Jewish Refugees
Israel and Palestine: European Jewish Refugees
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The NAZI Holocaust was a systematic state genocide to extinguish not just the Jewish religion, but to murder the entire Jewish people. The NAZIs suceeded in killing about half of the 12 million European Jews. Most of the Jews to fall into German hands were killed, including skilled workers that could have assisted in the German war effort. Some Jews were able to hide. A few countries (notably Bulgaria, Denmark, and Italy) protected their Jews to varying degrees. Other Jews survived in unoccupied areas, primarily the Soviet Union. More than half of the surviving Jews wwre in the unoccupied area of the Soviet Union. After the NAZI surrender (May 1945), surviving Jews in Western Europe could pick up their lives, with the exception of Germany. The survivors, however, found it difficult to return to the Soviet occupied areas of Eastern Europe. Some Jews trying to return to Poland and other countries were attacked. DPs were cared for in refugee camps while they tried to plan a future. Jews tended to cluster together. They represented a unique problem because mabny wre unable or unwilling to return to their country of origin. Many wanted to go to the United States and Congress passed new laws to allow increased immigrantion making this possibler. Others traumitized by the Holocaust or inspired by the Zionist dream wanted to go to Palestine. The British who controlled Palestine tried to prevent this both during and after the War because of Arab objections. The Hagenah organized efforts to bring Jews to Palestine in violation of British regulations. The Royal Navy brought Jews intercepted to internment camps on Cypres. The last British forces departed ((May 1948). Only after the British withdraw from Palestine did unrestricted emigration become possible. The large Soviet Jewish popuilation was not allowed to participate in this migration until well after Isreal was established (1970s). About half of Israeli Jews are of European origins, but many came before World War II. The emigration set in motion by the NAZIs approximately doubled the Jewish population in Palestine, although we have noted varying numbers.
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Arab and Jewish Palestine: The Refugees
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The term refugeees when mentioned in reference to Isreael-Paestinian issue is normally used in reference to Palestinians Arabs. Large numbers of Paestinians did indeed flee from the areas where the Isrealis gained control. Historians believe that during the 1948 war that about 0.7 million Arabs fled or were expelled from the part of Palestine which became Israel. Less well known is that a similar number of Jews fled or were were expelled from Arab comtrolled areas of Paalestine or Muslim countries where their ancestors had lived for centuries, in most cases predating Islam amd the Arabs. Rather than being a one-sided refugee problem, there was in fact an exchange of population. The essential difference is that Israel proceeded to absorb and integrate the Jewish refugees, both the European refugeees abd the so called Oriental Jewish refugees from Arab countries. The Arab countries, however, did not absorb or integrate the Palestinian refugees. As a matter of policy, decades after the 1948 war, we are still talking about the Palestinian refugrees, who are now mostly the children and grandchildren of the 1948 refugees. One reader writes, "If 1948 was an injustice, it was not unique. Almost every existing country was built on land seized from someone else at some point in the past. If we set out to reverse every such "injustice", the result would be a global bloodbath. All that happened in 1948 and 1967 was that the Muslim world was defeated in war and lost a small amount of territory. This has happened to many societies at various times. The only unique feature of the Palestine case is that the Muslim world would rather keep fighting -- perhaps to the point of triggering a nuclear holocaust -- rather than accept reality and move on."
Palestinian Arab Refugeees
The term refugeees when mentioned in reference to Isreael-Paestinian issue is normally used in reference to Palestinians Arabs. We have found some serious misunderstandings about the Paestinian refugee problem. There is no doubt Large numbers of Paestinians did indeed flee from the areas where the Isrealis gained control. And there is no doubt that it was a bitter experience and the individuals suffered terribly. Historians report that during the 1948 war, large numbers of Arabs fled or were expelled from the part of Palestine which became Israel. There is some disagreement, however, as to why they fleed and to what extent they were expelled. Often ignored by Arab accounts is that the invading Arabs countries incouraged Palestinian Arabs to flee from Isreli occupied areas. Another often ignored subjects is the difference in treatment of Arans in Idreali occupied areas and Hews in Arab occupied areas. Both sides recount horror stories thus this is a difficult assessment to make. A Palestinian source describes the Palestinian experience as the world's "oldest and largest refugee problem". Another Palestinian site describes the loss of "their property in one of the greatest acts of plunder in modern history". These and similar claims are simply not true. There were many refugee problems brfore and after and there have been quite a nunber of serious refugee crises of far greater magnitude. Even during the same period there were far larger refugee problems. The displace persons following World War II was far larger involving millions of refugees (1945). Just the German refugee problem after the War was larger (1945-46). As was the refugee problem following the partition of British India (1948). And there were actually more Jewish than Arab refugeees. Here we are not just talking about European Jewish refugeees, but Oriental Jewish refugees from Arab countries as well. There are many other refugee crisis we could list, many of which have been larger than the Paestinian refugee problem. It may well be, however, that the Palestinian refugee problem is the world's most enduring such problem. There are differences of opinion as to the numbers of Paestinians displaced from Israel. Perhaps the most commonly used figure is 0.7 million. We have, however, seen estimates ranging from about 0.4-0.8 million persons. Perhaps the most difficult aspect of the Palestinian refugee problem to understand is why the Palestinians did not integrate into the Arab societies where they sought refuge. Many images highlighting the difficult living conditions Palestinans faced were taken in Gaza refugee camps. A myth about the Paestinian refugees, however, is that “Israel forced the Palestinian refugees to stay in primitive Gaza camps". The Arab refugees were left in camps and in some cases confined in those camps by the Arab Governments. The Palestinian ASrabs were never integrated, unlike the similar number of Jewish refugees from the Arab world, who were fully integrated into Israeli society.
