Letter & Response on Israel/Palestine

In response to Southside Pride article “American Indians and Palestinians: Parallel Injustice,” June 09.

Israel has brought positive changes to the Middle East.
Unlike Europeans who came to the New World 500 years ago, Jews have had a continual presence in the land Israel for thousands of years, from biblical times to the present. Moreover, unlike Native Americans, an international organization voted to create a state for the Palestinians, an act supported by each of the Cold War rivals—the U.S. and U.S.S.R. At the end of the British mandate over Palestine on May 14, 1948, the Palestinians could have realized their rightful place among the nations had they accepted the two state solution for Palestine adopted by the United Nations in 1947. Instead, 1948 joins the 1937 Peel Commission Report and 2000 Camp David and Taba negotiations as missed opportunities for the Palestinians for implementation of a two state solution. These opportunities for statehood were never accorded to Native Americans.

Instead, since 1948 Israel has created a vibrant democracy which provides full freedom of the press and, importantly, an independent judiciary system. In fact, it is one of only a few Middle Eastern nations where Arab women have the right to vote.  The sole distinction between Arab Israelis and Jewish Israelis is that Arab citizens are not required to serve in the military.  No other Middle Eastern nation has been able to integrate so many people from diverse backgrounds as well as Israel

By offering a two state solution, in 2000, Israel has done more for Palestinian nationalism than any other Arab state.  For the first time in history, an independent Palestinian state had been offered. To date, Jordan is the only Arab nation which will allow Palestinians citizenship.  All other Muslim Arab nations have rebuffed attempts to settle Palestinians.  As sad as it is, it appears that the Arab world prefers to use the Palestinians as an international pawn to support their anti-Israel rhetoric. We hope that in the near future Israel will be able to normalize relations with all its Arab neighbors and that a free and democratic Palestinian state can stand side by side with a safe and secure Israel.
We all pray for peace and the establishment of a two state solution to end the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. 

Steve Hunegs
Executive Director
Jewish Community Relations Council of Minnesota and the Dakotas

Dear Mr. Hunegs,
Do I understood you to say that by refusing the chance to be a nation, next to the nation of Israel, Palestinians willingly gave up their land?
I respect your desire for Israel to be a fair country with equal rights and equal opportunities, but sadly, I don’t believe it is. Conversations I’ve had with people who’ve been to Israel/Palestine, reports from organizations I know are NOT anti-Semitic, and reports from Israelis committed to justice have convinced me the Palestinians in Israel/Palestine (not “Arab Israelis” as you call them) live as second class citizens, their lives completely controlled by the power of Israel. I would like to be wrong.

Whenever I hear the argument that surrounding Arab countries should resettle Palestinian refugees, I think three things: First, there shoudn’t BE refugees. Second, If someone is wronged, who is responsible? If someone steals a kids’ bike, for example, do we hold responsible the person who stole the bike, or do we blame the grandmother for not buying the kid a new bike to replace the stolen one? Third, It sounds flippant and callous to suggest that people who’ve tended their land for thousands of years just pick up and move to Jordan or Syria. Why should they have to do that? Because their leaders refused the two state solution in 1948?

The purpose of my article was to show what the experiences of Palestinians and Native Americans have been as people who’ve had their land stolen from them and have lived in occupied territory, as well as to acknowledge the injustice they have suffered.
The past can’t be undone. And solutions have to be created as we go along. I know it would be a miracle, but I would like to see Israel/-Palestine go in the direction of “Oasis of Peace (Neve Shalom in Hebrew and Wahat Al-Salam in Arabic),” a Jewish/-Palestinian village of about 50 families located halfway between Jerusalem and Tel Aviv.
Elaine Klaassen