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Israel-Palestine
Palestinians Blame Plight on U.S., Israel
2004-04-23
Of course they do.
Mohammed Domeh was relaxing on his living room sofa, watching the TV news when he heard the fateful words: President Bush was flatly ruling out the return of Palestinians such as himself to what is now Israel. "When I heard what Bush had to say - and I am saying this as a Palestinian intellectual - I wished I could wear an explosive belt around my waist and blow myself up in front of Bush," said Domeh, 44.
Remind me, Mo' -- when in 1948 did you get evicted from Israel? Oh right, you didn't, you weren't born yet. Why would you have a right of return?
Why would you want a right of return to another country if you have a Paleostinian state all your own?
Such anti-American rage, from an otherwise mild-spoken, middle-class Palestinian writer, is being echoed around the Arab world at a volume some say is unprecedented.
Oh, the seething of the Arab Street! A sight to behold!
Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak, a close ally of Washington, told France's Le Monde newspaper that U.S. support for Israel, on top of the war in Iraq, has driven Arabs to a "hatred never equalled" toward America.
Gosh, I feel so ... hated right now.
The trigger was Bush's meeting with Ariel Sharon last week, after which the president publicly backed the Israeli prime minister's plans to withdraw from the Gaza Strip, endorsed the permanence of some big Jewish settlements in the West Bank and said a solution of the refugee question "will need to be found through the establishment of a Palestinian state, and the settling of Palestinian refugees there, rather than in Israel."
Otherwise, why have a Paleostinian state? I keep asking that question. No one seems to have an answer...
Unlike Domeh, teacher Raja Dirbash said she wasn't surprised. It merely confirmed what Israel and the United States had agreed long ago. "What do you expect from a murderer?" she said.
But enough about Rantisi.
Fifty-six years after they fled the land that would become Israel, millions of Palestinians still cling to claim a right to return. Some, like Domeh, have built new lives and citizenships, while many others live in squalid refugee camps. Dirbash, 46, insists on living in the Baqaa refugee camp outside Amman until she returns to her ancestral home. Domeh yearns for the 100 acres he says his family abandoned when they fled their village near Haifa in 1948. He thinks it must be worth $1 million today.
And every other family in the refugee camp had a 100-acre farm too. You could ask them, they'd tell you.
While Israel has always insisted there can be no refugee return, Palestinians have clung just as stubbornly to their "the right of return." It played a big part in derailing the last Palestinian-Israeli peace effort four years ago. Hopes for a return are strong even in Jordan, the one Arab country that has integrated its 1.7 million Palestinian refugees and given most of them full Jordanian citizenship. Prominent Palestinian families control much of Jordan's trade and banking. The queen is of a renowned Palestinian family.
I seem to recall a certain time period when Jordan was supposed to be the home for the Arabs of that region.
Domeh, who was born in the West Bank seven years before Israel captured it in the 1967 war, reckons many Palestinians would probably not go back even if they could, especially those who do not have property in what is now Israel. But it's the principle that counts- "it's a question of rights," he said. "To be frank, I hate the Americans. I don't like them. Now my hatred has tripled. Before, I didn't like them because of their unfair policies. Now, it's about me; it's personal. It's my right. It's not just about my country," said Domeh.
"Wanna see me seethe and roll my eyes?"
And Israel is only one source of anger. Iraq is another. Then there are thugs in waiting reformers who accuse Washington of backing repressive Arab regimes, and turban wound mullahs conservatives who blame American pop culture for declining morals. Sarah Ghanem, 52, who lives in the Baqaa camp, said if it weren't for U.S. money, weapons and diplomacy backing Israel, "we would have been able to drive the Israelis out of our lands."
"We could have killed them all!"
And the Israeli bomb, don't forget that.
Posted by:Steve White

#21  Steven, I'm with ya bro.
Posted by: Lucky   2004-04-23 12:21:04 PM  

#20  Allah sez it belongs to the Jews:
"To Moses We [Allah] gave nine clear signs. Ask the Israelites how he [Moses] first appeared amongst them. Pharoah said to him: 'Moses, I can see that you are bewitched.' 'You know full well,' he [Moses] replied, 'that none but the Lord of the heavens and the earth has revealed these visible signs. Pharoah, you are doomed.'"

