by Jesse Bacon
Lost in the debate over the settlement phase is its real purpose, to claim
Palestinian land for Israel. Even its hardcore defenders like Avigdor
Lieberman, know there will come a time when that has reached its
end, when all available Palestinian land has been taken, and all
Palestinians capable of being forced to leave will have done so.
What to do then? Well, then
And apparently we are nearing that time. Fortunately, we are also
nearing a time when Lieberman and company are revealed for
what they are. Netanyahu has kept him under pretty tight leash
after his appointment caused outrage around the world. But fresh
off Israel’s triumphant avoidance of any punishment for allowing
his fake settlement freeze to end, Netanyahu set Lieberman loose
on the UN.
He is apparently seeking international support for the idea that
Israel has a right to suddenly declare some Palestinians no longer
Israeli citizens, but citizens of another state without the messy
process of moving them (though no doubt violence would result
anyways.) I hope people would protest this just as they would if
US suddenly declared its Latino citizens of Mexico, though I am
sure some are in favor of that. And like most racists, Lieberman
was at pains to stress how un-racist his desire to expel one national
group without their consent was.
Hopefully, this is a sign that Israel recognizes it needs international
legitimacy for its scheme in the wake of its badly damaged pr.
Less hopefully, the world does not have a great record of taking actual
action to withold that legitimacy in any meaningful. I fear this will
become part of the consensus of “serious people” in the same way that
“everybody knows” that Ariel will always be part of Israel. But hopefully
again, we have seen the power of international citizens led by Palestinians
to challenge that consensus.
PS. the article asked whether Lieberman was speaking for himself or
the Israeli government. If it was the former, and random citizens of
Israel are now permitted to address the United Nations, I hope the UN
will give equal time for people calling for some sort of shared democratic
state or full withdrawal to 1967 borders. If, as I suspect, it was the latter
then I hope that Jewish groups who are always asking Palestinians to
condemn other Palestinians are consistent in their treatment of Lieberman.
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