Tuesday, March 19, AD 2024 1:47am

Some Information You Should Know About The Israeli-Palestinian Conflict (From Jewish Voice For Peace)

It is always time to step back and review the record whenever a discussion starts up on “what’s the deal with that crazy Israel/Palestine conflict?”.  It is tiresome to be on the losing end of the political fight in shaping American policies regarding the Middle East- It is maddening to have to always be on the defense against the charges of anti-Semitism when one is highly critical of the policies of the State of Israel- especially when being anti-Semitic as in being anti-Arab is all the rage today, while being anti-Jewish is one of the worst things any American could be accused of. I am bold in my own words and deeds on this issue because I have nothing to hide, no shameful anti-Semitism, no axe to grind, no family connections- just a strong desire to see the Holy Land be a place that is humane and just, and to see to it that my own nation is a contributor to a positive outcome for the peoples of the Middle East.  That’s it- that’s my storyline- that’s my truth.

I don’t hate America, I hate the sin but love the sinner.  I love my nation but I hate when my nation does something in my name as an American citizen that I believe is really evil, really stupid, or both. It is a glaring fact that America has been the #1 ally and supporter of the State of Israel- both in economic and political terms. This fact of life is not missed by those who believe that the State of Israel has been the primary agent of violence and injustice in the conflict between Israelis and Palestinians. Iagree with this perspective, and I want to change the reality because it is the right thing to do, and many lives all over the region, and even here in the U.S. are in present or potential harm’s way due to some really bad, one-sided, and misguided policies emanating from Tel Aviv and Washington D.C.

I am not going to run over my own story of the time I spent with Archbishop Elias Chacour of Ibillin, Galilee  many years ago- and what I saw in Hebron at that time. And I am not going to run down the list of books I have read to get additional background to the Conflict which has shaped and emboldened my position on this important Catholic and American issue. I am not going to take the chance of being charged with any sort of anti-Semitism with this blog entry because I am going to use a source that is decidedly Jewish. I want an elevated discussion to get going and I don’t want my Catholicism to get into the way- one could (I suppose) make the charge that the organization Jewish Voice For Peace is full of self-loathing Jews, who hate Israel, hate themselves- whatever.  But I think they can manage such charges for themselves- I met some of them when I used to visit San Francisco frequently- they seemed pretty secure in themselves. I think they are a good source of information and here they provide a primer on the Israel-Palestine Conflict 101  (from Jewishvoiceforpeace.org):

Israeli Palestinian Conflict 101

What exactly is “the occupation”?

Didn’t Ehud Barak offer the Palestinians almost everything they wanted at Camp David in 2000? And didn?t the Palestinians respond to that offer by launching this much more violent Intifada?

Don’t we have to support Israel because it is surrounded by countries that want to destroy it?

Isn’t Israel the only democracy in the Middle East, surrounded by dictatorships?

But didn’t Arab countries kick a million Jews out of their countries after the 1948 war?

I see people compare Israeli law to Apartheid, what’s the truth?

I only hear about Palestinian terrorist or nationalist groups. Where is the Palestinian “voice for peace”?

I also see people talk about Zionism being racism. But it’s also a liberation movement. I’m confused and uncomfortable.

But I have heard that the Palestinians and other Arabs sided with the Nazis in World War II.

I’ve heard that the Palestinians left Israel on their own or under order from Arab leaders in 1948. Is this so?

I keep hearing about the Palestinian Right of Return. What is this about?

Haven’t Jews and Arabs been fighting for thousands of years? Is there really an answer?

How can I get involved?

Q: What exactly is “the occupation”?

A: In 1967, Israel defeated the neighboring Arab countries in a war that lasted only six days. At the end of that war, Israel had captured the West Bank (which includes the Eastern half of Jerusalem), the Gaza Strip and the Golan Heights. (It also captured the Sinai Peninsula, but this was later returned to Egypt as part of a peace accord that holds to this day). Some of this territory was annexed, specifically the Golan Heights and East Jerusalem. The rest of the West Bank and the Gaza Strip has been under a military occupation ever since. This means that the Israeli army has complete control over these areas. Palestinians in these regions have no guarantee of civil rights. They have no government of their own other than what Israel will allow. Israel can impose total curfews on any part or all of the territory. This prevents people from traveling to work, to market or to see family members. It can prevent medical care from reaching people, and people from reaching hospitals. Occupation means the Israeli military has total authority over every aspect of Palestinian life. return to top

Q: Didn’t Ehud Barak offer the Palestinians almost everything they wanted at Camp David in 2000? And didn’t the Palestinians respond to that offer by launching this much more violent Intifada?

