Nov 4, 2023·edited Nov 4, 2023Liked by Karl Sanchez
Crooke "The two-state formula simply is not realisable in our present moment of heightened passions (if it ever was). The more basic question is whether a two-state solution is a solution at all. "
It's not a solution it's the Cause of the conflict from the get go in 1947 --- and earlier in the 1930s when it was first floated and caused violence and riots across the land.
And Crooke - "The US and Europe, having ordained a state (UNGA Resolution 181) .."
He overstates its importance and value, I think he should be more careful and clearer. RES 181 is not fit for purpose. The State of Israel was never founded upon, nor "ORDAINED BY" Res 181 and people should stop inferring it was, or that 181 has any relationship at all to the obstinate unilateral criminal declaration of Israel as a state in 1948 -- because nothing could be further from the truth.
People should read it carefully in full and pay particular attention to the wording and see the huge problems it was creating --- driven not just by Europe and the US but the fledgling incompetent UN system and wild gullibility of the 5 nation adhoc committee that produced this mess of a "recommendation" --- and see what the Zionists actually created then and how they changed it since.
"Recommends to the United Kingdom, as the
mandatory Power for Palestine, and to all other
Members of the United Nations the adoption and
implementation, with regard to the future gov-
emment of Palestine, of the Plan of Partition with
Please read it in detail .... it is not a "Plan" it is a joke - it is a ludicrous document and a recipe for total disaster, violence and crimes against humanity. To Pass this Resolution was an act of Criminal Insanity (imo)
The most incompetent piece of work ever attempted by the UN (UNSC 242 comes a close second) - this Resolution was never implemented - it is a non-entity - it essentially never existed - people (incl Crooke) should just stop referring to it at all and ignore it completely.
Sean, glad to see someone delving back through history to understand the present position. While one could argue that those agreements did not/could not envision the cupidity and eventual power of the zionists and Israel, the fact is — as you point out — the agreements fundamentally awarded all legal power to Israel. This is always been China’s position — and yet it still agrees that it will try to help negotiate a solution (on some two-country system). This leads me to believe to believe they have some ideas/mechanisms up their sleeves.
In the absence of a lead negotiator at the level of China, we still need to strive to converge towards a solution. The Muslim nations of the region are now more powerful economically and better led by their executives than at any time since 1948. If not now, then when?
And if negotiation fails, and war arrives, then we should not fear it. Fear of sacrifice is the hallmark of cowardice. Having lived through the Vietnam war era, I can remember how impactful the draft and lottery were on the psychology of our generation. Universal registration, men/women/assorted — even children who reach the age of 5 — is a logical next step for the US which covets war on multiple fronts.
I hope one of the Congressional chicken hawks throws out the idea. A campaign directed at, say, Graham, Cronyn, Fubio needs to begin. “In order to put your ideas on safeguarding the security of our nation, it would be a massive leadership step if you would propose a bill to require universal conscription…as you’ve advocated for wars with Ukraine and Taiwan, now Palestine is a positive augury. You would show true leadership (“ace it”) and be so admired and envied by your pitiful rivals Sen Graham, Cornyn etc…!”
Appeals to ego are infallible when dealing with US politicians.
Nov 5, 2023·edited Nov 5, 2023Liked by Karl Sanchez
Thanks so much for the reply, I'm in harmony with it. especially " In the absence of a lead negotiator at the level of China, we still need to strive to converge towards a solution. The Muslim nations of the region are now more powerful economically and better led by their executives than at any time since 1948. If not now, then when? ..And if negotiation fails, and war arrives, then we should not fear it. Fear of sacrifice is the hallmark of cowardice. "
They can try a ceasefire but it will not work or lead to "negotiations" for a settlement - it's never worked . So I fail to understand why so many players keep calling for avoiding "escalation" when escalation is the only thing that can defeat Israel and the US and bring them both to heel -- only then should negotiations on a new Palestinian state be had - just as the west "negotiated" the futures of Germany and Japan after their total defeat.
