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The following was written by Edward Said on the 50th anniversary of the State of Israel.
In the United States, celebrations of Israel’s fifty years as a state have tried to project an image of the country that went out of fashion since the Palestinian Intifada (1987-92): a pioneering state, full of hope and promise for the survivors of the Nazi Holocaust, a haven of enlightened liberalism in a sea of Arab fanaticism and reaction. On 15 April, for instance, CBS broadcast a two hour prime-time program from Hollywood hosted by Michael Douglas and Kevin Costner, featuring movie stars such as Arnold Schwarzenegger, Kathy Bates (who recited passages from Golda Meir minus, of course, her most celebrated remark that there were no Palestinians) and Winona Ryder.
In the United States, celebrations of Israel’s fifty years as a state have tried to project an image of the country that went out of fashion since the Palestinian Intifada (1987-92): a pioneering state, full of hope and promise for the survivors of the Nazi Holocaust, a haven of enlightened liberalism in a sea of Arab fanaticism and reaction. On 15 April, for instance, CBS broadcast a two hour prime-time program from Hollywood hosted by Michael Douglas and Kevin Costner, featuring movie stars such as Arnol Schwarzenegger, Kathy Bates (who recited passages from Golda Meir minus, of course, her most celebrated remark that there were no Palestinians) and Winona Ryder. None of these luminaries are particularly known for their Middle Eastern expertise or enthusiasm, although all of them in one way or another praised Israel’s greatness and enduring achievements. There was even time for a cameo appearance by President Bill Clinton, who provided perhaps the least edifying, most atavistic note of the evening by complimenting Israel, “a small oasis,” for “making a once barren desert bloom,” and for ” building a thriving democracy in hostile terrain.”
While this week’s trip by President George W. Bush to Israel, Saudi Arabia and Egypt was never conceived as a triumphant “victory lap” around the region, the swift rout of U.S.-backed forces by Lebanon’s Hezbollah Friday has provided yet another vivid illustration of the rapid decline in Washington’s influence in the Middle East during his tenure.
The events in Lebanon will no doubt cast a long shadow over Bush’s tour, which begins Tuesday. After all, it was only three years ago that he hailed the “Cedar Revolution” there as vindication of the kind of democratic transformation of the region that he insisted the invasion of Iraq was designed to launch.
What’s the BBC’s ‘Birthday’ present to Israel? A stream of propaganda following a story thats Israeli driven. Not content with 3 other, Israeli directed, Storyville documentaries (watch here), a birthday radio show (featuring 4 Israelis with one token Israeli Arab and zero Palestinians) and birthday articles (1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, etc) the BBC has gone a step further and commissioned this 60 minute film. By Jeremy Bowan, it details the founding of the State of Israel. To be fair to the BBC, the events surrounding the founding of the State of Israel are immensely interesting and have had important repercussions in the world at large. However it’s instructive that this documentary is called ‘The Birth of Israel’ and not for example ‘The Nakba’ - we get an idea of the focus from the start. In fact we might ask where all the Nakba articles (1?), audio and films are? Is it sufficient that it just happens to get a small mention in amongst all this ‘birthday’ nonsense?
Although this film is good in many places, covering the massacre of Deir Yassin for example, overall it fails to place the responsibility of the conflict firmly in the hands of the Israelis and Europeans. It fails to present the Palestinians as the victims of Zionist colonialism which was approved of by the Europeans because of guilt from the Holocaust and because 60 years ago the idea of colonialism, ‘civilised’ Europeans settling land that native ‘barbarians’ are wasting, was still acceptable. Time and again Israelis under interview blame the conflict on the Palestinians for not accepting the 1947 UN partition plan, where the UN carved up the land of Palestine and gave much of it to the colonialists. In the 21st century we should by now understand that the UN had no right to give away another mans home, the Zionists were incorrect in thinking they could colonise another peoples country and that resistance to this dispossession was legitimate. What nation would accept its land being given away to immigrants by the UN? Especially with such a bad deal: Israelis owning 10% of the land but getting 50% while only accounting for only 33% of the total population.