European Jewish Refugees: The NAZI Holocaust
The NAZI Holocaust was a systematic state genocide to extinguish not just the Jewish religion, but to murder the entire Jewish people. The NAZIs suceeded in killing about half of the 12 million European Jews. Most of the Jews to fall into German hands were killed, including skilled workers that could have assisted in the German war effort. Some Jews were able to hide. A few countries (notably Bulgaria, Denmark, and Italy) protected their Jews to varying degrees. Other Jews survived in unoccupied areas, primarily the Soviet Union. More than half of the surviving Jews wwre in the unoccupied area of the Soviet Union. After the NAZI surrender (May 1945), surviving Jews in Western Europe could pick up their lives, with the exception of Germany. The survivors, however, found it difficult to return to the Soviet occupied areas of Eastern Europe. Some Jews trying to return to Polasnd and other countries were attacked. They were cared for in refugee camps while they tried to plan a future. Many wanted to go to the United States and Congress passed new laws to allow increased immigrantion. Others inspired by the Zionist dream wanted to go to Palestine, but the British who contrilled Palestine tried to prevent this because of Arab objections. The Hagenah organized efforts to bring Jews to Palestine in violation of British regulations. The Royal Navy brought Jews intercepted to internment camps on Cypres. The last British forces departed ((May 1948). Only after the British withdraw from Palestine did unrestricted emigration become possible. The large Soviet Jewish popuilation was not allowed to participate in this migration until well after Isreal was established (1970s). About half of Israeli Jews are of European origins, but many came before World War II. The emigration set in motion by the NAZIs approximately doubled the Jewish population in Palestine, although we have noted varying numbers.
Oriental Jewish Refugees--Mizrahim
Less well known is that a similar number of Jews were expelled from Muslim countries where their ancestors had lived for centuries, in some cases predating Islam. Jewish commiunities were founded in Europe, North Africa, Central Asia, and India. This process began with the Babalonian Captivity (6th century BC), but most significantly with the Roman supression of the Jewish revolt (1st century AD). Thus Jewish communities in Arab countries were founded 400- 1,000 years before Islam. There were even Jewish communities in Saudia Arabia before Islam. (They are mentioned in the Koran.) These Jewish communities had various experiences after the Islamic conquests. Arabs contend that Jews and Arabs coexisted in harmony before Israel was established. It is true that during the Medieval er that Islam was more tolerant of Jews than Christians. It is also true that there were incidence of extreme intolerance in the Islamic world. And these incidents continued into the modern era. Arabs massacred Jews in Morocco (1912), Algeria (1933), Iraq (1941), and Libya (1945), all these incidents of course pre-dated the establishment of Israel. The Mizrahim, now integrated into Israel, never left the Middle East, can hardly be called Western interlopers. They are as much a part of the Middle East as the Arabs. The Oriental Jews or Mizrahim were expelled from Arab and other countries such as Iran. Jews were expelled by countries like Iraq, Egypt and Algeria. Other Arab countries (such as Morocco and Tunisia) did not formally expel Jews, but persued policies of marginalisation and intimidation. Historians report that there were about 870,000 Mizrahi refugees. The majority or about 600,000 sought refuge in Israel, where they now constiture about half of the Isreali Jewish population. The Oriental Jews are important to be recognized. One of the Arab charges against Israel is that the Jews are western colonial interlopers--essentially a colonial phenomenon. The Arabs complain that these Western Jews stole the land from the native Pestinian Arabs. They conveniently forget the Oriental Jews that form such a large part of the Isreali population.