A: Reports vary about what was actually offered at Camp David, but it is clear that the offer was a lot less generous than Barak has claimed. What we know is that the Palestinians were offered sovereignty over a very small part of Jerusalem, and that their capitol would have actually been in Abu Dis, a small suburb, and not in Jerusalem itself. The so-called 95% of the West Bank excluded all of the Greater Jerusalem area, which has grown considerably since 1967. Israel would also have maintained control of much of the Jordan Valley, for an indefinite security period. Thus, along with the proposed accommodations for certain key Israeli settlements, the offer was actually about 80% of the West Bank. Further, according to maps publicized by Gush Shalom and the Israeli Committee Against House Demolitions, the areas remaining under Israeli control would have effectively split the West bank in two and would have surrounded the Palestinian areas. For this, the Palestinians were to give up all claims resulting from the mass expulsion in 1948. Having already conceded 78% of what was once Mandatory Palestine, this did not strike the Palestinians as a ?generous offer?. It is true that Barak?s offer was much more than had ever been offered the Palestinians before. But this really says more about previous offers than it does about the Camp David offer. After seven years of the Oslo Process, which saw Palestinian standards of living decline markedly and the greatest period of Israeli settlement expansion by far, it was impossible for any Palestinian leader to compromise this far. For more on Camp David and the beginning of the current uprising, follow this link. return to top

Q: Don’t we have to support Israel because it is surrounded by countries that want to destroy it?

A: The ongoing occupation of Palestinian territories is the single most destabilizing factor in Israeli-Arab relations. The Arab League has offered full normalization of relations with Israel if the occupation ends. UN Security Council Resolution 242 calls for just such a settlement. Both Egypt and Jordan have long-standing peace treaties with Israel and both countries have honored those treaties. The best way to make Israelis more secure is to end the occupation, creating defensible borders and working relationships with their neighbors. This would allow for normalized relationships and create great incentives for everyone concerned to maintain peaceful relations with each other. return to top

Q: Isn’t Israel the only democracy in the Middle East, surrounded by dictatorships?

A: While it is certainly true that Israel?s democratic structures are considerably more advanced than those of its neighbors, Israel fails on many counts. Discriminatory laws and bureaucratic practices in Israel bar Arabs in Israel from many privileges, especially owning land. Other systems tie certain opportunities to service in the army, from which most Arab Israelis are barred. There is a huge gap in municipal services between Jewish and non-Jewish areas in Israel. So-called ?unrecognized villages?, which are Arab towns that are not recognized by Israel as organized municipalities, receive virtually no services and are often subject to demolition or confiscation. Arabs families are routinely denied building permits and have their homes demolished if they build or add on to them without such permits. And all of this only deals with the situation for Arabs within the pre-1967 borders. Palestinians under Israeli occupation enjoy no civil or human rights, except those that depend on the whim of the commanders or soldiers in charge. Israel has legalized practices that are considered abusive in its interrogation procedures, detains Palestinians without charge for extensive periods, imposes unilateral and deadly curfews, and denies freedom of travel. By international human rights standards, these are not the hallmarks of a highly functioning democracy. Problems of democracy, as Edward Said often pointed out, are quite severe in the Arab world, but that does not excuse the shortcomings Israel has in its own right. There is much to be proud of in Israeli democracy, but there is also much to be very concerned about. return to top

Q: But didn’t the Arab countries kick a million Jews out of their countries after the 1948 war?

A: In the wake of the 1948 war, the backlash against Jews in the Arab world was often severe. Anger over the growing Zionist movement had been building throughout the 1940s, and it was too often directed at Arab Jewish communities, regardless of those communities? views of the Zionist project in Palestine.

British and French colonialism had created great hostility toward those countries in the Arab world. This resulted in a higher level of antipathy toward Jews than was normal for the Muslim world historically, though as has generally been the case, such anti-Semitism was far less severe than what existed at the time in Europe.
Israel initiated airlift and other emigration programs to bring in as many Jews from Middle Eastern countries as possible. Sadly, the treatment these new ?migr?s received in Israel was far from what they had expected (for more information, see Tom Segev’s book, 1949: The First Israelis).

Still, there is no doubt that many Arabs simply reacted out of fear and anger toward their own Jewish neighbors after the war that saw Israel?s birth and the expulsion of some 750,000-1,000,000 Arabs from what had once been called Palestine. The Arab world itself was only just emerging from the era of European colonialism in the wake of World War II, and instability was the rule of the day throughout the Middle East. As is often the case, minorities, especially Jews, are all too typical victims of such upheaval. return to top

Q: I see people compare Israeli law to Apartheid, what’s the truth?

A: There are major differences between Apartheid in South Africa and Israel’s treatment of the Palestinians. But these are growing smaller all the time. Arab citizens of Israel face serious discrimination (see question above). But they are full citizens, and do participate in Israeli politics. They also have a relatively high standard of living, as compared to other Arab countries (though not as compared to Israeli Jews). But Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza enjoy no rights of citizenship, no real protection of law. This was not the case for Black South Africans. In the sense of there being two standards that are so different, the comparison to Apartheid is apt. And, as the occupation becomes more institutionalized, many Israelis believe that outright Apartheid is exactly what the future holds. return to top

Q: I only hear about Palestinian terrorist or nationalist groups. Where is the Palestinian “voice for peace”?

