Many pro-Israel groups spread an image of a diverse, open-minded nation. This is not necessarily the case.
A recent event hosted by the Jewish student organization Hillel titled “Israel Fest” is a bold exercise in whitewashing Israel of its horrendous human rights record. In previous years, the event has showcased a wide variety of informative tables, visual displays, and pamphlets seeking to provide a positive perspective of Israel for passersby wandering KSU’s campus. A quick review of some of the materials such as “Israel: Humanitarian Aid” or “Israel: Diversity” attempt to persuade their reader of Israel’s benevolent role in the international community, but the well informed student should recognize this as a farce.
Using buzz words and topics, such as diversity, the empowerment of women, and minority inclusion, pro-Israel groups such as Stand With Us and Hillel seek to flatter our student body with the promotion of issues we are all supposed to put great stock in and view with the utmost seriousness. So what is the problem then? Israel does not uphold or promote equal rights among its population; in fact, the Knesset (Israeli Parliament) passed a law in March of 2011 in which Jewish communities can deny Arabs residency based solely on their ethnicity. If one were to assume political diversity is important in Israel they would be wrong. Any political party wishing to establish itself in Israel cannot expressly deny Israel as a Jewish state. Why should that matter?
By enforcing the notion of Israel as a Jewish state, the establishment denies its religiously diverse population of Muslims and Christians. Furthermore, by perpetuating the claim that Israel is the state for all Jewish people, the charges of racism become more apparent. Should a state founded in a land that was not too long ago an overwhelming majority Muslim with a sizeable Christian population favor only Jews? The answer is simply, no.
In the provided pamphlet on Israel and humanitarian aid, once again we are misled into believing Israel has undertaken serious efforts to ameliorate the suffering of minority groups such as the Yemeni Jews in 1949 or the Ethiopian Jews in 1991. Unfortunately Israel has not maintained its “[devotion] to serving as a refuge for people in need.” The Yemeni Jews flown to Israel in 1949 had no say in where they were fleeing (Operation Magic Carpet was an all or nothing, one way trip to Israel), nor did they understand that ‘resettlement’ was merely a scheme to ensure Israel’s Jewish majority in the newly established state by placing Arab and other Middle Eastern Jews in the equivalent of shanty towns while the European Jews occupied the metropolitan centers. What is more, many of those Yemeni Jews had their property stolen or were cheated out of it along the way and even upon arrival in Israel where they were supposedly safe. As for the Ethiopian Jews ‘rescued’ and brought to Israel, many of them continue to face terrible discrimination in the job market while more than 50 percent of them live below the poverty line. The propaganda pamphlet is even so bold as to highlight the acceptance of Bosnian Muslims fleeing the break-up of Yugoslavia.
So where is the acceptance of the millions of Palestinian Muslims and Christians made refugees from Israel’s multiple wars with the Arab states? Why are they not allowed to return to their homes when Israel promotes the right of all world Jewry to ‘return’ to Israel, many of them never having set foot in the holy land previously? Not surprisingly, the event failed to mention the forty-three year Israeli occupation of the Palestinian Territories or the continued denial of basic human rights for many Palestinians. Israel Fest attempts to demonstrate a beacon of humanity, but in reality Israel is just a beacon of propaganda.
You should read and research the whole story. It is not so black and white, you see.
Jordan to revoke citizenship of PA, PLO officials
Move coincides with a new electoral law in Jordan that seeks to limit Palestinian representation in parliament.
http://www.jpost.com/MiddleEast/Article.aspx?id=265740
And this is just a headline for today. Step away from your own rhetoric, and look at the facts.
Does Ksu celebrate the 4th of July? Do other groups on campus who I will not name promote their countries innovations and qualities? I have seen you countless occasions on campus bully and belittle this group. You should take a balanced viewpoint and point out flaws and problems of both sides. Be fair, be balanced Marshall.
this is horrible.. and should not be published in a college school newspaper. this is just someone speaking their opinion on the matter. I do not even go to kennesaw state, a friend of mine brought this article to my attention. Israel is a great country, its beautiful and has a lot of history to it, and you just seem to point out all the wrong things that have gone on in israel. have you ever been there? I doubt it, I have. and it is the most amazing place I have ever been. I am a proud jewish women, and you are hating on every proud jew that goes to kennesaw state. Hillel is a great organization and for one, not many people know about it because it is a jewish organization and it doesnt get out there much. All you are doing is giving it a bad name. You have NO IDEA how that organization works or what they do. You also do not know how many of those jewish students have or havent been to Israel, and i bet if you were to take a poll, over half of them would say that they have been. So the fact that you are pointing out that most of them probably havent even been to the “holy land” is completely wrong. Have you ever heard of birthright? or any other organized trip? I bet not, so why dont you look it up! This article is very antisemetic and one sided. This should be reported. Its ridiculous.. How would you feel if there was in article about one of the christian organizations saying something degrading about them? Probably horrible. I cannot even believe that a university would let someone publish an article like this.
