Suppose – as a thought exercise – the Israelis agree to compensate all refugees, agree on borders, retreat from all illegal settlements, etc etc so that people can either come home or be re-settled with compensation and closure BUT they get to keep east jerusalem. OR east jerusalem is zoned for Palestinians/annexed by Jordan never to be claimed by Israel again, BUT in exchange all the refugees will have no further claims, all illegal settlements stay, and all the rest of the occupation continues. and let’s say there is only one time you can make this choice, there’s only these two options, there is no trickery, and the result will hold for all time. (My dad taught me this thinking technique, as it helps you see your real priorities, by forcing a scenario that generates clear emotional responses so that you can compare if the emotional response matches your stated views. Basically it’s critical challenge targeted at yourself.) I really think a lot of Muslim palestinian supporters would hesitate on which option to support. So do we care most about a building (albeit sacred), or the people? which one is more sacred as per our religion?

A example on the unseen influence of culture on your ethics: On radio today business commentators (at least one of whom is Muslim) spoke dismissively about the minimum wage potentially being extended to foreign workers – the new minimum wage is just barely a living wage. The comment mostly worried that it will increase business costs, and ended by saying condescendingly perhaps if business agrees we suppose the workers will be more (sigh) “compliant” or “happy”, as though it is just a perk that is great to have, rather than the serious issue of people being paid with dignity for their work, or that otherwise a loophole remains since employers will just hire desperate economic migrants for below minimum wage. I think making it seem like a ridiculous notion or unbearable business burden is like complaining that slavery can’t ever be abolished because it would collapse the economy. It’s just like when we complained so unseemingly when the countries of our foreign workers want to set minimum compensation for the workers they export to us as domestic maids, as though we had a right to domestic help from other countries at low wages and no days off. We sure laugh at the most horrific things. I’m not saying that a non-living wage is always unacceptable but i’m saying a society should not *aspire* to keep a segment of their or others’ populations in that wage bucket on purpose, and keep that wage bucket as far down as we can possibly get it to stay.

So you know, it really is hard to break from social norms, because you don’t really see it in yourself.