We all know the history, though it's a bit more complex than your
version, and begins well before 1949, but I don't see it as much of a
guide as to what to do now. The creation of Israel as an independent
entity was, I think, a mistake, but it's not a question of final
analyses or "right to exist." By that standard, Australia and the US
also have no right to exist. The issue is the facts on the ground.
It's simply unthinkable to right the historical wrong by forcing yet
another group of people off the land, however their grandparents got
there, and however foolish and self-defeating their policies. The
problem is how to force the best possible solution, since external
force is apparently necessary.
Mark
At 05:53 AM 1/20/2009, you wrote:
>Stephen, it is late here so I don't have the energy for a longer reply.
>The two are very closely aligned. What classically underwrites a
>democratic poetics is education. (Plato) Yet it is demonstrated again
>and again both education and democracy continually fail each other. What
>is happening now in Palestine has been happening since 1949 when British
>imperialism with the support of US and Australian imperial forces
>partitioned Palestine in the name of a democratic solution and the
>creation of the state of Israel. Israel has no right to exist, in the
>final analysis. Democracy underwritten by education is no resolution to
>the attempted genocide of Arab people which has been going on since
>1949. I can have no faith in Clinton or the new US administration since
>they again have no resolution. Democracy is a farce with education
>holding up the mask that veils democracy from its farcical nature.
>
>On Mon, 2009-01-19 at 18:10 -0800, Stephen Vincent wrote:
>
> >
> > But to express it here in a constructive way seems crucial. I suspect
> > I am not alone in wanting ways to compel this new President - unlike
> > Bush - to refuse to condone and support this barbarism in our name.
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