Public Perceptions
The popular press has badly failed to inform the public of the refugee problem. If you reasonably informed individuals about the Isrerali-Palestinian conflict, most will be aware of Palestinian Arab refugees. Few will be aware of Jewish refugeeews others than those who came from Europe after World War II. Very few undersand that there were even more Jewish refugees from Arab countries than Palestinisan refugeees. There is an easy way of testing the huge attention given to the Palestinian refugee issue. Do an internet search for Palestinian refugees. I got nealy 1.1 million hits. (The numbers will vary depending on ypourr sesarch engine and when you do the search. Compare this to India partition refugees involving far greater numbers of people at the same time. There were only 0.3 million hits. A search for Arab Jewish refugees generrate only 0.4 million hits. (For some reason Jewish Arab refugees generated only 0.2 million hits.) Even less well know is the different policies adopted by Isreael and the Aerab countries in assisting refugees. Israel pursued a policy of assimilation whle Arab countries to vary degrees discouraged assimilation. Many Palestinian refugees were forced to live in squalid camps not by Israel, but by Arab governments. The Arab refugees were supported by the United Nations and at first Israel. Arab countries varied in their treatment of Jews , but in several countries they were stripped of their property and expelled. We have presented some data on this, but readers might also be interested in these five YouTube clips. They vividly tell the story of the Ethnic Cleansing of nearly a million refugees in the Middle East because of racism--but most people will be surprised that they are Middle Eastern Jews and not Palestinian Arabs. The story is in five parts:
Ethiopian Jews
Another group of Jewsish refugeees are the Ethiopian Jews. The culture of either Ethiopian Jews or Ethiopia is not well known in the West. Generally less is known about them than other Jewish refugee groups. Part of the difficulty here is linguistic. Few Americans speak either Amharic or Ge'ez Amharic is the language of Ethiopia. Ge'ez is the language of Ethiopian Jewish (and Christian) scriptures. There have in recent years been some imfotmative scholarly work on Ethiopian Jews. Some of the leading scholars are Steven Kaplan of the Hebrew University, Kay Kaufman Shelemay of Harvard, and James Quirin of Fisk University. The most readable work for the layman is probably Shelemay's fascinting account of her academic fieldwork in Ethiopia, A Song of Longing (University of Illinois Press, 1994). These and other scholars have given us an account of Ethiopian Jews that places them and their origins with backgrpind on the on the overal aweep of Ethiopian history and culture. The Judaism that emerges is one that has substantial differences with the primarily European origins of most modern Jews. In the same context, Ethiopian Christianity differs from the essentially European Christianity of most modern Christians. A Jewish observer comcludes, howeverm that, "This Ethiopian understanding of Ethiopian Jews shows our Ethiopian brethren to be in no way less Jewish than we are, despite the radical differences in origins." Ethiopian Jews (Beta Israel) were at first an object of intra-Jewish dispute. This has gradually changed and Isrealis now generally support their aliyah to and absorption into Israel. There are now about 100,000 Jews of Ethiopian origin in Israel. There are about 50,000 Jews remaining in Ethiopia. Some believe that about 20,000 of the remaining Ethjiopian Jews would like to make aliyah. Many of the remaining Jews appear to be Falash Mura--people who had at one time been converts to Christianity but have since returned to the practice of Judaism. The absorption of the Ethiopian Jews in Israel was frought with cultural, political, and financial problems. Given the impediments, the absorption of the Ethiopian Jews has been more successful than night have been expected.
