As hard as it may seem to give Muammar Qaddafi credit for anything at all he’s right in his op ed remarks about the Israel Palestine conflict. The solution is. as he argues, a single state. Anything else including the American favored two state solution would not bring an end to the conflict.
And as Qaddafi says the two peoples have in the past and are now in the present cooperating in a number of ways. There are more than one million Muslim Arabs in Israel, and they possess Israeli nationality and take a part in political life with the Jews, even forming political parties.
There are Israeli settlements on the Arab West Bank. The Israeli economy is dependent upon Palestinian labor. And, if and when the conflict allows it, there is the constant and necessary exchange of goods and services between two peoples, peoples who are in important respects as alike as two peas in a pod.
Israel, and also Hamas, would do well to read Barack Obama’s inauguration speech of last Tuesday, and in particular ponder these two passages:
“…our power alone cannot protect us, nor does it entitle us to do as we please. Instead, … power grows through its prudent use. Our security emanates from the justness of our cause; the force of our example; the tempering qualities of humility and restraint.
…we cannot help but believe that the old hatreds shall someday pass; that the lines of tribe shall soon dissolve; that as the world grows smaller, our common humanity shall reveal itself….”
The message to Israel, your power alone is not enough. The message to Hamas, the old hatreds between you shall pass and your common humanity will begin to show through.
OK, it won’t work. Not a solution, but it should be said, even if Qaddafi is the one to say it.
