I’m all for a two state solution, but if I understood correctly, the expression “from the river to the sea” is intended to mean the elimination of all Israeli statehood within this particular region
It’s a call for one state encompassing all of Palestine. The details vary (sometimes it’s used with “drive them to the sea” rhetoric) but the original meaning, which is still used today, is calling for a democratic state where both Jews and Palestinians have full civil rights.
A democratic state managed by who? Isn’t Israel a democratic state, technically? I’m not trying to be facetious. I think herein lies the challenge: once we start to dig into actual policy and details. Slogans are nice, but how do we move from slogans to actionable plans? That’s why I firmly believe a third party is necessary as a mediator of some sort. Israel will definitely not negotiate favorably for Palestinians at this point.
EDIT: btw, im enjoying the discussion and I’m learning a lot. So thanks for your patience.
I mean depends on the specific implementation, but I think a parliamentary democracy is one of the best systems of government in the world and a perfect fit for the situation in a hypothetical one-state solution. Then you don’t need external management, just hold fair elections and let democracy do its thing.
Isn’t Israel a democratic state, technically? I’m not trying to be facetious.
They are, sort of, but the issue lies in a few points:
1-Palestinians are overwhelmingly a minority. Even in a democratic system it’s very easy to discriminate against 20% of the population. This is made worse by the fact that
2-Palestinians are woefully underrepresented in Israeli politics, even for their number. This is at least mostly due to deliberate Israeli disenfranchisement. Look no further than the Knesset reform that got Netanyahu into office: Multiple smaller parties (predominantly left leaning, many Arab) that used to have seats suddenly no longer did.
3-Israel as a state was built by European Jews. Not saying it’s all European Jews, I know about half of Israeli Jews are Middle Eastern, but you only need to look at the Israeli government to get what I mean. Even after full-blown Apartheid was removed (and turned into lesser Apartheid) Palestinians were never given a fair chance.
I don’t see any way for these issues to persist when suddenly 50% of the population is Palestinian.
It seems naive at first glance, but with strong international support I firmly believe it could work.
It’s a call for one state encompassing all of Palestine. The details vary (sometimes it’s used with “drive them to the sea” rhetoric) but the original meaning, which is still used today, is calling for a democratic state where both Jews and Palestinians have full civil rights.
A democratic state managed by who? Isn’t Israel a democratic state, technically? I’m not trying to be facetious. I think herein lies the challenge: once we start to dig into actual policy and details. Slogans are nice, but how do we move from slogans to actionable plans? That’s why I firmly believe a third party is necessary as a mediator of some sort. Israel will definitely not negotiate favorably for Palestinians at this point.
EDIT: btw, im enjoying the discussion and I’m learning a lot. So thanks for your patience.
I mean depends on the specific implementation, but I think a parliamentary democracy is one of the best systems of government in the world and a perfect fit for the situation in a hypothetical one-state solution. Then you don’t need external management, just hold fair elections and let democracy do its thing.
They are, sort of, but the issue lies in a few points:
1-Palestinians are overwhelmingly a minority. Even in a democratic system it’s very easy to discriminate against 20% of the population. This is made worse by the fact that
2-Palestinians are woefully underrepresented in Israeli politics, even for their number. This is at least mostly due to deliberate Israeli disenfranchisement. Look no further than the Knesset reform that got Netanyahu into office: Multiple smaller parties (predominantly left leaning, many Arab) that used to have seats suddenly no longer did.
3-Israel as a state was built by European Jews. Not saying it’s all European Jews, I know about half of Israeli Jews are Middle Eastern, but you only need to look at the Israeli government to get what I mean. Even after full-blown Apartheid was removed (and turned into lesser Apartheid) Palestinians were never given a fair chance.
I don’t see any way for these issues to persist when suddenly 50% of the population is Palestinian.
It seems naive at first glance, but with strong international support I firmly believe it could work.