Re Two Elections and Two States

This past week I have been immersed in both the run-up to the American elections and in Israeli-Palestinian affairs. I participated in a debate with a Republicans Abroad representative on Sunday evening in Jerusalem, and on Monday in a program organized by CNN at Tel Aviv U. Former Meretz leader Yossi Beilin was also at TAU, and like me wearing a black shirt, causing white-shirted suit and tie Republican Chair Mark Zell, former law partner of Bush administration neo-con Douglas Feith, one of the people who brought us the Iraq War, to comment. I explained to him that most women and many men know that black makes them look thinner.

To show you how I have been advocating for the reelection of President Obama, here’s a link to the op-ed I published in The Jerusalem Post this week:

Why Obama – JPost – Opinion – Op-Eds

4 days ago … The Jerusalem Post … President Obama and the Democratic Party stand for values that we believe in, tikkun olam, the creation of a better … Hillel Schenker is acting chair of Democrats Abroad – Israel, and lives in Tel Aviv

And to show you some of what we’re up against, see this article about the “exit poll” carried out by the Republican-oriented iVoteIsrael people about how Israeli-Americans voted:

Poll: 85% of Americans in Israel voted for Romney – Israel News …

1 day ago … Democrats decry survey as ‘unscientific,’ citing ties to conservative backer Ronald Lauder.

This is from a letter to the editor I’ve sent in response:

… First of all, most of the Israeli Americans who voted for President Obama and Democratic Party candidates used the veteran Vote From Abroad | Absentee Ballots for Americans website, and had no need for the services of iVoteIsrael.
Secondly, according to their own survey of the voters who used their services, 50% defined themselves as national religious, and 22% as ultra-Orthodox. That fits the profile of the 22% minority of American Jewish voters who voted for John McCain against Barack Obama in the 2008 elections. This is not surprising, since the majority of the iVoteIsrael polling stations were located in geographic areas like Jerusalem and Gush Etzion, where most of the Israeli Americans come from those two communities. Not a single polling station was located in the close to 20 kibbutzim which have large American populations, where people undoubtedly voted for the Democrats.
Even according to the iVoteIsrael survey, the majority of the remaining 28% of the voters who used their services (15%) voted for President Obama. …

Last Monday, we had an important meeting of the Israeli Peace NGO Forum which Lilly Rivlin participated in — also J-Street’s Jeremy Ben-Ami — “From Despair to Hope”, devoted primarily to discussing the questions being raised about the viability of a two-state solution. The general consensus remains that the two-state solution is still the only serious game in town, despite the challenges, and that we should support the Palestinian application for non-member status at the UN General Assembly, which reinforces the concept of two states.

And on Thursday evening the Palestine-Israel Journal, in conjunction the Freidrich Ebert Foundation associated with the German Social Democratic Party, held a very stimulating and valuable two-hour brainstorming session on “Placing Jerusalem back on the Political Map”, with the participation of four knowledgeable Palestinians and Israelis, which was opened by Meretz Jerusalem Municipal Council member Dr. Meir Margalit. The result will be a concrete working paper on proposals connected with the future of Jerusalem.

And of course the Israeli elections are coming up (Jan. 22). …