n***@bigmailbox.net
2006-09-11 19:38:21 UTC
Peace In The Middle East:
Fighting injustice can sometimes degenerate into a pretext for shunning
compromises that are necessary for constructive conflict resolution.
Arabs need to come to terms with the partition of Palestine. Peace will
not return to the Holy Land as long as the Arabs refuse to accept
Israel as a reality.
Before launching into yet another tirade against the Jews, it is
necessary for Arabs to separate facts from the fiction that keep them
from accepting Israel as a reality. In present day Israel, the majority
of Jews are not the ones who came from Eurpoe. The majority are the
Shephardic Jews most of whom have either lived in Palestine for
centuries or are the ones who were driven out from Arab lands around
the time of Palestine's partition.
The Arab regimes like to imply that they are the ones who have been
wronged - and that Israelis are the principal wrongdoers. Peace will
return to the Middle East when the Arab regimes acknowledge that Jews
and Palestinian alike have been victimized by the repressive regimes of
the two dozen Arab states.
Cooler tempers might prevail if the Arabs mull over what they would
have done in 1948 if they were the holocaust survivors. Wouldn't they
have done everything in their power to defeat the Arab armies that
invaded Israel?
More importantly, the two dozen Arab regimes might want to mull over
the fact that Palestine was a two-way street at that moment in history.
Yes, many a Palestinian ( 0.5 million?) fled his ancestral home in the
wake of Palestine's partition. But at least an equal number of Jews got
thrown out from Arab countries (from Morocco to Iraq) and even from
Iran.
Today, the majority of Jews in Israel are Shephardic Jews most of whom
have either lived in Palestine for centuries or are from Arab lands.
In fact, the downfall of the Labor Party in Israel and the rise of the
hard line Likud is specifically related to this demographic mix - the
better educated Ashkenazic Jews (of Yiddish heritage) yielding to the
numerically dominant Shephardic Jews.
Needless to say, these Shephardic Jews have no reason to feel that they
owe anything to the Palestinians who had lost their ancestral home.
More importantly, the Shephardic Jews have genuine cause to resent the
rab countries that threw them out of their ancestral home in the
aftermath of Palestine's partition.
If the two dozen Arab rergimes mull over the facts, I am sure it won't
be that difficult for them to realize how illogical and unreasonable it
is for them to denounce the Jewish people.
More importantly, the Arab regimes will realize how unreasonable are
those that will not settle for peace for anything less than the
Plestinians' right to return to their ancestral land.
If the Israelis seem ruthless, it is because they have to be. Israelis
know only too well that they cannot afford even a single defeat at the
hands of the Arab without jeopardizing very existence of Israel. The
Arabs can afford to lose a hundred battles and still live to fight
another day. Tiny Israelis, in sharp contrast, must win every single
battle to ensure the existence of Israel. If tiny Israel fights so
tenaciously it is because they are fighting for self-preservation.
If large armies from Egypt, Jordan and Syria foundered in the sands of
the Middle East it was because to them the war was a matter of conquest
and not of self-preservation.
If the two dozen Arab nations mull over all the facts in a calm and
dispassionate manner, they should be able to see how illogical and
unreasonable it is for the Arab regimes to denounce the Jewish people
and dream of the destruction of Israel.
There is plenty of blame to go around in Palestine. But the Arab
regimes are in no shape to absolve themselves of any blame.
(1) The Arab regimes did the Palestinian Arabs no favor by invading
Israel on the morrow of the UN-sanctioned partition.
(2) The Arab regimes did the Palestinian Arabs no favor by failing to
establish an independent Palestine in the West Bank and Gaza in the two
decades they had till 1967.
(3) The Arab regimes did the Palestinian Arabs no favor by failing to
absorb the refugees by giving them citizenship. The Palestinian Arabs
were left to fester in refugee camps instead.
(4) The Arab regimes do Palestinian Arabs no favor by backing to the
hilt the Palestinian Arabs` demand for the right of return to Israel.
Israel has absorbed all the Jews thrown out of Arab lands in the
afternmath of the partition of 1948. The Arab regimes would do well to
absorb their share of refugees from the partition of Palestine instead
of egging them on to stick to their demand for right of return.
Come to think of it, the half million Hindu Sindhis who were driven
into exile at India's partition have a far stronger cause for grievance
than the half million Palestinians who went into exile at Palestine's
partition - the Palestinians can easily choose to be be at home in any
of the 22 Arab countries who speak the same language as them. Such is
not the case with the Hindu Sindhis who were forced into the Diaspora
in 1947 and who must live in lands where the Sindhi language can at
best try to survive unobtrusively in a non-Sindhi land.
If these Sindhis have been able to move on with their life in the
aftermath of the partition of India in 1947, then so could have had the
Palestinian refugees in the aftermath of the partition of Palestine,
especially if the two dozen Arab regimes were truly interested in their
welfare instead of using them as cannon fodder for their own ends.