It is one thing to go after a country, every country is guilty of something. But to deliberately go after a group on campus? That is pretty low. Fair and balanced, Marshall? I think not. I’ve constantly seen you bully Hillel over the last couple of years.
This is probably one of the most biased news articles I have ever read. This is an example of why some people should be denied their first amendment rights. I don’t care if it’s true, which it isn’t. There are certain topics that should not be published with such bias to them. I do hope some sort of apology is made to people who spent their time reading this bias trash. Please make sure in the future, that articles that are written by this author are not nearly as biased.
I do see your point, but it is a complete slap to the face of the Jewish students at Kennesaw State.
Why do my comments keep getting deleted?
I just read your article and I can only say that it is harmfully showing a negative viewpoint on positive Jewish organizations that recognize multiple topics relating to Judaism. This includes culture, holidays, traditions, Israel biblically and present day, and the historical sites. There is NO “plan” about the government or some crap that you’re making up. They are just organizations no different than FCA and allowing an outreach to Judaism for those who seek it.
You’re a tool and don’t know what you’re talking about whatsoever. Get educated instead of writing BS and trying to make it sound plausible.
The land of Israel is not some external entity.
It is not merely an external acquisition for the Jewish people.
It is not merely a means of uniting the populace.
It is not merely a means of strengthening our physical existence.
It is not even merely a means of strengthening our spiritual existence.
Rather, the land of Israel has an intrinsic meaning.
It is connected to the Jewish people with the knot of life.
Its very being is suffused with extraordinary qualities.
The extraordinary qualities of the land of Israel and the extraordinary qualities of the Jewish people are two halves of a whole.
“…the materials … persuade their reader of Israel’s benevolent role in the international community, but the well informed student should recognize this as a farce.”
No, only the abysmally ignorant believe it’s not true.
Did anyone even review this before it was published? And i’d love to know who approved it.
you are certainly twisting facts. Cite where you got your information from.
The law passed by parliament was to deny aranbs rights if they do not declare israel has a right to EXIST, not if it’s Jewish.
Marshall, Enjoy your time in college. You’re in for a real shock when you graduate. Adults don’t take kindly to anti-Semitism.
Dear Marshall Watson,
Before you attack Israel, maybe you should go compare it to its neighbors. I taught at the Technion in Haifa – there were many Arab students there, Christian, Muslim, Druze. I taught alongside Arab faculty. The previous Israeli consul in Atlanta was a Druze Muslim. There are Arab judges on the Israeli supreme court. Of course, there is room for improvement, but compare this to “moderate” Jordan, whose civil laws explicitly preclude Jews from citizenship and residence.
As for the refugee issue: there were similar numbers of Jewish and Arab refugees in the aftermath of the failed 1948 Arab invasion of Israel. The Arab world bears primary responsibility for BOTH refugee issues, by starting the wars. Moreover, Israel uplifted all the Jewish refugees from Arab lands. Their descendants from about half of Israel’s population. None have expressed the desire to return to the oppression they suffered under Arab rule.
Compare this to 64 years of cynical Arab manipulation of the Arab refugees. They have been excluded from citizenship in most Arab countries, and their descendants are deemed refugees. In Lebanon, they cannot live outside certain areas, nor work on most professions. Arab regimes maintain this issue as a propaganda weapon against Israel. Its instructive to compare this to the much larger population exchange (about 10 times the size) that took place between India and Pakistan following their separation. Neither side has manipulated refugees in the same way there.
Finally, as regards peace. The core issue has not changed in 64 years: namely Arab refusal to accept a permanent Jewish state, no matter what its boundaries. The Palestinian leadership has repeatedly rejected any resolution that allows a permanent Israel, even one consisting of just Tel Aviv. Thus, Arafat rejected Camp David in 2001, and his successor, Mahmoud Abbas rejected a two state solution in 2010.
