Part 9 Rebutting Chomsky on 2-State Solution

Nadene Goldfoot      ***                                                                 

Judean Mountains

Chomsky presents his view on a 2-state solution of the creation of Palestine today.  What does he expect to happen to the Palestinians at this point?

He gives his audience, who has been listening to his blasting of the United States for Supporting Israel and blocking a Palestinian state, a chance to hear his views on an Israel that he has nothing good to say about.

Noam Chomsky states that "Israel, Palestine, independent commentators, diplomats all present a pictures of having 2 alternatives:  either the 2-state settlement which represents an overwhelming international consensus, and if that fails, a 1-state solution.  Israel will take over the West Bank, and the Palestinians will hand over the keys as it's sometimes said that Palestinians often have favored that.

My comment is that Abbas has often threatened Netanyahu that he will do just that.  Abbas is about 80 years of age right now.  Israel has commented that there is nobody better to deal with than Abbas, which doesn't say much about the rest of the choices since they all have been active terrorists in the past.  Abbas has been so 2-faced; saying one thing in English and another in Arabic.  He presents himself as a moderate while rewarding terrorism from Fatah towards Jews and Israel.  He has now united with Hamas, led by a younger and stronger man, whose goal is to destroy Israel and never  accept a condition of peace.

Noam continues with saying: Palestinians say they will be able to carry out a civil rights struggle, maybe modeled on the anti-apartheid struggle in South Africa, fight for grounds of what is called "the demographic problem,"  which is the fact that there will be too many non-Jews in a Jewish state--in fact, pretty soon a majority.  Those are the alternatives that are presented, overwhelmingly, hardly an exception.
                                                                     

Judea-Samaria (West Bank) 

Noam's own opinion, which he as written about repeatedly-without convincing many people, apparently, but he said that he'd try to convince this audience-IS THAT THIS IS A TOTAL ILLUSION.  Those are not the 2 alternatives; there are 2 alternatives, but they are different ones.

1. One alternative is the international consensus on a 2-state settlement, basically the terms of January 1976.  By now, it's virtually everyone--the Arab League, the Organization of Islamic States, including Iran, Europe, Latin America-informally, at least, about everyone.

2. The other option, the realistic one, is that Israel will continue doing exactly what it is doing right now, before our eyes, visible, WITH USA SUPPORT, which is also visible, and it's not a secret, you can open the newspapers and read it, is that ISRAEL IS TAKING OVER WHAT THEY CALL JERUSALEM.

In Part 8,  I covered his argument about Jerusalem and gave the opposition to his statements.  Yet his comments continue to flow on the topic of Jerusalem. without having heard or read what I had to say about the capital of Israel.  He went on with:

"Jerusalem settlements are doubly illegal ...There are corridors extending to the east.  One major corridor extending from Jerusalem almost to Jericho, virtually bisecting the West Bank, includes the Israeli town of Ma'ale Adumim, which was built largely during the Clinton administration, Clinton years, with the obvious purpose of bisecting the West Bank--Corridors must be like highways.  A highway that goes in is a 2-way highway-leading out as well, Noam.  This would allow connecting to Israel.  --still a little contested territory, but that's the goal.  there's another corridor further to the north including the town of Ariel, partially bisecting what remains.  Another one further to the north including the town of Kedumim.  If you look at the map, these essentially break up the West Bank into pretty much cantons.  It looks from a map as though a large territory is left, but that's misleading.  Most of that is uninhabitable desert, and that's separate from what I mentioned before, the slow, steady takeover of the Jordan Valley to the east--again, about a 1/3 of the arable land, the country, Israel has no official policy of taking it over, but they're pursuing the policy in the way that has been carried out now for a hundred years, literally--small steps so nobody notices, or at least people pretend not to notice, establish a military zone.  The Palestinians who live there have to be displaced because it's a military zone, no settlement allowed, and pretty soon there's a military settlement, Nahal settlement, and another, then, sooner or later, it becomes an actual settlement.  Meanwhile, they dig wells, dispossess the population, set up green zones--a large variety of techniques which have, by now, reduced the Arab population from about 300,000 in 1967 to roughly 60,000 today.  As I mentioned, that essentially imprisons what's left.  My comment: Actually, I have found out that 2.7 million Arabs live in Judea-Samaria today. 

Ariel in Area C

                                                               

Kedumim

                                                                    

 

    Maaleh Adumim My Comments:  4.3 miles from Jerusalem, reached city status in 1991 with 39,200 population in 2012, on Highway 1 connecting Jerusalem with Tel Aviv.  Its history goes back to the Book of Joshua as being between the tribal lands of Judah and Benjamin. It's the largest of the cities in Judea-Samaria.

