Presidential candidate, Bernie Sanders stated the obvious in an interview and said that Benjamin Netanyahu (and by extension any Israeli leader) isn't always right. That this is considered bold and controversial is sad.
Sanders also said something to the effect that Israel has a right to exist. I suppose that's true, but only, as is the case with any and all countries, because it does exist. That is, countries, the United States, Israel, Botswana, Mongolia, each and every one has a right to exist solely as a fait accompli. There is no divinely providential reason that countries should exist, even Israel, even the United States. They do exist. And so they have a right to exist. No more. No less.
However, what if we ask if Great Britain had a right, in 1945 (or whenever it was) to give away someone else's land (as opposed to, say, Sussex) to a bunch of Europeans who, well, wanted it? I think the answer is "no". But they did. And now Israel exists. And so it has a right to exist.
But Japan has a right to exist, clearly, and had that same right to exist in 1945. But the United States decided that it no longer had the right to maintain the political and social structure that it had developed over a thousand years. And so the United States changed that structure. Japan did not cease to exist, but they had forfeited the right to determine in what configuration they would continue to exist. That forfeiture was the result of mischief and calumny in the region and the world.
Israel is clearly guilty of regional mischief and calumny. I don't expect any presidential candidate or president to say it, but I think it's clear none the less that Israel is incapable of responsible self-determination, as it was clear that Imperial Japan was incapable of responsible self-determination, and the time has come for the world community (starting with Great Britain, as indeed the whole mess did start with Great Britain!) to acknowledge that. At the very least, we need to stop paying them to behave so execrably.
