-A cursory
look at what the hang up is between Israel and Palestine.
Sometimes
it’s good to start with visual aids, and, in this case, a few maps of the area
might shed a little more light on the subject. For those who might not know,
Israel hasn’t always existed. It got going after World War II, and was
recognized as a Nation State in 1949. The land they occupied from the start was
ceded to them by Great Britain, as the Brit’s were winding down their
Colonialism across the Globe.
Since Israel
was chartered by the United Nations in 1949, we’ll start with a map that shows the land
mass prior to 1949.
Now look at
what happened to the Palestinians’ land...
The detail
on this map is fuzzy, but this map clearly shows how Palestine has shrunk
dramatically since the inception of the State of Israel, and the arbitrary
expansion of Jordan. Other than the Palestinians, no Nation in the Mideast has
fallen prey to such an obvious land grab.
Has this
history been manipulated by the recognized Jewish radicalism that is called “Zionism”? I am
simply an on-looker in this turn of events. I have watched Israel grow, get
threatened and attacked, and survived through the Arab and Islamic opposition
to Israel’s very existence. As anything vaguely resembling peace has eluded the
World’s best Diplomats, there certainly must be a factor that has yet to be
addressed. This begs the question, “Why can’t we all just get along?”
There is one
common denominator for Israel and the Arab
States. The fact
that each and every Nation State in the Mideast and Near East is a Church
State. Perhaps we aren’t supposed to ask these types of questions and take a
serious look at, not the differences, but rather the similarities of all the
Nation States in this Region. But, it seems to me that religion is the tie that
might bond all involved. As a serious caveat, I would suggest strongly that the
“Super Powers” stay the Hell out of the solution.
Absolutely nothing they have tried has worked, is working, and never will work.
If you go
back and take a look at the maps, wouldn't it be nice if Great Britain came
forward and apologized for creating the initial mess. After that shoe falls, it
might also be nice if the United States and Russia publically owned up to their
own brand of manipulation and expansionism. After that second shoe drops, then
perhaps the French can take up the torch in facilitating a “sit-down” at a
neutral site (say, Antarctica?) with all factions present to hash out a Peace
Agreement.
What this
boils down to is the fact that the problems in the Mideast and Near East are
not problems for the Western Nations, or the Russians and Chinese. The
questions of where these Church States go from here is something only they can
answer. History proves that to be a correct statement. I find it disheartening
at best to know that outside forces will not cease to bear down on this Region,
will not cease to leave them alone, and will not cease to attempt to re-create
them in our image. The radical factions on both sides of the coin need to
silenced and not a part of these functions. If not, we all lose in this
scenario! The Palestinian People deserve a better hand than they’re being
dealt. They deserve a fully recognized Nation State of their own, and now would
be a really good time to get it done.
The impetus
for my writing on this subject was sparked after reading an article by Michael
Marder titled, “Here is why deconstructing Zionism
is important.” Below is a
short “bio”:
Michael Marder
o
Ikerbasque Research Professor (Canada)
o
Doctor in Philosophy from the New School for
Social Research in New York, NY
o
Research experience: More than 8 years of
research experience at universities in the US, Canada, and
Portugal
o
Research line:
Phenomenology, Ethical and Political Philosophy, Environmental Philosophy
o
Comes from Duquesne University, USA and the
University of Lisbon, Portugal
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