(Besides the Zionists escalated by what they did in Al Aqsa with IDF protection the week before Oct 7, Hamas seriously escalated, Hezbollah and the Houthis escalated, the US escalated with carriers and firing missiles into Syria and putting troops officers in Israel, the Zionists again escalated, states cutting diplomatic ties are escalating ... so why not all the Arab nations, Iran, China, Russia, the whole world immediately escalate in unison and crush Israel militarily, economically and diplomatically once and for all? And forget the UN and the UNSC along with their ancient Resolutions that have never worked. Because a ceasefire will solve nothing. )
I would love to see China becoming directly involved in eliminating Israel from the world, or at least bringing it heel and forcing them to back down completely on extreme abuse of power in the region, and their constant terrorism against the Palestinians - which i think is impossible they are all too insane psychopaths in Israel.
I was not aware of what's behind your comment " This is always been China’s position " ... do you have refs / comments to explain that further. Thanks very much
The cycle of discontent, clashes and then retrenchment — while avoiding “dangerous escalation” [sic] — also enabled the sleight-of-hand that anesthetized the world to the steady land grab of Israel and the inexorable dehumanizing of the people Israel displaced. The outright appeal by Netanyahu to the Biblical story of the Amalekites is shockingly honest for these people that Schopenhauer called the “scum of the earth and the masters of lying”. If the civilized world (of course, I exclude the west) doesn’t make a move here and now, or soon, and simply folds its cards — then I despair of the world and am indifferent to its existence in the Schopenhauerian sense (ie, in its dimension as the mind conceives it).
There is sabre rattling going on in the Muslim states — but nothing (yet) equivalent to the noble stance of Bolivia which broke relations with Israel. A serious response requires thoughtfulness, a conception of time-ordered unfolding, and profound coordination among Iran, Saudi Arabia, Russia, China — the BRICS nations in effect. I have great confidence they will act wisely and with dispatch. It may be a fantasy of mine, but it is viscerally energizing to think that the closing of the Strait of Hormuz could occur. It would be a cataclysmic event — but the first real action taken against the genocidal monsters that feast on human carrion.
As you know, China carries great weight with both KSA and Iran, and although its skills as negotiator is based on their claim to neutrality, I suspect they may be able to thread the needle in collaboration with Russia. See the Duran’s interview with Sofia Midkiff, a quite extraordinary Chinese analyst, about 10 days ago. The action of Israel has also greatly angered the Chinese public — which is a quick way to turn 1.4 billion people against you). Amusingly, apparently two of the largest online Chinese mapping services (Baidu and Alibaba) do not identify Israel on their maps of the region (Al Mayadeen English).
As Escobar has said, embargoing Occupied Palestine's access to oil is complicated since most of it comes via pipeline, the BTC; so, Azerbaijan must become part of the team since its oil is what's transported. And then there's Kazakhstan which is also in the mix. The dynamic has already changed globally as the Zionists are now as vile as the Americans. As Larry Johnson pointed out on his blog, the RoW is seeing all the gore that's not being shown by BigLie Media within the Outlaw US Empire. The #1 political problem is all the major POTUS candidates are American Zionists, including RFKjr.
All relevant points indeed. The Hormuz effect I secretly hope for would be the destabilization of global energy prices — perhaps knock on constraints in supply to the Far Eastern satrapies.
But your point about oil to the occupiers is an excellent one which I hadn’t considered. Surely persuading Azerbaijan and Kazakhstan to temporarily halt delivery couldn’t be that difficult — as friends of Russia, OPEC affiliates if not members, and huge beneficiaries of BRI. The intention and the gesture — and minipanic that would follow — would be the goal.
As many of these smaller, “gestural” moves could be combined to contribute to the straw/camel’s back effect.
