Yes, this insolent settlement too must be razed so Obama's two-country vision can be implemented. (BTW, what was the argument against South Africa's policy of several independent countries? Why there the West demanded ONE country?)
I seem to remember Helen Suzman always calling for a "nonracial democracy". Other had plans for "multiracial democracy" which would ensure minority representation, local autonomy, etc., but these were rejected since they weren't nonracial. Simply breaking the country up would have been a better idea, I suppose, but de Klerk's faction didn't want to.
The plan (that I just made up) would be to create a white-majority state and a black-majority state, give the latter a federal structure and secession rights for its members states, and then go to universal suffrage* and run both countries in the "nonracial democracy" way. The whites would end up running the Cape country, which would thus be much like the United States.
In any case it wouldn't have worked in the long-term without a major shift in international attitudes toward immigration. This is because the new Cape republic would have been better run than the East republic, as white countries always are. Then a bunch of poor blacks would have flooded across the border demanding that the rich country be run more like the poor country. (Indeed, blacks poured into South Africa all during the apartheid period.) Then the Cape government, in the hands of Nationals or Conservatives, could have set up a border fence or whatever.
Would international pressure have forced them to take the fence down? I'd say so. After all, international pressure forced a bunch of apartheid supporters to hand over power to blacks. I don't think any fence would stand a chance. Then the blacks would demand voting rights, which if not given would result in more pressure, and if given would result in eventual black rule for the Cape republic.
The only reason it is isn't international pressure keeping open the US border with Mexico is - domestic pressure is quite enough. Super-pro-immigration Obama is only slightly less in favor of mass immigration than McCain. There is still talk about the fence but I think it will never really be built. Eventually the US will be poor enough to stop attracting Mexicans, but that isn't very comforting.
I never really got your opinion on Yisrael Beiteinu, J. I don't mean to pry....
* Or they could go not to universal suffrage, but to nonracial property-based suffrage, like Rhodesia. In which case they would presumably go the way of Rhodesia.
There were many arguments against the 'several country' plan of the old South Africa. One was that it was imposed on the blacks without their consent, and effectively deprived them of citizenship rights in the main land area of "white" South Africa. Another was that although these black areas were the traditional homelands of these various tribes, they were over-crowded and very under-developed economically and people there were more-or-less obliged to live in poverty (although they were allowed to work in white SA on a temporary basis). A third argument was that some of the traditional black areas were in fact taken unfairly by whites and were not returned to the blacks. A fourth argument was that these countries were not really independent and were controlled totally by the white government; as such, they were not recognized by any other country in the world.
All of these arguments were valid, but it is not often recognized that much of South Africa, especially the Cape, was not yet occupied by blacks (ie 'Bantu') who were moving down as the whites were moving up; therefore much of the Cape (ie the Western Cape) was never a Bantu area and is now actually controlled by the opposition predominantly white Democratic Alliance Party, and not the ANC (unlike the rest of the country). There is talk in fact of the Western Cape seceding from the rest of the country if it deteriorates (like Zimbabwe).
There have been many people (eg Jimmy Carter) who have drawn parallels between your situation and the old South Africa. To some extent these have some validity. Enforced segregation often enrtails a lot of cruelty and suffering. Sometimes, however, and unfortunately, I am forced by experience to think that security and demographic survival may depend on some degree of separation. But to be viable, a 2-state solution has to based on fairness and viability. The lesson from SA is that our system was not so based, had zero international support, and was simply not viable. And so we paid the price. And you should study our history carefully, so you do not fall into the same trap.
Yisrael Beiteinu is a dominated by Russian immigrants and is lead by the hard core of Russian Jewry, that fought against the German Wermacht and won, that fought against the antisemite Andropov communist dictatorship and won. They are very tough people that has no fear in their hearts to stand up and oppose the United States or any other thoughts I would not be hard enough to think. For example, population exchange i.e. massive expulsion of Palestinians from Israel proper and from the territories, and they mean everything they say. In Russia it was done daily by Stalin, showing that it can be done without the foundations of Heaven collapsing. They think that the West is hypochrite, decadent and weak, and will take it in quietly (like the North Korean nuclear bomb thing) and even ask for more. I did not vote for them.
7 comments:
I suggest this be dismantled immediately, to kickstart the peace process.
Anon.