"Pharoah sought to scare them [the Israelites] out of the land [of Israel]: but We [Allah] drowned him [Pharoah] together with all who were with him. Then We [Allah] said to the Israelites: 'Dwell in this land [the Land of Israel]. When the promise of the hereafter [End of Days] comes to be fulfilled, We [Allah] shall assemble you [the Israelites] all together [in the Land of Israel]."

"We [Allah] have revealed the Qur'an with the truth, and with the truth it has come down. We have sent you [Muhammed] forth only to proclaim good news and to give warning."

[Qur'an, "Night Journey," chapter 17:100-104]
Posted by: Steve   2004-04-23 11:48:28 AM  

#19  Gee, as long as we're playing The Irrendentist Game - can Mr. Librarian's family get back the property the Bolshies stole from them in 1918? Can my family get back our hereditary estates in Lithuania that were taken first by the Russians and then by the Communists? And while we're at it, my grandmother wants back the village the Holy Roman Empire swiped from her Moravian Brethren ancestors ... The Palestinians sound like they've been the targets of a little too much modern education, since they apparently believe life is meant to be "fair." Perhaps someday there will emerge one of them bright enough to realize, You lost. Deal with it. You can't fight hard enough to make Israel give it back. Either move on or die trying.

Sofia the Librarian
Posted by: Sofia   2004-04-23 11:03:44 AM  

#18  Any sympathy for the Silisian Germans ousted from land incorporated into Poland and ethnically cleansed?

Not particularly. Should there be?
Posted by: Robert Crawford   2004-04-23 9:42:53 AM  

#17  In other surprising developments, the sun rose in the east, several incidents of dogs biting people were reported, birds flew, water flowed downhill, and the Vatican revealed that the Pope is a member of the Catholic Church.
Posted by: Mike   2004-04-23 9:10:53 AM  

#16  Pardon me, Don, but weren't those Germans put there by Hitler, after he invaded Poland in '39 and "deported" the Silesian Poles?
(And how many of them were Jews? Lots, I'll bet.)
Hitler would "plant" Germans in places he wanted like Poland saying he had come to "liberate" them, like the Sudendeutsch.
The Allies were right to "resettle" those Germans in what was their home anyway.
Likewise with Arafat and the "Palestinians." (See Ben's comment above.)
Posted by: Jen   2004-04-23 7:58:26 AM  

#15  Any sympathy for the Silisian Germans ousted from land incorporated into Poland and ethnically cleansed? That was 1945, only a few years before the founding of Israel. The Germans were resettled into the present German borders long ago and as part of the fall of the iron curtain, the unified Germany renounced claims to those ancestrial lands.
Posted by: Don   2004-04-23 7:47:53 AM  

#14  Title should read "Entire World Blames Everything Bad on U.S., Israel"
Posted by: Sikntired   2004-04-23 7:45:26 AM  

#13  Ben, you said it all!
The Paleostinians should be mad at their Arab brothers--they could have accepted and had an independent state living side-by-side with Israel in 1948, but noooooo, their Muslim "brothers" wouldn't let them accept that, but they should especially blame Arafat above all for keeping them in the squalor.
Posted by: Jen   2004-04-23 5:51:55 AM  

#12  Jordan was supposed to be the Palestinian homeland. But Arafat's boys started causing trouble for the Hashimites, so they kicked them out. Yes, Muslims kicking out Muslims. So much for that much vaunted solidarity.

Who they really should blame is their Arab brothers for putting them in this mess in the first place.
Posted by: Ben   2004-04-23 5:47:20 AM  

#11  Dirbash, 46, insists on living in the Baqaa refugee camp outside Amman until she returns to her ancestral home.

And it's a good thing, too.

Domeh yearns for the 100 acres he says his family abandoned when they fled their village near Haifa in 1948. He thinks it must be worth $1 million today.

Bzzzzt! Claim dismissed ... He failed to include the mule.

But it's the principle that counts- "it's a question of rights," he said. "To be frank, I hate the Americans. I don't like them. Now my hatred has tripled. Before, I didn't like them because of their unfair policies. Now, it's about me; it's personal. It's my right. It's not just about my country," said Domeh.

Oooh! Tripled, now we're really in trouble!

And Israel is only one source of anger.

