On Israel (part 2), Helen Thomas, and the Right of Return. . .

One of the best criticisms of Zionism that I've heard, and somewhat clumsily stated by Helen Thomas recently, is that while a homeland for Jews is all well and good, but why put it in Palestine.  I can imagine my reaction if I was told that I was being forced to move from my apartment because the land was wrongly taken from the Sycuan Band a hundred years ago (which it probably was), would be something like "Wait, what?"

Now consider the rationale for Israel as presented to the Palestinians:

"Two thousand years ago, one group of Europeans (the Romans) utterly and completely destroyed Israel, and then for the next two thousand years, other Europeans had either shit on the Jews, or sought their complete annihilation.  So, to prevent any problems in the future, the Jews are setting up a homeland on your property.  Leave now." 

Their reaction has been pretty much what you expect - either the desire to destroy the invaders, or to point out the fact that it would make more sense to punish Germany and/or Europe by putting the Jewish homeland on German and/or European soil.  Which, I have to admit, makes some sense.

From the perspective of everyone else, though, putting a Jewish homeland in Israel/Palestine makes perfect sense.  First, it was where the Jews wanted to set up their homeland.  Second, Israel/Palestine has little to no resources, and its chief economic engine - that it sits smack dab in the middle of trade routes - has already been negated by modern technology.  In other words, the land in Israel, in the eyes of everyone but the Palestinians, is pretty much worthless, except for religious and historical tourism.  Given that the Jews could've asked for much, much more (and gotten it), everyone (except the Palestinians) recognized this solution as being a good one. 

This is especially true given that much of the discrimination against Jews came from their without a nation status, and providing a homeland would alleviate the core problems that bred the environment which produced the genocidal behavior found in Europe, and culminated in the Holocaust.  Given the history of the Jews, having a place to go when shit starts to get bad is a phenomenal idea.

At the same time, let's not forget that the Palestinians are basically getting fucked in the deal.  While its true that Israel is the ancestral homeland of the Jews, thanks to the efforts of some of my ancestors (*ahem*), Palestine is the actual homeland of the Palestinians.  And when the Jews moved in, most Palestinians ended up in refugee camps - where they've lived for over fifty years. 

And before I get to what should be done about the Palestinians, let me make this very clear - the whole line about Palestinians being Arabs, and that they should simply move to other Arab countries is ridiculous.  It would be like arguing that the Austrians should all move to Germany because they're Germans.  The fact is, Germany and Austria are different countries for a reason - the people have different histories and have developed different traditions.

Of all the countries in the Arabic World, real or imagined, the would-be Palestinian state is probably the closest to an actual nation-state.  The Palestinian people share the same religion, the same ethnic identity, and the same culture.  During elections, the Palestinian political parties (Hamas and Fatah) are formed around ideological differences, not sectarian ones. The debate is over what to do, as opposed to who we are.  So, I could see the Palestinian state succeeding if it managed to get past the whole have absolutely no economic resources thing.  (Seriously, look it up.  Palestine and/or Israel is like Ireland without the acres and acres of arable land).

So what should be done?  Well, first, the right of return (allowing Palestinians to go back to their homes) is basically DOA.  The whole point of Israel is that its a Jewish state, and an influx of Palestinians would fuck up everything.  But, I do think some kind of reparations need to be made to the Palestinians.  In this country, when the government takes property, it pays fair market value for what was taken.  Given that these people lost their homes, its only fair that the international community (particularly the EU) pay for their loss, particularly in light of the fact that the creation of Israel is a good thing.  Second, any time Israel wants to create a settlement or whatnot, the rule should be that the Israeli Government has to pay the Palestinians affected by the new construction fair market value of the property its taking. 

Doing those two things would help alleviate the economic problems inherent in the region.  Give these guys a passport to wherever along with the chunk of change, and people are less unhappy.  Who knows, maybe they'll find land that is, you know, arable and has some natural resources.

Third, there needs to be an independent Palestinian state.  How to connect Gaza to the West Bank, I don't know, but for the good of all parties involved, the occupation must end.  Otherwise, Israel will continue to devolve into an apartheid system akin to South Africa, and the Palestinians will continue to get shit on, be upset and engage in acts of terrorism.

On Israel. . .

