Guest Opinion: The Cycle of Violence in Palestine
In 1966–67 I lived in Lebanon with a family of Christian Palestinian refugees from Haifa. The head of the family taught Arabic at the school I attended. When Israel attacked Syria and Egypt in June 1967, I was evacuated with my American classmates. After the October War in 1973, I did dissertation research in Cairo. In 1979–89, I worked in intelligence for DoD. Among other things we monitored Israeli assaults on Lebanon. Later, I visited Israel several times. I spoke Arabic with Palestinians in occupied East Jerusalem. Some would not speak to me because they thought I was an Israeli agent.
For those unfamiliar with the history of Palestine for the past 100 years, the catastrophe of Oct. 7 can be bewildering. It was not a nihilistic or gratuitous act in a vacuum. Like all acts of terror, it has a political purpose, in this case to create a moral crisis to confront the Palestinian problem. Modern political terrorism has its roots, in fact, in the actions of the Zionist Stern Gang and Irgun in Palestine in the 1940s.
Here are a few things to keep in mind when attempting to make sense of the current crisis.
- Israel is a colonial settler state. Its ideology is Zionism, the purpose of which was to create an exclusive Jewish state in Palestine. Non-Jews had no place in it. Ethnic cleansing was the dominant mechanism for creating a Jewish state.
- After WWI, Britain opened Palestine to Jewish settlement against the wishes of the native peoples. In 1948 when settlers proclaimed the State of Israel, their forces drove tens of thousands of Palestinian Muslims and Christians, who had no military forces, from their homes. Some were massacred, in part to terrorize others into leaving. See the award-winning documentary “Tantura” by the Israeli filmmaker Alon Schwarz.
- The thousands of Palestinians driven into the “Gaza Strip” were sealed off and never allowed to return. Here, in an area of 5 by 25 miles, live more than 2 million people. Baruch Kimmerling of Hebrew University in Jerusalem has called Gaza the largest concentration camp ever created. Entering and leaving are strictly controlled. The Israelis have calculated how many calories the residents can have just to exist. Otherwise, they are to languish and die.
- The Israelis have ruthlessly crushed all Palestinian resistance to their oppression in Gaza. In 2012, for instance, in Operation Protective Edge, they killed 2,200 people including 550 children. In 2018 when the Palestinians in Gaza attempted a peaceful non-violent march, the Israelis gunned them down. Israel calls its frequent state-sponsored terrorism “mowing the grass.”
And now we have had a horrendous explosion. A mile away from Gaza a music festival was in progress where people were enjoying themselves and oblivious to life in the camp. It was out of sight and out of mind. I wonder if the inmates could hear the music.
—Gary Leiser, PhD, lives in Sisters
Jamie McLeod-Skinner
I believe there is no better person qualified than Jamie McLeod-Skinner to represent us in Washington. From my first political house meeting and introduction years ago, I was impressed and frankly in awe of her background, intelligence and dedication in wanting to make a difference. It was very clear to me, she deeply cares about people. Her ongoing passion, persistence and drive reflects her core values. I feel honored she continues to dedicate herself helping Oregonians.
—Susan Frankie
RE: Commercial Controversy. News, 11/16
Pahlisch is a home builder, not a retail developer. So they need a partner or a buyer.
Given that these projects need rents well north of $35 SQFT to pencil back when rates were in the 3% range, they aren’t feasible at the current 8%+ range. Plus, the massive run up in material costs since the pandemic.
Developers don’t build projects this massive (hundreds of millions of dollars) with cash from under the mattress – if the lenders won’t lend because (ironically their own rates make the project not work) it’s a waiting game.
Get comfortable making coffee at home for the foreseeable future. 🙂
—Phillip Higgins via bendsource.com
I’d take issue with the statement by Stephens: “We can’t force people to build buildings at a certain schedule.”
You can’t force a builder to build, but with regard to scheduling it’s called phased development, and folks like Stephens very well know that. Pahlisch will understand how to best maximize profit, but that’s not the City’s concern.
The City could’ve mandated that commercial development would have to occur before later residential phases would be allowed, then put the ball back into Pahlisch’s court as to whether to break ground in the first place.
With regard to Petrosa that’s now water under the bridge. But with regard to development within Bend’s current UGB that’s far from being the case.
Want to turn up the heat? Integrate this into the approval process for the Stevens Road Tract.
This basic practice of “build it and they will come” is well understood by COB [City of Bend] planners. Why else would they encourage expanded services not explicitly (but for sure implicitly) under their purview, such as schools and parks, be located just outside current UGB boundaries? Build it and you will create a fait accompli argument for expanding the UGB, and thus an expanded tax base/larger municipal kitty.
Old playbook practice for COB. It’s now up to the electorate to continue to buy into the “develop first, ask questions later” process (which is probably why The Source is putting this article out for consideration – let’s see if the Bulletin follows suit).
