Secretary of State John Kerry testified in Congress this week that it is a mistake for Israel to insist on being recognized as a Jewish state by the Palestinians as a condition to peace. Kerry wants Israel to instead consider that question to have been settled by the 1947 UN resolution that authorized the split of Palestine into two states: one Jewish (Israel) and one Arab (Palestine). Even for Kerry, this is an idiotic position.
Remember that Kerry is supposedly trying to be trying to bring peace in this dispute. The initial cause of the dispute back in 1948 was that the arab states rejected the UN resolution and declared that there could be no Jewish state in the area. That is the position that has been held continually by the Palestinians ever since. So, what the Israelis want as part of any peace agreement is for the Palestinians to change their opposition to a Jewish state and to recognize Israel's right to exist. That is not a surprising position; after all, what is the point of peace if the arabs will not recognize Israel's right to exist as Israel?
The truth is that day after day and month after month, the USA under Obama has been pushing Israel to accept all of the demands of the Palestinians. Obama and Kerry (and Hillary Clinton before him) have wanted the Israelis to agree that the Palestinians could keep parts of the area free of all Jews. The Israelis were supposed to ban Jews from living on certain lands. These are the so called settlements which, for the most part, are neighborhoods in Jerusalem where housing for Israelis has been built. In other words, Obama and his team want Israel to agree to restrictions which would bring enormous outrage if the same thing were proposed in the USA. Now Kerry want Israel to give up its identity as a Jewish state or, at least, to agree to hide it. The point of Zionism, the founding ideology of Israel, however, was that Jews needed to have their own country so that there would always be a place they could go when the world went through one of its many spasms of anti-Semitism. Even an ignoramus like Kerry must know that. What Kerry is asking is the rough equivalent of al Qaeda telling America that there could finally be peace so long as the USA agreed to repeal the Bill of Rights in the Constitution and to follow Sharia law.
Someone should tell John Kerry to shut up. Each time he opens his mouth, he makes peace in the Middle East more unlikely.
Remember that Kerry is supposedly trying to be trying to bring peace in this dispute. The initial cause of the dispute back in 1948 was that the arab states rejected the UN resolution and declared that there could be no Jewish state in the area. That is the position that has been held continually by the Palestinians ever since. So, what the Israelis want as part of any peace agreement is for the Palestinians to change their opposition to a Jewish state and to recognize Israel's right to exist. That is not a surprising position; after all, what is the point of peace if the arabs will not recognize Israel's right to exist as Israel?
The truth is that day after day and month after month, the USA under Obama has been pushing Israel to accept all of the demands of the Palestinians. Obama and Kerry (and Hillary Clinton before him) have wanted the Israelis to agree that the Palestinians could keep parts of the area free of all Jews. The Israelis were supposed to ban Jews from living on certain lands. These are the so called settlements which, for the most part, are neighborhoods in Jerusalem where housing for Israelis has been built. In other words, Obama and his team want Israel to agree to restrictions which would bring enormous outrage if the same thing were proposed in the USA. Now Kerry want Israel to give up its identity as a Jewish state or, at least, to agree to hide it. The point of Zionism, the founding ideology of Israel, however, was that Jews needed to have their own country so that there would always be a place they could go when the world went through one of its many spasms of anti-Semitism. Even an ignoramus like Kerry must know that. What Kerry is asking is the rough equivalent of al Qaeda telling America that there could finally be peace so long as the USA agreed to repeal the Bill of Rights in the Constitution and to follow Sharia law.
Someone should tell John Kerry to shut up. Each time he opens his mouth, he makes peace in the Middle East more unlikely.
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