tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5563550.post5006294595639956812..comments2024-02-02T03:32:36.204-07:00Comments on SQUIDALICIOUS: Explaining the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict to an Eleven-Year-OldUnknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger12125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5563550.post-89762524846230100292010-12-08T17:16:54.883-08:002010-12-08T17:16:54.883-08:00It’s incredibly difficult to explain the Palestine...It’s incredibly difficult to explain the Palestine/Israel conflict to anyone, let alone a child, so I guess Naomi has done her best. The reason I came across this page is because I’m doing a workshop on this subject for kids tomorrow and trying to find the most appropriate way to get information across to the kids.<br />I was saddened to read a number of things written by Naomi. She says in 1948 Palestinians had ‘chosen to go live in the West Bank or the Gaza Strip’. These Palestinians were fleeing for their lives and still live in squalid refugee camps, to say they chose to leave is something that completely ignores the terror these people went through and why there is so much resentment from the refugees today. <br />She then says ‘Over time, the Palestinian refugee camps became more like cities and less like camps’ These are not the words anyone who has ever visited a Palestinian refugee camp would use to describe them. It almost makes them sound like normal places to live. <br />There are also lots of sad things, like Naomi only using the word ‘terrorists’ when referring to Palestinians and not mentioning at all the Jewish terrorists that carried out attacks in the lead up to the creation of Israel and the current Jewish terror from extremist Jewish settlers who the state of Israel arms. <br />When talking about Oslo she again blames the ‘terrorists’ completely ignoring the fact that one of the main problems was the fact that settlement building doubled during that period bringing increased hardship to the Palestinians.<br />From then on the account only gets worse. We hear of rockets being fired into Israel but no account of the air and land strikes on the Palestinian territories killing men, women and children. The settlers leaving Gaza was clearly an excuse to bomb the place to bits, which is what has been done.<br />The ‘fence’ is mentioned in one sentence – The international criminal court has said this wall is illegal – it is an Israeli attempt to steal more Palestinian land and water resources. Thousands of Palestinians have lost their land and homes because of it. Israel has ignored the court ruling. Why is it not on the green line?<br />This ‘explanation’ is quite patronising but typical coming from a person writing from a place of privilege. People are not sitting on their ‘tushes’. Thousands have lost loved ones and are desperate for a solution.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5563550.post-46583427229545715232010-05-31T03:11:32.828-07:002010-05-31T03:11:32.828-07:00@ asd2mom.spaces.live.com
All that you've wri...@ asd2mom.spaces.live.com<br /><br />All that you've written is Zionist Mythological propaganda that has been debunked by modern well-versed Jewish intellectuals.<br /><br />People like you really need to books like <br /><br />1.Zionism: The Real Enemy of the Jews Volume 1 and Volume 2 by Alan Hart <br /><br />2.The Ethnic Cleansing of Palestine Ilan Pappe<br /><br />3.The Israel Lobby and US Foreign Policy- Alan Dershowitz & John Mearsheimer<br /><br />4.Witness in Palestine: A Jewish American Woman in the Occupied Territories - Anna BalterAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5563550.post-58251829005046050872010-04-01T20:31:05.394-07:002010-04-01T20:31:05.394-07:00This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5563550.post-85377932501646431992010-02-24T06:48:26.542-08:002010-02-24T06:48:26.542-08:00I'd just like to say that this is one of the b...I'd just like to say that this is one of the best rundowns of Isreali-Palestinan politics that I've ever read. As a Jew I grew up beliving only ine one side of the story and it was a very painful awakening to realize that the reality was far more complex.<br /><br />I'd also like to say that I've had the privilege of hearing Naomi Shihab Nye read her poetry in person and I think you and Iz would enjoy reading it too.MsJesshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08765668495941714351noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5563550.post-27169386665036655982010-02-20T00:29:40.935-08:002010-02-20T00:29:40.935-08:00what this kept reminding me of as i read it was: i...what this kept reminding me of as i read it was: in 1978, just at the time sadat was going to israel, my first love--who was an isreali foreign student in los angeles who watched the arrival on television as if it had been of martians visiting orson wells-- asked me to explain what watergate had been a few years before. i was so impressed with myself that i really could do it and actually make him understand the story, at least, but now? i'm not so sure....e...https://www.blogger.com/profile/09429557878900457999noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5563550.post-3493146112946552872010-02-17T09:15:20.315-08:002010-02-17T09:15:20.315-08:00Wow! what a fantastic summary from Naomi, and what...Wow! what a fantastic summary from Naomi, and what a great "i" dotting.<br />I agree anti-semitism is on the rising. Several French Jews are migrating to Israel to escape the heavy antisemitic movement of their country.Captain Bloghttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07326044815552436833noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5563550.post-73782099837083851522010-02-16T18:33:22.177-08:002010-02-16T18:33:22.177-08:00That was a fantastic summary. Tell Iz (and Naomi!)...That was a fantastic summary. Tell Iz (and Naomi!) that this 24 year old college student learned more from that than any previous readings--thanks for posting something so coherent and accessible. I don't know enough to offer opinions--my only opinion, really, is that killing is an unacceptable way to solve problems, which doesn't offer a lot in the way of actual solutions!vanessa steckhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/18445077811712108661noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5563550.post-53403491563201280402010-02-15T16:47:49.488-08:002010-02-15T16:47:49.488-08:00Just a few extra points.
