Can You Be Both Pro-Palestinian AND Pro-Israel?

Iceland seems to think so.

That would be the implication of Iceland recognizing the "state" of Palestine.

In an effort to woo the uncommitted, pro-Palestinian advocates frequently insist that one can be pro-Palestinian without being anti-Israel. In theory, that seems self-evident. But in practice, it’s often false. Just consider the parliament of Iceland, which on Tuesday became the first Western parliament to officially call for Israel’s eradication.


I’m sure many of the parliamentarians who voted for the resolution didn’t realize that was what they were doing; they just thought they were voting to become the first Western country to recognize a State of Palestine in the 1967 lines. Indeed, the resolution even urged Israel and “Palestine” to sign a peace agreement for “mutual recognition.”

So far--so good.

Except, it also affirmed “the rights of Palestinian refugees to return to their former homes.

There is a certain contradiction between that and being pro-Israel--a contradiction that goes way beyond mere abstract philosophy.

But you don't have to wrangle over the implications of a right of return that extends to children and grandchildren. There is a more mundane point.

As Gordon concludes:

But it’s also time to drop the fiction that one can be “pro-Palestinian” without being “anti-Israel.” As long as the Palestinians’ list of nonnegotiable demands includes destroying the Jewish state, anyone who backs their positions is indeed anti-Israel.

Just what was Iceland thinking?

Come to think of it, has anything good come out of Iceland since Reykjavik 1972?

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