Counting the number of Israelis interviewed we find there were 11 with 10 Palestinians representatives. The number of times they appeared differs more: Israelis appearing 30 times and Palestinians 22. In a 60 minute film this approximately translates to about 8 minutes (15%) more air time. Personally I don’t believe balance is about giving both sides equal time - I follow Robert Fisks example of giving more time to the victims no matter who they are. In the ‘birth’ of Israel the victims were the Palestinian natives: 700,000 of whom were ethnically cleansed and many men, women and children were brutally massacred. This crime has continued as although under international law refugees have a Right of Return this has been denied. And Palestinians that remain in Israel and the Occupied Territories live in Apartheid conditions. Therefore its significant that they are not given priority.
The other big issue I have with the film is its failure to convey the true nature of a Two State solution. Israeli colonialism has continued with the illegal gaining of territory through military force in 1967. It is by now clear the continued Israeli rejection of peace for expansion and settlement of the Occupied Territories has led to a situation where a Two State solution is now unworkable. Only a One State solution where Israelis and Palestinians have equal rights and share the land will provide any meaningful resolution to the regions problems. The idea of a predominatly Jewish State is non-inclusive and racist, it can only be maintained through further ethnic cleansing and apartheid.
Witness Statement from speaker at demonstration
The following from the UK Palestine Solidarity Campaign for more see Peoples Geography.
London protest calls for Free Palestine
Thousands marched through London, sixty years after the Palestinian Nakba, to demand an end to the siege on Gaza, an end to Israeli occupation, and for the right of return of refugees.
The demonstration, organised by the Palestine Solidarity Campaign, British Muslim Initiative and the Palestinian Forum in Britain, was supported by trade unions UNISON, Public and Commercial Services Union (PCS), Unite the Union, Communication Workers Union, GMB, TSSA, RMT, Fire Brigades Union, and the National Union of Miners, who joined organisations such as the Association of Palestinian Community UK, Amos Trust, Friends of Al Aqsa UK, Palestinian Return Centre, War on Want, Jewish Socialist Group, Pax Christi, Stop the War Coalition, Jews for Justice for Palestinians, Britain Palestine Twinning Network, ICAHDUK, Friends of Lebanon, Federation of Student Islamic Societies, and Midlands Palestinian Community Association.
more videos | photos | English Report
Over 4000 people demonstrated against the Turin book-fair’s “celebration” of Israeli writers. The fair has come under a great deal of pressure from progressive authors around the world who have publically boycotted the book-fair, while others have come under pressure from their readers to cancel their participation. SPSC mailing list
The following is an excellent find by Idrees of The Fanonite.
A decent documentary from the best television news channel out there — Al Jazeera International. However, it is mostly an Israeli perspective featuring Benny Morris, Avi Shlaim, Uri Avnery, Shulamit Aloni et al.
(thanks Shahbaz)
A special series examining the origins, violent creation, and modern-day reality of the state of Israel through the stories of individual Israelis.
Episode two, Conflict, looks at how the still small Jewish population succeeded in defeating a far larger Palestinian population and asks if a deliberate policy of ethnic cleansing was employed.
Israel turns 60. Israelis Celebrate but Palestinians demonstrate. Will the refugees be allowed to return home?
Answer to this question and more on Link TV ’s Mosaic intelligence report presented by Jamal Dajani.
For more info, go to http://www.linktv.org/mosaic
Fedwa Wazwaz in the Minnesota Star Tribute:
Minnesotans gathered Wednesday at the Metrodome to celebrate Israel’s 60th anniversary. For some, this was a joyful event. But at what price did this statehood come?
Those who celebrated should read the letter signed by British Jews in the Guardian on April 30, “We’re not celebrating Israel’s anniversary.” The letter says, “Surely it is now time to acknowledge the narrative of the other, the price paid by another people for European anti-Semitism and Hitler’s genocidal policies. As Edward Said emphasized, what the Holocaust is to the Jews, the Naqba [Catastrophe] is to the Palestinians.”
