Theos-Talk Archives (December 2001 Message tt00098)

Etzion:

Thank you very much for your remarks. Some comments
and questions below.

Etzion: "I don't respond to hate posts against Israel
and its prime minister in this site."

I assume you are talking about the guy from Australia
who posted a news item about Sharon's indictment for
war crimes. That is simply the news and does not
strike me as a hate post. If the story is not true,
then you should definitely respond to it.

Other than that there was some guy in Europe who
claimed that Hitler won the second world war, that he
is still alive, that he gets around in a flying
saucer, and that Blavatsky wrote The Procotols of the
Learned Elders of Zion, which he believes to contain
historical truth. These ideas are certainly
controversial. But he said nothing about Israel or
its indicted P.M.

You are quite right about the long history of
anti-Semitism in Europe, although in fairness it
should be said it was mostly in Eastern and Central
Europe. A few old buildings and a couple of decrepit
art museums do not a civilization make. You are
mistaken about the splendid treatment of Jews by
Muslim rulers, however. That is a myth which was
dreamed up to serve modern propaganda purposes. The
first Zionists were largely Sephardic Jews who did not
agree with your take on history. Mainstream
historians question the way history is sometimes
taught in Israel. Muslim hostility toward Jews did
not begin in 1948. It also did not begin with the
Fatah movement in the sixties. If it had, the
solution to today's problems would be quite simple.

Etzion: "they know the truth about their *Palestinian
State*, and what is really going on behind the scenes,
which are veiled from CNN & CO."

If CNN et al. are misleading us, please enlighten us. 
So far as I have heard, the Palestinians have nothing
remotely resembling a "state." Public statements by
Barak and other leaders seem to confirm that this is
true. Some of these leaders have implied they intend
to keep it that way.

I would also be interested in your opinions regarding
the "setlement movement" which has been blamed for
most of the unrest. Here is what we seem to be
getting from the media:

(1) Some other guy, whom you do not even know, has
decided he would like to squat on the land of yet
another person you do not even know,

(2) So long as the dispossessed person is an Arab, the
Israeli government supports this and evicts the owner
of the land from his own property and even from his
country in some cases. That land is then transferred
to the squatter on the grounds that it was given to
his ancestors by God.

(3) As more squatters move in, the new squatters
demand more land on which to squat. More Palestinians
then get evicted. This all takes place within what we
are assured is a sovereign Palestinian state, which
has been guaranteed its own army, its own air force,
etc. Despite Palestinian sovereignty, it is enforced
by an outside power which brings in troops to assert
its will against the will of the citizens of sovereign
Palestine and against the express wishes of the
sovereign gobernment of sovereign Palestine.

(4) Some resentful individuals then engage in
resistance activities, some of which are clearly
illegitimate. We saw this recently.

(5) Rather than deal with that in a sensible manner,
the Israeli government resumed their practice of
shooting down unarmed civilians and firing at
undefended targets. To avoid a diplomatic solution,
they began this with alacrity. According to news
reports, this started Monday and continues today. It
appears it will go on and on and on.

(6) Some Israeli leaders have allegedly started
blatantly referring to the squatter movement as ethnic
cleansing. But instead of doing a Slobodan, which
proved highly risky to the professional smugglers who
used to run Yugoslavia, they are ethnically cleansing
the area on the installment plan. At the rate they
are going, that surely means several more decades of
war.

The upshot is that the benefit to you personally is
zilch and the risk to you personally is significantly
increased. The risk/reward ratio from your
perspective is therefore mathematically infinite. 
(The result of dividing by zero.)

It seems to me it makes sense for those Israelis who
are not West Bank and Gaza area squatters to make it
clear to their politicians they do not want to be
placed in danger so some other fellow who does not
even live in their country can deprive a complete
stranger of Arab descent of his right to own property.
I am utterly mystified why anyone except the
squatters themselves would support such a policy. It
seems like just common sense would turn Israelis
against such a policy. The fact that most people are
not capable of thinking and reasoning is the only
apparent explanation for this mystery.

Even more outrageous is the fact that previous US
administrations have apparently cheered the squatters
on, despite the fact that this policy puts their own
citizens at risk. Fortunately, the Bush
administration seems to have reversed at least that
aspect of their policy.

I agree with you "that humankind is one body." I
assume that includes Arabs who live in the West Bank
and Gaza and who own land considered ripe for
confiscation by others. If so, let us hope others in
that area of the world will see the same view. People
like you are the only hope there is for peace.

If you agree, spread the word. Open some eyes. Tell
people their leaders are not representing their best
interests.

If I don't know squat, please show me the error in my
reasoning.

Many blessings,

Steve



__________________________________________________
Do You Yahoo!?
Send your FREE holiday greetings online!
http://greetings.yahoo.com