Fighting injustice can sometimes degenerate into a pretext for shunning
compromises that are necessary for constructive conflict resolution.
Arabs need to come to terms with the partition of Palestine. Peace will
not return to the Holy Land as long as the Arabs refuse to accept
Israel as a reality.
Before launching into yet another tirade against the Jews, it is
necessary for Arabs to separate facts from the fiction that keep them
from accepting Israel as a reality. In present day Israel, the majority
of Jews are not the ones who came from Eurpoe. The majority are the
Shephardic Jews most of whom have either lived in Palestine for
centuries or are the ones who were driven out from Arab lands around
the time of Palestine's partition.
The Arab regimes like to imply that they are the ones who have been
wronged - and that Israelis are the principal wrongdoers. Peace will
return to the Middle East when the Arab regimes acknowledge that Jews
and Palestinian alike have been victimized by the repressive regimes of
the two dozen Arab states.
Cooler tempers might prevail if the Arabs mull over what they would
have done in 1948 if they were the holocaust survivors. Wouldn't they
have done everything in their power to defeat the Arab armies that
invaded Israel?
More importantly, the two dozen Arab regimes might want to mull over
the fact that Palestine was a two-way street at that moment in history.
Yes, many a Palestinian ( 0.5 million?) fled his ancestral home in the
wake of Palestine's partition. But at least an equal number of Jews got
thrown out from Arab countries (from Morocco to Iraq) and even from
Iran.
Today, the majority of Jews in Israel are Shephardic Jews most of whom
have either lived in Palestine for centuries or are from Arab lands.
In fact, the downfall of the Labor Party in Israel and the rise of the
hard line Likud is specifically related to this demographic mix - the
better educated Ashkenazic Jews (of Yiddish heritage) yielding to the
numerically dominant Shephardic Jews.
Needless to say, these Shephardic Jews have no reason to feel that they
owe anything to the Palestinians who had lost their ancestral home.
More importantly, the Shephardic Jews have genuine cause to resent the
rab countries that threw them out of their ancestral home in the
aftermath of Palestine's partition.
If the two dozen Arab rergimes mull over the facts, I am sure it won't
be that difficult for them to realize how illogical and unreasonable it
is for them to denounce the Jewish people.
More importantly, the Arab regimes will realize how unreasonable are
those that will not settle for peace for anything less than the
Plestinians' right to return to their ancestral land.
If the Israelis seem ruthless, it is because they have to be. Israelis
know only too well that they cannot afford even a single defeat at the
hands of the Arab without jeopardizing very existence of Israel. The
Arabs can afford to lose a hundred battles and still live to fight
another day. Tiny Israelis, in sharp contrast, must win every single
battle to ensure the existence of Israel. If tiny Israel fights so
tenaciously it is because they are fighting for self-preservation.
If large armies from Egypt, Jordan and Syria foundered in the sands of
the Middle East it was because to them the war was a matter of conquest
and not of self-preservation.
If the two dozen Arab nations mull over all the facts in a calm and
dispassionate manner, they should be able to see how illogical and
unreasonable it is for the Arab regimes to denounce the Jewish people
and dream of the destruction of Israel.
There is plenty of blame to go around in Palestine. But the Arab
regimes are in no shape to absolve themselves of any blame.
(1) The Arab regimes did the Palestinian Arabs no favor by invading
Israel on the morrow of the UN-sanctioned partition.
(2) The Arab regimes did the Palestinian Arabs no favor by failing to
establish an independent Palestine in the West Bank and Gaza in the two
decades they had till 1967.
(3) The Arab regimes did the Palestinian Arabs no favor by failing to
absorb the refugees by giving them citizenship. The Palestinian Arabs
were left to fester in refugee camps instead.
(4) The Arab regimes do Palestinian Arabs no favor by backing to the
hilt the Palestinian Arabs` demand for the right of return to Israel.
Israel has absorbed all the Jews thrown out of Arab lands in the
afternmath of the partition of 1948. The Arab regimes would do well to
absorb their share of refugees from the partition of Palestine instead
of egging them on to stick to their demand for right of return.
Come to think of it, the half million Hindu Sindhis who were driven
into exile at India's partition have a far stronger cause for grievance
than the half million Palestinians who went into exile at Palestine's
partition - the Palestinians can easily choose to be be at home in any
of the 22 Arab countries who speak the same language as them. Such is
not the case with the Hindu Sindhis who were forced into the Diaspora
in 1947 and who must live in lands where the Sindhi language can at
best try to survive unobtrusively in a non-Sindhi land.
If these Sindhis have been able to move on with their life in the
aftermath of the partition of India in 1947, then so could have had the
Palestinian refugees in the aftermath of the partition of Palestine,
especially if the two dozen Arab regimes were truly interested in their
welfare instead of using them as cannon fodder for their own ends.