On Sun, 27 Jan 2002, Erik Reuter wrote: > Given the assumption that it was necessary to create a land and a state > as a Jewish refuge after World War II, was there another alternative > then the Jerusalem area? > > I suppose a chunk of (present-day) Germany, or Italy, could have been > offered. Perhaps Okinawa or something like that. But would that have > been successful, i.e., would lots have Jews made that their home?
Probably not. But the way in which things were done look a lot like the West saying to the Israelis: "Well, it's really too much trouble to find ways to guarantee anti-Semitism will never again plague you in Europe, so we'll use a UN declaration to give you a state in Jerusalem, then wash our hands of you and sit back while you fight it out with the Arabs. It's an unfair characterization on some levels...but not very unfair. What I find hard to swallow is the notion that the West is acting out of lofty moral principles with respect to Israel. Most of the time I think we're just doing what we can to push the sacrifice onto the shoulders of those with the least claim on our loyalty. That doesn't make our debt to Israel any less real, but when you rob Peter to pay Paul, you still owe Peter. > In contrast, by my reckoning the European immigrants to America had > much less claim to the land they took than the Jews had to Israel. And > the new Americans and their descendants got away with it, by being > more powerful and more determined. Maybe the same thing will happen > with Israel? Except that the Israelis treat the Palestinians less > severely than the new Americans treated the Native Americans, and so the > Palestinians are still able to offer resistance of a sort. Does might > make right? North American history seems to point that way. I wonder how > much of this accounts for the strong support that the US has for Israel. Might doesn't make right, but might creates the opportunity to preach and exercise your version of right. I think the US's strong support for Israel is grounded in a number of things, including principles -- Israel *does* deserve to exist in safety (but then so do the Palestinians) plus after WW2 many Arab states dallied with the Soviet Union, making a Western state in the Middle East imperative on strategic and ideological grounds -- and electoral pragmatism in the form of a strong American Jewish community that votes and participates in politics. Marvin Long Austin, Texas
