Another way to get rid of Israel
Reqder | 13.07.2006 14:08
In the Guardian, Mathias Mossberg, who was Sweden's ambassador to Morroco from 1994 to 1996, comes up with another European style plan to get rid of those annoying Jews. His idea is to have some sort of dual state:
Another way to get rid of Israel
You might call it a "dual state". Instead of the familiar formula in which two states exist side by side, Israel and Palestine would be two states superimposed on one another. Citizens could freely choose which system to belong to - their citizenship would be bound not to territory, but to choice. The Israeli state would remain a homeland for Jews and, at the same time, become a place in which Palestinians were able to live freely.
This basic administrative structure has worked elsewhere: for example, in the cantons of Switzerland. There people of different origins and beliefs, speaking different languages and with different allegiances, live together side by side. In the Israel-Palestine dual state, smaller territorial units could be given the right to choose which state to belong to, based on a majority vote. At the same time, individuals would be able to choose citizenship for themselves, regardless of where they lived. A person living in a canton that opted to belong to Palestine could continue to be a citizen of Israel and vice versa.
. . .
There would be no need for security fences or barriers, no need for corridors or safe passages, and no need for checkpoints. A joint defence force could secure the borders, and a joint customs service could ensure one economic space.
The Switzerland analogy seems apt to me. I spent a bit of time in Switzerland, and it seemed to work well, even though the German speaking Swiss were regularly setting off bombs in French speaking Geneva, and in their schools taught that French speaking Swiss were apes and pigs who regularly ate the flesh of German speaking Swiss children. Oh, wait. Wrong country.
Mossberg is simply trying to offer up a single state solution without saying so. Without barriers, what prevents suicide bombers from setting off bombs in Jewish neighborhoods? A joint defense force? Does Mossberg seriously think that an Israeli army could trust Palestinian units in the event of, say, a Syrian invasion?
Mossberg, however, knows how to defuse objections to his plan.
What I have in mind is utterly different, and no doubt somewhat far-fetched. (That said, given the failure of all the "realistic" solutions over the past 50 years, forgive me for suggesting that it may now be time to consider other possibilities.)
This is like someone proposing, in the wake of the Challenger accident that space travel should be undertaken by using large rubber bands.
You might call it a "dual state". Instead of the familiar formula in which two states exist side by side, Israel and Palestine would be two states superimposed on one another. Citizens could freely choose which system to belong to - their citizenship would be bound not to territory, but to choice. The Israeli state would remain a homeland for Jews and, at the same time, become a place in which Palestinians were able to live freely.
This basic administrative structure has worked elsewhere: for example, in the cantons of Switzerland. There people of different origins and beliefs, speaking different languages and with different allegiances, live together side by side. In the Israel-Palestine dual state, smaller territorial units could be given the right to choose which state to belong to, based on a majority vote. At the same time, individuals would be able to choose citizenship for themselves, regardless of where they lived. A person living in a canton that opted to belong to Palestine could continue to be a citizen of Israel and vice versa.
. . .
There would be no need for security fences or barriers, no need for corridors or safe passages, and no need for checkpoints. A joint defence force could secure the borders, and a joint customs service could ensure one economic space.
The Switzerland analogy seems apt to me. I spent a bit of time in Switzerland, and it seemed to work well, even though the German speaking Swiss were regularly setting off bombs in French speaking Geneva, and in their schools taught that French speaking Swiss were apes and pigs who regularly ate the flesh of German speaking Swiss children. Oh, wait. Wrong country.
Mossberg is simply trying to offer up a single state solution without saying so. Without barriers, what prevents suicide bombers from setting off bombs in Jewish neighborhoods? A joint defense force? Does Mossberg seriously think that an Israeli army could trust Palestinian units in the event of, say, a Syrian invasion?
Mossberg, however, knows how to defuse objections to his plan.
What I have in mind is utterly different, and no doubt somewhat far-fetched. (That said, given the failure of all the "realistic" solutions over the past 50 years, forgive me for suggesting that it may now be time to consider other possibilities.)
This is like someone proposing, in the wake of the Challenger accident that space travel should be undertaken by using large rubber bands.
Reqder