25,
February 2004 Response to
Stanford Daily – early history of Israel
I
am appalled that the ‘Daily’ should choose to advertise David Horowitz
inflammatory diatribe against the suffering of the Palestinians. Hororwitz
seems to be inflicted with a convenient bout of amnesia ignoring the
circumstances immediately preceding the birth of Israel. The British agreed to
an independent Palestinian state in a White Paper published in 1939. Palestine
would be an independent state with a Jewish minority limited to 30%.
Immigration would be curtailed and purchased of land strictly controlled. The
Zionists refused to accept these terms and Haganah, an Israeli terrorist
organization, launched a violent campaign to displace Palestinians from their
home land. A full day before Britain was to relinquish her power, Israel
proclaimed herself a ‘reborn’ nation. By 1948 Jews, a third of the population, owned
only 5.6% of the land. However, the UN, under intense pressure from Britain and
the US, offered a staggering 56% of Palestine to the proposed Jewish state. Not
surprisingly, Palestinians objected. In the ensuing fighting, 780,000
Palestinians fled or were expelled and their homes seized by the Israeli
government. By 1953, 370 illegal settlements were formed on land belonging to
Palestinian refugees. Land acquisition
for Jewish settlements continues unabated. Sharon’s apartheid wall will
expropriate more land, create even greater hardships and confine Palestinians
to only 42% of the West Bank!
The
current plight of the Palestinians is best described by Shlomo Avineri, the
distinguished Israeli academic, “we remain a neocolonial relationship with the Palestinians,
we do things which are incompatible with being a democracy. It coarsens Israeli
life, making us all racists. It is utterly demeaning for the Palestinians, who
are lined up and searched like cattle every day.” House demolitions are the order of day.
Palestinian civilians are killed with impunity. Even children are not spared.
The ghoulish practice of killing children for sport was documented by Chris
Hedges of the New York Times.
Israel
is now mimicking the savage behavior of the Nazi’s. I urge Horowitz to see the
movie ‘Jenin Jenin’ which documents in graphic terms the genocide committed by
Israeli forces in April 2002.
Israel’s
top ranking soldier, Lt. General Moshe Yaalon, stated that hard lines policies
of Sharon works against Israeli interests, increases hatred for Israel and
strengthens ‘terror’ organizations.
Many
Israeli reserve pilots presented a signed petition stating they would refuse to
take part in “illegal and immoral” strikes in Palestinians areas in the West
Bank and Gaza strip. This follows the action of hundreds of reserve soldiers
who have pledged not to serve in the West Bank and Gaza strip. One of the
petition’s signers was Yiftach Spector, a brigadier general in the reserves.
Israel
has violated 68 UN Security Council resolutions and scores of General Assembly
resolutions. They have destroyed hopes
for peace, deliberately dismantled the capacity of Palestinian people to govern
themselves.
Horowitz
parrots the crude propaganda of the Bush Administration in trying to establish
a link between Al-Qaeda, 9/11 and the war against the illegal occupation of
Iraq and Palestine.
I
urge Horowitz to invest his time and money promoting peace and harmony rather than fermenting hatred.
