Israel's Arab Citizens Deserve Better Than Lieberman

New York Daily News ^ | 2.24.09 | Richard Cohen

[NYC GOP Chick]

Israel, too, engaged some in ethnic cleansing - or why else all those Palestinian refugees?

What a moron. Or is he denying that the surrounding countries told the Arabs to flee and that after they murdered all the Jews, they could not only return, but also take whatever belonged to the Jews?

[NYC GOP Chick]

Thought you might be interested in this one.

[Old Retired Army Guy]

Richard Cohen lives in the same Echo chamber as E.J. Dionne.

[NYC GOP Chick]

But it is the other half - the one that would rid Israel of its Arabs - that has propelled Lieberman to the front rank of Israeli politicians.

I don't ever recall Cohen bitching about the rest of the Middle East being essentially Judenrein.

They are Arabs, yet they are expected to stand by while their fellow Arabs are pounded - as in Gaza - by Israeli guns.

This idiot seems to forget all those rockets that were being fired into Israel proper from Gaza -- some of which could have hit Israeli Arabs.

[NYC GOP Chick]

Worse, because Cohen is Jewish, and his ignorant trashing of Israel gives aid and comfort to the Jew-haters.

[Dr. Thorne]

Dear Mr. Cohen,

How are Saudi Arabia's Jewish citizens doing? Oh, that's right... the Saudis don't even allow Jews into their country.

My suggestion for peace in the Middle East is that whatever the American Leftist Media insists Israel do must also be done by all her Muslim Arab neighbors. We could call it "The Fairness Doctrine". What do you think, Mr. Cohen? Isn't that eminently fair?

[ml/nj]

"I am certain that the world will judge the Jewish state by what it will do with the Arabs."

Well, I guess he was wrong, wasn't he?

ML/NJ

[668 - Neighbor of the Beast]

The issue of Israel's Arabs is complicated. They are not Jews, yet they are expected to be loyal to a Jewish state. They are Arabs, yet they are expected to stand by while their fellow Arabs are pounded - as in Gaza - by Israeli guns.

They are only "expected" to do these things if they stay there, and they are free to GTHO.

[CondorFlight]

Not only do Jews in Israel have more freedoms than they do in any Arab country,

But ARABS in Israel have more freedoms than they do in any Arab country.

[Tolik]

Land and population swap that Lieberman offers - exchange of the Arab towns within 1967 line for Jewish towns outside of the line - would require no person to physically move. The borders would move around the people.

Fridtjof Nansen (the League of Nations' first High Commissioner for Refugees and Nobel Peace Prize winner in 1922 for his work with refugees after the WWI and Russian revolution) helped Greece and Turkey to disengage and transfer across the border 1.5 mln Greeks and 0.5 mln Turks - which was regarded as a great achievement that saved untold lives. 

In that acclaimed case people had to move, in the Lieberman proposal - not. Lieberman's critics are of that type who say NO to a reasonable solution until situation deteriorates to untenable and no good solutions exist anymore.

[SJackson]

Middle East and terrorism, occasional political and Jewish issues Ping List. High Volume

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..................

First, American Jews shouldn't be concerned, they don't live there.

As I understand it, Lieberman's proposal is for an exchange of territory, which makes complete sense. It wouldn't strip Arab citizens of their citizenship, though it would require moving if they live in one of the exchanged areas. They have a choice, they can move. And if they're in one of the unexchanged area, they're not impacted.

The attention should be on Jews in the West Bank who are in a different situation. Israel, the United States, and the Euros will be creating a state harsher than the Reich in the 1930s. As in Gaza, Jews will be required to leave. Or they'll be killed, the government of the new apartheid state being unwilling to protect them. Christians can stay, and look forward to the same future as Christians in Gaza.

A land swap makes perfect sense, though it would be unnecessary were we actually supporting the creation of a modern, humane, democratic state, in which case Jews could simply stay where they are.

Bibi is right that economic development is the key, mix in political development, and that it will be years, imo decades, before a state is really viable. Which won't prevent anyone for pressing for it earlier.

[GeronL]

aren’t they mostly refugee’s from Jordan??

[Convert from ECUSA]

Exactly right!

[Convert from ECUSA]

Ain’t that the truth!

[goldstategop]

Richard Cohen never mentions the issue that propelled Avigdor Lieberman's party to a third place finish: Arab extremism and identification with Hezbollah and Hamas. Israel's Arabs have chosen to become estranged from the state and to reject its legitimacy. Lieberman's position of demanding loyalty from them isn't racism; its in Israel's interests to have its Arab minority undertake the same obligations as Jews. Every other country in the world has the same standard of all its citizens. It is high time Israel followed suit.

"Show me just what Mohammed brought that was new, and there you will find things only evil and inhuman, such as his command to spread by the sword the faith he preached." - Manuel II Palelologus

[goldstategop]

Israeli Arabs who find Israel stresses their identity too much can move to live in an Arab country. They are not forced against their will to remain in the Jewish State.

"Show me just what Mohammed brought that was new, and there you will find things only evil and inhuman, such as his command to spread by the sword the faith he preached." - Manuel II Palelologus

[goldstategop]

The Little Triangle that is home to 90% of Israel's Arabs would be ceded to the PA in exchange for most of Judea and Samaria that is home to Israel's Jews. It would be a straight population for population swap. It is both democratic and fair. Both sides get what they want. The Arabs don't have to live in a country they cannot identify with and the Jews come under the sovereignty of a country they do want to be part of. There's nothing racist about it - it is plain old-fashioned common sense.

"Show me just what Mohammed brought that was new, and there you will find things only evil and inhuman, such as his command to spread by the sword the faith he preached." - Manuel II Palelologus

[justiceseeker93]

This Cohen article is worth a dozen barfies, as is 90+ percent of the trash produced by the "intellectuals" of the Jewish Left in the US and around the world!

Speaking of the Jewish Left, it's no wonder that this garbage appeared in the New York Daily News, which is owned by one of its stalwarts, Morton Zuckerman.

[NYC GOP Chick]

The Daily News endorsed President Bush's re-election in 2004 and was consistently supportive of his foreign/defense policies and actions. Their editorials are always staunchly pro-Israel.

The paper is fairly liberal on social & domestic issues, but pretty consistently on the right side of things when it comes to the wars, national defense, calling Islamofascism what it is, etc.

They also publish Charles Krauthammer's columns on a regular basis (weekly, I think), as well as a variety of views from both left and right.