The situation in Palestine//Israel is diverging, not converging, on a solution. Israel is now emboldened to say publicly what it had hitherto said privately. My concern is that, with the enormous changes in the region brought about by the recent entry of China, there will still be insufficient momentum to seize the moment and bring about a new platform for peace.
Sadly true that all American politicians do the devil’s work for the Zionists. Which is why, as you know so well, solutions are not to be found in the US buy from a multipolar order.
I have long had a weakness for semi-trashy phrases (eg “check it out, check it out”) and I lob this one: “Go big or go home”.
China through its English language media like the Global Times has been very demanding about the need for first a ceasefire then negotiations aimed at attaining the two-state solution. At MoA on the Palestine thread, I excerpted and linked to the two major items currently on its main page, but there have been others saying the same thing preceding them.
"What -- other than a humiliating defeat -- would now persuade frightened Israelis to agree to a sovereign Palestinian State?"
Aye, there's the rub. The assumption that Israel gets to determine such outcomes. If and when the other countries in the region can come together sufficiently to propose a territorial configuration that has a chance of working, Israel for sure can reject their proposal but if they are too difficult they may find that they will at some point be asked to leave altogether. They don't get to decide how Syria, Lebanon, Egypt and Jordan run their countries, and NOR should they get to determine that for the Palestinians.
That assumption has got to go. And the regional states, either within or multilaterally outside the UN (which is usually worse then useless with this issue) must find a way to banish it from their collective geopolitical space and stop ceding initiative and terms to the eternally pushy Israelis...
The bully's mate blusters. “The region must quickly understand that whoever harms Israel in the way Hamas did, will pay a disproportionate price. There is no other way to survive in our neighbourhood than to exact this price now, because many eyes are fixed on us and most of them do not have our best interests at heart.”
Unfortunately the bully appears to be backing off, albeit slowly and carefully, while simultaneously trying to look menacing. So the bully's mate remains unaware of just how tough the neighbourhood is going to get once the bully retires from the immediate vicinity in order to enter a popularity competition, which is held every four years.
As for the previous UN resolutions; they are at the very least starting points for future discussions that will probably be held in a diplomatic environment much less sympathetic to the 'Israel project', much less fearful of US violence and less lustful for yankee dollars.
1/ "..There is no other way to survive in our neighbourhood than to exact this price now, .. ”
Nobody should be misled: what these maniacs, most of whom have lived extremely sheltered lives, know about 'the neighbourhood'' is very little. To begin with they deny the humanity of most of the people there, which is a confession of extraordinary ignorance. They feel that they know the region because they have talked to a few despotically inclined billionaires and strip searched labourers at check points.
On the other hand, and thanks to the sacrifices of Palesinian fighters, they are beginning to learn.
2/ All those military assets are not only useful if Israel decides that Iran must be attacked they aee also thre biggest collection of hostages/sitting ducks afloat. As military experts, with which these blogsa abound, have pointed out it is very easy to sink a frigate and an Aircraft Carrier just takes longer to sink.
3/As to the Two State solution that really is nothing more than a diplomatic fiction a halfway house to the democratic multicultural state, perhaps confederal, that is the only alternative to a contest between two genocidal furies. It just needs the US to support it and Peace will come in a hurry.
The only thing that's keeping Israeli politics revolving around nutcases that everyone, even themselves, knows are deluded, is the childlike feeling that if Uncle Sam will support them there is no limit to what they can desire- they can have everything they could ever want, buy any toy in the shopping mall, fill yer boots, go mad.....
Long ago after the'73 War, I read Michener's "The Source" which was set in Palestine and caused me to ask questions again. Even though I had to work and worked long hours, I still had time to think, read and question. IMO, the West would be much different if the Dandies were replaced by workers. Lavrov and Putin's equality. There really is no substutute.
