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Salient. Victoria University Student Newspaper. Vol. 38, No. 18. July 23rd 1975
Defending Israel
Defending Israel
Dear Sir,
"B,M.H." will have to try harder if he wants to prove that Zionism is "colonialism and territorial expansion and racism" than simply quoting Moshe Dayan as rejecting the idea of absorbing huge numbers of Arabs into Israel, and as wanting to maintain a primarily Jewish state. The quote would more easily imply that he, like most Israelis, would consider giving back territory containing large Arab populations in return for firm guarantees for peace. Regrettably, there has been absolutely no indication that any Arab state, let alone the P.L.O., is prepared to do this.
| (1) |
The longstanding cynicism of the Arab states to the "Palestinian problem", as epitomised by the comments of Colonel Jaloud, Libya's No. 2 man, that "the Arabs have kept the Palestinian refugees in tents according to a planned policy for their return to Palestine - since the rehabilitation of the Palestinians would have lost them Palestine for good." (Al Hawadeth, Beirut 24.12.71). Why was there no Palestinian state created after 1948, when two-thirds of Jordan's population were "Palestinian"? Why didn't the armies of Egypt and Jordan hand back the pacts of Palestine they occupied to the Palestinians? Why did they keep the refugees in camps and deny them such elemental human rights as citizenship? What an odd way to treat their "brothers" for whom they have supposedly fought four ward to date. Or is all the talk about the "rights of the Palestinians" just a front for the real aim of the destruction of the State of Israel. |
| (2) | The refusal to contemplate any compromise with Zionism under any conditions. Article 6 of the Palestine National Covenant (1968) states: "The Jews who were permanently resident in Palestine at the beginning of the Zionist invasion will be recognised as Palestinians". Presumably everyone who came after 1917 would have to leave, but the immense human suffering that this would inflict does not seem to worry the P.L.O. or their supporters. Vague talk about a "democratic secular" Palestine sounds nonsensical, given the turbulent history of Lebanon, where bloodshed frequently erupts between Christian and Moslem Arabs. The Arabs' all or nothing attitude can only mean more wars, deaths and wasted resources, in their efforts to destroy Israel, on a bigger scale than ever before. |
It is high time the P.LO.'s apologists knew exactly the type of reactionary ideology they are supporting. For starters I could suggest their reading Y' Harkabi's "Arab Attitudes to Israel" and John La Laffin's new book "The Arab Mind".
Yours faithfully,
David Carr.