Why do Arabs and Palestinians reject Israel’s right to exist as a Jewish State?
Palestinians and Arabs are prepared to accept a Jewish right of self-determination in Israel. What they can’t accept is that the Jewish right to self-determination abrogates or supersedes the Palestinian right to self-determination. So how do two rights to self-determination co-exist? That has been asked in Bosnia, in South Africa, in Rwanda, and other places. The easiest answer in Palestine/Israel is partition into two states. However, Palestinians are afraid that “right to exist as a Jewish state” is actually code for disenfranchising the 20% of the Israeli population that is Palestinian Arab. Palestinians are afraid that many Israeli politicians ultimately want to remove, “transfer,” or further restrict the rights of the Palestinians who live in Israel who already have Israeli citizenship. The debate in Israel currently taking place as to whether Israel should be a “state for all its citizens” with a Jewish majority or a “Jewish state” impacts Palestinian thinking. One real concern