 Maaleh Adumim is an urban locality along the Jerusalem-Jericho road, the first Jewish settlement in  Judea-Samaria (West Bank) to be granted urban status.  The population in 2011 was 11,800. It's the 3rd largest one.  Ariel was established in 1978 and had 18,000 as of 1990.  On June 30, 2014 it still had 18,000.  Veterans and young Israelis live here.  It's 12 miles east of the Green Line and 21 miles west of the Jordan boarder; 4th largest city.  Kedumim  is in Samaria and was founded in 1975 on Chanukah.  The population is 4,219.  

My continuing comments:  In 2005, 4 Jewish towns were dismantled by Israel in Judea-Samaria in the name of peace.  This is when they also exited from Gaza.  By June 30, 2014 there were 382,031 Jews in 121 official recognized towns in Judea-Samaria.  Over 300,000 live in East Jerusalem.    "The four largest new towns, Modi'in Illit, Ma'ale Adumim, Beitar Illit and Ariel, have achieved city status. Ariel has 18,000 residents while the rest have around 37,000 to 55,500 each. (I do not use the term, settlement, which is a political, not geographical or factual term).  In the USA, the term, settlement, meant a place newly settled.  After a few years, the term is dropped and village, town, or city are used instead.)
                                                                           

Ariel, capital city in Judea-Samaria
 In January 2010 Netanyahu declared Ariel the "capital of Samaria." and an important part of Israel.

Bypass roads were agreed on in the Oslo Accords.  Israel had built highways in the Territories that bypassed crowded population centers and the Oslo Accords permitted their construction.  The roads were used freely by both Palestinians and Israelis until the Intifada started in 2000.  Then, to reduce the number of casualties from roadside attacks and drive-by shootings, Israel reserved certain roads for only Israeli citizens of all religions including Muslims, Christians, Jews, Druze and others.  In September 2005, there were 41 such roads.  At the same time, Israelis were prohibited from driving on roads reserved only for Palestinians such as the OLD BETHLEHEM-HEBRON ROAD to improve their ability to commute and reduce the risk of attacks against Israelis.  

What Israel may have feared has happened with the unification of Fatah and Hamas.  That means that Hamas will now use Judea and Samaria as a site with which to shoot rockets, mortars and missiles from as well as send in suicide bombers.  Tunnels are being repaired after destroying so many in July 2014. 

 Just from September 28, 2000 to December 31, 2005, there were 25,770 terrorist attacks on Israel; 147 suicide bombings causing 47% of all deaths.  1,084 were killed and 7,454 were injured.  82% of dead and wounded were civilians from 2000 to 2004.  

What did Clinton say?  "Whoever thinks that the intifada broke out because of the despised Sharon's visit to the al-Aqsa Mosque is wrong.  This intifada was planned in advance, ever since President Arafat's return from the Camp David negotiations, where he turned the table upside down on President Clinton.  from PA communications Minister Imad Falouji, March 3, 2001.  
                                                                         
My rebuttal is about these unresolved border issues.  The pre-1967 boundary or Green Line is not an internationally recognized border.  It is an armistice line marking position held by Israeli and Arab troops when the final truce was called a the end of the 1948 War.  Watch  Professor Eugene Kontorovich's video on this.  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ub2x5UvjUs4 

The Green Line remained an armistice line because Arab leaders REFUSED TO NEGOTIATE TO SET FINAL BORDER LINES.  The Oslo Accords called for Israelis and Palestinians to negotiate for a final border between the State of Israel and a future Palestinian state.  To date, these negotiations have not resolved outstanding issues to the satisfaction of both parties.  

"Of the total of 418,000 dunums (1/4 acre=1 dunum) acquired by Jews in Palestine between 1878 and 1914, 58% was sold to them by non-Palestinian (Arab) absentee landlords and 36% by the Palestinian absentee landlords, for a total of 94%."  This information is from the Palestinian-American historian, Rashid Khalid."

"Arab claims that the Jews have obtained too large a proportion of good land cannot be maintained.  Much of the land now carrying orange groves was sand dunes or swamps and uncultivated when it was bought."  Peel Commission Report, 1937."  

Israel's Administration of the Territories from 1967 to 1993

1.  The Territories became the world's 4th-fastest-growing economy in the 1970's. They were ahead of Singapore, Hong Kong and Korea, substantially ahead of Israel itself...historian Efraim Karsh.  

2. Judea -Samaria per capita income rose 80% between 1967 and 1973.

3. Unemployment in Gaza went down to 2%.

4. Infant mortality plunged from 60 to 15 per 1,000 births between 1968 and 2000.

5. Israel disbursed millions of dollars to improve refugee camps.

6. The number of Palestinian school children rose 102% and illiteracy dropped to 14% for adults age 15+  

7. Palestinians made NO CLAIMS on territories until Israel captured them from Egypt and Jordan in 1967.  PLO's Covenant of 1964 had no territories in its description of Palestine.  They called instead for the destruction of Israel and for replacing it with Arab rule.  They amended its Charter to include a claim to the territories ONLY AFTER ISRAEL CAPTURED THEM BACK IN  1967.  