—Jeff Perreault via bendsource.com
Letter of
the Week:
Interesting take, Jeff. Enjoy a gift card to Palate on us!
—Nicole Vulcan
This article appears in Source Weekly November 30, 2023.
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Thank you for the Guest Opinion: The Cycle of Violence in Palestine. I am Jewish and I condemn Israel’s horrific policies towards the Palestinians. Israel needs to be held accountable for their current and past war crimes and so does Joe Biden and the USA who are funding this current genocide! So far at least 15,000 civilians have been slaughtered and 70% of them are women and children! Permanent Ceasefire Now and Free Palestine!
Thank you for sharing this important voice. Permanent Ceasefire Now and Free Palestine!
It’s is the madness of their methods, fervor of a faith that does not emphasize a personal relationship with a loving God, and most importantly it is for the Civilized to not condone everyday barbarism and inhumanity towards women and children that has been displayed from the shores of North Africa, and across Saharasia.
To add to the necessary context–but without endorsing violence directed against anyone–I would mention the September 1982 attacks against the Shatila and Sabra refugee camps in Lebanon. Between 2000 and 3500 Palestinians and Lebanese civilians were killed over the course of a 2-day siege coordinated by the Israeli army (headed by Ariel Sharon) and Lebanese Phalangists. Testimonies from the mass killing describe horrific acts of slaughter, mutilation, rape and mass graves. Images from the aftermath were aired on television worldwide and caused global outrage.The United Nations General Assembly passed a resolution declaring this massacre an act of genocide.
It is important to realize that the history of the region did not begin on Oct. 7, 2023.
The recently concluded “truce” offers proof that diplomacy can absolutely work to
save lives on both sides of the conflict. Please support local efforts calling for a permanent ceasefire. I am told the next mass protest takes place Sunday Dec. 3 from noon to 2 PM at Wall and Greenwood in downtown Bend.
Continue calling Joe Biden, Ron Wyden, and Lori Chavez-DeRemer for their support for a ceasefire. (Jeff Merkley is only one of two US Senators to have endorsed a true ceasefire.)
Though Gary Leiser claims merely to be presenting facts “for those unfamiliar with the history of Palestine,” he makes some factually incorrect or misleading statements.
1. Israel is not a colonial settler state; it is the historical homeland of the Jewish people. Archaeological research confirms the Jewish presence here from well before the common era—at least two-thousand years and perhaps as long as three-thousand years ago. Throughout its history, this region has been continuously inhabited by a diverse population of Jews, Christians, Muslims, Druze, and others. For 400 years prior to the British Mandate (1918-1948), Palestine was not an autonomous state but a loosely governed region of the Ottoman Empire. There was no nationality called “Palestinian,” though all the people (including the Jews) who have lived here could, in a sense, be called Palestinians.
2. In 1947, the United Nations proposed a partition plan for Palestine, which would have created separate and independent Arab and Jewish states. Thirty-three of the UN’s 57 member countries at the time voted in favor of the plan, ten abstained, and thirteen voted against it. In other words, there could have been a two-state solution, with autonomous homelands for Jewish and Arab Palestinians, as early as 1948. The thirteen parties who voted no (including representatives of Palestinian Arabs and all member states of the Arab League) later vowed never to recognize a Jewish state, never to negotiate with it, and never to make peace with it.
3. Beginning in 1948, allied Arab states have repeatedly waged war against Israel to eliminate it. More recently, attacks against Israel have shifted to Palestinian Arab groups (including Hezbollah and Hamas) supported by Iran, Arab states, and others.
4. The Palestine Mandate of 1922 provided for freedom of religion and conscience, protections that were later recognized by the modern State of Israel and incorporated into its legal system. There are currently about two million Arab Israeli citizens—Israelis, in other words, who are not Jewish, including both Muslim and Christian Arabs—who enjoy freedom of religion in Israel.
5. The region we know as Gaza has been governed for the past twenty years by the terrorist organization known as Hamas, which is a branch of the Egyptian Muslim Brotherhood. From 1948 to 1967, the area was under Egyptian military rule. After the 1967 War, Israel took over the civil administration of Gaza, including the provision of public infrastructure. At this time, many Gazans took on jobs that required regular travel between Gaza and Israel.
6. The 1967 War, also known as the Six-Day War, was instigated by Egypt’s repeated blockade of Israel’s access to shipping lanes and was fought by a coalition of Arab states (primarily Egypt, Syria, and Jordan) against Israel. Six years later, an Arab coalition led by Egypt and Syria attacked Israel on Yom Kippur.
7. Israel is a democracy with a majority-Jewish population. Most of its neighbors are either Muslim theocracies or monarchies, with a majority-Muslim population and intolerance for any religion other than Islam.