There are other arguments and considerations, very relevant ones, that can and should be made against this argument. But in the heat of debate, we tend not to notice that the human rights argument is inherently problematic even before being confronted by other arguments. And that’s because ending the occupation cannot be expected to lead to any improvement in the area of human rights. Just the opposite. The probable alternative – Hamas, or even the Palestinian Authority – would evidently be even worse for the Palestinians than Israeli military rule. So whoever wishes to make the case solely on the basis of human rights could easily end up substantiating the idea of perpetuating the occupation rather than ending it. Having already brought this conundrum up on occasion, mostly to the sort of people who strive to repress it, I’m familiar with the next step in the debate. But, they say to me, what the Palestinians do to the Palestinians is their business. If others end up committing even greater injustices, that doesn’t sanction the injustices we’re committing. We are responsible for our own actions, not for the actions of others, they say. [...]
Forgive me for returning to the same word again, but it truly seems the most apt: narcissism. Because the concerns of these people are limited to themselves and their consciences. For them, politics is basically a form of therapy. It’s all about the self and not others, about the self-portrait reflected in the mirror, not about responsibility toward other human beings, not about reality. It’s a decorative ornament bestowed by a “clear” conscience. In reality, it’s the manifestation of a yearning to be free from the political, from this complicated and unclean world, for the sake of personal purity. And the more attractive it strives to paint itself, the uglier it is. [...]
People who seek to cleanse their consciences at the expense of others’ suffering do not inspire respect. Especially when they adopt a pose of feeling sorry for those whom they’re quite prepared to sacrifice.
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