Norman Finkelstein in Gaza-City, June 2009
There is an excellent debate on the two-state solution for Israel and Palstine online. Norman Finkelstein, a long-time defender of the two state solution, has recently published Knowing Too Much: Why the American Jewish Romance with Israel is Coming to an End. He was invited to debate by and with Philip Weiss of the online journal mondoweiss. Weiss is a self-described anti-Zionist. While Finkelstein thinks a two state solution is still possible, Weiss is dubious. The debate is civil yet sobering. Worth a careful read.
“There never has been a peace process, but rather an annexation process that used the “peace process” as a facade. The record is quite clear that the Israelis never envisaged a full withdrawal from the occupied Palestinian territory and the emergence of a truly independent Palestinian state.”
I haven’t read beyond that, but I agree that continuing annexation and occupation makes the phrase “peace process” a cruel joke.
Indeed, this was a very interesting debate.
I found it interesting that Finkelstein categorically denied the apartheid analogy within Israel Proper (within the 1949 borders.)
” …your designation of Israel proper (i.e., inside the Green Line) as an Apartheid state. I have not seen any compelling or authoritative argument(s) on this assertion….”
“Jimmy Carter swung radically in the opposite direction when he depicted Israel (as against the West Bank) as an exemplary democracy (see Palestine Peace Not Apartheid)”
Perhaps both Finkelstein and Former President Carter are unaware of the Prawer Plan and the living conditions and legal rights of the Arab population in the Negev desert and the conditions and legal rights of the greater Arab Population within “Israel Proper”.
Essentially the Prawer Plan calls for the forcible resettlement of the 30,000 Arab Bedouins within Israel Proper.
I have hard time understanding how the forcible resettlement of a population falls under the auspices of a democratic label. I can only assume that both Carter and Finkelstein are aware the situation in the Negev.
Neve Gordon’s op-ed in Al-jazeea’s English website does a fantastic job elucidating the the conditions of the Bedouin’s within “Israel Proper” as well as legislation that is in part responsible for these conditions. Moreover he discuss the motives and consequences of the the Prawer Plan in depth.
http://www.aljazeera.com/indepth/opinion/2012/04/2012421020291808.html
It is undeniable, and well reported (by some outlets ) that many Arab Palestinians live in abject living conditions created, by and large, by the the Israeli occupation. The conditions and legal rights of Arabs living within the 1949 borders often go unreported. Certainly they are not conducive with the democratic values that former President Carter assigns to Israel.
*unaware