Soviet Jews: Cold War Issue
The Pogroms launched by Tsar Alexander III made drove many Jews from Poland abd other areas of the Pale where Jews were allowed to live in Tsarist Russia (1880s). It made the Tsar and the Tsarist regime a subject of fear and hated. Jewish raducals turned to revolutionary politics. These were ethnic Jews often without any religious afiliation with the Jewish community. Many Jew put there faith in socialism and were active in the Russian Revolution. The most famous was Trotsky, but there were many other prominant Jews. The same was true in the socialist movements in other European countries as well. After Stalin seized control of the Soviet Union, supression of all religious groups became more intense, but gradually unwritten restrictions on Jews developed. Historiand generally believe that the Dictor's Plot was the beginning of a major anti-Semetic campaign Stalin was planning at the time of his death (1953). This was never launched, but Soviet Jews were desciminated against and decined basic religious and cultural rights. And they like other Soviet citizens with rare exceptions were not allowed to emigrate. The issue of Jewish immigration first received international attention durung the Nixon Administration. Two Jews who had been denied exit visas began plotting to hijack a plane. They were arrested, tried and sentenced to death (December 1970). The press picked up on this and it caused an international outcry. The Soviets backed down and decided not to execute the two men. This brought the issue of Jewish emigration tothe internstional spot light. It was a difficult issue for them, because if Jews were allowed to emigrate it would make it difficult to deny similar rights to other Soviet citizens and to explain why people whould want to leave the 'workers' paradise. The Nixon Administration was primarily interested in bilateral relations with the Soviets and pursued detente. Senator Henry Jackson made human rights an element in that relationship. The passage of the Jackson-Vanik Act (1974) forced both the Soviets and American administrations to address the civil rights issue as part of the bilateral relationship. Authors disagree as to the importance of Jewish emigration. Secretary of State Henry Kissenger seems to have seen it as more of an irritant in United States-Soviet relations. Another author writes, "It armed Soviet citizens with the greatest weapon against their closed society: the opportunity to vote with their feet and leave."
Exchange of Populations
Rather than being a one-sided refugee problem, there was in fact an exchange of population. Many readers will be surprised to know that there were more Jewish refugees from Arab countries than there were Arab refugess from Israel.
Basic Difference
The essential difference is that Israel absorbed and integrated the Jewish refugees, both the European refugeees abd the so called Oriental Jewish refugees from Arab countries. The Arab countries, however, did not absorb or integrate the Palestinian refugees. As a result, decades fter the 1948 war, we are still talking about the Palestinian refugrees, who are now mostly the children and grandchildren of the 1948 refugees.
Tolerance
Modern Israel has more than one million Arab citizens. They have full voting rights and representatives in the Kniset. In fact, Palestinians in Israel are among the few Arabs that are able to participate in democratic elections. There are only about 5,000 Jews who now live in the Arab world. When Aran spokesmen charge that the Isrealis are guilty of ethnic cleansing, this basic fact needs to be considerd.
Importance
The refugee issue is of course important because it is the major stumbling block to any peace settlement. Territorial issues are difficult, but solveable. In the last seeious round of negotiations that President Clinton attempted to broker in 2000, the territorial differences between the two sides were relatively minor. Much more difficult is the "right of return" issue. By this is meant the right of return of Paestinian refugees to Israel. Rarely mentioned is the right of return or compensation for the Oriental Jrewish refugees to Arab countries or compebnsation for the losses incurred.
Right of Return
The right of return is one of the most difficult issues in the Isreali-Palestinian conflict. One of the principle reasons that Arafat decided not to sign the Camp David accord was that it rfused to permit the right of retrurn of Palestinians refugees (now mostly the descendents of refugeees) to Israel. Here a lot of misleading retoric is often used. Palestinian spokesmen speaking in English often say they accept a two state sollution and recognize Israel's right to exist. One especially effectiive Palestinian spokespetrson is Dr. Hanan Ashrawi. Like many Palestinian spokespersons she criticses the 2000 Camp David accord. One of her principle objections is the failure to accomodate the right of return. Of course as a Palestinian spokespersons she has every right to advance the interests of her people. And her position accurately reflects the sentiment among most Palestinians. What is not legitimate, however, is to claim to recognize Israel's right to exist and then insist on the right of return. The two are mutually inconsistent. The position makes for effective propaganda. It dies not, however, offer any hope of resolving the conflict. It also leads one to seriously question if Palestinian leaders have any interest in a peaceful resolution of the conflict. Another issue concerning the right of return is that the discussion usually focuses only on Palestinian refugees and Jewish refugees arre also ignored as if they did not exist.
Assessment
One reader writes, "If 1948 was an injustice, it was not unique. Almost every existing country was built on land seized from someone else at some point in the past. If we set out to reverse every such "injustice", the result would be a global bloodbath. All that happened in 1948 and 1967 was that the Muslim world was defeated in war and lost a small amount of territory. This has happened to many societies at various times. The only unique feature of the Palestine case is that the Muslim world would rather keep fighting -- perhaps to the point of triggering a nuclear holocaust -- rather than accept reality and move on."
