GOP Officially Endorses One-State Solution

Posted on: January 19, 2012 Posted by: Mitchell Plitnick Comments: 46
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Last week in New Orleans, the Republican National Committee officially adopted a resolution supporting a one-state solution in Israel-Palestine.

This news came to me via a very trusted source, but both I and my source were puzzled by the fact that we could find nothing in the media confirming this. I called the RNC, but they would neither confirm nor deny.

Cindy Costa, RNC Committeewoman from South Carolina, who brought the resolution

So, I contacted Cindy Costa, the RNC’s National Committeewoman from South Carolina who was listed as the sponsor of the resolution. Here’s our e-mail exchange:

Me: Dear Ms. Costa,
I am a correspondent for several web-based news outlets, including Inter Press Service. I received the resolution below today, and would like to write an article about it. I just wanted to check with you that this was in fact an officially adopted RNC resolution. Can you please let me know? Thanks.

Costa: Yes it was adopted unanimously by the RNC last Friday at our winter meeting in New Orleans.  Cindy

So, that seems pretty clear. I reprint the entire text of the resolution below (and I sent it fully to Ms. Costa so she could confirm the full text), but the key passage is this one:

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, that the members of this body support Israel in their natural and God-given right of self-governance and self-defense upon their own lands, recognizing that Israel is neither an attacking force nor an occupier of the lands of others; and that peace can be afforded the region only through a united Israel governed under one law for all people.

I don’t see how anyone could read that as anything but a statement in support of a one-state solution. The RNC officially supports not only continued Israeli possession of all the land it currently controls, but advocates “one law for all people,” which does not exist now.

Israelis behind the Green Line live under Israeli law. So do settlers. But Palestinians in the West Bank, including East Jerusalem are subject to a conglomeration of laws based on previous Jordanian law from before 1967, Israeli emergency laws and military regulations mostly adopted after 1967, and even some measure of old Ottoman laws, these particularly applied in East Jerusalem.

So, there is no interpretation possible other than that the RNC is also advocating complete Israeli annexation of the West Bank, including granting citizenship to the Palestinians living there.

I rather doubt that’s what they intended, but that is what the resolution states. No doubt, the assembled delegates had no idea what they were advocating because they have no idea about the realities on the ground.

But one state for all, Israeli Jews and Palestinian Arabs, is now the official Republican stance. I’ll assume that committed one-staters who base their stance on Palestinian rights, rather than Israel’s “God-given privileges” are not suddenly going to support the GOP.

But it’s worth spreading this news around. While Republicans, and far too many clueless Democrats, berate Barack Obama for an imagined “lack of support” for Israel, we should see what they are actually advocating.

The RNC is obviously concerned about how this will look. Otherwise, why have they gone out of their way to keep this resolution under wraps? It certainly seems to me that if the New York Times had heard about it, they would have reported it.

So, here is the full text of the resolution adopted last week by the RNC. There’s plenty more that rational people will find disturbing in it, whatever your views on Israel-Palestine:

AN RNC RESOLUTION TO COMMEND THE NATION OF ISRAEL FOR ITS RELATIONS WITH THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA

WHEREAS, Israel has been granted her lands under and through the oldest recorded deed as reported in the Old Testament, a tome of scripture held sacred and reverenced by Jew and Christian, alike, as the acts and words of God; and

WHEREAS, as the Grantor of said lands, God stated to the Jewish people in the Old Testament; in Leviticus, Chapter 20, Verse 24:  “Ye shall inherit their land, and I will give it unto you to possess it, a land that floweth with milk and honey”; and

WHEREAS, God has never rescinded his grant of said lands; and

WHEREAS, along with the grant of said lands to the Jewish people, God provided for the non-Jewish residents of the land in commanding that governance must be in one law for all without drawing distinction between Jewish and non-Jewish citizens, as contained in Leviticus 24:22, and

WHEREAS, the Nation of Israel declared its independent control and governance of said lands on May 14, 1948, with the goal of re-establishing their God-given lands as a homeland for the Jewish people; and

WHEREAS, the United States of America, having been the first country to recognize Israel as an independent nation and as Israel’s principal Mideast ally, has enjoyed a close and mutually beneficial relationship with Israel and her people; and

WHEREAS, indeed, Israel is the United States of America’s greatest friend in the Mideast; and

WHEREAS, the roots of Israel and the roots of the United States of America are so intertwined that it is difficult to separate one from the other under the word and protection of almighty God; and

WHEREAS, there are those in the Middle East who have sought to destroy Israel from its inception as anation; and

WHEREAS, those same enemies of Israel also seek to destroy the United States of America; and

WHEREAS, the United States of America and the nation of Israel have enjoyed cordial and mutually beneficial relations since 1948, a friendship that should continues to strengthen with each passing year.

