Now, I'd go on, but while looking through one of my favorite blogs, The Angry Arab by As'ad Abu Khalil, I found the following piece which pulls together the basic facts of the situation; that one simply cannot celebrate Israeli 'Independence' without also an understanding of the Nakba. I repost the piece here in full, with full permission from the writer as well as the publication it appeared in, The Queen's Journal.
Remembering Palestine
On Israel’s anniversary, Palestinians commemorate Al Nakba—the Catastrophe
BY DANA OLWAN, PHD ’09, CONTRIBUTOR
On May 15, Israel will celebrate its 60th anniversary. Palestinians around the world will commemorate the 60th anniversary of the Palestinian Nakba or the “Catastrophe.” Among other things, Al-Nakba marks the forced expulsion and destitution of 750,000 Palestinians from their indigenous homeland and the destruction of 418 villages in 1948. Its aftermath effectively decimated Palestinian identity, culture and life.
While Israelis are exhorted to remember this day and mark the sixth decade of Israel’s creation and independence as a celebratory occasion, Palestinians are encouraged to forget their past and their historic link with their homeland.
We’re instructed to concede to traditional Zionist myths that have depicted the land of Palestine as empty prior to the arrival of Zionist settlers. We’re expected to accept that Israel’s creation did not alter or disrupt the lives of the land’s indigenous Palestinian inhabitants.
Today, we’re reminded Israel is the only country anxious for peace with its Palestinian and Arab neighbors. We’re told the building of the apartheid wall upon Palestinian territories, the repeated military incursions into the West Bank and Gaza, the expansion of illegal settlements in the occupied territories in contravention of international law, the displacement of Palestinians through the confiscation of ID cards and the targeting and collective punishment of Palestinian civilians—including the latest massacre on Gaza, which resulted in the death of at least 106 Palestinian civilians—are all justifiable and “measured” acts. We’re pressured to ignore the current state of colonization and occupation and focus instead on unbalanced attempts at peace and reconciliation that privilege Israeli security over Palestinian sovereignty and human rights, including their UN-sanctioned right of return.
Ironically, in the U.S., it’s no longer possible to celebrate Columbus Day without acknowledging the considerable toll of European settlement. Likewise, 1948 shouldn’t be celebrated as a realization of a dream without recognizing its catastrophic consequences for Palestinians. Yet Israel continually refuses to acknowledge any culpability for Palestinians’ plight.
One can only celebrate the creation of the Israeli state through the deliberate burying of the following historical facts: that the creation of the Israeli state was made possible at the expense of the indigenous population; that its creation was legitimized through racist Zionist narratives that depicted Palestinians in the words of Zionist leader Moshe Smilansky as “semi-savage” and incapable of self-governance; that it actively engages in the ethnic cleansing of Palestinians from Palestine through expulsion, massacre and state terrorism; that Israeli “democracy” privileges its Jewish citizens and actively discriminates against Palestinians; that it has left Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza cut off economically and politically; and finally that Israel continues to employ racist and exclusionary legislative policies that prevent the seven million Palestinians living in the diaspora from returning to their homeland.
Palestinians will mark the 60th anniversary of Israel’s creation by remembering these painful historic facts. They will remember the names of the villages that were destroyed, record the names of those who were killed and lament the loss of their inherent right to a dignified life in their homeland. They will challenge efforts to deny Israeli abuses of Palestinian human rights and oppose attempts to silence Israel’s critics by deliberately conflating anti-Zionism with anti-Semitism. They will recognize the contributions and sacrifices of those Palestinians who live under Israeli occupation and languish in refugee camps. They will speak against Israel’s present and continuing crimes in the West Bank and Gaza. When 1.4 million Palestinian women, men and children living in Gaza are deprived of water, electricity and medical care and are subject to brutal military attacks, how can we ignore the pain and suffering the formation of the state of Israel has wrought on Palestinians?
Palestinians everywhere will mark May 15 by celebrating the enduring spirit of Palestinian resistance. They will remember by engaging their communities, by educating others about their plight and by working in solidarity with other marginalized indigenous groups in Canada and elsewhere. They will remember Al Nakba by asserting their right to remember Palestine.
Acts of remembrance involve a conscious effort to resist erasures or commit them.
How will you choose to remember Palestine?
Dana Olwan is national chair of Students for Palestinian Human Rights.
Have questions or comments about this piece? Send them to journal_editors@ams.queensu.ca. Go to queensjournal.ca March 31 for an online discussion.
off the topic of Palestine (but not really) I also read an excellent article by John Gray, whose book I read a few years ago, warning of the impending energy/resource shortages which have become a fact of our collective existences;
Published on Sunday, March 30, 2008 by The Guardian/UK
Those Who Control Oil and Water Will Control The World
by John Gray
We are a long way from the fantasy world of only a decade ago, when fashionable gurus were talking sagely of the knowledge economy. Then, we were told material resources did not matter any more - it was ideas that drove economic development. The business cycle had been left behind and an era of endless growth had arrived. Actually, the knowledge economy was an illusion created by cheap oil and cheap money and everlasting booms always end in tears. This is not the end of the world or of global capitalism, just history as usual.
