Steve Plaut's Better Idea

His suggestion is this:-

The “Palestinian” movement is nothing more than a local separatist movement, composed of Arabs seeking to gain separatist independence. Arabs already have 22 states. Since almost all countries in the world have their OWN domestic separatist movements, the only reasonable response by Israel to votes by other countries in favor of the “Palestinian” separatist movement should be met by a decision by Israel to recognize the separatist movements in THOSE countries, to grant them embassy space and official diplomatic recognition.

Here are some examples:

If France votes for a “Palestinian state,” as it is expected to do, Israel must immediately grant diplomatic status and recognition to the National Front for the Liberation of Corsica, to the separatist Savoyard League and the Nissa Rebela, to the separatist Armée Révolutionnaire Bretonne and Front de Libération de la Bretagne, and to the French Basque separatists.

If Spain votes for a “Palestinian state,” as it is expected to do, Israel must immediately grant diplomatic status and recognition to the ETA and other Basques separatists, to the Catalan separatists, as well as to the separatist movements in Castille, Leon, Andalusia, Cantabria, Galicia, Aragon, and Asturias.

If Belgium votes for a “Palestinian state,” as it is expected to do, Israel must immediately grant diplomatic status and recognition to both the Flemish and Walloon separatist movements.

...Holland...Israel must immediately grant diplomatic status and recognition to the Frisian separatist movement.

...Turkey...Israel should recognize the Armenian, Kurdish, Arab, and other ethnic nationalist movements inside Turkey. And let’s hear nothing about
Armenians already having their own state outside the Turkish borders.

...UK...Israel should then recognize the separatist movements of
Cornwall, Guernsey, Gibraltar, the Isle of Man, the Isle of Wight,
Northumberland, Wessex, Yorkshire, and of course also the independence
of Wales, Scotland and Ulster.

Russia...a full list of which is much too long to reproduce here. If Italy
votes for “Palestine,” there are so many regional independence and
separatist movements inside Italy that could be recognized that space
does not allow their complete listing.

The Sami independence movements in Norway, Sweden and Finland should
be recognized at once. Ditto for the Faroes Islands independence
movement in Denmark. If Switzerland votes in favor, Israel should
recognize the Jura regional separatist movement.

The above list is just for European countries...If Argentina and or Chile votes in favor, Israel needs to recognize the Mapuche separatists in those countries. If Bolivia...Santa Cruz separatists there should be recognized. If Brazil...Israel should recognize the separatist movements in Rio Grande do Sul. Venezuela...Israel must recognize the independence of Zulia and Maracaibo. Mexico...the Zapatista movement in Chiapas needs a nice embassy in Israel.

...The number of separatist movements in other parts of the world is so
that Israel would have to build an entire new diplomatic city east of
Ariel just to house all the embassies it needs to establish for the
separatist movements in countries voting for “Palestinian statehood.”

Now, that would be such a balagan.

^

Will They Discuss Matters With Me and My Colleagues?

I doubt it.

Illegitimate, I guess.

Abbas meets European consuls in West Bank

Palestinian National Authority President Mahmoud Abbas on Tuesday met consuls of Britain, France and Germany in the West Bank and discussed efforts to revive Israeli-Palestinian peace talks.   Nabil Abu Rdineh, spokesman for Abbas, said that the participants discussed the upcoming meeting of the Quartet of Middle East peace mediators, which comprises the United States, the European Union, Russia and the United Nations, in the middle of April.

They also talked about "the necessity to issue a statement from the Quartet contributing to creating a positive atmosphere on the level of peace process," Abu Rdineh said.

So objective. so comprehensive. So willing to be even-handed and a fair partner.

^

Diplomats Viewing The Future of the Middle East

Like, "Territories for Peace", Sort Of?

Barely a year into the Civil War, President Abraham Lincoln suggested buying slaves for $400 apiece under a "gradual emancipation" plan that would bring peace at less cost than several months of hostilities.

The proposal was outlined in one of 72 letters penned by Lincoln that ended up in the University of Rochester's archives. The correspondence was digitally scanned and posted online along with easier-to-read transcriptions.

In a letter to Illinois Sen. James A. McDougall dated March 14, 1862, Lincoln laid out the estimated cost to the nation's coffers of his "emancipation with compensation" proposal.

Paying slave-holders $400 for each of the 1,798 slaves in Delaware listed in the 1860Census, he wrote, would come to $719,200 at a time when the war was soaking up $2 million a day.

Buying the freedom of an estimated 432,622 slaves in Delaware, Maryland, Kentucky, Missouri and Washington, D.C., would cost $173,048,800 — nearly equal to the estimated $174 million needed to wage war for 87 days, he added.

Lincoln suggested that each of the states, in return for payment, might set something like a 20-year deadline for abolishing slavery.

The payout "would not be half as onerous as would be an equal sum, raised now, for the indefinite prosecution of the war," he told McDougall.

The idea never took root.

Iran? They Want Israel to Go the Same Silly Route

FOR those who believe — as I do — that the clerics who rule Iran must never have an arsenal of nuclear weapons, the United States’ course of action ought to be clear: The Bush administration should advocate direct, unconditional talks between Washington and Tehran. Strategically, politically and morally, such meetings will help us think more clearly. Foreign-policy hawks ought to see such discussions as essential preparation for possible military strikes against clerical Iran’s nuclear facilities.

Source

In practice, it looks like this, Brian Stauffer's artwork:-

I Admit It; I Was There

Some of my fans noticed this small report:-

UK ambassador, settlers meet

The British Embassy has embarked on a new initiative to learn more about the settlement movement and last week invited the settler leadership to dinner at a kosher restaurant with its ambassador, Tom Phillips.

The move surprised Dani Dayan, chairman of the Council of Jewish Communities of Judea, Samaria and the Gaza Strip, who said he hadn't expected to hear from Phillips's office.

"As far as we know, it is the first time an ambassador of such an important country, or any country, has issued an invitation to a delegation from the council," Dayan told The Jerusalem Post.

The meeting, which took place last Wednesday, did not presage any reassessment of Britain's policies toward the settlements, according to British officials. Rather, the meeting, initiated by Phillips, was an attempt by the British Embassy to develop a relationship with the settlers.

It was the first such meeting between settlement leaders and the British Embassy, and there are likely to be follow-up meetings.

The meeting was planned weeks ago and was not connected to Sunday's ministerial meeting on unauthorized settlement outposts and settlement construction.

Settlers who were present at the meeting included Dayan, former council chairman Benzi Lieberman and Gush Etzion council head Shaul Goldstein.

"We discussed the situation in the Middle East and the settlements and life in the settlements," said Dayan. "The atmosphere was good, and the discussion was sincere" - although, he added, there were obviously disagreements on the issues.

Encouraged by the meeting with Phillips, Dayan asked for the ambassador's help in arranging a meeting with Quartet Middle East envoy and former British prime minister Tony Blair, who is due here this week.

If you must know, I was there, too.

It was at a restaurant, gourmet kosher.

So, the food was excellent and the wine flowed.

But to the point, the exchange of views was importartant and a feather in Dani Dayan's hat (he doesn't wear a kippah) and that of Moetzet Yesha.

I hope there will be further opportunities to engage in Yesha diplomacy.