The Arab-Israeli Conflict (1947- )
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A conflict between Arabs and Jews is recorded in the Koran at the very inception of Islam. Fourteen centuries later, one of the most intractable conflicts of the 20th century is the conflict between Jews and Arabs. The conflict is cebntered over Palestine, but not limited to it. The modern problem began in the 19th century, although the two groups trace their claims to the land back to Biblical, centuries before Islam. Most Jews in the 19th century lived in Europe and accept for Russia after centuries of isolation and repression had achieved a high degree of integration in civil society. Most Jews had been emancipated and were full citizens. Pogroms in Russia during the 19th century had driven many Jews to Western Europe and America. This resulted in rising anti-Semitism, but this was partially restrained by the force of law. Most Jews saw their future as Europeans. Zionism gained grown with the Russian Pogroms, but until the rise of the NAZIs in Germany Zionism was supported by only a small minority. The NAZI Holocaust shatered Jewish society throughout Europe. Many of the surviving Jews turned to Zionism and in 1948 managed to obtain United Nations aproval for partition and creatiomn of a new Jewish state in Palestine. This basic outline is historical fact. Virtually everything else about the conflict is a matter of contention. An unusual aspect of the current Isreali-Palestinian conflict is that children (Arab and Jewish) are not only the victims of the conflict, but they are also participating in the violence. We have all seen the images of rock-throwing Palestinian boys, some as little as 6 years old. Palestinian youth have carried out suicide bombing attacks killing Isrealis of all ages. The Arab obsession with destroying Israel has resulted in aadicalization of Arab society that ironically has led to huge numnmbers of mostly Arab and other Muslim deaths.
Chronology
The Arab-Jewish Conflict over Palestine is often dated from the World War II era. Jews were a primary target of the NAZIs ans many Arans, especisally the Palestinians sided with the NAZIs. After the War, Jews understanably pushed for theor own country. The issue came to ahead in 1947 when the United Nations voted to partition the British mandate of Palestine between its Jewish and Palestinian population. The background to the conflict, however, goes back many years before that. Here we are assessing the conflit beginning in the 19th century. Of course the conflict between Arabs and Jews predates the Palestnian-Israeli conflict. We have compiled a chronological assesstment of related developments both before and after the United Nations Partition. Oppression of Jews in boh Europe and the Niddle East led to the creation of the Zionist movement in the 19th century. There is a vast difference of opinion over this conflict. Of special importance is the emigration over time to Palestine. Of course the Romans did not suceed in expelling all Jews and some Jews klived in Palestine even before the foundation of the Zionist movement. Many people including suposedly well read journalists like Helen Thomas seem to think that Israelis have European prigins. Many do, but even more have Middle Easyern origins. Over time, Jews have fled from persecution in Middl Eastern countries. Many were actually expelled. There is a great deal of basic historical fact available on the conflict.
Land Rights
One of the central issues involved with Israeli-Palestinian conflict is who has a right to the land. The basic Jewish Zionist claim is a histotorical one, dating back to Biblical times before the Roman conquest and subsequent supression of the Jewish Revolt (1st century AD). The Palestinian claim as the majority population at the time of the Patition is the surely the strongest one. But what date should one use for assessing the Palestinisan claim. Does one go back to the early 19th century before the Zionist movement began promoting emigration. Or does one select some time between the beginning of the British mandate (1919) and Partition (1947). A major consideration in assessing rights is the fact that the Palestinians rejected efforts to move toward majority rule during the Mandate period. This seems surprising because they were the majority, but they resisted because the British wanted to include protection for minority rights. Another question is the right of private property. What are the rights of Jews who purchased land in Palestine? And would it be protected in a majority Arab government? We wonder if Arabs and other Muslims in Britain and France would accept the proposition that they do not have the right to buy land because of their reigion or eethniity? Generally speaking the international community since World War II has attempted to satablize ethnic conflicts by seeking an end to fighting and recognizing the facts on the grond which was the basis for the U.N. Partition. One complaint the Arabs make with some justification is that they should not have to pay for NAZI Germany's Holocaust. But of course many Arabs, includuing Arab Governmrents and Iran sided with the NAZIs, including the first major Palestinian leader, the Grand Mufti of Jerusalem who from Berlin made propaganda and helped recruit Muslims for the NAZIs as well as incouraging Hitler and Himmler to kill more Jews in Auschwitz during the War. Also it should be recalled, that Israel was not just peopled with European Jews, but Middle-Eastern Jews as well, many of which lost their property including land, if endeed they were allowed to own land, when theybleft or were expelled from Arab countries.
