The Oxford Union is going to debate Israel’s right to exist on January 24. What other country has to endure debates over its right to exist sixty years after its founding? The fact is, the Israelis were a people even before they were a state. The panels of dignitaries looking into the possibility of partitioning the remaining sliver of the British mandate still extant after WWII were struck by how much of a functioning society the Jews had already created, even before partition. There were already thriving cities, towns, villages; the precious land had already begun to be cultivated and made to bloom; a vibrant culture and civic society was already flourishing. All that remained was to formalize it.
Oh, and guess who is going to argue for Israel’s right to exist? Norman Finkelstein.