NYCmetsfan
Banned
Funny, that article (actually its title) is what started this whole discussion.
Why do you think it's important to have a Jewish country?
Don't get me wrong, I think Jews, like everyone, deserve to live in a country free of persecution, but I don't think this Bismarckian idea of getting all the people who share a historical heritage and make country of it is all that great (and as someone who lived in both nation states and non-station states, I think the latter model, like in the US, Canada, Australia etc. is just vastly superior).
And the right of return made sense in the past, as a Jew of eastern European descent, I can't hate on the idea of getting Jews out of Eastern Europe*, but today?
Why does it make sense to give people like Meyer Lanski or Flatto-Sharon citizenship while throwing African asylum seekers in detention camps?
* although it's important to note that Israel did very little to help the Jews during the holocaust, of course, it didn't stop it from deciding after the war that it speaks for all Jews (even thought the majority of Jews were not living in Israel at that time) and get mad money from Germany as compensations while treating holocaust survivors generally terrible (in hebrew slang, they used to be called soaps, yeah, exactly for the reason you think, and that word used to mean a 'patsy' all the way through the 80s) but I digress.
Truthfully, I really think the holocaust and antisemitism are the main drivers of why there needs to be a Jewish state I don't think that antisemitism is dead or ever will be. You still see the 5th column trope or the accusation of disloyalty crop up even today. I think there needs to be a home where they are welcomed and can feel free from persecution and where they control their own destiny. I'm well aware of the problem it presents to the non-jewish citizens of Israel and I think there needs to be a better balance there. The jewish democratic state is a real conundrum because it offends my liberal sensibilities on its face but the realism in me sees it's need.