Yes, this insolent settlement too must be razed so Obama's two-country vision can be implemented. (BTW, what was the argument against South Africa's policy of several independent countries? Why there the West demanded ONE country?)
I don't think it was just the West.
I seem to remember Helen Suzman always calling for a "nonracial democracy". Other had plans for "multiracial democracy" which would ensure minority representation, local autonomy, etc., but these were rejected since they weren't nonracial. Simply breaking the country up would have been a better idea, I suppose, but de Klerk's faction didn't want to.
The plan (that I just made up) would be to create a white-majority state and a black-majority state, give the latter a federal structure and secession rights for its members states, and then go to universal suffrage* and run both countries in the "nonracial democracy" way. The whites would end up running the Cape country, which would thus be much like the United States.
In any case it wouldn't have worked in the long-term without a major shift in international attitudes toward immigration. This is because the new Cape republic would have been better run than the East republic, as white countries always are. Then a bunch of poor blacks would have flooded across the border demanding that the rich country be run more like the poor country. (Indeed, blacks poured into South Africa all during the apartheid period.) Then the Cape government, in the hands of Nationals or Conservatives, could have set up a border fence or whatever.
Would international pressure have forced them to take the fence down? I'd say so. After all, international pressure forced a bunch of apartheid supporters to hand over power to blacks. I don't think any fence would stand a chance. Then the blacks would demand voting rights, which if not given would result in more pressure, and if given would result in eventual black rule for the Cape republic.
The only reason it is isn't international pressure keeping open the US border with Mexico is - domestic pressure is quite enough. Super-pro-immigration Obama is only slightly less in favor of mass immigration than McCain. There is still talk about the fence but I think it will never really be built. Eventually the US will be poor enough to stop attracting Mexicans, but that isn't very comforting.
I never really got your opinion on Yisrael Beiteinu, J. I don't mean to pry....
* Or they could go not to universal suffrage, but to nonracial property-based suffrage, like Rhodesia. In which case they would presumably go the way of Rhodesia.
There were many arguments against the 'several country' plan of the old South Africa. One was that it was imposed on the blacks without their consent, and effectively deprived them of citizenship rights in the main land area of "white" South Africa. Another was that although these black areas were the traditional homelands of these various tribes, they were over-crowded and very under-developed economically and people there were more-or-less obliged to live in poverty (although they were allowed to work in white SA on a temporary basis).
A third argument was that some of the traditional black areas were in fact taken unfairly by whites and were not returned to the blacks. A fourth argument was that these countries were not really independent and were controlled totally by the white government; as such, they were not recognized by any other country in the world.
All of these arguments were valid, but it is not often recognized that much of South Africa, especially the Cape, was not yet occupied by blacks (ie 'Bantu') who were moving down as the whites were moving up; therefore much of the Cape (ie the Western Cape) was never a Bantu area and is now actually controlled by the opposition predominantly white Democratic Alliance Party, and not the ANC (unlike the rest of the country). There is talk in fact of the Western Cape seceding from the rest of the country if it deteriorates (like Zimbabwe).
There have been many people (eg Jimmy Carter) who have drawn parallels between your situation and the old South Africa. To some extent these have some validity. Enforced segregation often enrtails a lot of cruelty and suffering. Sometimes, however, and unfortunately, I am forced by experience to think that security and demographic survival may depend on some degree of separation. But to be viable, a 2-state solution has to based on fairness and viability. The lesson from SA is that our system was not so based, had zero international support, and was simply not viable. And so we paid the price. And you should study our history carefully, so you do not fall into the same trap.
Anon.
Yisrael Beiteinu is a dominated by Russian immigrants and is lead by the hard core of Russian Jewry, that fought against the German Wermacht and won, that fought against the antisemite Andropov communist dictatorship and won. They are very tough people that has no fear in their hearts to stand up and oppose the United States or any other thoughts I would not be hard enough to think. For example, population exchange i.e. massive expulsion of Palestinians from Israel proper and from the territories, and they mean everything they say. In Russia it was done daily by Stalin, showing that it can be done without the foundations of Heaven collapsing. They think that the West is hypochrite, decadent and weak, and will take it in quietly (like the North Korean nuclear bomb thing) and even ask for more. I did not vote for them.
I did not vote for them.
If those are their positions then you should have voted for them.
I am not so brave.
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