Human Rights
Israel is one of the few democracies in the Middle East. It is a Jewish state, although one does not have to be Jewish to be a citizen. There is a wide range of individual human rights guaranted to Isreali citizens of all ethnic and religious affiliations. The rights guaranteed in Israel stand in sharp contrast to those afforded citizens in many other Middle Eastern countries. Yet we notice that the Arab and Irnian press acuse Israel of Fascism and racism. These charges are also echoed in the Westrn press in recent years, especially the left-wing press. Often the term Aparthaid is used to describe Israel. It is thus to hve a look and some of the basic human rights and to assess how they are guaranteed or denied in Middle Eastern countries. Many of these were indeed violated by Fascist regimes as well as Communist regimes. The question is where is Fascist principles most entrenched. And where are the rights enshrined in the U.N. Declaration of Human Rights are most respected and adhered to.
Economics
There has since the beginning of the Zionist emigration been a remarkable change in the economy of Palestine. The province changed from one of the poorest in the world to under the British mandate to one of the most affluent in the Arab world. Since independence, Israel has emerged as one of the most successful in the world. Non-oil Arab countries, however, measured by basic metrics of modern societies (infant mortality, longevity, nutrition, educational achievement, scientific discoveries, percapita income, books published, democratic government, individual rights, ect.) are largely failed states. Why is this. Are the Isrealis responsible or are the Arabs themselves responsible?. And how does this affect the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
Foreign Countries
Foreign countries have fom the beginning played a major role in the Israeli-Palestian conflict. The Ottoman Empire allowed the first Zionist settlers. Britain seized Palestine during World War I and was the mandate power governing Palestine until after World War II and partiton (1948). The neigboring Arab or frontline states invaded Palestine to support Palestinian irregulars in an effort to destroy Israel (1948-49). The major countries involved in the invasion were Egypt, Syria, and Jordon. The strongest was Egypt which deployed armor forces. The most professional military force was the British trained Arab Legion. Somehow the Hagenah which became the core of the Israel Defense Force, without access to heavy weapons, managed to hold on to the area assigned in the U,N. partition. The front-line states joined by other Arab states refused to recognize or negotiate with Israel. They also did not assist the Palestinias establish a state. They began decades of building up military forces to destroy Israel and supporting guerrila operaions against Israel. Jordan's King Abdullah who supported a more moderate approach was assasinated. The Soviets who had voted for partition changed its policy and played a major frole in the Arab arms buildup. The United States voted for partitin, but until after the Six Days War played only a minor role in the conflict. After repeated military defeats, Egypt's President Anwar Sadat decided to make peace and was assasinated. The overthrow of the Shaw in Iran brought to power an Islamic Republic which joined the fight against Israel.
Violence
The level of violence has ecalated over time as Palestinians have more and more commited themselves to terrorism targetting civilians. Islamic scholars have played a role here in letting Islam be used to justify violence. And there are a number of verses in the Koran which do justify violence, especially violence against non-Muslims, including the use of terror. This has essentially taken terror out of the box. At first terror against Israelis. Then terror tagets were expanded to any Jews. Americans, and other Westerners. But of course once terror is out of the box it is hard to reverse the process. Grdually Muslims bdcme targets. At first the targets were offending leaders like King Abulah and President Sadat, but gradually innocent Muslims civilians began to be targetted in a range of Muslim countries, including Saudi Arabia. The terrorism has become increasing mindless, with terrorists going for higher and higher body counts. When the violence reached Saudi Arabia, some Muslims have begun to have second thoughts about the use of violence. Any calculation of the the victims of terrorists inevitably leads to the bovious conclusion that most of the people being killed are Muslims and that they are being killed by other Muslims in sectarian acts of violence. Now some Islamic scholars are trying to put terror back in the box. A former British radical writes, "A handful of scholars from the Middle East have tried to put radicalism back in the box by saying that the rules of war devised so long ago by Islamic jurists were always conceived with the existence of an Islamic state in mind, a state which would supposedly regulate jihad in a responsible Islamic fashion. In other words, individual Muslims don't have the authority to go around declaring global war in the name of Islam." [Butt} It remains to be seen if this is possible.
Pacifist/Peace Movement
There have been peace and pacifist movements in all the important conflicts of the 20th century. The exceptions have been the wars fought by totalitarian powers (NAZI Germany, Fascist Italy, Imperial Japan, and the Soviet Union). Totalitarian powers equated peace movements and pacifisn as treason and individuals who dared to speak out were arrested and usually executed. The space for peace movements and pacifism in democraric countries has varied. Often is was not great, at other times it was substantial. Civilians could be arrested, but not executed. The existence of peace and pacifist movements in Israel and Palestine is thus an important one to consider. We know of Isreali peace activists who enjoy a level of tolerance in Israel. An important element of the Zionist movement was socialism and there was a strong peace/pacifist strain of thought among socialists. Thus in Israel there was a political foundation for a peace sand fascist movement. We do not know of any comparable movement among the Palestinians or indeed the wider Arab world. We note Palestinisan and Arab groups publicizing Jews who criticize Israel, but do not note any toleration for Palestisans promoting pacofism or peace.