A: There are many different Palestinian peace groups, just as there are many different Israeli and Jewish peace groups. Unfortunately, we hear little about them in the media, even the Israeli and Arab media. But they are active, and, just like the Israeli peace camp, some part of them is also reflected in Palestinian leadership.
It was Israel that cut off negotiations with the Palestinian Authority in January 2001 at Taba, when, according to all parties involved, a deal had never been closer. Ehud Barak was about to be voted out, and he felt unable to present compromises to the Israeli public amid the violence that was occurring and being at the end of his tenure. From reports from both sides, this included being closer than ever to an agreement on the Palestinian refugees, final borders and Jerusalem. Surely this indicates some willingness, on both sides, to reach peace.

There are many Palestinian groups and individuals who are working for peace and justice for both sides. These include the Palestinian National Initiative led by Mustafa Barghouti; the Miftah human rights NGO led by Hanan Ashrawi; the Palestinian Center for Rapprochement in Bet Sahur; the Holy Land Trust in Bethlehem; the Palestinian Center for Human Rights led by Raji Sourani; Wi?am, the Palestinian Center for Conflict Resolution, headed by Zoughbi Zoughbi; the respected psychiatrist Iyad al-Sarraj in Gaza, who has been the head of the Palestinian Independent Commission for Citizens’ Rights; the joint Palestinian-Israeli women’s peace group, the Jerusalem Link, whose Palestinian half is called the Jerusalem Center for Women. Many of these groups are known throughout the Palestinians territories and are enormously respected. They are all quite active, and there are many similar groups.

Rema Hammami and Saleh Abdel Jawad ? both professors at Birzeit University -initiated in November, 2000 a public call for Palestinians not to use violence in the second intifada, and it was signed by over 120 fellow professors in Palestine. Many Palestinians and Israelis have been engaged in joint non-violent demonstrations against the wall in several different formations in recent months. The list of examples of Palestinian peace workers and peace groups could go on much longer. We can only wonder why the media on all sides continues to pay them so little attention.

Yet we must remain aware that the situation is not symmetrical. There is an occupier and an occupied. And the occupied have a right under international law to resist, and even to use armed force in resisting occupation (though this absolutely does not include attacks on civilians). It is crucial to appreciate that the situation is not simply one of “a cycle of violence,” but that the Israeli side has been conducting an occupation in violation of both international law and public opinion. That allows people to imagine that the solution is for both sides to compromise somewhere in between on the basis of simple non-violence. Oslo was an attempt to do that and it failed miserably. The violence of the Palestinians today is part of the price of that failure. Until an Israeli political leader clearly says that the occupation must end for the violence on both sides to stop, it will be difficult to come to a negotiated settlement. return to top

Q: I also see people talk about Zionism being racism. But it’s also a liberation movement. I’m confused and uncomfortable.

A: This is a very difficult question for many Jews. Zionism means Jewish nationalism, and any form of nationalism, by definition, puts the interests of its own group ahead of others. In the early days of Zionism, there were many different strains of thought, and many different ideologies. Some were much more progressive and humanistic than others. Zionism arose as a response to both the massive increase in Jewish assimilation after the Enlightenment, and to persistent and growing anti-Semitism throughout Europe. But many of the Jews who came to Palestine in the early 20th century were told that there were no people inhabiting that land, when in actuality over 700,000 Arabs were there. There were exceptions. The Cultural Zionism of Ahad Ha?am, for instance, recognized the rights of the Arabs already living on the land. Other early Zionist thinkers also had a variety of reasons for wanting to find a way to live in peace with their Arab neighbors, with respect to their rights. But it is fair to say that most strains of even early Zionism were at best disdainful of the Palestinian people.

Even though modern ideologies like Liberalism and Communism had diminished the influence of religion in most Western countries, anti-Semitism continued to flourish. The Holocaust was the ultimate expression of a new, largely secular form of anti-Semitism, and it seemed to confirm the most ominous warnings of many of the Zionists of the day. The Holocaust gave Zionism legitimacy in many people?s minds. After such a horrifying genocide and the experience of having the world close its eyes and borders to the atrocity, did the Jews not deserve a state of their own? Perhaps so, but the Palestinians, who had nothing to do with the Holocaust, were the people who were made to provide that state.

As Israel became more stable and strong, new waves of Zionism flourished. Today?s Likud Coalition was once a minority among Zionists, but today they head the most stable government Israel has seen in a quarter of a century. Religious Zionism grew stronger after the 1967 war and the capture of the Jewish holy sites in East Jerusalem (from which Jews had been barred by Jordan since 1948). Zionism remains a tangled web of various ideologies. Many aspects of it are certainly horribly hostile to Arabs. Other aspects remain dedicated to an idealism that leads its believers to work for peace and co-existence. Zionism has changed over the years as well. Where once there were more than a few Zionists who opposed the idea of a Jewish state, today the meaning of the term only encompasses those who are committed to a state that is Jewish in character, although differences still remain over such issues as laws that discriminate against non-Jews and the question of whether Israel should be the state of its citizens or the state of the entire Jewish people. return to top

Q: But I have heard that the Palestinians and other Arabs sided with the Nazis in World War II.

