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The National Rightsof JewsRuth GavisonIntroductionAre Jews a nation? Do they have and should they have national rights, in particular the right to statelevelself-determination? Was the establishment of the state of Israel an answer to this question?How should we approach these questions now, at the beginning of the twenty-first century?These are questions that have many dimensions – theoretical, historical, moral, political, and legal.They have been debated heatedly at least from the beginning of the Zionist movement, both amongJews and non-Jews. Recently the questions have returned to the fore due to the combination andculmination of a number of processes:In his Bar-Ilan speech on June 14, 2009, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu committed himselfto the vision of “two states” but insisted that they should be “two states for two peoples.” 1 Hetherefore demanded that Palestinians should recognize not just the independent and sovereignstate of Israel, but also that Israel is the nation-state of Jews; Palestinians and other Arab leadersobjected to this demand; they were also asked to do so by the representatives of the Arab citizensof Israel. 2 Palestinians explained that such a recognition may undermine the “right” of Palestinianrefugees and their descendants to return to their homes in Israel if they so choose. The Arabcitizens of Israel argued that such recognition would undermine their equal status within Israel,since – they claim – the Jewishness of Israel is incompatible with democracy, and Israel should bea democracy and therefore give up on its Jewish distinctness. Israel should be Israeli rather thanJewish, and this would affirm its commitment to the civic equality of all its citizens, irrespective ofreligion or ethnic origin. 39
Thus questions relating to the national rights of Jews affect the prospects of the distinct but relatedquestions of a resolution of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict as well as internal issues concerningIsrael’s own identity and function.Against the background of principled challenges to the legitimacy of the idea of a Jewish nationstate,I wish to argue that the denial of national rights to Jews as Jews is neither required nor justifiedby any accepted norm of international law or morality. The claim that Jews have no national rightsis not well founded.The skeleton of my argument is that Israel was established as the (ethnic) nation-state of Jews,and that it is justified that it continues to be the nation-state of Jews. As such, Israel is allowed toact in ways that promote the conditions for its ability to function as the nation-state of Jews andto maintain its Jewish distinctness so long as this does not violate the rights – personal as wellas collective – of its population. Thus, the nation-state of Jews must not discriminate against itsnon-Jewish citizens. In addition, it cannot impose a specific conception of the Jewishness of thestate on its population, Jewish or Arab. Finally, Jews in other parts of the world may have grouprights as well as individual rights, but they may not claim rights to political self-determinationas national minorities.Let me sketch some of the main theses of this argument:f fffffffffJews are a nation, with cultural and ethnic characteristics, and not only a religion; this wastrue before Israel was established and it is true today. This is consistent with the claim thatJews are also members of the nations within which they live.Being a nation, Jews are entitled to national rights, not only to religious and cultural rights.The strongest national right is the right to state-level self-determination.Being dispersed among other nations, and living always as a minority, has throughout historyproven itself harmful to Jews and has made them and continues to render them vulnerableboth to persecution and to assimilation, threatening their ability to maintain their culturalidentity.It is thus justified for Jews to have sought revival of political independence in their ancienthomeland – Zion. Thus Zionism is not a colonial or an imperialist operation in the senseanalyzed and condemned by modern political philosophy. This is true despite the fact thatat the beginning of the twentieth century Jews were not a critical mass in that country. Thepresence of Arab population in Israel was not a conclusive reason against this move becausethat community never had enjoyed political independence, and Jews were at liberty to seekpolitical revival in the only place in the world that had been their homeland.Israel was established to respond to the Jews’ need for effective self-determination. The 1947UN partition resolution protected the rights of Arab population of Palestine by the decisionto establish an Arab state in a part of historic Palestine, and requiring both states to protectthe rights – personal and cultural – of members of the other nation residing in them.10
Page 12 and 13: ffffTwo wars (1947-1949 and 1967) s
Page 14 and 15: Theodor Herzl, 1900 (Israel Nationa
Page 16 and 17: host communities. Others reasoned t
Page 18 and 19: was that of liberating people sitti
Page 20 and 21: On November 29, 1947, the UN Genera
Page 22 and 23: Morris, Benny, 2009. 2008, 1948: A
Page 24 and 25: “AN OVERWHELMINGLYJEWISH STATE”
Page 26 and 27: British Foreign Secretary Arthur Ja
Page 28 and 29: Former British Prime Minister David
Page 30 and 31: Winston Churchill, Britain’s wart
Page 32 and 33: in Palestine as of right and not on
Page 34: notes1 Council of the League of Nat
Page 37 and 38: with an assurance that this would
Page 39 and 40: the Soviet Union voted in favor of
Page 41 and 42: For the Jewish community in Palesti
Page 43 and 44: At the end of the day, and despite
Page 45 and 46: equal civil rights but also for the
Page 47 and 48: Asserting rights and redress for Je
Page 49 and 50: Upon the declaration of the state o
Page 51 and 52: country; or who, not having a natio
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Since its inception, the Security C
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what the UNHCR does - approximately
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Using Procedural Maneuvers to Diver
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Legal and Political Basis for the R
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Israeli-Palestinian AgreementsIsrae
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That was in July 2000. The report o
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28 UNHRC, Human Rights Commission,
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2005, including the dismantling of
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The Settlements IssueIn a similar v
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of the then valid conventions or tr
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In some cases Israel has permitted
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19 Ambassador Morris Abram, in a di
