News-Record.com

Thanks for the heads' up. I have some friends and relatives that work in that area of town, and I have let them know about this. I'd hate to see a peaceful expression of opinion turn ugly, but given the history of this town, I think it best to avoid driving in that area this evening if it can be helped at all. :(

Will these people ever seek peace with one another? Living in the past only brings heartache and discontent. Live in the present and work for a better future!

Shalom

It's an interesting point, Darryl. I wonder how easily I could start my life over if I was told I could no longer live here in Greensboro because I'm not of the correct religion, sent to live in a desert, and given little to no compensation for my property?

Personally, I probably could, because I don't revere Greensboro as holy in any way. And I expect I could fit in any place where English is the predominant language, but heck, I'd be willing to pick up another language if there was a real need.

My view of what is important in life gives me a lot of flexibility in the face of unjust treatment in life. It's perhaps unfortunate that not everyone feels that way.

Wow, namtac, that's a bizarrely one-sided and historically inaccurate perspective on the situation. Do you really believe that? How simple you must think things are.

Do you not realize that if the Arabs had agreed to what was offered in 1948 and earlier, the Palestinians would have more land than they have now, and more importantly they might even have peace? I certainly don't agree with everything Israel has done--far from it. But let's be fair. Or are you unable to see the world in anything but black and white?

And namtac, what are you implying about "the history of this town"? I've lived in Greensboro for quite a while, and I don't remember a single time when either Jews or Palestinians allowed a "peaceful expression of opinion [to] turn ugly." Contrary to what you must think of us, both sides in Greensboro are civilized people who respect American principles of free speech. Even when it's your speech.

Reality, I was not aware that the Palestinians were offered compensation for being removed from their holy city of Jerusalem. I'll have to read up on the details of the history. Thanks for pointing out to me that I have a lot to learn here.

But perhaps you missed my point. Many Palestinians WERE in fact displaced from the land where their ancestors had lived for centuries, and they yearn for life to return to the way it was for them before 1948 - much in the same way that many Cubans still hope for life to return to the pre-Castro era. I was merely saying that I don't think getting displaced from here against my will would bother me nearly as much as it has these people.

Regarding the history of Greensboro, I recall race riots near where I lived when the schools were desegregated, and of course, there was the "little unpleasantness" at Morningside Homes. There have been times of general curfew throughout the city a few times in my life here. No, Reality, Greensboro might have a fairly decent record of tolerating unpopular views most of the time, but it's hardly a spotless record.

May 15, 2008

The Naqba protest by the local Palestinian community over the 60th anniversary of Israel shows what has always been the major problem of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. The local Palestinian community intends to release 720 balloons representing “the 720 months of The Israeli Occupation.” What is interesting here is that these months are not after the Six Day War in 1967, but from 1948, the date of the establishment of the Jewish State. In releasing 720 balloons, the message is that the State of Israel should not exist and has no legal basis of existence.

As one of the organizers of the Jewish Community’s Israel at 60 programs, I can tell you that there was absolutely no anti-Palestinian statement made. I can also tell you that there was no anti-peace statement made at our celebration. By contrast, the overwhelming majority of Jews in Greensboro and according to public opinion polls more than 75 % of Israeli Jews believe in, pray for and desire a two state solution to the Palestinian/Israeli Conflict. The two state solution means two nations and two peoples living side by side in economic cooperation, security and peace.

It also means understanding and honoring the narrative of the other. The local Palestinian protest does not do either. The local Jewish celebration did just that as evidenced by the following statements from our community declaration:

“Having felt the loss of loved ones as a nation, the Israeli people yearn for peace with their neighbors. They sing songs of peace, pray for peace and teach their children the virtues of peace. We join them in their prayers and search for peace, safety, and coexistence…. On this momentous occasion, we commit ourselves to support the people and government of Israel in their quest for peace with their neighbors. …As we mark Israel’s 60th, we will continue to be proud of America’s long friendship with the Jewish state and continue to do all we can to work for peace….We never cease to pray for the day when Israel will live in both peace and security.”

Two days ago an Iranian made GRAD rocket fired by Palestinian militants from Gaza slammed into an indoor mall in Ashkelon. It penetrated a second floor mother and baby care unit and exploded on the first floor of the mall itself, wounding more than 101 people and injuring 4 seriously.

Two days before that a 71 year old woman visiting with a friend in the courtyard of their home was killed when a Kassam rocket fired from Gaza landed nearby.

Israel currently does not occupy even one centimeter of Gaza. The disengagement of 2005 gave the Palestinians a wonderful opportunity to create their own country in Gaza without Israeli interference. This country could have existed with great economic cooperation and could have been a first step towards an Israeli withdraw from the West Bank. But instead of the “Peace of the Brave,” as Anwar Sadat once referred to it, the ‘peace’ of the gun was chosen. Since that disengagement, Palestinian militants have fired more than 7000 rockets into southern Israel.

Consider as well the following:
“In May 2002, at the height of the so-called al-Aqsa Intifada, I reviewed Israeli and Palestinian casualty figures, sticking to Palestinian sources for Palestinian numbers and Israeli sources for Israeli ones. Much was then being made in the Western media of the fact that three times as many Palestinians as Israelis had been killed in the conflict – evidence, supposedly, that despite the suicide bombings, lynchings and roadside ambushes perpetrated daily against Israelis, Palestinians were the ones who really were getting it in the neck.