A: It is true that much of the Arab world did side with the Axis in World War II. As the British and French had been colonial powers in the Arab world since the end of World War I, this was not surprising. In most cases, the Nazi’s racist ideology had nothing to do with that calculation. In the case of the Palestinians, however, their most prominent leader, Hajj Amin al-Husayni, specifically aligned himself with the Nazis and their genocidal program against Jews. Husayni’s statements and acts of solidarity with the Nazis cast a pall over the Palestinian movement that continues to this day. But the fact is, Husayni’s acts, as contemptible as they were, had little effect on Jews either in Europe or in Palestine. Husayni’s actions and views regarding anti-Semitism were his own and there is little evidence that they represented any significant measure of the Palestinian people at the time. That Husayni was a severe Jew-hater is clear. But the evidence from the time suggests that this view had little traction among Palestinians and Arabs of the day. return to top

Q: I’ve heard that the Palestinians left Israel on their own or under order from Arab leaders in 1948. Is this so?

A: There were between 650,000 and 1.2 million Palestinians who left the area that was to become Israel in 1948. The circumstances of their departure varied. The records of the Hagana (the Jewish militia which later became the Israeli army) show that there were some official plans to empty Palestinian towns and villages. Records also clearly show that there were at least several instances of Palestinian towns suffering massacres at the hands of Israeli soldiers (both sides launched numerous attacks on civilians, especially in the early part of the war). Minutes from meetings of different Jewish leadership groups also indicate that there was definitely a desire to see as much of a Jewish majority in whatever territory would end up being Israel?s as possible. There is also clear evidence that some of the more radical Jewish militias attacked Palestinian towns with the goal of spreading fear in the Arab populace, in the hopes that this would make them flee.

It has often been claimed that the Arab Higher Committee broadcast a call for the Palestinians to flee so that the invading Arab armies could defeat the Zionists and then the Palestinians could return. No such call was ever issued. There were, of course, calls to move women and children out of the path of the fighting, but there was never a call for all civilians to leave. Many of the Palestinians fled in the very early stages of the war, long before any such call would have been issued in any case.

As the fighting intensified, and more villages came under attack, more and more Palestinians fled the war. Organized expulsions also continued. In some areas, especially cities like Haifa and Yaffo, where Arabs and Jews had lived together in relative stability, there were efforts made by Jews to get their neighbors to stay, and these met with some success at times. As today, there was a great variety of views among Jews in Palestine/Israel.

But whatever the circumstances, Israel went beyond its rights in passing laws to prevent the Palestinians from returning after the war. International law requires countries to allow people who flee a war back to their homes when the war ends. Israel was specifically enjoined to do so by the United Nations after the war, but did not comply. This was the beginning of the Palestinian refugee crisis, which remains the most vexing issue between the two peoples to this day. For more information about this, see Benny Morris’ book, “The Birth of the Palestinian Refugee Problem Revisited.” return to top

Q: I keep hearing about the Palestinian Right of Return. What is this about?

A: International law provides that refugees have the right to return to their homes after hostilities have ended and provided they are willing to live in peace. After Israel?s creation, it barred this return. The problem is now much more difficult because some 700,000 to one million refugees in 1948 (with another 200,000 or so created after the 1967 war) have now ballooned to over 4 million, with many other Palestinians scattered around the world, but not living as refugees. Many of these refugees live in camps in the West Bank, Gaza, Syria, Lebanon and within Israel itself. Others have drifted to various places in the Arab world, where they have generally not been welcomed. Still others have left the Middle east altogether. International law was not written with this situation in mind.

Israelis fear that acknowledging any responsibility for the refugees would lead to a massive return of the refugees and Jews then becoming a minority in Israel. For Palestinians, the right of return is viewed as both a right granted to each refugee individually and to the Palestinian people as a group. The former has a sound basis in international law, while the latter does not. Many Palestinian families still have the keys to their former homes.