Wha ... there's someone else? You said I was the only one!

Posted by: Zenster   2004-04-23 4:28:00 AM  

#10   Lucky,while reading article I had a mental image of Israeli cabinet meeting,and someone asking how can we really p.o. the Arabs,and someone saying why don't we let them in,but first they have to become Jews.Thought it funny and wasted Fred's bandwidth by posting.
Seriouly tho,I am tired of the seething Arab street blaming their problems on everyone in the world except themselves.The cold truth is at any time after Israel's invasion of Lebanon,Arafat could have declared the West Bank was the nation of Palestine and his country would have been recognized by 90% of world and definitely by the UN.By now a decent Palestinian economy would be in place(w/no Infatada,Palestinians would still be working in Israel)and groundwork would be laid for a (re)union w/Jordan when current king dies.If Arafat had cracked down on terrorist groups,Jerusalem would probably be administered by UN until "status resolved",and Muslim Palestine would be tourist haven,w/Islamic tourists/pilgrims staying in Palestinian hostels/hotels/inns-not Israeli ones.Arafat threw it all away,because he wants Israel,not the West Bank.Arafat and the PLO plan to get Israel by either 1)killing so many Israelis the rest flee or 2)killing so many Israelis that Israel asks Arafat to join government as Palestinian PM of dual Israel/Palestine like old Austro-Hungarian Empire,and belief that Islamic birthrate will swamp Jewish,thus in generation or so creating Islamic Israel.Until the Palestinians decide to follow leaders who put the Palestinians first,and not political or personal ambition,they will continue to live in a quagmire.
Posted by: Stephen   2004-04-23 3:04:23 AM  

#9  Hopes for a return are strong even in Jordan, the one Arab country that has integrated its 1.7 million Palestinian refugees

Hahaha. Wotta joke. Jordan (Trans-Jordan) took over the east bank, where "Palestine" used to be. They weren't refugees. They were simply absorbed.
Posted by: Rafael   2004-04-23 2:19:11 AM  

#8  Barb, I can't help it. My real name is Michael Jackson, I'm about dancing, right there on the spot. I once told Paul, "I'm a lover not fighter".
Posted by: Lucky   2004-04-23 1:43:07 AM  

#7  Why, lucky? It's what the Arabs do. In fact, they want everyone in every country in the world to be Moslem, and are willing to kill for it to happen.

Anyway, it Sharon did say that, he wouldn't be serious. The Arabs aren't worthy of being Jews.
Posted by: Barbara Skolaut   2004-04-23 1:28:49 AM  

#6  I've got visions of Mr age 44 getting trampled by the car swarm at arrafats stain.

Thx Steve. It did take a few minutes to get that thought out.

Stephen has got issues man, chill. Peace. Hate crimes bro.
Posted by: Lucky   2004-04-23 1:22:17 AM  

#5   You want to see real seething Arab streets and massive frothing from the mullahs?Have Sharon announce any Palestinian can return and live in Israel,as long as he/she converts to Judaism. ;)
Posted by: Stephen   2004-04-23 1:10:27 AM  

#4  Great rant, Steve! Very on target.
Posted by: Barbara Skolaut   2004-04-23 12:59:24 AM  

#3   I wish , the intelectual, Mohommed, age 44, gets collateralated.

Collateralated? LOL! That's a word that deserves to end up in mil-speak! How 'bout it OS, OP, and Jarhead? Start spreading this one around!
Posted by: Steve White   2004-04-23 12:57:53 AM  

#2  You gotta love the title to the post. Never would have thought that would ya.

And you know what else. I wish , the intelectual, Mohommed, age 44, gets collateralated.
Posted by: Lucky   2004-04-23 12:46:04 AM  

#1  The fact that the UN has supported these camps since 1948 is criminal. Living on the dole is debilitating at best. It relieves people from the need to earn a living while removing their self-respect. Over long periods it fosters the creation of alternate realities and renders these people incapable of communicating with people who live in our world. I see absolutely no advantage to the US to continue to feed and fund these people.

We should tell Mubarek that if he wants to keep the annual $2B bribe from us, Egypt just became the proud owner of the Gaza Strip and its newly minted Egyptian citizens.
Posted by: RWV   2004-04-23 12:29:05 AM  

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