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The Society

Nigeria as a Genocidal State

by Osita Ebiem June 26, 2016

written by Osita Ebiem

In spite of all apparent reality to the contrary, and for reasons just as varied as the people, there may be a few individuals and interest groups who still wish for the survival of the Nigerian state as it is presently constituted. Such well-wishers naturally are interested in seeing the country move forward in the positive direction. For some obvious reasons this much desired forward march has remained an impossible goal for about the entire span of the country’s history. Perhaps one of the most important first steps that is needed by the country to go forward in the desired direction is to find a way to unify the many divergent national, religious, ethnical and other aspiring groups which are the various strands that form the national fabric of the Nigerian country.

Involuntarily, the Igbo ethnical, national, religious and linguistic group is one of those major strands which were forced by colonial fiat to be parts of the national, etc. groups that constitute today’s Nigerian state. Within six years of Nigeria’s existence as a colonially united country crisis broke out in the new country and collectively the other groups as described above chose to attempt to exterminate the Igbo, claiming that the Igbo were responsible for the country’s many problems. Therefore, from 1966 to 1970 the new country – the government and its citizens pursued vigorously a national genocidal program of trying to totally wipe out Igbo people from the Earth as solution to Nigerian problems. At the end of the ordeal, though forced and patched up to rejoin the now badly frayed Nigerian union fabric, the Igbo emerged from this systematic crucible of hatred, shedding forever their Nigerian citizenship.

Throughout history and in all regions of the world where there has been genuine and honest response to the crime of genocide, separation has always been the only sensible response.

So, the best way to understand the Nigerian country and Igbo’s place in it is to look at it from this point of view: Nigeria as a genocidal state and its Igbo population as the victim of the crime. Genocide is the word to have in mind while responding to the question of whether the Igbo should continue to maintain their stake as partners in the colonial union known as Nigeria. Throughout history and in all regions of the world where there has been genuine and honest response to the crime of genocide, separation has always been the only sensible response. At the end of the crime, the victims are usually removed far away from the perpetrators. Separation is the only solution that permanently prevents future occurrences of the atrocities of genocide in any society (such as in Nigeria) where it has taken place.

While the international community is saying “Never Again” at the end of any genocide, it goes without saying that the only reliable guarantee that is capable of safeguarding such a promise is the shield and assurances that sovereign independent international boundaries provide for a persecuted people like the Igbo. The smart approach, as they say in Igbo, is that while anyone tries as much as possible to keep fires away from combustible gunpowder, they should also make as much effort in keeping the gunpowder away from fires.

Here following, let’s mention a few of these genocide victims (like the Igbo) who of necessity had to be separated from the perpetrators of their ordeal in order to ensure that the victims do not suffer the same fate in the future within the same place and from the same people. In Igbo tradition there are two traditional sayings which support this call for separation; 1. Igbo people believe that the cripple is not expected to die in a previously announced warfare. Due to their handicap, he or she is not expected to wait till the last minute to move away to a safer place. 2. The Igbo also believe that it is only a tree which is known to stay put and does not make efforts to escape the blows from the ax of the feller after it had been told the previous day that it would be cut down.

About two weeks ago, in the midst of threats from the Turkish government which perpetrated the crime, German legislators officially recognized the Armenian Genocide as such. Soon after the Turkish Ottoman Empire committed the genocide of the Armenians in 1915 with the massacre of 1.5 million Armenians, the Armenian people separated themselves from Turkey into an independent country of Armenia with administrative capital in Yerevan. After German Nazis committed the genocide of the Jews in Germany and the rest of Europe in which 6 million Jews were massacred, the victims had to separate themselves far away from the perpetrators. This Jewish Genocide is better known today as the Holocaust. The genocide ended in 1945 and the Jews established an independent state of Israel in the Middle East in 1948. It should also be remembered that it is the accusation of genocides that led to the breaking up of the united country of Yugoslavia into several different sovereign independent countries. The genocide of the East Pakistanis by the government of the West Pakistan led to the separation of the East from the West, where the East became an independent sovereign state of Bangladesh. The list goes on.

