Written to the New York Times

[richardf8]

In your August 18th editorial you write that "Gaza represents the worst side of Israel's settlement movement. The densely populated strip is home to 1.3 million Palestinians - most of them refugees, or offspring of refugees."

Israel is home to 4.8 million Jews, nearly all of whom are "refugees or offspring of refugees." Indeed, since 1948, far more Jews have been ejected from communities in Iraq, Iran, Syria, Yemen, Jordan and the other Arab countries in the region than Palestinians were ejected from what has become Israel. Many of these Jewish communities were older than either Islam or Christianity. Israel absorbed all of them. The Arab nations, on the other hand, refuse to accept the Palestinians as immigrants, forcing them to remain in the strip and to remain refugees.

Indeed, an historical review of the region makes it clear that Israel is a nation surrounded by nations that are bent on its destruction for reasons of simple anti-semitism, and that the policies that these nations hold with regard to Palestinian Arabs are at least as destructive of Palestinian quality of life as Israeli policy has been. The Arab world cynically views the Palestinians as shock-troops in their 48 year old war against Israel, and to that end provides ample aid in arms and explosives, but appallingly little in infrastructure or commerce.

The withdrawal of settlers from Gaza will do little to change that dynamic. As long as the Arab world is pumping the Palestinian streets full of arms, and the Palestinian schools full of anti-Jewish propaganda, the Palestinian people will remain the victims of the anti-Semitic war in which they are being used as pawns.

Comments

[grassyneal.livejournal.com]

Do you think the Times would print this letter? It points out a rather glaring oversight on the part of the editorial board..

[richardf8]

It printed, instead, a letter from the AJC that hit most of the same points.

[childings.livejournal.com]

As long as the Jews work hard and continue to make something of themselves in this world, they will always be reviled and despised. I guess the only way to stop anti-Semitism is for all Jews to just become lazy and expect hand-outs like almost every other minority on the face of the planet has done. The fact that Jews never let their victim status hamper their efforts in the long run contributes to more anti-Semitism, which is just thinly-veiled envy...

I read somewhere a statistic about the population of a European town in the middle ages. Jews made up something like 6% of the town but made up something like 60% of all bankers, merchants and other middle-class positions. (That's just an approximation of the actual numbers that I can't remember.) We all know the reasons for this, but still... you can understand but not excuse why people must have despised them.

[richardf8]

The envy implicit in anti-semitism was readily apparent in a speech made by the President of Malaysia, a year ago. It really confused me because he was accusing Jews of using their brains to get ahead in the world, as if that's somehow cheating.

[childings.livejournal.com]

I think that Hispanic Americans are also despised for much the same reason, and also because many of them are automatically thought of as being illegals, even if for no other reason than the fact that they dare to speak Spanish in public.

[visservoldemort.livejournal.com]

Tragic pictures on the Israeli news (I get it on satellite) these last few days...Necessary, but tragic. I think I can safely say that while my support can not go out to the Gazans at this point, my heart goes out to them*, yet even more so to the soldiers and the children who both must remember this unavoidable tragedy of history for the rest of their lives.

*With the exception of a few acid throwing criminals in Kfar Darom, it is worth noting.

[richardf8]

I've always viewed "disengagement" with skepticism. The things that trouble me about are

1) We are not getting anything for surrendering this land, so the transaction that justified evacuating the Sinai is not a motivating factor. We're dispossessing these people for nothing in exchange.

2) It gives the appearance (quite possibly because the apearnce is truth) that we have been driven off by the terrorism. Regardless of intent, that is the perception by Hamas, which has been claiming disengagement as a vindication of its methods.

On the other hand, the Settlers tend to get a little bit crazy, and their communities tend to adopt fringe beliefs and contempt for the state. Expending energy protecting them while they murmur against Israel seems more foolish than repatriating them and acculturating them to Israeli society.