ANTI-SEMITISM?
ROOTS AND CHARACTERISTICS OF THE PROBLEM
THE ISRAELI PALESTINIAN CONFLICT
A JUST SOLUTION TO THE ISRAELI PALESTINIAN CONFLICT
FOOTNOTE
IS THE HOLOCAUST A MYTH?
ANTI-SEMITISM? Some readers have tried to attack me as 'anti-Semitic' for the views expressed on this page, but there is no tar on that brush. Nothing could be further from the truth. I have been on excellent terms with many people of Jewish ancestry throughout my life. I'll give some examples. I've had more than one Jewish girlfriend, my best friend in Jr. High School was Jewish, my second son is married to a Jewish woman, and my mother remarried a cultured Jewish businessman for whom I had great respect after she divorced my father. Also many of the great scientists such as Einstein and others too numerous to list that I admire most were of Jewish ancestry. I've both worked for Jews and had them work for me with no ethnic problems, and I've had and continue to have many good business and personal relations with persons of Jewish ancestry as I do with all races and ethnicities.
That being said however I do think that the anti scientific mythological aspects of the Jewish religion, as of all organized religions, are a dangerous mass delusion that should be actively opposed and ultimately peacefully destroyed with science, reason and public policy and education so as to eliminate it as a major source of the cultural conflict that endangers us all. Rather than being against people of Jewish ancestry this would actually free those who are still believers in anti scientific mythology from the cultural delusions and tribal mentality that adversely affects their lives. Only when the religious delusions of all religions and all over zealous ethnic and nationalistic identities are eliminated will it be possible for the peoples of the world to live in peace as one people.
Second, the very term 'anti-Semitic' is illogical and should be confined to the dustbin of history. Jews were only one of at least 23 Semitic cultures indigenous to the ancient Near East. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Semite. The fact is that much of the modern population of the Near East including many Arabs is likely to have at least some Semitic ancestry. In fact Jews are very likely a small minority of the people with Semitic ancestry in the world today! The use of the term Semite to describe a Jew arose in early European culture because at that time Jews were essentially the only peoples of Semitic ancestry to live among Europeans. So the term made some sense at the time given the limited European knowledge of other peoples but today the usage is obsolete and should simply be replaced with 'anti-Jewish' where appropriate. It is ironic that what was originally a highly derogatory term (Semite) invented and used by Europeans to describe Jews has now been adopted by Jews themselves as a sacred badge of cultural identity that one dare not challenge!
That being said there are certainly many today who are anti-Jewish. This is exacerbated in many cases by insular and in some cases arrogant (Jews as the 'chosen' people!) attitudes on the part of Jews themselves who would have had much less problems throughout history if they had simply merged into the local melting pot with other peoples rather than maintaining such an obvious and excessively tribal identity.
ROOTS AND CHARACTERISTICS OF THE PROBLEM: The emerging conflict between radical Islam and the West is the most serious political issue facing the world today. If radical Islam continues growing in strength to the point it gains control of major Muslim countries a world wide conflict may well be the eventual outcome. As usual this is a difference of cultures in which each tends to demonize the other. Ultimately a solution must depend on rationally re-educating both sides, and establishing mutually beneficial economies and cultural contacts in which the benefits accrue to the majority members of both societies.
First, labeling Islamic fundamentalism as terrorism or evil or 'bad guys' is counter-productive as it prevents the understanding of the complexities of its real nature and the reasons for its continuing growth. An accurate understanding is absolutely essential to dealing with it and influencing it to the benefit of both Islam and the West. It of course also further polarizes and antagonises Muslims whom the West must come to terms with if the world is to live in peace. There are real reasons for its resurgence, such as the lack of economic prosperity of many Muslims, even while the west and the rulers of many Arab countries grow wealthy from oil and other resources of their countries. Another reason is the establishment of the state of Israel on Palestinian lands, and the resulting displacement and wretched condition of the Palestinians, and the strong support of the West for Israel, especially that of the United States, including large amounts of advanced military technology used by the Israelis against fellow Muslims. In response more and more Muslims worldwide are turning back to a militaristic fundamentalism characteristic of the triumphal days of the initial spread of Islam. A wonderfully effective system of education in which many of the schools are under the control of religious leaders promulgating this interpretation of Islam has enabled it to flourish and grow exponentially. This educational effort is actually aided by the frequent exacerbating economic and military actions taken by the Western powers to the benefit of only a small segment of the population.
THE ISRAELI PALESTINIAN CONFLICT: The root of the Middle East problem and the rise of Islamic fundamentalism is the existence of the state of Israel which involved the seizure of the lands of the Palestinian arabs and their displacement into their current miserable situation for over half a century. This resulted in millions of Palestinians losing their ancestral lands and being forced to live in refugee camps in Lebanon, Jordan, and under oppressive Israeli control in Gaza and the West Bank. The US support for Israel given these circumstances is the major reason for the continuiing rise and power of Islamic fundamentalism and its opposition to the United States. Once the Palestinian problem is solved Islamic fundamentalism will lose its major recruiting tool and begin to wither, the world will become a much safer place, and if the US should actually initiate and enforce this change it will become a hero to the Islamic world. The threat of international terrorism will greatly decline and America will become much safer from the threat of terrorist attack.
