Two-State Pollution

By: Larry Gordon

Kofi Annan of Ghana was secretary-general of the United Nations from 1997 to 2006. Like just about every secretary-general, Annan was anti-Israel, and critical of the Jewish state from just about any angle you can possibly conjure.

When there was an anti-Israel resolution before the General Assembly (and there have been numerous), it was not unusual for at least 150 countries to vote against Israel, with a few abstaining and an even smaller number voting in favor of the Jewish state. One of those countries voting in support of Israel was usually the U.S., but not always. That depended on who was president at the time.

On the plethora of countries that voted against Israel, Annan was known to have said, “It has sometimes seemed as if the United Nations serves all the world’s peoples but one: the Jews.”

But that was many years ago and, as you can see, many things have changed. So much so that four major governments have decided that it’s time to officially recognize a Palestinian state. These countries are Britain, France, Canada, and Australia. And as we go to press during this United Nations General Assembly High-level Week, so far 11 countries have joined the move.

In reality, their recognizing a Palestinian state is illogical and accomplishes nothing. In fact, it arguably does more damage than anything else. What is occurring here is that these four major countries and a few smaller ones are essentially announcing that the attack and slaughter of October 7, 2023 is now paying major diplomatic dividends for the agents of Hamas.

Of course, this mostly meaningless recognition has a caveat that calls for the disappearance in some way of Hamas, against whom Israel has been battling for over two years. And if you consider the Hamas agenda, which is to murder Jews and eliminate Israel, you would have to conclude that the war with Hamas began much earlier, with the creation of that terrorist group. This artificial recognition of a Palestinian state by a few countries is a mind game designed to coincide with the gathering of 150 countries in the General Assembly, which is an annual circus of anti-Israel rhetoric.

So, what has changed now that important countries like Britain and France have taken this step to recognize a Palestinian state? And where exactly is Palestine after all? Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said earlier this week that there will be no Palestinian state. In fact, by recognizing a fictional Palestinian state, these countries are violating the 1993 Oslo Accords, which states that no such state can be recognized unless Israel agrees to the formulation and plan. That these four countries, plus a few others, like Luxembourg, Monaco and Malta, have also recognized Palestine as a state means next to nothing.

Prime Minister Netanyahu with his wife Sara, at Ben-Gurion International Airport, prior to departing on a diplomatic visit to the US, to address the UN General Assembly and meet with US President Donald Trump

Photo by Avi Ohayon, GPO

The seed for this idea was probably planted back in 2005, when Prime Minister Ariel Sharon had this crazy notion about handing Gaza over to Hamas. In Sharon’s fantasy, Hamas would cooperate with their internal enemies in the Palestinian Authority, with each one making concessions so they could brag about what they had accomplished in terms of achieving independence.

But when you investigate further, you see that part of the deal entailed Israel moving Jewish bodies out of the Gaza cemeteries as well as dismantling all the businesses the Israelis established only to have the Arabs destroy them, it’s no surprise that this kind of an arrangement was not going to work out so well. And it hasn’t.

It has been an unmitigated disaster.

Actually, this announcement by these major countries is supposed to be a punishment for Israel not ending the war with Hamas in Gaza and the collateral damage the war brought in its wake, such as the human shields used by the terrorists for strategic purposes to make Israel look bad, and the unfortunate tragic consequences of such an inhumane policy.

In a meeting at the UN this week, President Trump told France’s President Emmanuel Macron that he—Trump—does not agree with France in recognizing Palestine.

This recognition charade is really nothing new. In past years, other countries that have recognized Palestine include Algeria, Chad, Mauritania, and Somalia. As recently as last year, Palestine was recognized by Mexico, Armenia, and Slovenia.

None of the above-mentioned countries are really world powers with any influence on the global scene. And all of these countries stepping forward to recognize Palestine amounts to nothing more than a big yawn.

Let’s not forget that going back to the 1980s, Palestine was recognized as a state by Malaysia, Vietnam, Yemen, as well as China and Russia. These recognitions made front page news for a day or two in The New York Times, but that is the long and short of it.

As Donald Trump told Macron this week, the U.S. sees the recognition of Palestine as a reward for terrorism. Trump reiterated this to Macron and asked him whether he can still recall October 7, when babies were put in ovens and burned alive, when parents were brutally murdered in front of their children, and young women raped and taken captive to Gaza or murdered.

How can any world leader with an ounce of reason and logic feel it is right and proper to reward the Palestinians with their own internationally-recognized state?

There is no way to explain the diplomatic rationale behind any of these moves. It appears to be based on a hostility against Israel and the Jewish people that is so extreme, so filled with rage and disgust that it defies all reason and logic.

Let’s not forget that after Israel and the U.S., the largest Jewish population in the world is in France, with about 600,000 Jews residing there. But that apparently does not sway or influence Macron’s thinking. Politically, the Macron government has been in office since 2017, but his days in leadership might be seriously numbered.

For decades, much of the world has been dealing with more of a two-state delusion rather than anything that can be called a solution. In addition, the experiment of the Palestinian mini-state in Gaza and been an abject failure. Eighty-five percent of the buildings in Gaza have either collapsed or are about to collapse. Basically, they want a state, but there’s nowhere for the people to live. The dust and debris are everywhere, which makes the area suitable for a two-state pollution more than anything else. In addition, there are at least 30,000 unexploded bombs and other incendiary devices scattered across Gaza, which pose an extreme, long-term risk to the population, including aid workers.

So, the threat of this two-state idea is basically meaningless. It’s not a solution or even a delusion. It’s an intellectual, diplomatic, political, and humanitarian pollution. 

Read more of Larry Gordon’s articles at 5TJT.com. Follow 5 Towns Jewish Times on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter for updates and live videos. Comments, questions, and suggestions are welcome at 5TJT.com and on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter.