I often hear this debate over Israel’s “right to exist.” But does any nation-state, anywhere, have an unchallenged “right to exist,” regardless of its policies? The world decided, through its divestment and boycott campaign, that apartheid South Africa had no right to exist, due to its brutal oppression and dehumanization of its indigenous African majority. And so they had no choice but to negotiate a whole new government with ANC, based on equal citizenship rights for all. How does the situation in the Levant differ from this? One could go even further: do the USA and Canada have a “right to exist,” given their systematic theft of land and mass murder of indigenous populations? Yes, because those same indigenous tribes now have full citizenship rights as well as recognition of their tribal claims to land and resources. They have a long way to go, but at least they have made a good start (as has South Africa). To get beyond the perennial oppression, mutual hatred’s, and constant warfare, Israel must likewise earn its “right to exist” by recognizing the same rights for Palestinians under their authority.