Palestinianism: A Burlesque of Jewish History (eBook)

H. Ben Winkler (Autor)

eBook Download: EPUB

2024 | 1. Auflage
160 Seiten
Bookbaby (Verlag)
979-8-3509-8332-6 (ISBN)

Infos

After the atrocities of October 7, 2023 and the anti-Israel demonstrations following, students and news followers crave answers: How did the Israel-Arab conflict become the Israel-Palestinian conflict? What is Palestinianism? And why is a called a burlesque? And what were the influences of the two totalitarian regimes of the 20th century, Nazism and Soviet Communism, on this ongoing struggle? H. Ben Winkler answers these and other questions in an almost breezy manner in Palestinianism: A Burlesque of Jewish History. Along the way, the claims of the Palestinian Arabs and the accusations against the Jewish Israelis are addressed: Who is indigenous? Who is a colonialist? Who occupied whose land? Who was responsible for Arab refugees? For Jewish refugees? For ethnic cleansing? Who attempted genocide and who admired the Nazis? Also, is Anti-Zionism the same as Anti-Semitism? Who are some of the key players in this burlesque act? And what are they playing?

H. Ben Winkler, a native of Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania, has been a reporter, public relations representative, freelance writer, photographer and filmmaker. His writings have been published in, among others: Wilkes-Barre Times-Leader, Des Moines Register, Burlington (IA) Hawkeye, Ottumwa Courier, Fairfield (IA) Ledger, Santa Rosa Press-Democrat and San Francisco Chronicle. Winkler's video and film productions includes PSAs, instructional videos, dramas, and live events. Works have been distributed by, among others, The AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety, Maharishi University of Management and Maharishi Open Univer- sity and shown on numerous TV stations throughout California and Nevada, the internet and cable TV. Photography work includes publication in San Francisco Chronicle, Oakland Tribune, San Jose Mercury News, Sacramento Bee and Modesto Bee. Winkler holds an undergraduate degree from San Francisco State University.

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After the atrocities of October 7, 2023 and the anti-Israel demonstrations following, students and news followers crave answers: How did the Israel-Arab conflict become the Israel-Palestinian conflict? What is Palestinianism? And why is a called a burlesque?And what were the influences of the two totalitarian regimes of the 20th century, Nazism and Soviet Communism, on this ongoing struggle?H. Ben Winkler answers these and other questions in an almost breezy manner in Palestinianism: A Burlesque of Jewish History. Along the way, the claims of the Palestinian Arabs and the accusations against the Jewish Israelis are addressed: Who is indigenous? Who is a colonialist? Who occupied whose land? Who was responsible for Arab refugees? For Jewish refugees? For ethnic cleansing? Who attempted genocide and who admired the Nazis?Also, is Anti-Zionism the same as Anti-Semitism?Who are some of the key players in this burlesque act? And what are they playing?Palestinianism: A Burlesque of Jewish History is a romp through these issues. Never intimidating or dull for the reader, this book includes excursions to the 7th Step in Hebron and the 1921 Cairo Conference, which led to the establishment of an Arab State in Palestine, which remains hidden even today. Intended to bring readers who are new to the history and politics of the Middle East up to snuff, Palestinianism: A Burlesque of Jewish History is, by turns, scholarly and humorous. Included in the appendix of this enjoyable, easy-to-read book, are some of the vital, but harder-to-read original official documents the 1920 San Remo Resolution, the 1922 League of Nations Mandate, the 1968 Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) Charter and the 1988 Hamas Covenant. And last, but not least, in the appendix are the last internationally recognized borders of the Jewish homeland. If only today's diplomats knew what readers of Palestinianism: A Burlesque of Jewish History know. Bringing novices or seasoned news junkies a quick but thorough set of lessons, Palestinianism: A Burlesque of Jewish History will allow them to discuss, or argue, with confidence, the issues of today's Israel-Palestinian conflict.

Textauszug

Chapter 2

Claims of Palestinianism

Beyond the slogans, like “Free Palestine,” “From the River to the Sea, Palestine will be free” or, in its most nakedly honest imperative, “Gas the Jews,” what are the claims against the Jewish State made by Palestinian activists?

Here are some of the premises that advocates of Palestinian rights claim:

•European imperialism created an artificial country, named Israel.

•Jews in Israel came there in the 20th century from Europe and are therefore newcomers.

•Arabs have lived there for centuries, and are therefore natives, or indigenous.

•Palestinians are “a people,” just like the Jews. (In a more brazen claim, the Jews are not even a people, just a religious denomination.)

•Zionism is fundamentally unjust, or racist.

•Arabs were and are the victims.

•Jews were and are the aggressors.

•Therefore, “Palestine” is “occupied.”

It is out of this last premise—a culmination of the other premises— that virtually anything the Arabs do is justified. Virtually anything the Jews do in response is unjustified.

Palestinianism in Grass Valley, California, November, 2023.

The bloody hands meme is typically a victorious reference to the murder of Israeli reservists Yossi Avrahami and Vadim Nurzhitz in October 2000 toward the start of the second Palestinian Intifada. The pair, having mistakenly driven into Ramallah, were taken to the Palestinian police station, where they were set upon by a mob which beat and stabbed them to death, mutilated their bodies, and burned one of the bodies. One body was dumped out the window, then beaten and stamped by the crowd. Both bodies were dragged to the city square for a “victory celebration.” Attacker Aziz Salha was photographed waving his blood-stained hands out the window in joy. Salha was arrested by Israel, convicted of murder and given a life sentence. In October 2011, he was released as part of the exchange for the release of hostage Gilad Shalit.8 (Photo ©2023 by Henry Benjamin Winkler)

How to Tell Who is Indigenous by Learning How to Tell Time

Even today, despite easily available evidence, apologists for Palestinian violence claim that the Palestinians are the indigenous people of the area.

