Q&A: Are the Palestinians right in claiming the state for themselves from the river to the Jordan
Are the Palestinians right in claiming the state for themselves from the river to the Jordan
Question
Hi Michi, how are you?
I’d be glad to hear your opinion regarding the State of Israel: is our existence here morally justified, or are the Palestinians right that we conquered them in the Nakba? And it doesn’t seem convincing to argue that the Palestinians were not organized as a state and therefore this is not a conquest, because simply speaking, the establishment of a state is only a technical-formal matter, and de facto the land was under Arab possession until we immigrated to the Land without any permission from them—without receiving citizenship. I’m asking from the perspective of someone who does not accept God’s promise of the land as an argument.
Thank you very much in advance, much appreciation, Kedushit.
Answer
In my opinion, absolutely not. First, the fact that they were not organized as a state is essential, not merely technical. They were not a people in any sense whatsoever (and even today, not really). Jews can come and settle there if they bought the land or settled it legally and without theft. Once there are many Jews in the place, they have the right to establish a sovereign state as long as they do not violate the rights of the locals. And that is of course assuming the locals are not harming them. The conduct of the Arabs even justified expelling them (transfer), not only establishing a state over their heads. Beyond that, any Arab who did not want to live under Jewish sovereignty could have settled in the part allocated to them by the UN. (By the way, to this day Israeli Arabs oppose being transferred to the rule of their brothers, members of their “people,” and greatly prefer living under our wicked occupation.) They chose not to accept the decision and to go to war. They lost, and the whole problem is theirs. The Nakba is their own doing, and so are the subsequent nakbas down to this very day. They are eating what they cooked. Nothing could be more just than that. I have to add that moral claims coming from the Palestinians are really a remarkable peak of cynicism.
Discussion on Answer
Why is that an essential matter? Is it only a people—with an anthem, a flag, and so on—that deserves a state? After all, the United States at the beginning of its existence was not a people either, but rather a collection of individuals, and even so it is obvious that they could forbid foreigners from settling in their land.
You’re insisting. Who spoke about a flag and an anthem? We’re talking about a collection of people living in small groups with no shared identity and no real national aspirations either.
But Rabbi Michael Abraham,
In 1981 there were 25,000 Jews here, and about 400,000 Arabs.
The identity and style were not absolute, but they were Arab.
Is it fair to bring into a territory where you are a minority masses of hundreds of thousands of people in order to become the majority?
There is something unfair about that.
Also in 1948 the Jews were about 600,000 and the Arabs were 1.3 million.
In the UN partition, the Jews received about 55 percent of the territory even though they were only half the number of people.
Is that fair?
Correction: 1881.
I already answered. I do not understand these self-righteous claims. There was a sovereign vacuum here, because people lived here who were not organized in any way. Other people came, bought land, and became the majority. They are allowed to apply their own sovereignty. Just as if secular people came to Bnei Brak, legally bought homes, and became the majority, they would be allowed to vote for a secular mayor and for a different character for the city. And I haven’t even mentioned the claim that we were here first. And I haven’t even mentioned that this is how things happen all over the world, certainly in the Arab states around us (which threw out the Jews and kept all their property there). In general, claims of immorality toward the Palestinians sound delusional to me.
As a side note, let us just add that the Jews were 8% of the Ottoman Empire, but the territory of the State of Israel is not 8% of the territory of the Ottoman Empire.