You are a progressive, and you have been arrested and are being expelled from your country. You are brought to the airport, and given just one minute to decide upon your destination, your country of exile. There is a catch, however. You must choose from one of the following five Middle Eastern nations: Egypt (at least before the ongoing upheaval), Syria, Saudi Arabia, Iran, and Israel.
You have only this one minute to make up your mind.
Perhaps you are not only progressive, but also gay. Or a woman. Or both. Maybe you are an atheist. Or a liberal Christian. Or a Jewish progressive.
Your time is almost up.
What do you choose?
If you wanted to live in a democratic state with women's rights, where gays and lesbians can live openly and march in pride parades, where you have freedom of religious expression -- well there was only one good choice.
If you are a progressive who sees Israel as the greatest violator of human rights in the world, as a pariah state rightfully deserving to be far more frequently censured by the United Nations than any other state, as the one nation that should be the target of an international boycott, divestment, and sanctions movement -- did you, perhaps, still choose Israel as your home in exile?
Or, do you continue to believe that Israel is a worse criminal than the other four (singly or combined)? That the Palestinians are merely victims of an unprecedentedly brutal Israeli regime? That the lack of not only Israeli-Palestinian peace, but the lack of Middle Eastern peace, is a result solely of Israel's intransigence and criminality? That ideally, for there to be true justice, the obstacle named Israel must disappear?
If, however, you are a progressive who believes in the values of freedom of speech and religion and the press, in women's and gay and lesbian rights, then perhaps you might not wish Israel out of existence so quickly. Perhaps you would find it a more welcoming home in exile than your other options. An imperfect home, no doubt, but one where you would remain free to express your dissent.
It's true, of course, that the authorities in Egypt, Syria, Saudi Arabia, and Iran would all allow you to express criticism openly. Well, that is, if you limit your criticism to Israel and Jews. But should you wish to advance the causes of gay rights, or freedom of worship, or freedom of the press, or democratic reform, then your convictions might not be so welcome. (With the revolution in Egypt, we will have to wait and see what emerges, but I would not bet on the blossoming of a liberal democracy.)
Progressives ought to come to terms with this juxtaposition. They ought to question, within progressive circles, the almost unconsciously reflexive singling out of Israel for condemnation, the efforts to delegitimize its existence in a way not applied to any other nation in the world. When progressives -- and I count myself as a progressive -- can get to such a point, when we can analyze Israel and the Israeli-Palestinian conflict in an international context, then we might be able to engage in constructive criticism instead of demonization. And then we can all take part in a serious conversation of what it will take to bring peace -- and full international recognition at the United Nations -- for both the Palestinians and the Israelis.
""Today Tehran has 11 functioning synagogues, many of them with Hebrew schools. It has two kosher restaurants, an old-age home and a cemetery. There is a Jewish library with 20,000 titles.[17] Iranian Jews have their own newspaper (called "Ofogh-e-Bina") with Jewish scholars performing Judaic research at Tehran's "Central Library of Jewish Association".[53] The "Dr. Sapir Jewish Hospital" is Iran's largest charity hospital of any religious minority community in the country;[53] however, most of its patients and staff are Muslim.[54]
The Constitution of Iran says that Jews are equal to Muslims. Imam Khomeini visited with members of the Jewish community and issued a decree ordering the adherents of Judaism and other revealed religions to be protected. Jews are entitled to self-administration and one member of the 290-seat Majlis is elected by only Jews. Jewish burial rites and divorce laws are accepted by Islamic courts. Tehran has over 20 synagogues. Iran has one of only four Jewish charity hospitals in the world. The hospital has received donations from top Iranian officials, including President Ahmadinejad. Kosher butcher shops are available in Iran. There are Hebrew schools and coeducation is allowed."
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Persian_Jews#Current_status_in_Iran
I doubt that you would survive and hour in any Arab or Iranian city, but I'm willing to be proven wrong. Here is your chance.
Exactly what happens to Palestinian non-violent groups, and then the IDF thugs murder them, like Gaza Freedom Flotilla massacre.
"Bil’in has become an internationally recognized symbol of Palestinian unarmed and largely nonviolent resistance to Israel’s controversial separation wall and continued settlement expansion. Thousands of Israelis, Palestinians and international supporters including former U.S. President Jimmy Carter, Mahatma Gandhi’s grandson, Desmond Tutu and Naomi Klein have joined in Bilin’s weekly demonstrations since they began. The village’s struggle is the subject of a riveting documentary, “Bil’in, Habibti,” by Israeli filmmaker/activist Shai Pollak.
