The Palestine Solidarity Movement
The thrust of the discussion, in which Norman and Anna took strongly opposed positions on several issues, focused on the appropriate political strategy for the Palestine solidarity movement, the implications of international law as an anchor for that strategy, and the issue of activist privilege, i.e. the extent to which solidarity activists ought to defer to Palestinians in setting the movement's political objectives. There was also some interesting disagreement on what the movement against apartheid in South Africa has to teach us, politically.
Both Norman and Anna gave very strong representations, though unfortunately the debate ended just as I felt they were about to really address the core disputes between them head on. Still, worth a watch.
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By Weber, Mark at Oct 17, 2012 04:54 AM
Finkelstein takes issue with Baltzer's "agnosticism" on the question of Israel.
Yet Chomsky has likened the very idea of a "Jewish state" to a "white Christian" state.
Advocating the maintenance of such a state is offensive to many progressive people, and thus may alienate potential champions of Palestinian equality and rights, if such advocacy is included as an integral component of such championship.
Hence it seems agnosticism on the question of Israel is the right position. One doesn't want explicitly to endorse state discrimination. But if Israel (as a Jewish state) is compatible with equality for Palestinians, then it's unobjectionable; and if it is the best means of securing equality, then it's desirable.
My own feeling is that a 2-state solution is more practicable. But I find the arguments of Chomsky and Uri Avnery for this conclusion, which cite conditions and attitudes in Israel and Palestine, more convincing than Finkelstein's arguments about the limits of progressive opinion throughout the world. Progressive opinion on Israel has benn shifting radically in the last 5-10 years in ways that would have seemed inconceivable not long before. My own feeling is that a two-state
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