Yes, But: the workers replacing the dandies would very soon be Dandies. (Or butchers, like with Russia in 1920's.) Leadership hierarchy is an inevitable part of group dynamics. Inherited class has problems, for sure, but so does every other system. Is it wise to have perpetual revolution without any sort of institutional and civilizational continuity? Of course not. The bottom line comes down to creating societies which value virtue. Just replacing Dandies with Workers is nowhere near good enough - unless you believe that Workers, like Women, are all good all the time and only the Dandies are bad.
Are you referring to the Krondstadt uprising? Or the Civil war? Or what? In fact the Soviet Union in the 1920s had the most humane penal system in Europe.
Perhaps you meant the United States with particular reference to the South? Or maybe India under the benign rule of the forces that brought the world Amritsar inter alia. Italy perhaps where thugs had license to snatch their critics off the streets and kill them?
Yours is an ideology that can only be described as proto-fascist : it leads inevitably to the Concentration Camps built to accomodate Communists, condemned for imaginary crimes committed in the 1920s.
Well, we'll just have to agree to disagree on Russia in the 1920's okay? I don't have an ideology, hopefully. Except a wish that people learn to lead good lives together.
The way things are, any Two State configuration is unworkable. The situation has to be changed before any solution can be found. The world has let Israel have its way, including how the UN was structured, much of how the British Mandate functioned before that. Not only was the State drop-shipped in as a modern construction under cover of the then dominant British Empire (on its way out after barely a century of real pre-eminence), but that State was a) created against the express wishes of the other nations and peoples in the region and b) allowed to run itself without any sort of mediation with those other States except a 'my way or the high way' policy again determined autonomously by Israel, who could always count in the US for political, diplomatic and military support during a time when the States in the region were all still recovering from the collapse of the Ottoman Empire and the advent of the British and then post-war UN world.
What absolutely has to change is the Region coming into its own, not answerable to the UN or anyone else, nor also Israel. And Israel is going to have to find a way to exist on its own in that Region or remain forever at war, at which point - assuming the Region HAS grown up and assumed responsibility for itself, which has not yet been the case - the Region will rescind permission and force the State of Israel into vernichtigkeit, to being unmade.
-- "The way things are, any Two State configuration is unworkable. "
You are right of course. BUT it's been that way for decades - since the very beginning.
Res 181 was never implemented because it was "unworkable" back in 1947 and it it still. People calling for it are in fantasyland -- including Putin/Lavrov in Russia and in China.
The UNSC / UN cannot solve this - only overwhelming force on the ground will solve it with the end to the state of Israel -- to be replaced by Palestine on all the original territory of the Palestine Mandate - a totally new nation must be born (imo) many are beginning to recognise this truthful fact.
I'd very much like to see the Empire marooned on a desert island and thus become genuine outcasts. Let them all be Robinson Crusoes and learn what it's like to fend for yourself.
Closer to home, I've read & heard on the radio that the Muslim voters in Michigan are none too pleased with the US aid to IL and, it being a swing state that Biden cannot afford to lose, may threaten DEMs chances a year from now. Imagine--an election affecting what could become a major upheaval in the Middle East. Not to worry, though: Our stalwart VP is heading up the new 'Anti-Islamophobic' program.
What if VP Harris succeeds a debilitated Biden before the Democratic Convention? I’d bet my money that someone else (Newsom?) gets the nod but I strongly doubt that I’m going to vote Democrat this time around regardless of nominee.
China’s recall of the Panda bears sends a message even the ‘deplorable s’ can hear without a MSM influencer - support apartheid / genocide and lose our friendship!
Crooke "The two-state formula simply is not realisable in our present moment of heightened passions (if it ever was). The more basic question is whether a two-state solution is a solution at all. "
It's not a solution it's the Cause of the conflict from the get go in 1947 --- and earlier in the 1930s when it was first floated and caused violence and riots across the land.
And Crooke - "The US and Europe, having ordained a state (UNGA Resolution 181) .."
