The idea of a Jews-only state of Israel is retrograde and will vanish. The only way forward is for Israel to be a state of all its citizens, writes Galal Nassar Debate over the Jewish state, its borders and its demographic composition, is likely to pick up pace as Palestinian-Israeli negotiations proceed, in keeping with the Annapolis final statement, over the next few months. I have already received numerous reactions to last week's article, in which I discussed the borders of the Jewish state. This is a topic that needs to be reconsidered in light of the intricate fabric of religions and ethnicities in the region. History is part of reality in the region and mustn't be given a backseat in any final settlement just because the Arabs lack political clout today. Since it was created, Israel has boasted of being a democratic country, an oasis of democracy surrounded by military or monarchical dictatorships. Israel claims to be a pluralistic state, one that combines the Sephardim with the Ashkenazi, one that welcomes Jewish immigration from across the world. Jerusalem, we're told, is open to all religions. And Islamic and Christian sanctities are looked after, apparently, by a secular state that believes in freedom of worship. Muslims may have a claim to the above ground part of Al-Aqsa Mosque, but Israel has rights to the underground Solomon's Temple, so goes the argument. Interestingly, the Palestinian National Charter offers more than that. Since its creation, the Palestine Liberation Organisation has called for a secular, pluralistic state in which all citizens have the right to live equally, regardless of race, religion or sect. Israel doesn't recognise that principle, for it wants to remain a purely Jewish state, one devoid of Arabs, Muslims or Christians. The pluralistic, secular image that Israel projects to the West is sheer propaganda, as well as its claim that its neighbours want to throw it into the sea. Before the Annapolis conference, Israel made its recognition of a would-be Palestinian state conditional on the latter's recognition of Israel as a "Jewish state". In his opening speech, President Bush stated that Israel was the national state of the Jews, in line with the partition plan of 1948. The aim of that remark is to defend the Zionist entity in the long run, for right now Israel is having trouble with its expansionist policies -- especially holding on to the land it has occupied since 1967. For their part, the Arabs refuse to recognise Israel until it pulls back from the occupied territories. The Madrid and Oslo meetings made this clear. And the Arab Peace Initiative reiterated the need to exchange land for peace: full withdrawal for full normalisation. So Israel's colonialist tendencies and expansionist policies cannot go on forever. Resistance is still going strong and the Arab boycott has not run its course. Rejection is still the position Arab nations maintain, regardless of what their governments think or do. Israel wants to be recognised as a Jewish state for several reasons. First, Israel wants to expel the 1948 Arabs from Israel. There is one million Arabs living in Israel now and by 2050 their number will surpass that of the Jews, even with Jewish immigration running at the current rate. In the long term, there will be a majority of Arabs in Israel, not counting Arab Jews. Once this happens, Israel's identity, as well as its legitimacy, will be at stake. Once Israeli Arabs become the majority they will shed their second-class identity and become first-class -- or ordinary -- citizens. This is why Israel wants to get rid of them, perhaps to swap them for the 750,000 or so Israelis living in Palestinian areas. Second, Israel wants to resolve the problem of the 1948 and 1967 refugees, now living in Lebanon, Syria, Jordan, Egypt and elsewhere. Israel claims that refugee camps are a breeding ground for terror, providing recruits for organisations such as Hizbullah and Hamas. Israel wants the refugees to understand, once and for all, that they are not going to be permitted to return to their homes and land, for what they used to call home is to be a purely Jewish territory, out of bounds for Muslims and Christians. Israel wants the identity of its citizens to be subsumed by their creed. Third, Israel wants to bring in additional immigrants. There are eight million Jews living around the world, including American Jews. Should they all come to live in Israel, the latter would have a population of 14 million people, which would reduce some of the imbalance it feels versus Muslims and Arabs (there are 350 million Arabs in the region and 1.25 billion Muslims worldwide). Since the 1973 War, and especially since the Lebanon war of 2006, the Arabs have become credible military foes. And with Islamic fervour rising in faraway places, including Indonesia, Bangladesh and Central Asia, Israel is seeking security in numbers. Fourth, Israel wants to back its messianic ideals with geopolitical feats. It is hoping to divide the region into sectarian states: Sunni, Shia, Copt, Turkomen, Kurd, etc. If it succeeds in doing so, Israel would cease to be an aberration, for all its neighbours would become sectarian states as well. For all its pluralistic rhetoric, the US seems to favour regional sectarianism. But what about Levantine Christians? Will they join the Arab nationalist state, or would they have to form their own Christian state? What about Lebanon? Would it assume an Arab, Maronite, Sunni or Shia identity? How about Yemen? Would it become a Zayidi or Shaffiyi state? What about Sudan, would it become an Arab, black, Muslim, Christian or animistic state? And what about the Maghreb countries? Would they become Arab, or Berber? The US is up in arms against Iran, accusing it of involvement in terror. It is vilifying the Sudanese government and trying to take the south away from it. It is opposing the rule of the Islamic Courts in Somalia and backing Ethiopian incursions into that country. And yet, it backs military rule in Pakistan. The US is adopting democracy as a slogan in the "Greater Middle East", but it is worried about the Islamists taking office in Turkey and Morocco. The US is still opposed to the admission of Turkey into the EU, simply because Turkey has a different culture and religion. Yet it wouldn't mind Israel joining the EU. There is no difference between the neo-conservatives and the neo- Zionists. Both are fundamentalist groups with messianic callings. The Jewish state, just as any other theocracy, has no future. For one thing, Judaism doesn't come in one colour. There are orthodox and liberal Jews, oriental and occidental Jews, Arab and Western Jews, rational and text-abiding Jews. Any Judaism on which the new legitimacy of the Zionist entity would be founded would eventually fade away, as did the myths of the "promised land" and a "light unto nations". Israel's fate is not going to differ much from that of the racist regime of South Africa. Israel's best option is to become a secular state and live in peace with its neighbours. Israel's leaders and their friends in the White House and in Congress need to acknowledge this fact. They need to state their position on the borders of Israel, which must be defined in keeping with UN resolutions. Israel can pull out of all the areas it occupied in 1967 and live in peace thereafter. Israel can become a state for all its citizens, irrespective of religion and race. Should this happen, the US would have achieved its primary strategic goal in the Middle East: it would have guaranteed the security of Israel.
