Untangling Popular Anti-Israel Arguments: Critical Thinking
about the Israel-Hamas War
Note to readers: See previous APOLOGIA post for Chapter 13. (Also, Table of Contents with links is listed below. Or download pdf of the whole book here.)
Note to critics: Please read the whole of my little book (including notes) before offering criticism. Thanks.
Chapter 14: Israel should embrace a two-state solution?
Objection: By continuing its war with Gaza (Hamas) and rejecting a two-state solution, Israel is rejecting peace.
Reply: No. Israel has tried to live in peace with Gaza by withdrawing completely from Gaza in 2005 and subsequently allowing Gaza to govern itself, but the result has been that Gaza turned itself into a terrorist state bent on destroying Israel. For peace to prevail between Israel and Gaza, Hamas must be defeated and Gaza only be given statehood if it is, to Israel’s satisfaction, no longer a threat to Israel. Otherwise, terrorists are rewarded with a state and will continue their October 7 attacks as promised.
British author
and journalist Douglas Murray adds insight (and colour) as follows:
Israel is the only country in the world never allowed to win a war. That’s why, by the way, you have the situation in the Gaza—you have all the international idiots telling the Israelis they have to withdraw. And then what happens? You give the Palestinians a statelet and they give you Hamas and war. Anyone who thinks the West Bank [whose people are pro-Hamas] is going to be a Palestinian state is now living with the fairies. And it’s not because of the Israelis. It’s because the Palestinian Authority hasn’t wished to create a state for decades. It never did. It’s only ever been interested in creating a state from the river to the sea, as they always say. It’s never been interested in a two-state solution. The Palestinian Authority, under two leaders now, has repeatedly turned down every Israeli offer of peace. They were offered 99% of what they wanted just 15 years ago. They turned it down again, as Yasser Arafat did at Oslo. They don’t want a two-state solution, they want a one-state solution. And that’s a Jewish-cleared Palestinian state.1
In other words, the issue is not territory, it’s ideology. Hamas is an Islamic jihadist terror organization whose ideology requires it to destroy Jews. Israeli government spokesperson Eylon Levy adds insight as follows: “Hamas does not want a political solution. Hamas wants a final solution.”2
At time of
writing (February 14, 2024), the international community continues to pressure
Israel to accept a two-state solution, in spite of the failed history of such a
solution. If a two-state solution is to be reasonably embraced by Israel—and if
we are to heed the lessons of history—then the Palestinian/non-Israeli state
must not be an anti-Israeli state.
That is, the non-Israeli state must not be a state that wishes to destroy
Israel. Levy explains Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s view as follows:
“He objects to the establishment of a Palestinian state that would serve as an
existential threat to Israel… The prime minister’s position is that the
Palestinians would have all the powers to govern themselves and none of powers
to threaten Israel.”3,4,5
NOTES
1. Douglas Murray, Israel is the only country in the world never allowed to win a war, Australia/Israel & Jewish Affairs Council, AIJAC video, November 25, 2023.
2. Eylon Levy, Is Israel committing genocide in Gaza? The News Agents podcast (hosted by Lewis Goodall), January 15, 2024.
3. Eylon Levy, Today is a difficult day for the entire country, Australia/Israel & Jewish Affairs Council, AIJAC video, January 23, 2034.
4. For a look at the history—and failures—of the two state solution, see Sol Stern, Debunking the Palestine Lie, Encounter Books, September 19, 2011 (12 minute video). See too David Brog, Why Isn’t There a Palestinian State? PragerU, March 27, 2017 (5 minute video). See too Oren Cahanovitc, A Two-State Solution is NOT the solution (So what is?), Travelling Israel, February 11, 2024 (15 minute video).
5. If Hamas or a Hamas-like group is rewarded with a state that can continue war against Israel, then Islamist terrorists of all stripes will be emboldened in their pursuit of global jihad.
Table of Contents (links)
Chapter 1. Israel is engaging in colonial retaliation?
Chapter 2. Israel is a powerful state and thus the oppressor?
Chapter 3. Israel is not a legitimate state?
Chapter 4. Israel occupies Gaza?
Chapter 5. Gaza is like a Jewish ghetto?
Chapter 6. What about Gabor Maté?
Chapter 7. What about Gabor Maté, again?
Chapter 8. Israel targets a hospital?
Chapter 9. Israel’s attack on Gaza is as bad (or worse) as Gaza’s attack on Israel?
Chapter 10. Israel is wrong to cause Gaza to suffer?
Chapter 11. Israel is guilty of genocide?
Chapter 12. Israel’s response to Hamas is not proportional?
Chapter 13. Israel should agree to a permanent ceasefire?
Chapter 14. Israel should embrace a two-state solution?
Chapter 15. Conclusion and prayer
Appendix 1: Criticizing Islam is Islamophobic? (Part 1 of 2)
Appendix 2: Criticizing Islam is Islamophobic? (Part 2 of 2)
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