He overstates its importance and value, I think he should be more careful and clearer. RES 181 is not fit for purpose. The State of Israel was never founded upon, nor "ORDAINED BY" Res 181 and people should stop inferring it was, or that 181 has any relationship at all to the obstinate unilateral criminal declaration of Israel as a state in 1948 -- because nothing could be further from the truth.
People should read it carefully in full and pay particular attention to the wording and see the huge problems it was creating --- driven not just by Europe and the US but the fledgling incompetent UN system and wild gullibility of the 5 nation adhoc committee that produced this mess of a "recommendation" --- and see what the Zionists actually created then and how they changed it since.
"Recommends to the United Kingdom, as the
mandatory Power for Palestine, and to all other
Members of the United Nations the adoption and
implementation, with regard to the future gov-
emment of Palestine, of the Plan of Partition with
Economic Union set out below;"
Requests that
( a) The Security Council take the necessary
measures as provided for in the plan for its im-
plementation;
http://undocs.org/A/RES/181(II)
Please read it in detail .... it is not a "Plan" it is a joke - it is a ludicrous document and a recipe for total disaster, violence and crimes against humanity. To Pass this Resolution was an act of Criminal Insanity (imo)
The most incompetent piece of work ever attempted by the UN (UNSC 242 comes a close second) - this Resolution was never implemented - it is a non-entity - it essentially never existed - people (incl Crooke) should just stop referring to it at all and ignore it completely.
Cheers
Sean, glad to see someone delving back through history to understand the present position. While one could argue that those agreements did not/could not envision the cupidity and eventual power of the zionists and Israel, the fact is — as you point out — the agreements fundamentally awarded all legal power to Israel. This is always been China’s position — and yet it still agrees that it will try to help negotiate a solution (on some two-country system). This leads me to believe to believe they have some ideas/mechanisms up their sleeves.
In the absence of a lead negotiator at the level of China, we still need to strive to converge towards a solution. The Muslim nations of the region are now more powerful economically and better led by their executives than at any time since 1948. If not now, then when?
And if negotiation fails, and war arrives, then we should not fear it. Fear of sacrifice is the hallmark of cowardice. Having lived through the Vietnam war era, I can remember how impactful the draft and lottery were on the psychology of our generation. Universal registration, men/women/assorted — even children who reach the age of 5 — is a logical next step for the US which covets war on multiple fronts.
I hope one of the Congressional chicken hawks throws out the idea. A campaign directed at, say, Graham, Cronyn, Fubio needs to begin. “In order to put your ideas on safeguarding the security of our nation, it would be a massive leadership step if you would propose a bill to require universal conscription…as you’ve advocated for wars with Ukraine and Taiwan, now Palestine is a positive augury. You would show true leadership (“ace it”) and be so admired and envied by your pitiful rivals Sen Graham, Cornyn etc…!”
Appeals to ego are infallible when dealing with US politicians.
Thanks so much for the reply, I'm in harmony with it. especially " In the absence of a lead negotiator at the level of China, we still need to strive to converge towards a solution. The Muslim nations of the region are now more powerful economically and better led by their executives than at any time since 1948. If not now, then when? ..And if negotiation fails, and war arrives, then we should not fear it. Fear of sacrifice is the hallmark of cowardice. "
They can try a ceasefire but it will not work or lead to "negotiations" for a settlement - it's never worked . So I fail to understand why so many players keep calling for avoiding "escalation" when escalation is the only thing that can defeat Israel and the US and bring them both to heel -- only then should negotiations on a new Palestinian state be had - just as the west "negotiated" the futures of Germany and Japan after their total defeat.
(Besides the Zionists escalated by what they did in Al Aqsa with IDF protection the week before Oct 7, Hamas seriously escalated, Hezbollah and the Houthis escalated, the US escalated with carriers and firing missiles into Syria and putting troops officers in Israel, the Zionists again escalated, states cutting diplomatic ties are escalating ... so why not all the Arab nations, Iran, China, Russia, the whole world immediately escalate in unison and crush Israel militarily, economically and diplomatically once and for all? And forget the UN and the UNSC along with their ancient Resolutions that have never worked. Because a ceasefire will solve nothing. )
I would love to see China becoming directly involved in eliminating Israel from the world, or at least bringing it heel and forcing them to back down completely on extreme abuse of power in the region, and their constant terrorism against the Palestinians - which i think is impossible they are all too insane psychopaths in Israel.