Only a fundamental change in Arab attitudes can bring about peace; one-sided Israeli concessions cannot.
I am not particularly familiar with materials that were presented during the event that Mr. Marshall describes as “propaganda.” But I am assured that my knowledge of the middle east is “well informed” and that I can thus give a account of the actual whitewashing, if not deliberate deceit, that Mr. Marshal has so thoroughly engaged himself in.
Let us first begin with the suggestion that “the Knesset (Israeli Parliament) passed a law in March of 2011 in which Jewish communities can deny Arabs residency based solely on their ethnicity.” This is unqualified nonsense, the law he is referring to, which took me awhile to find as he did not give a reference or bill number, perhaps in the determined effort to ensure that nobody actually reads it, went through the Knesset 3 times before it was finally approved and as the Jerusalem Post describes it “The Admission Committees Law, sponsored by Israel Beiteinu’s David Rotem and Kadima’s Shai Hermesh and Yisrael Hasson, would formalize the establishment of admission committees to review potential residents of Negev and Galilee communities that have fewer than 400 families.” There is no specificity for Jewish only communities, as Arab communities in the region have the same right to implement it. This is a blatant omission of the facts, and a blatant case of intellectual dimness, or if not due to ignorance, it is a case of unbelievable bigotry and libel. Mr. Marshall surely has a great future as a reporter for al-Jazzera.
Descending the lines of Mr. Marshal’s screed we encounter this statement, “By enforcing the notion of Israel as a Jewish state, the establishment denies its religiously diverse population of Muslims and Christians. Furthermore, by perpetuating the claim that Israel is the state for all Jewish people, the charges of racism become more apparent. Should a state founded in a land that was not too long ago an overwhelming majority Muslim with a sizeable Christian population favor only Jews? The answer is simply, no.”
Again this is a complete fabrication of the facts, and is an expression that has no place in the realm of even an opinion piece in a university newspaper. Besides the logical fallacy known as a non-sequiter to us philosophy students, the attempt to maintain that the Zionsim and Israel’s cultural nationalism logically and explicitly denies the existence of minorities, his numbers are a little skewed.
In what was the declared Ante-bellum state of Israel in 1948 the figures were thus: Roughly 600,000 Jews and Roughly 400,000 Arabs. This is an indisputable fact. And it is also an indisputable fact that that Mr. Marshal, not acknowledging these figures, is guilty of a blatant fabrication of reality.
Also, if he had any semblance of knowledge concerning Judaism he would know that Jews are not a race, anybody can convert, and how can we account for the fact that he later talks of Ethiopian Jews while at the same time suggesting that Judaism and Jews constitute a race? The notion of Jews being a race is a languid intellectual hangover from the Nazi and eugenic movement’s propaganda. Nice Mr. Marshal, Nice.
And then we come to the magnum opus, the masterpiece of this drivel, his account of the Yeminite Jews. He writes that the Jews of Yeminite origin had no choice in where they were to go. I am not very sure what he is trying to suggest. The fact is the reason for Operation Moses was not to increase the Jewish State’s Jewish population of Jews, as the State was engaged in a war that threatened thier very survival as the leaders of Syria and Egypt proclaimed with great enthusiasm that they were going to “slaughter the Jews”, it hardly seems logical that they would devote resources to from the nascent IDF to retrieve Jews from Yemen. Again the fact dont meet Mr. Marshals assessment. Yemenite Jews began moving to what would become Israel in 1881 and continued with out any aid to do so for the next 60 years. By 1914 10% of the Yemenite Jews had immigrated to the region and were actively involved in the founding and organization of the State of Israel. Also, the catalyst for Israel to retrieve the remaining Jews in Yemen was sparked by the fact that after Israel declared its independence pogroms agianst Jews in Yemen began. From Wikipedia: “In 1947, after the partition vote of the British Mandate of Palestine, Arab Muslim rioters, assisted by the local police force, engaged in a bloody pogrom in Aden that killed 82 Jews and destroyed hundreds of Jewish homes. Aden’s Jewish community was economically paralyzed, as most of the Jewish stores and businesses were destroyed. Early in 1948, the unfounded rumour of the ritual murder of two girls led to looting.[43]” This was the true reason why the Jews wanted to leave Yemen. And the Shanty towns reference is another way of saying that a state that had just been to war and was only 2 years old had a difficulty absorbing the almost 800,000 Jews that fled the arab states due to pogroms and evictions. Nobody ever speaks of a “right of return” for them.
