"Right to exist" is a red herring, as is - in its own way - the "how
many states?" question.
One of the things I admired about Peter Hallward's recent letter to the
Guardian about the Gaza offensive was its statement that "Israel must
lose" - not merely "Israel must not succeed". The difference is the
acknowledgement that Israel does indeed have something to lose, and must
be made to accept that loss. A corollary is that Israel must be made to
separate the question of its own existence (the persistence of its
identity) from that of the loss that it faces. Israel must be made to
recognise that it can lose and still exist; its government and military
must cease to act as if its very existence depends on never losing. This
requires creativity, acceptance of risk; the invention of a new way of
being in the truth.
Dominic
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