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On Palestinian statehood
Sep. 23rd, 2011 03:12 pmHeading this morning's news was the story that Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas formally asked the UN to recognize Palestine as a sovereign state. The images of cheering Palestinians reminded me strongly of those we've been witnessing all spring. The Arab Spring had come to the Middle East.
I have no idea if the two-state strategy is the best way towards a just peace. I would love to see a greater emphasis on mutual respect, equality, and cooperation. But this may be the only way forward, and at any rate, I don't get to vote. I shouldn't get to vote. All those who have stood by during the decades of Palestinian oppression, whether in silent complicity or outright collusion, shouldn't get to vote. Those who created the problem, and have stood in the way of its solution, have forfeited whatever moral authority they might have had. That includes the United States. And it includes the state of Israel.
The state of Israel doesn't speak for me, and it certainly doesn't represent my experience of my Jewish heritage. To me, their treatment of the Palestinians is a violation of the most fundamental tenets of lovingkindness and justice. Over and over, both in the formal Law and in the cultural traditions, we are commanded (the word "mitzvah" means both commandment and blessing) to treat all people with respect, with compassion, with fairness.
Of all the peoples on the earth, we should feel ourselves most aligned with our Palestinian and other Muslim cousins. Historically, Jews have fared far better under Islamic than under Christian rule. (Contrast, for example, the "golden age" of Moorish Iberia with conditions under the Spanish Inquisition.) The current animosities are a relatively recent development, arising from the prolonged and deeply traumatic effects of 20th century wars and imperialism.
If the state of Israel doesn't speak for me (or the many moderates on both sides), then the government of the United States does not, either. Americans make such a big deal out of the right of self-determination and how wonderful "we" were for creating the Declaration of Independence. Until it comes to someone else's self-determination and someone else's independence. We've messed with so many other countries' internal affairs, usurped or assassinated their elected leaders, funded insurrections (case in point: the Taliban), and generally squashed anyone who wouldn't act for the benefit of the American military-industrial plutocracy.
If we really meant what all those 4th of July speeches say, we'd be standing up cheering for the Palestinian dream of a land of their own.
The times they are a-changin' -- and for Palestine, it's about time.
I have no idea if the two-state strategy is the best way towards a just peace. I would love to see a greater emphasis on mutual respect, equality, and cooperation. But this may be the only way forward, and at any rate, I don't get to vote. I shouldn't get to vote. All those who have stood by during the decades of Palestinian oppression, whether in silent complicity or outright collusion, shouldn't get to vote. Those who created the problem, and have stood in the way of its solution, have forfeited whatever moral authority they might have had. That includes the United States. And it includes the state of Israel.
The state of Israel doesn't speak for me, and it certainly doesn't represent my experience of my Jewish heritage. To me, their treatment of the Palestinians is a violation of the most fundamental tenets of lovingkindness and justice. Over and over, both in the formal Law and in the cultural traditions, we are commanded (the word "mitzvah" means both commandment and blessing) to treat all people with respect, with compassion, with fairness.
Of all the peoples on the earth, we should feel ourselves most aligned with our Palestinian and other Muslim cousins. Historically, Jews have fared far better under Islamic than under Christian rule. (Contrast, for example, the "golden age" of Moorish Iberia with conditions under the Spanish Inquisition.) The current animosities are a relatively recent development, arising from the prolonged and deeply traumatic effects of 20th century wars and imperialism.
If the state of Israel doesn't speak for me (or the many moderates on both sides), then the government of the United States does not, either. Americans make such a big deal out of the right of self-determination and how wonderful "we" were for creating the Declaration of Independence. Until it comes to someone else's self-determination and someone else's independence. We've messed with so many other countries' internal affairs, usurped or assassinated their elected leaders, funded insurrections (case in point: the Taliban), and generally squashed anyone who wouldn't act for the benefit of the American military-industrial plutocracy.
If we really meant what all those 4th of July speeches say, we'd be standing up cheering for the Palestinian dream of a land of their own.
The times they are a-changin' -- and for Palestine, it's about time.
