I shall begin this response with a quotation:
“When people criticise Zionism, they mean Jews…What is anti-Zionist? It is the denial of the Jewish people of a fundamental right that we justly claim for the people of Africa and freely accord all other nations of the globe.†– Reverend Martin Luther King (1968)
The main response to Israel over recent months by most of the rest of the world has been little more than anti-Zionism. Of course Ariel Sharon is a tougher, more right wing politician but who do you expect Israelis to vote in after the Palestinians reject the peace treaties offered to them by previous, much more liberal prime ministers. Israel is not entirely in the wrong and the previous two post display much misunderstanding of the topic.
The Jewish people need a homeland as the quotation above says. In the same way that the Palestinians deserve a homeland but Israel has already said, even including Sharon, that they support the formation of a Palestinian State as long as it does not endanger Israel. Oppression leads to the need of a homeland which is why Israel was founded after the Second World War. The Jewish people felt that they could only be safe if they had their own land. Many places were considered but the United Nations decided on Palestine, which was previously British. A common misconception is that the land belonged to the Palestinians and the Jews stole it. Palestinians were not kicked off the land in fact, indeed it was not theirs. The Palestinians either fled or were kicked off land AFTER the War of Independence. Here I would like to point out one of Freddie’s subtle little mistakes: “Throughout its short history, most notably in 1948 and 1967, the state of Israel has aggressively expanded its borders, and has been anything but a peaceful nation.†Nice one Freddie but I think you’ll find that one day after the formation of the State of Israel, it was invaded by Egypt, Syria, Iraq, Lebanon, Saudi Arabia and Jordan. Israel ‘won’ this war and therefore expanded its land by about 50% and this lead to the creation of 780,000 Palestinian refugees. Those who were already on Israeli land before the war and who didn’t flee (although most were not forced to) now form the 20% of the Israeli population who are Arab. As for the 6 Day War well one could argue that Israel started it or that the Arabs did depending on who you believe. It’s very complex and involves issues of trade blocking etc. Does that count as provocation, who knows? Yes, Israel one this war and yes, land they won, inc. the Golan Heights, should be withdrawn from according to UN resolution 242. Freddie, nice to see you missed out the war of 1973, when Arab countries attacked Israel in a surprise attack on the most important day of the Jewish calendar, Yom Kippur.
Another lie from Freddie: “there was never any problem between Jews and Muslims until the Palestinians were forcibly removed from their homes.†By way of example, there was the Arab revolt of 1936-1939 led by Haj Amin Al-Husseini in which hundreds of Arabs and Jews were killed. Again not true is that Israel “was set up specifically to act as the agent of the US in the oil-rich Middle East.†I have explained why Israel was founded. It was a result of the Holocaust and other oppression of Jews in Europe. (This is not emotional black-mail, it is fact).
Of course there are bad people on both sides, racists, in fact, but to play the blame-game is pointless. Who can say who is more responsible for the current state of affairs. But why should Israel be criticised for having superior force or for receiving help from America. Of course the Israeli settlers who build new towns on Arab land are just being deliberately provocative and yet on the other side of the coin, Palestinian extremists do want the state of Israel destroyed. Israeli Arabs should be treated better as the infrastructure in their towns is poor. But suicide bombs are not the answer. Also not that many refugees will return for several reasons: a) In 100 year