Here’s the real point though. Israel is not a perfect society. It has all the elements that we find wrong with American society, but considering Israel’s security needs, and its continual struggle against terrorist bent on destroying the Jewish State, she has done incredibly well in the area of Human rights. Perhaps the attempt by the Hillel students to show the better parts of Israeli society is because anti-Semites, Palestinian propagandists, uneducated Journalists, and biased academics of every strip have made a concerted effort to demonize the Jewish state as being the worst political entity on the face of the Earth, and they were sick and tired of the lies distortions and half truths that radiate from the mouths and pens of people like Mr. Marshal.
Marshall,
Its clear that you have a biased view. You dont like Israel, and that is your right. Israel is not perfect, but neither is the United States or any other country for that matter. But students should be free to admire the great things about Israel, like their treatment of women, gays, their concern for the environment, and the technology they share with countries all over the world. These things are real and true. We understand that you cannot allow nice things to be said about Israel because you personally cant stand it. You are afraid that if people appreciate the great things that Israel does, they might actually like it, which would conflict with your own world view. That would not be ok with you. It creates dissonance. So Marshall… please feel free to criticize Israel (as long as you are not holding it to a different standard than all other countries in the world, because that would be anti-Semitic…) but criticize all you want… while we can stand back and enjoy Israel’s leadership in the world of medicine, humanitarian aid, battery run cars, diversity, and yes… humanitarian rights… because you deserve to take a breath and be happy about the gifts that Israel gives to the world every single day of the year.
Sitting next to me at the seder was a Yemenite woman who recounted the story of how her parents were rescued from Yemen and brought to Israel on “the wings of eagles.” (airplanes) She spoke about the exodus from Yemen as being a miracle. Israel was ill prepared as a young nation for the onslaught of immigrants. It was not easy but this Yemenite spoke only of how her family was saved. Every country has its problems but Israel is still the only nation in the region to afford equal rights to women and where its courts do not rubber stamp the government. It is easy to say whatever you want-Steve Colbert will confirm. It does not mean it is true. There will be no peace until there is a willingness to see both sides. Still waiting for Arab leaders to stand up and say we accept that Jews are a part of this region and we don’t plan to annhilate them.
Marshall,
I work at the Hillel at my school and I am personally offended by your article. Not only is it anti-Semitic, but it’s bashing an entire group that has every right to express itself freely as does any other group on a college campus. Check your facts before publishing again and remember that a wide variety of people read this.
Editor’s Note: Mr. Watson is a contributing writer for The Sentinel’s Opinion section and the author of “Israel, a beacon of humanity or propaganda?”
The point of my article was not to offer a survey of the human rights abuses of all nations in the region, rather it was to highlight the hypocracy of the recent organized event ‘Israel Fest’ as venue to paint Israel in a falsely positive light.
I will address the various assertions and criticisms below.
First, the silliest accusation- that I have never been to Israel which implies some kind of nullification of the article..
I have in fact travelled to Israel, and I have also lived in Jordan.
I have also observed a birthright tour in action in the Galilee, regardless of this it would not change the validity of my argument.
I am not a Christian and would not feel any sort of agitation when reading articles about corruption in an organization if it were true. One’s religious affiliation or lack thereof should not influence their work.
By asserting that one cannot criticize Israel without doing the same to Arab regimes in the same breathe is irresponsible, and this assertion challenges one’s right to legitimately criticize what is morally and legally reprehensible. There is no wealthy and influential lobby in the US attempting to assert that Arab regimes are peaceful, just, and beacons of democratic values as there is for Israel. No one who would argue the regimes in Syria, Jordan, or Saudi Arabia are righteous and merely misunderstood will ever be taken seriously, and rightly so. But there happens to be a very influential and wealthy coalition of lobby groups who seeks to perpetuate a misleading image of Israel to the American public and government officials. In the interest of seeking the truth, one would find it necessary to expose the wrongdoing in whitewashing Israel as a beacon of democracy, humanitarianism, etc. When presented with the facts, not merely the opinions- one should consider the arguments made, rather than offer character attacks, offer at least some type of counter argument other than the useless moral equivalence argument, eg. “Israel is a vibrant democracy, don’t criticize them unless you look next door at Jordan and see how terrible they are.” These types of arguments are intellectually lazy.
