Israel and its foundational ideology of Zionism have always had a structural problem with how to accommodate Arab and Jewish nationalism in a single country. Most of the world believes that the best answer is two Israeli and Palestinian states side by side, with a negotiated and fair resolution of the Palestine refugee issue that is the core of the conflict for Palestinians and Arabs. Some Israelis feel the solution is to expel Palestinians within Israel, and treat those living under Israeli occupation as residents but not as citizens with equal rights. Few Israelis accept the principle that Palestinians and Israelis should enjoy fully equal rights in two adjacent states, with the Palestinian refugeehood issue resolved through negotiations on the basis of UN resolutions and prevailing international law.
The dilemma increases every year for Israel, as the Palestinian population grows; the 1.5 million Palestinians in 1948 are now over 8 million; the 800,000 Palestinian refugees of 1947-48 are now nearly 4.5 million. No wonder Israelis increasingly fear the "demographic threat" and seek solace in right-wing parties that now form a majority in their parliament. Openly racist parties now seem perfectly legitimate in the Israeli political system -- parties that would be rightly shunned, say, in Europe or the USA.
Israel still has not come to grips with the fundamental dilemma that its creation in 1947-48 came at the expense of the integrity and rights of the native Palestinian Arabs, who now find themselves in exile, under occupation and siege, or living as second-class citizens inside Israel. That fact must be acknowledged and rectified if there is ever going to be peace for Israelis and Palestinians and many others in the region.
Proposals to expel Arabs or disenfranchise them in order to safeguard the Jewish purity of Israel are racist, Apartheid-like ideas that will never work logistically and should never be considered morally. The fact that such ideas are part of mainstream Israeli society today should be a great shame to otherwise impressive Jewish ethical traditions. There is only one resolution of this dilemma, and Moses passed it on to his people thousands of years ago to spread to all humankind: "pursue justice and only justice," and treat all people alike on the basis of a single standard of law that is adjudicated by fair judges.
Speaking of Israel disenfranchising and expelling Arabs reminds us of this massive black hole in the morality of the state that says it represents all the Jewish people. If so, the Jewish people and their state have some serious work to do in moral and psychological rehabilitation. Failing that, they risk being taken over completely by a growing mob of electorally legitimized political skinheads and moral thugs who use the fear of ordinary Israelis to create an edifice of state racism that will only perpetuate the fears and vulnerabilities of the Israeli and Jewish people, rather then resolve them.
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