It's one thing to argue against the Stenhall position outlined in this piece (and, by the way, it would help to see the original so one could assess just how accurate the editorial is in picturing Stenhall's position), but it's quite another to argue that critics of the settlement policy are, in some sense, advocating killing settlers. This latter is a Pipes kind of argument. Starting from the premise that if you are not with us, you must be against us, then critics become advocates for the other side. And, as is Pipes desire, a serious attempt to shut down dissent is laid on the table.
This kind of argumentation, in which critics are labeled as advocating murder, as traitors, as whatevers, should be condemned by right and left and middle as incompatible with a vigorous democracy. Whether Israeli, European, or US. |
