Move along, the Hasbarats say

In one way or another, the defenders of Greater Israel, usually come to a conclusion saying that we could all live in peace if only the Palestinians were able to move along, forget the past, forget the minor detail that we stole their pretty country between the river and the sea brutally and illegally 66 years ago, and be happy with the subhuman status we have left them with in a decreasingly sized and increasingly dry and brutal refugee prison, which is for their own good, and from which they could rise again, if only they renounce ill will toward their dispossessor.

A commenter on a blog about Finkelstein's accusation that the insistence on Right of Return is historically criminal (I very respectfully believe the good doctor who knows and has done far more than me is nevertheless at least partly wrong, but a properly nuanced response warrants at least another post) has posted this wonderful reply:

I sit on a man’s back, choking him and making him carry me, and yet assure myself and others that I am very sorry for him and wish to ease his lot by all possible means – except by getting off his back. — Lev Tolstoi 

I also don’t view them as passive actors or just as a victims whose fates rests solely on my (my country ) decisions, this game has two sides and they have made plenty of blunders on their own just as we did. — OlegR [the hasbarat being responded to]

In other words: I sit on a man’s back and make him carry me for 62 years and going, and I agree that the wounds and misery he sustains, and the times he has fainted sending me tipping over into a thorn bush or the avoidable rages he has felt at times and expressed after I pricked him to soldier on, are of the wounds we both share. 

If they insist on pursuing their dream of undoing my country i can only sadly shake my head an get ready for the next cycle of violence. – OlegR 

In other words – If he insists on rising up to the height that all human beings have a right to, to till his land, to bake his bread, and to live in freedom, I am afraid this would hurt my privilege because I don’t want to share this space. His presence will grow larger, and that makes me very uncomfortable even as people grow closer in many other countries. I am afraid of his passions, his mind, his poverty. I boast of my own liberal institutions that we built because it was a miracle, whether or not God exists, and not because I had room to produce knowledge. To even grant him a different space is too much to ask, he must earn it. I have not set a price yet.

Another commenter give a more concise reply to the Hasbarat:

My personal feelings towards the Palestinians are mixed Daniel
i don’t think that them living a shitty life benefits me in any way
and if that situation would change i would be glad. -- OlegR

 Of course it does. Your precious state is built on massive theft of land and property. Reparations will cost, a lot.