'The Palestinian Problem' Is it the cause of unrest in the Middle East?

Wednesday May 01, 2002 21:21

by Ken Davids - Writer

There are those who think that the so-called "Palestinian problem" is the cause for unrest, turmoil, and slaughter in the Middle East. They believe that if this problem could be solved, peace and tranquility would prevail in this troubled area. What are the facts?

"Conflict is endemic in the Middle East. The Palestinian problem is only one of the many conflicts in the area. It is being kept alive by the PLO and others who, for their own political purposes, wish to keep this matter unresolved.
Virtually every Arab state has been in armed and bloody conflict with its Arab neighbors. Egypt occupied Yemen for eight years. Morocco and Algeria are constantly at each other. Libya has clashed with Egypt, Tunisia, and the Sudan. The two Yemens regularly war with each other. Saudi Arabia spreads largess in order to appease all potential enemies. Yet it presses territorial claims against the smaller states of the Gulf. Kuwait worries about Iraq, which claims it in its entirety.
In the heart of the Middle East, Syria constantly threatens Jordan. It tirelessly works to overthrow the regime in Baghdad. Its designs on Lebanon are well known. Iraq is one of the most aggressive, and though at present much concerned with its war with Iran, spews subversion and terrorism against its Arab neighbors.
The record of aggression by Arabs against non-Arab states is as bloody. Libya has invaded Chad. It is involved in subversion and conspiracy on a global scale. Syria is in constant conflict with Turkey and has vowed to annex the Turkish region of Alesandretta, "as soon as we settle the score with the Zionist enemy."
Iraq, of course, is a special case. It perceived post-revolutionary Iran as weak and ripe for plunder. The six-year war shows no sign of abating. It is one of the bloodiest conflicts in recent world history.
Domestic violence is a constant in the Arab world. Virtually every Arab leader has been the target of assassination. In Syria, an officer corps dominated by the minority Alawites suppresses dissent with mass murder. In February 1982, President Assad's forces killed up to 25,000 civilians in the city of Hama and, according to The New York Times, "turned half the town into a parking lot."
And then, of course, there is Lebanon. Feuding sects in that unhappy country have battled each other for centuries. Since the outbreak of open civil war about ten years ago, as many as 200,000 people have died. There is no end in sight.
But the Arabs reserve their most aggressive fury against the non-Arabs living among them. Arab violence against the Jews, inside and outside Israel, is common knowledge. But Berbers, Kurds, Copts, Circassians, Christians, and Blacks are mercilessly persecuted and, where possible, bloodily exterminated. Blacks are routinely kept as slaves in Sudan and in Saudi Arabia. The slaughter of the ancient Assyrian community in Iraq, the cruel fate of over 500,000 Blacks in southern Sudan, and the forcible resettlement of over 200,000 Kurds are a few examples of this never-ending bloodshed.
None of these conflicts has anything to do with Israel. All of this fury would continue unabated if Israel did not exist. Violence is a fact of political life in the Arab world. The root causes of upheaval in the Arab world are the Arabs' radicalism, their religious fundamentalism, and their xenophobic hatreds. The "Palestinian problem" could have been solved almost 40 years ago. It's being kept alive by those whose political purposes it serves. It's not he cause of this violence. It's just one of its many manifestations.

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Comments (7 of 7)

La Haine

by Eoin Maher

Thu May 02, 2002 13:40

eoin_maher at hotmail dot com

good comments Sean, we have to combat the revisionism by the above writer. ZIONISM IS NOT JUDAISM!!

Anti-semitism is Sharon's best friend

by Sean

Thu May 02, 2002 09:58

The fact is that Sharon, Netanyahu and all those thugs WANT Jews outside Israel to feel insecure. If they had their way, every Jew in the world would up sticks and move to Israel so it is in their interest to promote insecurity within the diaspora. It's time for all right thinking people -Jew, Muslim and everyone else- to stop treating mass murder like a football match, rooting for your team. The polarisation of peoples by lunatics, whether it's Bin Laden speaking for 'all Muslims' or Sharon representing 'all Jews' will only lead to further calamity. This is exactly what Hitler did when he claimed to speak for all the German peoples and look what happened there.

Hey Lalric!

by Nora Geraghty - Globalise Resistance

Thu May 02, 2002 03:30

Sounds like historical revisionism to me, I suppose you are outraged by the people who claim that the holocaust never happened to the Jews? Come on, this is not a religious issue, it's to do with oppression. I'd like to think that the Fascism inherent in the Israeli government is not endorsed by most Jews, because if it is there's something really sick going on.

Reply to Lalric ????

by Oliver O'Driscoll

Thu May 02, 2002 00:07

I am at a loss as to why you keep trying to deny a historical fact. In 1948, the Zionists expelled by force .75 million Palestinian people. The enforced "exedus" was achieved by means of murder, rape, and looting. Some of the slightly more honest Zionists, such as Rabin have albeit reluctantly. admitted this. This ethnitc cleansing has continued to this day.

Palestine

by David Swiss - -----------

Wed May 01, 2002 23:41

dave_swissch at yahoo dot co dot uk

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How come no Arab refugees who were alive in 1948 ever die and only new ones born ?
The figures given always seem to go up each time you see them quoted .
Does UNRWA like to keep its coffers full so that in the old gombeen man's way there are always jobs [and rations ] for the boys ?
I just read [ in a report from ARANOVA ] that the Jenin figures have gone down again -from 5000 to 500 now down to 50 dead of whom 40
were " fighters / martyrs " .

As Maggie Thachter said " it's a funny old world " and as Sean O Casey said "the world is in a state of chassis "
QED

No enthic cleansing Ollie!

by lalric

Wed May 01, 2002 22:17

650,000 fled out fear that was instilled in them by their Arab brothers when 7 Arab armies tried to complete Hitlers final solution. If there was ethnic cleansing, why is there 1.3 million Arabs living within Israels recognised international boundaries. Most of the so called refugees were migrant workers who had come from other parts of the middle east between 1880 and 1920. That is when about 30,000 jews came and built the country's farms and industries which brought economic prosperity to both Jew and Arab, which the area had not seen in a couple of thousands years.

The Arab population in 1850 was about 141,000 and in 1920 was 650,000. The reasonit grew so much was Arab migration for economic reasons not unlike America's growth in the early 1900s.

Partition was rejected in 1947 and again in 2000. Arafat does not wish for a two state solution although his PR boys will tell you otherwise.

Palestinian Problem

Wed May 01, 2002 21:51

Utter nonsense, the "Palestinian Problem" resulted from the ethnetic cleansing of .75 million Palestinian people from their own country, where they had lived for generations. This was aided and abetted by the Truman administration for domestic political considerations. The Palestinian people could not possibly be held responsible for the nazi genocide in Europe during WW11 yet they have paid the ultimate price. The Palestinian people have the right to a state of their own, as do the Jewish people, a two state solution is the only realistic answer.

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'The Palestinian Problem' Is it the cause of unrest in the Middle East?

Comments (7 of 7)