The price of Israel’s creation can be read in the book, “The Ethnic Cleansing of Palestine,” by Israeli historian Ilan Pappe. Pappe writes: ” … on 10 March 1948 … veteran Zionist leaders together with young military Jewish officers, put the final touches to a plan for the ethnic cleansing of Palestine.” This led to 750,000 Palestinians being driven from their towns and villages in 1947-48. Many fled in the wake of atrocities such as the massacre of the villagers in Deir Yassin by Jewish forces on April 9, 1948. Palestinian towns and villages were destroyed, and vast tracts of land, houses, shops, olive and orange groves were confiscated.
“We committed Nazi acts.” Aharon Zisling, Israel’s first Agriculture Minister
“There is no doubt that many sexual atrocities were committed by the attacking Jews. Many young (Arab) girls were raped and later slaughtered. Old women were also molested.” General Richard Catling, British Army Assistant Inspector after interrogating several female survivors (The Palestinian Catastrophe, Michael Palumbo, 1987)
The following article is by Khalid Amayreh from The Voice of Palestine. (thanks Ann)
As the evil state of Israel is celebrating sixty years of ethnic cleansing and atrocities against the native Palestinians, many people around the world, especially young generations, will not be fully aware of the manner in which Israel came into existence. Similarly, the younger Zionist generations who don’t stop calling their Palestinian victims “terrorists” should have a clearer idea about Israel’s manifestly criminal past which Zionist school textbooks shamelessly glamorize and glorify
Prior to “Jewish” statehood, three main Jewish terror organizations operated in Palestine, primarily against Palestinian civilians and British mandate targets. The three were: The Haganah, the Zvei Leumi or Irgun and the Stern Gang. The Haganah (Defence) had a field army of up to 160,000 well-trained and well-armed men and a unit called the Palmach, with more than 6,000 terrorists. The Irgun included as many as 5,000 terrorists, while the Stern Gang included 200-300 dangerous terrorists.
The following are merely some examples of Zionist terrorism prior to the creation of the Zionist state in 1948: The list doesn’t include the bigger massacres such as Dir Yasin, Dawaymeh, Tantura and others.
1937-1939
During this period, Zionist terrorists carried out a series of terror attacks against Palestinian buses resulting in the death of 24 persons and the wounding of 25 others.
Brown praises the ethnic cleansing of Palestine, the following from the Scottish Palestine Solidarity Campaign. We might ask: is he aware of how many Palestinian victims have been persecuted?
GORDON Brown… pledged at a service on Wednesday night to mark the Jewish state’s 60th birthday that Britain would continue to be “a true and constant friend of Israel in good times and in bad”. And he announced that he would soon by paying Israel a visit.
“We will never reduce our efforts to secure for Israel a future free from terror, a future where - alongside a viable Palestinian state - children and the children of all your neighbours can believe in a brighter future.”
With his father - a church minister - being a frequent visitor to Israel, he said he learned of the fight for a Jewish homeland, the Balfour declaration and the promises made - some of which have been honoured and some which have been broken. “I learned of the ancient dream of the Jewish nation becoming reality in the modern state of Israel,” Mr Brown went on.…He announced that against the backdrop of the current political process - which presented all with the real opportunity to move forward - he would be visiting Israel in July at the invitation of Ehud Olmert…he was well aware of just how many victims and persecution were part of Israel’s history. (sic)
Today is Israel’s New Year / 60th ‘birthday’ and next week on the 14th is its Independence day. With that in mind Linda Mamoun writes that “the frenzy around Israel Independence Day is an attempt to freeze history in 1948 when public support of Israel was unequivocal.” She is to be commended for this excellent article looking at celebrations in the US, I especially enjoyed her humour. For example, she’s introduceda new term for the broad range of superficial activites you can participate in to support Israel: calling them the great Israel Hobby. However I disagree that a Two State option is viable. Only a One State solution allows any kind of justice and reconciliation.
