Ancient and Present Claims
By Yusra Al-Ayoubi
Contents:
Israel has no right to the Palestinian land
The ambition of Zionism to acquire the Palestinian
The Sephardim and The Ashkenazim
It is the condition of my people, driven systematically out of their land, their breasts exposed to fire while their weapon is only stones, their existence bared to annihilation, their power of resistance against a ferocious racism, that a voice weak as mine, seems necessary to whisper a free word however feeble the influence it exercises on official authorities who have decisive power over world affairs.
I might say that no law of nature can impose upon the Palestinians any demand by the violation of its rules ; the Holocaust of the Jews in Europe does not justify their Holocaust to the Palestinians in the same manner. Even if a great executive power in the world, however supreme, will justify it, following its interests in the Middle East, can disown the Palestinians of their sacred right to resume their identity and resist the force of those who without authority or delegation would impose anything upon them contrary to their common interest.
Israel, to whose profit the Arabic blood is shed for more than half a century has no right , either ancient or present in acquiring the Palestinian land. Nothing but the arbitrary power of world Imperialism can Israel rely on, but if that be all, it gives Israel no other title but what bare force devoid of legality gives the stronger over the weaker within a certain period of time. However, the stronger is never strong enough to be always infallible, and the Palestinian nation together with the aid of Arab nations will continue to renounce their right in shaking off their yoke and entanglements with world Imperialism however the sacrifices would be to build a new era of co-operation, justice and peace.
The whole nations of the world, from Latin America to China, crave for peace. Force is the way of beasts, for even the rightful is liable to be destroyed by those who use force against him. Great injuries have been done to many nations after the second world war; the new Imperialism of America prevailed to transgress and oppress nations according to its interests and bring them under servitude; from the time of Baltimore conference 1942 the United States made a strategic alliance with Zionism and adopted its program to evacuate Palestine from its people whatever means it used to fulfill this aim.
By their simple means, the Palestinians did not stop to oppose the British mandate and Balfour promise to Jews to have a spiritual state for all the Jews of the world which does not imply a secular, national one. This the Jews rejected and went to America for aid where they found a great support. Relying on such a great power, economically, financially; provided by the most developed military weapons, Israel could threaten all Arab neighboring countries who were more in number but less in the efficiency of their self defense, while the Palestinians were helpless against a tacit conspiracy weaved by many strong powers to strangle them . Many nations in Europe sympathized the Jews out of the Holocaust complex which Zionist exaggerated and exploited to drive all Jews of the world to Palestine. They wanted an exclusive Jewish state, refusing even a Palestinian solution to coexist in a democratic secular state.
Since the end of the second world war the United Nations has failed in its responsibility to settle justice and peace in the world. Many external and internal wars have been instigated, many unjust and unlawful deeds, many crimes and slaughters have been done to many nations without drawing any condemnation. Led by the United States which was building its power by a new imperialism and following its rules against the interests of nations, putting its military power, its secret services, its economic system to dominate states and governments using the proverb he who pays can ask for tune.
That was why titles were given to transgressors and oppressors, or illegal attempts were charged on him who defends his own right. We became more and more far from peace, threatened by the savage ravenous beast of a third world. What kind of peace would reign in a world which consists only in violence, rapine, injustice and greed; a world which binds the honest man to quit all, even his sacred sacred native right to foreigners for fear of disorder or bloodshed? It’s a world of Mafia whose admirable peace is made only for their benefits.
Peace is the hope of all nations, being of oppressor societies or suffered injustice. The time is ripe to repair the damages of the victims; laws should not be of use to usurpers and harmful to those who are only armed with their sacred rights. This is the responsibility of all honest free people of the world to form movements, to co-operate in order to restrain those who act tyrannically in their societies.
