Wednesday, January 23, 2013

Today's Good News: The Center Rises in Israel

In Israeli elections yesterday the governing right-wing party did win the most seats, as expected. 

But widespread gloomy predictions that the next biggest bloc would be an even more right-wing party, bent on driving all Palestinians out of Israel, proved false. 

The second largest party in the Knesset will be a new centrist party.

Hopes for a peaceful and semi-just settlement in Israel and Palestine stay alive.


7 comments:

isabel said...

Why do you say semi-just?

Gruntled said...

Because two nations, which regard themselves as nations, have just claims to the same space. There can be no fully just resolution until they stop thinking of themselves as "nations" in a 19th century way.

Anonymous said...

What is a 19th century way?

Gruntled said...

That a nation a made by real or (mostly) imagined common blood descent. Thus, "the Jews" and "the Palestinians" are distinct and immutable groups, even if they are generations removed from the land. Compounding the problem of this theory is the belief that this kind of nation was not invented in the 19th century, but goes back to the dawn of history.

The American theory of nationhood is that one can elect to join a nation by embracing its ideals. Thus our national motto, E Pluribus Unum. The American theory is gaining ground as the world theory, and I expect it will continue to expand in the 21st century.

Still, many nations are stuck in 19th century conceptions of what their nationhood consists of.

Anonymous said...

I'm sure the Israelis would embrace the Palestinians if they would embrace modern ideals.

Gruntled said...

Every population is complex. There are Palestinians and Israelis who embrace "modern ideals" of human rights. And there are violent, even racist, reactionaries among both communities, too.

Anonymous said...

True but there is really no moral equivalence as some suggest.