Judaism - Israel - Palestine - All Eleven Parts Together (Warning - Very Long) (Graphics didn't Copy Over)

 

As I begin this writing, MSNBC’s (muted) screen says:


Trump, What’s Happening to Me is a Form of Navalny (or similar)

That, perhaps is a metaphor for this writing!   A Most Privileged white man, who sees himself as “THE Victim”.   This man lives in fear – manipulated and bullied by his father.   His Sadism and Narcissism – and its Impact upon so many others reflects – both his Incredible Privilege, as well as Anger and Hatred – arising out of his fears, most of which I know little or nothing about.  (5:35 a.m. – Wednesday, February 21, 2024)

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Judaism, My Judaism – its impact upon me is, I hope, an interesting story.   This is a personal story.   You, the reader, can jump ahead and learn more about me at any time if you go to Part I – of this writing – where I began writing – at:  Judaism-Israel-Palestine: Part I – at: https://www.georgemarx.org/2024/01/judaism-israel-palestine-part-i.html or https://www.georgemarx.org/2024/01/judaism-israel-palestine-part-i.html .

As with some of my writings, up at 3:30 a.m. – on my exercise bike at about 4:45 a.m. (after stretching, putting the dishes away and more) – I knew – it was time to write what I had just thought of.

I am deeply grieving!   I am also very angry!   In the short-term I am very pessimistic.   I am deeply committed – seeking meaning.   I am Curious.

I hope that two specific women will be curious.   This story is Not about them.   

In 1987 – while living in Madison, Wisconsin, I went to hear Louis Farrakhan - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Louis_Farrakhan - speak at The University of Wisconsin – Madison.  

Ethically – Morally – I would Never have paid an admission charge to attend.   I was curious!  I wanted to better understand his Anti-Semitism and his Charisma.   He will turn 90 five days before my 73rd birthday almost three months from now.  

I’m glad I heard him speak!   I learned – from him!   My respect for him was less, after I understood more.

I hope that the aforementioned women – who are both – white and Jewish will read – this prologue – and perhaps, faintly perhaps – be curious to read more of my writings – on this difficult subject.   The third relevant woman is also Jewish.  

My partner converted to Judaism over 30 years ago – totally voluntarily.  She is Black, Female and Queer Identified.  

Being Jewish is very, very different for.   She is different because she is a Jew By Choice.   She is different because she is.    Additionally – being Queer Identified makes her Significantly Different.  

These Differences – reflect - Our Privilege and the Complexities of Living as a Jew who isn’t white and who isn’t Cis/Het!  This is in addition to the Anti-Semitism and of course Sexism that all three women face.

There are also three Men in my story:  my father, my brother, and myself – also all Jewish.

My father (Menachem) Imanuel Marx was born in Berlin, Germany on June 29th, 1918.  His father, Moses Marx, emigrated after being recruited to Cincinnati – as the Chief Cataloger at Hebrew Union College in 1926.  The three boys and my grandmother followed a year later.   

I was named after my great-grandfather.   He sold his bank to Deutsche Bank in 1904 – he was wealthy!   The family’s wealth went away with the extreme inflation in Germany after World War I.   We, were, however a privileged family!    My grandfather’s second oldest brother Alexander Marx (mentioned below) emigrated to NYC in 1903 upon completing his PHD at The University of Koenigsberg.   He was the chief librarian and a history professor at The Jewish Theological Seminary.   When my father was born – in 1918 – there was no mail service between Germany and The U.S. due to World War I.   I saw correspondence at the JTS some decades ago – from Berlin to a relative in Switzerland (neutral during The War) to my great-uncle in NYC.



28. ”North German Credit Institute” founded by George Marx

 

The Jews of Königsberg at the turn of the 20th century

Marx - A successful banker

Bаnking family

Even the “North German Credit Institute” founded by the banker George Marx in 1897 (he came from Cologne) was in reality a family business, because several of the twelve children as well as other relatives worked at the bank, which opened many branches in the province of East Prussia.




24. Children of the family of Gertrud und George Marx 1892

https://jewsineastprussia.de/catalog-konigsberg-05/

My grandfather is in the lower left corner of this picture.   I believe that directly next to him is:  Esther (nee Marx) Agnon.

Shmuel Yosef Agnon (Hebrewשמואל יוסף עגנון; August 8, 1887[1] – February 17, 1970)[2] was an Austro-Hungarian-born Israeli novelist, poet, and short-story writer. He was one of the central figures of modern Hebrew literature. In Hebrew, he is known by the acronym Shai Agnon (ש"י עגנון‎). In English, his works are published under the name S. Y. Agnon. … In 1913, Agnon moved to Germany, where he met Esther Marx (1889-1973), the sister of Alexander Marx.[5] They married in 1920 and had two children.   …  In 1966, he was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature "for his profoundly characteristic narrative art with motifs from the life of the Jewish people".[17]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shmuel_Yosef_Agnon

My father’s cancer was amazingly in remission during 1962-3 – when we lived in Zurich (he was studying – while on sabbatical).   We saw many relatives he had not seen since 1927 – including Shai Agnon.

Imanuel Marx died on Friday, November 13, 1964 – when I was 13 years old in St. Elizabeth’s Hospital in Lafayette, Indiana.   He “chose” when to die.  It was roughly 18 hours after he taught his last class at Purdue University – the only time he was in a hospital – during the last six months of his life.  He weighed about 85 pounds when he let go!

My brother – has been hospitalized because of his severe mental illness for the past 12 or 13 days.   My brother’s life has been Very Challenging!   Until very recently, he repeatedly told me of how happy he is with his life.   I believed him!   He is Chasidic – very Orthodox Jewish.   My cousins – and their close relatives – are his “lifeline”.

For most of my life, I have lived in fear!   Depression – was at least my “middle name” – most of the time.   I am no longer stuck in fear on many levels!

I “escaped” – starting in November, 2018.   Each month and year since then have been increasingly amazing!

Life is meaningful now!   Life is challenging, but not difficult.   I have significant medical issues.  I’m otherwise – very healthy – and am physically very strong!

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I have been very fortunate!   My privilege – has certainly helped!  I seek meaning – in my life!   Meaning – includes experiencing physical and emotional pain – when not overwhelming.   Meaning – includes – experiencing my feelings deeply.    My heart and spirit – are most important now!

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As a Jew  – my traumas have gotten in my way:

1.    On an individual/personal level – Three neighbors -  boys who were two years older than me – bullied me.  I would have never thought of talking about the bullying with anyone.  My parents – taught me – “learn, learn, learn” – and learning was – factual and intellectual – not emotional.  (note: being male didn’t help!)

2.    The Holocaust – was still deeply within me – and I can/will never forget (about) it.   We traveled on trains that passed through Germany.   We never stopped in Germany.

3.    I have also been traumatized – by at least 2000 virulent Anti-Semitism.  (Thankfully – unlike one of the aforementioned women, at least, I didn’t experience it profoundly at West Lafayette High School.)

As Jews – I think it particularly important that we heal as significantly  as we can from our traumas.   For most of us – they include: 

1.    Anti-Semitism – we have experienced,

2.    The Holocaust

3.    Ancestral Anti-Semitism.

Many, if not most of us - Upper-Middle Class – white Jews – particularly – those who aren’t relatively young - have grown up with Zionism – embedded – deeply within us!

I remember Exodus – Leon Uris - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Exodus_(Uris_novel) – which deeply moved me for close to 20 years!   I remember arriving at Haifa on a Zim passenger boat from Naples on Passover-Eve in 1963.  It was amazing – for me – to be in a Jewish country.

Being Jewish – we have a Deep, Deep Divide – between many of us today!

My two – aforementioned Jewish Friends – one from childhood, and the other – from my recent days in Chicago, are very different from me – in one important way!

For all of us – Our Judaism is very important!   They, at least, are highly intelligent.   They have done many incredible things during their lives.

They are Zionists.   I am not!

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When one questions – Israel – and Zionism – within our Jewish Community – on a personal level – it deeply affects us – in HUGE ways!

To move beyond the current limits, progressives must embrace a more principled politics, one that begins by recognizing the fundamental humanity of Palestinians. (p.155)

https://www.georgemarx.org/2021/05/progressives-palestine-book-review.html

I strongly believe that when we – question – Israel and Zionism – more than extremely, extremely superficially – we:

1.    Clash – with our – Trauma – as Jews, and perhaps more importantly,

2.    Literally – face – “Excommunication” – from our Jewish Community – our Jewish friends – our Temple/Synagogue – where we are observant,

3.    Generally – we get little, if any, support from others we are in community with - who are not Jewish.

I hope that fellow Jews – will be curious.   It is Naïve – and Not Helpful to expect that other Jews – who strongly disagree with me here – will agree with Most of what I say in the remainder of this set of writings.

For my partner – who is less privileged than most other Jews that I know, this is much, much more than a hope.   She pays a Steep Price – that I don’t Face – related to being a combination of: Black and Queer Identified.

I can see – the Puzzlement – some of you may have!   I hope that you are (still) curious!

I live in a world of fear!   Hatred comes out of that Fear!   Anti-Semitism is real and dangerous!  

“Jews will not replace us!” This was one of the rallying cries of the white supremacists who converged on Charlottesville, VA in August 2017. 

https://www.adl.org/racists-converge-charlottesville

Some Jewish students have justifiable fear – related to Anti-Semitism!  I wish to distinguish between two very different sets of fears that many of them have.  

1.    When People are murdered in the United States – which has happened in multiple Jewish settings, this is Anti-Semitism.

2.    When one’s daughter or granddaughter – sees a room filled with people wearing a keffiyeh – the fear is real.

3.    When one hears the words: “From the River to the Sea” -  

The Fear is Real.

The issues of “impact” and “intent” are important!   When I say to another person: “I understand what you mean” – my intention may be my relationship (or perceived relationship) with you – and connection.   If you hear me saying: “What you said was Obvious, so why did you say it?” – the impact of my words was far different from my intent.

I doubt that many of us who are Jewish would believe that my wearing of my yarmulka/kippah (actually Iranian hat- given to me circa 1960


Or other fellow Jews – wearing a more traditional one could be perceived as threatening.  It could similarly!

I would Never advise anyone to ignore their fears!   I would also suggest that absent – clearly more substantial – significant evidence – Not accusing – others – of showing their Anti-Semitism by such actions.

As was eloquently said by a visiting professor at Harvard (from Dartmouth) – that getting triggered is a common occurrence for college students today.  He noted that many of his Black Students – came to him at times telling him that they were triggered virtually on a daily basis by statements of fellow white students.

I learn a lot from my curiosity!   Some of it is factual.  More of it is deeper – heart-felt images.

I was curious about Hamas.  I read an incredible book about Hamas.  You can read my review at: 

https://www.georgemarx.org/2024/02/hamas-contained-tareq-baconis-excellent.html

or:

https://medium.com/@marxgeo/hamas-contained-tareq-baconi-s-excellent-book-94cc04640a1f .

I find Hamas – more understandable – now!   Reading the book did NOT make me into a Supporter of Hamas!

You should read what you desire to read!   I would recommend that Most People – especially fellow Jews might want to read a bestseller:

James McBride’s: “The Heaven and Earth Grocery Store” – my review is at:

https://medium.com/@marxgeo/the-heaven-earth-grocery-store-unbelievably-excellent-f52db2b1eb19

or

https://www.georgemarx.org/2023/09/the-heaven-earth-grocery-store.html

I’m pretty sure one of my two aforementioned friends read this book upon my recommendation and loved it!  It’s (in my opinion) the best novel I’ve ever read.

We don’t need to agree!   I hope that this writing will be meaningful to readers who are Jewish as well as others who aren’t Jewish!

The remainder of my writings in this series (not fully completed as I complete this now) – focus more specifically upon Israel and Palestine and in the latter parts especially about Gaza.   I would alert – some – that they could be triggered by some of the quotes – and perhaps by some of my expressed views!     When I worked this morning as a clinic escort in Concord, California and when I work at Planned Parenthood’s San Francisco Office tomorrow morning – being male – in heavily female space – may make me feel – “out of ‘my’ place” and mildly uncomfortable.   This is good for me!   - MERJ – Men for Equity and Reproductive Justice (www.JoinMERJ.org) – came out of my discomfort – as a privileged, upper-middle-class, cis-hettish, Autistic – white Jew!

Thanks!

The latter two specific examples are situations where the INTENT of the “other” and the IMPACT upon you or your daughter may be very different!

To label the latter two examples as:

“Anti-Semitic” – without clear – other – evidence – to me is premature.

IF – my words above are triggering – I’m sorry that they are triggering!   I hope that you will look within yourself at why they are triggering.  I hope that IF your trauma is Deep in these moments – you will look mor deeply at it.

In saying this, this is rarely something that one can do alone – as a single individual!   It takes time.  It takes effort.  It takes others – who will listen and share with you.

PROLOGUE -

https://www.georgemarx.org/2024/02/im-jewish-im-privileged-prologue-to.html

1.   Part I - 

https://www.georgemarx.org/2024/01/judaism-israel-palestine-part-i.html

2.   Part II -

https://www.georgemarx.org/2024/01/judaism-israel-palestine-part-ii.html

3.   Part III -

https://www.georgemarx.org/2024/01/judaism-israel-palestine-part-iii.html

4.   Part IV - 

https://www.georgemarx.org/2024/01/judaism-israel-palestine-part-iv.html

5.   Part V - 

https://www.georgemarx.org/2024/02/judaism-israel-palestine-part-v.html

6.   Part VI - 

https://www.georgemarx.org/2024/02/judaism-israel-palestine-part-vi.html

7.   Part VII - 

https://www.georgemarx.org/2024/02/judaism-israel-palestine-part-vii.html

8.   Part VIII - 

https://www.georgemarx.org/2024/02/judaism-israel-palestine-part-viii.html

9.   Part IX  - https://www.georgemarx.org/2024/02/judaism-israel-palestine-part-ix.html

10. Part X - Conclusions - 

https://www.georgemarx.org/2024/03/judaism-israel-palestine-conclusions.html


 

Link to Prologue

https://www.georgemarx.org/2024/02/im-jewish-im-privileged-prologue-to.html

Being Jewish is a major part of my identity.   While I am also:  white, male, cis-hetish, upper-middle class, autistic, eclectic-radical politically, 72 ½ years old, 32 inch waistline (down significantly through diet primarily recently), 5’ 9 1/2” tall (down from 5’10), have two stents coping with a formerly nearly 100% blocked artery, fatty liver, have recently become (hopefully no longer) almost diabetic, in incredibly good physical shape,

my Jewish Identity is quite important to me.   


