Posted on 11/19/2004 6:27:37 PM PST by yonif
Edited on 11/19/2004 7:10:42 PM PST by Sidebar Moderator. [history]
the Strength of Israel will not lie nor repent Samuel I 15:29
For more then fifty years, Israel has been a country which has caused controversy and debate all over the world. The eyes of the planet, no matter if it is for a good or bad purpose, are on Israel daily. As much as it is valid to study the conflict Israel is engaged in with militant Islam and the Islamic world, frankly it is necessary to understand Israel’s rationale for existing in the world. Through this understanding a better grasp of some of Israel’s past, present and future actions as a country can be realized.
There are many theories that aim to bring forth the reasoning over what a state’s goals constitute. Essentially all theories have a common value - a state seeks to endure in the world system. A state seeks to protect its sovereignty. John Mearsheimer in “The Tragedy of Great Power Politics,” through what he terms Offensive Realism, defines states as having the goal of maximizing their share of world power, meaning a state seeks to pursue power to domination even at the expense of others. If benefits outweigh costs, a state will even go to war in order to achieve these aims.
Mearsheimer’s description has its logic; however Israel is one of those cases which cause the argument to seem like its missing something. In effect, it misses the depth necessary when it comes to figuring out this state.
Israel’s aims in this world system are not just to survive as a state with its sovereignty and territorial integrity. Its survival as a state depends on the makeup of its domestic structure. The makeup of the state as a Jewish state is paramount and what leads herself to have a quest to survive. Israel must remain as Jewish state, by way of having a Jewish majority, in the world system.
Israel’s establishment in 1948 was done with the Holocaust in the minds of her founders. The term “Never Again!” did not mean exclusively that the world will never again stand by and allow such a thing to happen before taking action. The principle idea meant that never again would Jews be unarmed, basing their security on foreigners. In fact, Israel’s declaration of independence reads, “The catastrophe which recently befell the Jewish people - the massacre of millions of Jews in Europe - was another clear demonstration of the urgency of solving the problem of its homelessness by re-establishing in Eretz-Israel the Jewish State, which would open the gates of the homeland wide to every Jew and confer upon the Jewish people the status of a fully privileged member of the comity of nations.”
Even though the Zionist ideology, which called for Jews to have their own country came in 1897, years before the Holocaust even happened, the events of World War II directly influenced Zionism and its reasoning for working for the creation of a Jewish state. It was no longer just a quest based on the reckoning that Jews were a distinct nation in need of a country. It now included the reality that Jews have been living in insecurity (the example being the Holocaust), and it was time they were allowed to defend themselves.
Israel was created to satisfy this ideology and was going to be led by that ideology. This was an ideology which saw Jews as a nation in need of a country where they were in control of the government and the army. And such a control would only be achieved when Jews were the majority. Such a majority would therefore have to be maintained. The preservation of state accordingly was directly controlled by the idea that the state had to have this Jewish majority as without it there was no use for the state. The state was to act in the interests of maintaining these facts on the ground.
The best place to see this outlined is once more in Israel’s declaration of independence. Here are some excepts which reveal the aims of the state the Jews were establishing: “After being forcibly exiled from their land, the people kept faith with it throughout their Dispersion and never ceased to pray and hope for their return to it and for the restoration in it of their political freedom;” “[It] is the natural right of the Jewish people to be masters of their own fate, like all other nations, in their own sovereign State:” “The State of Israel will be open for Jewish immigration and for the Ingathering of the Exiles;” “We Appeal to the Jewish people throughout the Diaspora to rally round the Jews of Eretz-Israel in the tasks of immigration and upbuilding and to stand by them in the great struggle for the realization of the age-old dream - the redemption of Israel.”
There have been many instances in the history of Israel where the idea of serving as a home for the Jews in the world and acting as a protector of Jews, Israeli citizens or not, has been exhibited. Take for example the 1976 rescue of Jews held hostage in Entebbe, Uganda, the destruction of the Osrik nuclear reactor in Iraq, or the many operations which set free Jews living in the former Soviet Union or in places like Ethiopia. The Israeli operation in Iraq may not be a clear indication of these Jewish aims; however it must be noted that the reasoning behind attacking that reactor was not just because it was a threat to the state, but because it was a threat to the survival of the Jewish people. Nowadays you can see Israel involving itself in World Jewry, as a representative of the Jewish people, even though not all the Jewish people of the world are citizens of Israel. You clearly see Israel leading campaigns against anti-Semitism, or even making its clear presence at commemorations for the Holocaust. As much as I hate making an analogy to the Soviet Union, there is a parallel to be made here, whereas the Soviet Union saw itself as the representative of the workers of the world when it was in existence.
One of the contentious points that revolve around Israel and her goal of maintaining its domestic structure of being a Jewish majority is its Law of Return, which outlines who can receive citizenship in Israel. Simply put, any Jew can become a citizen of Israel automatically, and those with certain Jewish family links can also do the same. Non-Jews can technically get citizenship, though there are conditions that have to be met before that occurs.
