the "Justification for Jewish presence" is greater?

Submitted by Ron Thompson (United States), Jun 23, 2011 at 14:23

I think this article makes an absolutely central point that is seldom even mentioned - although it should perhaps be fleshed out with many more details - it probably deserves a short book. The article is also an excellent companion to the Wall St piece cited by Pipes, What if the Jews Had Behaved like the Palestinians? (ok, I altered the title slightly). Together these two are a comprehensive and complete refutation of the entire 'narrative' of the ongoing Palestinian propaganda blitz, and should become part of the mainstream discussion of the israeli-Palestinina conflict (if they did of course, the terms of that discussion could not rationally remain what they are now)

But I have a slight disagreement with the "ultimate justification" argument. It seems to me that the legitimacy of the existence of Israel rests on not one but three grounds, all of which are co-equal in importance (and none of which rest on any supernatural religious ground).

Those three grounds are, first, History, just as Professor Pipes says - all the records, historical and archaeological, point to the highlands of 'Palestine' as the first origin of the Jewish people at least three thousand years ago (archaeology dosn't take the record further back in time), with a continuing Jewish presence ever since.

Second, blood, toil, tears, and sweat - sheer work, energy, creativity,and resilience for over 90 years (to take 1917 as an arbitrary date).

Third, the accelerating geostrategic importance and competence of Israel as a bastion of Western economic and military strength and, of course, shared values, none of which values are reliably represented or shared by any of the States which threaten Israel, and by extension, also threaten the values and interests of the rest of the peaceable portions of the planet.

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