Moses Marx, my grandfather, lower left corner and

his siblings - 1893 - Koenigsberg, Germany

I’m not “religious-religious”.  I’m Never ashamed of being Jewish.  Although I’ve experienced Anti-Semitism, it’s not been a frequent occurrence, nor has it deeply affected me.

Some years ago my partner and I were enjoying ourselves at an (outdoors) bar on an island perhaps 50 miles from Seattle.  My spouse and the bartender were chatting about a local women’s used apparel and/or consignment store.  She told B that they had some nice things there.   Then she said:

“You don’t need to accept the asking prices.   You can Jew her down”.

We both were stunned – gut punched.   We asked for the bill and left the bar within two minutes.

The bartender probably never knew that anything was wrong.  Her words likely weren’t intended to be Anti-Semitic.    Anti-Semitism though relates to the impact of the spoken words, not the intentions of the speaker.

Many years ago, my step-father, an engineer, worked in Northern Alabama.  His boss told a “Catholic joke”.   The boss then realized that while he knew all the long-term fellow employees were Protestant,  he didn’t know Ira’s religion.    He said something like:

“Ira, you’re not Catholic are you?”  - Ira, shook his head and calmly said:

“No”. 

The boss relaxed for a brief period of time, and then then thought to question Ira again saying something like:

“What religion are you?”

Ira replied:

“Jewish”.

There was then a long silence.   Clearly, being Jewish was “not okay”.

White nationalists chanting: “The Jews will not replace us” is quite threatening evidence of Anti-Semitism.  Their common possession of weapons intended to kill multiple people relates significantly to our fears. Shootings at Jewish synagogues and temples are threatening.   Defacing of Jewish houses of workshop is further evidence of Anti-Semitic behavior.

Anti-Semitism is also evident with words like: “The Jews own the world” or “Jewish Bankers have all the power”.   Hearing such words, one can be triggered, obviously.   In such cases it is helpful to listen and pay attention to the other words of the speaker(s).  The words themselves are probably not “threatening”.

1918

Israel is a country.  While Israel’s identity is heavily tied to Judaism, it is not a word one should “equate” with the Jewish religion.   Close to a fifth of Israeli citizens are not Jews.  

Israel does not allow marriages between individuals of different religions.   Where a Jewish or Islamic citizen wishes to, for example, marry a Roman Catholic individual, they, of necessity, go to Cyprus, or Europe or elsewhere to wed.   They can then return to Israel as a married couple.

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The Zionist Movement began in the late 19th century.  Prior to then, a discussion about “Israel” would have referred to the ancient land that had ceased to be when Jews were exiled after being defeated by the army of the Roman Empire.  This was well before the expansion and  colonizing of empires such as the Ottoman/Turkish British, and Portuguese empires.  Until then end of World War I, Palestine was a part of the Ottoman/Turkish Empire where Islam was the state religion.

A significant statement in the expansion of the Zionist Movement camee when Lord Balfour, the British Foreign Secretary issued a significant statement that is referred to as The Balfour Declaration.

Foreign Office
November 2nd, 1917

Dear Lord Rothschild,

I have much pleasure in conveying to you. on behalf of His Majesty's Government, the following declaration of sympathy with Jewish Zionist aspirations which has been submitted to, and approved by, the Cabinet

His Majesty's Government view with favour the establishment in Palestine of a national home for the Jewish people, and will use their best endeavors to facilitate the achievement of this object, it being clearly understood that nothing shall be done which may prejudice the civil and religious rights of existing non-Jewish communities in Palestine or the rights and political status enjoyed by Jews in any other country.

I should be grateful if you would bring this declaration to the knowledge of the Zionist Federation.

Yours,

Arthur James Balfour

https://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/text-of-the-balfour-declaration).

Another summary of promises made to Jews and the Native Paletinian population includes:

§  1915 McMahon-Hussein correspondence – Britain offered Sharif Hussein of Mecca support for an Arab State including Palestine

§  1916 Sykes-Picot Agreement – Britain, France and Russia made a secret agreement to divide up the Middle East between them

§  1917 Balfour Declaration – Britain, in promising support for a Jewish homeland in Palestine also promised to safeguard the rights of the Arab population

§  1918 Anglo-French Declaration – Britain and France promised independence to the former subjects of the Ottoman Turks, including Palestine

§  1922 Palestine Mandate – In Article 22 Britain promised the League of Nations that it would prepare Palestine for independence, but failed to do so.

§  1939 White Paper – Jewish opinion condemned the White Paper as a retreat from the promise in the Balfour Declaration to create a Jewish National Home.

§  1948 Mandate Surrendered  – Britain abandoned its pledge to protect Palestinian rights by withdrawing its forces leading to 750,000 Palestinians becoming refugees, 250 -300,000 before the British left.

https://balfourproject.org/the-contradictory-promises/

Jews, Christians, and people with other religions were treated unequally in a sense from the Moslems of Palestine within the pre-1918 Ottoman Empire.    They were largely “left alone”.   Most of the Jews of Palestine were very religious.   They mostly lived proximate to Jewish holy sites.

The Jews of Palestine were hardly a local political force.  They lived a relatively primitive (economically) existence. 

The other residents of Palestine prior to the end of World War I included native Moslem, Russian/Greek Orthodox, Roman Catholic, Druze and other people.    A significant majority of these people had no “home country” outside of Palestine.  Their families had lived in Palestine for at least hundreds of years.

A large number of these people lived in small towns and rural areas, tending animals and farming the land.   Within their world(s), a “Nation-State” did not exist.   Lands were often communal or rented from non-resident (wealthy) landlords.

Within each religion which has ties to Palestine, there are local holy sites.   The site of the (Jewish) “Wailing Wall” is directly adjacent to two mosques that are extremely important to Moslems of multiple sects.   Roman Catholicism has holy sites in Bethlehem, Jerusalem, and Nazareth.   Nablus contains sites holy to Muslims and Jews.

Behind the idea of the establishment of a Jewish State in Palestine were often a combination of Jews, as well as Western Europeans of wealth/ power.   Some of the powerful leadership of Western Europe resented the educated/ middle-class local Jewish citizens, and saw Palestine as a convenient opportunity to rid themselves of Jews.   Their Anti-Semitism was self-evident.

The Russian Revolution of 1917 and the intersection of “Communism”,  “counter-revolutionaries”, and Jews - with significant Anti-Semitism further complicated things.

Palestine and adjacent areas had native Palestinian and/or Arab people and/or Moslem people.   These people had relatively little influence in Europe.  The wealthy elites of Palestine such as the Husseini Family often competed more with the other notable families, rather than building allegiances in Europe.  The elite Jews or Europe such as Rothschild had far more influence than the notables of Palestine.

Additionally, Egypt and Iran were distinct from the Palestinian People in important ways.   The Iranians are not “Arabs” and their native language is often Farsi, not Arabic.   Egypt is part of Africa.  While it is adjacent to Palestine, it is the northeastern part of a different continent.

Rashid Khalidi - a Palestinian American Historian - an Esteemed Scholar - Professor - and a prolific writer far more effectively stated:

All of these profound material shocks heightened the impact of the wrenching postwar political changes, which obliged people to rethink long-standing senses of identity.  By the end of the fighting, people in Palestine and in much of the Arab world found themselves under occupation by European armies.  After four hundred years, they were confronted by the disconcerting prospect of alien rule an the swift disappearance of Ottoman control, which had been the only system of government known for over twenty generations.  It was in the midst of this great trauma, as one era ended and another began, against a grim background of suffering, loss, and deprivation, that Palestinians learned, in a fragmentary fashion, of the Balfour Declaration.

( The Hundred Years' War on PALESTINE: A History of Settler Colonialism and Resistance, 1917-2017 - Rashid Khalidi, page 23 )

·       

Part II of this writing will continue discussing the period beginning with 1918.

https://www.georgemarx.org/2024/01/judaism-israel-palestine-part-ii.html

Part III

https://www.georgemarx.org/2024/01/judaism-israel-palestine-part-iii.html

Part IV

https://www.georgemarx.org/2024/01/judaism-israel-palestine-part-iv.html

Part V

https://www.georgemarx.org/2024/02/judaism-israel-palestine-part-v.html

Part VI

https://www.georgemarx.org/2024/02/judaism-israel-palestine-part-vi.html

Part VII

https://www.georgemarx.org/2024/02/judaism-israel-palestine-part-vii.html

Part VIII

https://www.georgemarx.org/2024/02/judaism-israel-palestine-part-viii.html

Part IX

https://www.georgemarx.org/2024/02/judaism-israel-palestine-part-ix.html

Conclusions

https://www.georgemarx.org/2024/03/judaism-israel-palestine-conclusions.html


 

Part I - This is Part II

https://www.georgemarx.org/2024/01/judaism-israel-palestine-part-i.html

ONE SIDE OF THINGS:   There are many Arab countries.   Prior to the creation of The State of Israel there was not a single Jewish country.   The Holocaust proved the reality that Jews needed and continue to need a Jewish state.  Israel is the ancestral home of Judaism.  It is the logical place for a Jewish home.



Israel has been defending itself from Arab attacks going back at least to the 1920’s.   The Jewish leaders in Palestine and then in Israel have sought peace and have acted lawfully from the beginning.   When the British were leaving Palestine, The Arabs were offered their own independent state.  They reacted by attacking the much weaker Jewish forces who heroically won The War of Independence, establishing the only democratic state in the Middle East.    Non-Jews in Israel have freedom of religion and are treated entirely fairly.

Israel has made many efforts to have a just peace with the Arabs who live in the Jewish lands which since 1967 have justly belonged to Israel.   Jerusalem is our holy city and only we can be trusted to safely protect the sacred sites of The Old City.   We respect the rights of the Moslems, Christians and other religions who have sacred sites (also) in Jerusalem.

The Palestinians have repeatedly refused to acknowledge the rights of Israel to exist.   At Oslo and at other times a just peace has been offered, and rejected.   We can not safely do more than protecting ourselves against internal and external aggression against us because we Jews continue to be persecuted.

On October 7, 2023 radical militant terrorists from Hamas attacked innocent civilians and killed over 1200 of them.   Many were raping and otherwise abusing women and cruelly murdering of many innocent children.

Israel will not be safe until Hamas is wiped out.   In The United States and elsewhere Jews are threatened by Palestinians, Muslims, and leftist radicals who continue to blame us, while oppression continues in other countries, totally minimized.  

Anti-Semitism persists and we are doing our best to combat it.   “From the River to the Sea” – are words from the original Hamas Charter and continue to call for the extermination of all Jews in Israel.

Pause for a moment please!

ANOTHER PERSPECTIVE:

“In March 1919,on the eve of the post World War I Paris Peace Conference, ‘Julius Kahn, the German-born Jewish congressman from San Francisco, delivered to President Wilson “A Statement to the Peace Conference” endorsed by 299 Jews.  …[T]he document denounced the Zionists for attempting to segregate Jews and to reverse the historical trend toward emancipation.’  Its signers ‘objected to the creation of a distinctly Jewish state in Palestine’ not only because they feared it would jeopardize the status of Jews like themselves in the home countries, but because they found it ‘contrary “to the principles of democracy’ to elevate Jewish immigrants over Palestine’s Muslim and Christian native inhabitants.  They explicitly denied ‘the existence of ethnic ties among Jews’ and ‘asserted their wish not to see Palestine “either now or at any time in the future’ become a Jewish state.’  They petitioned instead for Palestine to be ‘made into an independent , free, and democratic state that would not recognize any distinctions of creed, race, or ethnic descent among its citizens.’ “ (18) (p. xii) - https://www.georgemarx.org/2021/06/reclaiming-judaism-from-zionism.html

A key issue exists related to contrasting the initial basic perspective(s) with the 1919 petition quoted above.   Who does the land of Israel, The West Bank and Gaza – basically former “Palestine” – “belong to”?




Many Jews and a significant number of “Pro-Zionist Christians” believe in a “biblical / historical” view of “Israel” – as “The Land of The Jews”.  For the Jews believing this, the destruction of the Second Temple – exiled “the residents” of Israel and their return is preordained.  

Other scholarly, religious “believers” feel that “the time has not yet come for a state and that exile or living in a Non-Jewish State is the right path.

Among a significant number of Evangelical Christians Israel is pre-ordained in the bible.    They, however, believe that when Jesus is resurrected, those who have not take Jesus Christ as their savior will be doomed to burning in hell – basically – as true Christians are the only surviving humans.   It should be noted that such beliefs seemingly condemn:   Buddhists, Hindi, Moslems, Atheists, Agnostics, and others besides (of course) Jews (excluding “Messianic Jews” [aka “Jews for li

A slightly different narrative relates to (what I would call clear Anti-Semitism) wishing for a Jewish state – being Israel – so one’s native Jewish population will largely, if not totally, leave one’s country for Israel.  

A noted part of the Jewish citizens of Germany, France, and England were educated and/or upper-middle class to wealthy.   My paternal great-grandfather (who I was named after – and whose children are pictured near the beginning of Part I of this writing) made his first fortune buying Prussian War Bonds for the Franco-Prussian War of 1870.   When the highly “favored” France, lost the War, the bonds value skyrocketed.   He then owned his own bank in Koenigsberg, in extreme Eastern Prussia (now in an independent Soviet republic).   He sold his bank to Deutsche Bank in 1904.   His second oldest son got his Phd at The University of Koenigsberg in 1903.   Alexander Marx was immediately recruited from Koenigsberg to NYC – to The Jewish Theological Seminary (near Columbia University) as the chief librarian and history professor where he remained into retirement/death.

Some Jews were “competitors” for university faculty jobs, as the owners of department stores, as physicians and similar.   Following The Treaty of Versailles in 1919, Germany (with its required war reparations), was forced to print more and more money, causing massive inflation.

