A Brutally Frank Jimmy Carter Calls Out Israel on Permanent Apartheid

[kpete]

This discussion thread was locked as off-topic by NH Ethylene (a host of the General Discussion forum).

In an interview with the U.K.‘s Prospect magazine, former President Jimmy Carter is brutally frank in saying that all hope for a two-state solution to the Israel-Palestine conflict has ended. “At this moment, there is zero chance of the two-state solution,” he said, according to journalist Bronwen Maddox.

That judgment is widely shared and not so controversial. It is what he said next that ruffled feathers in Israel: “The Netanyahu government decided early on to adopt a one-state solution … but without giving them [the Palestinians] equal rights.” In this sentence, he accused Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of having pursued, upon his election in 2009, a deliberate policy of relentlessly annexing and colonizing the Palestinian West Bank, ensuring that it will end up as part of Israel. At the same time, he said, Netanyahu conspired to ensure that the 4.2 million Palestinians under Israeli occupation remain stateless and without rights.

It seems fairly clear to any dispassionate observer of Netanyahu’s government that these steps are precisely the ones it has taken, and Carter is simply stating the obvious. But in the world of international diplomacy, it is customary to put some of the blame for this state of affairs on the Palestinians. Pro-Israeli critics run interference for Tel Aviv, insisting that the PLO, headed by Mahmoud Abbas, has declined perfectly reasonable negotiating offers and that Israel would be very happy to have someone take Palestine off its hands, if only it could receive security in return. Carter violated these conventions of “on the one hand” political discourse by boldly and correctly blaming the occupying authority for its illegal actions, rather than the helpless, occupied population.

Carter wasn’t done with Netanyahu. Not only is the two-state solution dead, the Palestinian West Bank being entirely stolen, the Palestinians doomed to be ruled by the Israelis in perpetuity—but Israeli society and politics are such that in the single state now forming under Netanyahu’s iron fist, Palestinians “will never get equal rights.” In short, he implicitly called Israel an apartheid state in which the only hope for the Palestinians is to achieve at least “more equal rights.”



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http://www.truthdig.com/report/item/a_brutally_frank_jimmy_carter_calls_out_israel_on_permanent_apartheid_20150

[spanone]

1. K&R...

[librechik]

2. I'm looking forward to what President Carter will have to say over the next few months

Bless his heart. (My hero!)

[malaise]

3. He is 100% correct

Sadly this has happened with Western complicity led by the US Congress (HOR and Senate)

[cilla4progress]

4. Speaking truth to power

As only someone with numbered days can do it ...

[FlatBaroque]

7. He has been speaking truth about Israel for years

and has suffered the relentless onslaught of the Israel lobby for doing so.

[cilla4progress]

20. Yes,

that is true.

[cali]

5. good. it must be addressed

[cpwm17]

6. The "two-state solution" nonsense is for racist assholes to feel better about themselves

while they ignore the only possible solution: one state with equal rights for all – what a concept.

[NobodyHere]

8. How is the two state solution racist?

[cali]

12. wtf? I don't know that the window hasn't closed on the viability of

a two state solution, but your comment is garbage. And you just called the vast majority of Jews, every member of Congress and President Obama, racists.

Why I bet you're someone who's terribly "concerned" that Jews in congress have dual citizenship and that "Zionists" control the media and the U.S. government.

[cpwm17]

13. The "two-state solution" is 100% dead.

Both Israel (which is most of historic Palestine) and what is left of Palestine are inhabited by both Palestinians and Israeli Jews. The Palestinians are the natives to all of historic Palestine and they currently live throughout all of historic Palestine.

The "two-state solution" proponents are at best segregationists. They are now considered the liberals in most of today's discussion. The "two-state solution" is also going nowhere. It's empty and useless talk. It is just a way for the racists to feel better about themselves while supporting Israel.

Some people that haven't been paying attention too much may think a "two-state solution" is viable, but how can anyone think it is ever possible? How can anyone think it's desirable? The Palestinians live throughout historic Palestine and a "two-state solution" will automatically make them second-class citizens in most of historic Palestine (they already are, and worse.)

[cali]

15. thanks for the confirmation. so you believe that president Obama is a segregationist.

You're transparent.

[cpwm17]

17. You can't refute my points so you take a cheap shot. n/t

[Martin Eden]

23. You deserved the cheap shot.

I'm being a bit of a buddinsky here in your dispute with cali, but your comment about "racist assholes" was totally uncalled for and unsupported by you with anything resembling facts or a coherent argument.

I agree the two state solution is dead. I've been saying it for years, but you need to explain exactly why anyone who believes in the two state solution is a racist.

People who advocate the two state solution might be uninformed, or delusional, or lying because they know better.

But, if it were possible, as a practical matter two separate viable nation-states is a reasonable solution for two peoples with such different religious/cultural/ethnic backgrounds and a long history of killing each other (with Israelis doing most of the killing).

Sure, I'm all for a single country where all people have equal rights and opportunity. The human race needs to evolve in that direction or ultimately destroy itself. But that simply ain't gonna happen any time soon, and especially not in the I/P conflict. The demographics are such that Palestinians would soon outnumber Israelis, and that would lead to the end of the Jewish state.

I'm not saying whether that is good or bad. I'm saying that no Israeli government would let that happen.

I'm not a religious person, partly because religion has long been a rationale for killing each other. If the faithful were truly faithful to a God whose message is Love, Jerusalem would be an international city of Peace and Brotherhood.

