I’m stupidly busy, but will get some posts up over the next day or so, and just had to get these stories posted for comment and some thought.<\/p>\n
I’ve said in the past that I’m not ready to support a Palestinian state, not out of a belief that Arab Palestinians aren’t worthy of having a state, but because one of the preconditions of statehood, I believe, is at least the approximation of a monopoly on the use of force. I quoted Max Weber<\/a>:<\/p>\n …the right to use physical force is ascribed to other institutions or to individuals only to the extent to which the state permits it. The state is considered the sole source of the “right” to use violence.<\/i><\/p><\/blockquote>\n Today’s Jerusalem Post<\/a> has an enlightening story:<\/p>\n Abdel Aziz Rantisi, a Hamas leader in the Gaza Strip, said the Palestinian Authority should stop talking on behalf of all Palestinians. “A certain group should stop playing with the fate of the Palestinian people,” he said. “There should be partnership in making fateful decisions, and this partnership should be based on the centers of power in the Palestinian street. We must respect the opinion of the Palestinian street.”<\/i><\/p><\/blockquote>\n “Israel understands only the language of violence and what we are doing is aimed at liberating the land, ousting the occupation and preserving the holy sites. We can’t accept a hudna similar to the one we had in June. The Palestinian people want their freedom and independence and Israel must pay the price for a hudna by halting the construction of the fence and settlements.” <\/p>\n “Our final response is that we are not ready to declare a new ceasefire,” said Muhammed Nazzal, a member of the Hamas delegation to the talks. “Hamas rejects the hudna and won’t accept it, because our reading of the current political situation shows that the Americans and the Zionists are in deep crisis because of the continuation of the resistance in Iraq and Palestine.” <\/p>\n He said there was a wide gap between Hamas and Fatah on the shape and content of the proposed truce. “This is a very big issue concerning the future of the Palestinian people,” Nazzal said.<\/i><\/p><\/blockquote>\n So, in case you’re wondering when I do my post later on the Israeli settlements, why it is that I don’t call for the immediate formation of a Palestinian state. It has nothing to do with this statement from the same interview:<\/p>\n Hamas founder and spiritual leader Ahmed Yassin has told a German magazine that a Jewish state could be established in Europe. In interview excerpts slated for publication on Monday in Der Spiegel, Yassin opposed a two-state solution in which a Palestinian state would coexist next to Israel. <\/p>\n “That would not work,” he said. “The Israelis claim 80 per cent of the territory and will only let us have 20 per cent. It would only be an interim solution.” <\/p>\n Asked if there was no place at all for a Jewish state, he said, “They could set up a state in Europe.” Yassin also rejected the Geneva Accord, which was hammered out between Israeli politicians and Palestinian representatives. “That plan is worse than the Oslo one, because it abandons the right of return for the refugees,” he said.<\/i><\/p><\/blockquote>\n On a more local front, an interesting article in the regional section of today’s L.A. Times<\/a> (intrusive registration, use ‘laexaminer’\/’laexaminer’):<\/p>\n Taking the Intifada to the Football Field<\/b><\/p>\n What could be more American? Dozens of young men in Orange County have planned a football tournament for the New Year’s weekend in Irvine.<\/p>\n But this gathering of Muslim American athletes on the gridiron – they say a first for Southern California – is being flagged for unsportsmanlike conduct by religious leaders dismayed by some of the team’s names.<\/p>\n