Israel is not uniquely exempt from criticism on that basis. The issue I have is that Israel is uniquely singled out for criticism on this basis. Israel should at least be as exempt from it as other countries are.
Not explicitly, but it’s the logical conclusion of the argument that the only legitimate permission for settlement is the natives of a land rather than the current government controlling the land.
There’s no “original sin” in the history of Israel that is not also present in the history of a host of other nations - possibly even the overwhelming majority of them - which are not similarly accused.
And that would depend entirely on what the “point” one is admitting that the Palestinians “might have.” If that point is that the inherent illegitimacy of the presence of large numbers of Jews in what is now the state of Israel means that Israel needs to make reparations, with no pre-conditions, to a quasi-national entity that has shown it only belligerent intent, then I’d say that Israel’s refusal to do so is not something they have good reason to complain about.
Israel is NOT uniquely singled out anymore than Japan is uniquely singled out for its attempt to build an empire. That doesn’t mean it can’t show some examples of hypocrisy – they can. But hypocrisy doesn’t change the fact that people have been displaced because of their desire to have a nation, and people are understandably upset by it.
None of this really addresses our challenges anything I wrote, so I’ll leave it alone. I don’t think I’ve criticized the Palestinians as a group in this entire thread.
All the Semitic peoples were similarly othered at the time by a large percentage of the population of Europe and of North America. Jews and Arabs alike were seen by many as swarthy, hook-nosed (despite the presence of significant numbers of both groups who were neither), members of non-Christian and therefore suspicious religions, members of outsider cultures.
Would it have been better to hand over a chunk of Germany, instead of a chunk of Palestine, in order to create a Jewish state? That’s certainly arguable. Did that have the remotest chance of happening? No, it did not. Was the reason that it had no chance of happening due to an attitude that European countries had rights which Middle Eastern, African, and many other countries in the world had not? Yes, it was. Was that reason based on bigotry? Yes, it was.
But the problem wasn’t bigotry of one Semitic people against another. There was certainly some of that, in both directions; but that wasn’t why Jews weren’t offered part of Germany. We weren’t offered part of Germany because most Europeans were much happier with the idea of dumping one othered people on top of another othered people than with the idea that a European country should be dismantled for that purpose. (Not that European countries didn’t dismantle other European countries. But they handed out the chunks to each other; not to people they thought of as not really belonging there at all.)
Some seem to think it’s obvious that a choice about safety would have led to moving to the USA or Canada. They’re forgetting, or never learned, that the reason there were so many Jews in Germany in the first place was that for quite a few years before the 1930’s Germany had been one of the best, and safest, places in the world to be Jewish. Why should people who had just had Germany betray them in that fashion have assumed that Canada or the USA wouldn’t do likewise? It’s not as if there were no antisemitism in those countries at the time. There was quite a bit of it. Here’s just one example, from 1939: possibly one of the last things some of the survivors had heard from the USA before they got shipped off to camps.
Does that mean that everything Israel does now is perfectly fine? Of course it doesn’t; and I don’t believe anybody in this thread has said so. And it seems to me that most in the thread, me included, have defended Omar and Tlaib. But to the extent that the issue of how much of what happens in 2019 should be informed by what happened in the 1940’s (a standard for existence of a nation that, like others, I note nobody else seems to be held to): I don’t think it’s useful to consider what happened in the 1940’s as if Jews living in Europe at the time were considered just the same as all other people living in Europe. If they had been, we’d never have had the Holocaust in the first place.
I am really starting to think that Isreal is using America as its attack dog to go after its enemies. They might be behind the latest thing of the US going after Iran, who is a country supporting hamas.
Right before 9/11 Iran and the Afghan taliban were at odds and Iran was considering invading. Only Iran has had a poor history of waging war. Look at the 10 year war with Iraq that accomplished nothing. Plus they knew the trouble the USSR had so they were reluctant to invade Afghanistan.
Then comes 9/11 and the Taliban is everyones enemy. Iran supports the US invasion and even offers its air bases.
Then the US wins, then goes into Iraq - taking out another enemy of Iran. But now they have US backed governments on both sides so they start giving aid to the Taliban.
Could you - without looking anything up on the internet beforehand - explain what exactly it is that America is doing right at the present moment to “go after Iran”?
Hashemite prince. My apologies cmkeller, it was just making my nose twitch :). The Hashemite kingdoms of Jordan and Iraq were client states. Saudi Arabia is a conquest state.
I really don’t think the lingering injustices and grievances that Palestinians feel over the creation of Israel is a productive area of discussion.
