Greetings,
As I contemplate (with some horror) the situation in the middle east, a
thought occurred to me.
If the Israel/Palestine problem is indeed to be resolved with a two
state solution, the obvious question is how to get there, especially
given that neither side wants the other to survive.
Being repeatedly admonished by Rachel Maddow that most everything has a
precedent that may be instructive, I started thinking about other
countries which have split in two. Most, like German and Korea, did so
as a result of war, and upon the demand on the sponsoring powers. While
I suppose one could claim that the US and Iraq are the sponsoring powers
here, I don't see them sitting down to negotiate in good faith.
Which brings me to the history of India (and Pakistan/Bangladesh). While
perhaps not a perfect analogy, and not (yet) a perfect solution, it is a
case of a nation that voluntarily separated along religious lines.
My questions for this list:
1. Do you think that the history of India provides any helpful lessons
that could be applied to Israel?
2. Do you think it reasonable for India to provide an occupying force to
separate the two parties and help effect the split (with UN approval, of
course)?
Regards,
/ Bruce /
--
Silklist mailing list
Silklist@lists.digeratus.in
https://mailman.panix.com/listinfo.cgi/silklist
