I called no one an antisemite or anti-Jewish at all. As for the history of Palestine, I wish we all could agree on what happened between 1945 and 1950 or so, but we can't. I was taught one thing, others were taught other things, and I don't know who is right or wrong or in between. I'm not rewriting history; I'm just doing my best to und…
I called no one an antisemite or anti-Jewish at all. As for the history of Palestine, I wish we all could agree on what happened between 1945 and 1950 or so, but we can't. I was taught one thing, others were taught other things, and I don't know who is right or wrong or in between. I'm not rewriting history; I'm just doing my best to understand it, acknowledging that I have learned different things from others such as you. You may be right; I don't know.
What happened between 45-50 is part of written history. What happened is thoroughly documented. It's not a guessing game.
I know you called noone antisemite. I was placing the existence of Israel back in its context : a deeply rooted European anti-semitism (and general racism) which led to many of the worst, most violent events of the past 2 centuries, including colonization, wars of decolonization, the Shoah, and the continued destruction of Palestine since 1947.
The creation of Israel is part of colonization because it involved large movements of population from Europe (among other places) to Palestine with the intention and result to displace and replace the existing local Palestinian population. Those are facts, backed by countless documents including letters, speeches and treaties. Facts are not negotiable. They're not a guessing game. And none of the actions of Israel so far, nor the results they've yielded could leave the door open to interpretation : Israel intends to destroy Palestine. Israel is destroying Palestine. That's what is called a genocide.
My understanding is that the residents of the newly formed State of Israel who were opposed to the formation of Israel were encouraged by neighboring countries to leave their homes temporarily while the neighboring countries invaded and conquered Israel. At that point, those who had left would then be able to move back into the land. Since, however, the neighboring countries invaded, attacked, but failed to conquer Israel, that scenario did not happen, and, yes, I'm suree many (if not all) of those who left to allow Israel to be invaded and conquered were unable to return to their homes.
I was trying express my open-mindedness about perception of facts, but since you are so certain of colonialism, genocide, and other atrocities: I am certain that the people who founded the State of Israel did NOT have the intention to displace and replace the existing local Palestinian population. In fact, Israel's founders clearly announced that local Palestinians were welcome to stay and live in peace. The fact that some heeded the advice of invading neighbors and left their homes because the neighbors expected to conquer Israel does not mean they were deliberately displaced by Israel.
I do not doubt that some or many people who lived in the land were displaced in the chaos, but that displacement was NOT the goal of Israel.
Here is some information I found on a discussion about this issue:
"The existence of these refugees is a direct result of the Arab States' opposition to the partition plan and the reconstitution of the State of Israel. The Arab states adopted this policy unanimously and the responsibility of its results, therefore is theirs; ...The flight of Arabs from the territory allotted by the UN for the Jewish state began immediately after the General Assembly decision at the end of November 1947. This wave of emigration, which lasted several weeks, comprised some thirty thousand people, chiefly well-to-do-families." - Emil Ghoury, secretary of the Arab High Council, Lebanese daily Al-Telegraph, 6 Sept 1948
"The Arabs did not want to submit to a truce they rather preferred to abandon their homes, their belongings and everything they possessed in the world and leave the town. This is in fact what they did." - Jamal Husseini, Acting Chairman of the Palestine Arab Higher Committee, told to the United Nations Security Council, quoted in the UNSC Official Records (N. 62), April 23, 1948, p. 14
The Arab exodus from the villages was not caused by the actual battle, but by the exaggerated description spread by Arab leaders to incite them to fight the Jews" - Yunes Ahmed Assad, refugee from the town of Deir Yassin, in Al Urdun, April 9, 1953
The Arab States encouraged the Palestine Arabs to leave their homes temporarily in order to be out of the way of the Arab invasion armies. - Falastin (Jordanian newspaper), February 19, 1949
"It must not be forgotten that the Arab Higher Committee encouraged the refugees' flight from their homes in Jaffa, Haifa, and Jerusalem." - Near East Arabic Broadcasting Station, Cyprus, April 3, 1949
"Since 1948 it is we who demanded the return of refugees... while it is we who made them to leave... We brought disaster upon... Arab refugees, by inviting them and bringing pressure to bear upon them to leave... We have rendered them dispossessed... We have accustomed them to begging... We have participated in lowering their moral and social level... Then we exploited them in executing crimes of murder, arson, and throwing bombs upon... men, women and children - all this in service of political purposes..." - Khaled al Azm, Syria's Prime Minister after the 1948 war
"The refugees were confident that their absence would not last long, and that they would return within a week or two. Their leaders had promised them that the Arab armies would crush the 'Zionist gangs' very quickly and that there was no need for panic or fear of a long exile." - Monsignor George Hakim, Greek Catholic Bishop of Galilee, in the Beirut newspaper Sada al Janub, August 16, 1948
I called no one an antisemite or anti-Jewish at all. As for the history of Palestine, I wish we all could agree on what happened between 1945 and 1950 or so, but we can't. I was taught one thing, others were taught other things, and I don't know who is right or wrong or in between. I'm not rewriting history; I'm just doing my best to understand it, acknowledging that I have learned different things from others such as you. You may be right; I don't know.
