06/21/2003 Archived Entry: "Palestinians are not Israelis"

Many people think of the Palestinians as both oppressed citizens of Israel and citizens of a country that is under unjustified foreign occupation by Israel. For example this article claims that the Israelis are oppressing the Palestinians by not allowing them free entry into Israel:

Most attention has been paid to the 'closures' - the decision by the Israeli authorities to prevent the normal flow of Palestinian people and goods in and out of the West Bank and Gaza – and their direct impact. Before the closures, over 110,000 Palestinian workers, more than 20 per cent of the Palestinian workforce, were working in Israel.

The economy has been adversely affected by the vigorous (and as widely agreed internationally, the illegal) policy of creating new and expanding settlements for Israelis within the land areas of the West Bank and Gaza. The settlements take land away from the Palestinians, many have been built on land that Palestinians have previously used for agriculture. In the West Bank, these settlements occupy a total area in excess of 40 square miles. In Gaza, the 5,000 settlers occupy 30 per cent of the total land area. The Israeli population of the settlements in Palestinian areas is currently increasing at some four times the natural increase in the overall Israeli population.

If there is a Palestine, then it has the right to control entry, and it can make policy against Jewish immigration. If that is the case, then the Israeli government has no right to fund immigration there, and no right to force the government there to accept Jews as residents. But control of immigration goes both ways. It can't be the case that Palestine has the right to control Jewish entry, but Israel has no right to control Palestinian entry.

If there is no Palestine and the Palestinians are Israelis, then they have the right to travel freely in Israel. That is a component of citizenship in a free state. However, having the government protect one from living near members of a disliked ethnic or religious group is not a generally accepted component of citizenship. If the territories are part of Israel, then Israelis have the right to live there. Also, Israel is the Jewish state. Part of its mission is to be the homeland for Jews. It is necessary and right for Israel to help Jews move there.

In reality, the disputed territories do not comprise a sovereign Arab state called Palestine, and they never have. It's likely that at least some of them will in the future, but they do not now. They are not now part of any state. They come the closest to being part of Israel, but they are not part of Israel at the moment. As they are not part of Israel, many people who live there are not Israelis.

Israel has vital security problems in the area that prevent withdrawal until they are solved. The area is used as a base of operations to attack Israel. Israel has the right and obligation to act to prevent this. Israel also has national interests in the region. There are important historic and religious sites there. Future creation of a sovereign state in this area will need to involve negotiating access to these sites. In the meantime, Israelis live in these areas. It is not politically or morally possible for the Israeli government to prevent this. It is also not possible for Israel to avoid involvement – refusing to protect citizens from attack while they are doing something legal is also not morally or politically possible. If there is a new sovereign state formed in that area, the Israelis who are living there now may have to move somewhere else as part of the negotiations. That does not mean that their current residence violates the rights of non-Israelis who live in the region. It also does not mean the Palestinians have the right to freely enter and work in Israel.