8. Israelis built communities in West Bank after 1967.  Though politically contentious, they were built in undeveloped, uninhabited areas and are entirely legal.  

9. In 5 years after Oslo Accords were signed, Palestinian terrorists opposed to the 2-state solution killed 282 Israelis.  The number killed in 15 years before Oslo was 216.  Israel continued to withdraw until 98% of Palestinians were governed by the PA (Abbas).  

10. Israel intermittently re-occupied these areas AS NEEDED for security purposes with its defensive operations during the 2nd Intifada.  Violence undermined the central premise of the Oslo Accords that differences would be resolved peacefully.  Palestinian violence, rockets, mortars, missiles, shattered the Oslo peace process.  

During Oslo, Arafat and the PA had committed to disarming and dismantling terrorist groups.  It hasn't happened.  Instead, they continued to arm terrorists, promote incitement and give terrorists financial and ideological support, hoping to force more concessions from Israel.  The PA has officially celebrated suicide bombers as heroic martyrs and authorized public incitement in the media, school and mosques to attack Israel and Israelis.  Many PA security officials doubled as terrorist operatives.  In January 2006, PA Abbas announced he would continue the PA policy of paying suicide bombers' families with annual stipends.  In the same month, the radical Islamic group, Hamas, won the majority vote in the PA elections.  

Israel chose not to use its full military power to eliminate the terrorists in order to limit the loss of innocent Palestinian lives.  They tried to block the terrorists' ability to access the Israeli population centers.  There are no natural barriers between Israel and Judea-Samaria.  There were man-made barriers when Jordan occupied Judea-Samaria, but Israel had removed them when it gained control of the area in the 1967 War.  For the next 33 years, people traveled more freely between the 2 regions.  However, this free movement ended when the terrorist campaign erupted in 2000.  Israel had to prevent terrorists from simply walking or driving into Israeli communities to maim and murder men, women and children.

What Noam is expecting is that ISRAEL build by exposing their chances of death from attacks instead of taking precautions.  Naturally, it seems he's on the side of a Palestinian take-over of all of Israel.  What other country has the problem of being surrounded by enemies wanting their destruction?  

I say that if the Palestinian leaders had been chess players, or even better Sheshbesh players, they would have foreseen the results of their deadly moves against Israel.  They bring about their own failures and defeats all by themselves by their actions.  Throughout the period of Israel having such leftist leadership, I held my breath, and knew that somehow they would bungle the job all by themselves of taking over Israel.  They are a people of missed opportunities from the get-go of first and foremost refusing to have a state in 1947 when it was offered, and following it up with their constant refusing and non-compliance of wanting to obtain peace with Israel instead of not a piece of Israel but the whole state.

Noam continued with: I don't think Israel has any intention of taking over the Palestinian population concentrations, which are left out of these plans.  there are analogies often made to South Africa, but they're quite misleading.  South Africa relied on its black population.  that was 85% of the population.  It was its workforce.  They had to sustain them, just like slave-owners have to maintain their capital.  They even tried to gain international support for the Bantustans.

Israel has no such attitude toward the Palestinians.  THEY DON'T WANT TO HAVE ANYTHING TO DO WITH THEM.  If they leave, that's fine.  If they die, that's fine.  In standard neocolonial pattern, Israel is establishing---permitting the establishment of a center of Palestinian elites in Ramallah, where you have nice restaurants and theaters, etc.  Every 3rd World country under the colonial system had something like that.  Now that's the picture that's emerging.  It's taking shape before our eyes.  It has so far worked very well.  If it continues, Israel will not face a demographic problem.  when these regions are integrated slowly into Israel, actually, the proportion of Jews in Greater Israel will increase.  There are very few Palestinians there.  (He's in denial that Israel has 1.7 million Arab citizens with at least 5 different political parties)  Those who are there are being dispossessed, kicked out.  That's what's taking shape before our eyes.  Arab citizens of Israel are in the Knesset and in all other positions, such as a recent Miss Israel was a Palestinian.  I think that's the realistic alternative to a 2-state settlement.  And there's every reason to expect it to continue as long as the USA supports it.

What is his choice as to what happens between the Palestinian Arabs and Israel?  Even he has given up on a 2-State Solution only for very different reasons based on nonsensical  information.  

My feeling is that the Arabs are not ready to run their own state even on peaceful terms.  They have relied on Israel to supply electricity and water and haven't paid their bill to Israel, spending all that money coming in from other Arab countries on cement for tunnels, instead.  They are not coming in with a skilled workforce such as Israel did, but with people who have been turned into terrorists in Gaza since 2005.  There are no city managers, state governors or any responsible person that can run a country.  This unified government only knows one thing; to attack Israel.

