Quote (Black XistenZ @ Nov 1 2023 09:20am)
See, and that's where the analogy ends. A rabid animal which cannot be tamed will eventually be shot/euthanized. In the context of the Middle East conflict, this would correspond to genociding over 2 million people in Gaza, which obviously is NOT a valid option for a myriad of reasons. Even if one had no moral qualms about this approach, it would trigger the rest of the Muslim world to overrun and wipe out Israel zerg-style.
Let's expand and define the analogy further.
We can equate the uncurable disease of rabies to the uncurable ultra-violent anti-Jewish extremist ideology of these people. The analogy is valid as both states cause the host to violently attack their surroundings with no capacity for reason or dialogue, and both afflictions are highly contagious.
There are 3 solutions for the problem of a rabid animal: Euthanasia, release into the wild, or containment.
First we shall consider the story of Old Yeller, a timeless parable of morality that you are surely familiar with. It tells the story of a dog who became infected with rabies. If you have not seen the film I highly recommend that you see it and think deeply about the moral statements put forward, one of which is that the moral option is often extremely tragic.
Consider the options that Travis has for Old Yeller. He can release Old Yeller into the wild, he can euthanize him, or he can continue to keep him confined in the shed, where he violently lashes out at anybody who comes near him.
In the case of Palestinians, we have historical record of the results of some of these options.
Israel has proceeded with the containment option for the better part of recent history - coming back to Old Yeller, Israel (Travis) is keeping them locked in the shed (Gaza). However, this runs the grave risk of a violent and deadly outburst (October 7).
In the past, the release into the wild solution was tried (displacement into neighboring nations: Jordan, Lebanon, & Egypt). In each of these cases, the hosts were violently attacked with no provocation: Jordan - Black September; Egypt - murder of Anwar Sadat, recent Muslim Brotherhood-led violence; Lebanon - Lebanese Civil War. These events have caused said hosts to rightfully refuse any resettlement on the grounds of the security of their people. Coming back to the release of a rabid animal into the wild, this animal then violently attacks everything in their surroundings, infecting more people with the disease (the disease of violence, the cycle of violence, endless vengeance) and harming innocents.
The Palestinian people are suffering. They are not just suffering from unmet material needs, they are suffering from an uncurable disease of the soul. Just like Old Yeller suffered. It seems to be a consensus on this forum that the extremist ideology cannot be cured (re-education facilities don't work).
A moral solution to this problem must be thought about deeply, with all logical outcomes considered in each case.
To your last point about the fear of an Arab "zerg", this fear is baseless, unfounded, and contradictory to recent history. They already tried (Six Day War) and the Arabs were crushed. They do not have the strength to challenge Israel in open warfare, and they're not even close, even more so when we consider the might of the US Navy.