a precious UN recognition of Israel's "right" to be a Jewish state, which the UN and the international community, the US excepted, have refused to recognize thus far. This will directly link the UN recognition of a phantasmatic non-existent Palestinian state to UN recognition of an actually existing state of Israel that discriminates legally and institutionally against non-Jews as a "Jewish state".

(6) The US and Israel will insist after a positive vote that, while the PA is right to make certain political demands as a member state, it would have to abrogate its recent reconciliation agreement with Hamas. Additionally, sanctions could befall the PA state itself for associating with Hamas, which the US and Israel consider a terrorist group. The US Congress has already threatened to punish the PA and will not hesitate to urge the Obama administration to add Palestine to its list of "State Sponsors of Terrorism" along with Cuba, Iran, Sudan and Syria.

All of these six outcomes will advance Israeli interests immeasurably, while the only inconvenience to Israel would be the ability of the PA to demand that international law and legal jurisdiction be applied to Israel so as to exact more concessions from that country. However, at every turn the US will block and will shield Israel from its effects. In short, Israeli interests will be maximised at the cost of some serious but not detrimental inconvenience.

The second possible outcome, a US veto, and/or the ability of the US to pressure and twist the arms of tens of countries around the world to reject the bid of the PA in the General Assembly, resulting in failure to recognise PA statehood, will also be to the benefit of Israel. The unending "peace process" will continue with more stringent conditions and an angry US, upset at the PA challenge, will go back to exactly where the PA is today, if not to a weaker position. President Obama and future US administrations will continue to push for PA and Arab recognition of Israel as a "Jewish state" that has the right to discriminate by law against non-Jews in exchange for an ever-deferred recognition of a Palestinian Bantustan as an "economically viable" Palestinian state - a place where Palestinian neoliberal businessmen can make profits off international aid and investment.

Either outcome will keep the Palestinian people colonised, discriminated against, oppressed, and exiled. This entire brouhaha over the UN vote is ultimately about which of the two scenarios is better for Israeli interests. The Palestinian people and their interests are not even part of this equation.

http://english.aljazeera.net/indepth/op ... 39481.html

[Knight of Wisdom]

The question is, will East Jerusalem be given to the Palestinian people as their Capital? Will Israel and the West accept such demands from the Palestinian people?

[FAH1223]

The question is, will East Jerusalem be given to the Palestinian people as their Capital? Will Israel and the West accept such demands from the Palestinian people?

Palestinians are being evicted from East Jerusalem everyday. It's not coming back

[The_Emperior5]

Well true there Israeli Arabs will not exist any more but the thing is Israel cant build settlements in the Palestinian territories if Palestine is granted UN recognition. And besides the whole 1967 borders will destroy Israel from with in , And Hamas still does not Recognize the right for Israel to exist. Also if Israel attacks Palestine it means they attacked a sovereign UN member state. Its good for Israel to continue to deal with the PLO

[FAH1223]

Well true there Israeli Arabs will not exist any more but the thing is Israel cant build settlements in the Palestinian territories if Palestine is granted UN recognition. And besides the whole 1967 borders will destroy Israel from with in , And Hamas still does not Recognize the right for Israel to exist. Also if Israel attacks Palestine it means they attacked a sovereign UN member state. Its good for Israel to continue to deal with the PLO

Read the article. The Palestinian Authority i.e. Abbas and company are the ones going to the UN... NOT Hamas. The PA controls only a tiny portion of the West Bank while Israel has settlements all over that are expanding. PLUS the Israelis aren't going to give them back 1967 land... never. Too many settlers are already in the territories and they receieve incentives from the government.

Even if Palestine is granted recognition, the PA is going to be cut off from the US aid and could be labeled a State Sponsor of Terrorism because of their reconcilation with Hamas the past few months... and as you said, since Hamas is designated a terror group that doesn't recognize Israel... it will be detrimental to a new Palestine state.]]The two state solution is non existant.

[Knight of Wisdom]

The question is, will East Jerusalem be given to the Palestinian people as their Capital? Will Israel and the West accept such demands from the Palestinian people?

Palestinians are being evicted from East Jerusalem everyday. It's not coming back

Then, Palestinians will NEVER agree on a Two-State solution. Not to mention, Israel's Prime Minister, explicitly stated that Israel will NOT go back to the 1967 borders. When asked why, he replied, that it will weaken the State of Israel and make it vulnerable to attacks coming from Extremist entities that are against the State of Israel and I completely agree with him on that.

With that in mind, we all know Palestinians will NEVER get a State of their own, but I frankly don't get why USA still insists on speaking about this "Two-State" solution.

[FAH1223]

The question is, will East Jerusalem be given to the Palestinian people as their Capital? Will Israel and the West accept such demands from the Palestinian people?

Palestinians are being evicted from East Jerusalem everyday. It's not coming back

Then, Palestinians will NEVER agree on a Two-State solution. Not to mention, Israel's Prime Minister, explicitly stated that Israel will NOT go back to the 1967 borders. When asked why, he replied, that it will weaken the State of Israel and make it vulnerable to attacks coming from Extremist entities that are against the State of Israel and I completely agree with him on that. With that in mind, we all know Palestinians will NEVER get a State of their own, but I frankly don't get why USA still insists on speaking about this "Two-State" solution.

Bullshid.

[Knight of Wisdom]

How is that bullshit?

If West Bank is recognized as a State, then...the Arabs can place Missiles literally in East Jerusalem and other towns adjacent to the Border of Israel, making Israel very vulnerable to attacks. No sane STATE would accept it's arch enemy to be given a Statehood within 1 miles away.

[Simans]

China is ready to regonize an indepedent palestian state. But the United states will veto in the UN to protect israeli interests.

[The_Emperior5]

The Pa does not represent the refugees how is that going to work with a future Palestenian state Israel is not going to allow the Refugees to return
israel will undermine the Palestenian state in the future but the UN recognizes the 67 borders if they are given full membership.But All in All Israel will lose its legitimacy in lots of territories. Even if they do not Allow a Palestine state next to Israel and fah Hamas will always exist and will continue to undermine Israel right for existence. Even if the Pa makes good agreements with Israel but that's unlikely to happen as the Us already threatens the new state to add them to Evil States Iran Venezuela Syria Eritrea North Korea.