Jordan doesn't want them.  They are already over-run with Palestinians from Black September when they had their own war with them, ending by taking them into their Hashemite kingdom.  That's another thing.  The Middle East was a piece of the world run by kings, not democracies.  They are used to being told what to do, not in making decisions.  Israel is the only democracy in the whole Middle East and wasn't treading on anyone's toes because of it.  Emir Feisal was all for the state to be born, and he himself wound up being King of Iraq and Syria.  I feel that a Palestine is not sustainable nor possible.  It's made up of murderers full of more intent.  It presents a quandary of what to do.  There are other political answers which I will let Israel decide upon when they are ready.

That brings us to the facts that in September 13, 1993, Arafat and Rabin were in agreement that there would be gradual steps for Israeli withdrawals.  IN EXCHANGE-the PLO was to refrain from all incitement and all violence.  Not fulfilled.  They would dismantle terrorist groups and eliminate the clauses in its Charter that call for the destruction of Israel.  Not fulfilled.  Jerusalem, refugees, final borders, settlements and security--are to be negotiated 5 years later once Israel is ASSURED that its former ENEMY has sincerely renounced violence and the goal of destroying the Jewish State.    It was a good plan,  but they refused to come to the table according to schedule.  Israel sat for 10 months doing nothing; no building, only to find it was for nothing.  So they won't repeat that wasted effort again.  The Palestinians had stalled again.  

What has happened is malicious.  The world countries are voting in Palestine as a state with nothing accomplished.  Their attacks have not stopped and they refuse to recognize Israel as a Jewish state.  Nothing is fulfilled and  there will be an active volcano erupting right next to Israel shortly.  Right now Abbas's advisor, Mahmoud al-Habbash,  said, "all of Palestine will RETURN to Palestinians through resistance, so evidently that's what they plan to do.  They have sold each other such a false tale of history that they have swallowed it.  There never was a Palestine state and they themselves came from other areas of the Middle East, mostly from Syria and Egypt, to live there.   4

Update: 5:19pm Back in 1922, when Great Britain accepted the mandate to create the Jewish Homeland, "Therefore: You, The European Parliament, should view yourself as duty-bound to fulfill the requirement spelled out in the �Mandate for Palestine� � a historical League of Nations document that laid down the Jewish people�s legal right to settle anywhere in western Palestine, a 10,000-square-mile area between the Jordan River and the Mediterranean Sea. Any attempt to negate the Jewish people�s rights to Palestine-Eretz-Israel, is a serious infringement of international law. (from Myths and Facts by www.mythsand facts.org. )

Update: 2/12/15 Israel's Air and Missile Defense During the 2014 Gaza War - Uzi Rubin

In the escalation that precipitated the 2014 Gaza War and during the war, Israel was subjected to the fiercest and longest-reaching rocket assault in its history. More than 4,500 rockets and mortars were fired from Gaza during the fighting. The rocket fire was neither silenced nor reduced in intensity until an agreed ceasefire ended the fighting.
    The nine Iron Dome batteries that protected most of Israel's civilian areas shot down nine out of every ten rockets aimed at their defended areas. Patriot batteries shot down Palestinian armed UAVs. Therefore, the casualties and damage from the Gaza rockets were significantly less than from the Hizbullah rocket fire in the 2006 Lebanon War. Israel's active defenses allowed most Israelis in the threatened localities to continue their daily lives with minimal interruptions. (Begin-Sadat Center for Strategic Studies-Bar-Ilan University)

Resource:The New Jewish Encyclopedia -Maaleh Adumim
 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ariel_%28city%29 
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kedumim
Israel 101 produced by StandWithUs
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Israeli_settlement
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ub2x5UvjUs4  Professosr Eugene  Kontorovich-West Bank
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Demographics_of_the_Palestinian_territories
http://mondoweiss.net/2014/02/population-israelpalestine-projected
http://jewishbubba.blogspot.com/2013/01/ariel-samarias-green-line-problem-for.html
http://palwatch.org/main.aspx?fi=157&doc_id=13442  4
Joan Peter's book, From Time Immemorial
http://www.breakingisraelnews.com/25999/world-support-turns-favor-palestinians/?utm_source=Breaking+Israel+News&utm_campaign=6b811d583b-BIN+Email&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_b6d3627f72-6b811d583b-83518689#TWTZkgC4hdbDm1S8.97
Update 12/25/14 380 homes approved: http://forward.com/articles/211624/hundreds-of-settler-homes-approved-in-east-jerusal/?utm_content=DailyNewsletter_BreakingNews_Position-3&utm_source=Sailthru&utm_medium=email&utm_term=The%20Forward%20Today%20%28Monday-Friday%29&utm_campaign=Daily_Newsletter_Mon_Thurs%202014-12-25