Other European countries were economically depressed over the 1920s, and “exporting Jews” to Palestine was appealing – Anti-Semitism heavily connected.

Other people, particularly following World War II, as the Holocaust became visible to them, both didn’t want Jews coming to their own countries, and in some cases felt compassion for survivors of The Holocaust.

Jews in the mid-to-late 1940’s in The United States and Canada often had a combination of views in support of the creation of The State of Israel.   Some were angry at what they saw as a coverup of the genocide.   They felt that the warning signs of the Holocaust were hidden from them.  

Others may have felt guilt and shame that they had not “done enough” to try to prevent the Holocaust.   They may have had “survivors’ guilt” related to how their relatives had perished, while they’d been safe in their relatively recent home countries.

Many survivors of concentration camps and soldiers who witnessed places like Dachau – were so traumatized – that they were silent – smothered in their deep feelings.



Part III 

https://www.georgemarx.org/2024/01/judaism-israel-palestine-part-iii.html


 

Part II - This is Part III

https://www.georgemarx.org/2024/01/judaism-israel-palestine-part-ii.html

I am a white, USian Jew, whose family left Germany, Russia and Poland before the rise of Hitler in the 20th century.

There are deeply contrasting narratives related to Israel and Zionism.   It is can be challenging, if not totally impossible, to contend with and be Heard when putting forth the perspective that the Jews are not “owed” Israel because its Jewish biblical history.

Personally, by itself, I find this perspective troubling.  For fellow USians, how do we address Native People in “our country”???

Seriously think about the logic of stating that The United States should be “The Confederation of Native Tribes”.   Those of us who are not accepted as tribal members (the vast majority of U.S. citizens) are citizens (of course), however because we are a Tribal based Nation, we, in reality, own less and less of this country, as Native Citizens reclaim their lands.

Such a concept – would seem absurd and impossible to most, if not all, of us.   We don’t see it as absurd, however, that Israel is a “Jewish Nation”, and that its Palestinian citizens lack various significant rights, such as the rights to enlarge their houses, as well as the rights to live/own in much of Israel.   A Palestinian citizen of Israel effectively can not rent an apartment or house in much of Israel, because the Jewish owner will not rent or sell to them.    This is 100% legal!

Looking at how modern Israel came to be is interesting.

1.   The Jews of Russia and Eastern Europe faced pogroms, other forms of extreme Anti-Semitism, and more,

2.   Do the Jewish People “deserve” a “homeland”?

3.   If so, was/is Palestine their “logical” home? 

4.   Should Israel be a “religious” state welcoming any/all Jews as “automatic” citizens (if they choose to emigrate)?

5.   If Israel should be a religious state, What about the Palestinian People?

Historically, I look at:

1.   Palestine

2.   The United States (as well as Canada perhaps)

3.   Most of Africa, Asia and Latin America

4.   Western and Eastern Europe and Russia.

The key questions I would look at relate to Palestine and how Israel is in relation to the other three areas noted above.

The land of the U.S. and its territories has been stolen from its Native Peoples.   We have violated virtually all, if not all, treaties.   We have never apologized for our appropriation, acknowledged it, nor have we even begun to repair the harm caused.

In much of the remainder of the world (besides Europe and Russia), the patterns have been similar.   Enslavement, extraction of natural resources and other exploitation existed and often still exists.

Wealthy and powerful white people are exploiting BIPOC in the U.S.  The powerful are also often using their less powerful brethren as the “enforcers”.   Poor white people were the strongest supporters of pre-1865 U.S. slavery.     Less powerful white people continue to support racist messages.   They are allies of the wealthy who spew messages of fear.   Christianity is often weaponized.

--

Russia, Europe and Palestine are interesting and often different.  Russia had oppressive leadership prior to 1917.   Anti-Semitism pitted much of the blame on Jews for the oppression.   Eastern Europe also had discrimination and exploitation of its Jews.

Western European Jews had both similarities and differences.   My paternal grandfather sold his bank to Deutsche Bank in 1904.   His second oldest son received his PhD from The University of Koenigsberg in 1903.  He was immediately recruited to NYC by The Jewish Theological Seminary.   In 1926 my grandfather Moses Marx was recruited from Berlin to Cincinnati to become the Chief Cataloger at Hebrew Union College’s library.

It is also true that other Western European well-educated Jews were limited by Anti-Semitism.   Elite U.S. universities had quotas to limit their percentages of Jewish students.  Their faculties were mainly the white, male Protestant elite.

After World War I tiny U.S. Government quotas stopped the influx of non-wealthy immigrants from Europe and elsewhere.

Prior to World War I, the U.S. was often a haven for other (white) immigrants.  The Irish had been poor, and had better opportunities in the U.S. starting with the great Potato Famine.   Sicilians were the “throw-aways” for the wealthy of Italy, helping build up white America.

In the U.S. our oppression of the “less fortunate” has repeated itself over and over and over again.   Slavery, though most significant, was far from the only oppression of working people.

--

Palestine was the place to “solve the (Anti-Semitism based) problem” for Europe and Russia – exporting large numbers of the victims.

Unfortunately, the less powerful vast majority of The Native People were exploited and largely ignored.

1.   Why are we, the Jews, “The Chosen People”?  

For me, if so, we are “chosen” - to support liberation and social justice for those of the rest of the world, not (solely) for us – as Jews.

2.   “Never Again” – means two (often) mutually exclusive things!

a.   For many Zionists – the issue is limited to the European Holocaust.

b.   For me – and for my allies – “Never Again” – means that we will strongly oppose the murdering of the innocent people of The World, not The Jewish World.

Similarly –  (to be later on discussed in detail) –

“From The River to the Sea” – for me and for my allies – means Justice – a Just Peace – for the Palestinian People.   This contrasts with the often common vision of such words calling for our Annihilation as Jews.  

The fears of Jews (and others sharing such views)  are comparable to the fears of white USians, that Black People will avenge racism, if Racism is (ever) ended.

Most Palestinian People have little or no desire to avenge the oppression that they have faced from the Israeli Government and its Jewish citizenry.

Most Black People have little or no desire to avenge slavery and racism and to kill or oppress white people.

Where – the oppressed – seek Revenge – it generally only comes from – having No Other Options.  The Palestinian People have tried and tried and tried and tried to get basic rights in Israel, as well as in The West Bank and Gaza.

Hamas and what Hamas has done, both historically, and on October 7, 2023, can be understood, if not approved of.   Hamas has recently killed, at the most, roughly 1200 people on October 7th and several hundred, perhaps, since then.

The deaths of these Israeli Jewish People are often not compared to the deaths of far, far more Palestinian People by the Israeli Government and its Jewish citizens.   In comparing this, we should not only look at October 7th through the present.   The Palestinian People have consistently faced this oppression since 1948, as well as prior to then.

More will follow beginning in Part IV of this writing.

I would suggest that readers of this writing – watch Peter Beinart (Jewish Currents)’s January 19, 2024 interview of Rashid Khalidi - This Moment in Palestinian History  on YouTube.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0EDypq6cKDM

I think that most readers will find Khalidi to be fair, as well as kind and caring.  Some may disagree with some of what he says.  

Part IV 

https://www.georgemarx.org/2024/01/judaism-israel-palestine-part-iv.html


 

Part III - This is Part IV

https://www.georgemarx.org/2024/01/judaism-israel-palestine-part-iii.html

In examining whether Israel should be a Jewish state, it is interesting to look at another area where “fairness” and “entitlement” results in obvious discrimination.

Though not exactly the same thing, it should be noted that the below-noted Ivy League Schools discriminate in their admissions policies to the present.  Who is discriminated against today and is it legal? 

A flurry of recent news stories, including in-depth reporting from Susan Dominus at The New York Times, has documented that colleges put a thumb on the scale for boys. If they didn’t, the percentage of college students who are female—58 percent—might be even higher.

This story crops up periodically as if it were something new, but colleges have been favoring boys for years. In 2006, Kenyon College’s former dean of admissions, Jennifer Delahunty Britz, wrote a New York Times editorial apologizing “To All the Girls I’ve Rejected” in favor of less-qualified boys. “The reality is that because young men are rarer, they’re more valued applicants,” she said.  

https://www.thenation.com/article/society/college-admissions-gender/#:~:text=A%20flurry%20of%20recent%20news,percent%E2%80%94might%20be%20even%20higher.

Tulane University has a total undergraduate enrollment of 7,350 (fall 2022), with a gender distribution of 39% male students and 61% female students. (Google Search – initial listing in response to: “Tulane student body by gender” (1/24/2024))

For the 2022-23 academic year, women and men made up 58 percent and 42 percent of the applicant pool, respectively, but 51 percent and 49 percent of the enrolled class. (Harvard applicants by gender 1/24/2024 Google Search top result)

--

It seems unfair to me to selectively discriminate against others. 

--

Yes, the Palestinian People had never had an independent country of their own.   I can not imagine one would argue that a resident of New York City should freely accept being forcibly moved to rural Mississippi.  To equate the education, cultural, and religious issues as “basically nothing” is what we are doing with Palestinian People when we have said to them over multiple generations that they had to leave their ancestral homes.

Wealthy absentee landowners sold the land that many poor Palestinian People had lived on for generations in the period starting after World War I.  They grazed animals and grew crops such as olives on relatively small pieces of property.  In some areas there were communal lands as well as areas where Druze and other peoples moved over (often) desert lands living nomadically.

 Wealthy Jews from Western Europe, such as some of the Rothschild’s, helped purchase sizeable portions of the land.  Their relative wealth had no Palestinian counterpart.

A myth or gross “misunderstanding” was also put forth.  It posited  that the Jews would “modernize” Palestine and that the Native Population would welcome the “increased economic opportunities”.    In none of these visions of Palestine and later on Israel was a basic idea of economic equality and creating a true “democracy”.

The Jewish Shtetl Population of Eastern Europe wanted to maintain the Jewish traditions and had little desire to “integrate” into “Christian cultures”.    Why Palestinians should be different is not generally explained ??

Where Jews did want to be treated equitably in Europe was in “integrated institutions” such as in secular schools and universities.  Significant numbers of such people became   physicians, classical musicians and similar.

I grew hearing the myth that the local Arab leaders urged their people to abandon their homes.  Purportedly they were to await their return for after the Jews were driven out of Palestine.   Wealthy Palestinians did leave for safer areas proximate to 1947.

Multiple Israeli academicians and others have confirmed over past decades the roles that Jewish leaders like David Ben-Gurion had in the fleeing of much of the Palestinian People.  Jewish leaders wanted the Palestinian People out so that Jews could take over the land and be a majority population in what became modern Israel.   The politicians and the soldiers supported each other.

Unfortunately most of us have been told a lot of distortions and lies.   Israeli Jews are made “heroes” and Palestinians are viewed as cruel people with no humanity, or as misguided ignorant individuals..

Yes, there were Jews killed by Palestinians in the 1920’s, 1930’s and 1940’s!   Such killings related to what had been a Palestinian country becoming increasingly dominated by Jewish immigrants.   The Palestinians had nothing to do with the rise of Hitler in Germany!   Why they should end up being essentially responsible for giving up their country for the Jews is never satisfactorily explained.   It isn’t comparably suggested that Canadians or USians should exit the U.S. and return to Britain and other countries, leaving the U.S. to its Native People.

I hear no blame for World War II on the reparations Germany was required to pay starting in 1919. If we had treated West Germany post World War II as Germany was treated after World War I, the Germans probably would have reacted similarly with violence over time.

Obviously, Hitler’s rise to power in 1933 created urgency for Western European Jews.   Hitler’s annexation of Austria and subsequent invasions of Poland and adjacent countries greatly stressed  Eastern European Jews.   They were rarely allowed to emigrate outside of Europe, especially to the U.S. and Canada.   England accepted some children, but few adults.

The Palestinian uprising of 1936 to 1939 was not an irrational rejection of the beleaguered Jews of Europe.  It reflected the increasing threats that were coming to the Palestinians’ economic and political power in their local communities.

The Palestinian resistance to Jews emigrating from the mid-1930’s until 1948 was not “Anti-Semitism” nor a rejection of Judaism and the Jewish People. Zionism, a political movement seeking to establish a Jewish state in Palestine, was a threat to the growing Palestinian nationalist movement.  The Jewish aspirations for an independent country directly conflicted with the Palestinian aspirations for their own state. 

The Jewish population of Palestine rose from:

1.   11% in 1922 to

2.   16.9% in 1931 to

3.   28.1% in 1936 to

4.   30% in 1946 to

5.   32% in 1947

https://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jewish-and-non-jewish-population-of-israel-palestine-1517-present

As is noted above, the Jewish population of Palestine in 1947 was 32%.  Google indicates that the 1948-1948 Armistice Agreement gave Israel 77.4% of the land of Palestine.   The Negev desert is 60% of the land mass of Israel.

If one excludes the Negev, the Jewish population of Palestine was roughly its 1947 proportional land mass.   Beersheva, with a 1950 area population of 28,000, and Eilat, with a relatively small population (also) – were the “cities” of the Negev.   Israel wanted Eilat for its Red Sea access (an option avoiding the Suez Canal).   It remains unclear why such a large area, populated “deliberately” by a few Kibbutzim, should belong to Israel at all.

A summary of the UN’s 1947 Partition Plan is explained from “traditional Jewish perspective” – in the Jewish Virtual Library which I have copied at:

https://www.georgemarx.org/2024/01/the-1947-1948-partition-plan-for.html

Specifics of it may be noted further along in this series of writings.

 



Part V 

https://www.georgemarx.org/2024/02/judaism-israel-palestine-part-v.html


 

Part IV - This is Part V

https://www.georgemarx.org/2024/01/judaism-israel-palestine-part-iv.html

Jewish militants attacked several British immigration offices in Jerusalem and other cities on February 12, 1944.  The Irgun, Haganah, and LEHI (“Stern Gang”) organizations established the United Resistance Movement (Tenuat Hameri) against the British government in October 1945.  Jewish militants attacked and destroyed railway tracks throughout the country on October 31-November 1, 1945, resulting in the deaths of one government policeman, one British government soldier, and two civilians.

https://uca.edu/politicalscience/home/research-projects/dadm-project/middle-eastnorth-africapersian-gulf-region/british-palestine-1917-1948/#:~:text=The%20British%20Mandate%20under%20the,were%20displaced%20during%20the%20conflict.

