The Problem With An Israel
We live in a secular world where all nation states play by the same secular rules. We’re, thus, not governed by any particular religion. This is, in essence, the problem with Israel. The whole concept of a “Homeland for the Jews” elevates that religion to “exceptional” status, where adherents receive an additional passport to that country with the only requirement that they be provably Jewish. This is a problem in a secular world. Why?
All signatories to the UN Charter are bound by international law and Israel is a signatory to this charter. For the state of Israel, their standing as a Nation-State, the foundational principle for it to exist as such is predicated on the unacceptable and legally untenable notion that “it says so in the Bible”. This Zionistic ideology seeks its legitimacy in biblical myth.
The claimed reason for their existence is based on a 4,000 year-old text in the Judeo-Christian Bible. No other country’s existence is based as such.
They are now and have been in flagrant violation of International Law, the Universal Declaration on Human Rights, are guilty of countless, egregious war crimes and now, Genocide. They continue to commit these crimes in full view of the entire world with impunity.
This sense of exceptionalism, combined with statements from Benjamin Netanyahu, the Israeli “Defense Minister” Yoav Gallant and the rest of their criminal “War Cabinet” has led many Israeli “citizens” and the IDF to where they actually believe this lie, that they are above the law, that they can kill and steal with impunity, that they are free to ignore and disregard their own Decalogue, specifically the mandates: “Thou shalt not Kill” and “Thou shalt not Steal”. They’ve been breaking these “Commandments” since 1948.
The IDF now bombs hospitals, refugee camps, civilian non-combatants with impunity, with their favorite targets of opportunity being women and children. It takes real men to target a helpless child or a pregnant woman, doesn’t it?
To be a soldier used to be a noble calling where honor was paramount; no more. The first duty of a soldier was to protect the vulnerable, the helpless and defenseless, now they’re targeted in the most despicable manner possible. As an example of this exceptionalism, take a long, hard look at the child pictured above.
This little angel was the victim of a vicious dog attack initiated and provoked by Israeli soldiers. Fortunately, he survived, most likely due to the innate bond between human and canine and the dog’s own instincts: the dog probably knew better than to continue the attack on the tiny child.
Apparently, this exceptionalism has placed some Israelis and the IDF above reproach in the eyes of most of the major world powers where they believe the lie that Palestinians are “Human Animals” (Israeli “Defense Minister” Yoav Gallant, 10 October 2023), that to kill them would be tantamount to killing an animal. And thus, we have the ongoing genocide.
In a secular world, we’re not governed by any particular religion. The Bible, the Torah, the Talmud, the Quran or any other religious book is just that, a religious book. The texts contained therein may be historically accurate and may even comport with archeological discoveries, accepted history, or both, but that’s all they are, religious books.
These books are not legally binding on anyone or any government, nor should they be the basis for a Nation-State, hence the “Problem with Israel”. The Israelis believe their religious texts bestows upon them a divine mandate. It does not. Their Zionistic ideology seeks its legitimacy in biblical myth.
The framers of the US Constitution codified the separation of church and state into the Constitution’s First Amendment, that the government (the Congress) shall not adopt one religion or another and that there is a hard separation between “Church and State”.
“Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.”
The very basis for Israel’s existence is a logical contradiction to the founding principles of the United Nations, and the secular laws that govern the interplay between nation states. The concept of a “Jewish State” is inconsistent with these norms, where the state is identified by the religion of its citizens.
In a secular world we do not hold one religion above any other, that a person is free to adhere to any religion they choose, or none at all. They can believe in Mickey Mouse as their god if they so choose.