From: perlman@qso.Colorado.EDU (Eric S. Perlman)
Subject: Re: BILL CLINTON ON ISRAEL AND THE MIDDLE
Organization: University of Colorado, Boulder
Date: Thu, 20 Aug 1992 19:11:00 GMT

In article <1992Aug20.160327.5018@ncrcae.ColumbiaSC.NCR.COM> nabil@ncrcol.ColumbiaSC.NCR.COM (Nabil Idriss) writes:
>>>If Rabin was correct in what he said last week on MCcneil Lehrer news
>>>hour that he is prepared to offer the Palestininas a first step self
>>>rule and elections on the next peace talks, it would be a good time
>>>to end of boycott. I would prefer to see a final solution before the
>>>end of the boycott.
>>
>>OK fine.  It should however be pointed out that the boycott (including
>>the secondary boycott) is well-nigh illegal under international law.
>>
>
>International Law? This is a joke. If there is any law in the world
>I will be living now with my parents in Haifa.

International Law is a two-way street, Nabil.  I think that the word you
were wanting is "justice", as whether I agree with your opinion or not
you have stated as much here in the past.  Justice, however, is a
two-way street as well.  If there were justice in the world, the
Palestinians of the time wouldn't have knuckled under to al-Husseini as
they did - and it should be remembered that al-Husseini, then Mufti of
Jerusalem, was an active collaborator with Nazi Germany, and there is
evidence he had similar designs for Mandatory Palestine.

>>Clearly this *was* a part of the decision on both sides.  However,
>>you're a fool if you think that this was the controlling part, on either
>>side. 
>> 
>
>I did not understand this one. Can you rephrase?

I meant that I think economic factors (for example the price and
availability of oil/petrochemicals) clearly entered Saddam Hussein's
mind (at least IMHO) when he invaded Kuwait, and also that it affected
the Shrub's decision making process about the eventual war.  However, I
think it's folly, and simplistic at best, to say that in either case it
was the largest part of the process.  

>>There is, however, a big problem with who is really a Palestinian.  Note
>>that I mean no disrespect, but the amount of false refugee passports
>>which have the UNWRA stamp is pretty darned huge.  So is the level of
>>fraud.  Further, Jordan's population is well over half Palestinian, and
>>many of those *aren't* 1948 refugees.
>>
>
>What do you mean fraud? Who wants this misreable refugee passport? 
>I will be glad to give you mine. The number of refugees is known.

Not as well as you might think.  Person X, in 1949, coming in off the
street, could easily get one, and there are many instances of such fraud
(and it should also be added that there is a huge propaganda advantage
for the Arab states to inflate the number of refugees - and there is
evidence that that has occurred).  I understand that you don't like
being classified as a refugee.  However, to someone with no home, the
UNWRA assistance it entitles the holder to might actually appear
attractive - whether or not s/he actually is a refugee from the war that
s/he is claiming to be a refugee from.

>If you watched Rabin on MCcneel Lehrer news hour you would have 
>heard him say the number of the palestinians outside the territory,
>that is in all the Arab countries: 1.9 Million.  He said he is not
>ready to accept their return. Is this fair? 

Let's back up here:  Israel offered, during 1949 and the early 1950s,
several resettlement plans, in which Israel would take back 100-200K of
the ~600-700K Arab refugees from the 1948 war *if* its neighbors would accept
that they bore a burden as well.  They didn't.  In other words, the
problem could have been solved 40 years ago if any of the leaders of the
Arab countries which sought to wipe Israel off the map had shown the
slightest bit of humanity towards the refugees which they had had the
causal, and primary, role in displacing.  Instead Palestinians have been
treated not as human beings, but as political footballs, by the entire
Arab world for nearly the last half-century.  Now Rabin does envision
the return of territory.  When that territory is no longer part of
Israel, what another country does with it - say Jordan for the sake of
argument - is their business alone, as a matter solely of internal
policies.  But he does not accept that Israel must shoulder all the
burden for the resettlement of refugees, as the Arab positions demand.
Indeed, that would be real historical injustice.


-- 
"How sad to see/A model of decorum and tranquillity/become like any other sport
A battleground for rival ideologies to slug it out with glee." -Tim Rice,"Chess"
     Eric S. Perlman 				 <perlman@qso.colorado.edu> 
  Center for Astrophysics and Space Astronomy, University of Colorado, Boulder
Newsgroups: talk.politics.mideast,soc.culture.greek,soc.culture.yugoslavia