Wassim vs. Zionism? No..Wassim vs. Zionism!

Submitted by wassim (United Kingdom), Jan 19, 2007 at 08:14

There may be flaws in my thinking, but your knowledge of history is catastrophic. Firstly the region is far more fluid and interconnected historically than you make out to be. The "Arabs" you are referring to did not "invade" Jerusalem, it had already been under the control of either the Romans/Byzantines or the Persians for over 600 years by then.

Those you call Arabs who supposedly "invaded" Palestine did not see themselves as only Arabs in identity but were animated by an Islamic belief in the equality of all men and would smile at our modern day "nationalist" perceptions (Western based). That did not mean they did not differentiate between men, there were those who believed, and those who were "Kafir" a word which does not mean infidel as is commonly proclaimed but means one who does not follow what you follow. Thus all of us are Kafir of this or that belief if we do not believe it. The negative connotations to the word accumulated historically.

But I digress, back to your misinformed and ideologically slanted view of history. I suppose Jerusalem was "occupied" so to speak by Jordan, but the very fact that you are taking states and nationhood for granted in a region where these things mean very little is a sign that you are not only completely outside the debates of the people of the region, but you have never really spoken to anybody who is Palestinian and who was living in Jerusalem at the time of the Israeli attacks in 1967. Defiling of tombstones or holy places? I seem to recall that Muslims actually hold Abraham and Moses in high esteem and the fact that you won't be able to reference your claim except from polemics and demagogic sources rather than any serious academic or historic work will demonstrate that.

Palestinian violations of treaties. I hope they break every single one to come too. I don't consider the United States or the European Union as impartial arbiters and a fraction of what you own returned to you is no justice if you have to acknowledge that the rest now belongs to the thief who stole it from you.

Israel has given the Palestinians nothing except the means to start further civil war. The PLO charter rightly must remain true to its purpose (you cannot expect the United Nations to drop a clause abolishing war as a means of resolving disputes).

An Arab attack on Yom Kippur, sure there would be an outcry, but I suppose every Ramadan where Zionism is the ideology of government in Palestine is surely a far greater abomination, especially considering this has been the case, not just in the '67 occupied territories, but dare I say even the '48 occupied territories since 1948.

Arab refugees began identifying themselves as Palestinian two decades later. Your point being what? Before then they were just refugees which really means the same thing, they left their home under duress and during a war and should be allowed back once it is over. Look up what refugee means first, it will be interesting to see what you have to say.

Again, you are applying modern notions of nationhood to a different era and context. Islam is a religion and philosophy and I'm perfectly aware that there were Israeli kingdoms 3000 years ago. Useless point

Next point on Jerusalem as a capital of an Arab or Islamic entity. Again, you box yourself in this idea of states and statehood. I don't blame you, like most Zionists you are from the West and educated within their paradigm and discourse. You can't comprehend a world without "official" borders, fake national anthems and nationalism, and passports.

All three points about the UN, you seem more upset they were silent than what the Jordanians did. Again is your grudge against Muslims, Arabs or the "supposedly" secular governments or dictatorships that ruled the Arab world. You need to differentiate who it is you want to oppress and then I can teach you. Otherwise I can't help.

Muhammad did go to Jerusalem. He got there on a flying horse. :-) believing that is no different than believing in a burning bush that talks to Moses on a mountain, it's what people call faith. King David founded Jerusalem? David is also reverred in Islamic traditions and mentioned by Muhammad, we know he founded the city so where is the dispute here?

Point about Muslims and their backs to Jerusalem, load of rubbish. Muslims pray towards Mecca. Initially they were told to face Jerusalem but when conflict began between the Muslims and the Jews in Arabia Muhammad ordered prayer towards Mecca to differentiate between the two.

Point about refugees being? What? I believe all refugees should be allowed to return to their land and recompensed for their suffering. I'll even hold your hand and a placard in any street demonstration. The Arab Jews are part of the rich cultural heritage and history of the Arab world, those of North Africa are part of the legacy of al Andalus and are there because Western Europeans kicked them out with the Muslims, those of Iraq too. Zionism has dealt a blow to Jewish culture too in the eradication of these ancient communities, the weaking of legacies such as Yiddish culture and language in Eastern Europe and endangering the communities which existed in the Arab world because of the creation of Israel and opportunistic Arab dictators. Israel has been manufactured, it's history manufactered and in doing so, it has actually harmed Judaism.

Point about dominion? Yes they have, so what? Can you differentiate between Judaism and between Zionism? I can, I'm an anti-Zionist, anti-fascist and anti-Wahhabi. I'm comfortable with all of them because they all represent intolerance, racism and criminal aggression.

Israel is a constructed concept of something called a state. I don't advocate throwing Jews in the sea, they were always there. I want all Palestinians to be allowed back home and recompensed, all Jewish refugees to be allowed back to their homes throughout the Arab world and finally for Western European Jews infected with the idea of Zionism who want to stay there, they must learn what it means to be Middle Eastern and "Levantine" and coexist with those who were there before them. If you want to live in Europe, go live there, don't come to us and destroy our way of life.

Start of Story!

---

Note: Opinions expressed in comments are those of the authors alone and not necessarily those of Daniel Pipes. Original writing only, please. Comments are screened and in some cases edited before posting. Reasoned disagreement is welcome but not comments that are scurrilous, off-topic, commercial, disparaging religions, or otherwise inappropriate. For complete regulations, see the "Guidelines for Reader Comments".