Newsgroup: it.politica.internazionale
Titolo: Just go 'somewhere else'!

http://www.treppenwitz.com/2010/06/just-go-somewhere-else-1.html
Try, if you can, to imagine the most inappropriate remark a person could
possibly muster if approached by a prominent Rabbi outside a White House
Jewish heritage event, and asked a softball question such as "What do
you think of Israel?".
I'm sure most people, knowing they were on the record, and conscious of
the fact that they were being asked the question by a Rabbi at an affair
celebrating Jewish heritage, would come up with a measured remark
appropriate to the occasion which had nothing whatsoever to do with how
they really feel about Israel.
Veteran White House correspondent Helen Thomas , the Doyenne of the
Washington print journalist set, contribution to the day's festivities
by responding, "Tell them to get the hell out of Palestine!"  She went
on to say that the Palestinian people “are occupied and it’s their
land”, and that Israelis should “go home” -- to Poland, Germany, America
“and everywhere else.”
Refreshingly honest, no?
Her statements not only ignore the experiences of Jews in some of their
European 'homelands' in recent history, but even worse; presupposes that
Jews are modern interlopers in 'Palestine'... colonists who most be
dislodged so that the peaceful indigenous people can finally live in
peace.  She, like the Palestinians, denies any Jewish historical
connection to this land... the archaeological record not withstanding.
I've been stewing for a few days about this statement, mostly because of
how little substantive discussion/reaction it has garnered.
It's as if some aging bejeweled dowager has inadvertently made a racist
remark about 'those uppity colored people' at a fancy dinner party
without noticing that some of the 'colored' wait-staff are still in the
room circulating among the invited guests.  Everyone coughs a bit and
checks their watch, and waits for the moment to pass so they can all
pretend they hadn't noticed the social gaffe.  After all, doesn't every
worthwhile joke begin with a furtive glance in all directions to make
sure that only 'the right sort of people' are within earshot?
Normally I wouldn't think much about the rantings of a doddering old
bigot who has kept her professional place more from sheer inertia than
from any recent contribution to her craft.  After all, her longevity and
stale resume aside, her eccentricity has caused her to be widely
regarded as a combination of Minnie Pearl and everyone's crazy maiden aunt.
However, what seems to be troubling me most is that she is far from
alone in giving voice to feelings which, for the sake of decorum, had
traditionally been left for when the staff is out of earshot.
Take for example the instantaneous reaction to the Gaza flotilla raid.
Before the ships had even made port there was blanket and universal
condemnation from Europe, Scandinavia, the third world... and, of
course, the rest of the Middle East.  These statements stopped just
short of accusing the IDF soldiers of harvesting the dead 'activists'
organs and baking matzoh with their blood.
There was no responsible wait for solid information... no search for
facts or confirmation... but rather, like an obituary that has been
diligently prepared in advance, the condemnations were issued pro-forma
at the first whisper of trouble so as not to miss the tide of
international bile.
Likewise, the near universal outcry for an independent inquiry of the
event is as predictable as it is troubling.  Would any European or Asian
power submit to an international inquiry of its military missteps or
accidents?  Would the U.S.?  Would England?  For that matter, I can't
name one country that in recent memory has willingly submitted to such
outside review of its actions?
The U.S., Russia as well as many of the European and Asian powers have
all had spectacular screw ups on the battlefield, as well as in pursuit
of their national defense, whose civilian death tolls far exceeded that
of the current Gaza flotilla snafu.  Yet each time one of these
countries stumbles, as transparent, sovereign nations they are allowed
to investigate themselves, learn their lessons and share their findings
with the world at a pace that suits them.
Israel, on the other hand, is expected to submit its conduct, it's
political/diplomatic decisions and in many cases its very sovereignty,
to immediate international oversight... as if our very existence is in
some way conditioned upon the tolerance and largess of others.
Even the very language with which Israel is discussed has begun to
include previously taboo imagery.  Take for example the New York Times
op-ed piece by Ross Duthat  whose unsolicited advice to Israel is to
take a lesson from previous non-indigenous interlopers in the Levant -
the crusaders - so that we might keep our foothold here at least as long
as the medieval kings of Jerusalem and their Frankish knights.
He rushes to assure the reader of his honorable intent by saying, "The
analogy between Israel and [the crusader kingdoms] is usually drawn by
Israel’s enemies...".   And he even goes so far as to state that, "[the
crusader states] were no less legitimate than the Muslim states they
warred against — which had themselves been founded atop once-Christian
territories."
But interestingly, he stops short of reminding the reader of the
inconvenient fact that before all of them,  this part of the world was
controlled by those inconvenient Jews (a fact backed up by their own
religious texts).
What many seem extremely willing to overlook is the fact that no matter
on whose shores we washed up throughout the past 2000 years, there
always remained a small garrison of Jews in the Holy land acting as a
placeholder in the book of our unrelenting prayers to some day return.
And after each expulsion (even the ones as recent as 1929 and 1948 which
were paternalistically referred to as being for our own safety), the
world developed amnesia as to who had owned what.  Apparently only Arab
claims are considered lasting and inviolate.
Not a day has passed in over two millennium where the yearning for
Jerusalem and her environs has not passed the lips of countless Jews in
every corner of the diaspora.  Yet our enemies - those who cynically
claim an eternal bond with this land and our capital -  can't point to a
single direct reference to Jerusalem in their holy books or liturgy.
To Helen Thomas, Ross Duthat, Turkey, Sweden and all of our other
'well-wishers' who keep urging us to concede, compromise and withdraw
(yet again!), I can assure you that we know your game by now.  We're
supposed to keep our eyes averted and remain silent as we pass within
earshot of the rich and powerful nations of the world.  We're supposed
to ignore the insults and assume you have our best interest at heart.
We Israelis are supposed to smile and nod appreciatively when we are
offered vague and ill-conceived advice ... and above all pretend that if
we will only agree to set aside our selfish obsession with our security,
other wiser heads will see to it that our interests are protected.
Excuse me if I make the observation that this hasn't worked out very
well for us so far.
"Drop the blockade", say the Europeans.  "Let us monitor the flow of
goods into Gaza".  As if we could forget the peerless job the Europeans
are doing monitoring the flow of rockets and other sophisticated
weaponry from Iran and Syria into Lebanon (and into the waiting hands of
Hezbollah... who we were assured would be completely disarmed).  Is that
what you had in mind?  I thought so.
It may surprise our detractors, but most Israelis seek an accommodation
of some sort with the Arabs.  We don't want to rule over anyone, and we
certainly don't want to send our children to die in war after war.  But
we aren't able to control both sides of this equation.  We can't make
our enemies stop trying to kill us.  Heck, we can't even get them to
change their charters which call unambiguously for Israel's destruction.
My advice to the rest of the world is that if this part of the world
fascinates you so completely that you feel compelled to involve
yourselves to the exclusion of bloodbaths, massacres, coups and military
conflicts going on elsewhere in the world... maybe you can exert some
pressure on someone else besides Israel for a change.  Like I said
earlier... we agree with you on most issues.  It's the other guys who
don't seem ready to stop shooting.
In the mean time, please stop trying to get us to 'go somewhere else'...
to 'go back where we came from'... to 'go home'.  We're already there.