In practical terms, many of the homes that Palestinians were driven from no longer exist. Indeed, many of their towns are gone today. The international community has generally favored some combination of a return of refugees to a Palestinian state, at least some number returning to Israel and all receiving compensation for their loss and for their years as refugees. A recent poll of Palestinians, while certainly controversial, indicated that only a small percentage would want to exercise a right to return to the area that is now Israel. But Palestinians all over have been very clear on their insistence that they be allowed a free choice in this matter. return to top

Q: Haven’t Jews and Arabs been fighting for thousands of years? Is there really an answer?
A: In fact, Jews and Arabs have been fighting for only about a century. While Jews were facing repeated expulsion and persecution in Europe, Jews in the Muslim world, though still facing some problems, were faring much better. Jews, as People of the Book under Islamic law, were entitled to legal protections and certain rights. To be sure, they were not the equals of Muslims, and there were incidents of anti-Semitism in many parts of the Muslim and Arab world through the centuries, some of them serious. But both the severity and the frequency of these were far lower than in Europe. There is no doubt that the ongoing and brutal conflict between Israel and the Palestinians, as well as the neighboring Arab states, has created a great deal of hatred on both sides. But it is simply false to say that history shows that Jews and Arabs cannot live together. They have before, and, in a modern, secular state, may well be able to do so on a much more equal footing than existed in the past. return to top

Q: How can I get involved?
A: You can start by joining Jewish Voice for Peace. Becoming a member is easy. You can join by donating right here by credit or by sending a check to the address at the bottom of the page. The more you give, the more you can support the work we are doing. You can also subscribe to our monthly newsletter, our daily news service, Jewish Peace News, and our action alerts. Tell us where you are, and we can refer you to a JVP chapter in your area or to one of our many allies throughout the United States and the world who are engaged in the same work we are. Anything you can do will be greatly appreciated, and will go a long way toward helping the besieged people of the Middle East. return to top

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Tito Edwards
Wednesday, June 2, AD 2010 10:45pm

A: The ongoing occupation of Palestinian territories is the single most destabilizing factor in Israeli-Arab relations. The Arab League has offered full normalization of relations with Israel if the occupation ends

You touched on so many issues that I’m going to deal with them one by one as the days go by.

This one being the first that caught my eye.

As soon as the Arabs recognize Israel’s right to exist then Israel should give up the “occupied” territories.

Israel was attacked on its birthday by hostile Arab and Muslim forces.

The lands get returned first only when the Arabs recognize their right to exist.

Everything else is secondary.

Tito Edwards
Wednesday, June 2, AD 2010 10:49pm

Q: Didn’t Ehud Barak offer the Palestinians almost everything they wanted at Camp David in 2000? And didn’t the Palestinians respond to that offer by launching this much more violent Intifada?

Arafat had nothing to give. It was a farce from the beginning.

Until the “Palestinians” recognize Israel’s right to exist, the “Palestinians” won’t negotiate in good faith.

Tito Edwards
Wednesday, June 2, AD 2010 10:51pm

Q: Don’t we have to support Israel because it is surrounded by countries that want to destroy it?

A: The ongoing occupation of Palestinian territories is the single most destabilizing factor in Israeli-Arab relations. The Arab League has offered full normalization of relations with Israel if the occupation ends

Again, the Arabs/Muslims need to recognize Israel’s right to exist before any negotiations can move forward.

Israel defended itself and won fair and square.

The Arabs/Muslims can’t have it both ways.

n4nadmin
n4nadmin
Wednesday, June 2, AD 2010 10:53pm

And now, a few notes of reality:

1. Missed is the fact that Israel became the occupier of the West Bank, etc in a defensive war. The Palestine Liberation Organization was formed prior to 1967 – it is designed to “liberate” that part of “Palestine” currently making up the State of Israel, proper. You start a war and then lose, you take the consequences. Sorry, but Israel gained dispositive authority over the West Bank, Gaza, Golan Heights and Sinai. They can do with it as they please – Moslems are supplicants at the table of the victor as far as this goes, and if the Israelis volunteer to give any of it back, then that is sheer generosity on their part.

2. If we accept, for the sake of argument, that it is the occupation which causes the problem, then where does “occupation” end and Israel begin? Is there a border line where the Moslem world will agree that Israel has given as much as it can and must not be pressed to give any more? Anyone who looks at the situation knows that the answer to this is, “no”. It isn’t, then, “occupation” but “Israel” which is the bone of contention.

3. Its a nice bit of gliding over the political differences…Israel is just kinda, sorta democratic and not much better than the Moslem nations. But there are, currently, 14 Arab members of the Knesset – how many Jewish members of, say, the Saudi government? The last time there was a Jewish cabinet minister in Egypt? In fact, how many Jews live in, say, Libya?

Boiled down we’ve got here a list of half truths – all ultimately designed to undermine the Israeli position. True, it is a Jewish group putting it out…but if ANSWER puts out some opinions about America, would any American of wisdom pay them heed? Should any foreigner rely upon such a group for a true appraisal of American actions and interests? Just because something bears kinship with another doesn’t mean they are on the same side.

The fact of the matter is that Israel is there and not only must it not go away, it can’t go away – there must be a place in the world where Jews, as Jews, can be absolutely assured of protection. Too much blood has been spilled for us to contemplate a world without Israel. Unless and until the Moslem powers recognize this fact, there simply will not be peace – grasp that: until THEY change, there’s nothing we can do.

The best form of change would be for the Moslem world to become democratic in governance – I absolutely assure one and all that once the governments of the Moslem world have to cater to the needs of the people, the concern about Israel will dry up…and the Palestinian “refugees” will be swiftly integrated in to their host societies, rather than being kept in cages as political pawns and living title deeds.