I was not aware of what's behind your comment " This is always been China’s position " ... do you have refs / comments to explain that further. Thanks very much
The cycle of discontent, clashes and then retrenchment — while avoiding “dangerous escalation” [sic] — also enabled the sleight-of-hand that anesthetized the world to the steady land grab of Israel and the inexorable dehumanizing of the people Israel displaced. The outright appeal by Netanyahu to the Biblical story of the Amalekites is shockingly honest for these people that Schopenhauer called the “scum of the earth and the masters of lying”. If the civilized world (of course, I exclude the west) doesn’t make a move here and now, or soon, and simply folds its cards — then I despair of the world and am indifferent to its existence in the Schopenhauerian sense (ie, in its dimension as the mind conceives it).
There is sabre rattling going on in the Muslim states — but nothing (yet) equivalent to the noble stance of Bolivia which broke relations with Israel. A serious response requires thoughtfulness, a conception of time-ordered unfolding, and profound coordination among Iran, Saudi Arabia, Russia, China — the BRICS nations in effect. I have great confidence they will act wisely and with dispatch. It may be a fantasy of mine, but it is viscerally energizing to think that the closing of the Strait of Hormuz could occur. It would be a cataclysmic event — but the first real action taken against the genocidal monsters that feast on human carrion.
As you know, China carries great weight with both KSA and Iran, and although its skills as negotiator is based on their claim to neutrality, I suspect they may be able to thread the needle in collaboration with Russia. See the Duran’s interview with Sofia Midkiff, a quite extraordinary Chinese analyst, about 10 days ago. The action of Israel has also greatly angered the Chinese public — which is a quick way to turn 1.4 billion people against you). Amusingly, apparently two of the largest online Chinese mapping services (Baidu and Alibaba) do not identify Israel on their maps of the region (Al Mayadeen English).
As Escobar has said, embargoing Occupied Palestine's access to oil is complicated since most of it comes via pipeline, the BTC; so, Azerbaijan must become part of the team since its oil is what's transported. And then there's Kazakhstan which is also in the mix. The dynamic has already changed globally as the Zionists are now as vile as the Americans. As Larry Johnson pointed out on his blog, the RoW is seeing all the gore that's not being shown by BigLie Media within the Outlaw US Empire. The #1 political problem is all the major POTUS candidates are American Zionists, including RFKjr.
All relevant points indeed. The Hormuz effect I secretly hope for would be the destabilization of global energy prices — perhaps knock on constraints in supply to the Far Eastern satrapies.
But your point about oil to the occupiers is an excellent one which I hadn’t considered. Surely persuading Azerbaijan and Kazakhstan to temporarily halt delivery couldn’t be that difficult — as friends of Russia, OPEC affiliates if not members, and huge beneficiaries of BRI. The intention and the gesture — and minipanic that would follow — would be the goal.
As many of these smaller, “gestural” moves could be combined to contribute to the straw/camel’s back effect.
The situation in Palestine//Israel is diverging, not converging, on a solution. Israel is now emboldened to say publicly what it had hitherto said privately. My concern is that, with the enormous changes in the region brought about by the recent entry of China, there will still be insufficient momentum to seize the moment and bring about a new platform for peace.
Sadly true that all American politicians do the devil’s work for the Zionists. Which is why, as you know so well, solutions are not to be found in the US buy from a multipolar order.
I have long had a weakness for semi-trashy phrases (eg “check it out, check it out”) and I lob this one: “Go big or go home”.
