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07/28/2003 Archived Entry: "Palestinian statehood"

In an LGF post, Charles wrote:

As Arafat's puppet, the Holocaust denier Abu Mazen, defiled the White House with his presence, this is what the Palestinians were doing in Gaza City. They celebrated our deaths on September 11, they sided with Iraq, they burn and step on our flag, and President Bush wants to create a state for them.
They're laughing at us.

It is not yet feasible to establish a Palestinian state, as the last thing we ought to do right now is create yet another terrorist-sponsoring state. If a state was created without the dominant values in Palestinian society changing, such a state only be used as a base for attacking Israel and otherwise supporting anti-Western terror. Establishing a state will not, in itself, cause this change in values. If one believes that it is inherently impossible for the dominant values in Palestinian society to change, then it is necessary to oppose in principle the creation of a Palestinian state.

However, if it is inherently impossible to improve Palestinian society, what is the right thing to do? One might say that Palestinian national identity didn't exist before Israel was established, or that Israel is the only Jewish state anywhere, but there are many Arabic states that could take in the Palestinians. Someone who made these arguments would have a point – but a proposal along these lines would be rejected rather emphatically by the Palestinians and the Arabic states. A solution that involved the Palestinians becoming part of other nations would have to involve destruction of Palestinian national identity, and their acceptance by other nations.

To oppose the eventual creation of a Palestinian state is to say that it is more moral and more feasible to destroy Palestinian national identity than it is to help the Palestinians to create a better culture. We've succeeded in the past in improving nations – when have we ever succeeded in solving problems by destroying them?

Replies: 9 comments

Your post is truly excellent.

BTW, the proof, if such were needed, that Charles is profoundly wrong about this issue, is that he is driven to adopt a conspiracy-type explanation for the pro-roadmap attitudes of: George Bush and his inner foreign policy team, the pro-Israeli faction in Congress, Ariel Sharon and the majority of his right-wing cabinet, the IDF, the Israeli intelligence community, Israeli public opinion, and the consensus of Jewish American opinion.

Charles doesn't dwell on his conspiracy explanation of how all these apparent friends of Israel have come to support the putative White House defiling, Holocaust denying, Arafat puppet, Abu Mazen. But in the privacy of his own mind that explanation must exist, and its existence is the smoking gun that proves he has lost the plot on this specific issue.

Posted by Kolya @ 07/28/2003 04:59 AM EST

Here is support from the JTA for my contention that Charles' attitude to Mahmoud Abbas is strangely at odds with that of the American Jewish community:

Abbas "is a breath of fresh air," said Michael Bohnen, chairman of the Jewish Council for Public Affairs, the umbrella group for Jewish community relations councils and national organizations.
...
The 90-minute session at the St. Regis Hotel gathered members of a range of Jewish organizations, ranging from left-of-center groups such as the IPF and Americans for Peace Now to more centrist groups such as the JCPA, the Anti-Defamation League, the American Jewish Committee and Hadassah, as well as several major federation leaders.

Many of those who participated said they came away convinced Abbas is a moderate alternative to Arafat who wholeheartedly supports President Bushīs "road map" to peace, even if he lacks Arafatīs popular support.

"He expressed a strong desire for peace" in "an exceedingly moderate tone," said Rabbi Eric Yoffie, president of the Reform movementīs synagogue arm, the Union of American Hebrew Congregations.

"He wasnīt patronizing, and he didnīt gloss over the differences."

Posted by Kolya @ 07/28/2003 06:17 PM EST

We stole the land of Israel from the Palestines and in a move that Hitler would have been proud of, shipped Jews there from all over the world so that Europe & America wouldn't have to "deal" with them in their own cultures. However, the land wasn't empty. Many initial settlers were shocked to learn that they were occupying farmlands that had only recently been vacated.

Their government continues to push Palestinians from their land. They have claimed all the land, and in a policy of terror and oppression, randomly come in at night to bulldoze apartments and houses. With the walls they're building (remember the Wall of Berlin, anyone?), they vacate and bulldoze houses by the hundreds around the perimeters.

People have to drive and walk through checkpoints that take hours to pass just to go to work or school. They are shot regularly when they attempt to bypass these points (for instance, a few months ago, a young man trying to take a shortcut a few miles away to his university was killed by Israeli soldiers). Because of the inconvenience, most people choose to sleep at work during the week rather than enduring the drive home every day.