Say No to Israel as a Jewish State

The New York Times on July 8th published an article by Roger Cohen titled "Her Jewish State" (see link below). Cohen discusses his recent interview with Tzipi Livni, the Israeli Foreign Minister, who he suggests is a potential future Prime Minister. He states that one of Livni’s catch phrases is that "There is a process of delegitimization of Israel as a Jewish state." To her, Cohen says, this means that the West must tell Israel’s enemies that they "must not only recognize Israel’s right to exist, but also ‘the right of Israel to exist as a Jewish state, which is not that obvious anymore." There is a huge difference between these two concepts, and for the U.S. to recognize this claim violates our founding principle of the separation between church and state.

To be critical of the policies of the Israeli government does not mean a person is anti-Semitic or anti-Judaic, which is to hold prejudice toward those people practicing the Jewish faith. The problem resides with the concept of Zionism. Formed during the late 1800’s the Zionist movement promoted the idea that the Jews must have their own national homeland. Not all Zionists felt that this specifically meant Palestine, but those who did were more assertive and emerged as the driving force behind the group. It was these Zionists that were the original aggressors in the Middle East conflict, and by today’s standards they would be classified as terrorists.

From this ideology has come the effort to maintain Israel - the actual physical territory of the nation - Jewish. But to consider being Israeli synonymous with being Jewish; to structure the nation’s laws to maintain the dominance of a single faith; and to promote that the country has Divine right makes Israel a theocracy - a nation ruled by religious law - not a democracy. While a voting process may be in place, the assumed definition of a democratic society - equality of rights, opportunity, and treatment for all citizens - is not being met.

Secular law - maintaining a complete separation between government and religion - is the only way to provide for a free, fair, and just society that meets the needs of all people. Any diminution of this concept abrogates the rights of some individuals. Whether this happens in Israel or Iran, it violates the founding precepts of the United States. We cannot support a theocratic government if we wish to remain credible on the global stage, and not be the hypocrites many others claim we have become.

In no way is this to say that Israel does not have the right to exist. Even though religious fanatics founded the country by conquest - and many consider the occupation continuing to this day - that has been the way of our world throughout history. If, though, we wish to break the cycle of retribution keeping our world embroiled in conflict we need to find a better way to proceed. This requires becoming current and dealing with reality as it is today: we always have a greater responsibility to our future than to keeping the dictates of our past.

As it was wrong for the Zionists to take back land that the Jews lost over 1900-years ago, it would also be wrong for the Arabs to take back what they lost almost 60-years ago. If this was not the case, then many other people in the world have the right to stake similar claims, such as the indigenous Hawaiian’s whose land the United States stole a hundred years ago. These bids for past glories must cease for our world to move forward. Furthermore, many of those in Israel today not only do not support Zionism, but they were also not part of the original conflict: we do not make children pay for the crimes of their parents.

A peaceful resolution to this crisis requires Israel to compromise on its founding principles and commit to secular law, the democratic process, and equal rights for all people regardless of their ethnicity or religion. No longer can claims of religious superiority or divine right - by any party - be tolerated within the discussion. Third party intervention will be required: the international community assented to the Israeli occupation, and it now has the duty to rectify past wrongs through the determination of fault and reasonable compensation for those harmed.

Our planet is being held hostage by the inability of the Jews and the Palestinians to find peace. The lesser - the animosities of a few - has taken precedent over the greater – the safety of all of us. Whether the eventual compromise is a fair two state solution allowing each country similar economic potential, or a single nation where Jew and Muslim participate on an equal basis, the world has the right to expect an end to the conflict – and this requires the United States to uphold our principles of separation between church and state.

"Her Jewish State" by Roger Cohen: nytimes.com