Ya habibti Lisa, I'm confused! But not about borders or borderless world. Sometimes, I feel you 'al haGader'... but I'm gonna wait for ur next post and the next one and next... and all the ch-ch-ch-changes we can experience.

Yep. Remember the iconic Polish Plumber?

Shit, woman. You are too funny! Good thing I wasn't drinking something when I read this post - it would have ended up all over my keyboard. Remind me never to hang out at your place while you're taking a shower... :-)

LOL, Lisa if you ever stop being a sarcastic cow, I will hit you. This post made my day. I can't stop giggling.

Lisa, to be fair, is it only european leftists that think of a one-state solution? and more importantly, why do you think something like this is not viable?

thanks,
l.

I actually think this(One world state) would be a terrific idea.

I see the EU, NAFTA, African Union, and the Latin American and Asian blocks as baby steps towards implementing this vision.

Fundamentally borders, ethnicities and nationalities are pretty stupid. They just serve to divide people and create meaningless conflicts.

Unfortunately it will probably take a long time(probably not in my life time) to make this happen, but if it did happen I definitely think it would be A Good Thing(tm).

No need to get wacky and include the whole Europe. How about joining the UK and France, say -- genetically similar, culturally and linguistically close, no wars between them for 200 years, already joined together in the EU, etc. There is already an example of the French and English living together in relative harmony in Canada... So why does every Englishman and Frenchman I've suggested it to think it's an appaling idea?

Turkey is not European. Most of it is situated in what used to be called "Asia minor" in Latin. It's people and culture are Central Asian, it's predominant religion Middle Eastern.

Also, I haven't experienced a border control in a very long time when travelling through Europe. Granted, Russia not included so far, but we're progressing towards that end.

But Your whole argument is missing the point. In Europe, it's one people, one country. In geographic "Palestine", it's now two peoples on the same stretch of land.

How do You want to split the country, when thousands of Palestinian refugee families will reclaim their estates in Israel which they still hold titles to, like Jewish families reclaim their estates unrightfully depropriated by the Nazis?

The world won't accept a deportation of Palestinians, and a Palestinian state on fragments of the West Bank (like the "home lands" of South Africa) won't be able to sustain itself.

You're stuck with the Palestinians, face it, and You'd better be working towards a peace that works for both sides, as the geopolitical conditions (U.S. superiority) that so far guarantee the existance of the state of Israel may change in the future.

For my part, I honestly hope You're going to be succesful with it.

Hmm, actually, Anonymous from Winnipeg, Manitoba, I think you are the one who is missing the point.

The point is that Turkey is partly in Europe, but the EU has rejected its application for membership. Why is that, do you think? Could it be that the EU is a little racist against a state with a majority Muslim population, even though it is officially a secular state? Also, although there may be no strict border controls between European states, the fact is that there *are* borders. Do you think Italy, Switzerland and France would agree to merge into a single state with one government? How about France and England, or Spain and Portugal? The fact is that Europeans were killing each other over borders as recently as one decade ago, in the former Yugoslavia. So how do you expect the Palestinians and the Israelis to get along in one state with one government at this stage, when there is so much hostility between the two nations?

I do not know where you got the idea that any rational Israeli human being would want to expel the Palestinians from their homes. That idea is beyond the pale. The idea of a two-state solution is to have a sovereign Palestinian state in the West Bank, which is currently occupied by Israel, and Gaza. Look up "two state solution" on Wikipedia - here.

Also, the European Jews who lost their property during the Nazi era and survived the holocaust were given financial compensation. But in the vast majority of cases, they were not given the confiscated property back.

Oh, and thanks very much for your good wishes.

Lisa,

shared values make people feel solidaric with each other. Despite their laicist government, experience shows many Turks hold different values than Europeans (I'm saying this without judging these values). Therefore, like many Europeans (I'm not from Winnipeg, BTW), I can't identify myself with Turks in the same manner as with other Europeans, which is the basis for joint policies or even social systems.

As I'm not saying that either people's values are inferior, just different, I don't that's being racist.

With a possible deportation/forceful expulsion of Palestinians, I was referring to the so-called "transfer solution", which to my understanding was being discussed by some right wing Israelis like Rehavam Zeevi, rational enough to be a government minister before he was killed.

No, I can't quite conceive Israelis and Palestinians living in peace among each other either (though I know some "Israeli Arabs" who are integrated fairly well into the Israeli society).

But in the long run, I think both sides won't have a choice but to find a way to live together.

For Israel, it's a question of security. Despite all impressive achievements, the Israeli economy is too small to maintain a full-scale defence industry itself, and with the current trend in oil consumption the world's major powers may soon be competing for influence in the oil-rich Arab countries, and supplies of the latest weapons systems could potentially challenge Israel's current military supremacy in the region.

A peace that's not just a piece of paper signed by some Palestinian politician bought by corrupted Western aid money, but that is working for the Palestinian refugees too, is the best guarantee of existence for Israel.

Regards! (please excuse my staying anonymous -- I just don't want anything I ever typed being googled up in 50 years time)