It is no secret cries that Israel practices racism has been heard. After all, isn’t it racist to give preference to Jews becoming citizens? The fact of the matter is, and as further explained above, the law does not make Israel a racist state nor is it based on the idea that Jews are a superior ethnic group. The law is needed because the state needs it. It is the goal of the state to continue to remain with a Jewish-majority, and such a majority can only be preserved with such a law. If Israel were really racist, it would kick out the 20% non-Jews. It has not tried to do so, and it accords full rights to the non-Jewish citizenry. It is worth mentioning that maintaining the Jewish majority relates to security concerns too. Jewish security depends on Jews being in the majority. Not only is the murderous history of the Holocaust recalled, but also the persecution and finally exodus of most of the Jews in the Arab world in the 1950s further employed as reasoning. My Israeli grandparents, for example, were kicked out of Iraq in the 1950s and came to Israel.
The aim of Israel in this world system is to maintain its populace composition. It acts within the world system under the premise of keeping this Jewish identity and its Jewish state. This is what leads it to act, not simply a quest for power. Sure, Israel might want to have power in the world system, but it doesn’t do so just because it is a state and all states seek to do this, but because its ideology calls upon it to do so. It needs to have power in order to retain its national structure. Take its Jewish majority away, and there is no reason for the state to exist, even if it has a great economy and powerful military. These are meaningless if the state does not remain true to its real purpose of being Jewish, though this is not to say having military power is not necessary. The military and economic capacity serves to complement the Zionist idea, not replace it. Israel remaining a Jewish state is the end, and military/economic power is the means. This is what drives Israel today in the world system, and this is what will drive Israel in the future.
Ping.
Ping for later reading.
So does its very survival. Good colum.
Great article. BTW, I think your quote is incorrect. I think it's 1 Samuel 15:29.
Oops, typo.
Theodor Herzl lived and died before the Holocaust even happened. I do not necessarily subscribe to the notion that Herzl was alone instrumental in the establishment of Israel, but he gets a lot of credit anyhow.
Aside from that, Israel does not, and should not feel obliged to offer apologies to the world for her existence. The citizenship problems are in a sense similar to certain immigration problems in the USA, but really only superficially. A Jewish state is entitled to be exactly that. Who should care what non Israelis think about such matters?
Screw the United Nations. What war has the UN ever won?
You might also wish to point out that there are black Jews, Indian Jews, Chinese Jews, and even Arab Jews. Lots of different folks out there say the Sh'ma.
Yup.
COOL rack the commentary Yonif
Here for historical point of view for 100 years Arabs didnt' do jack about Desert in Israel when Jews arrived plants and other mineral was discover
Am I saying that Arabs not that bright scientifcally YEAH
Ping
Very Good!
Pleace read my latest article: "Israel Defence Forces Born In Battle; The existment of the Jewish State" found at:
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1284121/posts
Its directly related to this topic of yonif.
"Israel does not, and should not feel obliged to offer apologies to the world for her existence. ...A Jewish state is entitled to be exactly that. Who should care what non Israelis think about such matters? Screw the United Nations. What war has the UN ever won?"
Amen and right-on!
Israel is not much different from any other country, really. The vast majority of countries are ethnic-majority countries.
American experience is unique, but still for the most part it was a Western culture dominated country. It substituted ethnic homogeneity with cultural cohesiveness. All races and ethnicities function in the same wider cultural framework. Even representatives of very distinct ethnic cultures, like different Asian cultures, for example, became successful here playing by the Western culture rules. Malfunctions (or sabotage) of the famous American melting pot caused by the multiculturalism may Balkanize the country, but still the often used example of similarity between USA and Israel while correct in many instances is wrong in discussing ethnic-state issues.
All countries came to existence by stating their claim on the territory and then defending the claim. If there is a country that NEVER had to defend its borders, I don't know any, and would appreciate to be educated on this. (The divorces establishing Czechia, Slovakia, ex-Soviet Republics were peaceful now, but their historical borders were not).
Israel is somewhat unique because its existence was sanctioned by the United Nations in modern times. And we are witnessing history in making that is much different from analyzing historical borders of France, for example. Nevertheless, this experience is only "somewhat" unique, because after the declaring itself, Israel had to prove itself in the old-fashioned way: with arms and blood. Would Israel perish under the joined attack of its Arab neighbors, UN would NOT re-establish it again.
So, Israel earned its existence by defending itself again-and-again and then proved its stake to the land again by creating an oasis of prosperity and agricultural marvel in the destitute inhospitable place. How is it less noble than coming to existence of all other countries? If others suffer historical amnesia and forgot the blood spilled by their ancestors (rightly or wrongly), it does not change the facts. Like everybody else Israel had to fight and won. Deal with it.
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