Naivete Can Be Deadly: J Street in Europe and the Two State Solution

Phyllis Chesler
Chesler Chronicles
04 May '10

Fiamma Nirenstein is a member of the Italian Parliament and a journalist. She is a tireless champion of democracy and freedom and therefore of Israel. Some French intellectuals, including Bernard-Henri Levy (of the famously bared chest, tousled mane, and starlet wives), and Alain Finkelkraut (who should know better), have launched a petition which they plan to present to the European Parliament. The petition, (which, so far, has 5000 signatures), is more naive than pernicious but may still lead to an unfortunate outcome; further confirmation of the view that both Israel and the Palestinians are to blame for the stalemate and that both must be forced to come to the table. It is, as Nirenstein says, a very “Obama-like” kind of document. The desire for a two state solution has, historically, been an Israel-only desire; the Palestinians have rejected every single opportunity for statehood and have consistently rejected a Jewish state.

If you don’t believe me, please read Daniel Pipes’ review of Ephraim Karsh’s excellent new book Palestine Betrayed. Karsh definitively and brilliantly lays out the case for the historical Palestinian rejection of both a state and of a second, separate Jewish sovereign state. Pipes writes: “Palestine Betrayed reframes today’s Arab–Israeli debate by putting it into its proper historical context. Proving that for 90 years the Palestinian political elite has opted to reject ‘the Jewish national revival and [insisted on] the need for its violent destruction,’ Karsh correctly concludes that the conflict will end only when the Palestinians give up on their ‘genocidal hopes.’”

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