A JUST SOLUTION TO THE ISRAELI PALESTINIAN CONFLICT: The following framework is required to provide a just solution. If Israel does not accept this solution on its own the US and the world should immediately withhold all aid and embargo Israel until it complies.
1) The Palestinians must immediately and unconditionally be given a viable state completely under the control of whatever elected government they may choose without interference. This state will consist of Gaza, the West Bank, and the lands connecting them (the Sinai). The capital of this state will be East Jerusalem.
2) All Palestinians who lost land and property will be fully compensated for their loss. This compensation may involve gifts of land in the new Palestine, monetary compensation (US aid to Israel could be diverted to this purpose) or compensation by Israel and Jews who have profited from the seizure of lands that belonged to Palestinians. This compensation will be such as to be agreed on by the recipients who then agree in writing and swear on the Quran to have no more claims against Israel and agree to a personal peace and acceptance of the existence of Israel.
3) The US and UN will then guarantee the security and soverignty of both the state of Israel and that of Palestine on an equal basis. No incursions in either direction will be tolerated without punitive military action by the US and UN. US and UN troops will manage all checkpoints between the two countries. This should solve most of the problems and provide the basis for a long term healing process. There will undoubtedly be some diminishing cross-border attacks but these will be treated as criminal matters rather than inter-state conflicts.
FOOTNOTE: After I wrote this it was brought to my attention that much the same conditions were imposed on Israel by the UN in its terms for admission of Israel as a member:
Few people know that Israel is the only state to be given a conditional admission. Under General Assembly Resolution 273, Israel was admitted on the condition that it grant all Palestinians the right to return to their homes and receive compensation for lost or damaged property, according to General Assembly Resolution 194, paragraph 11. Suffice to say, Israel has never lived up to these terms, and never intended to. UNGA Resolution 273-May 11, 1949
Of course, the immediate post-war world was a different time. The world had just witnessed the horrors of Hitler's racist excesses, and collective Western guilt for the Holocaust dictated attitudes toward the idea of Jewish state. Even the UN could not withstand the moral pressure.
On Nov. 29, 1947, it passed General Assembly Resolution 181, "The Partition Plan," to carve a Jewish state out of Arab Palestine. However, it was never ratified by the Security Council, and so does not exist in law, which means the UN played no role in the creation of Israel. Nevertheless, "The Partition Plan" was utterly illegal and a violation of the UN Charter, because the UN had no right or power to take land from one people and give it to another.
"For 60 years Israel has violated its terms of admission, and for 60 years the UN has done nothing about it. It has watched as Israel heaped misery upon misery on Palestine, and violated international law with impunity."-Ban Ki-Moon. Because Israel is in violation of its terms of admission, it is not a member in good standing, so the UN has every right to declare General Assembly Resolution 273 null and void. Since Israel's membership depends on adherence to that resolution, its expulsion is automatic."
IS THE HOLOCAUST A MYTH? There are two meanings of the word 'myth'. That large numbers of Jews were killed is not a myth in the sense that there is plenty of objective evidence for that. But the holocaust is certainly a myth in the sense of being raised to irrational mythic proportions and perpetuated interminably by Zionists and their supporters to reinforce the myth that Jews are always the eternal victims and so can do no wrong even as they oppress the Palestinians.
The problem is that 'holocaust denial' label is not always rationally applied. It often becomes a label prejudicially applied to anyone who dares question any detail of the standard PC account of the holocaust or dare question the actual number of Jews that were killed, the specific conditions etc. etc. Thus even those who dare conduct factual science based research into the actual numbers and conditions etc. and come up with results around 4 million rather than 6 million are viciously attacked as 'holocaust deniers' as if 4 million killed Jews wouldn't constitute a holocaust! The problem is that it is a very touchy emotional subject rather than a subject for objective research.
I'm somewhat sympathetic to those who criticize holocaust researchers. Frankly I have no idea of how many Jews died in the holocaust and the exact number is really irrelevant. Whatever the number it was too many. However it is important that people study such things. The ideal of science is to study everything and find the truth about everything in every last detail, so it is good that at least someone is objectively and scientifically working all issues.
As to publishing study after study, if the prevailing facts are wrong that is precisely what needs to be done. It is not the motivation that is important but the accuracy of the results don't you think?
The process of science is precisely that, to continually propose conflicting ideas and theories in the marketplace of science and hope that the correct one wins out irrespective of PC or conventional prejudices. The attempts to censor that process based on political agendas strikes a blow at the heart of science and must be discouraged and rejected.
I have no personal research interest in the exact number that were killed, but that is not to denigrate those who have different research interests. Perhaps a research interest of mine would be why some would want to research why others would want to research holocaust numbers! :-)