Sec. State Kerry Says Israel Risks Guilt of Apartheid ..

[Clean]

... if they don't agree to his two state solution for the Palestinian problem.

And, he does it on the eve of Israel's annual remembrance of the holocaust! Later, when Ted Cruz and others call for his resignation, he kind-of-sorta takes some of it back.

He makes Obama look like a golden-tongued, foreign policy pro, which I didn't think was possible. Way to insult the only ally we used to have in the Middle East John!

The Link

 

[Mr. Deez]

Barbara Boxer called his comment nonsensical and ridiculous. She is right. (Even a broken clock is right twice per day.)

 

[chango]

allie?

Also, why be so PC, Clean? Whats the big deal??

 

[Horn6721]

Ah come on Clean
Kerry has already apologized ....I think.
How that choice of a word could be anything but deliberate strains credulity.

 

[Seattle Husker]

This is something that absolutely shouldn't have been said.

Israel is facing a demographic crisis though. Palestinian's have the highest birth rate in the world. Removing West Bank/Gaza from the equation, the Palestinian population inside Israel is projected to be the majority in the not-too-distant future. Essentially, the Palestinians will have more voting power than the jews. How do you think that will be perceived? I'd argue the Jewish state's response is a likely apartheid response if only to protect themselves.

 

[Horn6721]

Husker
You bring up a good point. Right now isn't Israel pretty democratic is what they grant to and allow the Arab citizens including allowing them to serve in the military.

I am sure they are looking at how to handle it when the Arabs/ Palis become so large a %.
Right now it is about 20% which would be enough to make me nervous give their violent hatred.


edit to add
I thought the Palis/ Hamas are the eons saying they would never recognize Israel

 

[Seattle Husker]

I can't remember the current projection but I want to say that within 20-30 years Palestinians would be the majority ethnicity in Israel. Of course, this assumes that the Palestinians keep propogating at previous levels. Already they've seen a dropoff from 6.53 births/woman (1990) to 4.38 (2011).

Israel is in a no-win situation. Somehow they need to turn down the extremism in favor of the moderate. Those settlements aren't helping but there is obvious blame on all sides (more on the moderate Palestinians). Still, time is working against Israel to come up with some solution. A walled off 2 state solution may be their only hope. Then the extremists can sink or swim on their own. Only then will the moderates see that their enemy is the extremists not the Israelis.

 

[ProdigalHorn]

That's the issue that no one seems to want to talk about - at least not to the extent of acknowledging how big the problem is.

How do you maintain a democratic form of government and still maintain an identity distinct from the lands around you without having some sort of protection of the voting process? Without some form of controls in place, it would only be a matter of time until Jews are the minority in their own country.

It's truly a unique situation. Imagine if Mexico and Canada were both Islamic states which favored an Islamic government - and even more than that, they found the idea of Americans to be repugnant (assuming a homogeneous culture and religion were present among Americans). Would we have the same attitude about virtually unlimited immigration, minimal checks on access to voting and a view that religious or ethnic background should have no bearing whatsoever on the ability to participate in the democratic process?

I don't envy their position, and I really wish that we'd just back off and let them handle their affairs.

 

[Clean]

Israel is not going to be able to exist as a Jewish state in the Middle East for much longer. They will either be nuked by Iran or overwhelmed from within by the muslim birthrate . We might as well bite the bullet and bring 'em all over here. We could settle them all along the Mexican border. I'm sure they'd do a wonerful job stemming illegal immigration.