One might guess from significant portions of the summary of the decades leading up to 1948 (in the referenced link above), that the Jewish forces were “the aggressor” and that the Palestinians were the aggrieved group.   Most summaries of the period leading up to 1948 omit (or minimize) such things and focus instead upon “The Arab Rebellion” from 1936-1939 (and similar attacks that Palestinians made upon Jewish residents of Palestine). 

The Jewish side’s efforts tended to be the “radical” Jewish forces who were selectively pursued by the British, oft times relatively unsuccessfully.   The Palestinian’s efforts were less organized, and the repression was often collective punishment.

On the eve of May 14, the Arabs launched an air attack on Tel Aviv, which the Israelis resisted. This action was followed by the invasion of the former Palestinian mandate by Arab armies from Lebanon, Syria, Iraq, and Egypt. Saudi Arabia sent a formation that fought under the Egyptian command. British trained forces from Transjordan eventually intervened in the conflict, but only in areas that had been designated as part of the Arab state under the United Nations Partition Plan and the corpus separatum of Jerusalem.

https://history.state.gov/milestones/1945-1952/arab-israeli-war#:~:text=The%20Arab%2DIsraeli%20War%20of%201948%20broke%20out%20when%20five,Israel%20on%20May%2014%2C%201948.

Between 1947 and 1949, at least 750,000 Palestinians from a 1.9 million population were made refugees beyond the borders of the state. Zionist forces had taken more than 78 percent of historic Palestine, ethnically cleansed and destroyed about 530 villages and cities, and killed about 15,000 Palestinians in a series of mass atrocities, including more than 70 massacres.

Though May 15, 1948, became the official day for commemorating the Nakba, armed Zionist groups had launched the process of displacement of Palestinians much earlier. In fact, by May 15, half of the total number of Palestinian refugees had already been forcefully expelled from their country.

https://www.aljazeera.com/features/2017/5/23/the-nakba-did-not-start-or-end-in-1948

Jewish mortars and loudspeaker trucks shook Arab neighborhoods in early 1948 as sectarian fighting consumed the newly partitioned land that would soon become Israel. Amid the prolonged shelling, the trucks would broadcast the threatening sounds of wailing sirens, fake screams and evacuation warnings. …

“The element of surprise, long stints of shelling with extremely loud blasts, and loudspeakers in Arabic proved very effective when properly used,” reads an Israel Defense Forces intelligence report from June 1948 that called Jewish combatants “the main factor” in the exodus.

“Each and every district underwent a wave of migration as our actions in that area intensified and expanded,” the report stated, adding later that sometimes Arabs would attempt to return home shortly after fleeing, “which forced us to engage, on more than one occasion, in expelling residents.”

https://www.washingtonpost.com/history/2023/11/03/israel-nakba-history-1948/

Some may argue that the quotes above point to Israel as having been created in ways that cast doubt upon the fairness of what transpired from 1947-1949.  

I would argue that Israel (and its creation) has been unfairly viewed predominantly as “the underdog” and The Palestinians as essentially “pawns” of Israel’s neighbors.   Egypt, Syria, Jordan, Lebanon, and Iraq are viewed as “the villains”.

The Arab Legion was the only military force that seriously was a potential threat to the Israeli military.   They also did not, by choice, seek to “invade” beyond the West Bank and Jerusalem.   Within Jerusalem, the Legion did not attack (Jewish) West Jerusalem.

None of what is noted (by me) above is intended to minimize the intensity of the warfare.   None of this minimizes the loss of life Israel’s had.

My cousin Daniel died in this war.   My brother was named after him.   His brother’s wife Ilana was wheelchair bound for the last 30+ years of her life.   I was unable to visit her circa 1981, because she committed suicide after her husband Benjamin (where my son’s name came from) died of cancer.  She did not want to “be dependent” on others.  Ilana was a wonderful person.

The war ended in 1949 with Israel’s victory, but 750,000 Palestinians were displaced, and the territory was divided into 3 parts: the State of Israel, the West Bank (of the Jordan River), and the Gaza Strip. 

Over the following years, tensions rose in the region, particularly between Israel and Egypt, Jordan, and Syria. Following the 1956 Suez Crisis and Israel’s invasion of the Sinai Peninsula, Egypt, Jordan, and Syria signed mutual defense pacts in anticipation of a possible mobilization of Israeli troops. In June 1967, following a series of maneuvers by Egyptian President Abdel Gamal Nasser, Israel preemptively attacked Egyptian and Syrian air forces, starting the Six-Day War. After the war, Israel gained territorial control over the Sinai Peninsula and Gaza Strip from Egypt; the West Bank and East Jerusalem from Jordan; and the Golan Heights from Syria.

Six years later, in what is referred to as the Yom Kippur War or the October War, Egypt and Syria launched a surprise two-front attack on Israel to regain their lost territory; the conflict did not result in significant gains for Egypt, Israel, or Syria, but Egyptian President Anwar al-Sadat declared the war a victory for Egypt as it allowed Egypt and Syria to negotiate over previously ceded territory. Finally, in 1979, following a series of cease-fires and peace negotiations, representatives from Egypt and Israel signed the Camp David Accords, a peace treaty that ended the thirty-year conflict between Egypt and Israel. 

https://www.cfr.org/global-conflict-tracker/conflict/israeli-palestinian-conflict#:~:text=The%20war%20ended%20in%201949,Egypt%2C%20Jordan%2C%20and%20Syria.

Succeeding sections of this writing will address a lot of this in more detail.

Part VI 

https://www.georgemarx.org/2024/02/judaism-israel-palestine-part-vi.html


 

 Part V - This is Part VI

The war ended in 1949 with Israel’s victory, but 750,000 Palestinians were displaced, and the territory was divided into 3 parts: the State of Israel, the West Bank (of the Jordan River), and the Gaza Strip. 

https://www.cfr.org/global-conflict-tracker/conflict/israeli-palestinian-conflict#:~:text=The%20war%20ended%20in%201949,Egypt%2C%20Jordan%2C%20and%20Syria.

Growing up in the 1950’s and early 1960’s, I have clear memories of:

Palestinian fedayeen (from the Arabic fidā'ī, plural fidā'iyūn, فدائيون) are militants or guerrillas of a nationalist orientation from among the Palestinian people.[1][2] Most Palestinians consider the fedayeen to be "freedom fighters",[3] while most Israelis consider them to be "terrorists".

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Palestinian_fedayeen

The “fedayeen” I heard about were described as what I would characterize as: “crazed, violent, murderous men” who crossed from The West Bank and sought to kill innocent Israeli’s (Jews) out of pure hatred (alone).

The fedayeen I heard about were never spoken of as men, or their sons, who had been forced out of their villages.  They and their families have never been allowed to return anywhere in Israel.   They have never received compensation for their losses, which go well beyond simply their family house.

The 1949–1956 Palestinian expulsions were a continuation of the 1948 expulsion and flight of Palestinian Arabs from Israeli-controlled territory that occurred after the signing of the ceasefire agreements.[1][2][3][4] This period of the exodus[5] was characterised predominantly by forced expulsion during the consolidation of the state of Israel and ever increasing tension along the ceasefire lines ultimately leading to the 1956 Suez Crisis.[6]

Between 1949 and 1950, according to historian Benny Morris, Israel had displaced and expelled between 30,000 and 40,000 Palestinians and Bedouin.[7] Many villages along the ceasefire lines and the Lebanon border area were also leveled, many emptied villages were resettled by new Jewish immigrants and demobilized Israeli military forces.[8][9]

Israel argued this was motivated by security considerations linked with the situation at the borders. During the consolidation period, Israel was more intent on gaining control of the demilitarized zones on the Syrian, Jordanian and Egyptian fronts than on her image abroad.[10][11][12][13]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1949%E2%80%931956_Palestinian_expulsions


The United Nations General Assembly adopts resolution 194 (III), resolving that “refugees wishing to return to their homes and live at peace with their neighbours should be permitted to do so at the earliest practicable date, and that compensation should be paid for the property of those choosing not to return and for loss of or damage to property which, under principles of international law or equity, should be made good by the Governments or authorities responsible.” 

(December 11, 1948)

https://www.unrwa.org/content/resolution-194  -

From 1948 to 1966, martial law was officially imposed on the Arab minority in Israel, but continues to be intermittently enforced to this day. The military government, in effect, imposed various restrictions on Palestinians. Palestinians were required to apply for permits to travel from area to area, regardless of destination. Security checkpoints were set up to enforce these permits. Those who disobeyed these regulations

were jailed or fined. All petitions or requests for government services were directed to military courts instead of civil courts (Weil, 2007).

https://escholarship.org/content/qt13p497jb/qt13p497jb_noSplash_37c399dbe12dbc22382647d4ca209a2c.pdf?t=pkrdlj

I am a little unclear about what the Palestinians – within Israel – citizens of Israel were supposed to do during the time period from 1948-1966?

They seemingly had “collective punishment” in a variety of ways.   To the present day Israel has no constitution guaranteeing All its citizens basic rights.   Palestinian Israeli citizens have no rights to basic things like:  housing renting or purchasing, equal employment opportunity – equal pay for equal work and much more.   They are not allowed to be in the Israeli military, which Jewish citizens (without religious exemption) are required to do.   Where Jewish citizens are exempted from military service, they do not lose basic rights.   Non-Jewish Israeli citizens lack some rights because they have Not served in the military.   There are some exceptions regarding military service such as from Druze citizens, but even they face discrimination in various areas.

Any Jewish resident of anywhere in the world is – by being Jewish – allowed to emigrate and become a citizen.  

It is unclear to me what Palestinian citizens of Israel are supposed to do?   They can’t gain rights through anything that they may do.

At the same time, Palestinian Israeli citizens are actively involved in working and living in Israel.

According to official figures from the Health Ministry and the Central Bureau of Statistics provided at the request of Haaretz, 17 percent of Israel's physicians, 24 percent of its nurses and 47 percent of its pharmacists are Arabs.Mar 17, 2020

(1st entry from Google search of February 6, 2024 – “percentage of Israeli pharmacists who are Palestinian”

I find information such as I have shared above – strongly supportive of – boycotts – as in BDS, condemnation.  I am reminded of racism in the United States and how South Africa ended Apartheid decades ago.

I suggest reading up on the subjects addressed above and much more.  Reading my reviews of two books is one potential starting point.

Stories of Personal Transformation: RECLAIMNG JUDAISM From ZIONISM, edited by Carolyn L Karcher has 40 stories of Jewish authors

https://www.georgemarx.org/2021/06/reclaiming-judaism-from-zionism.html

Except for Palestine: The Limits of Progressive Politics – Marc Lamont Hill and Mitchell Plitnick – discusses how “progressives” often are seemingly “open minded” and progressive in most, if not all areas, except related to the Palestinian People.

https://www.georgemarx.org/2021/05/progressives-palestine-book-review.html

Part VII 

https://www.georgemarx.org/2024/02/judaism-israel-palestine-part-vii.html


 

Part VI - This is Part VII

The Jewish Virtual Library – has a mainstream view of 1967’s: “The Six Day War”.

Israel consistently expressed a desire to negotiate with its neighbors. In an address to the UN General Assembly on October 10, 1960, Foreign Minister Golda Meir challenged Arab leaders to meet with Prime Minister David Ben-Gurion to negotiate a peace settlement. Egyptian President Gamal Abdel Nasser answered on October 15, saying that Israel was trying to deceive world opinion and reiterating that his country would never recognize the Jewish State. (1)

The Arabs were equally adamant in their refusal to negotiate a separate settlement for the refugees. As Nasser told the United Arab Republic National Assembly on March 26, 1964:

Israel and the imperialism around us, which confront us, are two separate things. There have been attempts to separate them, in order to break up the problems and present them in an imaginary light as if the problem of Israel is the problem of the refugees, by the solution of which the problem of Palestine will also be solved and no residue of the problem will remain. The danger of Israel lies in the very existence of Israel as it is in the present and in what she represents. (2)

The Palestinian Liberation Organization

In 1963, the Arab League decided to introduce a new weapon in its war against Israel — the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO).

In September 1965, Arab leaders and their military and intelligence chiefs met secretly at the Casablanca Hotel in Morocco to discuss whether they were ready to go to war against Israel and, if so, whether they should create a joint Arab command. The host of the meeting, King Hassan II, did not trust his Arab League guests and initially planned to allow a joint Shin Bet-Mossad unit known as “The Birds” to spy on the conference. A day before the conference was scheduled to begin, however, the king told them to leave out of fear they would be noticed by the Arab guests. Hassan secretly recorded the meeting and gave it to the Israelis, who learned the Arabs were gearing up for war, but were divided and unprepared.

https://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/background-and-overview-six-day-war

A somewhat different perspective was expressed by another knowledgeable Israeli Jewish individual.

Professor Meron Medzini served as the Director of Israel’s Government Press Office (GPO) in Jerusalem during the Six-Day War.  …

In the mid-1960s Israel was suffering from a major economic recession with unemployment at 10 per cent, and morale so low that people joked that the last person to leave the airport should please turn out the lights. The ruling party Mapai was taking a beating in opinion polls, especially from a new breakaway part called Rafi, which was headed by Shimon Peres and Moshe Dayan. In general, though, Israel simply did not feature in the international news.

Early in 1967, there was little sense that something was about to erupt. In April, the IDF intelligence branch assessed that the earliest war was possible was in 1970-71. …

On 23 May, Egyptian President Gamal Abdel Nasser announced the re-imposition of the blockade on the Straits of Tiran, which the Prime Minister’s Chief of Bureau told me caused Eshkol to say “kinderlach, (children), this is war”. …

The journalists realised that the IDF’s mobilisation could not continue indefinitely without the economy collapsing. …

 A day or two later, Ben-Gurion said Israel should give back all the territories apart from East Jerusalem and the Golan Heights. 

https://fathomjournal.org/1967-the-international-media-and-the-six-day-war/

The story I summarized with some bits and pieces is NOT one of Israel under direct threat of attack.  It is instead deliberate deception where Israel, through the media, “hoodwinked” the public, which resulted in Israel’s military initially destroying the Egyptian air force and seizing all of Jerusalem, The West Bank, The Golan Heights, Gaza and the Sinai Peninsula.

