Why Israel and Palestine are not morally equivalent

Good article on Israel/Palestine at “Pedantry”:http://pedantry.blogspot.com/. Lots of good reading… go see archives.

There is a very simple notion in political science, one that goes back to Max Weber: A state possesses, by definition, a monopoly on the legitimate use of violence, and it protects that monopoly. When a state is unable to protect that monopoly, it isn’t a state. There is no Palestinian state, and a non-existent state can not have a monopoly on violence. There is no possibility of anti-Israeli terrorism ending until there is a genuine Palestinian state with a monopoly on legitimate violence to protect. Any decision not to negotiate or make concessions until the violence abates is nothing but a cheap rationalisation for maintaining the status quo indefinitely.

>>”link”:http://pedantry.blogspot.com/2003_06_08_pedantry_archive.html#95439015

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