Israel has responded to the international attention on Bil’in with a campaign of repression which has included waves of arrests, daily night raids, repeated use of high velocity tear gas projectiles against protesters (resulting in the death of Bassam Abu Rahmah in 2009 and countless injuries) and the use of military courts to persecute the leaders of the popular committee against the wall. According to Adv. Gaby Lasky, Abu Rahmah’s lawyer, “Soldiers have killed and injured dozens and hundreds of protesters in the attempt to stop the Palestinian popular struggle, but have failed. They are now trying to illegitimately use the courts and the legal system in the same way. The international community must take a tough stand on this issue.”
http://josephdana.com/2010/08/criminalizing-peaceful-protest-israel-jails-another-palestinian-gandhi/
Of course most progressives would never survive in Arab countries. They would either leave or be imprisoned for exercising their rights. Israeli Arabs elect members to the Knesset who spend their careers traveling the world condemning Israel (as opposed to helping Israeli Arabs improve their lives). Just one of the benefits of living in a free, democratic, progressive society like Israel.
There is no Palestinian culpability.
The United Nations did not have the power to Partition, it offered 181 as a proposed solution. Palestinians were never obliged to accept it, particularly as it was rescinded by Resolution 186 on May 14, 1948.
Furthermore, Ben Gurion had made it abundantly clear that partition was an interim measure and Begin rejected it utterly as "illegal".
That the Zionists rejected it is manifestly clear. Two days after the 181declaration, they had torn it up:
Chapter 2 states:
"No expropriation of land owned by an Arab in the Jewish State (by a Jew in the Arab State)(4) shall be allowed except for public purposes. In all cases of expropriation full compensation as fixed by the Supreme Court shall be said previous to dispossession. "
By their own admission (a document: "The Emigration of the Arabs of Palestine in the Period 1/12/1947/- 1/6/1948", became publicly known in 1985, after a copy of the report was discovered among the papers of Aharon Cohen (former director of Mapam´s Arab Department) and given to the Hashomer Hatza'ir Archive, Israel. )
.... the Hagannah had begun expropriation of Palestinian land by 1 December 1947.
Nobody in their right mind would sign away sovereignty over more than half their territory to a minority, most of whom were illegal, recent immigrants.
More to the point, the war is over, the Arabs lost and they "only" rule 99+% of the land in the middle east. They, and you will have to deal with it and move on.
I've lived in/visited Jordan, Turkey, Saudi Arabia, and Egypt and have to say that Turkey would probably be my first choice if I had to choose a home in the region. I'm touched you care enough to ask though.
That alone speaks volumes.
No, I don't think so. Wanting an end to Palestinian statelessness is not the same as wishing Israel out of existence.
"Look over there" is a terrible argument.
"Putting words in somebody else's mouth" is another terrible argument.
They're both extreme views and the reality is somewhere in the middle...and yet which view is expressed by posters more often on this site?
Being an activist for Palestinian rights has consequences in Israel:
"Ezra Nawi expects sentence of up to 18 months for resisting 'dehumanisation' of Palestinians......He is also gay and has frequently faced homophobic taunts from Israeli police, soldiers and settlers in Hebron who, by now, are used to his regular presence in the area."
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2009/jun/30/israel-palestinian-territories
"Abdallah Abu Rahme, 39, the coordinator of the Bi’lin Popular Committee, which has challenged Israel’s illegal expropriation of Palestinian land both in an Israeli court and a Canadian one, has been charged with "illegal arms possession, stone throwing, and incitement." .....Muhammad Othman, 33, from Jayyous village in the northern West Bank, was also held in administrative detention, or without charge, since September last year
http://original.antiwar.com/frykberg/2010/01/18/israel-jails-palestinian-peace-activists/
"Nobel Peace Laureate Mairead Maguire Speaks from Israeli Jail Cell After Arrest on Boat Delivering Humanitarian Aid to Gaza"
http://www.democracynow.org/2009/7/2/nobel_peace_laureate_mairead_maguire_speaks
"IDF soldier who shot British peace activist to be released from jail"
http://www.haaretz.com/news/diplomacy-defense/idf-soldier-who-shot-british-peace-activist-to-be-released-from-jail-1.302839
As it happens, having experienced the hospitality of Islamic states, Israel would be my last choice.
PS: I would choose: Finland, Sweden, Norway, Denmark, Germany, France, Italy, Holland, Spain, Luxemburg, Belgium, Portugal, Ireland, UK, Switzerland, Austria, Greece, Iceland, Poland, Canada, USA, Japan, and probably another dozen countries before I would choose Israel.
I'm sure it has something to do with being a non-Muslim non-Arab state who is systematically oppressing and frequently killing people based on them being non-Jewish Muslim/Christian Arabs...while surrounded by billions of Muslim and Arab neighbors who get to watch.
Sort of like dropping off a wealthy white family in the middle of Detroit and encouraging them to beat their black housekeeper in public while the undesirable masses get to look on. Something tells me that family wouldn't be too popular.