What is different this time is climate change. Rising sea levels reduce food and fresh-water supplies, which may trigger large-scale movements of refugees from Africa and Asia into Europe. Global warming threatens energy supplies. As the fossil fuels of the past become more expensive, others, such as tar sands, are becoming more economically viable, but these alternative fuels are also dirtier than conventional oil.
In this round of the Great Game, energy shortage and global warming are reinforcing each another. The result can only be a growing risk of conflict. There were around 1.65 billion people in the world when the last round was played out. At the start of the 21st century, there are four times as many, struggling to secure their future in a world being changed out of recognition by climate change. It would be wise to plan for some more of history’s rhymes.
But is this unrelated? I think not;
Water Authority: Israel must act to avoid humanitarian crisis
By Zafrir Rinat, Haaretz Correspondent
By the end of next year, the Water Authority will operate a new, larger desalinization plant in Hadera, according to Tal, who added that the plant will not however be able to compensate for the lower level of precipitation that has reached national water sources in recent years.
The head of the water authority for the Palestinian Authority, Fadel Kawash, stated that the water situation in the Gaza Strip had reached "catastrophic" proportions, due to the over pumping and pollution of underground aquifers in the Strip.
Kawash stated that three quarters of the available freshwater in the Gaza Strip is too salty to be used for drinking water and that the only freshwater safe to drink is available only in the areas of the Gaza Strip Israel controlled before the Gaza Disengagement in 2005
The great lake of Gaza: a new crisis in the making
SUZANNE BAROUD, IMEU, MAR 29, 2008
In a place just a few miles from sandy beaches and soaring sky-scrapers, white stone villas and sky-blue swimming pools, it seems the epitome of irony and injustice that over 1.5 million people would be subjected to drinking sewage-contaminated water. When there is such a fine line bordering wealth and poverty, privilege and need, how unsettling to realize that just a stones throw away, mothers and fathers must nourish their families with poison. As if the occupier could not find one more creative way to torment his victim.
The greatest outrage is that such a reality is the decided policy of the Israeli government. It is decried by the most prominent human rights and humanitarian groups throughout the world, and yet it is increasingly enhanced by Israel and shamelessly backed and justified by the US. It is indisputable that the calamity of contaminated water in the Gaza Strip is a resolute policy of the Israeli government.
The problem of sewage management in Gaza is not a new issue, and in fact dates back to the direct Israeli occupation of Gaza in 1967. At that time, Israel built the sewage treatment facilities which are still in operation today, built then to serve a population of 380,000 people, a number that has grown to 1.5 million.
Pipeline sociology
By Dan Rabinowitz
Israel always has had a water problem, and it was never merely hydrological. It grew out of an unbalanced development and settlement policy. In the 1950s the Hula swamp was drained. Afterward, enormous quantities of water from the Galilee were brought to the coastal plain and the Negev, carefully packaged into oranges and flowers and sent to Europe. The Jordan River became a drainage canal for agricultural waste, the coastal streams become industrial swamps. The stupefying waste immediately created a false sense of abundance, and farmers developed a severe addiction to the state-subsidized, clear liquid.
When then agriculture minister Rafael Eitan suggested 20 years ago that couples shower together, people laughed uproariously and continued to scoff at the need to reduce the demand for water. Instead, the supply was increased at the expense of future generations. Only the Palestinians experienced water shortages: Those who are Israeli citizens have for years received tiny and inequable water quotas for farming; those living in the territories have experienced genuine, life-threatening water shortages.
The worrisome part is that all this happened even before climate change thrust the region into a new era. It is difficult to definitively determine whether the hydrologic balance of the Kinneret's catchment area already has been affected by global warming. What is clear, however, is that the pressure on Israel's water sources will grow as the climate heats up. Abroad, advanced Israeli technologies are used to reduce water use. In Israel, on the other hand, water use continues to climb by about 4 percent a year. A similar trend is at work in the energy economy. In the 1950s Israel led the world in the domestic use of solar energy. Israel is home to two of the world's leading companies in the research and development of solar-powered generating stations. And what does the government do? It invests hundreds of billions in building a new coal-fired power plant in Ashkelon.
And, to finish up, I leave you with the words of Ali Abunimah (a piece that I also found at The Angry Arab blog), an article I read in Haaretz recently about the origins of the Jewish people and Israeli national mythology (I just wish the guy's books were in english...), and a statement from one of my favorite organizations, Zochrot (full of more antizionist Jews, of course!).
"Anti-Arab Racism and Incitement in Israel"
Palestine Center Information Brief No. 161 (25 March 2008)
By Ali Abunimah
Palestine Center Fellow
Anti-Arab racism and incitement are persistent and growing problems in Israel and symptoms of hyper nationalism that seeks to consolidate and justify the state's "Jewish character." For decades, the mistreatment of Palestinians in Israel has been virtually ignored by Palestinian national leaders, as well as by international policymakers and organizations under the doctrine of non-interference in the internal affairs of sovereign states.
