Willful Deafness about the Real Meaning of Two States

By Peggy Shapiro

The Palestinians, Saudis and Egyptians propose two states. The U.N., E.U., U.S. demand two states. Most Israeli governments have agreed to the concept of two states. Other than Israel, none of the proponents of a "two-state" solution ever planned for one of the states to be the Jewish State of Israel.

Just the thought of such a state is an insult to those who live in all-Muslim countries. On Sunday, when Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu offered a Palestinian State if there is recognition of a Israel as the national homeland for Jewish people, a senior Palestinian negotiator responded, "Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu can wait a thousand years without finding a single Palestinian prepared to accept his offer." The offer of living side-by-side in peace and tolerance is too offensive to discuss even for the "moderate" Arab Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak said the demand that Palestinians recognize Israel as the state of the Jewish people "schuttles [sic] the chances for peace."

So what are these two states supposed to look like? The Arab spokesmen are crystal clear on their intentions. One Judea/Samaria, a.k.a. the West Bank, will be 100% Palestinian immediately. Not a single Jew will be allowed to live there. It will be armed and ready to fire at close range into Jerusalem, Tel Aviv and Haifa. If history is a guide, within a short time, Hamas will challenge and beat the P.A., gain control and begin firing.

The other state, now Israel, will not only have to defend itself from terrorist and rocket attacks on all borders, it will need to open its doors to millions of Arabs, who have fabricated a “right” to return to Israel rather than a “right” of return to a Palestinian State. Israel will then face destruction from within. The new arrivals won't need to take up arms; they will just need to outnumber the Jews to take over. We all know that in an Arab/Muslim majority nation, there will be no tolerance for Jews. (When the Old City of Jerusalem was in Jordanian control, Jews were denied access to the holiest of sites. The first buildings destroyed when the Palestinians assumed control of Gaza were the synagogues. The examples of Muslim intolerance for Judaism and other religions are endless.) This new state will be a dangerous place for Jews, who will face the choice of flight or merciless subjugation and possible death.

So what does the White House have to say about the two-state solution the Arabs have in mind? The President certainly doesn’t publicly chastise the Palestinian and other Arabs who reject a Jewish state as he did Israel’s Prime Minister for rejecting another terrorist state on Israel’s border. There is no White House pressure on Palestinians as there was on Israel’s government. The President praises the proposal for two states as an 'important step' forward even though Palestinians and their Arab brothers have for over 60 years flatly rejected countless proposals for two-states if one of those states happens to be Jewish. The president 'believes this solution can and must ensure both Israel's security and the fulfillment of the Palestinians' legitimate aspirations for a viable state.'

It cannot do both. Fulfilling the Palestinian aspirations of a state means the destruction of the Jewish state. Does the President not hear what the Arabs are saying? Is he as willfully deaf to their demands for Israel’s demise as he was to his pastor’s sermons negating Israel’s right to exist?