A post is doing the rounds, from a right-wing Zionist offering a $100,000 donation to J Street and/or Peter Beinart “to speak to Arabs [in Arab countries] as they do to the Jewish community.” It’s much less a contribution to the debate than grandstanding and mudslinging. I offered this response to a friend, and post it here, too.
Related reading:Tags: Democracy, Diaspora Jewry, J Street, Occupation, Palestinians, Peace Process, Peter Beinart, Right-wing Zionism, Settlements, Western world, Zionism Permalink: http://liamgetreu.com/2012/05/16/a-right-wing-zionists-100k-donation-offer-to-j-street-and-peter-beinart/
There’s no escaping it. We can argue about how and why people were dispossessed, it’s just part of our history now. What we can do is figure out how we can maintain a Jewish-democratic state while still being maximally inclusive of a Palestinian minority.
Permalink: http://liamgetreu.com/2012/05/16/nakba-is-part-of-israels-history/
Credit where it’s due. Bibi’s rhetoric has certainly been more positive in the last few months, and if he’s talking about using his coalition to explore peace, and in an official document no less, these are big steps forward.
Permalink: http://liamgetreu.com/2012/05/14/for-the-first-time-in-an-official-document-bibi-pledges-to-establish-a-palestinian-state/
Administrative detention is anti-democratic. Israel has to choose between being “a free and open society” and either putting these Palestinians on trial or releasing them, or perishing deeper into the nondemocratic abyss.
Permalink: http://liamgetreu.com/2012/05/13/israel-must-release-or-put-on-trial-palestinians-in-administrative-detention/
Aaron David Miller, writing in Foreign Policy: “Here’s a low-brow but reliable guide to how and why deals get done.”
Permalink: http://liamgetreu.com/2012/05/12/the-complete-idiots-guide-to-negotiating-and-making-peace/
“If we build all over the place, we lose. Even if we don’t have an agreement [with the Palestinians], we need to have a rational policy.” This proposal, if accepted by the new Bibi-Mofaz coalition would be a major step forward. Certainly a confidence-building measure at the least.
Tags: Bibi Netanyahu, Israel, Jerusalem, Kadima, Likud, Occupation, Palestinians, Peace Process, Settlement freeze, Settlements, Shaul Mofaz, West Bank Permalink: http://liamgetreu.com/2012/05/12/likud-deputy-pm-meridor-no-settlement-freeze-is-most-damaging-of-all-policies/
My response to the Zionist Council of Victoria’s letter in the Jewish News denouncing my column from two weeks ago. The ZCV, writing purportedly on behalf of the entire community, attempted to sideline my Zionist views, instead of backing their inclusion within the Zionist community’s discourse. A better communal path would be to embrace these differences of opinion and structure a forum to debate these issues. Every Zionist view, no matter how confronting, should be encouraged; doing so will allow everyone to discuss the future of Zionism and say what it means for them to support Israel as a Jewish-democratic state. Our community will be demonstrably stronger for it.
Related reading:Tags: Australian Jewish News, Australian Jewry, Crisis of Zionism, Diaspora Jewry, Israel, Occupation, Palestinians, Peace Process, Settlement boycott, Settlements, Zionism, Zionist Council of Victoria Permalink: http://liamgetreu.com/2012/05/06/response-to-the-zionist-council-of-victorias-letter-in-the-ajn/
Unilateral population transfers is ethnic cleansing and Arab-Israelis without voting rights is apartheid. This out-hawks even the most hawkish of Diaspora Zionists. Will this be Mitt Romney’s peace plan if he’s elected president later this year?
Permalink: http://liamgetreu.com/2012/05/05/river-to-the-sea-apartheid-israel-the-new-republican-peace-plan/
“Can the Jewish people segue from deeply ingrained victimhood to the moral and practical dictates of being a major power? … Yes, there are risks for Israel in allowing a Palestinian state. But as Jews, we cannot tolerate a Jewish state that ignores its own Declaration of Independence and the teachings of our sages over thousands of years.”
Permalink: http://liamgetreu.com/2012/04/25/from-jewish-victimhood-to-jewish-power/
A bunch of Israelis have come up with an idea that involved unilateral actions to begin ending the occupation, given the lack of direct and fruitful negotiations taking place. Their ideas are very interesting and worth consideration. If things continue like they’re going, I think we’ll see more, not less, of this type of out-of-the-box thinking.
Permalink: http://liamgetreu.com/2012/04/25/peace-without-partners/
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