Yet, the precarious position of Palestinian citizens of Israel is closely linked to the fate of Palestinians under military occupation in the West Bank and Gaza Strip and refugees outside the country. It stems from the same set of historical events 60 years ago. All three categories of Palestinians are targets of discriminatory or abusive Israeli policies intended to preserve Israel as a "Jewish state." In the context of a "solution" to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, some Israeli politicians increasingly speak of population or territorial "exchanges" that would strip Palestinian citizens of Israel of their citizenship and otherwise violate their fundamental human rights. Palestinian citizens of Israel have raised the alarm about this growing existential threat, but they have received little international solidarity.
Israel's official institutions have failed for decades to demonstrate any willingness or capacity to treat Palestinian citizens as equal to Israeli Jews either in law or in practice. Israeli police act, in effect, as a uniformed sectarian militia protecting Jewish privilege rather than as an impartial police service for a modern, democratic state
Shattering a 'national mythology'
By Ofri Ilan
"What is so dangerous about Jews imagining that they belong to one people? Why is this bad?
In the Israeli discourse about roots there is a degree of perversion. This is an ethnocentric, biological, genetic discourse. But Israel has no existence as a Jewish state: If Israel does not develop and become an open, multicultural society we will have a Kosovo in the Galilee. The consciousness concerning the right to this place must be more flexible and varied, and if I have contributed with my book to the likelihood that I and my children will be able to live with the others here in this country in a more egalitarian situation - I will have done my bit.
"We must begin to work hard to transform our place into an Israeli republic where ethnic origin, as well as faith, will not be relevant in the eyes of the law. Anyone who is acquainted with the young elites of the Israeli Arab community can see that they will not agree to live in a country that declares it is not theirs. If I were a Palestinian I would rebel against a state like that, but even as an Israeli I am rebelling against it."
The question is whether for those conclusions you had to go as far as the Kingdom of the Khazars.
"I am not hiding the fact that it is very distressing for me to live in a society in which the nationalist principles that guide it are dangerous, and that this distress has served as a motive in my work. I am a citizen of this country, but I am also a historian and as a historian it is my duty to write history and examine texts. This is what I have done."
If the myth of Zionism is one of the Jewish people that returned to its land from exile, what will be the myth of the country you envision?
"To my mind, a myth about the future is better than introverted mythologies of the past. For the Americans, and today for the Europeans as well, what justifies the existence of the nation is a future promise of an open, progressive and prosperous society. The Israeli materials do exist, but it is necessary to add, for example, pan-Israeli holidays. To decrease the number of memorial days a bit and to add days that are dedicated to the future. But also, for example, to add an hour in memory of the Nakba [literally, the "catastrophe" - the Palestinian term for what happened when Israel was established], between Memorial Day and Independence Day
Dear Ben Dror Yemini,
by Tomer Gardi
Ma'ariv NRG
March 19, 2008
Translated by Charles Kamen
Link to original article online (Heb.)
english translation of original article
I don’t think Israel is a democratic state. Although its legislation includes some liberal democratic elements – my freedom to write this, for example – there’s a big difference between a regime that contains democratic elements, and a democracy. This May, the political entity known as the state of Israel will celebrate sixty years since its establishment. Subtract the forty-one years (1967-2008) that Israel has ruled over Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza who have no rights, and another seventeen years (1949-1966) during which the Jewish majority imposed military rule over the Palestinian minority inside the borders of Israel, and you’re left with two years out of sixty that Arabs were not subjected to Israeli military rule. It’s hard for me to call that “democracy.” Israel is, in essence, a democracy only for Jews.
Zochrot actually does hope to threaten this regime, openly. Not by surreptitious spying, or by trickery, but publicly, for all to see. We want to threaten this regime and change it fundamentally, not only for reasons of justice and morality – reasons always denigrated as being no more than the fantasies of idealistic dreamers. The continuing Israeli project, whose essence is to push as many Arabs as possible out of as much territory as possible, is a disaster not only for the Palestinians who are being pushed out, but also for us who are doing the pushing. I’m really amazed by how upset you are at the fact that citizens want to bring about a fundamental change in Israel’s current social and political order. Look outside, read the papers – what’s so wonderful here that it’s worth preserving? A country of oligarchs and of people collecting bottles in the streets? Towns being bombed on both sides of the border? Unemployment, poverty, violence, aggressiveness?
Zochrot does support the return of the Palestinian refugees – not only supports, but acts to make it a reality. Here, too, not only for reasons of morality and justice which are easy to mock, and to ignore as fantasies. The stubborn efforts to prevent the refugees’ return has turned the country into a barricaded fortification, a huge, suffocating stockade, a prison we have constructed around us. I support the right of Palestinian refugees to live wherever they choose between the and the Mediterranean , because I prefer living in an open rather than a closed society, willingly heterogeneous, whose resources are invested in education, culture and welfare rather than in airplanes and fences, a society that doesn’t reek of gun oil.