Marketing Ethnic Cleansing
Two weeks before Israel’s 60th anniversary the House and Senate voted unanimously to pass resolutions honoring “the founding of the modern State of Israel.” Before the House vote, Speaker Nancy Pelosi weighed in on the deliberations saying, “I urge our colleagues to speak with one voice, and support this resolution recognizing the 60th anniversary of the state of Israel. In doing so, we not only commend Israel, we also bring luster to this House by associating ourselves with that great state of Israel.” To further commemorate Israeli independence, Pelosi reserved time through the month of June for a weekly series of floor speeches. Israel Independence Day has been celebrated within Jewish communities in the United States since Israel was founded. Traditionally the celebrations were organized by synagogues or Hebrew schools. Children would sing Ha’Tikvah, the Israeli national anthem, and read scriptures on the Promised Land. But these days the anniversaries are geared toward the broader public, making headlines in places where there are large Jewish communities, but also in areas where one would be hard-pressed to find a single person identifying as Jewish. Not only are the anniversaries endorsed by celebrities and political committees (this year’s “National Committee” includes former presidents George H.W. Bush and Bill Clinton, the three presidential frontrunners, and all living secretaries of state), but the organizers offer a dizzying array of festivities, requiring careful planning by those hoping to partake in all the revelry. Israel Independence Day falls on May 8 this year, but in the US the festivities run from early April through the beginning of June. With all the events going on around the country, have you planned how you will celebrate Israeli independence?
Mark Your Calendar
If you really had your act together, you could have booked a trip to the Holy Land with Pastor John Hagee and his Christians United For Israel (CUFI) tour. During ten days in early April, the Celebrate Jerusalem Tour featured a Night to Honor Jerusalem, a Middle East Intelligence Briefing, a luncheon at the Jerusalem Convention Center, a Jerusalem Unity Rally Walk, and a “special CUFI salute” to Israel’s 60th anniversary. Best of all, you would have gotten to hear Hagee’s rallying speech, in which he announced his pledge of $6 million for Israeli causes (mostly settlement-related) and declared that ”Turning part or all of Jerusalem over to the Palestinians would be tantamount to turning it over to the Taliban.”
After already threatening to ethnically cleanse Israel Arabs who refuse to celebrate Avi Dichters, who recently cancelled a trip to the UK for fear of being arrested for war crimes, cronies are looking to prevent the Nakba Day parade. Thanks Ann.
Danny Danon, the chairman of World Likud, appealed to Public Security Minister Avi Dichter on Tuesday to issue a ban on the “Nakba Day” procession to be held by Israeli Arabs on Independence Day.
In a press release distributed to the news media on Tuesday, Danon said the purpose of the march is “to oppose and incite against the state.”
“This is a deliberate and subversive challenge of the Arab Israeli leadership against the existence of the State of Israel,” Danon said.
Should Dichter fail to heed Danon’s call, the World Likud chair said he intends to appeal to the district court. He also demanded the authorities arrest any Arab leader quoted as inciting against the state and its institutions, as well as anyone seen brandishing the flag of an enemy state or a terrorist organization.
Berlusconi is cosying up to Israel, from the Italy mag.
Premier-elect Silvio Berlusconi has sent a special message to Israel to mark the 60th anniversary of its declaration of independence, remarking that ”Israel’s birthday is the birthday of all of us”.
In a statement published Tuesday by the Tel Aviv daily Yediot Ahronot, Berlusconi observed that memory was ”a fundamental element of the identity of the Israeli people, who were ale to defend democracy and freedom under difficult conditions”.
Israel begins two days of celebrations celebrating its 60th anniversary on Wednesday.
In his 2001-2006 government, Berlusconi followed Washington’s lead in favoring Israel in its Mideast policy.
During this spring’s election campaign, Berlusconi said the first country he would visit if elected would be Israel, something he did not do in his previous five years in office.