Facts should be exactly known to avoid illusion. The ambition of Zionism to acquire the Palestinian land is far in history. Wresting the wealth of the European nations for several centuries, its aim was to preserve such extortion from threatening dangers by expatriating a land from its people and claming a right to it. This ambition was embodied in Basil conference half a century before the holocaust. Under heaps of lying exaggerating in number of victims, and anti-Semitic condemnation; moreover, by the help of its international relations, it could transgress the laws of justice without incurring the penalties of other contending nationalities as did Nazism, for not being suspected by the jealous universal opinion of other nations, it was not met by inconveniences, and could tacitly set to work out of danger by making others apparently find their advantage by promoting its own. By alliance to a great power ambitious to dominate the world, craving to drive out the old imperialism to settle its new one, Zionism did so much harm in the middle east by instigating internal wars of which the cost was nearly two million victims, by deviating liberation movements, by destroying the infrastructure of neighbor countries, by impoverishing them in debts for arms to defend themselves. Hence Israel, to promote its interest to acquire the Palestinian land, executed malignant projects against the Palestinian people and all Arab countries.
Anyone, if resorted to what calm reason dictates, will mark the transgressors who invaded other’s rights without being condemned or restrained by any influential power. Such practices will not lead to Peace, but possibly to a state of war for which the nations of the world will pay dearly not excluding Israel.
Never Israel will agree to solutions not coincident to its ambitions, nor the U.S.A. will abandon its policy in dominating the world following only its interests without any consideration to all other nations’ interests, nor those who suffer will surrender and yield. A world devoid of justice will never be a world of peace.
It’s useful to go back to history to analyze what claim has Israel who alleged both an ancient and a present right in Palestine. Historically, the Hebrews, when they occupied Palestine, were a horde of multi-nations as the tablets of Tel-Amarna proved. They had no history before the exodus because they were not a free nation but a class of slaves who on finding the hardships of slavery outweigh the value of their lives freed themselves by running away from oppression; having a good opportunity in hiding in the desert till they were organized enough, multiplied by slaves and nomads running away from neighboring countries, they occupied Cananite territories establishing themselves as a nation. Judaism was the organization of a new class interpolated between free and slave classes within the system of slavery. The Hebrews could not claim the status of a free natural nation whose relations were promulgated by the decided identity of blood, language, tradition and national gods. A covenant was needed to mould those diverse, dissolved, downtrodden remnants of nations into one, to regiment their lives. The Hebrews, being free to choose the laws they consented to be governed, could adopt from their neighbors as many positive principles to regulate their conduct, as well as they could refute many others which did not conform with their special condition; the most important was the law of slavery within their group.
The chosen people does not mean that they were a racial nation given divine rights, but that they were a group distinguished from natural societies as known in the savage slave system, who were chosen by some great power to be liberated, and who had forever a mission to build societies against injustice, contending with paganism.
For a brief period in history, the Hebrews enjoyed their freedom though unsafe and very insecure. However, it could not be denied to have been a precedent in human history to be the first successful revolution in the system of slavery. Written 700 years from the exodus, the old testament could not be an accurate history, but an allegory referring to that great event in the life of that people. Abel and Cain, for example, symbolized the beginning of the slave system when man killed his brother to have access to his property, the original sin by which man suffered ever after, Paradise as it was conceived in later times was the state of liberty and equality preceding slavery, when no one was subject to the dominion of any other society. This was quitted by the sin of man to a life full of fears and continual dangers. In their ancient history, the Jews seemed to be striving to justify themselves as a nation, not denying their origin, but however, have this slave – complex of over rating themselves when they came to power concealing their jealousy of not being a natural free nation. When at last they settled expatriating others, and propagated enough to form a solid group, they could not live in accordance to their laws. Even those principles preventing slavery within their group, were abandoned ,and they indulged in all the sins relating to the slave system. As a religion it returned to paganism and its mission was transferred to Christianity, then to Islam. All these religions had the same aim in liberating man from the slave system, and adopted all that was positive in Judaism before its deviation. As a vanquished nation Jews dispersed, the majority of whom lived in the near east as their philosophical activities proved; while a minority went abroad. Of the latter, the Sephardim are the Jews whose ancestors lived in the middle ages in Spain. After their expulsion from Spain in 1492 those who settled in Europe preserved their own customs, religious ritual and the Ladino (Judeo Spanish) language, a form of Medieval Spanish with some Hebrew terms, written in Hebrew characters. The Sephardim numbered about 500,000 by the 1960s.
