As for your last point, what the author of the article seems to be arguing, is that a federalist state, if represented by population, will be then Arab dominated. And if represented by states, will have at least equal power. Either situation will be unacceptable to the idea that most Jews have about the state of their State.

In 1948, a single state solution would have been best. I firmly believe that, and I believe it would have led to much much less bloodshed.

However, I do not see a single state solution as being the best outcome at the moment. Sadly, nationalism has corrupted both the Israeli and Palestinian soul.

Now there is an interesting thought, something more like a Confederacy, or Federalism, where there can still be an Israel, and a Palestine, within one larger functioning state.

Obviously the most publicized exception to this is Neturei Karta, but it is a small and unrepresentative group.

Along those lines, I have found it very interesting to read the blog South Jerusalem (http://southjerusalem.com), which features politically progressive but religiously orthodox perspective from the Israeli side. Especially valuable are the contributions of Gershom Gorenberg at this blog.

This is something about which I really yearn for some scholarly clarification. What should be the desired outcome of the situation for us as Muslims.

Much of the “progressive” Israeli argument in favor of a more just arrangment for the Palestinians is based on the notion that if one does not do a deal with the Palestinians now at some point in the future it will be impossible to get a two state deal because Palestinians will outnumber Israelis and will simply ask to be given full rights in the Israeli state. It is only relatively recently that Palestinian activists and leadership were willing to accept a two state solution and now many secular activists have already gone beyond that and are back to advocating a one state solution (with that one state being a binational democracy). There is almost no constituency for that solution in the Israeli community because it would raise so sharply the identity issues, some of which are discussed in this article. At the same time, rightwing Israelis believe that military force and the unquestioning support of the United States on the global stage will be enough to maintain whatever position it is that they think they maintain now in terms of their security as a state.

Obviously amongst the Islamic activists as represented by Hamas, there has been continuing recent signs that they will be willing to accept a two state deal although there is a definite reluctance to state this clearly. At the end of the day, Hamas is a political party and its position, while informed by its Islamic values (I don’t want to get into a discussion here about the Islamicity of Hamas) is a political position based on other factors as well.

Are there Islamic scholarly opinions justifying a negotiated two state solution? Are there Islamic scholarly opinions justifying a one state binational democratic solution? Is whatever a legitimate representative of the Palestinian people agrees to therefore valid and acceptable? I am familiar with Islamic opinions and rulings which would clearly advocate that the whole of the territory should be retaken, at least eventually. Without agreeing or disagreeing with those opinions, I am trying to get a sense of other Islamic scholarly opinions out there.

I understand that Israelis want a Jewish state. As long as it wasn’t on occupied or stolen Muslim land, there is no reason why this would pose any problem for us as Muslims.

Yet, the author argues that “60 years of independence have not provided Israel with legitimacy in its own region”, because externally it is seen as a “small Jewish island in the great sea of Islam”, and the fear of Iran rises again. Internally, Israel’s great military victory in 1967 led to an euphoria and arrogance that gave birth to “a squalid and seemingly endless occupation, and to the birth of a mystical, antidemocratic, and revanchist strain of Zionism, made manifest in the settlements of the West Bank.”

Man I really pity the Jews. Muslims have such a low self esteem of ourselves we never realized that there were others out there more morally disenfranchised and confused than us. They try so hard to hold onto all that they are as Jews and they lose it all so quickly. You can tell they are really struggling to make it. How badly has Allah cursed them!

I think there are a number of things we can learn from this:

1) How to hold onto your religious/ethnic identity as it slowly slips away…the Israelis are really grasping to hold onto their tradition and their horrendous actions show this desperation and paranoid fear of losing it all. You can really see how much Allah has blessed us that after 1400 years we still maintain that sense of Islamic belonging and practice…subhana Allah it’s almost supernatural–no wonder they envy and hate us. How much has He given us and how little has He given them!

2) How to establish a state with religion as it’s backing. One day, we Muslims will have to re-establish our State and whenever that is–we have an example in the Jews to see how to (not) do it.

Looking forward to the next article on this. Nice change from the regular Israel bashing. (Israel is the name of Prophet Yaqub alayhi salam, so when we curse Israel, it is as if we are cursing one of the Prophets of Allah).