The 1967 War – was a “HUGE” Triumph for those – wanting Israel 100% and a HUGE Disaster for the Palestinian People.

Personally – I was sent at the last minute – with my maternal grandfather for a tour in August, 1968 – which was meaningful for me at age 17.   We were the first Jewish Tour to have part of us stay in a hotel in East Jerusalem.   The only other participant under about 70, was a young lady of perhaps 20.

I walked in the darkness each evening to meet her at the King David Hotel in West Jerusalem.   I never saw Palestinian People until she and I were in the Old City – they were asleep.   I didn’t feel any danger – fear – whatsoever.   No others – did what I was doing.

The Old City was fascinating!     There was so much for sale – from Jordan and other parts of the Middle East – as well as locally made things – and they were bargained for usually and inexpensive!

I remember the young Palestinian Boys – when we were in The West Bank – seeking to sell us – chewing gum – and similar and begging.

It was a “safe time” in so many ways – for me as a Jew – and a period where I was totally innocent.

Why were the Palestinians – kind to me as well as simply tolerating me without complaints.   Where was the violence?

Obvious answer: There was No Threat!


Israeli Soldier approaching The Dome of the Rock

A Most Holy Site for Muslims - in The Old City - Jerusalem

--

Pieces of the 1973 War – from: 

https://www.brookings.edu/articles/israels-1973-october-war-a-50-year-perspective/

Egypt and Syria launched the October War on October 6, 1973. The Egyptian-Syrian partnership was limited. Syria’s President Hafez al-Assad did not fully share Egyptian President Anwar Sadat’s war aims. Sadat had in mind a limited war, a crossing of the Suez Canal, and the establishment of an Egyptian presence on the canal’s eastern bank in order to force Israel and the United States to enter into a diplomatic process designed to redress the consequences of the 1967 Six-Day War. he initial attack was unexpectedly successful. …The October War inflicted a national trauma on Israel. The intelligence failure, the surprise, the weak performance of the Israel Defense Forces during the war’s first few days, the large number of casualties, the dependence on resupply from the United States, and the huge economic cost mobilized the Israeli public against the Golda Meir government. There was a recognition that the massive victory of 1967 created in Israel a hubris that contributed to the setback of 1973. It also realized that the war could have been prevented had Israel accepted Sadat’s peace feelers between 1971 and 1973. …



The post-October War diplomacy, led by the U.S. Secretary of State Henry Kissinger, also marked the beginning of an Arab-Israeli peace process. All previous efforts to settle the conflict, beginning in 1948, were short-lived and unsuccessful. 

It should be noted that “The Peace Process” – was:  Israel, Egypt and Jordan.   https://www.refworld.org/reference/countryrep/mrgi/2008/en/65027 +

Although Palestinians constitute around half of the population, they remain vastly under-represented in Jordanian government. Nine of the 55 Senators appointed by the king are Palestinian, and in the 110-seat Chamber of Deputies, Palestinians have only 18 seats. Of Jordan's 12 governates, none are led by Palestinians.

Discrimination against Palestinians in private and state-sector employment remains common and a quota system limits the number of university admissions for Palestinian youth.

The Palestinians – with No Army, No Air Force, No Navy – didn’t have a seat at the Table.  Syria – became – “The Enemy” in important ways for Israel, while Jordan and Egypt were new allies.

Part VIII - continues here:

https://www.georgemarx.org/2024/02/judaism-israel-palestine-part-viii.html


 

Link to Part VII - This is Part VIII

https://www.georgemarx.org/2024/02/judaism-israel-palestine-part-vii.html

On September 13, 1993, Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin and Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) Negotiator Mahmoud Abbas signed a Declaration of Principles on Interim Self-Government Arrangements, commonly referred to as the “Oslo Accord,” at the White House. Israel accepted the PLO as the representative of the Palestinians, and the PLO renounced terrorism and recognized Israel’s right to exist in peace. Both sides agreed that a Palestinian Authority (PA) would be established and assume governing responsibilities in the West Bank and Gaza Strip over a five-year period. Then, permanent status talks on the issues of borders, refugees, and Jerusalem would be held.  ….

In November 1995, Rabin was assassinated by Yigal Amir, an Israeli who opposed the Oslo Accords on religious grounds. Rabin’s murder was followed by a string of terrorist attacks by Hamas, which undermined support for the Labor Party in Israel’s May 1996 elections. ….

((1999)) ->

In Israel’s May 1999 elections, the Labor Party’s Ehud Barak decisively defeated Netanyahu. Barak predicted that he could reach agreements with both Syria and the Palestinians in 12 to 15 months, and pledged to withdraw Israeli troops from southern Lebanon. In September, Barak signed the Sharm al-Shaykh Memorandum with Arafat, which committed both sides to begin permanent status negotiations. An initial round of meetings, however, achieved nothing, and by December the Palestinians suspended talks over settlement-building in the occupied territories.  ….

Thus, by the end of 2000, the prospect of ending the Arab-Israeli conflict looked more distant than it had eight years earlier.

https://history.state.gov/milestones/1993-2000/oslo

During these secret negotiations in 1993, Israel capitalised on Arafat's weakness in the wake of the Gulf War. …. Arafat entered the negotiations with Israel with few options and even less clout. …. Among Palestinians, supporters of the Oslo Accords reasoned it was a compromise that could lead to peace. …. As the US, European and Arab nations continued to invest their hopes in the talks as a means of producing a final agreement, settlement building in the occupied West Bank tripled, growing at unprecedented rates. ….  The Palestinian leadership has accused Israel of not offering them a viable state, but rather a non-contiguous entity devoid of the natural resources necessary for a functioning economy.

 

Meanwhile, Israeli leaders have called for the annexation of the entire West Bank, ignoring the rights of its 2.5 million Palestinians living under occupation, along with nearly 2 million Palestinians in the Gaza Strip living under Israeli siege.

https://remix.aljazeera.com/aje/PalestineRemix/the-price-of-oslo.html#/14

Yasir Arafat and his successor Mahmood Abbas – have “lead” the Palestinian People in the West Bank since the agreements were concluded in 1993 and 1995 and moved “forward” beyond then.

It appears obvious to me that there is NO Jewish Israel intent to create a just Palestinian State.  For me a “state” includes where at least most of the land mass is not surrounded by other states.

Look at The West Bank on the map below.   An explanation of its situation follows:

The table below shows the three areas:  “A” (grey) (“Palestinian Control”), “B”(Black) (similar except that there is “shared Israeli / Palestinian Authority Security Control” , and “C” – under Israeli Control.

https://www.anera.org/what-are-area-a-area-b-and-area-c-in-the-west-bank/

  



A clearly “Palestinian Friendly” summary of things is shown at:

https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2023/11/27/palestine-and-israel-brief-history-maps-and-charts

It provides a lot of maps, numbers and clear conclusions!    One needn’t accept it as 100% “correct”!   I hope that most readers won’t find it tokenly correct, or totally incorrect!

The West Bank includes what I think we might agree are primarily “radical, Orthodox Jewish Settlers”.   Other Jews live in what has become “suburban Jerusalem”.   There are “Israeli Expressways” – that “safely” connect it to “historic Jerusalem”.   These roads are not roads that Palestinians who are not Israeli Citizens can travel on.

I think those of us reading and thinking can now safely be split into fairly distinct groups:

1. 1. (Radical) Anti-Zionists – who see a “Settler-Colonialist” State.   We see major systemic issues that have continued over the past 75 to 100+ years, or

2.   2. Those who are curious – and intend to learn more,

3. 3. Others – who see things as being – 50/50 – both sides at fault,

4. 4. Those who are apathetic,

5.  5. Those who believe that Netanyahu and his government are The Problem – and things will be resolvable when they are no longer in charge,

6. 6. Those who remain proudly Zionist.  Israel is 99+% correct.

AA.  I’m interested in 1. and 2!

BB. I hope that some in 3. and 5. – have or will move to 2.

CC. 4 and 6. – I doubt that this writing has been worth reading.

*****

 

Part IX 

https://www.georgemarx.org/2024/02/judaism-israel-palestine-part-ix.html     


 

Link to Part VIII - This is Part IX

https://www.georgemarx.org/2024/02/judaism-israel-palestine-part-viii.html

I would recommend starting by reading my reviews of two incredible books - which I hope - will help change your views of:

Palestine + Palestinians

and

Specifically - Hamas

and Notably - (our) United States Government - 

Woodrow Wilson - to Harry Truman

to Lyndon Baines Johnson

to Joe Biden

- I doubt that many of you will buy this book (I did - upon the recommendation of Rashid Khalidi - so my review - in its entirety is going to follow:

https://www.georgemarx.org/2024/02/hamas-contained-tareq-baconis-excellent.html

 

Columbia University’s: Edward Said Professor of Modern Arab Studies Professor Rashid Khalidi ( - incredible interview by Peter Beinart --- www.journalism https://.cuny.edu/faculty/peter-beinart/    ---   of January 19, 2024) - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0EDypq6cKDM), is the author of multiple excellent books on the Palestinian People, including: 

The Iron Cage: The Story of the Palestinian Struggle for Statehood  -------

(      https://www.georgemarx.org/2022/12/the-iron-cage-must-read-on-palestine.html )   .

On December 6, 2024 – I emailed both:  Peter Beinart and Professor Khalidi asking:  Do either of you know of any good resources- written, oral or visual (such as on YouTube) in English to learn from and share/refer others to?

Professor Khalidi responded suggesting: Tareq Baconi's book, Hamas Contained, and Sara Roy’s Hamas and Civil Society in Gaza. 

 

Baconi accomplishes a number of important things in:   Hamas Contained: The Rise and Pacification of Palestinian Resistance (written in 2017 and published in 2018).   As I write on Super Bowl Sunday, February 11, 2024, this book is a perfect introduction to understanding and putting into perspective what has happened from October 7, 2023, through the present day. 

I’m not optimistic!   I hope, against hope, that the Bidens and Blinkens and Schumers of this world will do an “about face” and sincerely:  read, listen and deeply hear – what I would call “Extremely Close to The Truth”.

Sitting in the darkness of the theater, I thought of Palestine.  Lacking the clarity of historical hindsight, the Palestinian struggle for self-determination seems frozen in time, in many ways an anticolonial struggle unfolding in a postcolonial world. …

“Palestinians have a culture of hate,” commentators blast on American TV screens.  “They are a people who celebrate death.”   These familiar accusations, quick to roll off of tongues, are both highly effective at framing public discourse and insulting as racist epithets.  On the other end of the spectrum, I recalled conversations with Europeans and Palestinians who critiqued my reference to Palestinian armed struggle as “violence.”  They saw this framing as a form of condemnation, casting armed struggle in a negative light.  (x - Preface)

During the summer of 2014, when global newsrooms were covering Israel’s operations in the Gaza Strip, I watched Palestinian analysts being rudely silenced on the air for failing to condemn Hamas as a terrorist organization outright. 1    This condemnation was demanded as a prerequisite for the right of these analysts to engage in any debate about the events on the ground. (xi – Preface)

In Peter Beinart’s January 19, 2024 interview with Rashid Khalidi, there is a “strange” parallel.  

Khalidi spoke on January 19, 2024 as to how No television networks or local stations or similar had sought his comments from October 7, 2023 through the (then) present.   I have heard Professor Rashid Khalidi multiple times on Amy Goodman’s show on: Democracy Now  - https://www.democracynow.org/ - which most readers of this have probably never heard of as well as on KPFA – perhaps the most alternative/radical leftist radio station in the U.S. (Berkeley).

It's not “censorship”.   Most people never hear – Khalidi – because:  MSNBC, CNN, FOX, PBS, The New York Times, The Washington Post, The Wall Street Journal +++ ignore – him and a lot of others who “dissent” in serious ways that are not based upon fear-mongering or profit.

Baconi summarizes the history of Palestine leading up to the founding of Hamas in an effective manner.   He notes as the first Intifada was building on December 9, 1987:

After intense discussions, it was decided that the brotherhood would finally leverage all its preparatory work and spin off a small militarized offshoot that would join the likes of Islamic Jihad in armed confrontation against Israel.  The Islamic Resistance Movement, HAMAS , was officially launched in January 1988 96 .  Although intended as an offshoot, Hamas rapidly subsumed the parent organization’s institutional infrastructure. (p.20-1)

The charter spoke of how such an Islamic polity would allow for Christians and Jews to live in peace and harmony under Muslim rule. 103 .  Despite this assertion, the rest of the charter shed light on Hamas’s understanding of Israel, Judaism, and Zionism at the time it was released. 104   The text was replete with anti-Semitic references that build on age-old stereotypes about the Jewish people, including their alleged accumulation of immense wealth, their treacherous and devious nature, and their ability to influence global media.  (p.22)

This book documents in detail the history of Gaza, Hamas, and the PLO (and later on The Palestinian Authority) in opposition to Israel.

 

Patterns seemingly repeat themselves over and over again.   The moderate forces – PLO/Palestinian Authority have sought a peace agreement with Israel with no success.   Whenever it seems at least faintly possible, Israel (not Hamas) attacks (generally) Gaza – breaking truces.   Islamic Jihad – and others – send rockets into Israel – and a purported chance for peace disappears.

Similarly, whenever Hamas and the PLO/Palestinian Authority are close to a binding agreement to work cooperatively, Israel and the U.S. and others refuse to continue working for peace because Hamas is “a terrorist organization”.

Hamas is not a simple, united organization with a clear, obvious basic structure.   Most commonly it has significant influence on other radical forces in Gaza.  At different times it both encourages, and discourages forces such as Islamic Jihad in their rocket attacks into Israel.   It has a “political” side and a side that is openly engaging in military or military-like efforts at “liberating” Palestine.

Commonly there are endless pressures upon Hamas, and the Palestinian People to compromise and: “recognize Israel”, “renounce claims to Palestine”, “renounce terrorism”, “renounce violence” and similar.

Where there are agreements, nearly uniformly they either are token or are broken by Israel (and sometimes by Hamas, particularly in response to Israeli duplicity and avoidance of clear agreements).