I think our focusing on past grievances only serve to distract from arguing about any current, real, pressing, and compounding problems. For example, daily life for Palestinians (in both Gaza and the West Bank) is very, very difficult and show no signs of changing for the better. As neutral outsiders, shouldn’t the improvement of people’s lives be our shared goal/focal point? Why waste time grinding axes on settled, non-issues like the creation of Israel? Are we going to go back in time and UN-create Israel? So why even bother. Focus on the compounding issues of suffering right now.
You’ll have plenty of time to argue about WHO started the fire AFTER its extinguished, otherwise you’re just masturbating while Rome burns.
Minor quibble, but AFAIK, Iran supports Hezbollah, not necessarily Hamas, PLO/PA, or Islamic Jihad. I know it can be difficult to keep track of them all, but for accuracy’s sake…
Iran has traditionally been a backer of Islamic Jihad for reasons of ideology as well as simple anti-Israelism. PIJ is…peculiar, ideologically. They’re Sunni activists who were very impressed by the Iranian revolution.
Hamas has intermittently received support from Iran, but there are a few more ideological barriers and some political differences there, particularly as regards Syria.
Rather similarly with the PLO, but with a somewhat different set of ideological/political barriers than Hamas. Closer relations were to be had before the rise to prominence of more radical groups like Hamas and PIJ.
I know you probably hate my ass, but I wanted to ask you a question in all seriousness and candor. In you experience, do Jews view themselves as a religion, or do you/they view themselves as a “race”? I think it’s an important question that can maybe inform my own opinions.
I realize that I might dismiss the idea of Jews as a “race,” but if Jews view themselves as a race, then maybe what I think has to be, well, modified in a sense. I’m sorry to be bugging you with bizarro questions late at night.
I know I use the term “Zionists” a lot. In my mind, there is a distinction between “Zionist” and “Jew” but if you could explain to me why there isn’t a distinction, I will absolutely consider it. I promise. I’m not anti-Jew, I promise.
I appreciate your willingness to reconsider your position and your offer to talk and listen in good faith.
I’m in no position to speak on behalf of all (any?) Jews. Not sure any one Jewish person is. Jews, like any other faith based group, are not monolithic and everyone sees it slightly differently. Some, like me, are atheists and are Jews by birth and heritage rather than religious affiliation.
But to answer your question whether being Jewish is a race or a religion… I think most would agree it’s neither and would more likely describe it as a ethnicity or culture based on deep historic roots.
Not sure if that satisfactorily answers your question. I know others here may be more qualified to provide you with a better explanation.
I really don’t hate you, first. I strongly dislike the way you use Zionist and I don’t think you always think before you post. But I wouldn’t even say I dislike you. You’re passionate, I get it.
I don’t think Jews are a race per se. But calling us a religion is wrong as well. We are a people. A people who happen to practice a particular religion, but the religion isn’t fundamental to the personhood. Imagine that there were a lot of people in Greece who still actively worshiped the Greek Gods, say 90% of the population. Well, those people are Greek. And those Greeks happen to workship a Greek religion. But, take away the religion, they are still Greek. Now, imagine that, say in Roman times, Greece was overthrown but that the Greek people were driven out of Greece and persecuted for a couple thousand years. That’s more or less the story of my people.
Want to make it less Eurocentric and theoretical, look at the Navajo.
So, for a thousand years or so we got scattered and remarkably held on to what it is that connects us as a people. But, for reasons that I really don’t understand, people everywhere flipping hate us. Like, the shoa was a bright shining example, but something like every 50-60 years there is a rise in antisemitism…for centuries. Today. Still. So there are many who feel/felt that the fact that we are a nation without a country that is the cause of this problem. That having a country will mean safety. Does it? Probably not. Countries come with their own problems, ask the Germans. Heck, ask the socialist Israeli founders of Israel who have been shoved to the side by the right wing and ultra orthodox.
But, I know that the existence of Zionism saved a lot of members of my family. People who I know and love who would not exist or would have died before I was born without the existence of the Zionist movement. So for me it’s not super theoretical.
But we have now gone far far from the topic. Judaism is in the words of Mordecai Kaplan “The evolving religious civilization of the Jewish people” For further reading on the subject see:
Possibly not, but Netanyahu’s persistent and repeated taking of Palestinian land within the West Bank and the addition and expansion of “settlements” does not fit cleanly into the realm of past history and “the creation of Israel.”
I, whole-heartingly, agree. One only needs to look at the current land ownership issues plaguing South Africa (or Zimbabwe 15 years earlier) to see how this is setting up current, real, and long term problems that will not be easily solved for many generations. Its remarkably short-sighted policy.
QuickSilver and NAF, I appreciate your thoughtful posts and your mercy. We still disagree - sometimes passionately on these issues - but I will try to choose my words more carefully. I will drop Zionist as a broad-based reference and try to be more precise with my language.