Justice is what works – would you volunteer to go live under Moslem rule? Do you think that if you came in to conflict with a Moslem in Moslem nation that you would receive equal justice under law? You know darned well you wouldn’t – and unjust things cannot demand justice. Its just not possible – until the Moslem world becomes just, all we can do is fend them off and try to change them, but we can’t make peace – and neither can Israel.

Tito Edwards
Wednesday, June 2, AD 2010 10:53pm

Q: Isn’t Israel the only democracy in the Middle East, surrounded by dictatorships?

A: While it is certainly true that Israel?s democratic structures are considerably more advanced than those of its neighbors, Israel fails on many counts. Discriminatory laws and bureaucratic practices in Israel bar Arabs in Israel from many privileges, especially owning land.

When I see free and open elections in the Arab world like in Iraq, then negotiations can begin in good faith once they recognize Israel’s right to exist.

And if they don’t, then we know with full certainty the ‘hate’ they have for Jews.

The blame ‘colonialism’ card only works in the classroom.

In the real world it’s called racism when your opponent calls lower than apes and dogs.

Tito Edwards
Wednesday, June 2, AD 2010 10:55pm

Q: But didn’t the Arab countries kick a million Jews out of their countries after the 1948 war?

Again with the ‘colonialism’ charge.

It’s typical that the other is always to blamed for ones situation.

Arabs invaded Israel and lost.

Israel has a right to defend itself.

If you deny that then we have deeper problems to deal with.

Tito Edwards
Wednesday, June 2, AD 2010 10:56pm

Q: I see people compare Israeli law to Apartheid, what’s the truth?

When Christians in Muslim dominated countries can have their issues addressed the same way you all accuse Jews of ‘apartheid’, then we have a starting point.

Tito Edwards
Wednesday, June 2, AD 2010 10:58pm

Q: But I have heard that the Palestinians and other Arabs sided with the Nazis in World War II.

Arafat’s uncle was the Grand Mufti of Jerusalem that wanted to “wipe the Jews out” of what was then called Trans-Jordan.

Pretty much explains itself.

Tito Edwards
Wednesday, June 2, AD 2010 11:00pm

Q: I keep hearing about the Palestinian Right of Return. What is this about?

When Christians get their issues resolved of their ‘Right of Return’ then this issue can be honestly addressed.

DarwinCatholic
Reply to  Tito Edwards
Wednesday, June 2, AD 2010 11:54pm

Tim,

I appreciate that you have great passion on this issue, and FWIW I certainly don’t think that you are anti-Jewish. I would, however, like to point out what I think are a couple of the actual divisions between pro/anti Israel viewpoints on this issue — in that I really don’t think (given what you quote here) that it’s to any great extent the historical facts that are in question or the desire to the Palestinian people live under a stable and just government.

While I understand the reasons why you’re so gunshy to being accused of anti-Jewish feeling, I’d point out that those who take the Palestinian side in this conflict (and oppose the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan) have an equally inaccurate tendency to reflexively accuse their opponents of being anti-Arab in sentiment regardless of the evidence.

1) Many of us have a very low level of tolerance for terrorism as a means to achieving what a faction wants politically, and thus have little sympathy for the idea of making major concessions to Palestinian representatives who are actively engaged in terrorism (which the PLO and Hamas have both been to a great extent). One of the reasons why the more hardline elements of Israeli politics have been increasingly successful over the last couple decades it that Palestinian organizations have, by their actions, lent a lot of credence to the claim that if they are given concessions they will simply make more demands and continue to use terrorism against Israel. I think I can claim a fair amount of consistency in this regard as I had exactly the same attitude towards negotiating with Sinn Fein/IRA leaders the The Troubles which started up again in the 60s and ran through the 90s, despite the fact that I sympathize very strongly with the desire for a united Ireland free of British rule.

2) I have a lack of sympathy with nationalism and old grudges. At this point, the ’67 war was 43 years ago, and for the 20 years from 47 to 67, Jordan owned the West Bank and Egypt owned Gaza. Prior to that, the whole area belonged to the Brits, and before that Turkey. I don’t think that the Israeli’s had an inherent right to have their own country in which they’re the majority either, but the fact is that Israel exists and has been fairly stable and responsible for 60+ years now. So it strikes me as troublesome and unjust to question their right to continue existing. A Palestinian state, on the other hand, has never existed. And I don’t really see why it should be unacceptable for them to either become part of Jordan or become part of Israel — other than that by this point the region has become so troublesome that no one really wants it. If their leadership can show some ability to behave peacefully and responsibly, I certainly have no objection to Palestine being an independent state. But I don’t see why we should see it as a necessity. Indeed, I think far too many people put far too much energy into ethnic nationalism, and we’d all be a lot better off if everyone laid off on that. It’s been one of the most destructive forces of the last 200 years.