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any Palestinian state that may be e
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set forth in Resolution 181 (II) (1
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Resolution 242 used the term “ter
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determination. Outside them, others
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The MisleadingInterpretation ofSecu
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U.S. Ambassador to the United Natio
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territory’s national status, alth
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Lord Caradon (left), Britain’s am
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Eugene Rostow, former Dean of Yale
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16 See Stone, supra note 8, at 33;
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Jerusalem, in short, has been the f
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Schwebel makes reference to UN Secu
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Why Do All These Legal Opinions Mat
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2. The Mythology of Backchannel Con
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Clinton bridging proposal is incons
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This historical connection is preci
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Palestinians stand atop the biblica
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In short, Israel’s own history, a
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Notes* This essay is an expanded ve
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The Palestinian leadership’s tact
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the PLO was headquartered, and the
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However, aware of Israel’s suspic
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process. 35 In short, as Moshe Yaal
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Uprooting the Principles of Arab-Is
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Furthermore, the attempt to unilate
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approach to Palestinian society-bui
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Is the Gaza Strip Occupiedby Israel
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Rocket attacks in Israel from the G
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foreign army. This approach is base
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ffffffffThird, the Gaza Strip remai
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and the Hamas organization that con
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The first question is, therefore, w
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notes1 The opinions and conclusions
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on the Situation of Human Rights in
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The Violation of Israel’sRight to
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Sovereign equality is a fundamental
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The geographical groups ostensibly
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Full-page advertisement of the Amer
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Ambassador Richard Holbrooke, U.S.
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Shabtai Rosenne (center) together w
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Countering Challenges toIsrael’s
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confiscated by colonial law. It was
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United Nations.” 11 Just as soon,
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Left to right: Dr. Maha Atwan and D
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notes1 Martin Gilbert, The Routledg
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The Palestine MandateDecember, 1922
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ART. 10.Pending the making of speci
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ART. 19.The Mandatory shall adhere
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UN General Assembly Resolution 1812
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ecommendations of the General Assem
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e.Preserving freedom of transit and
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Chapter 2: Religious and Minority R
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2.Any dispute relating to the appli
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a.b.c.The expenses of the customs s
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The boundary rejoins the Tiberias S
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Dimra the boundary passes across th
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administration of the city shall be
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f.g.The City shall ensure adequate
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(1) See Official Records of the Gen
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On the 29th November, 1947, the Uni
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U.N. Security Council Resolution 24
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Israel-PLO Recognition - Exchange o
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Declaration of Principles on Interi
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ARTICLE VIIInterim Agreement1.The I
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ARTICLE XIVISRAELI WITHDRAWAL FROM
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d.e.f.g.A temporary international o
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ANNEX IVPROTOCOL ON ISRAELI-PALESTI
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4.Upon the execution of the Declara
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DESIROUS of putting into effect the
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3. The Council and the Ra’ees of
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3. The Palestinian Council’s exec
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c. “Area C” means areas of the
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4. Except for the arms, ammunition
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commence immediately upon the inaug
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1. Disputes arising out of the appl
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ARTICLE XXVIIIMissing Persons1. Isr
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About the AutHorsProf. Shlomo Avine
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Dr. Dore Gold, president of the Jer
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About the Jerusalem Center for Publ
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