Q&A: Catalonia's Secession from Spain
Catalonia's Secession from Spain
Question
Hello, and have a good week.
I’d be glad if you could explain, at least in a few words, the moral-value conflict involved in Catalonia’s secession from Spain.
It seems to me that this issue touches on the matter of "majority rule," which you discussed in the past.
Of course, this claim is also connected to other demands for independence, like that of the Kurds in Turkey, and so on.
And perhaps a few words as well about the political-media buzz surrounding the issue; it seems to me that politicians and journalists are not fully aware of the ethical questions underlying it.
Thank you very much!
Answer
Hello.
I’m not familiar enough with the details and the history of what is happening there, so it’s hard for me to express a specific opinion.
In principle, when some region wants to separate from the country to which it belongs, a conflict arises: on the one hand, seemingly each person should be allowed what he wants unless it harms someone else. Here it does not really cause harm, but rather runs against the ruling state’s desire for resources and power. (True, some argue that because Catalonia is a wealthy region, this does harm Spain. The same came up in the dispute in Mevaseret, which is a relatively affluent town that opposed being municipally joined to Jerusalem. I tend not to agree, because someone who possesses resources is not obligated to share them with others who lack them.) On the other hand, any country could then fall apart, with every few people declaring themselves an independent state (like Eli Avivi in the "State" of Akhziv). That is not practical. This is especially so in Spain, where the Basques are also waiting on the sidelines to see what happens in Catalonia.
Two more comments: A. Here we are talking about an ethnic group living on its own land, not a group claiming other land on which it does not live. B. In Catalonia there is disagreement among the Catalans themselves over whether to separate or not. There was a referendum, but polls show that quite a few oppose the region’s independence. That of course sharpens the problem.
In our case (in the dispute with the Palestinians), the question of security also comes up (whether we would be harmed by the establishment of a state alongside us), and also the fact that the two populations live on the same lands, so the dispute is not merely whether to grant independence to a distinct group living on its own land.
In sum, it seems to me reasonable to recognize a group as entitled to sovereignty if it is large enough, and when it is ethnically and culturally distinct and clearly defined, and it alone lives on its own land. And also when granting independence does not threaten the parent state.