Ivan
Ivan
Thursday, June 3, AD 2010 12:46am

Suppose for the sake of argument that Barak’s offer was not generous as the Israelis made it out to be. What was the harm then to take what was on offer and wait for better times? One must recall that in 1996-2000 the Israelis were negotiating from a position of strength. Why rachet up the conflict with suicide bombs? Why engage in an unnecessary war which you are bound to lose? It is obvious that for Muslims, peace mean something different than commonly understood. For them peace means a total vindication of their position, given anything less they would be much happier extending the truce and living off the Israelis. And in the meantime they can justify themselves with stories of Saddam Hussein the new Saladdin, or the return of the Iranian Mahdi or now Erdogan Pasha who will restore the caliphate and banish a thousand humiliations.

Art Deco
Art Deco
Thursday, June 3, AD 2010 4:55am

Lost in all this verbiage is the following:

1. You will not construct a consensual settlement if one of your stipulations is that one party’s obligation is to bend their neck for the axe.

2. The ultimate and abiding political goal of the Arab leadership in the West Bank, Gaza, and the camps is an ethnic cleansing extravaganza. There is no indication that the bulk of their constituency objects to this.

3. One cannot help noticing that mention of Sephardic and Oriental Jews is absent, for all that you said.

4. One also cannot help notice that mention of other refugee problems on the table in 1948, their dimensions and resolution, is absent.

5. ‘Palestinian refugee’ is defined by the UNRWA as anyone resident in that territory prior to 14 May 1946. Now, just where was it that Yasir Arafat spent three-fourths of his formative years, and Edward Said spent all of his?

6. There are currently two sovereign states where speakers of the Levantine vernacular Arabic compose nearly the entirety of the population, and a third where they form half the population.

c matt
c matt
Thursday, June 3, AD 2010 10:22am

Lot’s of he said, she said going on. Would help if Israel released all video footage taken by the passengers.

Jim Haber
Thursday, June 3, AD 2010 3:28pm

I write as a Jew who has long been active in the Catholic Worker movement and lots of social justice causes over the years. There is too much above to respond to it all. One thing I want to say though is that the Arab world on numerous occasions, including Hamas, have formally or de facto accepted Israel’s existence. It is Israel that has never declared what it’s borders ought to be in a way that truly would allow a viable Palestinian state to exist.

Christians have been killing Jews and Muslims and Arabs in droves for a long time, but I am not calling for retribution against today’s Christians. I would like us to stop blaming Muslims and Arabs for so much of the violence of the world. The US is responsible for half the arms trade in the world and half the military spending. We’re no real peacemaker. A local synagogue newsletter had an absurd commentary in January about why Martin Luther King Jr (okay, not a Catholic, I know) would support Israel. My general response can be found in the following link, and I hope you will check it out . I also edited the War Resisters League Peace Calendar of 2008 which featured case after case of nonviolent organizing and cooperation across the Arab and Muslim world. Very few Muslims are Wahabists, just as few Catholics are Opus Dei and few Jews are as violent and intolerant as the settlers in Hebron.

Finally, I hope some of my Catholic Worker and Christian Peacemaker Team friends see this discussion and chime in.

Donald R. McClarey
Admin
Thursday, June 3, AD 2010 3:36pm

“One thing I want to say though is that the Arab world on numerous occasions, including Hamas, have formally or de facto accepted Israel’s existence.”

Quite right, in English or some other Western language. Then they go back to calling for Israel’s destruction in Arabic to their own populations.

Art Deco
Art Deco
Thursday, June 3, AD 2010 4:05pm

Christians have been killing Jews and Muslims and Arabs in droves for a long time,

Come again?

DarwinCatholic
Reply to  Jim Haber
Thursday, June 3, AD 2010 4:11pm

Jim,

Welcome to the blog, glad to hear your thoughts.

This is a tangential point to your comment, and I’m not sure if what you say the result of actual misconception, or just reference to pop culture stereotypes, but it’s worth pointing out in reference to your remark:

Very few Muslims are Wahabists, just as few Catholics are Opus Dei and few Jews are as violent and intolerant as the settlers in Hebron.

Contrary to popular imagination, Opus Dei is not a remotely fanatical or violent group. (Nor are there such things as Opus Dei monks — even albino ones.)

emmy
emmy
Friday, June 4, AD 2010 1:13pm

Leaders held Zionists Twenty-three conference since 1897 and the latest conference, held in Jerusalem for the first time in August 14, 1951 to discuss the surface, the issue of immigration to Israel and the question of borders and the purpose of all these Conferences is to study the plans that lead to the establishment of the Kingdom of Zion International, which is one of the most important goals Brotokolathm.