The Ashkenazim (from the Hebrew Ashkenaz: German) are those who lived in eastern Europe outside the Roman empire in the Khazar kingdom, then immigrated to the north following their interests in trade after its fall. As a religion, it could not spread much being enclosed by two Christian sects, Catholicism in the west, Orthodox in the Russian area and Islam in most of the eastern countries. There was no Ashkinas immigration from the east to the west until the 19th century were some settled in west Europe, and many went to America where their majority live in Newyork. The holocaust of Hitler in Europe to Jews developed the immigration to Palestine and began the tragedy of Palestinians.
Why did not the American Jews hurry to immigrate into Palestine after Zionists came to power there? First because they are secure in the United States whose multi national system respects all religions. Secondly, because they know that they are of European origin and not of a Semetic one by which Zionists claim their ancient rights. Thirdly because the Zionists wanted them to stay in America to support their aggressive project financially, informally and politically in a place where the Jewish bourgeoisie exerts a great influence upon the government of the United States sharing with the latter all the benefits of world imperialism.
We used to hear from these American Jews moderate solutions for the conflict in Palestine, as to be a secular democratic country for both Arabs and Jews, but Zionists refused and wanted to further their aggressive project on Arab countries. Arabs were occupied by their own problems accepting the slogan “ Peace for Land” which is ridiculous in the vocabulary of Israel.
Now, as a matter of fact, is the only gainer by either peace or war, taking advantage in the time of peace of the helplessness of the original dwellers in regard to the cession of their lands whatever the means employed to attain them are soiled by the stain of injustice, or taking advantage of the state of disunity of opinion over the Palestinian question to instigate internal wars of extermination among the ranks of Palestinians, or inciting external wars with the Arab countries as far as its ambition and aggrandizement of its power allows.
It may be said that Israel, being a state of limited number of population is the least dangerous among adjacent Arab countries while it must only be measured by the power of its destructive action. It is a body whose head lives in the United States, namely in New York where the Jewish Bourgeoisie has a great power financially and politically. Maintained by such Bourgeoisie to found a state by force, the bloody settlement of the Jewish people upon others’ territories degenerates them as a people having no independent status who will never be liberated of those who supported them.
As real peace is only secured and guaranteed by cutting this mutual aggressive relation with an Imperialistic power following its interests by living with Palestinians under a democratic regime for both the nations, it is impossible to conceive a peace which not deceptive with Israel.
Arabs, on the other hand, do not possess the key of either peace or war. Being entangled by these same criminal forces that monopolize their wealth of petroleum which more than 3000 industries rely on, seem to be the weaker and least able to defend themselves against the systematic, persistent and malignant encroachment of Israel upon both their land and wealth. All obstacles were thrown in the way of their progress to reduce them to a shattered unproductive people unable to get rid of their political and economic subjugation. Many Arab countries rejected fusing the Palestinian refugees into their states, or agreed to their resistance from their territories, leaving them to a state of despair when depraved of the right to restore their identity and land which would issue in their extinction as a tributary of the whole Arab nation, while their country is filled with Jewish immigrants whose ancestors were never have been at any time in Palestine.
As Kissinger noticed in his book about the middle East that Israel itself doesn’t want peace with Arabs in the north of its settlements after Camp David. Zionists wanted a state exclusively Jewish; they avoided any negotiations with the PLO to return the occupied territories, mailed them as terrorists devoted to the annihilation of Israel.
