Double Standard

(c) Jordan White 1/24/03

 

            Just a few questions:  Why is it all right to have a state which is a “Jewish homeland” (Readers’ Forum, January 15), and not all right to have a “whites-only” state in South Africa?

 

            Doesn’t that amount to the racist concept of “ethnic cleansing”, since the original owners, the Palestinians, are systematically being displaced and dispossessed, resulting in the oldest and largest refugee population in the world? (4,000,000 since 1948, according to the World Almanac.)

 

            And why should the Palestinians be forced to accept any so-called “agreement”, such as Barak’s “offer”, when they have never been offered what they want and deserve, that is, total sovereignty over their own lands including control of their borders, water resources, and immigration, including the right of return of the afore-mentioned refugees?

 

            Go figure: Any person of Jewish origin may emigrate to Israel and receive full privileges, including citizenship, while Palestinians who were born on that very land are denied the most basic of civil rights. Israel’s occupation of Palestinian lands is illegal under international law and is recognized by no nation on earth.

 

            We are not being “emotional” or “tear-jerking” when we call attention to the atrocities that the Israeli government is doing to these people. We are not being “anti-Semitic”.  We are merely asking for an end to US-taxpayer support for Israel which helps fund this racist treatment of the Palestinian people.  We are asking for justice.