THAT
EXPLETIVE DELETED STATE!
By Sy Schechtman
At a dinner party for some British aristocracy a few years ago small, postage
stamp Israel was described as that shitty little state. To the somewhat shocked guests in attendance, although both neo Nazism
and anti-Semitism in British upper society has always been a small
flickering sentiment not completely quenched in some English
affections, this small, dubious phrase, when leaked to the press, caused much
comment, denial, and indignation
about private comments not for public disclosure. It is fitting, though, for those admirers of
that tiny yet feisty sole democratic state in the entire middle east, that *X*x/#X/xX!!
–Israel—that almost unmentionable entity, that
abomination to Allah, (along with
that satanic United States)
to celebrate the 60th
year of the founding of that
marvelous state.
Arisen from the ashes of the Holocaust four or so years before, and meeting far from a cordial
welcome by Arabs in the territory soon
to be called Palestine and known and beloved from almost . time immemorial as
Eretz Isroel, the refugee Jews
fought against great odds
the hostile Arabs and
unfriendly occupying British, and founded this Jewish state in l948.
Numerically
outnumbered in many early battles in the period between November 30,l947 and
May 15 l949 the Jewish fighters ( the indigenous Yishuv) easily defeated the
Arab enemies, who were poorly
trained and equipped.
Eventually, the local Arab
population became disheartened and began leaving and/or fleeing the area, encouraged or urged or ordered out by
both opposing sides. Certainly there was no organized Zionist plan to transfer
masses of native Arabs. Well
documented are the pleas of the
mayor of Haifa and other adjacent sites for the Arabs not to leave and stay in
their present homes. Indeed,
the more radical Arab leaders insisted that they should leave and soon return in triumph with the
Arab armies that were massing on
the border and would soon push
all the Jews into the sea.
Most
probably about 700,000 did leave, either violently at the Israeli behest, or from fear of
violence from their own inflamed Moslem leaders. If they stayed behind many of them were afraid of being deemed
traitors and the rumors of Israeli army violence—such as did occur at
Deir Yassim—gave added impetus to the urge to flee, thus literally flooding surrounding
Arab territory with refugees, and no legitimate effort was ever made to repatriate
them—or resettle them in the abundant vacant Arab land in the area. The nascent Jewish state, in contrast, over the ensuing years added over four million immigrants, a very disparate universal mix from everywhere who mostly had a fervent
wish to somehow be in a Jewish environment, however one defines that beautiful blend of exuberant and
creative discord that usually it is.
They have made the desert bloom
and Jaffa oranges are sold world wide, and if you exclude the enormous
oil revenues of the petro rich Arabs teeny tiny Israels international trade, especially in high technology
and medical products,
outsells the entire totality of the Moslem world.(Over one billion or
more strong!) Indeed, in
world per capita Gross Domestic
Product Israel ranked a very
respectable 28th even though some part of the orthodox male
population, for religious reasons, does no work productively.
Of
course, they are somewhat frenetic
in their attempts to do all
the above positive things. In the Jewish lexicon please is
rarely heard.
The
problem of the refugees, however, has continued to grow and fester. The well known and respected
revisionist Jewish historian, Benny Morris, who is somewhat anti Zionist, has
claimed the Arab refugee
number of 700,000 as a fact, but there are many who that is much too high. Now of course, the number of Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza is much higher, approaching 4
million, with a large
preponderance of teen agers and
children, since the birth rate of
Palestinian Arabs is one of the highest in the world. (Most of these
deliveries, too, with the expert
care of Israeli maternity wards.!)
Also, there has been an in
migration of sorts of neighboring Arabs
seeking employment in the burgeoning Israeli economy, at least for many
years before Arab resentment led to the intifada and open hostility.
Indeed, one of the major
failures of diplomatic attempts to
solve this human dilemma of
population displacement was the
Oslo Accord, a ten year phased withdrawal
of Israeli occupation
forces, with the Arabs in control
of almost all West Bank and all of the Gaza Strip, with Israel having only small security force
remaining. This
agreement,with President Clinton as prime impetus, was signed in l993.
At
first, Israeli troop removal
started as per plan.
But the Israelis also never ceased
building settlements beyond their old borders, which disturbed
the Palestinians, although no
mention of these extraterritorial settlements were in the agreements
signed. This, however the Arabs felt, was a violation of the spirit of the Oslo accords. But, at the
conclusion of the ten year period,
when over 90% of the west
bank and all of Gaza, was to be returned, Arafat evidently balked, bringing up the right of return of the displaced
refugees, which had hardly been on the table for discussion at all.
And
thus the second intifada began, which the Arabs claim was a war for national
liberation, and the Israelis
deemed a resumption of terrorist tactics. Gradually whatever spirit of cordial
reconciliation existed was
dissolved in the bitter brew of
suspicion, distrust and hatred.
Even Benny Morris has lost
his dove like approach, now
blaming the Palestinians for the
collapse of the Oslo peace process
and the al Aqsa intifada
which started soon
after. And he went further
in his own personal, subjective changed position:
If Ben—Gurion[Israels first prime minister] had carried out a large expulsion and
cleansed the whole country---the
whole Land of Israel, as far as
the Jordan River---he would
have stabilized the State
of Israel for generations...if the
end of the story turns out to
be a gloomy one for the Jews, it will be because Ben-Gurion did not complete the transfer
in l948.
Sixty years have gone by and the miracle that was Israel at its most unlikely inception still incites expletive denials and frustration among the mean spirited. And, as before, these small of heart and soul are not just a small chorus of nay sayers and doom and gloomsters. Anti Semitism is rising again in many places. And the word Jew—as the physical entity-- itself is an expletive to be deleted as a solution and balm to many shriveled souls. As it has been almost since time immemorial. But despite this the Jewish state has endured and prospered. Perhaps soon the neighboring climate will adjust finally to the reality of the Jewish presence. They will not be driven into the sea. Transcendant events may seemingly have to be involved, or the warp of history may somehow change the material calculus in Israels favor. And, also, there is always the atom bomb. Saddam Hussein did not have it, Iran is fervently trying to acquire it, and Israel no doubt has it.