1. The modern Palestinian...Just a few extra points.<br />1. The modern Palestinians are not descended from the biblical Philistines. The biblical philistines were obliterated by the assyrian army. They destroyed the major Philistine cities and sent the People into exile.Today's "modern" day Palestinians are descended from Arab traders and persons who settled in the land over several thousand years since Roman rule.The land was named Palestine by Rome after the Bar Kochba revolt in 135 CE. The word Palestine means land of the Philistine, the biblical enemy of the Jews.<br />2. The PLOo was formed in 1964 years before the 6 day war calling for the return of occupied land meaning what is today Israel inside the "green line."<br />3. The rockets being shot into Israel's civilian areas at the moment of the Gaza war (2008) numbered 8,000.<br />Hamas's charter calls for the destruction of the STate of Israel 4. Hizbullah does not care about the Palesinians. They actually are enemies of the Palestinians and have been responsible for the slaughter of thousands of Palestinians in Lebanon as were the Chistian Phalangist. Remember the Palestinians are also responsible for killing hundreds of Christians and Shiite in Lebanon as well.<br />5. At the same time Jordan in Sept 1970 was responsible for the slaughter of tens of thousands of Palestinains, when the PLO tried to overthrow the government.<br /> 6. UNRWA which is the UN agency responsible for providing care and support for the Palestinians has one fo the largest budgets dedicated to a refugee group. Unfortunately the Palestinians who live in refugee camps, mostly throughout the Arab world,live in squalor and deplorable conditions. Meanwhile the headquarters of UNRWA is in Vienna. <br />7. The security fence built in response to suicide bombing in Israel, has faced challenges in the Israeli court system, and the government has been forced to move it to minimize its effects upon the poplutaion. Remember if peace comes and the Palestinains give up their "right" to commit terrorism, which they call "armed resistance",the fence will come down.<br />9. The Palestinians have been offered a state three times in recent history.All three times they rejected the offer, 1948, 1990under President Clinton and just recently by PM Olmert.<br />10. The majority of Palestinians live in Arab nations where they are persecuted, and refused citizenship. <br />11.No I don't think Israel is perfect. No nation is.But in Israel there is an active peace movement, civil rights movement, arab members of parliament, arabs at the highest level of all the universities and professions. Yes, there are problems, but I think Israel is constantly trying to fix herself, even in many ways more than we do here, only because they know they need to be vigilant on these issues.<br />12. Anti-semitism around the world is close to WWII levels.Some of the worst anti-semitic books and media comes out of the Arab middle east.<br />Try Uris', Exodus, Mila 18, QB7, The Hajj.<br />Wouk, The Hope and The Glory<br />O'Jerusalem<br /><br />BTW my BA is in the middle east, JD-civil right, constitutional and internatinallaw<br />OK I am done now.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5563550.post-90738971564689102592010-02-15T15:08:29.860-08:002010-02-15T15:08:29.860-08:00What a fantastic and balanced summary! I wonder if...What a fantastic and balanced summary! I wonder if Iz would be interested in The Source, James Mitchener's massive tome about an archaeological dig in Israel. It goes through the dig layer by layer, telling the stories of the people who lived on the land. It's fairly pro-Jewish, but a fascinating picture, going from the Stone Age up until the 60s.Unknownhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04099184331066691565noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5563550.post-10321496964425039002010-02-15T09:54:49.114-08:002010-02-15T09:54:49.114-08:00Excellent summary, Naomi. I too grew up being exp...Excellent summary, Naomi. I too grew up being expected to support Israel and started to question when I went away to college. There are no good guys in this history.Barakhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00129074264357215156noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5563550.post-40065359196742974192010-02-15T08:50:42.281-08:002010-02-15T08:50:42.281-08:00In the past 5 minutes of reading I have learned mo...In the past 5 minutes of reading I have learned more about the Israeli/Palestinian conflict than I have learned in the past 30 years. Thanks to Naomi for writing this and to you for publishing it.pixiemamahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15343744406666443879noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5563550.post-54317703654116310342010-02-15T05:40:25.313-08:002010-02-15T05:40:25.313-08:00Wow. How awesome is that? My family is Lebanese-Am...Wow. How awesome is that? My family is Lebanese-American, so we grew up hearing about this conflict (among others) in the Middle East. But I have never read such a clear, concise, unemotional and yet absolutely informative essay on the issue. Iz is incredibly lucky to have such people in her corner. I'm guessing she's got "diplomat" in her future?Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com