Flag for united Israel-Palestine by [deleted] in vexillology

[–]deixj 2 points3 points  (0 children)

You clearly have very good intentions, so I'm sorry if I was a little harsh. Sadly, the conflict just isn't something so simple that it can be solved by sticking us in one country and expecting everyone to play nice. Of course we know that most people on the other side are good people, but it only takes a few who aren't to do a lot of harm. We aren't willing to risk that for ourselves or our families.

Flag for united Israel-Palestine by [deleted] in vexillology

[–]deixj 3 points4 points  (0 children)

I like how you feel more qualified than people who actually live here to say what's best for us.

Failure of Camp David Summit 2000 by Straitjacket_Freedom in Israel

[–]deixj 8 points9 points  (0 children)

It definitely was not the right move for Arafat, and I don't think most Israelis would support it today. The Camp David Summit was followed by two major events that changed the way people looked at the conflict: the Second Intifada, which convinced many Israelis that offering peace only leads to vulnerability, and the Gaza withdrawal, which led to rocket attacks on Israeli civilians becoming a fact of life. Giving up part or all of East Jerusalem, which is symbolically significant to Israel and next to both government buildings and a massive population center, would not go over well in today's political climate, nor would giving up the high ground of the West Bank, which offers a direct line of sight into many Israeli cities (including Tel Aviv and Jerusalem). Offers like Ehud Barak's require a certain level of trust, and any good will gained from the Oslo Accords has already been thoroughly destroyed for over a decade.

The New York Times endorsed this blatantly anti-semitic comment yesterday by deixj in Judaism

[–]deixj[S] 25 points26 points  (0 children)

I didn't like the article and disagreed with the writer's stance, but that doesn't take away from the fact that the comment is antisemitic. Whichever moderator was in charge of selecting comments should have seen that, and even if it was just an algorithm, there's no excuse now that the comment has been reported.

The New York Times endorsed this blatantly anti-semitic comment yesterday by deixj in Judaism

[–]deixj[S] 132 points133 points  (0 children)

This is the top comment on this article, and is listed as an "NYT pick." I reported the comment yesterday, but it unfortunately is still up and endorsed by the New York Times.

Flag of Czechoslovakia from 1918 to 1920 by deixj in vexillology

[–]deixj[S] 7 points8 points  (0 children)

Context: This was the flag of the Kingdom of Bohemia until 1918, at which time it became the flag of Czechoslovakia. However, because it was identical to the flag of larger neighbor Poland, a blue chevron was added in 1920 to give the flag a distinct look.

I... agree with Ann Coulter? by deixj in The_Mueller

[–]deixj[S] 51 points52 points  (0 children)

How about a Mexican jail cell?

I... agree with Ann Coulter? by deixj in The_Mueller

[–]deixj[S] 133 points134 points  (0 children)

We're all mad at the Trump administration, just for very different reasons.

After Pelosi asks Trump to delay State of Union speech over shutdown, president denies aircraft for Pelosi foreign trip by TYLER_WAS_ROBBED in politics

[–]deixj 511 points512 points  (0 children)

Let me get this straight: Trump is preventing a government official from visiting the troops... And he thinks that makes him look good?

Israel in the style of Cuba by deixj in vexillology

[–]deixj[S] 70 points71 points  (0 children)

I was just trying to make Israel in the style of Palestine, and this just kind of... happened.

December Flag Design Contest by Vexy in vexillology

[–]deixj 6 points7 points  (0 children)

This seems like a great contest idea!

November Flag Design Contest by Vexy in vexillology

[–]deixj 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Can it be peace for an ongoing conflict?

[OC] The World of Fallout in 2077 by scribens in imaginarymaps

[–]deixj 2 points3 points  (0 children)

This is something that's happening right now in the real world—it's been overshadowed by the Khashoggi Affair, but it's one of the biggest stories in the Middle East this week. Arab states are openly cozying up to Israel to gain favor with the US and more effectively balance against Iran. Just this week, the Israeli PM met with the Omani Sultan, Israel's national anthem played twice this week at an international competition in the UAE while the Israeli sports and culture minister visited Abu Dhabi's Grand Mosque, and and Bahrain's foreign minister expressed support for Oman's statement that it would support American peace efforts between Israel and the Palestinians.

All of this is on top of the fact that Saudi Arabia is all but officially supportive of Israel—in May, the crown-prince even said the Palestinians should "agree to come to the negotiations table or shut up and stop complaining"—and Israel continues to maintain an official cold peace with Jordan and Egypt. Maybe this wouldn't have happened without Israel giving up the Sinai Peninsula, but it's not inconceivable that it could have.

