One of the most esoteric parts of the heated controversy and conflict between Israelis and their neighbors (and the allies of both sides) is well represented in this quote (which is currently in the signature of a forum member).
I understand that for most Israelis that basically says that Israel has the right to exist as a Jewish state - or, at least, it denies some mysterious hypothetical reason to disapprove of its existence. Apparently some reason that is crystal clear for most Israelis, to the point that they assume everyone else to have a clue of what it is, if not an intuitive understanding.
I have barely any clue of what they mean with that. If it does not mean that they earned the right to the land by buying what was previously underpopulated, underoccupied land from whoever lived there previously, then I can't even attempt to guess what it might possibly mean. It is just an odd thing to say.
The whole saying is only meaningful to me in that it offers a perhaps involuntary glimpse of insight on the Israeli understanding of what the meaning and nature of people and territory are and how they relate to each other.
Perhaps more involuntarily still, it may in so doing also highlight that most Middle Eastern non-Jewish people have a very different understanding about those rights.
But I truly don't know. The saying is really very odd to me. Were it not for circunstantial evidence, I would assume that it is meant not to be understood by non-initiates. It relies way too much on what I consider a dogmatic, unfounded certainty about inherent meanings of nationality and rights of territory that are IMO no less than entirely and inherently fictional, albeit deeply valued by many people nonetheless.
What do you understand of that quote, and how did you reach that understanding? How stable are your conclusions?
Golda Meir-It was not as though there was a Palestinian people in Palestine considering itself as a Palestinian people and we came and threw them out .They did not exist
I understand that for most Israelis that basically says that Israel has the right to exist as a Jewish state - or, at least, it denies some mysterious hypothetical reason to disapprove of its existence. Apparently some reason that is crystal clear for most Israelis, to the point that they assume everyone else to have a clue of what it is, if not an intuitive understanding.
I have barely any clue of what they mean with that. If it does not mean that they earned the right to the land by buying what was previously underpopulated, underoccupied land from whoever lived there previously, then I can't even attempt to guess what it might possibly mean. It is just an odd thing to say.
The whole saying is only meaningful to me in that it offers a perhaps involuntary glimpse of insight on the Israeli understanding of what the meaning and nature of people and territory are and how they relate to each other.
Perhaps more involuntarily still, it may in so doing also highlight that most Middle Eastern non-Jewish people have a very different understanding about those rights.
But I truly don't know. The saying is really very odd to me. Were it not for circunstantial evidence, I would assume that it is meant not to be understood by non-initiates. It relies way too much on what I consider a dogmatic, unfounded certainty about inherent meanings of nationality and rights of territory that are IMO no less than entirely and inherently fictional, albeit deeply valued by many people nonetheless.
What do you understand of that quote, and how did you reach that understanding? How stable are your conclusions?