FAIR Christians for Fair
Witness on the Middle East
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Why does Rev. Naim
Ateek delegitimize the concept of
Jewish statehood in
“A Palestinian
Christian Cry for Reconciliation?”
There
is a logical inconsistency in the way
“A Palestinian Christian Cry for Reconciliation” deals with the parallel concepts of Palestinian and Jewish statehood. It decries the very notion of a Jewish state, as one where
Palestinians, or any non-Jew, can never have full rights, while simultaneously claiming
that Jews can have full rights in a future Palestinian state. We would ask Rev. Ateek to explain this
rather conspicuous dichotomy.
“A Palestinian Christian Cry for
Reconciliation” attacks the fundamental
legitimacy of Jewish Nationalism, while
extolling the goal of Palestinian Nationalism.
• Rev.
Ateek accuses Israel of being based on “an ethnic form of nationalism” that
“cannot be justified in our contemporary world,” at the same time that he
demands the creation of a Palestinian state on the pre-67 borders. This is
logically inconsistent. (pp. 155 &
169-70)
Rev. Ateek
attacks the notion of a Jewish state, repeatedly hurling accusations
of inherent racism (pp.
156 & passim)
• Rev.
Ateek portrays Israel’s request for recognition as a Jewish state as a
“sinister” act of discrimination against Arabs. (p. 154)
• He
claims that “the major obstacles to peace . . . . include the difficult issue
of the Jewish character of the state of Israel . . .” (emphasis added) (p. xiii)
Paradoxically, while Rev. Ateek aggressively
attacks the concept of a Jewish state
as one wherein non-Jews can never have full rights, he sees no problem with the
analogous situation of a Palestinian state with a Jewish minority.
• According
to Rev. Ateek, a Palestinian state must be created on all of the land that
Israel acquired defending itself from the Arab onslaught during the 1967
war. Rev. Ateek further insists that “All Jewish Israeli settlers
living in [the][ settlements must be given the option to remain there and
become Palestinian citizens with the same rights as Palestinian
counterparts.” (p. 171)
• How
can this be logically reconciled with his claim that “When Israel is recognized as a Jewish state, then all those
Israeli citizens who are not Jewish will find themselves basically
disfranchised”? (p. 154)
Both Jews and Palestinians are entitled to
statehood
• The
Modern State of Israel was founded in 1948 as the only Jewish State in a region
where there are currently twenty-one Arab states. Jews, just like any other “people,” defined in terms of a shared
history, ethnicity, religion, language
and/or culture, have the right to constitute an autonomous and sovereign
political community.
• Palestinians
are also a people -- equally entitled to self-determination, sovereignty and a homeland.
Rev.
Ateek coyly attempts a conceptual sleight of hand by asking “If Palestinian
Muslims were to insist that Palestine
must be a Muslim state would people consider it a true democracy?” (p. 155- 56)
• Rev.
Ateek is being disingenuous here -- on the very same page he openly
acknowledges and complains extensively about the fact that the essence of
Jewish nationalism is statehood based on ethnicity or nationhood -- not
religion. (p. 155). Just like Israel is Jewish in nature, Rev.
Ateek hopes for a future state which will be Palestinian in nature. (p. 171)
The
Jewish state can and does accommodate a minority. In 1948 almost twenty percent of Israel’s population consisted of
an Arab minority. That remains the case
today.
• Arab
Israelis have equal rights under the law.
There is no question that discrimination still exists in Israel -- this
is very wrong and must change. However,
Israel is in no way unique this way. If
the existence of discrimination against a minority population means that a
nation is not a democracy, then there is no democracy on the face of the
earth.
• Extreme
discrimination against Jews has long been a fact in Arab nations -- and in part
explains why those Jews who were not forced out of these countries after 1948
and 1956, fled.
• The
Arab nations and many Arabs living within the borders of what became Israel
were all opposed to the creation of the state of Israel. Israel was attacked by every one of her Arab
neighbors immediately upon its declaration of independence. To ignore these realities while complaining
about anti-Arab discrimination in Israel is intellectually dishonest and disingenuous.
Naim Ateek affirms
the concept of a Palestinian state
at the same time
that he delegitimizes the concept of a Jewish state
and accuses only a
Jewish nation incapable of granting minority rights
Jews, like any
other people, are entitled to self-determination without incurring angry
accusations of racism