Kay Commentary 2011-08-06

Its very sad that KZ repeats & continues to contradicts the facts. One is NOT entitled to make things up. Kindness dictates KZ is merely being hyperbolic and/or politically mendacious. Seems KZ's repeated "bashing" of Obama is just to scare folks and promote her agenda.

Here's a clip of Bush SAYING THE SAME about 1967 borders:
http://www.thepresidentialcandidates.us/george-w-bush-also-called-for-1967-israeli-borders/1527/

Here's just one summary of the FACTS noting Bush & Clinton publicly saying the same about 1967 borders:
http://blogs.ajc.com/cynthia-tucker/2011/05/20/bush-clinton-endorsed-pre-1967-borders-for-palestinian-state/

The are other errors to correct too - another day maybe.

KZ makes so MANY errors, even after promising at one time to vet her sources, that in fact anyone paying attention regardless of politics, knows to double-check EVERY FACTUAL CLAIM.

Dear Ms. Zwerling

I write to you in high regard and with the greatest sincerity. I trust you will keep that in mind as you read this, and reciprocate with like respect.

20,000 attacks and a thousand deaths is truly a gruesomely high number to embrace. But have you any idea how many more Palestinian deaths have occurred in the same time period; how many instances of humiliating treatment of Arabs by IDF uniformed thugs at the countless checkpoints in the West Bank and, previously, the Gaza Strip, or when their houses are demolished often for the flimsiest of reasons, or when so many ill and injured Arabs are prevented from access to medical services, including pregnant mothers who sometimes end up giving birth right at the checkpoint, sometimes killing the baby or mother, or both ?

These are not myths. They are supported by documented fact, as are all my statements in this letter.

Fighting terrorism is not effectively accomplished by garrisoning the Israeli nation from a disenfranchised nation-less people by infringing on their land, cutting them off from their fields and their livelihood and from one another in order to protect illegal Israeli settlements populated by hardline militant Zionists. East Jerusalem has seen steady, shameless ethnic cleansing of Palestinian Arabs so that the Jews can nullify PA claims of it as its capitol. Defenders of Israel typically have no sense of moral reciprocity.


Now, regarding your "facts" about the conflict . . .

"#1 - Israel became a nation in 1312 BCE, 2000 years before the rise of Islam"
Ancient Israel's unstable and intermittent empire fell apart in the end because the last of the Hebrew people chose to emigrate from there when their state lost all practical cohesion. The original Diaspora occurred based on economic and societal concerns (i.e. they were not exiled). The Philistines (predecessors of modern day Palestinians), on the other hand, preceded the Hebrews, who invaded Canaan and slaughtered hundreds of natives at a time, all because God told them it was OK to do so, right ? One doesn't just waltz in 2500 years after throwing away one's birthright and then reclaim it based on a conference in Switzerland. Jews and Arabs are both Semitic peoples with common roots; the eventual onset of Islam is irrelevant.
"#2 - Arab refugees began identifying themselves as part of the Palestinian people in 1967, two decades after the establishment of the modern State of Israel"
Nations and nationalities are never born overnight, including ancient Israel. In order for modern American Indian political aspirations to solidify, they had to unite as a common indigenous race and dispense with over-identifying themselves as one particular tribe or another. The same holds true for the Arabs of Palestine, who are still in the birth pangs of emerging legally-recognized nationhood. Ms. Zwerling, when it comes right down to it, does it really matter who calls themselves what ? The critical thing is that Palestinian Arabs are indigenous to Palestine, not Jews. At least not in the strictest sense of the word. In my opinion, a few recessive chromosomes do not justify usurping the inherent rights of a truly native population. When you refer to "so-called Palestinians", you dehumanize them, making them faceless non-entities by denying their very existence. At any rate, modern Israel was grandfathered into existence by European occupying powers and their lackey Zionist parliamentarian s in Great Britain, and the mostly European and Ashkenazim Jewish settlers of a hundred years ago are a mere extension of that occupation.

"#3 - The Arabs are represented by eight separate nations . . . The eight Arab nations initiated all five wars and lost. Israel defended itself each time and won"
There are over twenty Arab states represented in the Arab League -- you are referring to the eight countries which did not recognize the new Jewish state and in 1948 launched a loosely-coordinated attack to stifle its expansion into the already-recognized Arab State area of former British Mandate Palestine. You conveniently leave out the fact that well-armed and highly-trained Jewish partisans had for several months harassed and expelled Arab civilians from many locations, including Deir Yasin, without defining its borders and killing many in the process -- just as the Hebrews did around 1312 BCE. These events occurred BEFORE the Arab "invasion". In reality it was Israel who initiated hostilities, not the Arabs.

