What do we do with those Palestinians?!

Or: More Answers to Ms. Max Coutinho

Dear Ms. Coutinho,

Your knowledge of history of the region is remarkable indeed, and I’m not going to compete with it. If I believed that the solution to the Zionist-Palestinian conflict depended in any way on historical facts – then I would try to argue with you, something I see as fairly difficult, considering your level of education. But the truth is, that I don’t think that it matters much.

Here is why:

I think that after your educated and detailed comments, I understand your stance better. Basically, you are saying that, since the ancestors of the current Palestinians had lousy and corrupt leaders (a fact that stems, in my opinion, from the way that Western powers partitioned the area, but that’s a different argument), and that they legally did not have a right for their own state in what is now known as the Land of Israel – these facts dictate that they must be displaced from their homes in the West Bank into Gaza Strip, or Sinai, or Jordan.

For the sake of the argument, let us just assume that from a morality and justice point of view, you are correct. This is what ought to be done! And we must insist, and keep fighting the entire hypocritical international community, and the entire Muslim world (or the part which pays attention to this conflict – not a billion people, but a fairly large amount of people) – until they agree to move, or until we have the political and military power to force them to do so.

Now, usually I don’t distinguish between people living in or outside of Israel, regarding their political views. Everybody is entitled to his or her opinion, regardless of place of residence. However, in order to carry out such a project, it will take a lot of military manpower, fighting, deaths and injuries. In this case, I must ask you if you think that it is worth the cost, in: human lives, degradation of morality (or some risk thereof) – not to mention the conflict with the World communities – and also: are you willing to sacrifice your own children for this kind of struggle? I’m asking, because even inside my country, there is a vast inequality regarding the risk taken by different people, at times of war. My sons, as you already know, are on the combat side, and I’m not happy about this, because I don’t believe in the cause of fighting any more. But even for people who do believe in it, such as yourself – and I totally respect that – they are not always ready to take the personal consequences.

Please don’t misunderstand me – I am not a pacifist, and I am well aware that for a good cause, there are times when one must sacrifice a lot, sometimes his own life or the lives of his loved ones – you just don’t get what you deserve for free, in this world. The only question that I’m asking is: how many people do you think will be willing to participate in such a project (let me be straight: the displacement of about 2.7 million people (as of 2012), against their will, from their homes, where they have been living in predominantly rural areas – into high-rises in Gaza, or newly built cities and towns in the deserts of Sinai and Jordan)? – and are you or people you know, among them?

What I’m saying, to put it briefly, is that, regardless of what I think about the moral basis of this interesting project (and be sure that I have my thoughts) – it is completely impractical. Therefore, we (or shall I say, not me, but the Israelis, with the support of the Jewry around the world), are doomed to keep fighting against pretty powerful entities, for the foreseen future. And that’s not a very encouraging proposition. Let me tell you a little secret – I have the strong feeling, that within the majority of Jews in Israel, if they thought that this was what it took to keep the state of Israel going – there won’t be much support for this project.

p.s. I must say, that among all my friends from the Right wing, you are one of very few who took the challenge, and answered most honestly and with intellectual courage, the question which I see as the central in this argument: What do we do with the Palestinians today? – that is, regardless of the question where they came from, what is the legal meaning of the Balfour Declaration, etc. This is why I skipped the historical part, and went straight to the end.

With deepest respect,

Avner Efendowicz