Wednesday, January 19, 2005

A "Domestic" Analogy

I would like to make an analogy of Israel/Palestine as a relationship between a god fearing adult and a delinquent "tweenager" (not an adult/not a child)foster child with no status in relation to the adult except as an unofficial guardian.This as opposed to say Kosovo which would be a ward of the state (UN) with set boundaries and some sort of status (still looking for future status as independent)

Now, obviously there is history in the relationship, and a lot of violence. The delinquent has been sneakier, violent, and has a lawbreaking kind of attitude and is clearly morally bankrupt. The adult sees no choice but to punish, lock them up in their room, confiscate anything sharp etc. The state (or UN) obviously sees a duty to protect the one with the least power in the x/y relationship. The police (US) obviously thinks that the delinquent should be punished and deterred when they commit such serious crimes as chopping fingers off etc. The adult can't morally justify anything more than beating them up, locking them in their room temporarily, putting more walls in and more lockable doors (a disappearance would be mighty suspicious). The neighbourhood is also quite criminal and dangerous (Iraq, Syria etc.) In life, delinquents turn into criminals almost regardless of circumstances. The few cases which don't, there's been someone who's taken a stand loved the child unconditionally, taken the violent knocks time after time (giving rewards in advance of the expectation that behaviour will improve) You might say that Palestine has graduated into a criminal and deserves permanent incarceration. But they are still just a pawn in the game of the local criminal gang, and still living under Israel's roof.

1 comment:

Dr Clam said...

To bend your analogy a little, you will recall that in my original spiel I laid the blame for the Palestinian situation firmly on the parents- the neighbouring Arab states, which have continued to encourage the delinquent's bad behaviour. By getting out of Gaza (and in the fulness of time, the other Palestinian population centres) the Israelis are trying to get the delinquent out from under their roof and sending him back to live with his parents. After the Israeli withdrawal, Gaza will be Egypt's problem.