Critically, critically important in all of this are facts such as:

1.    The seizing of more and more and more Palestinian land in the West Bank and in Jerusalem,

2.    The stranglehold on Gaza – including making self-sufficiency impossible there, increasing destruction of residences, the power supply, and other possible ways Hamas could “succeed” in leading Gaza,

3.    Gaza is “independent” in the way(s) that a Native Reservation is in the U.S. is and/or in the ways that Black communities have been “free” in the U.S. over many decades.

4.    All – the – non-violent options – have been tried both by Hamas, and other Palestinian entities.   Appeals to the U.S, the U.N., filing lawsuits, negotiating with Israel, periods of no “terrorism”, unilateral “ceasefires” of Hamas itself and more - all have been tried.   Despite all of this, there has never been a “fair” or “close to fair” offer made for a lasting peace agreement which allows any type of true autonomy for the Palestinian People – whether de-militarized or not – etc. etc.

5.    As of the conclusion of the book’s writing in 2017 – there was both:

a.    A status quo – that – was not changing substantially beyond Palestinian land possession decreasing endlessly, as Israeli (illegal) settlements expanded, and as the author succinctly states,

b.   The increasing impossibility of the status quo remaining – endlessly – that at some point – significant Palestinian violence – such as from Hamas and/or other Palestinian causes or supportive others – such as from other Middle Eastern Nations – would – seek to break the status quo.

Israel has had a huge advantage in maintaining a split between Hamas in Gaza and The Palestinian Authority in the West Bank.   Israel has a difficult, long-term issue with its Jewish population becoming a minority in a “Greater Israel” including both Gaza and The West Bank.   Where Gaza is (allegedly) separate, its over two million population “severed” from The West Bank can maintain an illusion of “majority rule” of Jews vs. Non-Jews.

A simple example of the patterns follows with quotes below:

While the Palestinian leadership offered full support, the Israeli government boycotted the investigation and prevented the investigators/ access into the Gaza Strip 75  The UN’s investigation accused both Hamas and Israel of carrying out war crimes.  In response, Israel retaliated that the United Nations was “taken hostage by terrorist organizations” given its anti-Israel bias. 76

A domestic investigation by Israel’s state comptroller, released in 2017, highlighted troubling findings regarding this operation. 77   The report noted that in 2013, during the period of calm that Hamas had successfully instituted from Gaza, Prime Minister Netanyahu’s government was warned explicitly and repeatedly that Gaza was on the brink of a humanitarian catastrophe, and that the situation had to be addressed to prevent another conflagration between Hamas and Israel.   Such warnings went unheeded.   Rather than meeting its obligations under the 2012 ceasefire agreement with Hamas, which necessitated easing the crossings into Gaza, Israel’s political leaders appeared willing to maintain the blockade while expecting calm to prevail in return.  (p.222)

As Tareq Baconi moved into his conclusions, his explanations became more and more significant for me as a reader.

Instead of Palestinian reconciliation, the outcome is two administrative authorities operating under an unyielding occupation.  The crucial difference between Hamas and the Palestinian Authority, however is that Hamas performs its role of managing resistance in language that remains ideologically pure, leaving room for future escalation.  While in the West Bank the Palestinian Authority’s interim nature has effectively been made permanent, the situation is likely to be temporary within the Gaza Strip. 139  The Palestinian Authority’s permanence has been drive by the illusion of sovereignty and economic development that leaders such as former  prime minister Salaam Fayyad have cultivated.  There is no such illusion in the Gaza Strip, where there will more likely be an expiration date for Israel’s ability to manage what has become one of the globe’s bleakest humanitarian catastrophes. (p.234-5)

I would note that this by itself in 2017 – can be seen in retrospect as being relevant for October 7, 2023.

The author noted a number of times a clear issue that has been distorted by most of the media and politicians for some time   Hamas has fairly consistently in the past 10-15 years at least a willingness to recognize Israel and accept a permanent peace settlement if it would include a return to the pre-1967 boundaries allowing a Palestinian State to be established which would include:  Gaza, The West Bank and probably most significantly East Jerusalem including The Old City.

Israel has consistently responded that it will not negotiate with “terrorists” – which means Hamas.  It has also indicated that IF Hamas settles, that this will only be a starting point – quoting the original Gazan “charter”.   This plays on common fears – e.g. “From the River to the Sea”  and “Intifada” and similar.  Such fears are that Hamas and the Palestinian People will force its Jewish population either out of what is now Israel or attempt to kill all of them.

Obviously, the return to prior borders is made “unrealistic” in that:

1.     this would require Jewish Israeli’s to move out of the Settlements and much of the “expanded” Jerusalem,  or

2.    for many of these Jews to live within the to-be-formed Palestinian state.

In early 2017, Hamas issued a new “Political Document” after months of speculation that it was looking to revise its problematic charter.   … It demonstrated that on the most official level, Hamas accepted creatioin of a Palestinian state on the 1967 border, UN Resolution 194 selfor the right of return, and notion of restricting armed struggle to operate within the limits of international law.  Although not breaking any new ground in terms of political concessions, the document was a powerful intervention that restated more forcefully than before the position that Hamas has adopted since at least 2007, if not since the 1990’s. (p.245)

Hamas’s document was released without a formal renunciation of the movement’s charter, alluding to internal power struggles. (p.245)

One of Baconi’s 2017 – concluding written statements sounds, in retrospect to ironically “predict” October 7, 2023.

But there is little doubt that another conflagration is forthcoming.  This will mark the continuation of Israel’s strategy of “mowing the lawn” as well as the perseverance of the Palestinian struggle for self-determination.  The manner in which the next war unfolds will be event-specific, but the underlying drivers remain unchanged. 162 (p.248)

The book concludes aptly:

This status quo allows Hamas to sustain its power and Israel to maintain its colonization of the West Bank and its stranglehold on the Gaza Strip, where the besieged Palestinians continue to pay the highest price of all. (p.249)

This is an excellent book for anyone who is not extremely, extremely extremely knowledgeable about Hamas, and who is open to listening and hearing a lot.   I’m one of those people and I hope many others are as well!

 

https://www.georgemarx.org/2024/02/the-hundred-years-war-rashid-khalidi.html



A M A Z I N G   B O O K - link to review - and shown above also



“In March 1919,on the eve of the post World War I Paris Peace Conference, ‘Julius Kahn, the German-born Jewish congressman from San Francisco, delivered to President Wilson “A Statement to the Peace Conference” endorsed by 299 Jews.  …[T]he document denounced the Zionists for attempting to segregate Jews and to reverse the historical trend toward emancipation.’  Its signers ‘objected to the creation of a distinctly Jewish state in Palestine’ not only because they feared it would jeopardize the status of Jews like themselves in the home countries, but because they found it ‘contrary “to the principles of democracy’ to elevate Jewish immigrants over Palestine’s Muslim and Christian native inhabitants.  They explicitly denied ‘the existence of ethnic ties among Jews’ and ‘asserted their wish not to see Palestine “either now or at any time in the future’ become a Jewish state.’  They petitioned instead for Palestine to be ‘made into an independent , free, and democratic state that would not recognize any distinctions of creed, race, or ethnic descent among its citizens.’ “ (18) (p. xii)  - quoted - see my review of another excellent book - 

https://www.georgemarx.org/2021/06/reclaiming-judaism-from-zionism.html

 

Rashid Khalidi - This Moment in Palestinian History

Peter Beinart interview of Rashid Khalidi - January 19, 2024

https://www.georgemarx.org/2021/05/progressives-palestine-book-review.html  - EXCEPT FOR PALESTINE: The Limits of Progressive Politics by: Marc Lamont Hill and Mitchell Plitnick

Professor Marc Lamont Hill is leaving Temple for CUNY

He says he could have stayed at his alma mater another 20 years, but a great opportunity knocked

 

 

https://www.inquirer.com/education/temple-university-marc-lamont-hill-leaving-cuny-20230822.html

The embattled City University of New York is facing another backlash as being hostile to Israel and condoning antisemitism for hiring controversial professor Marc Lamont Hill.

Hill was appointed a “presidential professor” for Urban Education at CUNY’s Graduate Center.

“It’s something I’ve always dreamed of,” Hill, 44, told the Philadelphia Inquirer of his jump from his alma mater of Temple University to CUNY and teaching graduate studies.

In 2018, Hill was fired from CNN after his speech on Israel drew outrage from the Anti-Defamation League and other groups.

https://nypost.com/2023/08/23/cuny-hires-anti-israel-professor-marc-lamont-hill/

Oh, My, My - is it a coincidence that he is Black?!

https://www.georgemarx.org/2019/03/dr-marc-lamont-hill-american-muslims.html

Dr. Marc Lamont Hill, American Muslims For Palestine and Respect - March 4, 2019

The American Muslims For Palestine's Chicago Chapter Annual Dinner on March 3, 2019 was a most significant event for me.   I am a white, Jewish man, a member of Jewish Voice for Peace - Chicago, seeking a better world for Jews, Palestinians, Black people and others. 

Most of my father's family lives in Israel.   My great-uncle S.Y. Agnon was Israel's first Nobel Laureate and is a beloved, well-known figure to (virtually) all Israeli Jews.   While I have opposed Israeli government policies towards Palestinians for over 30 years, only now am I really seriously trying to help bring about positive change.

 

I came last evening hoping to hear inspiring words from Dr. Marc Lamont Hill, a man I greatly admire.   I experienced Dr. Hill's brilliance and warm heart far more than I could have hoped for.  I also was welcomed and loved by the warmth of many members of the greater Chicago Muslims for Palestine, who gave me far, far more than I could possibly have imagined.

 

Respect is important to me.   I was shown so much from so many people.  I am thankful!  I am blessed!

 

Dr. Marc Lamont Hill gave a powerful, impassioned speech!   He spoke directly to Palestinian Muslims.   His speech was far different than his incredible November 29, 2019 speech at the United Nations.  where he spoke to all of us.   While Dr. Hill did not speak directly to me as an American Jew, his words resonated in their inclusivity.   He explicity made clear that he was not speaking against Jews and white people.  Dr. Hill was very clear that Israeli governmental policy is the problem.

 

 

 

Dr. Hill's love for the Palestinian people was made very clear in the speech.   He also spoke strongly about the importance of both Black (and White) people supporting Palestinians and for Palestinians to support the struggles Black people including in cities like Chicago and Detroit.   His words were powerful, emphasizing non-violent struggles that may of necessity take more than our own lifetimes to succeed.

 

Equally significant to me was how well we were treated by both our hosts of American Muslims for Palestine and the others who attended the dinner.    Our hosts included both women and men of varying ages.    Many, if not most of the women's heads were covered.   I surmised that they were devout Muslims.   References to the Muslim religion were made throughout the presentation.

 

The people I met were far, far more caring of us than I could have imagined they would be.   We were shown to our table by several very helpful people.   Before the proceedings begun, a man came to our table thanking us as Jewish Voice for Peace Members for doing our work.    The American Muslims for Palestine Annual Report in its page on the Chicago Chapter included a picture showing Jewish Voice for Peace members demonstrating with Palestinians.

 

 

While many people we met were exceptional individuals, they were also wonderful in talking with us, in the varied parts of the presentation and in other ways .  This pointed clearly to the lies we face daily of the violent, not to be trusted Arabs, who allegedly prevent peace in Israel.   Yes, there are extremists who kill, but they are dwarfed by far more who seek a just, lasting peace.   It was very sad for me to hear that the "Volunteer for the Year" had never been in Palestine.   It was also uplifting to hear and feel the warmth and spirit of so many.

 

I am reminded of stories I've heard in the past.    I remember hearing of Palestinians in 1948, who warned neighboring Jews, preventing them from being killed.   I am reminded of the story one of my Israeli relatives told me circa 1980 in Jerusalem.   Her sister in Tel Aviv lived in a protected world where she spoke primarily German with her peers and English with her nieces and nephews and those younger.   Her husband and she had a fancy dress shop in Jerusalem dating back to well before the 1948 war.   She told me of how their customers had been both well off Palestinians and Jews who wanted custom made women's apparel.

 

My cousin told me of how in 1967, after the Six Day War, an older Arab man came to her shop, asking for her husband.   She told him that he had died.   The man wept.  She hadn't recognized him. He had been their porter in the store, until the War separated him,  putting him in then Jordanian run East Jerusalem.   My relative spoke admiringly of how this man insisted on carrying her bags when she went into the Old City until he died several years later.   He would not take any money from her.

 

I can not possibly understand the loss that Palestinians have faced for over 70 years losing their homeland.   I do admire their dignity in continuing the struggle for justice through (mostly) non-violent resistance.  I hope that a lasting, just peace will be achieved sooner, rather than later.

 

Thank you!

 

What follows is NOT - a Resource.  It reflects a Cry to be Heard - to STOP the Silencing - the IGNORING - of the Voices of the Palestinian People - in this case reflected in a 25 year old - religious, military member - NOT - a "radical" not - a "Muslim" - Not - "A HAMAS Murderer" - not a Palestinian - an individual - troubled by - the Genocide and the SILENCE of Joe Biden and most of the Democrats - and All, or Virtually All of the Republicans!

 

 

https://www.aljazeera.com/program/newsfeed/2024/2/28/who-was-aaron-bushnell-the-us-airman-who-died-protesting-over-gaza



Desperate for Peace: From Libya to Gaza

by Ashraf Nubani Posted onFebruary 28, 2024

Twenty-five-year-old Aaron Bushnell, an active-duty member of the United States Air Force, died on Sunday after setting himself on fire in front of the Israeli embassy in Washington DC as an act of protest against the slaughter in Gaza. Unfortunately, the act is noteworthy not because of the resulting suicide but for the underlying motivation behind it. That underlying motivation—and his last words, “Free Palestine”—was initially missing in American media coverage of the tragic incident until social media prompted mainstream coverage.

There is a growing sense that corporate America and our politicians just don’t care about our youth, especially those who serve in the military. This extreme form of protest took the life of a serviceman, not in combat abroad, but here at home in defiance of American foreign policy.

For those politicians who profess to genuinely care about our men and women in the armed services, answer this: How many active-duty personnel and veterans took their own lives since 1980 when the U.S. started documenting military suicides? Some estimate it’s in the six figures. That’s double the fifty-eight thousand killed in combat in Vietnam. America’s enemies don’t have to go to war to kill American soldiers. We are doing it to ourselves when we send our boys and girls to go fight in Syria, Iraq, and Afghanistan under false pretenses. They come back with PTSD, moral quandaries, and a host of other issues that prevent them from successfully reintegrating into society. Urinating on dead Taliban bodies doesn’t make America great.