NOW, THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED, by the Republican Nation Committee that the committee by this resolution commends the nation of Israel for its relations with the United States of America.

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, that the members of this body support Israel in their natural and God-given right of self-governance and self-defense upon their own lands, recognizing that Israel is neither an attacking force nor an occupier of the lands of others; and that peace can be afforded the region only through a united Israel governed under one law for all people.

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, that a copy of this resolution be forwarded to the Speaker of the House of Representatives and Senate Leadership and each of the legislatures of the states within the United States of America with the request and recommendation of this body that a similar resolution to that stated herein be proposed within their respective bodies.

Sponsor–Cindy Costa National Committeewoman South Carolina

46 People reacted on this

    1. Exactly Zed! It means the annexation of the West Bank and Gaza and the formation of the Greater Israel under a Jewish law. The meaning of the resolution should be deduced from the whole not one phrase of “one law for all people”. What an alluring and exciting prospect for the rotting people in Gaza who will be able to aspire to get senior governmental or military positions, work in sensitive facilities such as Lamorna nuclear plant, become ministers, prime minister, president perhaps!

  4. What would be really nice would be to spirit the GOP to Hebron, where they could see the Occupation, which they clearly have missed on whatever trips they have made thusfar to the West Bank. Or maybe they could go to the villages of the South Hebron Hills in Area C facing infrastructure destruction by the Israeli military, or maybe Bethlehem, ghettoized behind the Wall. Or Yanoun, in Area C, or Jaba’, or East Jerusalem, or any of a number of Seam Zones, or maybe Tulkarem or Jayyous. Trust me, the Occupation is not that hard to see if you get off the tour bus and out of the 5-star hotels.

  5. I’d love that to be all it took for the scales to drop from their eyes Christiarts. Given the politico-religious fervour of the resolution’s language, a trip to Hebron would likely further deepen the RNC’s devotion to the exclusionist view of who is entitled to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness held by those enforcing, backing, profiting from the Occupation that as you say, is far from invisible.

  6. This passage makes it appear as though the statement is only referring to land controlled by Israel in 1948:

    “along with the grant of said lands to the Jewish people, God provided for the non-Jewish residents of the land in commanding that governance must be in one law for all without drawing distinction between Jewish and non-Jewish citizens, as contained in Leviticus 24:22, and

    WHEREAS, the Nation of Israel declared its independent control and governance of said lands on May 14, 1948”

    I agree that they have no idea what they are talking about, since it they ARE only talking about land controlled in 1948 it would exclude most of Jerusalem. But unless I’m misreading this, they aren’t calling for a single state from the Jordan to the Mediterranean.

    1. I just don’t know if the Republicans can still be trusted to run the government, not to mention the Congress. They still don’t have worthy candicates for presidency that will compete with Barak Obama with all his faults.

      If the Republicans mean that Arabs and Jews can have equal votes and rights, by all means. But I doubt that they mean that, and as others mentioned, it seems that they don’t know what they are talking about. Most likely some of the pro-Israel extremists suggested this under “our Christian belief”, in order to give Israel a way out of making the hard decision for a two-state solution, with the intention to not give equal rights or citizenship, but rather give the Israeli government the consent to continue its appartheid and segregation; which they can explian through other laws and measures such as “terror” prevention acts, security of Israel…etc. But which Israel? Is that the one that includes Arabs, or excludes them? That would be the question.

      Good luck Romney! He will surely need lots of it.

  7. Israel lost its “God-given” right to the land a long time ago as Moses warned in Lev. 26:14-39 and Deut. 28:15-68 (note especially v. 63) and as it is recorded in II Kings 25:1-21. The Jewish people came back from their captivity, but were again disobedient to God’s covenant so they came under the control of the Greeks and Romans who destroyed Jerusalem in 70 A.D. They are reaping what they have sown over the centuries.

    1. By Israeli law, the “deed” to Palestine was invalidated by absenteeism, namely two thousand years of absence. By Israeli law, that deed now belongs to the Jewish National Fund (the “fence” for stolen and confiscated property!) and not to the Jewish people. In two thousand years, Jews didn’t care enough to return to Zion in any great numbers. The means was available especially under the Ottomans who welcomed immigration and cared only about administration and taxes. It just lacked motivation. Now, however, the “land” is suddenly (in historic time) very dear indeed. The “Lords of the Land” are really “The Lords of Someone Else’s Land.”

  8. It almost defies belief that the RNC could be this stupid and/or this wildly unhinged. I think I’ll give them the benefit of the doubt and go with stupid, for now.

