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
