Received: from imo-d03.mx.aol.com (imo-d03.mx.aol.com [205.188.157.35]) by literacy.nifl.gov (8.10.2/8.10.2) with ESMTP id h3EGDGU10047 for <nifl-aalpd@nifl.gov>; Mon, 14 Apr 2003 12:13:16 -0400 (EDT) Received: from AWilder106@aol.com by imo-d03.mx.aol.com (mail_out_v34.21.) id p.f3.2ac4a6f3 (15864) for <nifl-aalpd@nifl.gov>; Mon, 14 Apr 2003 12:13:06 -0400 (EDT) Received: from aol.com (mow-m21.webmail.aol.com [64.12.180.137]) by air-id06.mx.aol.com (v92.17) with ESMTP id MAILINID63-3df83e9ade12344; Mon, 14 Apr 2003 12:13:06 -0400 Date: Mon, 14 Apr 2003 12:13:06 -0400 From: AWilder106@aol.com To: nifl-aalpd@nifl.gov Subject: [NIFL-AALPD:177] Re: from Kay Tee, Suggestions for handling bias Message-ID: <25E40E43.3475AE71.0A349A3F@aol.com> X-Mailer: Atlas Mailer 2.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=iso-8859-1 Content-Transfer-Encoding: 8bit Status: O Content-Length: 3660 Lines: 36 Dear Jackie, Kay Tee, others; I said I would clarify some of my thinking. One person's context is not necesarily another's. I reacted strongly to Kay Tee's phrase " see what the Jews do to the Palestinian people on a daily basis." I explained why I reacted that way and suggested substitution of some words for greater accuracy--I, myself, am a Jew and I don't do anything to Palestinians on a daily basis. I had a similar reaction to the phrase "It was the later happenings during WW II that readdressed the need for the displaced European Jewish population to seek a 'homeland', which was forcibly taken." The land of Israel was not forcibly taken UNLESS someone is talking about Arab villages during the 1948 war. Portions of Palestine were bought by Jewish settlers starting in the late 1800's. There was a Zionist dream enunciated by Herzl in 1897 of a Jewish homeland. After WW I France got Syria--Lebanon, GB got Palestine. The Balfour Declaration, 1917, promised a Jewish homeland with civil and religious rights for non-Jewish communities. The Holocaust gave impetus to the UN partition of 1947. In 1948 Israel fought a war of independence against all its Arab neighbors, who had first declared war against it; Israel won. In the process of waging that war, 700,000 Moslems left Israel, some fled, some were driven out. Also, many stayed. The 700,000 formed the core of the refugees. There were ongoing conflicts, and hatred, between Jews and Moslems (not all people on both sides) from the period of initial settlement unitil the present day. The initial claim to Israel by Jews was based on their residence there for several thousand years until exiled by the Romans after the destruction of the 2nd Temple in 70 CE. A piece of temple wall still stands. There was a small remaining Jewish population. I am not an apologist for the present Israeli government or its policies. I do not regard Palestinians as lesser human beings. I deplore the settlements. One of my regrets about Hizbollah(terrorist group) having its headquarters in the Bekaa Valley is what happens to incredibly fertile and varied agricultural land--I read and use a Lebanese cookbook--in times of war. There is no monolithic Jewish viewpoint about the mideast situation. Some, maybe all, other Jews on this list would disagree with me on many points. There are terrorist atttacks and there is the settlement policy. Some Moslems want to wipe out Israel, and are acting on it via terrorism, some Israelis want to relocate Palestinians and have Israel take over the West Bank for a greater Israel, they are acting on that via settlements. Some think that the suicide attacks and resultant Israeli crackdown have devastated the Palestinian economy; the Israeli economy is now also in bad shape. I have read "regular" historians and revisionist historians to find out what happened and also what people think happened. Check out: 1) War Without End, Anton La Guardia (Catholic, Italian) 2002 (has maps) 2) Rigtheous Victims, Benny Morris, (Israeli) 2001 edition 3) ? , by Tom Segev, (Israeli) 2000, I think 4) Interview with Prince Bandar (Moslem, Saudi Arabia) New Yorker Magazine, about 1 month ago When I first went down to the Bohri Bazaari, in Karachi, I said "Now I understand the Jews, they are Eastern." I still think this is true. I am not not keen to continue this thread, if someone else wants to take over it would be a fine thing. I think the thread has to do with legitimacy of viewpoints, based on positionality. Clearly I think individuals may embody multiple interpretations of "facts." Andrea
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