If things are not bad enough with growing economic disparities between the rich and the poor, the opioid epidemic, the $34 trillion national debt, mass shootings, a growing divide in American society that are turning into battle lines, our best and brightest are killing themselves over a failed foreign policy that is polarizing the world against us. And Aaron is not the first to set himself on fire over the carnage in Gaza. Last December, a woman did something similar in front of the Israeli consulate in Atlanta.

It’s almost thirteen years to the date that Tunisian vendor Tarek Bouazizi self-immolated, igniting the “Arab Spring” in March 2011. He was harassed and humiliated, and had his wares confiscated by municipal officials. Many Arabs and Muslims live under corrupt authoritarian regimes that oppress their people. Those same broken promises of wealth, freedom, and democracy are robbing Americans of their dignity.

Before engaging in such an extreme act of protest documented on social media, Aaron said, “I will no longer be complicit in genocide. I’m about to engage in an extreme act of protest, but compared to what people are experiencing in Palestine at the hands of their colonizers, it’s not extreme at all. This is what our ruling class has decided will be normal.” Indeed, AIPAC-bought politicians have decided death and destruction, even at home, is the new norm.

All these acts are born of desperation. If young American men are willing to die in their pursuit of freedom and justice, our politicians should take heed. Yet the Joe Biden administration and Congress continue to green light Israel’s atrocities as it fails to achieve any of its stated goals like destroying Hamas, returning the captives, or bringing security to Israelis.

The entire world is fearful of a wider regional conflict. The worse it gets for Israel the more it will want the United States to get involved militarily on its behalf. Israel is drowning, and it has no problem in taking us down with it. America cannot afford more wars, especially in the Middle East.

All too often our elected officials have been hearing from their constituents, “How many Palestinians have to die before you call for a ceasefire?” The question now is, “How many Americans have to die before you call for a ceasefire?”

Ashraf W. Nubani is a Palestinian-American attorney based in the Washington DC area. He holds a Master’s degree in history and writes on Muslim issues and the West.

Link to:  Conclusions

https://www.georgemarx.org/2024/03/judaism-israel-palestine-conclusions.html


 

INTRO – TO – CONCLUSIONS – A STORY:

Looking at being Jewish – Usian Jewish – reflecting upon – Gaza today, Palestine and Israel – and “Old Palestine” – before 1917 - I have many thoughts and Deep feelings!   I don’t think of many things that many fellow Jews think of.

I think in this moment – of a woman – who is meaningful in my life.   I told her of the severe current mental health issues of my brother, “the other Marx brother” (our last name is Marx).

I emailed her a day or two ago that my brother’s mental health issues began in childhood.  

-

They, probably began over a year before our father died – when he was 11.   At age 9 – he arrived with me – Zim Lines – Naples to Haifa (perhaps we were even on The Theodor Herzl (I just found ships listed: https://www.theshipslist.com/ships/lines/zim.shtml - discovered reparations from West Germany helped fund the line).

We were privileged – freely visiting – many of our father’s relatives my father hadn’t seen since his move from Berlin to Cincinnati in 1927.

My ally – told me – I cried then and – am crying now– Mine has also been struggling with mental illness all his adult life, so, sadly, that is one thing you and I share. 

I was driving home this afternoon – when I burst into tears!   There was a Roman Catholic Church – (not in a trendy Area) of Berkeley, California – with large banners – saying - C E A S E F I R E   NOW – and similar.

What is the connection – why these seemingly random words?

I left out a few really important things:

1.    She lacks a lot of the privilege I have!

2.    She is a devout Roman Catholic

3.    She is Palestinian, an Israeli citizen, and lives in the Middle East 

and if you are already with me - at least Mostly - you can jump to the END of this Writing - before - the Resources to learn more about her.                        ON TO MY CONCLUSIONS BELOW:

 

 

-(1)- Many of us who are Jewish – lack – a personal connection – with anyone who is Palestinian and/or Muslim.   Many Israeli Jews contact with Palestinians is solely superficial.

We don’t trust – the Palestinian People!

Regarding Israel’s Jews who are 80% of the “citizens” – and were barely 50% of the pre-October 7th – residents of – Gaza+Israel+The West Bank.

New data: 47% of new doctors in #Israel are Israeli Arabs and Druze. 48% of all pharmacists in Israel are Arabs. 24% of all nurses in Israel are Arabs.

https://twitter.com/GonenYonatan/status/1435486454432608256

Perhaps - these figures are high?   Even so – do Israeli Jews trust their pharmacists, doctors and nurses?  - Strange!

-(2)- Fear – hatred – Manipulation of Others – is so, so, so prevalent in The United States today!  

Historic Myth: “Black Men are a huge danger!   They rape so, so many innocent white women”!

Thomas Jefferson’s power over one Black Slave (rape) – lead to his Black Descendants.  

Strom Thurmond –  a noted clearly racist US Senator:

In 1925, Thurmond had an affair with Carrie Butler, an African-American teenager who worked as his family's housekeeper. In 2003, the Thurmond family confirmed that Thurmond fathered a mixed-race daughter named Essie Mae Williams with Butler. While her paternity was long hidden, he helped support her and paid for her college education.[21][22]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Strom_Thurmond

-(3)- It is also not coincidental – that the dominant narrative – related to Palestine and Israel – is significantly upside down from the clear reality.

a.    Yes – there has been and continues to be violence – perpetrated by Palestinians against Jewish Israelis.

b.   In general, however, the dominant real narrative – is of the Powerful – murdering and otherwise oppressing – those – who “lack the weapons”.

The dominant narrative has related to Jews – from Theodor Hertzl – starting in the 1890’s to Israel today.  Israeli Jews were viewed as reasonable, deserving allies of those in Great Britain from 1917 until things spun out of control in 1947.  Then the United States became our/their “ally” circa 1948.   From 1967 on – Israel – has been “The Ally” – receiving increasing direct military and other financial assistance.

-(4)- Totally ignored in this narrative was Why? – Why was what became Israel wanted by Great Britain’s elite leadership?  Why did other Western European countries want Israel? 

Why was there/is there little or no interest in the Palestinian People?

Oil – and Saudi Arabia – at first – were initially not that important.

-(5)- Anti-Semitism – was – “the issue”.   Jews – were often – “a pain”.   While they weren’t “the bankers” – that we are stereotyped as (and my paternal great-grandfather was!), they were a significant problem!

It went well beyond Germany – where they were often Educated, Cultured, and Upper-Middle Class – in the midst of often massive (financial) depression.

 Anti-Semitism – was the way for the Elites of Western Europe to Not have to deal with “Their Problem”.   “The Jewish Problem” – was a bother for them, because it would require them to either:

1.     Affirm – oppression – affirm (support) Anti-Semitism – directly or in more subtle ways,

Or:

2. Deal with oppression – and work seriously towards ending it – what it should have done.   Dealing with oppression – this is a great example is taking a major risk!    The oppressed, in this case, The Jews, might ally with other oppressed groups – and united – might be a threat to the continued systemic oppression – the power of the Elites (against the rest of the people).

-

Why not – instead – “export” – the problem?!   Push – this issue upon – Palestine – a convenient answer!

Before you “laugh” – recognize – how often Elites – Powerful Interests – find the ways to divide and conquer.   In this case – focusing upon Palestine – using Zionism – neatly solved the problem.

The concept of “White People” – began in the second-half of the 17th Century as poor white indentured servants began allying themselves with Black People – both enslaved and not.  

The concept of “whiteness” – as opposed to being: “Irish”  or “Irish-American” – where one’s family had come from – helped the powerful – keep the threat of unified: poor white people and poor Black People overpowering the large landowners of much of the Southern United States.

The British – “taught” – the Hindu (religioned) people of India – that the Moslem (religioned) people were – “different”.   This idea of “being different” meant that they should be aware that “the others”- were their enemies.   Using this logic, both those who were “Hindus” should therefore rely upon the British, because they were there to help them.   Similarly, the “Muslims”  or “Moslems” – should (also) similarly rely upon the British.

Obviously, both those of the Hindu faith and those of the Moslem faith clearly, if acting in their self-interest – as well as for ethical/moral reasons – should/would have recognized that mutual tolerance and acceptance of each other was the right way to go.   In doing that they could have sought together to force the British to leave what would have thus been a UNITED India – which included collectively people of both faiths, as well as other smaller faiths within the areas that they lived in.

If they had (successfully) done this, India wouldn’t have been first divided into Pakistan (vs.) and India.  Bangladesh would also have not (needed to) come into existence.   Kashmir would not now be facing Indian Government oppression.   India, unfortunately, is modeling Israel’s treatment of the Palestinian People, on how it should control the Kashmiri People.

India has approximately 1.4 billion people – the largest population in the world.   Pakistan has about 230 million people.  

Demographics of Bangladesh

Wikipedia

https://en.wikipedia.org › wiki › Demographics_of_Ban...

 

About (91.04%) of Bangladeshis are Muslims, followed by Hindus (largest-minority) at (7.95%), Buddhists (0.61%) and Christians (0.30%) and others (0.12%) as per ...

Bangladesh has about 170 million People.

India 1.4 billion minus 200 million Muslim People = 1.2 billion people

Pakistan 230 million (over 95% Muslim) + 200 million Indian Muslims + Bangladesh – over 150 Muslims = roughly 550 + million Muslims combined

India and Pakistan – are both nuclear powers

** Anti-Semitism – was real then.   Unfortunately “the chosen solution”

+  Was a solution for Some European People – whose solution seemed like a win-win – for them – it Got Rid – of what they wanted to get rid of – having influential and significant people in Germany – which had a relatively small population, supported the well-off Jews of Great Britain – not that many of whom went to live there anyway, and Devastated the Jewish Populations of Eastern Europe

++ Told the Palestinians – both in the villages and rural areas – that they didn’t matter – and given – that they lacked

a.     the Money – the Wealth – that Wealthy Jews brought in along with the Hard Work of many immigrants – believing in Zionism -  and the Relevancy,

b.     and Connections and Talent and Influence – with Europeans – especially those with power and:

c.     the fact – that both The – wealthy elites in Palestine were split – between those who didn’t care and a few – who really did care – but were minimized by the British and:

d.     the Arab Leadership + their British and French “Protectors” – both resented the Palestinian People – abandoning them – while many in their countries cared, but had no way of supporting the Palestinian People

Zionism – helped Plenty of Jews – in the short-term – at the Expense of the Palestinian People – and really set them up for – resentment and resistance from the Palestinian People CHANGING:

1.     Real – Deep – Anti-Semitism in Palestine – where it hadn’t been a major issue while it lead to:

2.     Fear – the both the Palestinians and Arabs – and now – today – Iran – which is Neither Palestinian – nor Arab (though many of us both confuse Iran with Iraq and don’t know – than Iran – ancient Persia – the land of Farsi  (which the U.S. intervened with and messed it up royally – leading to its – OPPRESSION – which began- for real -  is the most feared

ANTI-SEMITISM  - can become linked with FEAR – and Fear with HATRED – and we shouldn’t and needn’t be stuck – as many of us are – stuck in our Fear–FEAR – F E A R !

-(6)- Yes, there were major Palestinian riots against Jews from 1936-1939.  When we seriously example the history, this is understandable!

-(7)-

-(8)- Personally, I was wearing my hoodie – recently complete on

 Sproul Plaza at  the University of California, Berkeley.  A fellow

 Jew was:

1.)  extremely triggered. 

2.) He was clearly scared (of Palestinians)! 

3.) He was very angry!  

4.) He clearly threatened to physically attack me. 

5.) He also threatened several college students.


For this man and many other Jews, the words: “Free Palestine” – translate into: “Annihilate the Jews!”  The words: “From the River to The Sea” – bring similar fear.  

-(9)- Israel is, and has been, a nuclear power for decades.  Its military is stronger than all but the armed forces of a few countries in the world.   

·       The reality is that Palestinian People live in danger!

·       Jews generally don’t!

·       The fear is real!

-(10)- There is a myth, and it is a myth, that we Jewish People are in constant danger of (another) genocide.  Terrorists – within our fears – are Only Kept Back by Israel’s and USian military might from obliterating most, if not all, Jewish People!

In 1995, Yitzhak Rabin, was murdered by a Jewish Terrorist.   Few, if other noted Israelis or U.S. citizens have been murdered.   Palestinian potential leaders have been murdered by the Israelis numerous times.

A year ago today, Palestinian American journalist Shireen Abu Akleh was killed while doing her job, reporting in the West Bank. According to the Committee to Protect Journalists, her death was not a tragic one-time event but actually part of a long, deadly pattern. A new report from the group says at least 20 journalists have been killed by Israeli military fire since 2001. And it says, quote, "to date, no one has been held accountable."

Morning Edition, the host speaking, May 11, 2023

https://www.npr.org/2023/05/11/1175403626/palestinian-american-journalist-shireen-abu-akleh-was-killed-a-year-ago

-(11)- Many of the major attacks in Gaza and The West Bank have been “preemptive” or “collective punishment”.   Those attacking have been overwhelmingly Israeli Jews against Palestinians. 

What is the aim or intention here?   If it is:

a.      To Stop the Violence and through that – to STOP – Our Fear?

·       If so, it clearly, clearly, clearly, has – EXACTLY THE OPPOSITE EFFECT!

b.     Is it for ethical or moral reasons?

·       If so, I would encourage you -  “my reader” – to look seriously at pieces of at least more than one of my writings – in this series.   I’m curious – IF you will hear – some of my message?   If you don’t, because – “I’m wrong” – we disagree – and perhaps you are wasting your time reading this now!

·       If you hear some of my message, I hope that you will – be CURIOUS – and – despite any triggering – or other feelings of Displeasure – you will – “do your own research”.   It can be using references I’m giving you – or finding your own sources.

·       You may agree or disagree with me then!   I would suggest that you Not simply seek sources or delve deeply into sources that you know, or should know that will agree with you (then) – expressing the dominant narrative.   (I’m not saying Only seek sources such as I suggest reading.)

