Nations are forged through violence. The birth of modern Israel holds the same historical fascination as the early Mormon church. It is a window into antiquity, a glimpse, for those who do not flinch, into ugly and ancient parts of human nature. Give the displaced barbarian tribes that vexed Rome steamships, machine guns, and near-universal literacy, and their story would be broadly similar to that of 1940s Israel.
I'm just coming to this now, as it was linked in a Slow Boring comment today. To preface I'm not denying any of the content in your article, I'm just curious about the fact that you don't mention the invasion by Arab countries. I definitely think the standard way the narrative is phrased as 'the Arabs countries invaded and started a war and that led to Palestinians fleeing' leaves out a LOT and directs culpability away from Zionists, but do you think that war is not in any way relevant (and/or do you not see it as a war)?
The phrase “Arab invasion” in strange when zionists were pouring in from Europe. Certainly, Israel was surrounded by hostile neighbors until 1980 or later, it survived a baptism of fire and showed prudence in giving back the Sinai.
My emphasis was on the birth of Israel, maybe I should write about its infancy.
But the point for US policy is, how many states do we favor in Palestine, if more than one what are the borders, and what to do to to achieve that goal?
I'm just coming to this now, as it was linked in a Slow Boring comment today. To preface I'm not denying any of the content in your article, I'm just curious about the fact that you don't mention the invasion by Arab countries. I definitely think the standard way the narrative is phrased as 'the Arabs countries invaded and started a war and that led to Palestinians fleeing' leaves out a LOT and directs culpability away from Zionists, but do you think that war is not in any way relevant (and/or do you not see it as a war)?
The phrase “Arab invasion” in strange when zionists were pouring in from Europe. Certainly, Israel was surrounded by hostile neighbors until 1980 or later, it survived a baptism of fire and showed prudence in giving back the Sinai.
My emphasis was on the birth of Israel, maybe I should write about its infancy.
But the point for US policy is, how many states do we favor in Palestine, if more than one what are the borders, and what to do to to achieve that goal?
There are plenty of blog posts proposing policies. I’m interested in understanding how we got to the status quo.