Most all of the information offered by my article finds its origins in Israeli scholarship, not only the facts, but also the interpretation of those facts.
For those who question my assertion that Israel’s Knesset passed a law designed or to be utilized in order to deny Arab residence in certain communities here is one source
http://www.hrw.org/news/2011/03/30/israel-new-laws-marginalize-palestinian-arab-citizens
For those who question the accounts given of Operation magic Carpet by which many Yemeni Jews were transported to Israel,
Sephardim in Israel: Zionism from the Standpoint of Its Jewish Victims, Ella Shohat (Available in JSTOR)
Did the Israeli State Engineer Segregation? On the Placement of Jewish Immigrants in Development Towns in the 1950s-Aziza Khazzoum’s (JSTOR)
Jewish Property Claims Against Arab Countries, Michael Fischbach (Chapter on Yemen and British Aden addresses the theft of Yemeni property, not only by Arabs but also Israelis) Columbia University Press
** As a side note, much of the Yemeni Jewish population that freely migrated to Israel prior to the First Arab-Israeli War did so under the false notion that they were to be received in a ‘land of milk and honey’ were they would prosper greatly. Instead they were sent to the periphery of the nation and were deliberately disadvantaged in the labour force through measures put in place by the Histadrut….
Just to offer a little more on the historical status of Arab Jews in Israel….
“From the point of view of the farmers who employed them, [Mizrahim] workers had an additional advantage: they were not affiliated with the General Federation of Jewish labor [Histadrut] …and could be paid less than unionized Jewish workers”
A New Look at Immigration of Jews from Yemen to Mandatory Palestine- Aviva Halamish (available in JSTOR)
To the claim that I misrepresent facts regarding the Palestinian population as a majority in years past, I did not claim the population was xxx number in any certain year as one individual seems to believe. He offers up the Arab and Jewish populations in 1948. Since I did no specify a year, I can see how one would immediately assume my claim can be discredited but this is false. An Ottoman survey of Palestine’s population in 1878 reveals an 85% Muslim super majority, Christians 9%, and Jewish 5%. Another year, 1935, Palestine’s Jewish population was still only 30%. Do these years nullify his claim of the population in 1948? No, they certainly don’t but I did not state a year or number until now. Given the discrepancies between various population surveys on Palestine in the time period, I will not pretend to offer anything of authority on the exact numbers of Jews, Christians, and Muslims in Palestine, but prior to the 1940s it is indisputable that Palestinians constituted a majority of the population, thus…many years ago Palestine was “a land that was not too long ago an overwhelming majority Muslim with a sizeable Christian population..” as I stated.
Via Sean DeGan’s comment…”Besides the logical fallacy known as a non-sequiter to us philosophy students, the attempt to maintain that the Zionsim and Israel’s cultural nationalism logically and explicitly denies the existence of minorities, his numbers are a little skewed.” ..
Your verbal gymnastics here prove nothing, as I have just demonstrated. My numbers aren’t skewed because I didn’t offer any exact numbers until now. Feel free to research them keeping in mind how every population report will have its exact numbers refuted by someone, but the overall crux of my argument still stands regardless if you don’t like my statement about Palestinians once holding a majority in Palestine. Furthermore, the claim that only 400,000 Palestinians resided in Israel in 1948 conveniently leaves out the fact that around 700,000 either fled or were forced out of Palestine/Israel during the war and not allowed to return. Certainly those were the population numbers in 1948, but either you chose to not mention why there were so few Palestinians or you genuinely did not know, I would find the former more believable.
To the claim that no one ever speaks of a ‘right of return’ for Israeli Jews is simply because none of them want to return to the Arab world, and understandably so. But this offers up no evidence to contradict any of my original points put forth in the article. If you would like to read quite an in depth report on Arab Jews and their plight with the Arab regimes during the early 1900s- circa 1990s, read the previously reference book by Michael Fischbach, it is considered one of the most authoritative on the subject. He will also explain that the issue of property compensation was further complicated by Israel when the government linked Mizrahi property claims with the settlement of Palestinian property claims in a tit for tat scenario. So when those who offer up the bland accusation that ‘its not so black and white’ -clearly that is what my entire argument was addressing- just not from your particular viewpoint….or the ‘read into the facts before you publish,’ perhaps many of you could do the same, as I have just offered up a myriad of sources to support my article, and I will gladly offer more if it is not satisfactory.
