Hey, I don't make the news; I just report it*

On my way home from work today I heard Reshet Bet reporting that Muammar Qaddafi has proposed a one-state solution, saying that it would be virtually impossible to manage two divided states. He proposed that the new state be called "Isratine".

Of course, I snickered at this: the Palestinians would never go for this--they'd want the state to be called "Palestael".

The radio quoted the source as the New York Times, so I decided to check it out. It turns out that Qaddafi himself wrote the op-ed piece for the Times. Who knew the man could write English? That in it of itself was a surprise. And this excerpt in particular was interesting to me:

The basis for the modern State of Israel is the persecution of the Jewish people, which is undeniable. The Jews have been held captive, massacred, disadvantaged in every possible fashion by the Egyptians, the Romans, the English, the Russians, the Babylonians, the Canaanites and, most recently, the Germans under Hitler. The Jewish people want and deserve their homeland.

Huh? And then there's this:

A two-state solution will create an unacceptable security threat to Israel. An armed Arab state, presumably in the West Bank, would give Israel less than 10 miles of strategic depth at its narrowest point.

What's gotten into Qaddafi? What's next, Ahmani-should-be-dead coming to pray at the Kotel?

Look, let's not crazy here. The article, though well-written, is inherently flawed. The basis of our state is not our persecution, but rather our Right of Return to a land that we were exiled from. Most of the article's one-state premise is based on solving the Palestinian "refugee" problem, by absorbing them into Isratine; there goes the Jewish state.

But wow, I'm still scratching my head over Mr. Qaddafi.


Would you want this man to lead your country?



*I've always wanted to say that line.

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West Bank Mama is doing a round-up of posts on the war by olim. She says:

Here and there I read posts by olim chadashim (new immigrants to Israel) about their feelings during the war - some expressing their ambivalence about being here in Israel but not really “taking part” in the war.

I want to do a roundup of posts on this topic. Whether or not you have been living here in Israel for three months or thirty years - please send me your posts about how you felt during the last three weeks.

Go here to submit your post.