    1. It is not surprising that the RNC is moronic. It is surprising that it has no hesitancy and shame in voicing this idiotic resolution.

  10. The media didn’t cover this because it’s meaningless. It was written by people who are totally ignorant of what’s happening in Israel, and does not relate to any real thing.

  11. It is not “impossible” to read the resolution otherwise, although to do so you practically need to apply Talmudic principles of interpretation. The RNC simply may be reverting to referring to the Occupied Territories by another name (and concept): as “disputed territories.” Doing so would allow the resolution to assert that Israel is not an “occupier of the lands of others.” The key word here is “others.” If these territories are disputed, they do not belong to others, including the Palestinians. A “united Israel” thus can be read as a reference to lands within the Green Line and those Israel has annexed or unilaterally claimed as its own territorial possessions; at the same time, there is plausible deniability as to whether the resolution refers to anything currently designated as Palestinian territory.

    1. To call that a stretch would be an understatement, Lincoln. And it’s contrary to the enter spirit of the rest of the document. I have no doubt that such would be the way a Republican who wanted to get out of this would contend is its meaning, but it can’t be reasonably interpreted that way in the context of the whole resolution.

  12. “and those Israel has annexed or unilaterally claimed as its own territorial possessions;”

    The problem with that argument is that Israel has never actually declared the annexation of any territory beyond the Green Line.

    In the case of both East Jerusalem and the Golan Heights all that Israel has ever done is to declare that Israeli Law would henceforth be applied to those territories.

    (as opposed to the West Bank, Gaza, and pre-1978 Sinai, where Israel ruled/rules by means of IDF Military Orders).

    Or, in short: all that Israel has ever done is to insist that it has a “right” to treat Jerusalem and the Golan *as* *if* it owned them.

    Which is not at all the same thing as claiming “I own them now”.
    .

  14. Someone mentioned this already, but separation of church and state? Apparently Republicans have also forgotten the Constitution? At least now we can rightfully say the Republicans are anti-Apartheid, so they must now be critical of the Israeli regime right? 😉 The funny thing is, this is no surprise. The Republicans generally have no clue what they’re doing, nor do they know what the things coming out of their mouths actually mean. I’d love to take the RNC to Gaza, have them sit down for tea with some of the families I spent significant time with and listen to the war crimes committed against them because of Israeli siege and occupation which they deny, and see if they can listen without feeling sick or crying. I know I couldn’t. If they can, we would have proven another point….Republicans have no soul.

    And I will say, the Dems aren’t much better….

  15. I love it. Remove the zones and borders and we’ll see a struggle for civil rights on both sides of the wall and the Green Line, and not just one law for all (which would eliminate the Law of Return and other privileges for Jews only), but also equal access to the law, i.e. one person, one vote.

    I say on both sides, because the mass, activist J14 movement now supports a non-ethnic state, saying “we’re all human”, and Israel’s 1.4 million Palestinians are joining in droves.

    The GOP is so in lala land that they even quote GOD as having decreed this, so they can’t go back on it when they find out that this is NOT ONE BIT what Israel wants. Of course they haven’t got a hope of winning the White House, but it still knocks a massive hole in the supposed “international consensus for Two States”.

  28. […] GOP Officially Endorses One-State Solution and More on the RNC Call for One State – My fellow blogger Mitchell Plitnick broke a somewhat startling story yesterday: After years of bi-partisan American support for a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, the Republican National Committee has officially endorsed what amounts to the Israeli annexation of the West Bank — a one-state solution. Of course, in a very real way, this enormous policy change (no less a Republican than George W. Bush was the first American President to make public reference to a “Palestinian state”) is actually a better reflection of the US government’s decades-long de facto policy: Sitting idly by as Israel all but enacts the one-state solution on its own, through the rapid expansion of settlements and Israeli-only roads, which serve to chop the territory up in a fashion intended to preclude the possibility of establishing a Palestinian state on West Bank lands. So… points for honesty? […]

  32. […] like Sheldon Adelson and Irving Moskowitz. This has manifested in the Republican National Committee adopting a one-state platform earlier this year. J Street has noticed, as they are now launching a campaign against what they […]

  34. […] GOP Officially Endorses One-State Solution « The Third Way …January 19, 2012 by Mitchell Plitnick. Last week in New Orleans, …. Mitchell Plitnick reports (thanks to Paul […] … on January 21, 2012 at 11:55 pm | Reply David … Uncategorized Comments are closed. […]

  36. […] Not only does Newt Gingrich believe there’s no such thing as a Palestinian people, the Republican National Committee does as well. That mean that 20 years of bipartisan agreement between political parties and the foreign policy […]

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