If you are looking for a refutation of the information that you provided in your original article Mr. Watson, I will refer you back to the comments section, where I gave a definitive account of the situations that you so seamlessly gloss over.
But Here I will take issue with the current screed where you find yourself congratulating yourself for your mastery of the “nuanced” cultural and political situation of the Middle-east.
First, a point of argumentative clarity must be assayed. Your original article advanced unsubstantiated and puerile rhetoric—you did not even name the Knesset bill that you then claimed was racist—that the likes of even the revisionist historians that you above cite, without quotes, would find duplicitous at best. I have never read any of Avi Shlaim’s or Benny Morris’s tracts and thought that one could argue the positions that you so emphatically argue. Being so thoroughly libertine with the facts, even the revisionist historians would laugh you out of the lecture hall. You are correct about their analysis of the situation circa 1948, but your analysis comes nothing close to that of the measured and real “nuance” that is required to carry this scholarly banter to the general public. Instead, your proclamations about “horrendous human rights record(s)” are buttressed by cracking columns and dramatic incantations to the gods of racial harmony. Your original essay was not cited properly and is, in fact, an intellectual disaster, thus rendering Mr. Birbrager and the KSU Hillel’s annunciations of human rights advances in the state of Israel real and unchallenged. It is a point of elementary logic that the positive proposition be supplied with evidence, KSU Hillel did so, despite your attempts to refute them with your rather pathetic interpretation of the events from 1948 onward, the remain as they are, facts. Thus what you require of Perry and Kahn here should also, and even more so, be required of your original essay, a detailed and cited refutation. This is all tangential logical dicing though, as we wouldn’t want correct reasoning to get in the way of you attempting to save yourself from your own disastrous positions.
I am not sure what “a terribly maliced interpretation of reality” is, as the use of noun to modify a noun is not generally accepted as good grammar, revealing that your writing skills are as advanced as your historical acuity. In your response to the responses you cite, of all sources, HRW, which was just as biased an interpretation of the law as you advance, surly that “facts” have met the man.
Further, your conjuring of the history of the Yemenite Jews, and the associated citations provided are interesting, as in one it cheerfully proclaims that “it was not just the Arabs” that stole property. This is not an analytical severity of mind that constitutes supportive documentation of your original blanket claim. Also, to further the field of argument, I refer you here to the status of supposed Demolitions of Arab towns accounted of in the HRW report: http://english.wafa.ps/index.php?action=detail&id=16455, apparently a pro-Palestinian source is more balanced than its western counterpart in giving the fact that Israel has a Judicial system that rules in favor of Arabs in a great number of cases. The facts that you present are not facts, they are ongoing issues. You would have us believe that it has all been settled and accounted for. Nice try.
The revelation that you find it problematic that Israel is a Jewish state is telling, as it reveals your incandescent hatred of the idea that a culture is allowed a right to self-determination, which you so emphatically support in the case of the Palestinians, but deny to the Jews. This is disgusting. Your eroticism with Palestinian rights is only expressed when it denies rights to a Jewish state.
The suggestion that my critique of your “majority Arab” declaration is duplicitous is, again, an example of your lack of analytical refinement. I will cede that the region was a majority Arab Muslim before the partition plan, but this does not mitigate the fact that that Israel, when declared independent, was a majority Jewish. You can blame this on the British or the Ottomans; take your pick, but not the Israelis. And the fact that it is now a majority Jewish is because Israel happened to win wars that sought their total elimination. Regardless of any historical grievances and prayers to the gods of diversity, what was once a majority Arab is now a majority Jewish because the Arabs lost three xenophobic wars of annihilation. Doron stands strong.
The Koch party was a radical Jewish party that was also banned from the Knesset, so we could just as easily say that Jewish representation is not as secure as we thought, couldn’t we Marshal?
