Both Israelis, Palestinians Conflicted over Two State Solution. By Walter Russell Mead. Via Meadia, January 3, 2013.
Mead:
A U.S.
non-profit with close ties to the Obama administration and center left
politicians in Israel has commissioned two separate public opinion polls in
Israel. Each found widespread support for a peace agreement, including among
right wing Israelis.
In both
polls, respondents were presented with a two-state solution similar to the ones
discussed at Camp David in 2000, Taba in 2001, and Annapolis in 2007: borders
based on the 1967 lines with mutually agreed swaps; a divided Jerusalem, with
the Old City under joint administration; Israeli retention of large settlement
blocs; and the right of Palestinian refugees to return to a demilitarized
Palestinian state.
When
asked whether they would support such a peace agreement, the general public
responded with 67.5% approval (average of both polls). What may come as a
surprise to some is the 57.5% approval for this plan among supporters of the
right wing governing coalition Likud-Beiteinu, and of the right wing national
religious party, Habayit Hayehudi. Readers of the New York Times opinion pages might be amazed to learn that many
right wing Israelis are in fact interested in a peaceful resolution to the
conflict.
Taken
alone, however, these new polls don’t tell us everything we need to know. In
another recent poll, pollsters found that 76% of Israelis think withdrawing to
the 1967 borders would not bring about an end to the conflict, and that 78% of
Israeli Jews would change their vote if their party was prepared to give up
east Jerusalem. Clearly, public opinion polls in Israel are at least as
bewildering as they are here.
So what
does any of this mean? First, Israeli society is much more complicated than the
usual media portrayal of “western” liberals trying to contain their country’s
religious fanatics; in reality, many religious Zionists in Israel are as
concerned with peace and security as their liberal counterparts. Second, while
the Israeli right wing clearly isn’t chomping at the bit to divide Jerusalem or
withdraw from the West Bank, many of its members are acting not out of mere
zealotry, but out of sincere concern for the ability of Palestinians to deliver
peace.
In
truth, the weakness of Israeli liberals stems not from the strength of the
Israeli right wing but from the weakness of Palestinian moderates, for whom it
is very difficult to propose a suitable peace while retaining legitimacy in
Palestinian politics. As is clear from the latter poll, many in Israel believe
the Palestinians are simply unable to deliver on a land-for-peace deal.
What
would really contribute to this debate are more public opinion polls of
Palestinians, which the media likes to cover a bit less, and are often more
confusing than illuminating because of polling bias or the way questions are
asked. One poll, for example, asked Palestinians if they “agree” with the hadith that says Muslims should kill
Jews, and 73% said yes. Many Palestinians, it seems, see this as a question
about religion and their response is automatic. And about two thirds of
respondents in the same poll said that they saw a two state solution at best as
a halfway house towards the ultimate goal of a single Palestinian state. That
same poll found only 34% support the two-state solution in full.
But
just as Israeli polls give different answers depending how the questions are
asked, another pollster also asked Palestinians about the two state solution
and found that 50% support it.
Reliable
Palestinian opinion polls are hard to come by; between pressures from Israeli
occupiers, Fatah and Hamas, ordinary people may not feel like confiding honest
political opinions to people they don’t know. But the Israeli fears that a land
for peace deal would not end in peace are real, and they are the chief reason
why so many Israelis who support this idea in theory aren’t willing to take
steps in practice that could make it happen.
The key
to making a two state solution possible is to strengthen Palestinian support
for the deal. That won’t be easy; people in Gaza — to say nothing of
Palestinian exiles living abroad — don’t have all that much to gain from the
two state solution as it’s conventionally presented. A two state solution
remains in our view the only way that the key needs of both sides can be met,
but despite the best wishes of moderates on both sides, it isn’t going to be
easy to achieve — and the world has to think harder than it has to figure out
how to bring more Palestinians more wholeheartedly on board.
The Startling Plight of China’s Leftover Ladies. By Christina Larson. Foreign Policy, May/June 2012. Also find it here.
Syria’s Chaos Isn’t America’s Fault. By Aaron David Miller. Washington Post, January 1, 2013.
Can America Be Fixed? The New Crisis of Democracy. By Fareed Zakaria. Foreign Affairs, January/February 2013. Also find it here.
What’s missing from the fiscal cliffdebate: Growth. By Fareed Zakaria. Washington Post, January 3, 2013.
Why Jews Hate Palin. By Jennifer Rubin. Commentary, January 2010. Also find it here.
Sarah Palin and the Betrayal of American Women. By Manisha Sinha. The Huffington Post, September 18, 2008.
Can the American Dream Be Saved? By Stuart M. Butler. National Affairs, Winter 2013.
Populism, American Style. By Henry Olsen. National Affairs, Summer 2010.
The Handwriting on the Wall. By George Weigel. National Affairs, Spring 2012. PDF.
Reversing the Decay of London Undone. By Jonathan Sacks. Wall Street Journal, August 20, 2011. Also find it here.
Why Do They Hate Us? The real war on women in the Middle East. By Mona Eltahawy. Foreign Policy, May/June 2012. Also find it here.
Response to Mona Eltahawy’s “Why Do They Hate Us?” By Katy Gillett. Your Middle East, April 27, 2012.
Mona Eltahawy: Oslo Freedom Forum 2012. OsloFreedomForum, May 31, 2012. YouTube.
Think Again: The Republican Party. By Danielle Pletka. Foreign Policy, January/February 2013. Also find it here.
How the GOP has screwed itself on foreign policy. By Daniel W. Drezner. Foreign Policy, December 28, 2012.
Rebooting Republican Foreign Policy. By Daniel W. Drezner. Foreign Affairs, January/February 2013.
It’s “Has the GOP Gone Insane on Foreign Policy” week!! By Daniel W. Drezner. Foreign Policy, January 7, 2013.
I’m a Romney Girl. Video by “Heidi Svenda
Bernasconi.” YouTube. Lyrics.
This is why Romney lost the election. Obama voters believed this is who Mitt Romney really is!
Can populism be liberal? By Michael Lind. Salon, November 23, 2009.
Scenes from the Tea Party. By Peter Rudegeair. Reuters, July 11, 2011.
Only hard-working Americans need apply. By Chrystia Freeland. Reuters, July 8, 2011.
Scenes from the Tea Party. By Peter Rudegeair. Reuters, July 11, 2013.
The Tea Party and the Remaking of Republican Conservatism. By Vanessa Williamson, Theda Skocpol, and John Coggin. Perspectives on Politics, March 2011.
A Syrian Girl in a Ruined House. Video by Mohmad Rad. YouTube, April 7, 2012.
U.S. Left Syrian Children to the Devil. By Fouad Ajami. Bloomberg, Decemeber 20, 2012.
A lovely Syrian girl in a house of horror. Video by aberoia11. YouTube, April 11, 2012. A member of the Syrian resistance added a mournful music track by Palestinian singer Sanaa Mousa to the video for more effective propaganda.
Andrew Jackson: Tea Party President. By Robert W. Merry. The American Spectator, October 2011. Also find it here.
Andrew Jackson’s Tea Party Movement. By Daniel Walker Howe. Politico, September 24, 2010.