China through its English language media like the Global Times has been very demanding about the need for first a ceasefire then negotiations aimed at attaining the two-state solution. At MoA on the Palestine thread, I excerpted and linked to the two major items currently on its main page, but there have been others saying the same thing preceding them.
"What -- other than a humiliating defeat -- would now persuade frightened Israelis to agree to a sovereign Palestinian State?"
Aye, there's the rub. The assumption that Israel gets to determine such outcomes. If and when the other countries in the region can come together sufficiently to propose a territorial configuration that has a chance of working, Israel for sure can reject their proposal but if they are too difficult they may find that they will at some point be asked to leave altogether. They don't get to decide how Syria, Lebanon, Egypt and Jordan run their countries, and NOR should they get to determine that for the Palestinians.
That assumption has got to go. And the regional states, either within or multilaterally outside the UN (which is usually worse then useless with this issue) must find a way to banish it from their collective geopolitical space and stop ceding initiative and terms to the eternally pushy Israelis...
If you read Lavrov's presser Q&A, you'll see that discussed.
The bully's mate blusters. “The region must quickly understand that whoever harms Israel in the way Hamas did, will pay a disproportionate price. There is no other way to survive in our neighbourhood than to exact this price now, because many eyes are fixed on us and most of them do not have our best interests at heart.”
Unfortunately the bully appears to be backing off, albeit slowly and carefully, while simultaneously trying to look menacing. So the bully's mate remains unaware of just how tough the neighbourhood is going to get once the bully retires from the immediate vicinity in order to enter a popularity competition, which is held every four years.
As for the previous UN resolutions; they are at the very least starting points for future discussions that will probably be held in a diplomatic environment much less sympathetic to the 'Israel project', much less fearful of US violence and less lustful for yankee dollars.
1/ "..There is no other way to survive in our neighbourhood than to exact this price now, .. ”
Nobody should be misled: what these maniacs, most of whom have lived extremely sheltered lives, know about 'the neighbourhood'' is very little. To begin with they deny the humanity of most of the people there, which is a confession of extraordinary ignorance. They feel that they know the region because they have talked to a few despotically inclined billionaires and strip searched labourers at check points.
On the other hand, and thanks to the sacrifices of Palesinian fighters, they are beginning to learn.
2/ All those military assets are not only useful if Israel decides that Iran must be attacked they aee also thre biggest collection of hostages/sitting ducks afloat. As military experts, with which these blogsa abound, have pointed out it is very easy to sink a frigate and an Aircraft Carrier just takes longer to sink.
3/As to the Two State solution that really is nothing more than a diplomatic fiction a halfway house to the democratic multicultural state, perhaps confederal, that is the only alternative to a contest between two genocidal furies. It just needs the US to support it and Peace will come in a hurry.
The only thing that's keeping Israeli politics revolving around nutcases that everyone, even themselves, knows are deluded, is the childlike feeling that if Uncle Sam will support them there is no limit to what they can desire- they can have everything they could ever want, buy any toy in the shopping mall, fill yer boots, go mad.....
Long ago after the'73 War, I read Michener's "The Source" which was set in Palestine and caused me to ask questions again. Even though I had to work and worked long hours, I still had time to think, read and question. IMO, the West would be much different if the Dandies were replaced by workers. Lavrov and Putin's equality. There really is no substutute.
Yes, But: the workers replacing the dandies would very soon be Dandies. (Or butchers, like with Russia in 1920's.) Leadership hierarchy is an inevitable part of group dynamics. Inherited class has problems, for sure, but so does every other system. Is it wise to have perpetual revolution without any sort of institutional and civilizational continuity? Of course not. The bottom line comes down to creating societies which value virtue. Just replacing Dandies with Workers is nowhere near good enough - unless you believe that Workers, like Women, are all good all the time and only the Dandies are bad.
(Or butchers, like with Russia in 1920's.)
