Originally Posted By: afsaneh77
Originally Posted By: Turnbull
Quote:
The new Israeli demand is that the Palestinians must formally recognize Israel as a Jewish state, which is something that is simply impossible for any self-respecting Palestinian to do.


Does that invalidate the Islamic Republics of Pakistan, Afghanistan, Iran and Mauritius? Or is it only a Jewish state that's impossible to recognize? By that measure, why would any "self-respecting" American recognize a Communist state like China? Or, during the Cold War, the USSR and all its Communist satellites?


Lilo was talking about Palestinians, not Americans. They would hardly have peace, till everyone there agrees to some compromise. And as theological governments go, if you want to put Israel alongside Islamic Republics of Pakistan, Afghanistan, Iran and Mauritius, it says a lot. Find me one theological government that doesn't stink when it comes to human rights.

A Jewish person here in Iran, wouldn't have the same rights as a Muslim, and the same goes for a Muslim in a Jewish state. Why not a secular state everywhere, where people are respected as human beings, with equal rights for all regardless of their religion?


Exactly. That will be the only solution.

As we speak there are new settlements being built. That makes peace impossible. We can't have peace with one side accepting the other's narrative as 100% legitimate, which is what the demand to recognize Israel as a Jewish state is. What would that mean for the 20% of Israelis who are non-Jewish?

The settlements are too well entrenched. Again there's been a military occupation and increasing settlements since 1967. Whether people like it or not there are different peoples there. The only fix is a secular state with equal voting rights for everyone regardless of their ethnicity or religion. Nothing else is tenable.

"When the snows fall and the white winds blow, the lone wolf dies but the pack survives."
Winter is Coming

Now this is the Law of the Jungle—as old and as true as the sky; And the wolf that shall keep it may prosper, but the wolf that shall break it must die.
As the creeper that girdles the tree-trunk, the Law runneth forward and back; For the strength of the Pack is the Wolf, and the strength of the Wolf is the Pack.