I'm trying to have a discussion with some friends, many of which are Zionist.
Can anyone help me out in sketching out a good reply to these points? I think you can tell by their language that they aren't a total lost cause, but I would like to push them on the right side. It's just very difficult when you're Jewish like me and grow up in an extremely Jewish area where Zionism is a default programming for young Jews:
Hey, so, like, can we separate this into three distinct conversations. I think it will help clarify...
Arab-Israeli citizens of Israel are full citizens. They vote. They have political parties. They have civil trials, etc... Their status in Israel is akin to Black Americans. Israeli Supreme Court + Constitution guarantees them full rights. In practice they face systemic racism/discrimination like Black Americans. This eviction situation is like if orthodox Jews in brooklyn moved to evict poor Black residents who have lived in a building for 50 years.
Gaza is a self-governing territory within Israel domain. It is somewhat like Guam (not a perfect analogy). People of Gaza have limited self-determination in terms of things like zoning, school systems, economic laws, utilities etc... They have their own court system. Their own police force. The two main issues with Gaza are that (1) they do not control their own borders, and (2) they do not have enough utilities to support themselves so they rely on Israel for electricity + water. Relying on Israel for this isn't at Israel's choice. They could develop more/better or could import from Egypt. I wish more supporters of Gaza would just raise money to build a better power plant!
The West Bank is basically what you think of as apartheid. This is sort've like Indian Reserves in the US pre 1924 act that admitted Native Americans as citizens. West Bank residents are tried in military courts and do not have voting rights. They do control their own police force, education system, and other limited systems, but they are really at the mercy of Israeli government policies.
There are millions of Palestinians unable to vote in the West Bank . Additionally, even if the characterization of Palestine to Brooklyn was accurate I would fully support them in their struggle to keep their homes
Gaza being a self-governing territory within Israel domain isn't true. Israel is violating international law by occupying recognized Palestinian territory. They can't maintain infrastructure because it is routinely destroyed by the IDF. 95% of their drinking water has been contaminated or poisoned because of the IDF and since Israel periodically destroys waste treatment systems. Blaming the Palestinians for their horrible conditions is ridiculous
The west bank is an example of colonialism and imperialism. Comparing them to conditions in the US doesn't make it any less atrocious