{"id":9591,"date":"2012-08-15T05:53:18","date_gmt":"2012-08-15T09:53:18","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/dbsjeyaraj.com\/dbsj\/?p=9591"},"modified":"2012-08-14T22:56:21","modified_gmt":"2012-08-15T02:56:21","slug":"9591","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dbsjeyaraj.com\/dbsj\/?p=9591","title":{"rendered":"The Moral Question of Palestinian Statehood"},"content":{"rendered":"
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PHOTO: THINKSTOCK\/IMAGEBANK<\/p><\/div>\n

By Moshe Dann<\/strong><\/p>\n

In the wake of an Israeli government- initiated report presenting Israel\u2019s legal rights in Judea and Samaria, opponents of settlements argue that the issue is not about Israel\u2019s legal and historic rights, but about \u201cmorality.\u201d I assume that means supporting \u201cPalestinian self-determination,\u201d \u201cending the occupation\u201d and establishing a second Arab Palestinian state west of the Jordan River.
\n
\nAnything which inhibits this goal, therefore, is considered \u201cimmoral,\u201d including Jews living in Judea, Samaria and eastern Jerusalem, aka \u201coccupied Palestinian territories (OPT).\u201d \u201cJustice for Palestinians,\u201d aka \u201cthe Palestinian right of return\u201d is also hyped as a moral obligation.<\/p>\n

The accusation is that Israel\/Jews have stolen land and occupy Palestinian territory. Theft is a criminal and hence immoral act. If that is true, however, due to Israel\u2019s victory in the Six Day War in 1967 this would also apply to areas Israel acquired in the 1948-49 war.<\/p>\n

While this involves legal disputes, moral arguments focus on Israel\u2019s denial and abuse of human and civil rights. Even if Israel\u2019s legal claims were justified, it is charged with violating \u201cinternational humanitarian law\u201d and stepped over a moral line, according to organizations like the ICRC.<\/p>\n

As TAU Prof. Chaim Gans wrote in A Just Zionism; on the morality of the Jewish state, (OU P, 2008), it is a \u201cmoral duty\u2026 not to undermine the partition plan of 1947,\u201d \u201cthere were significant justifications for the Arabs\u2019 opposition to Jews\u2019 return to the Land of Israel,\u201d \u201cJews have a special moral obligation to understand [it],\u201d and Jews caused \u201cconsiderable injustice to the Arabs.\u201d<\/p>\n

Accordingly, not only is Israel unable to survive without a Palestinian state, it should not.
\nThis turns Arab political aspirations into a moral crusade. Just as Zionism legitimizes a Jewish state, Palestinianism justifies another Arab state, regardless of clear and present dangers. Jewish guilt trades for Arab victimization, terrorism and incitement.<\/p>\n

On what ethical principles, however, is this \u201cmorality\u201d based? Is Palestinian statehood and self-determination a moral right regardless of its purpose and content? Does it trump genuine legal and historical claims? According to demographic arguments, Israel should not control the lives of millions of Arabs living in Judea and Samaria \u2013 or, for that matter, anywhere. That seems reasonable.<\/p>\n

A mutually agreed upon solution, therefore, was provided in the Oslo Accords and subsequent agreements in which the area was divided into zones: Areas A and B, which comprised all major Arab population centers and most towns, were given to the PA; nearly all Arab Palestinians live under Palestinian Authority control. Area C, in which over 350,000 Jews live along with an estimated several tens of thousands of Arabs, remained under Israeli control. Core issues like settlements, refugees and eastern Jerusalem were left for \u201cfinal status negotiations.\u201d<\/p>\n

Since most Arab communities are separated geographically under this arrangement, and building in Jewish communities (settlements) continues, it is argued, Israel still \u201cillegally occupies\u201d the entire area, thus preventing the establishment of a Palestinian state \u2013 which raises the moral\/ethical issue.<\/p>\n

Palestinians and their supporters argue that they are entitled to self-determination as much as Jews.<\/p>\n

That would seem to mean a \u201ctwo state solution,\u201d \u201ctwo states for two peoples.\u201d Here, however, \u201cmoral\u201d arguments break down.<\/p>\n

Muslim\/Arab\/Palestinian leaders refuse to accept Israel\u2019s right to exist. Jihadist Islamists control the Gaza Strip and are poised to take over West Bank areas. Hezbollah threatens Israel from southern Lebanon. Every Israeli withdrawal ostensibly to advance the \u201cpeace process\u201d has been a strategic failure. Surrounded by hostile Arab countries in turmoil and civil war, Israel\u2019s survival depends on its ability to defend itself. That too is a moral issue.
\nMoral argument for Palestinian self-determination and statehood, therefore, compete with moral arguments for Israel\u2019s existence. If the moralists are correct, Israel\u2019s crime was not in winning the war against Arab aggression in 1967, but its survival and victory in 1949.<\/p>\n

A recent example of how post- Zionist moralists assert their agenda appeared in a civics textbook written under Adar Cohen\u2019s direction for the Education Ministry. In one passage the author writes that there is a contradiction between Israel\u2019s definition as a Jewish state and its obligation to give equal rights to all of its citizens. \u201cThe establishment of Israel in 1948 turned the Arabs in the territory of Palestine-Israel from a majority into a minority.\u201d Cohen was charged with \u201cunprofessionalism\u201d and denied tenure.<\/p>\n

AS LONG as Palestinians are unwilling to renounce their intent to destroy Israel, and reject reciprocity, why should Israel continue to make concessions? Opponents of settlements have led us into the trap of believing that creating another Arab Palestinian state in Judea, Samaria and Gaza will satisfy Arab demands for Israel\u2019s elimination.<\/p>\n

Using \u201cmoral\u201d arguments, moreover, masks an even more confused belief that Israel and Jews are guilty for alleged \u201ccrimes against the Palestinian people\u201d when the State of Israel was established, the ensuing war and dislocation, Arab refugees, and the failures of Palestinianism.<\/p>\n

The UN and the media transformed the image of the PLO from a terrorist organization into a \u201cnational liberation movement\u201d and a moral imperative.<\/p>\n

\u201cOne man\u2019s terrorist is another\u2019s freedom fighter\u201d and \u201cjustice for Palestinians\u201d became incantations of moral sophistry.<\/p>\n

Arguments for a Palestinian state should be made on the merits of the idea, not on guilt, apologies for Israel\u2019s existence and scorn for Jews who live \u201cover the Green Line.\u201d<\/p>\n

Fear-mongering by some Diaspora-minded Jews about how the international community might react to the assertion of Jewish claims and rights is shameful not only because it denies the truth of these claims, but because it causes baseless hatred and needless suffering to other Jews.<\/p>\n

\u201cPost-Zionism\u201d is the moral argument against Zionism. Uber-moralists who oppose the Levy Report by offering moral flicks instead of serious legal arguments ignore reality and undermine the purpose, ethos and sovereignty of the Jewish people in the Land of Israel courtesy: Jerusalem Post <\/em><\/p>\n

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By Moshe Dann In the wake of an Israeli government- initiated report presenting Israel\u2019s legal rights in Judea and Samaria, opponents of settlements argue that the issue is not about Israel\u2019s legal and historic rights, but about \u201cmorality.\u201d I assume that means supporting \u201cPalestinian self-determination,\u201d \u201cending the occupation\u201d and establishing a second Arab Palestinian state …<\/p>\n

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