Balancing Act

Protocols links to a fascinating interview at Haaretz: Survival of the fittest. Ari Shavit interviews Benny Morris, a leftist historian who wrote a book on the "atrocities" perpetrated by the Jews in the War of Independence. The fascinating part is that he defends it:

Ben-Gurion was a "transferist"?

"Of course. Ben-Gurion was a transferist. He understood that there could be no Jewish state with a large and hostile Arab minority in its midst. There would be no such state. It would not be able to exist."

I don't hear you condemning him.

"Ben-Gurion was right. If he had not done what he did, a state would not have come into being. That has to be clear. It is impossible to evade it. Without the uprooting of the Palestinians, a Jewish state would not have arisen here."

The interview consists of Shavit asking many different forms of the question, "Are you serious, you cold, heartless bastard?" Read the whole thing.

In fact, Morris does come across as shockingly cold. But I think the struggle he seems to have gone through is important for everyone to deal with. We need to all be comfortable answering questions like: Is the establishment of the state of Israel morally justified? If so, why? Were we justified in establishing a Jewish majority in a land with an Arab majority, and instituting laws that gave preference to Jews (such as the Law of Return)? If the only way to establish the state was through questionable fighting during the War of Indepndence, does that mean it is no longer justified? If it was justified, does that mean the Arabs are justified in blowing up buses?

Morris frames the answers in terms of relative badness in a hostile world. We as Jews were (and are) fighting for our survival. Morris is not comfortable saying that our survival is only justified if we can get it for free, without trampling on any lofty ideals like peace and brotherhood among all people of the world. You need to think about ideals on one level, but be prepared to compromise on them in a world that is far from ideal. Whatever you think of his stance, these are questions that everyone needs to be struggling with.