A little while ago there was an argument circulating in the left suggesting that the reason why there is so much extremism in Palestine, culminating with groups like Hamas and Hezbollah, is because of desperation; desperation driven by both Israeli tyranny and helplessness in the face of international abandonment.
Now most of us in the center, yes I’m referring to us liberals, don’t put too much stock in such arguments.
We now know that if Palestine were to be recognized as a state and if Israel were to be somehow complicit in that, the extremism won’t completely disappear. In fact, I don’t think it would diminish at all.
For the reasons behind this decades old conflict are much more insidious than just mere recognition of statehood.
Therefore, there has been some confusion on both the left and the right through the years over an internationally recognized Palestinian nation and Israeli security. Conservatives tend to lump us liberals in with the rest of the “left” and say things about us like:
Well, you liberals and lefties automatically assume that Israel is the tyrant in this situation. You forget that Palestinian statehood does not equate with Israeli safety. How can you be so idealistic and foolish? The extremism won’t stop! Can’t you see that?
And then similarly the left announcing that:
Everybody knows that the U.S. and Canadian Conservatives are the loud-mouth, barking lapdogs of Israel, both at the U.N. and in N.A.T.O. Of course they would assume we know nothing of the situation confronting both sides.
In other words, one side accusing the other of ruthless politicking and of playing power games at the expense of hundreds of thousands of Palestinians, and the other saying that idealism isn’t a solution to the Israeli mid-east security quagmire, calling both liberals and lefties naïve.
However, amidst this flurry of accusations and constant dodging of a resolution, something interesting has happened.
Palestine has unilaterally decided to seek recognition of statehood through the U.N.
Ok, so what’s the big deal then? I mean hasn’t Israel unilaterally continued to build housing and colonize Palestine since their incursion into Arab territory?
Well, the big deal is that Canada publicly rejected the Palestinian bid for statehood. Under the Conservative flag, Canada is flying distinctly blue and white colors. Why the Harper government is courting extremists on the Jewish side in this conflict is beyond me. Maybe it’s some warped Christian-Jewish religious brotherhood, maybe it’s politically strengthening or maybe it’s expedient. Who knows?
Regardless, Harper and his PCs should not side with the extreme elements in the dispute, neither Israeli, nor Palestinian.
