Comment by dotancohen
2 years ago
Well then you really should look at how the West Bank came to fall under military law, and how the Gaza Strip became overpopulated with both its neighboring countries closing its borders.
History is complicated, yes, but it is how we got into this situation and everybody's idea of a solution is based on their preferred version of history.
You cannot be “the only democracy in the Middle East” and use the excuse that the other countries are making you be authoritarian despots. That makes you just another authoritarian country with trappings of democracy for part of the population.
I agree with you. Where we disagree is the I "use the excuse that the other countries are making [us] be authoritarian despots". I do not think that we are authoritarian despots. I think that we have been maintaining a military occupation for over fifty years, that we have been trying desperately to rid ourselves of for thirty years. We have nobody to hand that territory over to.
If you can find a body to administer the West Bank, I'd love to hear your suggestion. The obvious bodies who have been tasked with developing this authority, such as the PA, have proven themselves time and time again of being incapable of such.
By that logic, the US is an authoritarian country. There’s a meaningful distinction to be made between whether your own citizens have a direct say in their governance or not, regardless of how foreigners in foreign countries may be oppressed.
Are Palestinians citizens of Israel, or is it a foreign country that Israeli settlers are invading?
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