But drilling down into the data, something interesting turned up. At the time, 1,296 Palestinians had been killed by Israelis – of whom a grand total of 37, or 2.8%, were female. By contrast, the 496 Israelis killed by Palestinians (including 138 soldiers and policemen), there were 126 female fatalities, or 25%.

To be female is a fairly reliable indicator of being a noncombatant. Females are also half the population. If Israel had been guilty of indiscriminate violence against Palestinians, the ratio of male-to-female fatalities would not have been 35-1.” (“Israel's 60-Year Test,” by Bret Stephens NYTImes, May 6, 2008)

The truth is and many within the Palestinian community understand that, when the Palestinians truly choose peace through comprise and negotiation, they will find a willing partner among the Israeli people and government. How sad it is that after 60 years, mutual recognition, security and peace have not been achieved. The fault lies with both sides and the solution will also lie with both sides, but it will only come when we listen to each others story, honor the historical narrative of the other and sit down with a prayers in our hearts and a desire in our heads to achieve mutual peace and security.

Rabbi Fred Guttman
Temple Emanuel
Greensboro, NC

Good day, Mr. Guttman!

Thanks for all of your thoughts on this subject. I always expect to learn something new from you whenever I encounter your writing.

"The two state solution means two nations and two peoples living side by side in economic cooperation, security and peace."

That is indeed a terrific goal, considering all the realities of history. Sadly, peace can only come about AFTER trust is established, and I don't think trust is ever going to be likely in that part of the world.

Peace, dude.

namtac, the fact that you're unaware of this is precisely the problem. In the years leading up to 1948, the Jewish Agency didn't appropriate Jewish land. It bought it. And that means there was compensation. History records visits by Arab leaders to London to complain that land was being transferred to Jews under the British Mandate. And yet the land was being purchased fair and square. The British shrugged their shoulders at the Arab complaints.

In the U.S., nation-building was accomplished by chasing American Indians off their lands. In Israel, it was accomplished by making deals and providing compensation. Now, of course, since the state of Israel was established, not all of its land was acquired through purchases. When Israel was attacked, it often ended up with a little more land after the cease-fire. One might say that losing a little land after attacking another country is just desserts. Maybe not. But on the whole, I would say that Israel's biggest sin isn't how it acquired land, but the settlement policy it pursued in the 1970s. Much would be easier now if Israel hadn't done that.

I'm not going to claim that no Arabs were expelled from Israel, though many actually fled. It was a messy and confusing time and not conducive to your black-and-white world view. For one thing, Jews were also expelled, from Arab and Muslim countries in the region, and they received no compensation for their losses. But somehow that inconvenient fact doesn't occur to you.

Here's another fact. Jews immigrating into Israel were welcomed and made citizens. Arabs migrating to Jordan, Lebanon, and other states were restricted to refugee camps, largely denied citizenship, and kept as pawns whose festering anger against the Jewish state was seen by those Arab states as a useful tool against Israel.

Has Israel done things to the Arabs that I wish it had not? Definitely. But I wonder if today's Palestinians are as willing to find fault with what their leaders have done.

"And yet the land was being purchased fair and square. The British shrugged their shoulders at the Arab complaints."

Once Zionist efforts to secure a homeland were initiated on a major scale, it was apparent to the Arabs/Muslims that it was just a matter of time before wealthy and powerful Zionist designs for Palestine would bring the eventual demise of their sovereignty. As the Balfour Declaration shows, the Jews would fully expoit their European connections as leverage to secure the Land - one way of another. Can you really blame the Arabs for being just mildly concerned! Time seems to have borne out their fears.

No matter how you try to spin the facts of history, it is clear that Zionists were determined to secure the Land for modern Israel, whatever the cost - and whatever measures had to be employed. There are radical Zionist elements even today that want not only Palestine proper, but a larger “greater Israel;” citing the OT parameters of the Promised Land.

Although I do not in any way blame the Jewish people for wanting a homeland, especially the one clearly given to them by God in the OT, I also believe that they do not have the same status today as they did then. And it must be remembered that, even in the OT, they spent 70 years in Babylonian captivity for their unfaithfulness. Their rejection of, and complicity in, the crucifixion of the Messiah removed them from whatever favorable status they had prior to that event. And their continued covenantal unbelief in this regard maintains them as objects of God's disciplinary judgments, even though He has graciously allowed them to return to the Land – especially considering they were ousted from it in 70 AD for rejecting their Messiah. God wants maximum blessing and restoration for Israel, which can ONLY be had by honoring Him - as, in fact, many have.

Although this view is not PC, Israel will never have peace until they honor the saving grace of Messiah's atonement, which is holy to Jehovah. He will not honor, nor fully advocate for those who do not acknowledge His Anointed One. Many of the things that have happened to the Jews since AD 70 have been disciplinary action designed to bring them into the New Covenant of Messiah’s blood, shed FIRST for them in love – and secondarily for the world at large in mercy. Whatever it takes to bend unbelieving knees He will either allow, or do, out of His great love for them.

The liberal media would never mention this dynamic – which is actually THE essential key to peace in the Middle East. Zionists thought that returning to a piece of real estate would bring them happiness and safety; but only the Prince of Peace can deliver His people Israel. He alone is the Captain of the Lord’s Host, and He alone can defeat their enemies – if they bear His most holy Name.