Ops & Blogs | The Times of Israel » Josef Avesar

MUTUAL FUTURE—OR MUTUALLY ENSURED DESTRUCTION?

Josef Avesar — Fri, 17 May 2013 16:06:20 +0000

When it comes to Israel’s nuclear standoff with Iran, Palestinians and Israelis are in the same boat. More than 12 million Israelis and Palestinians live in Israel, the West Bank and Gaza. Any nuclear war between Israel and Iran would devastate all 12 million alike. This mutual-but-unspoken vulnerability underscores Israel’s limited ability to [...]

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Could the Israelis and Palestinians defeat each other?

Josef Avesar — Tue, 07 May 2013 16:11:27 +0000

At one time I interviewed Daniel Pipes, an American conservative thinker. I presented him with the idea of achieving peace through the Israeli Palestinian Confederation. Pipes felt that the idea of cooperation between Israelis and Palestinians contradicts history and the matter in which peace is forged. He believes that in order to have peace, either [...]

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A Brief History of Jewish-Muslim Integration

Josef Avesar — Sun, 28 Apr 2013 16:45:18 +0000

One of the common themes you’ll hear from those who oppose Israelis and Palestinians joining together in a confederation is that Muslims and Jews are so culturally different that any mutual governance would be similar to mixing lions with lambs. Others claim that the Islam religion teaches violence; hence Jews cannot trust Muslims. While I [...]

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Suing Barak Obama for Israeli Palestinian Malpractice

Josef Avesar — Mon, 08 Apr 2013 18:41:38 +0000

I still like Barak Obama and want him to succeed. I voted for him twice, Campaigned and donated money to make sure he was elected. I remember the moment I fell in love with him. It was during the first campaign for president when he gave these wonderful speeches which truly gave me a sense [...]

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Israel can learn from Martin Luther King

Josef Avesar — Mon, 01 Apr 2013 15:14:09 +0000

The Israeli-Palestinian conflict is usually viewed as a real estate dispute, but it’s actually a civil rights issue. The right to live in peace should transcend religion, borders and nationalism, and the measure of success should be the level of civil rights each enjoys rather than the level of fear they inflict on each other. [...]

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Peace, multiple layers of jurisdictions

Josef Avesar — Thu, 07 Mar 2013 16:41:46 +0000

A vision of peace takes into consideration the special needs of the Israeli and Palestinian peoples. It encourages and rewards cooperation while preventing one side from taking advantage of the other. It encourages generosity between its participants while discouraging pettiness and triviality. It encourages transparency and open dialogue while rejecting secrecy. The vision of peace [...]

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Is it possible for the Israelis and Palestinians to defeat each other?

Josef Avesar — Mon, 04 Mar 2013 19:46:04 +0000

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There is no Partner for Peace

Josef Avesar — Mon, 25 Feb 2013 16:23:21 +0000

When I broach the idea of the Israeli Palestinian Confederation, I also get another reaction: “There is no partner for peace.” A partnership is one of the most basic and unsophisticated forms of relationship. Partners too often fight and become suspicious of each other and are often unable to grow and prosper because they waste [...]

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It takes two to tango

Josef Avesar — Fri, 22 Feb 2013 17:15:53 +0000

Peace is the ultimate security for a country. A country cannot rely on its army as the exclusive security measure. A great army can provide a victory and even temporary protection, but not peace. A country at peace does not need an army to defend it. A country at peace would not lose a war [...]

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Israeli Palestinian Confederation-The least unrealistic idea

Josef Avesar — Tue, 19 Feb 2013 19:00:22 +0000

Globalization has become a major factor affecting the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. In the past, when the world was recovering from World War II, events relating to the conflict were not fully discussed in the international arena. Many of the events were considered local news. Meanwhile, both sides were working from two sets of facts, each believing [...]

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The Arab Fisherman who saved my sister

Josef Avesar — Fri, 15 Feb 2013 23:09:22 +0000

In the early 1960s when my sister Ariela was 16, she and her friend decided to take a swim from the beach in Tel Aviv to one of the ships anchored offshore. In order to understand such an ill-advised decision, one would need to know the state of affairs in Israel at the beginning of [...]

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WALLED OFF-Accepting the abnormal as normal

Josef Avesar — Mon, 11 Feb 2013 23:14:17 +0000

Every time I visit family in Israel, my unscientific observations on the enormous difference between Israelis and Palestinians are validated. Not only do the two peoples deviate on the roots and causes of the conflict between them, they are at a total variance in their observation of current affairs. Take, for example, one of the [...]

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