Zionism, led by extremist army commanders as Biegen and Sharon who themselves ascended to power by terrorism practiced the most ferocious racism done to the Palestinian people who were not only driven from their land, but were followed to neighboring countries were they sought refuge and were slain in masses in Sabra and Shatila. Even a friendly country to the united States and Israel, whose southern cities were shelled from the air, its capital was bombarded by artillery, airplanes and marines did not avoid the aggressive occupation of Israel. Buildings collapsed over their citizen dwellers. Beirut was burning, people throw themselves from the windows to avoid being burnt inside, but the world was silent towards the terrorism of Israel.
After 5 years from the Lebanese war, Sharon confessed that he was not alone responsible of the destruction of Lebanon and the massacre of Palestinians in Sabra and Shatila, that the government and parties were collusive in planning. All knew what would happen. They used to pay for parties inside to do the dirty task against civilian refugees, armed them to the teeth, transported them to the camp and lightened it for them that their crime be done in the night.
The United States had a golden opportunity after the World War II to settle real peace in the world. No country reached its power, financially, economically, and technologically; but unfortunately, betrayed its destiny and interests by its bias and aggressive policy. All its practices led to cripple progress, democracy, co-operation and globalization. It turned out the world into confusion, corruption, plunder, and finally to internal and external wars, by supporting the opportunists, criminals and racists.
No one hates a great civilization, but when its power turned off to be a fence to contemporary slavery in the world, it would be resisted by the whole nations whatever high the price the to do so.
The old imperialism which reached its acme in developed national countries ambitious to colonize the world brought about second world war and led to the holocaust of Jews, while the new imperialism which united these countries under its umbrella following its interests to subjugate the world would naturally gain the anger of various nations by supporting sub-dual systems which practice terrorism internally and externally. Such policy would, most probably, lead to a third world which have no advantage for either victorious or vanquished side, one that threatens to destroy whole countries by the most dreadful weapons, and even mankind.
Man is created to be free; all religions were in the beginning to liberate man from slavery before they deviated into paganism. No nation is chosen by God to enslave others. The Zionists alleged to themselves divine rights by being the chosen people of God which means no more than that they were distinguished from racial natural nations as known in the slave system by being a class which fell in the hell of slavery and were chosen by some great power to be liberated from a savage system and built a society contending with paganism.
Should the conflict between Arabs and Jews be disposed of, both peoples had to share the government and earth of Palestine. Their common destiny will enable them to establish a permanent pacific position in the middle East, the earth of all divine missions. Jerusalem should be a spiritual capital to all religious groups. All sacred places must be preserved. New ones might be built anywhere in Jerusalem for it’s a sacred land. Man must return to the essence of all monotheist religions of the area “God is over all mankind” to build a new world period of co-operation, justice and peace. For this century is meant to unite all that was positive in the experience of humanity to the benefit of all, not to further the interests of one country or a nation by destroying all the principles of religions.
It is a great shame for the human conscience that the Palestinians are driven out of their country to be filled with strangers, and were strangled for no other cause but this natural feeling for one’s country, which is most honorable and human. Even a rump Palestine is denied to them, which will remain incentive for future Israeli aggression, and to an economic and technological Israeli domination over the whole Arab regions. Moreover no defensive measures will be allowable to Palestinian refugees anywhere. They will be chased wherever they are found as outlaws and terrorists if they showed any resistance to their fate, while Israel, having on the other hand a legal recognition, frontier and supported by nuclear weapons, will be in apposition to paralyze for ever the claims of the Palestinians to return to their own land.
Let the Palestinians who will, return to their country, and Israelis, who will go back to their own countries, or to immigrate anywhere. The land of God is wide. Let both people co-exist together on a land devoid of weapons. Let this sacred country be spiritual for all monotheist religions. Let them all pray to God for a real peace. Let their mission be as in old times to liberate man from injustice and contemporary slavery.