What happened between 45-50 is part of written history. What happened is thoroughly documented. It's not a guessing game.
I know you called noone antisemite. I was placing the existence of Israel back in its context : a deeply rooted European anti-semitism (and general racism) which led to many of the worst, most violent events of the past 2 centuries, including colonization, wars of decolonization, the Shoah, and the continued destruction of Palestine since 1947.
The creation of Israel is part of colonization because it involved large movements of population from Europe (among other places) to Palestine with the intention and result to displace and replace the existing local Palestinian population. Those are facts, backed by countless documents including letters, speeches and treaties. Facts are not negotiable. They're not a guessing game. And none of the actions of Israel so far, nor the results they've yielded could leave the door open to interpretation : Israel intends to destroy Palestine. Israel is destroying Palestine. That's what is called a genocide.
My understanding is that the residents of the newly formed State of Israel who were opposed to the formation of Israel were encouraged by neighboring countries to leave their homes temporarily while the neighboring countries invaded and conquered Israel. At that point, those who had left would then be able to move back into the land. Since, however, the neighboring countries invaded, attacked, but failed to conquer Israel, that scenario did not happen, and, yes, I'm suree many (if not all) of those who left to allow Israel to be invaded and conquered were unable to return to their homes.
I was trying express my open-mindedness about perception of facts, but since you are so certain of colonialism, genocide, and other atrocities: I am certain that the people who founded the State of Israel did NOT have the intention to displace and replace the existing local Palestinian population. In fact, Israel's founders clearly announced that local Palestinians were welcome to stay and live in peace. The fact that some heeded the advice of invading neighbors and left their homes because the neighbors expected to conquer Israel does not mean they were deliberately displaced by Israel.
I do not doubt that some or many people who lived in the land were displaced in the chaos, but that displacement was NOT the goal of Israel.
Here is some information I found on a discussion about this issue:
"The existence of these refugees is a direct result of the Arab States' opposition to the partition plan and the reconstitution of the State of Israel. The Arab states adopted this policy unanimously and the responsibility of its results, therefore is theirs; ...The flight of Arabs from the territory allotted by the UN for the Jewish state began immediately after the General Assembly decision at the end of November 1947. This wave of emigration, which lasted several weeks, comprised some thirty thousand people, chiefly well-to-do-families." - Emil Ghoury, secretary of the Arab High Council, Lebanese daily Al-Telegraph, 6 Sept 1948
"The Arabs did not want to submit to a truce they rather preferred to abandon their homes, their belongings and everything they possessed in the world and leave the town. This is in fact what they did." - Jamal Husseini, Acting Chairman of the Palestine Arab Higher Committee, told to the United Nations Security Council, quoted in the UNSC Official Records (N. 62), April 23, 1948, p. 14
The Arab exodus from the villages was not caused by the actual battle, but by the exaggerated description spread by Arab leaders to incite them to fight the Jews" - Yunes Ahmed Assad, refugee from the town of Deir Yassin, in Al Urdun, April 9, 1953
The Arab States encouraged the Palestine Arabs to leave their homes temporarily in order to be out of the way of the Arab invasion armies. - Falastin (Jordanian newspaper), February 19, 1949
"It must not be forgotten that the Arab Higher Committee encouraged the refugees' flight from their homes in Jaffa, Haifa, and Jerusalem." - Near East Arabic Broadcasting Station, Cyprus, April 3, 1949
"Since 1948 it is we who demanded the return of refugees... while it is we who made them to leave... We brought disaster upon... Arab refugees, by inviting them and bringing pressure to bear upon them to leave... We have rendered them dispossessed... We have accustomed them to begging... We have participated in lowering their moral and social level... Then we exploited them in executing crimes of murder, arson, and throwing bombs upon... men, women and children - all this in service of political purposes..." - Khaled al Azm, Syria's Prime Minister after the 1948 war
"The refugees were confident that their absence would not last long, and that they would return within a week or two. Their leaders had promised them that the Arab armies would crush the 'Zionist gangs' very quickly and that there was no need for panic or fear of a long exile." - Monsignor George Hakim, Greek Catholic Bishop of Galilee, in the Beirut newspaper Sada al Janub, August 16, 1948