This is a great essay. Thank you for reprinting it.
Without detracting from that at all, I'd like to point out that the statement "The occupation of the West Bank by Israel... has been... a disaster for Israel morally, politically, and spiritually" is false. It's the kind of thing that people say because everyone says it, because it would…
This is a great essay. Thank you for reprinting it.
Without detracting from that at all, I'd like to point out that the statement "The occupation of the West Bank by Israel... has been... a disaster for Israel morally, politically, and spiritually" is false. It's the kind of thing that people say because everyone says it, because it would be gauche to not. One would think that after 55 years of a morally-corrupting policy one would see a lot more moral corruption. Not that there isn't any, but it'd be hard to show that there's more than there was before, or more than one would expect absent that policy. In the political and spiritual realms as well, Israel has tended to thrive. None of that proves that Israel's policies are good, it merely undermines the predictions based on the assumption that they're bad.
I just came here to post something like this. The settlements are protecting Israel, not just because they contribute more combat soldiers to the IDF than any other segments of society, but also because without them rockets would be fired from just a few miles from Tell Aviv. Just look at the map and see how close the borders of the West Bank are to major cities! Few people think about the fact that the residents of Tell Aviv can party without much worry because the "occupation" of the West Bank.
This is a great essay. Thank you for reprinting it.
Without detracting from that at all, I'd like to point out that the statement "The occupation of the West Bank by Israel... has been... a disaster for Israel morally, politically, and spiritually" is false. It's the kind of thing that people say because everyone says it, because it would be gauche to not. One would think that after 55 years of a morally-corrupting policy one would see a lot more moral corruption. Not that there isn't any, but it'd be hard to show that there's more than there was before, or more than one would expect absent that policy. In the political and spiritual realms as well, Israel has tended to thrive. None of that proves that Israel's policies are good, it merely undermines the predictions based on the assumption that they're bad.
I just came here to post something like this. The settlements are protecting Israel, not just because they contribute more combat soldiers to the IDF than any other segments of society, but also because without them rockets would be fired from just a few miles from Tell Aviv. Just look at the map and see how close the borders of the West Bank are to major cities! Few people think about the fact that the residents of Tell Aviv can party without much worry because the "occupation" of the West Bank.