I agree with one part of your comment. It is shameful that I, a Jew, can
show up at Tel Aviv airport and become a citizen with full rights. As for
the absolute right of return the issue is a lot more complex.
Israel was legitimized by UN mandate. The Arabs rejected it and started the
48 war which they lost.
It's obvious that the Jewish military drove a lot, but not all, Palestinians
out of the area that was Israel.
It's no doubt a tragedy, especially the fact that the refugees was forced to
live in camps, and, to be fair, the Arab nations were happy to have them
there. The proposed settlement, while denying the right of return in
absolute terms, did, I believe, allow some to return where families were
involved. Others, who could prove displacement, would receive financial
compensation. (The was to be worked out: had Arafat accepted Barak's
proposal there would have been momentum to resolve this issue favorably for
the Palestinians.)There is also the questions of the settlements. As I
understand it the settlements within Gaza and the West Bank would have been
removed (justice would dictate that everyone of them should be removed, by
force if necessary, today); some on the border would have been allowed to
stay. I oppose that but with a settlement their existence would have been
negotiable. But the fact is the
Palestinians would have had a state: why would they also want to repatriate
to Israel when they could have their own country. The principle of right of
return in the absolute sense is a Palestinian political
ploy. People have been forced to relocate throughout history'; including I
imagine Bill, your and my ancestors. A fair peaceful solution in the Middle
East means there have to be compromises. Israel has to give up control of
Jerusalem and its settlements (which they have), Palestinians have to give
up the absolute right of return (which means giving up a principle, not an
on-the-ground fact).
Marty
Original Message -----
From: <wmmmandel@earthlink.net>
To: <sixties-l@lists.village.virginia.edu>
Sent: Wednesday, April 04, 2001 12:33 AM
Subject: Re: [sixties-l] (Fwd):Reparatiopns, DH & the Left
> A settlement that would have denied Palestinians the right to return to
> their own homes, for which they have the keys, and their own land, for
> which they have the deeds, while any Jew from anywhere who has never
> been to Israel can go there and become a citizen, is one that you would
> have the Palestinians accept? I don't like to use the phrase that
> follows, but that is simply shameful.
> William Mandel
>
> Marty Jezer wrote:
> >
> >
> ===================================================================
> Do you teach in the social sciences? Consider my SAYING NO TO POWER
> (Creative Arts, Berkeley, 1999), for course use. It was written as a
> social history of
> the U.S. for the past three-quarters of a century through the eyes of a
> participant
> observer in most progressive social movements (I'm 83), and of the USSR
> from the
> standpoint of a Sovietologist (five earlier books) knowing that country
> longer than any
> other in the profession. Therefore it is also a history of the Cold War.
> Positive reviews
> in The Black Scholar, American Studies in Scandinavia, San Francisco
> Chronicle,
> forthcoming in Tikkun, etc.
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