Israëlische communisten voor tweestatenoplossing zonder Joods karakter

Hadash, de Israëlische communistische partij en overwegend Arabisch, was ooit zijn tijd ver vooruit met de slogan "twee staten voor twee volken". Nu deze positie mainstream is geworden in Israël, en dit misschien zelfs gerealiseerd gaat worden, zit men met een probleem. 

 

Bijzondere gastspreker Erekat, hoofd onderhandelaar namens de Palestijnse Autoriteit, zei dat president Abbas een twee-statenoplossing van de hand wees:   

 

Erekat, who came to wish conference-goers well, wound up inadvertently touching a sore point. "Abu Mazen told me that the moment Israel demands that we recognize two states for two peoples, I should get up and leave the talks," he said, referring to PA President Mahmoud Abbas. "And that is what I did."

 

 

Hadash wrong zich vervolgens - net als de Palestijnen dit eerder deden - in vreemde bochten om de cirkel recht te buigen:

 

Barakeh said Hadash would not drop its policy of two states for two peoples. "We won't toss our principles on the ash heap of history," he said.
He explained that Hadash interprets the slogan differently from Israeli officials. Hadash does not accept the demand that Jews anywhere in the world can come to Israel to realize their right to self-determination.
"These are Zionist definitions we cannot accept," he said, emphasizing that his party rejects the notion that a state that constitutes the realization of a people's self-determination be founded on the basis of race. "The state's Jewishness is a sword at our necks and the necks of the Palestinian people."

 

 

Beste Barakeh, wat is de betekenis van 'twee staten voor twee volken' als dit niet betekent dat de Joden in Israël hun recht op zelfbeschikking kunnen realiseren? Als Joden niet naar Israël kunnen immigreren, wat is dan de zin van twee staten? Een van de fundamenten van Israël is, dat Joden nu altijd een plek hebben waar zij heen kunnen gaan, waar zij geen minderheid zijn en waar zij zichzelf kunnen verdedigen. Waarom niet gelijk oproepen tot één staat, waar de Arabieren binnen afzienbare tijd de meerderheid zullen vormen? Wel zo eerlijk. En waarom zijn de Palestijnen wel een volk en de Joden niet? 

 

 

Ratna

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Hadash does not accept the demand that Jews anywhere in the world can come to Israel to realize their right to self-determination.
At rally, Hadash touts two-state solution without the Jewishness

By Yoav Stern Last update - 01:30 09/12/2007
www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/932397.html

It was hard for an audience to be more excited than the one at the Hadash convention on Friday. After more than three hours of speeches in a hot and crowded auditorium, the penultimate speaker was Saeb Erekat, chief negotiator for the Palestinians, who gave a moving imitation of Arafat. Then came Hadash chair Mohammed Barakeh.

"We here, at the seventh Hadash convention, declare loud and clear that we are in favor of the Palestinian people, we are in favor of the legitimate Palestinian leadership," he exclaimed, drawing cheers from the crowd.

The relationship between Israel, the Palestinian Authority and the Arabs in Israel was the focus of opening-night speeches at the convention of the left-wing, heavily Arab party.

Behind the scenes, the main question concerned the Arabs' political future in Israel once a Palestinian state is established. Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni recently said the new state would also realize the national rights of the Arabs in Israel, a statement that drew harsh criticism from this community.

In the past, Hadash and the Communist Party took pride in calling for "two states for two peoples" at a time when advocating a Palestinian state was considered heresy. Now this slogan has become a burden on Hadash, particularly after Israeli leaders began using it to justify the demand that Israel be a Jewish state.

Hadash's political rivals in the Arab community criticize the party on that point. Balad claims that this slogan gives Israeli Jews legitimization for designating their state "Jewish," and thereby undermines the grounds for demanding recognition of the collective rights of the Arabs in Israel.

Erekat, who came to wish conference-goers well, wound up inadvertently touching a sore point. "Abu Mazen told me that the moment Israel demands that we recognize two states for two peoples, I should get up and leave the talks," he said, referring to PA President Mahmoud Abbas. "And that is what I did."

In his speech, Erekat recounted the negotiations with Israel ahead of Annapolis, and explained that the Palestinians are prepared to recognize the State of Israel, but not its Jewish character. "I told Tzipi Livni that I do not recall submitting an application to joint the Zionist movement," he said.

Barakeh said Hadash would not drop its policy of two states for two peoples. "We won't toss our principles on the ash heap of history," he said.

He explained that Hadash interprets the slogan differently from Israeli officials. Hadash does not accept the demand that Jews anywhere in the world can come to Israel to realize their right to self-determination.

"These are Zionist definitions we cannot accept," he said, emphasizing that his party rejects the notion that a state that constitutes the realization of a people's self-determination be founded on the basis of race. "The state's Jewishness is a sword at our necks and the necks of the Palestinian people."

Hadash boasts that it is not a transient one-issue party, but one that has an opinion on every issue on the agenda. The backbone of Hadash is the Communist Party of Israel, the country's oldest party, which spent lengthy sessions hashing out its positions. It naturally devotes much attention to socioeconomic matters, but on Friday it seemed like the political issue and Palestinian nationalism were preoccupying everyone.

The party's secretary general, Mohammed Nafa, said that he supports any "organization that resists the occupation" and that those fighting for liberation are entitled "to use any means they see fit" to resist the occupation. "Those who bomb Bint Jbail and beyond Bint Jbail cannot wonder there is bombing in Haifa and beyond Haifa," he said.