Alex Stein on ‘Nakba Day’

... I understand where the Palestinians were coming from, and I understand the logic behind their strategy. But if I had chosen such a path [of going to war rather than accepting the UN partition plan], I would like to think I would have paused to consider what might happen in the case of failure. Absolute rejectionism leaves no room for error. A morality that is unrealistic quickly becomes immoral. If Nakba commemorations do not acknowledge the role played by Palestinian rejectionism in creating the Arab-Israeli conflict, the mistakes of the past are doomed to be repeated.

We learn from Isaiah Berlin that there can be no neat reconciliation of conflicting values. Israel/Palestine represents a case in point. ... The only hope is for an uneasy compromise – a compromise that was embodied in the original UN partition plan.

Today, as Uri Avnery has demonstrated in a major debate with Ilan Pappe, division of the land remains the only feasible solution. To achieve this, there has to be a change in mentality. ... Even though I simultaneously understand and disagree with the Palestinian reasons for opposing Jewish statehood, the point is that they failed. On Nakba day, amidst the mourning, this must be acknowledged. You can read Stein’s entire piece online.