[cpwm17]

24. People that are seriously pushing the "two state solution" are racists.

That is the same as supporting a "two state solution" to keep the US a white-Christian nation. A large percentage of us aren't white-Christians and pushing for a religious state is always a bad idea. Palestinians don't like being mistreated anymore than none white-Christian Americans.

[Martin Eden]

25. No, it's not the same.

Zionism itself is perhaps racist, but the "two state solution" (we both agree it's impossible) is by definition two separate soverign states -- not a single state (as in your analogy about a white-Christian nation) with comformity or status as 2nd class citizen.

Without a doubt some (or many) of the people pushing the "two state solution" are racists and/or have no concern for the well-being of Palestinians (the "and/or" amounts to the same thing in practice: racism) but there is a difference between people in actual positions of power who are pushing this -- as opposed to average citizens who mean well, aren't very well informed, and genuinely believe two states are possible and a viable solution that would improve the lives of Palestinians.

[cpwm17]

30. I was referring to those that are pushing and supporting the "two state solution"

that should know better and not to those that are not educated on what's going on in the I/P conflict.

Though many people seem to think that those people over there should somehow accept conditions that they wouldn't accept for themselves, and they blame them for not accepting the inferior conditions. The power inbalance between nations or peoples creates a sense of entitlement that we as Americans deserve a different treatment than those others. That attitude is why no red flags go up questioning the fairness or viability of the "two state solution."

[Martin Eden]

31. I think President Obama is smart enough to know the "two state solution" is not viable

Does that mean he's a racist asshole in regards to Palestinians?

I agree with you that American attitudes in general towards Palestians is like white privilege towards PoC in this country, but on steroids. The average joe in the street probably lumps them together with the "enemy" our military has been fighting in the Middle East.

In regards to the President, you have to consider what would happen if he dumped all pretense of the "two state solution" which has been longstanding US policy and is widely accepted in the international community. Politically, it would be a fire bomb. Given the influence of the Jewish lobby in US policitics, the president's enemies would be loaded with ammunition for the accusations (which they've been making all along) that Obama is OK with the destruction of the Jewish State.

I tend to believe presidents are much more constrained in what they can and cannot do/accomplish than most people realize.

And to tell you the truth, I really don't know what an achievable solution is to the I/P conflict.

There won't be two states, and the Israeli government will not permit a situation in which Jews are a minority of voting citizens in Israel.

Take both of those out of the equation, what other solution do you have in mind?

[Spitfire of ATJ]

18. Where would the border be?....

[Mosby]

27. you don't believe Israel should exist - is that what you are saying?

[daleanime]

9. K&R.....

[SCVDem]

10. How about some sanctions?

I don'the see any 'Murican values coming from our largess.

We are enablers of misery and inequality.

Stop it NOW!

[mountain grammy]

11. K&R

For one of the most decent and honest public figures in my lifetime.

[Uncle Joe]

14. Kicked and recommended.

Thanks for the thread, kpete.

[gordianot]

16. Rare truth

[starroute]

19. Danny Danon, opponent of Palestinian state, to be Israel’s UN ambassador

http://www.timesofisrael.com/danny-danon-to-be-israels-next-un-ambassador/

Science Minister Danny Danon, an outspoken opponent of the two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, is slated to become Israel’s next ambassador to the United Nations, it was announced Friday.

Danon, 44, has served as a Likud lawmaker since 2009. He was fired from his post as deputy defense minister last year by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu after publicly criticizing what he said was the insufficiently aggressive conduct of that summer’s war with Hamas in Gaza. . . .

At a meeting last year with Times of Israel staff, Danon reiterated his fierce opposition to any two-state solution, instead calling on Israel to annex parts of the West Bank. While international consensus speaks of Israel retaining the major Jewish settlements blocs in the West Bank, and the rest going to a future Palestinian state, Danon hopes to “gain sovereignty over the majority of the land” in the West Bank, “with the minimum number of Palestinians,” he said.

According to his plan, the Palestinians would keep only their major population centers and would not receive Israeli citizenship. “Their status will have to be determined with Jordan, Israel and the Palestinians. It shouldn’t be Israel’s burden to deal with that issue. I think Jordan must be involved more than they are today.”

[TubbersUK]

26. Netanyahu has certainly made his intentions clear with this vile appointment n/t

[ananda]

21. Good!

When it comes to genocide, apartheid, segregation, racism, and bigotry,
euphemisms speak only to the lowest of the low and give
the hate some sort of street cred. I really hate that.

So I'm grateful that Jimmy Carter is still here to speak the
truth in words that don't make evil look OK

[vkkv]

22. Israel enjoys the benefits of sucking the U.S. tit. If there is peace, the money coming from U.S.

will slow. And it should.

No doubt about that.

[cascadiance]

28. I'm wondering if we elect a Jewish president here in the U.S. in 2016 for the first time...

... which given what is happening right now is a very distinct possibility(!) and that president strongly encourages a decent division in terms of a two state solution, if this could make a difference in how Israel proceeds in its strategy then too. It might be harder for them to stand against a well meaning Jewish president here that proposes a reasonable two state solution without many in Israel questioning whether their seeking a one state solution is properly religious inspired doctrine or not.

[BillZBubb]

29. Kudos to President Carter. We need more leaders like him.

[Chemisse]

32. Locking

Please post in the Israeli - Palestinian group. While a number of news outlets are covering this, the rules say the story must be: 'heavily covered across all newsmedia' to qualify for the exception.

ISRAEL/PALESTINE
Threads about the Israeli/Palestinian conflict are not permitted under normal circumstances and should be posted in the Israel/Palestine Group.

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