Los Angeles, CA: The Israeli Consulate, in the

heart of Wilshire Boulevard’s “Miracle Mile” district,

was the sight of a peaceful protest against Israel’s

recent attack on the Gaza Strip. The rush hour

gathering was called by LA Jews for a Just Peace, who

dressed as Israeli border guards.

Spokesman Barry Trachtenberg explained that the

intent was “to highlight the brutality of the Israel,

[such as when] stepping up the offensive is considered

a military success.”

LA Jews for a Just Peace endorse the “right of

return.” Which is the right for Palestinian refugees

to return and swell the Israeli population to the tune

of 3 million Arabs. For this reason, they were not

joined by Arabic organizations, but not American Peace Now, the extension of

Israel’s Peace Now movement.

The issue of “right of return” is crucial to the

question of whether Israel/Palestine is to remain a

Jewish State. It is the right of every Jew to return

to his or her ancestral home which has brought

immigrants to Israel from throughout the Jewish

Diaspora.

Trachtenberg said that he, and those for whom he

was the appointed spokesman, were working to create a

“fundamental transformation” of Israel into a country that prioritizes democracy over religious identity.

On the other side of Wilshire Boulevard, under

Israeli and American flags, and signs and banners of

their own, was the other side of the “right of return”

question.

As Jennifer Dekel from Bruins for Israel told me,

“I used to believe in two states, but now I only

believe one is possible.”

By one state she means one Jewish state called

Israel, not two states called Israel and Palestine,

and not one state called Israel/Palestine for Jews and

Muslims, as Trachtenberg as his cohorts are calling

for.



One state or two states is the question which holds

up every dialogue on this issue, for the simple reason

that neither side has a definitive position. In both

the Israeli and Palestinian camps, a two state system

is seen as concession.

For the Israeli hardliners, creating a sovereign

nation of Palestine, would be to create a neighboring

enemy. For the Palestinian hardliners, accepting

separate nations Israel and Palestine is to legitimize

what they believe was an illegitimate Jewish claim to

the land. Those on either side who support two

states, do so knowing it is a band-aid to a larger

question.

For Shady Hakim, of American Friends Service

Committee, the phrase , “end the occupation”, written on many of the

protesters signs, means a return

to the ‘67 borders and a shared Jerusalem.

“The Palestinian moderates exist,” said Hakim, “and

after the Oslo Treaty people were rebuilding homes and

there was an excitement that the situation would

improve, but now they see the [Oslo] peace process as

in reality a long term cooptation.”

This perception is disputed by those on the other

side of the road. A man who asked only to be

identified as Raymond “if Israel were imperialists,

they would take over the whole Middle East. We just

want this one portion of land, which was given to us

in the Bible.”

According to Raymond, Israel and it’s supporters do

not want to kick out the Muslims, but the attacks

against Israeli civilians leaves them no choice.

Back to the other side of the road and Hakim says “the average Palestinian wants to live in peace,

but it’s hard to ask someone living under a

stranglehold to show unilateral good faith.”

At that moment, Hakim, who had been holding a sign

with a red cross painted on it, was approached by one

of the protesters dressed as an Israeli border guard.

“Come on,” she says in character, “there’s a woman

giving a birth to a baby.”

I return to the Zionist side of the road where I am

informed by everyone I speak to that the Palestinians

don’t want peace.