The Arab peace initiative was a delayed counter proposal to the Camp David proposal which would have implemented a Palestinian state on 95% of the West bank and all of Gaza. Arafat walked away from the talks, as it did not provide a “right of return” which means it didn’t provide for Israel to commit national suicide, one Saudi official calling Arafat’s actions “a crime against the Palestinian people.” The Arab peace initiative called for the same thing. You point out with great vigor that it is irrelevant to mention the fact that the Arab states treat the Palestinian “refugees” as not even citizens, but this fact is at the heart of the debate, since those refugees are banned by law to integrate into the wider Arab society, and refugee status is a biological marker that only Palestinians are granted, the numbers of them keep growing and the conflict is continued.
The occupation of the west bank is as justified as things can be. Israeli civilians were directly targeted by terrorists emanating from the region during the intifada and military reprisals should be expected, the fact that Israel is stronger should not be taken as evidence that Israel is wrong. Jordan controlled the area that is now called the west bank pre-1967, and did, in fact, engage in ethnic cleansing of Jews from the territory; Israel has not, and gave them a chance at Statehood in 2001, as referenced above. Many times the Palestinian authorities can be quoted as desiring a state Judenrein, as what happened at Gush Katif in Gaza, they demand all Jews out. A minority of Jews living in ancient Jewish cities in the west bank is as much an impediment to peace as the minority of Arabs, a significantly greater minority, living in Israel proper. The problem is that any final status of a Palestinian state will require evictions of Jews from their homes because their safety, absent military forces, is certainly in danger. They would be subjected to horrible treatment at the hands of a radical Islamized Palestinian majority, as is the case of the Egyptian Copts, the Iraqi Christians, the list is endless.
That Israel is not perfect I will concede. That Israel has a “horrendous human rights record” I will debate with great vigor. Considering the circumstances, the term “problematic” might have been a more judicious description. “Horrendous human rights records” are those of Israel neighbors. This is fact that no amount of continued chants from the likes of you and others will mitigate. Given the totality of references that you provide, I am curios if you have ever heard of Ephraim Karsh, and his analysis of things; or Michael Oren, or Alan Dershowitz, or Paul Eidelburg. Also, given the range of sources provided, I cannot account of your bias against Israel in any intellectual terms. Something more percolates to the surface here, do you notice it?
I packed out laughing as I read this. I did not know that Kennesaw educates comedians. Each sentence made me pack out laughing with the total absurdity of every line. It reminds me of Goebbels “If you tell a lie often enough, people will believe it is the truth.”
I did know about the 700,000 Palestinian refugees. I have read the literature thoroughly. I wasn’t engaged in verbal gymnastics, this is basic logic. My verbal gymnastics prove that the burden of proof is still on you. You have failed to back up your claim of racism over and over. One wonders why you didn’t offer numbers until someone called you out on your nonsense. You paint the picture in your article that Israel was engaged in ethnic cleansing to achieve the current status, which truly uninformed readers will believe. You should be ashamed of yourself. I gave an informed numerical assessment of Israel 1948 statistics. If war had never been declared on the Jewish state, the Palestinians would have a state right now adjacent to Israel, and there never would have been a Palestinian refugee problem that was caused, for the most part, by Arab forces telling them to leave. Whilst the Israelis, as was noted, concocted a propaganda campaign to get Arabs to stay. I refer you to my own website that documents these cases. “On April 29, even Farid Saad of the [Arab] National Committee was saying that Jewish leaders had “organized a large propaganda campaign to persuade [the] Arabs to return.” Marshall, you have not the slightest clue as to what you are talking about in this regard. I will look more thoroughly into the plight of the Mizrahi, but to bring up past events to “refute” current realities in regards to Israel’s rather pluralistic society, is obscene, and we’re tired of it. We have ceded that Israel is not perfect, but the overarching tone of the article paints the Israelis as malignant provocateurs, comparable to rampaging gangs of militia in the Uganda, when in fact Israel’s judiciary checks the actions of its military, which no other country, including ours, has the legal ability to do. Stop presuming that supporters of Israel are ignorant of the facts that you think can be mustered to support your wild assertions. http://conjectureandconsequence.wordpress.com/2012/04/05/freedom-for-palestine-or-freedom-from-israel/ or you can see a more philosophic critique here: http://conjectureandconsequence.wordpress.com/2012/01/23/the-secular-west-and-israel/
You seem to buttressing your argument on economic disparities that ensued in Israel, this is not something that would surprise anyone, as this phenomenon is everywhere. It takes years to mitigate, and I can document the instances of a concerted effort to do so by the Israeli government. Economic disparities do not constitute a “horrendous human rights record.” Cheers.
http://jewishrefugees.blogspot.com/2009/08/fischbach-on-jewish-property-claims.html
Analysis of Fiscbach. I am still curious as to what you are trying to argue by citing him.