Met in the conference last hundredth of the hardest of the Elders of Zion, they represent the fifty-Jewish society, and decided in secret plan to enslave the whole world under the crown of king of the descendants of David and through:

* Come to grips with things in the world

* Create chaos and pornography among peoples

* Shed doctrines corrupt and reprehensible calls on the minds of his sons

* Undermine the foundations of every religion and national ethics and

Schemes, these criminals, dangerous and highly confidential and it is impossible to give any person (of course this in the past but today they are scattered), but how you became months of fire on science and translator for all languages

Are the Jews deliberately disseminate these protocols and Tzahero people as confidential, and it leaked to Istfedo of sales or some kind of hype people want to acquire and intimidate those who want to terrorize this expectation can arise in our minds

But the best known and famous in the history books is to tell the Agreed:

Is said to be able to master France during the meeting with the leader of the Jews in Akaber hotbed of Secret Freemasonry in France, and misappropriation of those protocols to flee ….

Received the documents to the ((Alex Nicholas)) a large group of notables Russia East at the time of caesarean section and who pushed her to the world (Russian (Sergei Nilus)), which studied carefully and compare them with the events of the current policy that day and was able to because of it to predict much of the serious events that took place a few years later, such as:

1. Predicted the fall of the Ottoman Islamic caliphate at the hands of the Jews before the founding of the State of Israel

2. Prediction of fomenting world wars for the first time in history, losing the victors and the losers together and not accrue Bmganmha only Jews

3. Predicted the fall of monarchies in Europe were still property already in Germany, Austria, Romania, Spain and Italy

4. Predictable deployment of strife and unrest and economic crisis internationally, the structure of the economy on the basis of the gold which is monopolized by the Jews

And other predictions which have been confirmed in large events over the years that followed the era of world, the Russian ((Sergei Nilus)) such as the fall of the Tsarist Russia and spread communism and ruled by a brutal authoritarian rule and to take a center for the dissemination of conspiracies and Kulql in the world

What is the purpose of these protocols??? You will find the answer through your reading of protocols, but you sum up some of these objectives:

Develop a Jewish plan to control the world, as the case led Gmawhm This plan is derived from the hatred of religions

* Jews seek to destroy governments and the temptation kings persecuted peoples and the lure of the people to disobey the kings, and by disseminating the principles of freedom, equality, and so on with the interpretation of a particular interpretation is impossible to achieve

* Publication of chaotic and pornography through the secret societies, religious, artistic, sports and Masonic Lodges

* Jews believed that the methods of governance present in all the world and to increase the corrupting included in until it is time for the Jewish kingdom on the world

Must Statute governed on the people as vile beasts and have to deal with any others with non-Jews, even of the rulers excellent spare chess in the hands of the Jews and enslave most susceptible to money and women, or lure them into positions and the like

Search the means of printing and publishing, journalism, schools, universities, theaters and the role of cinema and its role and arts of seduction and speculation, and others should be placed under the hands of the Jews

* Global economy must be based on Gold, Jews monopolized the most powerful of the labor force and production and other forms of wealth

Develop a Aloguetsaa’almi founded on the basis of the gold which is monopolized by the Jews to be the gold of the strongest weapons to corrupt the young and the elimination of conscience and religions and nationalities, and family and to arouse public opinion and lure people Blshahuat bestiality harmful

* The need to make a global economic crises always so for Ajriah the world and never gives in the end of the Jewish control of

Donald R. McClarey
Admin
Friday, June 4, AD 2010 1:22pm

You know, one of the reasons I am a philo-semite in regard to the Jews is because so many people in this world believe the poisonous tripe that emmy is pushing.

scootie
scootie
Friday, June 4, AD 2010 7:25pm

except for emmy, a great exchange.

how about this:

http://westbankspiralplan.blogspot.com/

n4nadmin
n4nadmin
Friday, June 4, AD 2010 10:52pm

You really going to allow “Protocols” sort of stuff to remain on the comments?

Donna V.
Donna V.
Friday, June 4, AD 2010 11:23pm

You know, one of the reasons I am a philo-semite in regard to the Jews is because so many people in this world believe the poisonous tripe that emmy is pushing.

That is exactly how I feel, Donald!

I have a dear Jewish friend who has developed quite a spiel on the “Jews run the world” theme. She says she keeps hearing about how Jews control this, that, and the other – but the Chief Rabbi of Jerusalem has yet to give her a call and invite her to join the plot to control the world. She feels quite slighted.:-) She often says, “I’m dying to be a part of this big Zionist cabal that runs the whole planet, but nobody calls, nobody even sends me a lousy postcard. What am I, chopped liver?”

A lovely lady. When I was sick with the flu this winter she turned up at my doorstep with a big pot of chicken soup.

Donald R. McClarey
Admin
Saturday, June 5, AD 2010 5:14am

Indeed Donna, I have a similar friend, a young Jewish judge. I only wish all Christians I have encountered in this life had the same kindess, and wonderful good humor, that I have experienced in my interactions with him from his days as a young attorney just starting out.

n4nadmin, the hate-filled comment remains up because it serves a useful purpose in this thread of reminding readers of the reality of the irrational hatred that motivates anti-semites.

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