Free Republic

There has been a lot of talk lately about the formation of a new Palestinian State. It has been suggested by some that Israeli Arabs could continue to live in Israel, but change their citizenship to the new Palestinian State. ""Given the choice, and continuing to live where you presently live today, would you prefer to be a citizen of Israel or of a new Palestinian State?"" 62% of Israeli Arabs would choose to remain Israeli citizens rather than join a future Palestinian State. Only 14% of the respondents would choose to join a future Palestinian State and 24% did...

While the BDS movement calls for an international boycott of Israel for its alleged brutal occupation of Judea and Samaria, and its “siege” of Gaza—farmers from Gaza took part last week in a seminar for farmers inside Israel. The office of the Coordination of Government Activities in the Territories (COGAT), a part of the IDF, reported this week that last Wednesday and Thursday, two groups of Arab farmers totaling 60 people left Gaza in order to attend an agricultural seminar in northern Israel, designed to advance the Gaza agricultural sector. …

Palestinians have a hidden history of appreciating Israel that contrasts with their better-known narrative of vilification and irredentism. The former has been particularly evident of late, especially since Israel's prime minister, Ehud Olmert, floated a trial balloon in October about transferring some Arab-dominated areas of eastern Jerusalem to the Palestinian Authority. As he rhetorically asked about Israeli actions in 1967, "Was it necessary to annex the Shuafat refugee camp, al-Sawahra, Walajeh, and other villages, and then to state that these are part of Jerusalem? One can ask, I admit, some legitimate questions about this." In one swoop, this statement transformed...

There is no denying that by applying for Israeli citizenship, in defiance of PLO and Hamas warnings, they are actually making clear that they would rather live under Israel than any Arab rule. The Palestinian Authority says it is worried because of the rise in the number of Palestinians from Jerusalem who are seeking Israeli citizenship ...

According to face-to-face surveys conducted according to the highest international standards, more Palestinians in east Jerusalem would prefer to become citizens of Israel rather than citizens of a new Palestinian state. In addition, 40 percent said they would probably or definitely move in order to live under Israeli rather than Palestinian rule. 44 percent of the Palestinians in Jerusalem say they are very, or at least somewhat, satisfied with their standard of living. This is a very high percentage compared to other populations in the Arab world. Only about 30 percent sympathize with either Fatah or Hamas or with the...

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas is reaching out to Jews around the world to listen to the “Arab point of view” on stalled peace talks with Israel. … Palestinians say they will not talk unless Israel stops building Jewish housing in the West Bank and east Jerusalem, which they claim for their future state, along with the Gaza Strip. …

The time has come to reveal the Palestinians’ true colors. While world leaders attempt to cajole and nudge the two sides into negotiations, only one side consistently says it is ready to sit face to face without preconditions—Israel. The Palestinians, on the other hand, refuse to meet unless Israel agrees in advance to several demands. This should be a red flag indicator of their disingenuous intentions. … The Palestinians do not wish to see a Jewish state of Israel as their neighbor. In fact, if they had their way, Israel would cease to exist altogether in favor of one Arab...

U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry on Monday issued a stark warning to Israel to resume long-stalled peace talks with the Palestinian Authority, saying that if efforts fail now they may never get another chance. "We are running out of time. We're running out of possibilities... If we do not succeed now, we may not get another chance," Kerry told a forum held by the American Jewish Community, according to the AFP news agency. Kerry’s warning came amid reports that he is planning to return to the Middle East region within days, for his fifth trip to Israel since he...

Delaying the so-called “two-state solution” is an historical mistake, Justice Minister Tzipi Livni claimed on Monday. Livni, who is in charge of the peace negotiations with the Palestinian Authority, spoke at the American Jewish Committee 2013 Global Forum in Washington, D.C. She warned in her speech of “devastating consequences” for Israel in case U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry’s latest attempt to renew peace talks fails. “Time is working against those who believe that two states is the only Zionist way to maintain our identity,” Livni said. “There are those who want to postpone this decision, but it would be...

It will be 20 years ago this September that Israeli and Palestinian leaders reached a historic Declaration of Principles, the forerunner to the Oslo Accords, which were intended to lead to a permanent peace deal between Israel and the Palestinians. The homestretch was yet to be negotiated, but what awaited at the finish was clear: a Palestinian state next to the Israeli one—a deal based on the concept of two states for two peoples. Now, many here feel they’re simply running in place. Some of the most prominent members of Fatah, the mainstream faction of the PLO and the axis...

The UN is now hosting in the public entrance hall of its New York headquarters a Palestinian exhibit which includes pieces that artfully depict all of Israel as Palestine. The display goes hand-in-hand with the logo featured at the top of the cover page of the speech that Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas’ delivered to the General Assembly on November 29, 2012. That emblem continues to promote a one state solution, Palestine without Israel. On November 29th the General Assembly granted “Palestine” the status of “non-member observer state” under the pretense that the move brought the world

..... Senator John Kerry says he is worried the door for a "two-state solution" may be closing and that would be "disastrous". .....

As Egyptian President Mohammed Morsi said that virulent anti-Semitic comments which he reportedly said prior to his election were taken out of context, the Middle East Media Research Institute (MEMRI) released another video which depicts him making similar comments. The latest video is an address delivered by Morsi, which was posted on the Internet on January 10, 2010. It was translated by MEMRI and published on Wednesday. In the newly exposed remarks, Morsi calls U.S. President Barack Obama “insincere” and calls for Arabs to raise their children on hatred of Jews.

Presumptive Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney supports a two-state solution to solve the conflict between Israel and the Palestinian Authority, he told CNN during his visit to Jerusalem. In an interview with the American news network, which took place in Jerusalem on Sunday, Romney was asked if he saw the starting point for negotiations as the borders which existed prior to the 1967 Six Day War. He responded by saying, “I'm not being that specific. I'm saying that there will be borders that have to be negotiated and what the starting point is something which will be decided by the...

Ever since the defeat of the combined strength of numerous Arab countries in their vain but strident attempt to dissolve the Jewish state and her people, the world has conspired through the United Nations to replace Israel with the figment of a deranged reality known as the palestinian nation. Seek any fragment, mere mention, slightest hint, or even a wisp of smoke that pretended the existence of a palestinian nation made up of palestinian Arabs previous to June of 1967. The only entity you will find was the PLO, which, according to its own charter, was formed not to free...