This is turning the matter on its head. As we shall see, virtually all matters regarding Jews and Palestinian Arabs are turned on their heads.

I was asked in the comments section of a YouTube video on the subject of Indigenous people in Israel:

What about the Muslims who have also lived there…?

My response:

Yes. In fact, for over a millennium—since 638 CE. If more people knew how to tell time, many arguments about what people have the earliest claim to the land would be settled. More than 1500 years before Islam even existed, the Israelites, under King David, took Jerusalem for the Capital of Israel. And the Israelites were in the land a few hundred years before that. There were no Arabs in any great quantity there until the Muslim conquests a millennium and a half later.9

Colonialism—the Wretched Arguments of the Earthlings

Post-Colonial (or Postcolonialism, or, if that is too clear, Postcolonial studies) is a slippery word used by rigid idealogues, that is much in use today by Israel’s enemies.

Much of the buzz of Postcolonialism seems to derive from Frantz Fanon and his book, The Wretched of the Earth. The first section of the book, On Violence, seems to justify violence—against anyone post-colonialists label colonialists.

Advocates of postcolonialism aims not only to shut up Israel’s defenders, but to justify any kind of violence—any kind of violence, as we have recently witnessed—against Israel, Israelis, Israel’s guests and visitors, because Israel is perceived as a colonial power.

But is it?

Mandates

After 400 years of Turkish Ottoman rule in the Middle East (Sunni Muslims ruling over other Sunni Muslims, as well as over Jews, Christians and others), the Ottoman Empire came to an end with their defeat in World War I. At the San Remo Conference (1920), having supported autonomy and/or independence for their various Arab (and Jewish) allies, Britain and France set up the Mandate system to transition rule to these groups.

What are mandates? A Mandate is like a Trust. A Mandatory Power is like a Trustee, holding something of value (land and/or sovereignty) until a minor achieves maturity.

The Mandate for Palestine, envisioned at the 1920 San Remo Conference, included present day Jordan, and Israel (including Gaza and the West Bank.)

(This map is for illustrative purposes only and should not be considered authoritative).

The Mesopotamia Mandate (United Kingdom) resulted in Iraq achieving independence in 1932.

The Syrian Mandate (France) resulted in Syria and Lebanon achieving independence in 1945.

Another Arab subject of the Ottomans, Ibn Saud, did not even have to go through a mandatory period. The Saudi family was allowed to take over much of the Arabian Peninsula, achieving independence in 1932.

1922: Jewish Palestine and Arab Palestine. The League of Nations unanimously accepted the boundaries of the now sub-divided Jewish homeland. This was the last internationally recognized border of the Jewish homeland.

(This map is for illustrative purposes only and should not be considered authoritative).

With the Jews and the Jewish homeland in the Palestinian Mandate, it was another matter. Palestine, an administrative area of the now defunct Ottoman Empire, was originally designated for a Jewish homeland at the San Remo Conference. This consisted of present-day Israel (including Gaza, West Bank and Golan Heights) and Jordan. By 1922, the Hashemite leadership was chased out of the Arabian Peninsula by Ibn Saud. So, the British exercised an option and gave the Hashemites about 3/4ths of Palestine, renaming it Trans-Jordan.

In any case, a reestablished Jewish homeland, with borders consisting of present-day Israel, Judea and Samaria (the West Bank), Gaza and the Golan Heights, was unanimously agreed to by the League of Nations in 1922—the last internationally recognized boundaries of the Jewish homeland.

Israel was the last to gain independence—in 1948.

And Israel had to fight the British to gain independence! Some agent of European colonialism was Israel!

Muslim Colonialism

On the other hand, Muslim conquest and colonialism of Judea was quite clear. In 638 CE, four years after Muhammad’s death, Arabs ruled the land. Subsequently, with restrictions against non-Muslims, heavy taxes on agricultural lands and increasing social and economic discrimination, many Jews were forced to leave their ancient homeland.10

But, we’re back.

Not without reversals.

One example: On January 1, 1837, a major earthquake struck mystical Safed, a city holy to the Jews, in northern Israel. The Muslims forcibly converted to Islam the Jews who stayed. Among them was Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) head Mahmoud Abbas’s rabbinic ancestors on his father’s side.11

In the classic, Catch the Jew!, Tuvia Tenenbom, as the German correspondent Toby, interviews Hanan Ashrawi, a member of the Palestine Liberation Organization’s Executive Committee. This committee is elected by the Palestinian National Council (PNC) which promulgates the PLO Charter.

Among other issues, Ashrawi’s PLO Charter reads, “Claims of historical or religious ties of Jews with Palestine are incompatible with the facts of history and the true conception of what constitutes statehood.”

Hanan Ashrawi is a Christian and the former girlfriend of long-time ABC News anchor, Peter Jennings.

So, what are Ashrawi’s and the PLO’s “facts of history?”

In the Tenenbom interview, Ashrawi claims, “…Palestinians have been living on their land historically for hundreds and thousands of years…” and that Palestinians have the “longest Christian tradition in the world.”12

This is too much, even for the agreeable Toby. He cites the Christian population of Ramallah at 20 percent when the Israelis...

Produkt-Details

• Erscheint lt. Verlag: 12.11.2024
• Sprache: englisch
• Themenwelt: Geisteswissenschaften ► Geschichte ► Regional- / Ländergeschichte
• ISBN-13: 979-8-3509-8332-6 / 9798350983326