-(12)- It is NO surprise to me and yet is deeply shocking to me that Rashid Khalidi stated to Peter Beinart on January 19, 2024 basically that No Mainstream (USian) Television Networks/Stations – have sought to interview him since October 7, 2023.  (Note: watch on YouTube – if curious - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0EDypq6cKDM – to see and hear this yourself.)

Rashid Ismail Khalidi (Arabic: رشيد خالدي; born 1948) is a Palestinian-American historian of the Middle East and the Edward Said Professor of Modern Arab Studies at Columbia University.[2]… Khalidi has written dozens of scholarly articles on Middle East history and politics, as well as op-ed pieces in many U.S. newspapers.[38] He has also been a guest on radio and TV shows including All Things ConsideredTalk of the NationMorning EditionWorldviewThe News Hour with Jim LehrerCharlie Rose, and Nightline, and has appeared on the BBC, the CBCFrance Inter and the Voice of America. He served as president of the American Committee on Jerusalem, now known as the American Task Force on Palestine, and advised the Palestinian delegation at the Madrid Conference of 1991.[39]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rashid_KhalidiHistory repeats itself – in North America, in India, in Africa, as well as in Greater Palestine!

-(13)- “The savages” words often commonly used in our past referring to – The Indians – now referred to as: “Native Americans”.   In The United States  - the “compromises” and “reasonableness” never stopped as the Native People’s lands vanished, and their often dysfunctional lives evolved.

-(14)- The dominant narrative in Palestine was commonly that the standard of living was being raised by the Jews, so The Arabs should welcome progress; ungrateful, uncivilized people reacting with violence in totally unjustified ways.  

-(15)- The Palestinian People have Never – been given an opportunity – for justice!   The dominant narrative of greedy or stupid Arafat – vs. the benevolent Israelis is common.  Related to this our presidents have acted as mediators and have been – not favoring one side - is at best a gross distortion.

-(16)- The very basic idea of:   A “Binary” -   Palestinians vs. Israelis – as implying that there are “two reasonable sides”  or “two (equal) views” is generally a myth.  

Yes – the binary is real in one critical way!   The Israeli (Jewish) People are going to remain in at least part of Palestine/ Greater Israel.   The Palestinian People are also (intending to) remain in Palestine/Greater Israel.

A “War” is not taking place now in Gaza!

If one believes that this is a “War” – on should similarly view – the World War II – attack by Hitler’s Forces upon the Warsaw Jewish Ghetto – as having been a “War”.   The Jews – fought on – courageously, despite having – Zero – chance of – “winning” or forcing a “truce”.

Hamas – and the Gazan People as a whole have Zero chance of “winning” or forcing a “truce” currently!   Their – only sources of real – “power” include:

a.      The hostages they hold,

b.     The resistance – in– most particularly – the current Alliance – in The United States – of Palestinians, Arabs, Muslims, Jews – and a growing systemic multi-racial/ multi-ethnic – alliance generally lead by Our (the diverse) Youth – who are confronting oppression in a holistic – unifying way  (NOTE:  I emphasize the U.S. – because – if/when Joe Biden and the U.S. Government – HONESTLY – “pull the plug” – stopping ALL support of – the Israeli Government – it will be forced – forced – to change if it continues its current path (at all).

c.      The fact that most countries are strongly against U.S. support of Israel, and those who support Israel largely due it for “strategic” ($ - related) reasons and/or concerns related to their own – vulnerabilities to U.S. military power and perceived fears of Russian and perhaps also Chinese economic/military power).

d.     Their own spirit – strength – core beliefs – which have kept them resisting others for over 100 years – and most strongly since 1947-1948-1949 + 1967.

Jordan’s King Abdullah didn’t want an independent Palestine any more than Israel’s leadership does.   Autocratic – Middle Eastern Governments – Iran – (U.S. interference), Egypt – the British and later on multiple countries, are not an option for The Palestinians in general.   They have no “home” to go to any more than most European-American USian People have “home” in Sicily or France or Germany or Great Britain or even Ireland.   In reality – to go back home – for Most U.S. People would be to return our land to its Native People.

-(17) – The fears of Israeli and worldwide Jewry – will accelerate, not get less – as the current conflict in Gaza continues.   If a Ceasefire – a real one – starts – it will be doomed to failures – unless there is a significant push – strong pressure – to do much, much more – than stop the killing and property destruction.

-(18) – Starvation is a HUGE issue!   There are many, many, many other issues.   Similar to how we have neglected our Military Veterans for quite a few decades- the traumas of the Gazans and the Palestinians go extremely deep.   Political prisoners are a problem.   Healthcare – is a disaster now – and will be for years if not decades.  – The Jews impacted by the Holocaust – did not “get back to normal” at all.   Their “recovery” took years and in important ways decades and for many, it never came.

-(19) – A Lasting Peace – will require a Just Peace.   A Just Peace will require both Urgency and Patience.  The Palestinian People have been VERY Patient!   Their patience is not Limitless!   There are many wonderful groups and individuals proposing possible solutions to the issues – pre-dating October 7th.  October 7th has complicated things – a huge amount.

-(20)- Curiosity – Love – Caring – Community – Alliances – Forgiveness – Restorative Justice – Economic Efforts that are Not simply “charity” – but are done in Community with others – Mutual Aid and Support – Listening and really hearing – is really, really, really important!

--

I really don't have THE ANSWER!

I do know that if there is an answer - it will come from the hearts and wisdom of a lot of people - cooperating with each other.   It won't come - from - The Status - Quo - where:

1. The United States - is  - NUMBER ONE

and while we are the Most Powerful "Force" in the World - we're beginning to - "lose it" - in multiple senses of the Word.   We aren't dealing with OUR Issues - and some (if not all) of the Elite - the Powerful Ones - are Manipulating - the Others - and Our Oppression of Others (Native People + Black People (including Slaves) + Poor white People - dating from 1492 - at least - through the Present - Seems to be Expanding Rapidly - threatening to move us into - if we're not already there - Into Fascism!

2. The United States - while Professing - Neutrality and "Fairness" - CAN - and SHOULD - 

P U L L    T H E    P L U G  - 1 0 0  % - 

STOP SUPPORTING ISRAEL - STOP SUPPORTING ZIONISM

and Perhaps - might also look at how it similarly mistreats - much of the world - and begin a path towards healing - towards 

True - Lasting - Peace - which WILL Last!

True - Lasting - Peace - which WILL Last!

True - Lasting - Peace - WILL Last!

True - Lasting Peace - WILL - Last!

True - Lasting - Peace - WILL - Last

if it isn't already too - late - if what we have done - destroys - both our Hope and the Possibility - of Literal and Figurative- of our Survival -  Our Humanity - Our Love - Life!

F R E E   P A L E S T I N E !

FROM THE RIVER TO THE SEA

YES - I DO HAVE FEAR - I AM AFRAID!

I AM AFRAID - I HAVE FEAR

OF US - THE JEWS

TOO MANY OF US HAVE ASKED FOR

IN OUR FEARS

OUR FEARS TO TRIUMPH

OUR TRIUMPH IS THROUGH OUR FEARS

AND OUR HOPES

TO ALLOW - THE PALESTINIANS

TO BE FREE - COOPERATING

WITH - MOST OF THE WORLD

WHO SUPPORT THE PALESTINIANS

THE PALESTINIANS DO NOT

WANT TO KILL US

THEY WANT TO LIVE IN PEACE

LET'S TRY!

=

RESOURCES - FOR ALL OF US

FOLLOW - BELOW:

MORE ARE WELCOME!

i hope you are curious

i hope your curiosity will lead us forward

as - ALLIES - AS COLLABORATORS 

FOR - A JUST PEACE - A LASTING PEACE:

see one - you choose,

if helpful, choose another

and so on ...

THANKS!

-

Fida Jiryis - https://www.georgemarx.org/2023/03/stranger-in-my-own-land-fida-jiryis.html

(initial words of titles shown below – where relevant my reviews)

1.    Hamas Contained – Tareq Baconi - 

If Gaza – is your primary concern

https://www.georgemarx.org/2024/02/hamas-contained-tareq-baconis-excellent.html

2.    THE HUNDRED YEARS WAR ON PALESTINE – 

Rashid Khalidi

The best history of Palestine – and through this perspective on Israel

https://www.georgemarx.org/2024/02/the-hundred-years-war-rashid-khalidi.html

3.    STRANGER IN MY OWN LAND – Fida Jiryis – Personal Story – For your Heart #1

https://www.georgemarx.org/2023/03/stranger-in-my-own-land-fida-jiryis.html

4.    RECLAIMING JUDAISM – Karcher (editor) – Most Relevant Quote: From-1919! Proven Correct since then! - https://www.georgemarx.org/2021/06/reclaiming-judaism-from-zionism.html

5.    Peter Beinart – January 19, 2024 – Interview with Rashid Khalidi

Most Relevant Interview (YouTube) as I complete this now:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0EDypq6cKDM

GREAT SOURCES – OF ONGOING INFORMATION

ON GAZA AND A BALANCED PERSPECTIVE

1.    Jewish Currents - https://jewishcurrents.org/ - related to JC –

Peter Beinart - https://peterbeinart.substack.com/about ($=not free)

2.    The Electronic Intifada - https://electronicintifada.net/

3.    Democracy Now - https://www.democracynow.org/

4.    Al Jazeera Englishhttps://www.aljazeera.com/

5.    Jewish Voice for Peace - https://www.jewishvoiceforpeace.org/

(self defined as: “Anti-Zionist” – allow allyship with – Palestinian Causes – not directly with many Jewish Groups)

6.    If Not Now – https://www.ifnotnowmovement.org/

(Not Self-Defined as Anti-Zionist – can talk with many Jewish Groups – can’t be allied with Palestinian Causes (directly)

7.    Israelism - https://www.israelismfilm.com/ -
When two young American Jews raised to unconditionally love Israel witness the brutal way Israel treats Palestinians, their lives take sharp left turns.

8.    Noura Erakat - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TPYoYGgi2bg 

https://www.georgemarx.org/2024/02/palestine-important-noura-erakat.html - 

February 23, 2024 - a Review of the Interview - links to both above



They join a movement of young American Jews battling the old guard to redefine Judaism’s relationship with Israel, revealing a deepening generational divide over modern Jewish identity.

(note: One changed in college – after multiple trips to Israel – when she re-examined her perspective through listening on The West Bank in another trip – the other went into the IDF (Israel Defense Forces) after high school – intending to remain in Israel and through what he saw – drastically changed his perspective – also note:  This film shows – detailed statements of Noted: Jewish Zionist leaders – not – “clips” – they are talking for minutes generally)

8.   Links to a Lot of my own writings – reviews – etc. –

https://www.georgemarx.org/2022/12/palestine-israel-judiasm-posts-links-my.html

(There are Many, Many other excellent sources of great information – but not: CNN and MSNBC and generally not NPR.)

FINALLY:  I have hundreds, if not over one thousand relatives in Israel – all of whom are Jewish.  I care about them.   I also care – about – Genocide – and do not support – the oppression of Palestinians and/or Arabs and/or Muslims.   My journey began growing up in a Zionist Family – born in Ann Arbor, Michigan, raised mostly in West Lafayette, Indiana – and dearly love my current home – Richmond, California as well as where I left in 2022 – Chicago, IL – Our Fears are Real – Let’s Not Hate Others – My work – began at birth (if not before then – my healing is ancestral from The Holocaust and the HUGE MASSIVE Anti-Semitism – and resulting deaths of Jews – going back 2000 Years!   Never Again – includes: The Palestinian People (as well as Native USian People, and others who’ve faced Settler Colonialism – and too often – murder – in Mexico, The Philippines, Haiti, Cuba – and many other places!  I do not feel guilty!  I do feel ashamed-when I am silent–when I should speak up! (excuse my typos and errors)!

Thanks!

LINKS TO ENTIRE SERIES OF WRITING

PROLOGUE -

https://www.georgemarx.org/2024/02/im-jewish-im-privileged-prologue-to.html

1.   Part I - 

https://www.georgemarx.org/2024/01/judaism-israel-palestine-part-i.html

2.   Part II -

https://www.georgemarx.org/2024/01/judaism-israel-palestine-part-ii.html

3.   Part III -

https://www.georgemarx.org/2024/01/judaism-israel-palestine-part-iii.html

4.   Part IV - 

https://www.georgemarx.org/2024/01/judaism-israel-palestine-part-iv.html

5.   Part V - 

https://www.georgemarx.org/2024/02/judaism-israel-palestine-part-v.html

6.   Part VI - 

https://www.georgemarx.org/2024/02/judaism-israel-palestine-part-vi.html

7.   Part VII - 

https://www.georgemarx.org/2024/02/judaism-israel-palestine-part-vii.html

8.   Part VIII - 

https://www.georgemarx.org/2024/02/judaism-israel-palestine-part-viii.html

9.   Part IX  - https://www.georgemarx.org/2024/02/judaism-israel-palestine-part-ix.html

NOTE: I  reprint a lot on Medium. My blogging includes foci of: Reproductive Justice, Racism, Masculinity, Rape, Book Reviews in General (mostly non-fiction), (my) Pets, Personal Writings — including the very personal — e.g. Erectile Dysfunction — related to this — NPR (National Public Radio — where I was interviewed) — https://www.wunc.org/show/embodied-radio-show/2024-01-12/erectile-dysfunction-mens-health-viagra-intimacy

I’m born in 1951, white, cis, male, Jewish, Autistic-Asperger’s, Privileged-Upper-Middle Class, living in Richmond, California — near Oakland-Berkeley-San Francisco, am a Badger (fan) Duplicate Bridge Player, partnered with three children and one GrandDaughter.

I seek Meaning in my life — which includes: happiness, sadness, anger — moving (thankfully) on my journey — out of my head — where I was “born” — into my heart and spirit. 

I have amazing energy — a deep commitment to Systemic Justice — Allyship — on a Path — never there — making Mistakes on the Way — offending some — while developing Community with Others! I’ve “stolen” pictures with attribution — quoted at great length (with attribution) and hopefully not plagiarized or hurt others! 

I welcome Constructive Criticism! I learn from Listening! Thanks!!!!!

 

 

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