What is it Palestinians really want?Charley Reese Published in The Orlando Sentinel
on November 16, 2000 You're probably wondering what it is these Palestinians over there
want. Well, even if you aren't wondering about it, I'll tell you anyway.
They want the same thing the Founding Fathers of this country wanted:
freedom. You see, in 1967, Israel fought a war with Syria, Jordan and
Egypt and won it right handily in about six days. In the process, it
occupied the West Bank, East Jerusalem and the Gaza Strip. Jordan had
illegally annexed the West Bank and East Jerusalem. Egypt controlled
Gaza. The past 33 years, the Palestinians in those areas have lived
under Israeli military occupation. Israel has no legal claim to any of
their territory, including East Jerusalem. The United Nations has passed
a number of resolutions upholding the Palestinians' claims and their
right to self-determination. Bitter Harvest by Sami Hadawi has a good
account of these resolutions. Americans, of course, don't know what it's
like to live under military occupation. Palestinians must at all times
carry special identity cards. Their cars must have a special license
tag. They effectively have no rights. Their land has been confiscated
and Jewish settlements built on it. Their own houses have been
demolished or blown up. Olive tress hundreds of years old have been
bulldozed. Palestinians frequently are placed under "closure,"
which means that they cannot travel to get to their jobs. Often they are
placed under curfew, which means that they cannot leave their houses for
any reason. You can't do anything but sit inside your house until your
foreign occupier gives you permission to leave. Whenever they protest
these indignities, some are shot dead, and even more stringent
punishments are imposed on the survivors. The Israeli human-rights
organization B'Tselem has documented much of this abuse, as have
Christian observer groups. During the most recent upheaval, according to
the British newspaper The Independent, 191 Palestinians have been
killed, and the wounded number more than 5,000. The same article states
that 24 Israelis have been killed. Snipers have shot many of the
Palestinians, including children. Amira Hass has written poignantly of
this practice in the Israeli newspaper Haaretz. Israel recently has been
condemned by Amnesty International and the United Nations Commission on
Human Rights. Physicians for Human Rights recently condemned the use of
excessive force by the Israeli Defense Force. A British newspaper
editorial recently observed that if the Palestinians were black, the
world would be united in denouncing Israel as a rogue state.
Unfortunately, the Palestinians are not black. Moreover, the Israeli
spin-doctors are so skillful and the Israeli lobby is so powerful that
they have managed to convince most Americans that Israel is the victim
of aggression. In fact, more American sailors died on the USS Cole than
Israeli soldiers during the recent fighting, as of this writing.
Apparently Israelis define aggressors as 14-year-olds armed with
slingshots. I think that any man who can frame the face of child in his
telescopic gunsights and kill him is a filthy animal who doesn't deserve
to walk on this earth. I've heard many tragic stories of Jewish children
being shot by soldiers during the Holocaust. I fail to see any
difference between a Jewish child being shot and a Palestinian child
being shot. I fail to see any difference in the children. I fail to see
any difference in the soldiers. Americans who fail
to speak out against these crimes being committed against the
Palestinians with our money and with our government blocking any relief
by the United Nations are accessories to the crimes. Remember: There is
a God. And, sooner or later, there is always justice. Note: Please send an email to Charlie Reese for his sincere
efforts at [email protected].
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