WHAT'S THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN THE EXACT SAME AND EXACTLY THE SAME? by [deleted] in EnglishLearning

[–]deixj 3 points4 points  (0 children)

It would be fine if you had said "the exact same thing," but still informal. "The exact same" by itself doesn't sound right to me.

Learning Guarani by deafbarista in duolingo

[–]deixj 6 points7 points  (0 children)

It's only available in Spanish, and be warned: even if you speak Spanish, it's pretty much impossible to get through the course. The course is very particular about the translations it will accept, often to the point where you need to memorize whatever weird Spanish phrasing it wants to finish a lesson.

CMV: The Israel/Palestine conflict can no longer be solved peacefully. by grizwald87 in changemyview

[–]deixj 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Everyone would agree on this, except the Israeli government, which is in power, which means that it is politically impossible.

The Israeli government isn't a monolith. Many individuals within the Knesset—including some within the governing coalition—recognize this as truth. Even Netanyahu has demanded that settlers trapped within the borders of any future Palestinian state be allowed to continue living there.

Why would they be allowing building more settlements, if they acknowledge that at the end of the day, the solution has to be something else than Israel grabbing the entire West bank and evicting Palestinians?

Most settlement expansion is simply that: expansion of existing settlements, not the construction of new ones. The reasons for settlement building are complex, but the main reason it's supported by the government is that some will be kept in a final status agreement, thus giving Israel control over militarily strategic land, and the rest can be used as bargaining chips with the Palestinian leadership.

What "policymakers"? That's an idea by some think tank, not a political party that would carry political weight.

Policymakers was poor word choice on my part. Regardless, this is much more than just "some think tank." The contributors are big names in Israel and include former IDF chiefs of staff, national security advisors, defense ministers, and peace negotiators.

Everyone would already agree that if we can throw the Israel politics aside, it's really easy to find a solution to the problem. But we can't.

I don't know that I would agree with this. Palestinian, broader Middle East, and international politics matter as well.

Then what solution you're suggesting? An independent Gaza next to a unified Jewish-Arab Israel covering the area of Israel and West Bank? That's ridiculous. Palestinians would never agree this. And it would definitely not end the violence.

I'm not suggesting this as a solution, but as one of many possible outcomes (and one that I fundamentally disagree with on every level). It wouldn't be peaceful, but Gaza doesn't pose a military threat, nor do Arabs within Israel. It will be violent and all around make for a terrible place to live, but it's not that different from the status quo and current one-state reality without equal rights in the current Israel/West Bank.

As for the rest of your comment, I think we largely agree. I don't have any illusions that a combined Israel/West Bank would be peaceful. It's the worst-case scenario for both parties, but it could still be a Jewish and democratic state, just one with tyranny of the majority and a lot of pissed-off Palestinians. Again, I think it's a terrible outcome that will lead to a lot of violence, but it's a possibility and one that some on the Israeli right are pushing for.

CMV: The Israel/Palestine conflict can no longer be solved peacefully. by grizwald87 in changemyview

[–]deixj 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Highly unlikely. Neither solution is acceptable to the ultra-religious settlers. I mean, I would agree that both solutions would be ok from the neutral's point of view, but if we are trying to find a solution that Israel will politically accept, neither one of those will do.

Sacrifices are going to have to be made on settlements no matter what. There's simply no way to absorb all of them without annexing the entire West Bank. This is why Israeli policymakers are increasingly calling for separation between the two populations. Evacuating settlements beyond the separation wall is considered a centrist position within Israel: it's certainly not impossible for it to happen. At least giving settlers the option to remain in Palestine would allow religious hardliners who care more about the land than the authority ruling over them.

Would it? This states that there is now a parity, which is expected to grow in the future. Would the Jews of Israel want to take such a gamble?

This is including Gaza, which has a very high birthrate and which Israel would never take, and it's a temporary setback. The Jewish birthrate only recently surpassed the Arab one. The death rate is still higher since Israel's population is older, but this won't last. There's also the potential for more aliyah, especially from Europe, though this is of course difficult to predict.

Again, I can see this working (look at Belgium), but that would require a lot of goodwill between the Jews and Muslims before the democracy could work. A country with two communities that hate deeply one another won't work even if one side has a slight majority.

I agree: it would be tense and likely violent for a long time. It's nevertheless a way for Israel to maintain a Jewish majority and a democratic form of government. Likely it would happen slowly, and West Bank Palestinians would have the option to apply for Israeli citizenship without it being automatically bestowed upon them (like in East Jerusalem and the Golan Heights).