Occupied Territories
Surely the most common theme in current discussion of the Middle East is the Isreali occupation of Palestinian/Arab lands ans if Israel would only end the occupation than there would be peace. Rarely do the propagabndists and pundits who persue this theme address the history of the conflict. Almost all of the occupied territories were acquired in the Six Day War. Were the Arabs oriented toward peace after the 1948-49 War or the Suez War when there were no occupied territories? Or did the Arabs make any concessions when the Isrealis withdrew from Lebanon and Gaza? Not only wee there no concessions, but the withdrawl brought a war and a rain of rockets. This basic history suggests that the fundamental Arab agenda is not just ending the occupation, but at heart remains the destruction of Israel.
Children
HBC is particularly concerned with children's issues. The question we want to persue is how the Isreali-Palesinian conlict has affected the children. We have noted some horific images broadcast by the media. Some seem to defy understanding. Here we need to look at society, education, the economy, living standards, health care, and the conflict itself. This is aparticularly important topic for our HBC assessment. We are not entirely sure how to address this topic, but we have some basic ideas and hopefully readers will also have insights to add.
Failure of Arab Society
The Arabs today encompass a vast sath of territory from Iraq in the heart of the Middle East west to Morocco on the Atlantic coast. From the very beginning of the conflict between Palestinians and Isrealis, the Arab states without exception made the struggle a pan-Arab struggle with Israel. This raises the question of why such a large grouping of countries backed for a time with large quantities of Soviet arms have not been able to destroy tiny Israel. American diplomat Henry Kissenger succiently stated the question during secret talks with Iraqi diplomats in 1975. Kissenger said rather cinically, "We can't negotiate about the existence of Israel, but we can reduce its size to historical proportions. I don't agree that Israel is a permanent threat. How can a nation of three million be a permanent threat? They have a technical advantage now. But it is inconceivable that peoples with wealth and skill and the tradition of the Arabs won't develop the capacity that is needed. So I think in ten to fifteen years, Israel will be like Lebanon—struggling for existence, with no influence in the Arab world." [Stein] Kissenger was wrong about Israel's future. The question he poses, however, is very important. Why have the Arab states which mostly achieved their independence after World War I or World War II been such failures. The inability to destroy Israel is the most publicized failure. The more fundamental failure has been their inability to provide a decent living standard to their people. The only exception here has been the oil states. For years the Arabs blamed their failure on Ottoman rule. Thean for a brief time they blamed European colonialism. But most Arab states have been independent for more than 50 years. Why have they failed to participate in the global economic boom. Ironically while the Arabs who complain loudly about European colonialism, attempr in large numbers to emigrate to Europe, legally and illegally, because there is so little economic opportunity in their now independent homelands.
Arab Thought
There seems to be very indication that either the Palestinizns or the Arab world in general are willing to make peace with Israel. Even in Jordon and Egypt, the two countries which signed peace treaties with Israel, there is little public support for ending the struggle. Arab newspapers are full of extremely inflamatory one-sided reporting, often including inacuracies and openly anti-Semitic retoric. There are moderate voices, but often the most reflective assessments come from Arabs in Europe, in part becuse of Government media controls and the fact that it is dangerous to openly question the struggle with Israel. An Egyptian writer in Europe writes, "My parents' generation grew up high on the Arab nationalism that Egyptian President Gamal Abdel Nasser brandished in the 1950s. By 1967, humiliation was decisively stepping into pride's large, empty shoes. As the region marks the 40th anniversary od the Arab-Isreali War , its been a relief to be watching from another country, one wear the strains of war and defeat have marked several geberations. Is this wgat we fought all those wars with Israel for? My country, Egypt, fought four wars against Israelbetween 1948, when the Jewish state was created, and 1979, when Egypt became the first Arab country to sign a peace treaty with Israel. ..., Watching the Palestinians' whip-lash descent into civil war in Gaza this summer, it is difficult not to question the past. Israel's occupation of Palestinian land has caused no end of misery, poverty and frustration for the Palestinians. {HBC note: the povery in the Westa Bank and Gaza today came not with the Isreali occupation, but with the Interfada and the authority given to the Palestinoian Authority as part of the Oslo Peace process.] It has even scarred the Isreali conconscience. But occupation doesn't explain the reckless and often corrupt leadership that seems to be the curse of the Palestinians." [Eltahawy, p. A19.]
