Kosovo and Palestine

There is an interesting analogy between the claim of the Serbs to have the right to rule Kosovo and the claim of the Jewish settlers to be entitled to live on the West Bank. The Jewish settlers argue that they can ignore the wishes of the Palestinian population of the West bank since according to their faith, the land was promised them by God. The Serbs, on the other hand, maintain that the wishes of the 90 % of the population of Kosovo that is Albanian can be set aside, on the grounds that Kosovo is the historical cradle of the Serbian nation.

Both arguments are solipsistic, in the sense that they do not embody a perspective that could be shared by those at whom they are aimed.