It's like this.
Palestine has been home to a wide variety of peoples at various points in time, for various lengths of time, all throughout history.
Before 1947 approximately 1,237,000 million ethnic arabs (muslims & catholics) lived in the region referred to as 'Palestine', in relative harmony with 608,000 jews (not technically an ethnicity: judaism is a religion, both jews and arabs are 'semites'). These numbers constitute 67% and 33% of the total population of 'Palestine' respectively.
The following pic gives you an idea of the spread of jews across the region at that time.
World War II, for obvious reasons, prompted jews to relocate to anywhere BUT Europe. Many went to USA, some to the UK, some to Russia, some to South America but others decided to migrate to 'Palestine'. The mass migration to 'Palestine' was driven by an idea known as 'Zionism' which was being touted by one Theodore Herzl. 'Zionism' plays on biblical lore to suggest that jews should relocate to this region because it was granted to the jews by god. A relatively laughable concept if you are a logicla and rational human being.
One should note that the jews of ancient times, according to the admittedly unreliable document known as the bible, roamed across much of the middle east for many millenia before taking this particular region known as Palestine by force and creating a 'Kingdom of Israel', a kingdom which lasted for approximately three centuries. When stronger forces rolled into town around 700 BC the jews dispersed all across the babylonian and roman empires.
So, in 1947-48, with hundreds of thousands of jews pouring into british-mandate Palestine, tensions naturally increased between the then inhabitants and the newly arrived immigrants. Acts some might describe as 'terrorism' were committed by both the Palestinians and the arriving Zionists. What wasn't appreciated by the arabs was the UN trying to
gerrymander a state of 'Israel' cut out of the Roman/Ottoman region known as Palestine, one that would have a guaranteed jewish majority.
The UN failed in their attempts and the brits couldn't keep control and pulled out on a pre-defined date, at which point all out war between the arabs and the jews started. With superiour firepower and resolve (and with help from some tremendous tactical blunders on the parts of the arabs) the immigrants succeeded in massacring arabs and driving hundreds of thousands of men, women and children from their homes and land, never to see them again. They managed to claim far more land than they would have been granted under the UN plan and never returned this land to its rightful owners, nor did they pay reparations to the people who are now permanent refugees in surrounding countries, for the losses they incurred.
Various arab-israeli wars followed where the arabs were heavily defeated several times, allowing Israel to take control of the Gaza Strip, East Jerusalem and the West Bank. Since then successive Israeli governments have sought to marginalise the inhabitants of these areas, oust them where possible and plant illegal settlements on land that they are not entitled to (by international law no less). The goal is to create a greater state of Israel along biblical lines. The cost however is the treatment of several million people as a modern day 'untermensch', in what can only be described as large open air ghettoes. It is ironic how the Zionists are now treating another race of people in similar ways as to those they were subjected to under nazi rule in europe. There may be no Zyklon B or furnaces, but stripping a people of hope and dignity and subjecting them to other forms of inhuman treatment is rife.
I say to Israel - enough is enough. The relevant arab parties have recognised that a state of 'Israel' is inevitable. It is time for Israel to withdraw fully from the West Bank and East Jerusalem, return stolen lands to the people they stole it from and pay reparations to those who will never see their homes again in the state of 'Israel' proper. They must allow a viable state of Palestine to exist - not strangle it in the hopes of a 'greater state of Israel'. It is the least that can be expected - Germany have paid reparations to the jews for the losses they incurred and tried in every way possible to atone for their crimes against humanity.
I find it shameful and deplorable that a group of arabs have had to pay the price for European crimes. Ideally a state of 'Israel' should have been carved out of Germany. It seems however that the injustice was just conveniently 'transferred out' of good old Europe.
PS When you think of Palestinian violence, however underhand or despicable, I would ask you to think about whether you regard the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising as a valiant piece of heroism.
Last edited by CameronPoe (2006-06-27 16:35:56)
