Build on goodness found in Mideast
The following is a Counterpoint:
By Homer L. Mason
The Israeli-Palestinian situation is sad. There are good people on both sides just trying to get by and to protect their loved ones.
Bad things happen on both sides. Speaking of the 1948 conflict in Israel/Palestine, David Ben-Gurion is quoted in "The Israel Lobby" as saying, "It is impossible to imagine general evacuation (of the Arab population) without compulsion, and brutal compulsion." The Jewish forces in 1948 drove out up to 700,000 Palestinians, according to the book.
After the war, Ben-Gurion is quoted, "We must prevent at all cost their return." This exodus resulted in 531 Arab villages being destroyed and 11 urban neighborhoods being emptied.
In 1967, per the book, Israel expelled between 100,000 and 260,000 Palestinians from the newly conquered West Bank and 80,000 Syrians from the Golan Heights. To give Israel a more defensible map, they, over recent years, allowed expansion into the West Bank, thus pushing out more Palestinians.
During the early years of Israel's history, Ben-Gurion is quoted as saying, "If I was an Arab leader, I would never make terms with Israel. This is natural: we have taken their country. Sure, God promised it to us, but what does it matter to them? Our God is not theirs. ... There has been anti-Semitism, the Nazis, Hitler, Auschwitz, but was that their fault? They only see one thing: We have come here and stolen their country. Why should they accept that?"
My point is that there are good people on both sides and people on both sides have done regrettable things, as it was with our early history. Is this area to fester for 400 years, as did the English and the Irish before they put their past behind them to build a future in peace?
If we cannot agree about the past, if we cannot agree that good people on both sides have betrayed their best values and beliefs, can we agree that each of us has good within them, so that this will become the foundation for peace?
The writer lives in Greensboro.
Comments (1)
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My questions maybe simplistic since I have not studied the Israel/Palestine conflict. My basic knowledge is that it is over land and has raged on for over a hundred years (current conflict). So, I ask in all sincerity, how is settlement of the Palestinian people on land Israel considers their's any different than our ancestors coming here and settling on land the Indian nation considered their's? Current day, setting aside the use of weapons, how is illegals coming here and taking over the land we consider our's any different?
I know the Israeli people think the land they settled is the land God promised them. However, does this mean no other people may inhabit the same space? And, does it mean all others are to be kept out by deadly force (which is definitely not a very Godly action)? Or is this just another example of too much testosterone in world leaders?
Posted on March 22, 2008 6:58 AM