Monday, December 04, 2006

Barak in Black

On Saturday, former Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak was in Vancouver as a keynote speaker at the Schara Tzedeck Synagogue. His appearance was vociferously opposed by a crowd of pro-Palestinian protestors gathered across the street. I support Mr. Barak's right to speak and the synagog's right to invite him to do so as protected free speech and religious expression. I also support the Palestinian protesters right to gather across the street and oppose his message. Democratic dialogue is often noisey and unruly. It is not the appearance of Mr. Barak that has me blogging this morning, but his message - at least as it was reported this morning by CKNW radio.

Apparently Mr. Barak sees a crucial role for Canada in the middle east peace process - which he hopes will include a Palestinian state. In his vision of the future however, after hostilities between Israel and the Palestinians cease, Canada would be a perfect new home for all of the displaced Palestinians. I am assuming Mr. Barak is refering to the decendents of the hundreds of thousands of Palestinians who fled Israel during the 1948 war and were denied repatriation afterwards. This is a sticky issue for the middle east peace process because the decendents of these refugees now number in the millions and if repatriated enmass would pretty much spell the end of the Jewish state. But the right of return has been a key issue with the Palestinians from the beginning and remains a critical point of contention as there is little room for either side to compromise on this issue. It appears that Mr. Barak's solution is to export the Palestinian refugees to Canada. I suppose this is because Canada has such a spotless history in its handling of displaced indigenous people. Palestinian reservations anyone? Perhaps we can abduct their children and put them in residence schools?

3 comments:

CoteGauche said...

ex-ndip

Take a deep breath and re-read what I wrote before you knee-jerk attempt to re-educate me with your talking points.

I tried to confine my short historical perspective to facts, rather than interpretations. The fact is, hundreds of thousands of Palestians were displaced by the 1948 Arab-Israeli war. It is true that they were encouraged to flee by Israel's neighbours. It is also true that they were denied repatriation by Israel. Feel free to correct me if I have misstated any facts so far.

It is also true that there has never been a Palestinian state. This is not because Palestinians have not lived in the area for millenia, but because the region has been occupied and administered by foreign powers for over 2000 years (Babylonian, Assyrian, Greek, Roman, Byzantine, Persian Caliphate, European Crusaders, Mamluk Sultinates, Ottoman and British). After the first world war, the British made conflicting committments to both the Jews and Palestinian Arabs to create both Jewish and Palestinian states in the same area. In the end, they failed at both. The partition of Palestine was unworkable, and only ensured the conflict which came within hours.

Regardless of the history of the conflict, the fact remains that there are several million Palestinian refugees, dispossed of their homes and living in exile. They may have left at the urging of Egypt, Iraq, Jordan, Lebanon, and Syria, but they were denied the right of return by Israel. BTW - in case you were unaware, the right of return for refugees following a conflict is a basic human right and a UN resolution that Israel has been in violation of for 50 years. It is also true that Lebanon, Syria and the PLO have encouraged the refugees to remain in over crowded camps rather than integrate them in order to keep the right of return front and centre in the conflict. The truth is that both sides have used refugees as pawns in this conflict.

I am not saying there is an easy solution to the Palestinian refugee problem. However for Barak to suggest that the solution is to export Palestinians enmass to Canada is outrageous.

Anonymous said...

Holy crap, my head is still spinning.

That colony of white dudes with the big guns beating back the sea of brown folks are the indigens?! A brief reality check ex-ndp: the vast majority of Israelis are European jews with no lineage or history with the ancient Hebrews but for a religious claptrap.

Israel, the only democracy? The state who grants citizenship based on religion? I seem to recall elections in Lebanon. I also recall the Carter Center heaping praise on the Palestinian election process as among the best they've monitored. But then they were made quick to realize the difference between real democracy and the version the West wanted to spread in the region.

As for suicide bombers, one easy and effective solution is to give them the same F-16s, Apaches, guided missiles that the IDF routinely uses against Palestinians. I'm certain they would gladly relinguish their bomb belts for the latest US aresenal. There is no less terror from a missile strike in a crowded market than from a suicide bomb in a night club.

Anyone who cannot see the moral flaw in proposing the re-settling of displaced Palestinians in Canada is just another Israel right or wrong zealot. And discussion with these types are pointless.

CoteGauche said...

The resettlement of Jewish refugees in palestine following the second world war was a moral issue that the British obstructed and opposed. The repatriation of Palestinian refugees is no less a moral issue that Israel has obstructured for 50 years.