Frequently
Asked Questions
What
is Two Stars for Peace?
It
is the name for a grassroots plan to solve the Middle East
Crisis by merging Palestine and Israel into the U.S. as the
51st and 52nd states.
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Why
should Americans add Palestine and Israel as states?
American
statehood for Israel and Palestine will solve America's biggest
foreign relations problem, and also contribute to a reduction
in terrorism. No country other than America has this ability
to achieve a lasting peace in the Middle East. No other solution
will work for long. The expansion will also infuse new economic
and cultural dynamism into America because Israelis and Palestinians
are amongst the most creative people in the world.
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Why
should Israel and Palestine give up sovereignty for U.S. statehood?
Joining
the U.S. means Israel and Palestine share U.S. sovereignty.
They do not give up sovereignty, but instead trade stand-alone
sovereignty for shared sovereignty. Shared American sovereignty
offers Israel and Palestine the benefits of peace, stability,
economic growth and justice, none of which have been obtainable
with stand-alone sovereignty. Also, as is evidenced in Europe,
the way of the future is multi-state unions rather than stand-alone
states.
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Isn't
adding states to America very difficult?
It
only takes a majority vote of the U.S. Congress to add a state.
No nationwide vote is required. 37 states have been added
since the U.S. was founded. The time gap between adding Hawaii
and adding Israel/Palestine is shorter than the time gap that
existed before adding Alaska as a state.
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Aren't
Israel and Palestine too far away to add?
There
is only a two hour flight difference between Washington-Jerusalem
and Washington-Honolulu. When California was added as a state,
the travel difference was measured in weeks.
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What
about language?
A
much greater percentage of Israelis and Palestinians speak
English than do immigrants to the U.S. from Latin America
and Asia.
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What
about Jewish settlers in the West Bank?
They
could remain, but would become residents of the American state
of Palestine, and would be subject to Palestinian state law.
Both Israeli and Palestinian state law would have to treat
all citizens - Arabs, Immigrants, Jews, Christians, Moslems
- equally in accordance with the U.S. Constitutional guarantees
of Equal Protection and Due Process.
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What
about Jerusalem?
West
Jerusalem would be the capital of the American state of Israel.
East Jerusalem would be the capital of the American state
of Palestine. There would be no border between the two capitals.
Moving between them would be like traveling from Manhattan,
NY to Newark, NJ or Bethesda, Maryland to Fairfax, Virginia.
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How
long would this statehood process take?
A
grassroots "two stars" movement could make it happen
within two years!
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What
about the Right of Return for Jews and Palestinians?
The
Two Stars Plan is flexible enough to permit Jews and Palestinians
in Diaspora (living outside of Israel or Palestine) to resettle
in Israel or Palestine as American citizens. A new category
of immigration visa would be established to ensure the returnees
qualified. There are only about 3-5 million Jews and Palestinians
living in Diaspora outside of the United States. Thus, it
will not be difficult to absorb this number of people within
America's 300 million person population. Indeed, every decade
America absorbs more illegal immigrants than the total possible
number of Jews and Palestinians in Diaspora.
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What
about the role of religion in Israel and Palestine?
Israel
can still be considered "the Jewish state" in the
same way that Utah is considered "the Mormon state."
Friday, the Islamic sabbath, can continue to be respected
by closing government offices on that day in Palestine. Just
as in America, followers of every religion in Israel and Palestine
will be assured of their right to observe their faith. Also,
as in America, Israeli and Palestinian governments could not
preferentially favor one or more religions. Religion and government
must stay separate in the American system -- yet this does
not diminish at all the extent to which people may observe
their faith. Proof of this can be seen in the fact that America
nurtures even the most observant forms of all the great religions.
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