http://www.orlandosentinel.com/automagic/columnists/2000-11-16/OPEDreese16111600.html
What is it Palestinians really want?
Charley Reese, Commentary,
The Orlando Sentinel, 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 trees 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.
