A Dumb Question

[akirlu]

But a sincere one: can someone explain to me what is the substantive difference between the present Israeli position with respect to the Palestinians and especially a Palestinian right of return, and the position of the Afrikaners, and other South African whites, toward native South Africans under apartheid? I'm quite certain I don't know enough about either, but they seem to be disturbingly similar, to me: that the underlying choice is not a moral one, but based on the will to survive of a minority that fears otherwise being deprived of its privileged status. If that's the case, when is it ever moral to survive only at the expense of the subjugation of other people?

Comments

[akicif.livejournal.com]

See also the Unionists in Norn Iron in the pre-Direct Rule era. Okay, so the Unionists weren't a minority (except in an all-Ireland context) at that point, but they weren't a large majority, and their perception was that the Nationalists would overtake them in a generation or so.

I sometimes wonder if the same "cycle of abuse" thing works for peoples and countries as does for some individuals and families.

[fredcritter.livejournal.com]

Try this link:

http://www.aish.com/jewishissues/middleeast/The_Refugee_Issue.asp

It doesn't directly or entirely answer your question, but it may be a start.

[akirlu.livejournal.com]

Not really, I think. Kind of dodges the question of the Palestinians who were genuinely refugees from places inside what is now Israel, and the fact that Jews who have no history whatever of living anywhere near Israel have perpetual right of return, but Palestinians have none.