No. of Recommendations: 5
It's likely that both hands are bloody, so do we judge which hand is the bloodiest? There is no resolution here, and we inherently don't like that.
And the relative bloodiness of the hands doesn't lead to a resolution anyway. Israel - or if you prefer, Israeli Jews - are not going to agree to a "resolution" that involves the expulsion of the Jews. Their refusal is not based on culpability. They're not claiming that the Palestinians deserved for the British to decide that the old Mandate territory would become the new Jewish state, any more than the indigenous peoples of any modern country deserved what happened to them. But they will not accept a resolution that involves them being expelled from Israel.
While framed in moral terms, I personally believe that much of the difference in opinion on the issue (at least among those who believe that a resolution should include the continued existence of a Jewish state of Israel - many do not) stems from an empirical disagreement. To wit: what would happen if the Palestinian people were granted their own independent state. Will that bring peace? If you believe it will, it seems folly - and culpable - that Israel has not agreed to one. In discussions I've had with folks at my temple who are keen advocates for Palestinian rights, to a person they all believe that. That if Israel and the PLO could agree on borders and terms for a second state, it would very likely lead to peace. They believe that the Palestinian people - and more crucially the future governing parties in a future Palestine - want the presence of a Palestinian state, not the absence of an Israeli one.
If you believe it won't lead to peace - that the creation of an independent Palestinian state under current conditions will result in virtually no change to the current situation and the likely end of the Jewish state - then it is more defensible. Not because the Palestinian people deserve to be afflicted with Hamas, but because given the fact that they are afflicted with Hamas there are only limited options for Israel to take in response.
Again, some folks don't think the existence of Israel is defensible at all - that the only moral thing the Jews in Israel can do is leave. But among those that want to see an Israeli state continue and advocate for Palestinian statehood, that seems to be the common empirical assumption.
