Amos Oz, the spokesman for the Zionist left (and apparently for Bibi Netanyahu) has offered the following deal to the Gazans: demilitarize and we will allow Gaza to be rebuilt. If I werent concerned for the humilitating nature of the offer (I am), I would urge Hamas to consider the deal because a) they can easily ignore it, and b) if Israel considers Gaza to be under Hamas control, then arguably the demand for demilitarization is itself unreasonable and immoral -- since sovereignty requires for a state entity to be able to defend itself -- and the condition will be ipso facto invalid under international law. This, anyway, has been argued by Prof. Jeremy Rabkin of George Mason University in another context. He has said that any Palestinian authority that agrees to a demilitarized state as part of a peace agreement could justifiably break the agreement, since the demand for non-militarization strikes at the essence of state sovereignty and hence would not be recognized in international law. It would be as if statehood were made conditional on the adoption of slavery. Of course, the deal itself is humiliating and treats Gazans like subhumans who have no right to self-defense. But we expect that stance of the civilized West, dont we? I dont think that we should require Israel to demilitarize either, even though pariah states in the past have been required to do so.
Posted on: Sun, 03 Aug 2014 14:37:30 +0000
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