Ted Rall for May 08, 2024

Logic has absolutely NOTHING to do with how the folks in the middle east don’t get along. You CAN, however, apply logic in how the USA deals with the unfixable problems there. I think the very first thing to look at logically is whether or not to provide high power weapons to folks who use them to commit war crimes.

It probably is true. A lot of people who live in Israeli controlled territories aren’t allowed votes because they would outnumber Israeli votes. It’s been true for a long time, unfortunately.

To be fair, it absolutely bites that people in the American territories like Puerto Rico can’t vote in US elections or have representation in Congress. It also has been going on far too long. The current reasoning is also fairly similar – Conservatives will be outvoted.

Ted can twist logic to a unecessary pretzel to fit his views

Free? “As of May 2024, Palestine is recognized as a sovereign state by over 72% of member states of the United Nations.” (Wikipedia so it must be true). What state is really free?

This situation is very similar to what one-time presidential candidate William Seward called “an irrepressable conflict”, meaning in his time, slavery. And, as another Pres. candidate expressed “A house divided cannot stand. It will be come all of one, or all of the other”. Alfred Balfour should have kept his mouth SHUT, and not thrown out a vague promise and then walk away. When the time came, Britain pretty much dumped it into America’s lap, and America did exactly what Saudi King Azziz warned FDR against. The PEOPLE of all the surrounding countries would not accept a Jewish state in the area. The worst horrors are yet to come. We can only hope that the next Islamic/Jewish clash will not be another Sarajevo.

After WW2 ended, around 15 million ethnic Germans were forced out of their homes & estimates range from 500,000 to 3 million dead. They did at least have a Germany to flee to. I’m guessing Ted & some of you will say they deserved it, despite their never having voted in the German elections that put Hitler in power. Many of them had family ties dating back to the 13th century.

Israelis don’t have that excuse, I guess. Enough keep showing up to vote to keep Bibi coming back like Nosferatu. I wonder if there’s a contingent in Israel that tells people not to bother voting? (57% turnout in the pivotal 2022 election)

I’d love to think a single democratic state with a right to return for the 7 million diaspora Palestinians creating a dominating majority would not quickly act to remove Jews from the land. The above example gives me pause. A lot of you have put a lot of effort into equating Israel’s existence with Nazis. I don’t know how many haven’t thought it through & how many would love to see Jews put on barges to sink in the Mediterranean. One has made herself obvious.

Ted is willing to bet the lives of the 7 million Jews on that, not to mention the 2 million non-Jews in Israel who want no part of what Ted wants the US Empire (his framing) to impose on them.

You are not against “genocide”, you just want it to be Jews, as usual.

At least Ted is equal opportunity, he ignores the logical factual people on the one hand, and the Palestinians on the other.

It’s no jump when you add the missing step that Palestinians are educated and indoctrinated from childhood to hate Jews, and that some will act on it with violence.

Speaking of which, guess which big “democracy” does NOT have a “one person – one vote” system?

As can be seen throughout British history, the partition of Israel in 1948 was yet another British ‘plan’ that was not well thought out. The Israelis immediately called for Israel to be a ‘Jewish State’. Subsequent wars muddled the boundaries further, and Netanyahu’s policies of settling in land that were not be to be settled by signed agreements has made the situation what it is today. The Palestinian plan was to be patient and out populate the Israelis in a generation or two. Netanyahu cut off their rights, and settled their lands. Hamas became frustrated and desperate and made terrorist attacks. Netanyahu, in other troubles, seized the opportunity to shift from his crimes to defending Israel and wiping out Palestine.

So, what is the answer? As the United Nations made Israel, they should step in and make Palestine. Make the borders that Israel might not like, but have to accept. This entire issue should be a United Nations work, backed up if necessary by U.N. Peacekeepers.

Says Ted Rall to himself. Fascinating!

Jews have protested, rightly, their treatment by Nazis forcibly for over 70 years, until today when they have become Nazi’s in all except the name. All of my life I believed the Jews were a better than the average human beings but today I have been shown that they are just like everyone else when they give into hate. I have always hoped that the human race would create a better world but now I am convinced that it cannot get better and only end in our own destruction.

Amen, brother.

I have never understood why you could not have one state where everyone gets the vote but there are constitutional guarantees protecting Jews and Palestinians with provisions for respect of religious traditions and observances. When Lebanon ended its civil war it set up a state where all the major factions (ie Christians, Muslims, etc) got a certain percentage of seats in the legislature and other power sharing arrangements Something similar could be ironed out in a united Palestine-Israel state. It may not be ideal but it would protect the state as a homeland for Jews without making second citizens or worse for the Palestinians.

Israel cannot be a democracy and a Jewish state simultaneously. To be a democracy means to give all citizens equal rights. That risks giving more power to non-Jews, and eventually see them as the majority.

To be a Jewish state means holding onto power through non-democratic means. That means operating an apartheid.

If the Israelis do not choose democracy, they must accept a two-state solution. Or, they risk becoming a worldwide pariah and losing their primary sponsor—the United States.

Non-Jews are second-class citizens in Israel, despite having votes and members of the Knesset. Google “Basic law Israel nation-state of jewish people”.

There are “Islamic Republics” in the Middle East. Unofficially, there were Catholic regimes in Ireland, Spain, and Quebec. There are efforts underway in the US declare it to be a white Christian (=Protestant) republic. We have certainly seen campaigns of “ethnic cleansing” in the Balkans and in Africa. All of these are affronts to democracy and human decency.

I believe in democracy, in the equality of citizens regardless of ethnicity, religion, or whatever. As a minority citizen of Canada, I feel protected—no more or less protected than any other citizen—and that’s good enough for me.

I would love to see a non-ethnic state from the Jordan River to the sea. But because of the hate, and the feelings of entitlement, currently on all sides, I genuinely doubt whether it could be possible. It seems that all sides have maneuvered themselves into a situation that has no solution. Maybe the UN could declare such a state and send some neutral parties, like the Swiss, to maintain order and mutual respect until (maybe generations later?) all the parties could mature and get along together?