<what did the world call it when Transjordan uprooted all Jewish neighborhoods and settlements from the West Bank in 1948, including Gush Etzion, Gilo and the Old City of Jerusalem?>
This is "each crime justifies the next one" reasoning. Apologists for anything nasty Israel does, always fall back on "the Arabs did worse", after first trying to deny they did it at all. This reminds me, of when my 10-year-old says "I didn't do it", followed by, "He hit me first!" to explain how the 8-year-old got a bloody nose. I do not tell him, "Oh, well, then, that's OK, carry on hitting him." Which seems to be what Washington says to Jerusalem about Ramallah.
OK, let's say I accept that the 700,000 Arabs who left the new Israel around 1948, are "balanced" by the 700,000 Jews who left ghettoes from Morocco to Baghdad to the Old City at about the same time. Let's not try to define the word "left", as I'm sure the clever people on this thread could come up with a wild variety of creative definitions, which depend entirely on their current politics, and not at all on what actually happened. Not going there.
OK, so, what happened in 1947-1950 was not a crime, not colonization, not ethnic cleansing. It was just an "exchange of populations", a delicate term with less emotional content. So, then, they were even.
From 1948 through 1967, the political, military, and demographic boundaries were clear, sharp, and coincided with each other. Having those boundaries (and especially the demographic boundary) be clear, with all Jews living one one side of a line, and all Muslims living on the other side, is a precondition for peace. A multi-national State, or any significant minorities living on the "wrong" side, is not workable.
But since 1967, Israel has blurred that boundary. And the more blurring they do, the further peace recedes. There are only two long-term solutions for Israel: expel all the Muslims east of the Jordan, or uproot the Jewish settlements in the Occupied Territories. Those are the only ways to make the demographic boundary clear again. Everything else is crisis management, short-term expedients, and Denial. You believe that Israel can militarily crush this and any future Intifadas, and continue expanding settlements in Judaea and Samaria. You think the Arabs will, at some point, accept their status as permanent subjects rather than citizens. I think this is Denial, and that Palestinian resistance is greater now than 10, 20, or 30 years ago. And will only grow, in proportion as the settlements grow.
Eventually, Israel will do one or the other (move the Arabs or the Settlers). And only one of those ways leads to peace. |