Media Reporting
The Isreali-Arab conflict is a topic that is extensively reported in the press. We have generally noted a fair degree of accuracy in the Western media. This has, however, changed in the 1990s, although we are not entirely sure why. This shift in the repoering is an important topic that neds to be persued. Many important Western media outlets, both networks (BBC, CNN, NBC, and others ) as well as important newspapers (Guardian. Los Angeles Times, New York Times, Washington Post) and others) show a clear idelogical bias in their reporting. This is not normally a matter of outright fabercation, at least with the Western media. There has been apauling incidents of journalistic ethics and competence even in the Western media. The BBC has been found guilty of manufacturing news. CBS fixture Dan Rather was duped into usung amaturisly manufactured documents, acepting them because of his ideological bias. The more common problem with the Western media has been a willingness to show or report on Palestinian suffering without reporting on what lprompted Isreali actions. Because of the problems with the media, we think it is necessary to monitor some of the most egrious examples of inaccurate or misleading reporting. Here we are able to monitor primarily the English language media. Readers are invited to provide to forward media reporting from their coyntry's press that they believe should be noted.
President Obama
President Obama has on many occassions stated his commitment to Israel's security. The Isrealis and the pro-Isreali lobby in America are, however, concerned about that commitment. Some believe that the President is prepared to pressure Israel to make concessions that could threaten its security in a quixotic attempt to gain concessiins from Iran and Arab groups like Hamas or Hesbolah. The President is certainly more popular in the Middle East than President Bush. Whether he can convert that populrity into concrete progress on major issues. His first major plunge into Middle Eastern politics was a policy speech aimed at the Arab World delivered in Cairo (June 4, 2009). We have analized the speech both for historical accuracy as well for signals as to the President's mindset.
One or Two State Sollution
The debate over Israel is essentially a debate over one or two state sollution. The Isrealis favor a two-state sollution because in a one state sollution, Jews would inevitably become a minority in an Arab/Muslim majority state. That is not to say that Isrealis want a theoracy based on Judiaism. Isreal is a secular state, based on secular laws. Perhaps even more important is that throughout the Muslim worls, including Palestime, there is a consistent failure to understand and preceive minority rights. There was once a very sunstantial Christaian Arab population on the Wesrt Bank, under Palestinian rule, that community is rapidly disappearing. In sharp contrast, there is considerable legal protection for Muslim Palestinians which represent about 15 percent of Israel's population. The population is not only growing, but it uis the most affluent Arab population in the Middle East, with the exception of the oil states. Compare this to the situation for Jews, Christiasns, and non-Majority sect Muslims in other Middle Eastern countries. It is also in sharp contrast to the constitution of the suposedly moderate Palestianian Authority, let alone Hamas in Gaza. Thus it is instructive to look at the one-state constitutions that Palestinians and other Middle Eastern countries are demanding that Israel accept as part of a one state sollution.
Sources
Butt, Hassan. "My plea to fellow Muslims: you must renounce terror," The Observer (July 1, 2007).
Clinton, Bill. My Life (Knopf: New York, 2004), 957p.
Eltahawy, Mona. "What use were all the wars, " The Washington Post (June 28, 2007), P. A19. Eltahawy is an Egytian commentator living in Germany.
Hammer, Joshua. A Season in Bethleham: Holy War in a Sacred Place (2003).
Helms, Eichards with William Hood. A Look over My Shoulder: A Life in the Central Intelligence Agency (Random House, 2003), 478p.
Hertzberg, Arthur. The Fate of Zionism: A Secular Future for Israel and Palestine (Harper: San Francisco, 2003).
Oren, Michael B. Power, Faith, and Fantasy (2007),
Rosenthal, Donna. The Israelis: Ordinary People in an Extrodinary Land (Free Press, 2003), 466p. This is rather a popular, but insightful description of Isralei society.
Ross, Dennis. The Missing Peace. Ambassador Ross was deeply involved in the Camp David discussions. Ross includes in his book a verbatim copy of the final offer Barak made and that Arafat refused to accept.
Stein, Kennrth W. Preface to "Henry Kissinger to Iraq in 1975: "We Can Reduce Israel's Size," Middle East Quarterly (Fall 2006).
Wasserstein, Bernard. Israelis and Palestinians: Why Do They Fight? Can They Stop? (Yale University Press, 2003).
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