He has a very generic boomer view of Israel and Palestine. He uses the the excuse of "judea and samaria" to justify a nation-state. That alone tells you how un-nuanced his view here is. The right of people existing on. A land isn't based in stories of thousands of years ago. It's about who was born and raised in a land. The Jewish Israelis that were born and raised in Tel Aviv have a right to exist there. The Palestinian farmer in 1850 Ottoman controlled Levant has a right to exist there. A European Jewish person who claims their great great great great great great great great great great great great great great great great great great grandparents once lived there doesn't have an inherent right to displace people were born and raised there. Also this concept of a right for a nation-state to exist is a silly premise in the first place. No nation formed because eof it's right to exist. All nations form by exersion of power. "Right to exist" only should apply to the natural rights of the individual human to not be displaced or disenfranchised from the place they were born and raised. All these politicians and pundits on media circuits using phrases like "Israel has a right to exist".... Have they taken a basic poli sci class that discussed the concept of a "nation-state"? There is no natural right of a nation-state type exist. No nation has been created from an inherent right to exist.
You are right about that, friend. Just like Israel when we built the temple with the wall that's still stands, just like Israel right now as we live and breathe, and just like every other group of people that crashed out there for a few centuries in between, they all did it by force. Every one does, has, and will. You keep b****ing about rights, yet you concede that in the end might makes the rights. Whoever lives there next will live there by force, too. So, then, I guess I just fail to see what your problem is? If all nations are formed by force as you say, then Israel has the right to be there until forced to leave - AGAIN. Oh right, the Jews are the only ones in the history of civilization who aren't allowed to fight for ****. The double standard that you perpetually apply is racist to its core. Israel is stronger. That's why they're there. All you're doing by b****ing is showing your bigotry. Go fight the IDF if you want them gone. Everyone plays by the same rules.
Moreover, he is fine with some people using force. Hamas, Hezballah, Islamic Jihad, the Muslim Brotherhood, etc. What he calls the PTSD'd out survivors. As long as he can fit them in the oppressed part of his oppressor/oppressed dyad, they are good to go with attacking civilians at kibbutzim or music festivals. Only those he can fit in the oppressor role of the same dyad are in the wrong. If Hamas is targeting civilians, it is out of necessity. If Israel kills civilians, it is a war crime (even if they are targeting Hamas). Such is the nature of a communist. To them, there is no objective morality, everything is relative to the oppressor/oppressed paradigm.
Ah, but you forget that Israel is better at fighting, which means not only must they allow themselves to be attacked freely without retaliation or self-defense, but they must also recognize their privelage by repenting for possessing an actual military with bases that aren't hospitals and graciously express their upmost gratitude towards their victims while they intentionally murder their children. What an honor.
Bill Clinton’s position is and has been a two state solution. He is upset (has been for 30 years) - because he had the framework for a separate Palestinian state with more concessions than had been seriously discussed before. As far as the “Right to exist” argument is concerned - it means different things to different people. I believe the establishment of an Israel nation state was foolish and I would have been strongly against it as there were already Arabs living there. However - Israel is now almost 80 years old. The overwhelming majority of Israeli’s were born in Israel and have lived there their entire lives. They are not going anywhere. The only real outcome from the perspective of the survival of the Palestinians is a two state solution - but not all political actors in the occupied territory want that.
I believe in the individual rights of humans in that region... Israeli Jews, Israeli Muslims, Palestinian Muslims, Palestinian Christians etc. all of them. They all have a right to exist as individuals with individual human rights to property, religion, expression etc. The name of the state the presides over that which I just described is irrelevant to me. States don't have rights in my opinion. Individuals do. edit: And Bill Clinton showed me there a great insight into his concepts of what human rights are. And they are very different than mine. He believes concepts like genetic lineage and national identity have rights in themselves and not individual humans. A Palestinian isn't displaced because he doesn't have genetic lineage to the land even though he or she was born and raised there and only understands this place and no other place on the planet. A French Jewish person is displaced because of some genetic lineage even though everything they know is from a French perspective and lifestyle.
Not sure Israel is better at fighting. Start a ground war with Iran and see what happens. Israel exists only because of their alliance with the USA - who gives them aid and access to weaponry and defenses systems that are 50+ years more advanced than their neighbors. Israel is in a tough situation. Arguably they shouldn’t have received nationhood 75 years ago - but they did and they have hostile neighbors and a native population of Arabs that they cannot incorporate or kill. I know a lot of credit has been given to Netanyahu - but outside of some fantastic intel, what has Israel really done? They have US weapon systems to clear out areas without Israeli casualties, they have defeated terrorists and not a real military - and then when Iran or others try to fire upon Israel, US weapon systems defend Israel and then there are US ships sitting and protecting Israel when Israel fails to. It is a sad situation for everyone involved.
Let's face it, Israel has an infinitely smarter and more educated population than their adversaries. Also, they represent good vs. evil. So they will keep winning.
First off, you don't know dick about the Jewish perspective, French or otherwise. Second, you believe in the individual human rights to expression of the people in that region? Are you ****ing kidding me?
For every terrorist that is killed, how many are headed towards extremism and terrorism due to their past year's experience in Gaza? The entire concept of this war in the first place was self defeating for the long term sincere security of Israeli citizens and we all knew it. We all knew on Oct. 8th that we are just going to continue the cycle with the coming onslaught... Unless there is a successful and complete genocide that literally kills any potential radicalized Gazans.
Is a Jewish citizen in America not American? Their culture if born and raised in America is going to be the culture of that state in America. If they never visited Israel, there is no emotional attachment to that land outside of religion if they are religious. It is a foreign land.
Strategic alliances fall into my poorly worded definition of "fighting", I guess. Having stronger allies with bigger guns equates to winning fights. I could have been more impeccable with my choice of words.
Judaism isn't a religion to most of us. My culture is just as much Jewish as it is American. Every Jew has an attachment to Israel whether or not they ever step foot there. Every single thing you say about the Jewish perspective is wrong.
And yet you don't condemn the attacks by Hamas or Hizballah or Islamic Jihad or the Houthis or Iran. No one believes you support the rights of the Israelis to be safe in the place they were born. You view Israel as the oppressor and everyone opposed to the as the oppressed and support one way violence (even against civilian targets).
