Palestinian View of the “Jewish State” Canard

I’ve written previously about the demand by Israeli leaders that Israel not only be recognized, but recognized as a “Jewish State.” My sense has been that the demand, and indeed the whole concept of Israel being a Jewish state, is inherently racist.

I just stumbled on to an interview of Ali Abuminah, whose book, The Battle For Justice in Palestine, is on my reading list. Interestingly, the book intersects both with Arizona politics and with the struggle for economic justice. Abuminah considers Arizona to be ground zero in the U.S. for those who consider people of color to be a demographic threat.

But I digress. Here’s how Abuminah addresses the “Jewish State” demand:

In your book, you demolish the notion that Israel has a right to exist as a Jewish state. This is the first time I can remember that people are speaking about this openly, which I think speaks to how quickly the discourse is changing. 

For me it was crucially important to examine this claim that is made so often. Obama supports Israel’s right to be a Jewish state. Of course, Netanyahu makes this demand every time he pops up in the United States. It’s a very prominent demand, but it’s almost never examined from the perspective of those who would be its victims, which is, of course, Palestinians and other non-Jewish people in that territorial context. So I thought it was very important to take this claim on its own terms and really examine [it]. What does it mean in practice to say Israel has a right to exist as a Jewish state? How can this right be violated? By whom? And what measures can Israel take to remedy any violation of its right to exist as a Jewish state?

And what I argue in the book is that there is no legitimate remedy for having too many people of the wrong ethnic or religious group because any remedy would mean expelling them or subjecting them to different forms of apartheid, which is, of course, what’s already happening. So there can’t possibly be a right. Because if there is a right, then we’re saying Israel has a right to be racist  – and in the 21st century, that’s simply unacceptable.

Abuminah makes the argument well (better than I have) and his logic is unassailable. This will become increasingly uncomfortable for Israel and its American supporters. I’ve had this discussion with some of my pro-Israel friends.  They get testy fairly quickly. Ultimately, the Jewish State demand will be indefensible.