|
-
|
It's Israel that incites hate
Blame Israel, not Palestinian textbooks, for hatred in the Holy Land
Date published: 3/11/2007
BETHLEHEM, Pales- tine--I am surprised that you find so terrible some of the quotes you record ["A steady diet of hate for kids in Palestine," Feb. 11] from Palestinian textbooks, such as "Palestine will be liberated by its men, its women, its young ones and its elderly." Surely something of this sort was said by Americans fighting for their independence during the Revolutionary War. Their desire to sacrifice for freedom echoes some of our first generals: "[A]ppealing to Heaven for the justice of our cause, we determine to die or be free" (Joseph Warren, American account of the Battle of Lexington, 1775).
I spent three months in Palestine and Israel. I have been a witness to injustice that rarely makes it to mainstream news in the U.S.
I have spent time with families whose houses have been demolished; families who are left with no means of income after their fields have been destroyed; men who have been tortured in prison and who are nevertheless seeking a nonviolent way to resist; children who have been shot while playing; children who have been beaten by soldiers; and children whose siblings are in jail simply for being members of a political party.
The lives of Palestinians are devalued at the expense of Israelis. Palestinian children have little or no access to play areas, because of Israeli building restrictions and continued confiscation of land. While settlements atop hills in Palestine use water for swimming pools, gardens, and open spaces, Palestinians must pay four times as much to Israel for water.
Sewage from these settlements often runs directly onto Palestinian farmland.
Palestinian children in refugee camps face raids, where soldiers come in the middle of the night, break into their houses, and sometimes make an arrest or simply break things and leave.
You state that Palestinians do not learn about the Holocaust. Well, Israelis are not taught in school about the history of their country beyond the Jewish perspective. It is not taught, for example, that in the 1948 war more than 400 Palestinian towns were destroyed, and thousands of Palestinians were expelled or killed.
I have found that Israeli soldiers know little about why they receive orders, and Israeli civilians are ignorant of what happens in the West Bank. Please consider the following typical examples:
Read more stories about Caroline
Date published: 3/11/2007
Most recent reader comments:
If the Palestinians really want peace then they need to control the violence and stop inciting hatred and recognize that the Jews have a right to exist. If they wanted peace they would build and create instead of destroying everything including their own children. Some people are given lemons and make lemonade. Others throw the lemons at others and wind up with nothing,thats the difference between the Jews and the Palestinians. They have had many many opportunities for peace and not taken them.
Its not about the land. They never wanted it till someone was turning it over to the Jews. The Jews have made the land prosperous and are still willing to give up part of it to the Palestinians who say they have no right to exist and refuse all attempts at compromise. If the Jews had been given the West Bank and Gaza instead of the Palestinians, they'd be pouring their energy into creating a thriving metorpolis instead of creating more suicide bombers. The Palestinians have been given tons of $$$
Because the Palestinians were so mad the Jews agreed to allow an international force to maintain control of Israel. The Palestinaians would not agree, even though it wasn't under their control to begin with, suddenly they wanted everything and would risk destroying the peace and the land in order to have it. Reminds you of the tale of Solomon and the baby. Israel was willing to give up control of the baby. Now most of the original settlers are long dead and there have been 50 some years of fighting.
Palestinians did not care about the Land till Jews were given it
(posted by
TicklemeElfmo
, Sep. 25, 2007 2:41 pm)
Israel was turned over to the Jews just after WWII . After having I believe it was approx 1/3 of their population exterminated I guess people felt like they could use a homeland. There have always been Jews in Israel and no one was throwing out Palestinians. The land which had been occupied by the Palestinians had become agriculturally a wasteland due to over farming and run down economically.......they never cared about the land UNTIL the Jews came and worked their magic as only they can do.
|
Star Directory