Are you referring to the Krondstadt uprising? Or the Civil war? Or what? In fact the Soviet Union in the 1920s had the most humane penal system in Europe.
Perhaps you meant the United States with particular reference to the South? Or maybe India under the benign rule of the forces that brought the world Amritsar inter alia. Italy perhaps where thugs had license to snatch their critics off the streets and kill them?
Yours is an ideology that can only be described as proto-fascist : it leads inevitably to the Concentration Camps built to accomodate Communists, condemned for imaginary crimes committed in the 1920s.
Ha ha ha!!
Well, we'll just have to agree to disagree on Russia in the 1920's okay? I don't have an ideology, hopefully. Except a wish that people learn to lead good lives together.
The way things are, any Two State configuration is unworkable. The situation has to be changed before any solution can be found. The world has let Israel have its way, including how the UN was structured, much of how the British Mandate functioned before that. Not only was the State drop-shipped in as a modern construction under cover of the then dominant British Empire (on its way out after barely a century of real pre-eminence), but that State was a) created against the express wishes of the other nations and peoples in the region and b) allowed to run itself without any sort of mediation with those other States except a 'my way or the high way' policy again determined autonomously by Israel, who could always count in the US for political, diplomatic and military support during a time when the States in the region were all still recovering from the collapse of the Ottoman Empire and the advent of the British and then post-war UN world.
What absolutely has to change is the Region coming into its own, not answerable to the UN or anyone else, nor also Israel. And Israel is going to have to find a way to exist on its own in that Region or remain forever at war, at which point - assuming the Region HAS grown up and assumed responsibility for itself, which has not yet been the case - the Region will rescind permission and force the State of Israel into vernichtigkeit, to being unmade.
-- "that State was a) created against the express wishes of the other nations and peoples in the region ..."
Yes, exactly - a stupid or an intentionally evil act with aforethought at the time.
People should study resolution 181 (II) 1947 closely - http://undocs.org/A/RES/181(II)
-- "The way things are, any Two State configuration is unworkable. "
You are right of course. BUT it's been that way for decades - since the very beginning.
Res 181 was never implemented because it was "unworkable" back in 1947 and it it still. People calling for it are in fantasyland -- including Putin/Lavrov in Russia and in China.
The UNSC / UN cannot solve this - only overwhelming force on the ground will solve it with the end to the state of Israel -- to be replaced by Palestine on all the original territory of the Palestine Mandate - a totally new nation must be born (imo) many are beginning to recognise this truthful fact.
The US Congress critters are way behind the times. They justify their actions based on the Oct 7 events and not policy considerations for the region.
Their constituents are not able to talk sense into them, just like Ukraine.
Perhaps, just like Ukraine, let the Outcast Empire and associates stub their toes?
I'd very much like to see the Empire marooned on a desert island and thus become genuine outcasts. Let them all be Robinson Crusoes and learn what it's like to fend for yourself.
I really like Alastair Crooke’s measured analyses. Thank you for bringing it here. This one, in particular, is really ‘dark’.
Closer to home, I've read & heard on the radio that the Muslim voters in Michigan are none too pleased with the US aid to IL and, it being a swing state that Biden cannot afford to lose, may threaten DEMs chances a year from now. Imagine--an election affecting what could become a major upheaval in the Middle East. Not to worry, though: Our stalwart VP is heading up the new 'Anti-Islamophobic' program.
What if VP Harris succeeds a debilitated Biden before the Democratic Convention? I’d bet my money that someone else (Newsom?) gets the nod but I strongly doubt that I’m going to vote Democrat this time around regardless of nominee.
What happens in Congress is what I'll be watching as most need to be ousted and we have a better chance of doing that.
If only we could ‘de-fang’ AIPAC! While we’re at it, let’s undo Citizens United! Bring your pitchforks!
To be replaced with who?
China’s recall of the Panda bears sends a message even the ‘deplorable s’ can hear without a MSM influencer - support apartheid / genocide and lose our friendship!