There have been a lot of articles written about the most recent incident involving Israeli commandos attacking a flotilla of ships heading for Gaza in international waters, and from a variety of perspectives.  So, to add to the cacophony, I figured I should add my own two cents.

Fundamentally, the attack on the flotilla was phenomenally stupid.  Supernaturally stupid.  For the past forty years, Israel's Arab enemies have stated that Israel is an aggressive, oppressive regime that commits human rights abuses in violation of international law.  So, what does Israel do?  It attacks a flotilla of ships carrying humanitarian supplies in international waters, killing several people in the process in violation of international law.  All this to prevent the people of Gaza, one of the most shit on people on Earth, from getting some form of aid.

Now, I could go on and on about the moral issues involved here.  And certainly Israel has the right to defend itself from threats.  But there's a right way, a wrong way, and a stupid way to go about it.  Israel is choosing the stupid way.  And unlike the U.S., Israel can't afford to be stupid.

The thing we have to remember is that Israel is a very small country.  Its about 8,000 square miles of territory, holding around 7.5 million people.  By contrast, San Diego County is around 4500 square miles, and has 3.5 million people.   That's tiny as far as countries go.   Because its so small, Israel's internal market cannot provide enough of a market for what goods its produces and so, Israel depends on foreign trade to survive economically.  Additionally, because its neighbors are or were hostile, Israel spends a lot on its military.  To do that, Israel depends on infusions of cash from the United States.  Israel is the number one recipient of American foreign aid, and has been for some time.

In other words, to survive and thrive, Israel needs international support.  More importantly, it needs American support.  To that end, Israel has been exceptionally skilled - it has appealed to the Jewish elites of the American left while simultaneously appealing to the Christian conservatives on the American right.  Through AIPAC, even criticizing Israel is politically risky.  It helps that several of Israels founding politicians, like Golda Meir, were Americans by birth.  But Israel was also smart about using force, unlike the recent attack on the flotilla.

As Israel becomes more and more aggressive (and it really has been aggressive), it has alienated potential allies in Europe, Russia, and the moderate Arabic World.  Moreover, it is progressively losing the support of American Jews.  If Israel were to become an international pariah, its economy would completely fall apart.

Now, this is a risk that might be worth it if Israel was facing enemies like Syria and Egypt, but its not.  In fact, Israel is at minimal risk of the kind of attacks it faced in the 1960's and 1970's, because the State actors have simply decided its not worth the effort.  Israel's military is ridiculously powerful, it has nukes, and if push came to shove, the U.S. would help out.  So, military action isn't worth the effort.

Instead, Israel is facing the Palestinians, and that's a big, big problem, because for the Palestinians, the fight is worth the effort.  These people are literally fighting for everything they have (which ain't much to begin with).  And when the Palestinians have nothing left, they commit suicide by strapping a bomb to themselves so that they can take a few Israelis with them.  I can't stress this point enough - the suicide bombers aren't just killing themselves to spread terror - they're killing themselves for the same reason people everywhere kill themselves - to put an end to their own suffering.  Sure, the terrorist organizers are exploiting the opportunity, but the opportunity was there to be exploited. 

Machiavelli wrote, and wisely I think, that the worst place for a leader to be in is to be hated by his people.  Or mathematically: Fear > Love > Hate.  The problem with hate is that it overwhelms fear.  People with hate in their hearts don't care about themselves or their families anymore.  All that matters is killing the enemy.  And the less people have, the less they have to lose, and the more likely they are to lash out.  That's what we've been seeing from the Palestinians for the past twenty years.

The attack on the flotilla was so awful because it reminded everyone of how shit-on the Palestinian people (particularly the Gazans) have it.  So they look like victims, while at the same time, are shit-on even more.  In this environment, Israel looks like assholes or worse, and the Palestinians remain in a position to be exploited by terrorists.  The whole thing is a shitstorm.

Let me end this by saying that I support the existence of Israel.  In modern history, no one has been braver than the Jewish people and the founders of Israel.  And no one kicks more ass.  But the fight that Israel is in right now isn't about bravery or asskicking, its about being smart.  Its about seeing that your enemy has something to live for, as opposed to something to die for.  To survive, Israel has to get smart - and it has to seek peace.   Otherwise, Israel will be turned into a pariah, and it will collapse.