You site a blog as a legitimate source? How is that at all credible? I am at work right now and don’t have time to respond to everything else, but I will hopefully soon.
As for the claim that the Palestinians would have not been transferred if war had not occured, I believe that is false. After reading much of Ben Gurion’s diary, historians like Benny Morris and Avi Shlaim, and the less credible Ilan Pappe would all acknowledge the idea of transfer was on the table. Therefore I don’t think it wise to assert it was the Arabs going to war that caused the Israel to expel Palestinians.
The reason I cite Fischbach is because he is an authority on Arab Jewish and Palestinian property claims resulting from the conflict. Numerous individuals questioned, or rather flatly denied my portrayal of their circumstance as false, but those assertions weren’t unsubstantiated. Fischbach cited an instance in which Yemeni Jews had their property and religious artefacts stolen by Israelis on the way to Israel. I offered Fischbach along with Shohat, Halamish, and a few others to point out that Israel’s history with its own people is rocky. I know much of what I said is quite controversial to those who consider themselves pro-Israel, but the fact of the matter here is that Israel is far from an innocent victim here. While I would not venture to say the Israeli public should be demonized for the acts of its government, it is still the Israeli public that elects its officials.
Also, I don’t know why you assume I have no idea what I am talking about, your issue with 1948 statistics was to demonstrate Israeli demographics which I addressed by clearly offering a reason for your assertion that Israelis outnumbered Palestinians ie- the expulsion and flight of 700,000+ Palestinians.
Your claims that Arabs convinced Palestinians to flee is completely false and proven so by Israeli scholars like Benny Morris. Read his publications and he categorically refutes that claim.
I don’t believe sticking to your guns just to prove a point is very honest- I wish you would read Benny Morris’ “The Birth of the Palestinian Refugee Problem”
As for my claim that asserting Israel remain an expressly Jewish state, I believe that is inherently racist. No nation should assert itself as A Muslim,or Jewish, or Christian state. Because that implies the state should only serve such a demographic. I did not see you asking me to defend that, so I apologize but this was an opinion piece and that was my opinion. Also, the United Nations General Assembly passed Resolution 3379 in 1975 that declared Zionism a form of racism, or course this resolution was revoked in order to gain Israel’s aggrement to participate in the 1991 Madrid Conference.
Also, your claim that the judicial system often favors Palestinians, can you explain why then, that Palestinians in East Jerusalem continue to have their homes taken from them and given to radical settlers…?
Or why the IDF ignored a ruling in 2007 by the High Court of Justice to remove a barrier placed in Hebron? I know it was eventually implemented but the fact that the military can openly and boldly dismiss the High Court is quite disturbing.
I don’t want to sit here and get into all manor of arguments on historical events, but as you conceded, Israel isn’t perfect and in fact it is far from it. I don’t believe the American public deserves to be lied to, or be told we need to uphold a long standing relationship with the state. They are a well developed nation that should not require further monetary assistance that now totals more than $114 billion since the early 1970s.
I know we are all passionate here but to cry foul any time Israel is criticized surely does nothing worthwhile. Go ahead and criticize the PLO or the PA, they are dirty politicians looking to further their personal agendas, i wouldn’t bother me in the least bit. What I care about are the people, and as far as I’m concern both the Palestinian government, if you can call it one, and the Israeli government are full of liars and thieves.
Also, your claim that the judicial system often favors Palestinians, can you explain why then, that Palestinians in East Jerusalem continue to have their homes taken from them and given to radical settlers…? cite that.
Or why the IDF ignored a ruling in 2007 by the High Court of Justice to remove a barrier placed in Hebron? I know it was eventually implemented but the fact that the military can openly and boldly dismiss the High Court is quite disturbing.” Israel is one of the only countries in the world whose judicial system has authority over the military. What is interesting here is not that it was ignored but that it was even ruled on.
As far as benny morris goes, I have read him, and I have read karsh. Read karsh:http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/071468063X/ref=cm_cr_asin_lnk
I also suggest you read Anita Shapira: http://ontology.buffalo.edu/smith/courses01/rrtw/Shapira.htm