Well, winning the war and gaining recognition came after declaring independence. So the "right" came from the UN partition - and here is what the UN voted for in 1947:
us-israel.org
us-israel.org
But why did the UN decide to divvy up the territory between Israel and the Arabs? Because it was always the goal of the Zionists to re-establish the nation of Israel, a Jewish homeland, in an area where Jews had become a minority. It wasn't good enough to live in the land they came from so long ago, they had to have autonomy.
At the same time, the Arabs supported the Allies in World War I because they were promised autonomy, too.
And the two sets of aspirations could not be reconciled.
The Jews succeeded because they were, and are, more advanced, culturally; thus, they were, and are, more powerful. Also, they have more powerful friends. And the Holocaust made, and makes, non-Jews feel guilty. And Westerners didn't, and don't, have a lot of respect for Arabs, anyway, especially the Brits, who were, and are, notoriously racist. They didn't, and don't, think highly of Jews, either, but wealthy Westernized Jews were more common than wealthy Westernized Arabs, and certainly had the ear of the Brits during WWI. The Balfour Declaration was a quid pro quo.
It was an ugly business, but, as you point out, forming a nation always is.
I can understand why you'd be reluctant to criticize China for taking over Tibet - it would make your arguments about Israel untenable.
I can honestly say that I am not in favor of taking other people's territory by force. It's a bad thing to do. It's morally wrong, and it frequently backfires, although it may take centuries to work itself out.
The only difference between the Israelis and the Palestinians is that the Israelis have better weapons. Both have used, and will use, force to attain their goals. Oh, the Palestinians do target civilians, which I also don't approve of, but I don't doubt that a lot of Palestinian civilians have been killed by Israelis, have they?
Anyway, I am probably going to let the matter drop. I was interested in whether there was a good moral or ethical reason to support Israel, and I figured if anyone could advance it, it was you.
"We seen our opportunities and we took them" is what it appears to be. The West is far more advanced, militarily, and culturally, than the Arabs, and the Ottoman Empire collapsed, and there was a power vacuum, so it was relatively easy, and now the Israelis can pretend that they have the moral high ground.
And the Bible-thumpers agree.
But I am not a Bible thumper. I am a Libertarian, and an old school Liberal, and I don't think it's right to take other people's land by force, no matter what color their skin is.
Ach, the heck with it. Let them kill each other, and us stay out of it. |
