The Real Cliff™ asked me to guest blog because he is too busy helping someone move. You would think that one of his two sons would have helped him out, but one is moving and the other is too busy guest posting on some obscure blog . . .
He suggested that, perhaps, a good subject would be the the recent PJMedia report that Europeans are behind the Second Gaza Flotilla. Duly noted. Hat tip to Insty who suggests you read the whole thing. The basic subtext (or even the premise) of the article seems to be that Europeans are antizionists. Rather than following that to its logical conclusion, I'll let you read the article.
Instead, I want to conduct a thought experiment, to wit: What would happen if Israel recognized Palestine as a separate state? Right away, you could expect the Palestinians to import arms to establish a "defense" force. No doubt Weapons would come from Iran and would include bunches of rockets.
Next, a rocket launched from the newly independent state of Palestine would land in Israel. After all, do you really think they could keep all the factions under control? In addition to being an act of war, it would also be a really bad thing for Palestine. Perhaps the Palestinians would be lucky and the Israelis would be content to take and keep some strategic ground, as they have in the past. Perhaps, they would drive the new "defense" force into the sea. Or, just maybe, they'd nuke 'em. I doubt the latter would happen, but no matter what happens, there is no good outcome for the Palestinians.
It seems to me that the Palestinians have it pretty good the way it is. They get to say and do all sorts of nasty things without the consequences that would follow from being a real country. That would go a long way towards explaining why they have rejected peace even when the Israeli's agreed to all of their demands. Let's face it, life's harder as an adult—you have to follow the rules.
Regards,
— the other cliff
An entire generation incarcerated in poverty and you want to call this "pretty good as it is"??? Palestinians are abused on all sides, not least by their own "leaders", but not insignificantly by the Israeli army and their proclivity to play fast and loose with white phosphorous munitions and other crimes of war.
ReplyDeleteIt bears questioning why, if Israelis deserved a homeland to be made for them so many years ago, why Palestinians displaced by that homeland are to be forever interned in history's largest-ever de facto concentration camp without redress or hope for a free life. Excuses based on the misbehavior of criminals does NOT justify what has been done to millions of innocent civilians.
Kad, I'm not trying to justify the decisions of the world, I'm making a prediction. You accuse the Israeli army of war crimes, but I note that no international court has issued arrest warrants for anyone.
ReplyDeleteAs for calling Palestine a concentration camp, that seems a bit over the top. After all, they are free to leave, love, and live. Nobody is trying to exterminate the Palestinians. Instead, the Israelis are attempting to keep from being exterminated themselves. After all, who's charter is it calling for the destruction of the other?
Finally, you make an implicit appeal to history. That is a mistake. History can only tell us who lost the last war. The Levant's history is rife with one conqueror after another. Who has first dibs? The Palestinians? The Ottoman Turks? The Persians? The Egyptians? The Brits? The Romans? The Christians? The Muslims? The Jews? How about the Cannanites? The Hittites?
This is very similar to the problem faced by Henry II when he came to England. The ownership of land really went back to the last person to force everyone else off. Accordingly, he had the Domesday Commission figure out who held all the land in Great Briton on a given day. That was the starting point. It seems to me that Israel and Palestine need a starting point for boundaries too.
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ReplyDeleteGazans cannot leave. Until only recently they couldn't even receive trade goods at their borders because of blockades enforced by both Israel and Egypt. There are no jobs. They're in a concentration camp by any definition of the word. Your misunderstanding of this point is only the beginning of the problem.
There are families trying to raise children, the parents of which have never lived in a free country, let alone their children. These are not the embodiment of any political "charter"--they are human beings like any other, except for their incarceration.
In 1988, Arafat asserted the "right of all parties concerned in the Middle East conflict to exist in peace and security, including the state of Palestine, Israel and their neighbours". You cannot ignore this statement at your convenience, just as Arafat could not, either.
There are American political parties which endorse racist policies, yet you or I are not blamed for the consequence of their existence. Why should Palestinian families not receive the same sort of latitude and justice? Because some criminals in their midst believe reprehensible things?
The appeal I make is for justice. Just as Jews were dispossessed in Europe leading to the creation of the Jewish state, Palestinians have been dispossessed in what is now Israel, though without any recompense whatsoever. One situation cannot be wrong unless the other is in some way too. Denying this is unreasonable.