Political Observer comments.

Headline: Is there a way out of the Israeli-Palestinian trap?

Sub-headline: Both sides are right to fear destruction, but change is not impossible

https://www.ft.com/content/459c1bad-a121-42da-8685-d639d6ca4073

As a critic, let me focus on these paragraphs of Harari’s History Made To Measure:

…
It would be wrong to equate the situation of Israelis and Palestinians. They have different histories, live under different conditions and face different threats. The point this article makes is only that both have good reasons to believe that the other side wishes to kill or expel all of them. They consequently see each other not just as run-of-the-mill enemies, but as an existential threat constantly hovering overhead. Unsurprisingly, both sides wish to remove this. However, the Israeli wish to remove the Palestinian existential threat poses an existential threat to the Palestinians — and vice versa. For the only way to completely remove it seems to be to get rid of the other side. 

The tragedy of this conflict is that the problem arises not from unjustified paranoia, but rather from a sound analysis of the situation, and from each side knowing only too well its own intentions and fantasies. When Israelis and Palestinians take a good look at their own dark wishes, they conclude that the other has ample reason to fear and hate them. It is a devilish logic. Every side says to itself: “Given what we wish to do to them, it makes sense that they will want to get rid of us — which is precisely why we have no choice but to get rid of them first.”

Is there a way out of this trap? Ideally, each side should give up its fantasy of getting rid of the other. A peaceful solution to the conflict is technically feasible. There is enough land between the Jordan and Mediterranean to build houses, schools, roads and hospitals for everyone. But it can be realised only if each side can honestly say that, even if it had unlimited power and zero restrictions, it would not wish to expel the other. “No matter what injustices they committed against us and what threats they still pose, we nevertheless respect their right to live dignified lives in their country of birth.” Such a profound change in intentions is bound to manifest itself in action, and eventually ease the fear and hatred, creating space for genuine peace.

Of course, accomplishing such a change is extremely hard. But it is not impossible. There are already numerous individuals on both sides who wish well for the other. If their number increases, eventually it should change collective policies. There is also one important group in the region that collectively feels a part of both sides, and doesn’t wish to see either disappear: the close to 2mn Arab citizens of Israel, who are usually referred to as either Arab Israelis or Palestinian Israelis.

…

What of the the right of a captive people’s to resist their oppressor? On this vexing question, The Reader would be best served by reading Margaret Moore’s whole essay.

Terrorism and the Right to Resist: A Theory of Just Revolutionary War

Christopher J. Finlay, Terrorism and the Right to Resist: A Theory of Just Revolutionary War, Cambridge University Press, 2015, 339pp., $103.00 (hbk), ISBN 9781107040939.

Reviewed by Margaret Moore, Queen’s University

2017.03.08

dpr.nd.edu/reviews/terrorism-and-the-right-to-resist-a-theory-of-just-revolutionary-war/

Harari essay is both about story telling, wedded to speculation about both motives and the emotions of the political actors. Yet the very real power dynamic of these actors remains beyond his ken. This places his commentary in the confines of a partially denatured propaganda!

Political Observer