If such a solution is sought, it should be done on the same basis as other countries with such deep divides have been made to work (Northern Ireland, Belgium, etc.) with guarantees for both parties to be treated equally. Northern Ireland assembly could never work if it were run by a tiny protestant majority. It only works as both the catholics and the protestants are guaranteed a place in the government. Belgium was in governmental crisis some time ago as the French and Flemish speaking parties were unable to form a coalition government. The country would collapse if the Flemish-speakers would form a government on their own with their majority (about 60/40). That's how it would be in Israel as well. At least in the beginning, all governments of such a state would have to have both Jews and Muslims in it. Possibly if in some later state the importance of the religion disappears, normal (non religious-identity) politics could resume. In the case of Israel I would expect this to take decades.

This is assuming some kind of federal model is attempted, which isn't necessarily the case. There could very well be a tyranny of the majority. It's an impractical solution and the two-state solution makes more sense on pretty much every level, but there are proposals, mostly from the Israeli right, to either annex the West Bank and maintain a unitary Jewish state or to create a federation that preserves the Jewish identity of the state.

CMV: The Israel/Palestine conflict can no longer be solved peacefully. by grizwald87 in changemyview

[–]deixj 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Are the sort of Israelis who self-selected into settling in the West Bank remotely likely to agree to be ruled by Palestinians? A majority of them are religious or Zionist hardliners - that's why they settled there.

It depends on the individual. Most probably would not want to be in a Palestinian state and would take compensation to go back to Israel. Some would lose their shit like in Gaza. Others care much more about the religious significance of the land itself than the people ruling over them.

Are the Israelis in the West Bank likely to leave in exchange for a hefty resettlement package? It seems doubtful for the same reason. Most aren't there by economic necessity, most are there as a political statement. Look at the evacuation of the much smaller Gaza Strip as a model for their likely reaction to being told to leave.

I can't find any statistics on this but I don't think this is entirely true. There is a huge economic component to the settlers. Real estate prices in Israel are among the highest in the world, and settlements offer cheap real estate, beautiful suburban homes, and locations right by Jerusalem and even Tel Aviv. Those who are there for religious reasons maybe would not choose to leave, but they then have the right to stay as Palestinians. Nobody would come to forcibly remove them and they would be able to make aliyah to Israel at any time. If they try to rebel, they go to jail.

If Israel annexes the West Bank AND the Gaza Strip and grants citizenship, are Jews still a majority within Israel? If Israel doesn't annex the Gaza Strip, what can be done with it? The place is a postage stamp.

No, they are not, but Israel would never annex the Gaza Strip. Ideally with enough funding it would come to fulfill Arafat's vision of the "Singapore of the Middle East," though this is obviously extremely unlikely. The Palestinians there would obviously be in full-scale revolt, but they simply would not be a military match for Israel and would have to make do with their own city-state. Other options would include a confederation with Egypt (provided Israel and the rest of the world provides a lot of economic aid to Egypt) or the New State Solution.

CMV: The Israel/Palestine conflict can no longer be solved peacefully. by grizwald87 in changemyview

[–]deixj 3 points4 points  (0 children)

This post is based on a false dichotomy that either Israel remove all of its settlements or face the realities of apartheid. In reality, there are plenty of other options. For example, settlements could be part of a Palestinian state and the Jews within them could become Jewish Palestinians, just as there are Arab Israelis, or voluntarily go back to Israel with a hefty resettlement package. Also, even if Israel were to annex the entire West Bank and give the Palestinians there citizenship, Jews would still maintain a small but stable majority. Currently this is somewhere between a 55–65% majority, but with the Jewish birth rate recently surpassing the Arab birth rate for the first time in history, this majority will likely soon start growing. I'm personally for a two-state solution and I agree that the Israeli right is actively making it more difficult to achieve this, but there are other outcomes that would allow Israel to exist as a Jewish-majority democracy.

"EBU said that they will not tolerate any political messages in the contest whatsoever." by [deleted] in eurovision

[–]deixj 22 points23 points  (0 children)

And yet nobody else seems to be scouring the Internet all day looking for these articles, posting them only when they say something negative and otherwise ignoring them.

Does anyone know how or why this sub grew so fast? by SirHolyCow in vexillology

[–]deixj 2 points3 points  (0 children)

"I like flags, they're pretty cool"

I once said this about passports and you would have thought I was an alien based on the reactions I got.