1956 -- Rising Egyptian nationalism saw President Nasser expelling French and British commercial interests from running the Suez Canal and took it over. In a coordinated action France, Great Britain AND ISRAEL took it back, with the IDF racing westward across Sinai and the other two imperial powers parachuted into the canal zone proper. Before too long Egypt's control of the waterway was restored, and Eisenhower pressured the Israeli government into relinquishing Sinai back to it's rightful owners (back in the days when Washington had the guts to stand up to Tel Aviv). Once again, Israel struck first.

1967 -- Tension over head-waters control and the founding of the Palestine Liberation Organization caused a shake-up in the Israeli Defense Ministry, and the hawkish new head of that department sought fast passage by the Knesset of a green light for a surprise attack -- NINE AND A HALF YEARS in the planning -- on three fronts simultaneously, followed very shortly afterwards by the establishment of new expansion settlements, a clear violation of international law concerning lands occupied by force of arms. Original plans called for the IDF to take only a small buffer around Jerusalem and the Gaza Strip and a strategic chunk of Syria's Jolan Heights, and yet the Israeli "Defense" Forces ran wild in their zealous aggression. Anyone who falls for the Zionist justification of their "pre-emptive strike" is a fool.

1973 -- The Yom Kippur War. For the first time in the Israeli-Arab struggle the Arabs take the military initiative by striking out at Israel's western front, re-occupying a sliver of the Sinai Peninsula; Syria managed to take back some of the Jolan. Last minute intervention by the United States prevented Egypt from total reacquisition of their former lands.

1982 -- Lebanon. This episode largely speaks for itself. I will not try to defend all of Syria's actions in regard to its support of Hizbollah and other groups in southern Lebanon; indeed, Arab states and the Palestinians have made some drastic mistakes in this conflict, as has Israel. To be sure, however, the IDF was notoriously reckless in its doings in Lebanon, and far too many innocents died so as to make the invasion hardly worth it.


"#4 - . . . Israel has given the Palestinians most of the West Bank land and autonomy under the Palestinian Authority. Big mistake"
Israel has "given" nothing to the Arabs in terms of recouped territory. They have systematically only taken that which was not theirs to begin with. Judea and Sumeria, as the Jews refer to it, is still crawling with foreign soldiers, impinging checkpoints and imposed curfews; the Gaza Strip continues to suffer greatly from a de facto occupation in the form of sealed borders, severely restricted cross-border activity, and no airport or open seaport -- I know , I've been there. Some "autonomy". As I indicated earlier, terrorism breeds in situations of such confinement and injustice. Nothing suffices other than full independence; the Jews determined long ago that they do not want to incorporate more disenfranchised non-Jews into their state, which desires to be exclusively Jewish. Why must the native population wait any longer for true nationhood ?

"#5 - In 1948, the Israeli Arabs left Israel expecting to return after the eight nations won their initiated wars against Israel But, all that never happened, because the Arab nations prefer to use the refugees as political pawns"
This thing about Palestinians obeying radioed orders to evacuate has been highly overplayed -- most of them reacted out of genuine fear for their lives and possessions, and out of shear panic. The Arabs cannot return because Israel forbids them to do so, and that is an inherent quality of political Zionism. Over 900 abandoned villages and towns were bulldozed so as to assure that potential returnees would have no communities to return to. More refugees were generated by the Six-Day War, and likewise were kept out of their former homes.
liance
So, for me, as an American-Arab, I do indeed agree with you that anti-Semitism remains rampant around the world. However, I submit to you that if one wants to see genuine justice for ALL humans and lasting peace, each and every Zionist must stop hiding behind this ubiquitous accusation of "anti-Semitism, ANTI-SEMITISM !", and start realizing that there are always at least two sides to every story.
My great fear is that you will ignore the validity of my statements here and cast them aside. Your repeated reliance on the airwaves to advance a personal agenda -- repleat with stale propaganda, twisted facts and more than just occassional lies -- gives credence to that fear. It's unethical for you to mask you diatribes in the form of "commentaries" when the station could make a real difference by hosting balanced discussions with a variety of community members. Demonizing Palestinians or other less-favored groups certainly does not help.
Regards,
Lawrence Afif Tawil, one-half Palestinian on my father's side, a Christian native of Jerusalem