Sunday, June 06, 2010
Helen Thomas on Israel
Does she have a point? Her point seems to be that Hitler is long gone and dead and that the world has eliminated Nazis, it is time that people settle back where they used to be – let all the Arabs whether Jews, Christians, or Muslims, live together in peace as they always did for centuries. And what is now Israel and Palestinian areas become one state. Recommend this post
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I'll have to disagree on this. Thomas' statement was simply indefensible anti-Semitism. Imagine if she had said "Blacks ought to go back to Africa" and you'll get the idea.
ReplyDeleteThanks Dr. Dawg for saying this clearly. She clearly hinted for a genocide of the Jewish people and this is indefensible. This is why she is trouble now.
ReplyDeleteI would just like to make a point about the comparison you made with the "blacks". A big portion of the Jewish people have been continuously living in Israel for more than two thousand years. The jews were not originated from Poland and Germany. This is really short-sighted of her to say that.
As a jew who formerly lived in Israel, I wish Israel and Palestine could become one peaceful state. Or even two states, if the Palestinian wish so. Every Israeli I speak to wants that, except of a negligible minority of extremists. Trust me on this one. On the other hand, I have never met, or heard of a Palestinian who said what would be an acceptable scenario in his view for piece. The Hamas publicly calls for the annihilation of Israel.
Dr. Dawg and Mike, I sure am not going to defend Helen Thomas but here is what I understood by her statement. She is primarily talking about Israelis of European origin who are seen as occupiers. It is European Jews who seem to be controlling Israel. She is not talking about Jews of Arab origin (also sometimes called Mizrahi) who lived together with Christians and Muslims for Centuries in peace and they will continue to do so.
ReplyDeleteI believe she is originally from Lebanon. Christians in Lebanon, Gaza, West bank and Israel feel the same way she feels. Her resentment is not towards Jews as such but European occupiers in her mind. Quite a few Palestinian leaders have been Christians. And Christian Arabs feel the same. I had some as class-fellows and that is how I know.
She could have used more diplomatic language and explained herself but then it is just a snippet from her interview
Dr. Dawg, the example of blacks does not apply. They did not come to North America to colonize it but were brought forcefully as slaves and only in last 50 years or so some have started achieving equal status with the rest of the Americans as we have half-black president now in US and there have been few governors here and there. Some blacks are in Congress and relatively very few in the Senate – I believe only three blacks in Senate since this institution came into existence. Barack Obama was one of them.
I saw this interesting article in HuffPost
ReplyDeletehttp://www.huffingtonpost.com/mj-rosenberg/why-did-obama-diss-helen_b_165544.html
You may consider to read it. It is written by Rosenberg - a Jew himself. So there are different points of view.
The Mizrahi jews never lived in peace with the arabs around them. They were never allowed citizenships of the country they resided in, and they were always harassed for being jews and had to cope with a lot of violence.
ReplyDeleteJust for comparison, the Arabs who live in the state of Israel today (not in the Palestinian territories) are citizens with equal rights. Some of them are members of the Israeli parlament, and can be even ministers in the government (this was the case in the last government).
Oh silly me ... I took her as saying they could go anywhere - just not the territories they are (illegally) occupying on the west bank.
ReplyDelete(somehow this one missed me)
ReplyDelete"I would just like to make a point about the comparison you made with the "blacks". A big portion of the Jewish people have been continuously living in Israel for more than two thousand years. The jews were not originated from Poland and Germany. This is really short-sighted of her to say that."
The figures I read say that 2% of the popularion of what is now Israel, in 1900, was Jewish ... was this a big proportion of the Jewish people?
I am not sure about the accurate number, but you might be right. The majority of Jews were deported forcefully outside Israel by the Roman empire, but there was a continuous presence of Jews in Israel. This is long before the word Palestine existed.
ReplyDeleteBtw, the Arab world stretches for 14 million square kilometers. Israel is only 20k (almost 1000 times smaller), and that includes disputed territories. Yet, no Arab country ever offered to accept the Palestinian refuges.
As an Israeli I have to agree about the illegality (or maybe morality is a better word, I am not a lawyer) of certain west bank territories. These territories were all occupied by Israel during wars that were imposed on it by neighboring Arab countries.
There is a large majority of Israelis who wish to return those territories to the Palestinians in return for peace, but there is no voice on the Palestinian end which agrees to that or sets in other demands clearly. Returning territories without an agreement proved to be a security risk.
In 2005, Israel evacuated all its illegal settlements in Gaza -- Gaza has not been occupied by any Israelis nor the IDF since 2005. But in return Israel just got more rocket launched at it (from Gaza) and was forced to start a blockade to prevent smuggling of weapons.
The Palestinians are really screwed by their own government. They need one that can discuss peace with Israel, otherwise the circle of violence will never end.
Mike, personally I want to be sympathetic to your argument but unfortunately you have lost that argument. The whole world says Israel is wrong. That does not look good.
ReplyDeleteIsrael is now screwing around with Turkey. If I know a little bit history then when Ottoman Empire lost Spain, Jews chose to leave with Ottoman soldiers or Turks. They were more trusting of Turks than Europeans. Now Israel is screwing around with Turks. That is utterly disastrous and self-destruct. It looks very grim for Israel given its policies and actions.
LeDaro, try to think independently, and avoid using what the world thinks as your reasoning. This is really frustrating from my end: I am coming with arguments based on facts, not opinions, and your answer is "You lost the argument. The world says you are wrong."
ReplyDeleteThe world is full of unjustified hatred and prejudices against Jews.
Is Israel screwing around with Turks or is it the other way around?
Here are some facts your should know about Turkey:
1. The turks sent a ship with trained warriors for a "peace mission". The humanitarian aid was the last thing they cared about.
2. The turks committed genocide in the Armenian people.
3. The turs still oppress the Kurds in their country.
4. If the Turks are so concerned with unjustified occupations, what are they doing in northern Cyprus?
After failing to join the EU (due also to human rights in that country), the turks try to establish their status in the Arab world and they use Israel as a boxing bag.
Mike, I am sorry friend but you're delusional.
ReplyDeleteYou wrote:
"The turks sent a ship with trained warriors.." What? The occupants of the food flotilla which was attacked and 9 killed consisted of amongst others:
-Twenty-eight Britons, a Nobel winner and a top author
-Swede, author. His books have been turned into Swedish television dramas screened on the BBC. He is a peace activist - I suppose you will call a peace activist a terrorist.
-Nobel peace prize winner Mairead Corrigan-Maguire, Miss Corrigan-Maguire, 66, and her friend Betty Williams co-founded the Community of Peace People -the two women received the Nobel Peace Prize in 1976.
These are some of the "trained warriors" on that ship. You need reality check, sir.
Does this look like peace activists to you?
ReplyDeletehttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gYjkLUcbJWo&feature=player_embedded#!
This video leaves no room for guess. Please respect the time I have taken to comment on your blog and watch it, it is about 1 minute long.
Did you see this video on main main channels?
I haven't called ALL the people on board terrorists. I know that some of them were true pacifists.
Unfortunately, terrorist organizations regularly use humanitarian organizations and charities as a cover, as clearly happened in this case.
The IHH who sponsored three of the ships has long ties with Al-Qaeda and was involved in a plot to put a bomb on LA intl airport. They are not friendly people.