Tuesday, November 10, 2009

Is an overture for a one state solution looming on the horizon?


The Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) has for several years advocated for a two state solution for Israel and Palestine. Just the other day, I was telling someone, I would not be surprised if at least one if not several overtures were sent to 219th General Assembly calling for a one state solution. By that I mean a state which includes all the Palestinians as well as the people of Israel. This would of course destroy the State of Israel as a Jewish nation forever.

I conjectured that this might happen because lately I have noticed many articles on web sites, which various Presbyterian organizations link to, that advocate for a one state solution.

Now I find that Ali Abunimah co-founder of the Electronic Intifada a Palestine news site recommended in Steadfast Hope, a booklet published by the Israel/Palestine Mission Network of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.), has a book recommending just that, "
One Country: A Bold Proposal to End the Palestinian-Israeli Impasse."

I also see that Abunimah has been a speaker at a Presbyterian Church just this year, First Presbyterian Church of Palo Alto, hosted the
Peninsula Peace and Justice Center, featuring Abunimah.

Abunimah insists that a Jewish state could only be a racist apartheid state. He states “When we get to the point where the mantra ‘Jewish State’ no matter what the cost ... it’s always wrong. He then speaks of what he and others call the ethnic cleansing that happened in 1948, and goes on to repeat that there is no way to have a Jewish State without ethnic cleansing.

I believe those Presbyterians who are pro Israel need to understand that there is a move among activist to see Israel as racist and undemocratic unless she gives up her real meaning. That is, they want Israel to give up her sole purpose, which is a place of safety for the persecuted Jewish people.

I do not believe we understand how close we are to another massive pogrom aimed not just at a village in Eastern Europe but at a whole nation.

Before World War II many nations and leaders talked and wrote about what was called the ‘Jewish problem’ and how to solve it. Some Jewish people tried to assimilate into whatever country was their homeland but that was never to be a safe decision. Many times when nations faced a crisis the Jewish people became the scapegoat.

Of course Hitler and the Nazi’s solution were gas chambers, while the Zionist solution was a homeland for the Jewish people. And, indeed, that appears to be the solution of the sovereign Lord of history.

Perhaps this is an apologetic to soon. I hope so!

But I believe the idea of wiping out Israel as a Jewish State by turning her into a state where the Jewish people are a minority among her enemies is not different then pogroms or gas chambers and will lead to another Holocaust.

6 comments:

Anonymous said...

A one state solution may be the only alternative if Israel continues its settlement expansions on the West Bank. For a two state solution there has to be a contiguous area of land for Palestinians and Israelis, not a patchwork quilt of areas, some Palestinian and Israeli. Israel has annexed East Jerusalem following the 1967 War. So as a democracy, why are the Arab citizens of East Jerusalem also Israeli citizens?
The Israel/Palestine Mission Network of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) may well be reducing this conflict to a few catch phrases, hardly much different than your efforts to refute them. This area of the globe has a long history which cannot be reduced to easy answers. Hysteria as referenced in your words “pogroms or gas chambers and will lead to another Holocaust” is not an option.
As I have recommended to you earlier, please read “Righteous Victims” by Benny Morris, an Israeli historian and an ardent Zionists. He gives the history of the conflict devoid of myths that have grown popular over the years by both sides. One cannot get this kind of information by browsing web-sites.

John McNeese
Ponca City, OK

Anonymous said...

A one-state solution is a certain formula for eventual Jewish dhimmitude, if not worse. To which I and other Jews the world over say, "never again!"

David Fischler
Woodbridge, VA

Viola Larson said...

You are right about one thing John, there is no easy answers. But you are also affirming my fear about a future one state overture.

You write,

" Hysteria as referenced in your words “pogroms or gas chambers and will lead to another Holocaust” is not an option."

John I intend to read Morris, at the moment I am reading Sand on the "Invention of the Jewish People." But in the meantime I insist that a one state solution will lead to some kind of awful disaster for the Jewish people. They have forever been the scapegoats of every nation.

If that is hysteria it is too bad that more nations during WW II didn’t get hysterical. Perhaps six million Jew would have lived.

Viola Larson
Sacramento, Ca

Viola Larson said...

David,
It never occurred to me that you were Jewish. That is great. And as you can tell I agree with you.

Viola Larson
Sacramento, Ca

Anonymous said...

Viola: I thought everyone knew. :-)

I grew up in a Reformed household in NJ and became a Christian in college. I was challenged to read the Bible to find out what Christians believe, and doing so transformed me. That's one reason among many why I have the high view of Scripture that I do.

David Fischler
Woodbridge, VA

Anonymous said...

I should have mentioned, in response to your response to John, that the record of the Arab and Muslim world in dealing with their Jewish populations over the last half century (if not for centuries before that) should be proof enough that the one-state solution is a call for Jews to surrender their freedom, if not their lives.

David Fischler
Woodbridge, VA