Wednesday, June 9, 2010

Is Reuters advocating for Israel to annex Gaza and the "West Bank"?

With the focus on Reuters' eviscerating editing of the Turkish IHH photos, we nearly missed this intriguing tidbit appearing in a story last week on flotilla passenger and Israeli Arab MK Haneen Zuabi:
Arabs make up about a fifth of Israel's predominantly Jewish population. Many complain of suffering discrimination in terms of funding for their towns and job opportunities in Israel but otherwise enjoy full citizenship, unlike the Palestinians living in the West Bank and Gaza.
This is a non sequitur.  Why would one expect the political status of Arabs living in the territories to be the same as that of Arabs living in Israel?  Gaza is ruled by Hamas; Judea and Samaria (the "West Bank") is ruled by the Palestinian Authority.  They have their own political infrastructure, maintain their own security forces, and receive billions of dollars in foreign aid and assistance.  Hamas, elected by the Palestinians, is busy implementing Sharia law in Gaza -- anathema to the Jews of Israel, and presumably to Israeli Arabs as well who benefit from the legal, civil and humanitarian rights which come with living in an enlightened Western democracy.

Is Reuters suggesting that Israel overthrow the democratically-elected Hamas government, annex the territories and compel the Palestinians to abide by Israeli law?  We thought the long cherished goal for the Palestinians was self-determination, i.e., an independent Palestinian state living "side-by-side in peace and security" with Israel.  Perhaps not.

Well, as long as Reuters is thinking outside the box, how about the possibility of full Egyptian citizenship for the Palestinian Arabs in Gaza and full Jordanian citizenship for Palestinians in the West Bank?  Or something even more creative?

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