The genocide such as the one that took place in Nigeria against the Igbo is an institutional genocide. Most genocides are institutional crimes, anyway. In most cases it is only states that have the capacity to muster such elaborate machineries usually required to carry out such great massacres. The government as well as the other peoples of Nigeria committed the genocide of Biafrans between 1966 and 1970 in which 3.5 million Biafrans were killed. Igbo people alone made up 3.1 of the 3.5 million who died in that genocide.

The root cause of the Igbo Genocide in Nigeria is hatred. Therefore, the hatred that produced the act is institutional and not merely individuals hating their Igbo neighbors and friends. The Nigerian state as an institution is the primary source of the prevailing Nigerians’ hatred of the Igbo. Because its source resides in the institution of the federal republic of Nigeria, it will be near impossible to uproot this hatred from the Nigerian society. It will be near impossible to create a lasting atmosphere in the Nigerian society where the Igbo will be eventually accepted and allowed to exist side by side with the other Nigerians in the spirit of true brotherhood.

Institutions run as continuums therefore the established government policies, customs, norm and culture such as the society-wide hatred of the Igbo in Nigeria, run from one generation to the next. Agreements, armistices and promises such as “Never Again,” “No victors and no vanquished” and other similar lofty pledges, when they are genuinely made, can only hold for a short while in genocidal societies like Nigeria. Eventually there will always emerge the biblical Pharaoh who did not know Joseph and who sees no reason in honoring any pacts made by their predecessors. Once such Pharaohs arrive in power, the vicious cycle resumes and genocide repeats itself. Therefore, the only real solution that will permanently prevent any more future genocides of the Igbo in Nigeria is for the Igbo to embark on a Moses’ kind of exodus from the Nigerian Egypt into their own ancestral homeland in Igbo territory.

June 26, 2016 0 comments

The Society Thought

Being Igbo in Israel, A Conversation with Chief Hiben Daniel

by David Mark June 23, 2016

written by David Mark

It is not often when you get to sit with a truly special person. I first met Chief Rabbi Hiben Daniel on my way to the Kotel last year. He informed me that he was the head of the Igbo in both Israel and Nigeria. At that time I was more interested in business relationships with pro Israel Africans than taking up the cause of the Igbo, but the Almighty tends to push one where he or she is needed.

The Igbo are bit of an enigma to most Jews, but more and more there is a recognition that at some point in history they were in the Land of Israel. There are a few hypotheses on how they got to what is called Biafra, the southeastern area of Nigeria. Some believe they are the descendants of Judeans that fled to Egypt with the prophet Yirmiyahu. Others say they are Gad and came well before. Of course no one should discount the fact that the Mali empire was filled with Jews and upon its collapse many fled south to the Guinea coast, Biafra being the furthest east.

The Igbo are circumcised on the eighth day as commanded in the Torah. They do not eat unclean animals or mix meat and milk. Furthermore they are married under a chupa, a Jewish wedding canopy. There are many other correlations.

So what happened? Essentially, the British imposed Christianity on the southern areas of Nigeria. The Yoruba, mainly in the western part of Nigeria became Christian fairly easily, but the Igbo strangely enough blended both identities together. Only now, with the return of Israel to its homeland, the Igbo are waking up and realizing that they must return to their roots. There are still millions of Igbo practicing Christianity with a twist in worshiping on Shabbat, but this is do to forced missionizing by Europeans. When shown the truth, many begin to drop the ways of the original colonists.

Now, over a year after our first meeting Rav Hiben Daniel and I were able to discuss himself and the Igbo.

Hi, Rav Daniel. Thank you for sitting with me to discuss some of these issues. I know much if this information is not widely distributed to the broader Jewish world. So it is an honor to discuss these things with you.

When did you arrive in Israel?

I arrived Israel on the 5th of May 1993.

How did you grow up? What Jewish customs do you recall?

I grew up with my parents who were hiding to reveal to us that we are Jews for fear that we might leave them for Israel. I recall that we, good or bad must circumcise every male issue on the 8th day. The only time it’s extended is when the child is sick. Again, my father may he rest in peace had to wash his hands and pray every morning before talking to us.

There were other things as well like:

The separation of beds which we didn’t know why till I got married.
We never cooked meat and fish together.
Marriage rites must involve the paying of money.
During divorce the amount paid for the wife is returned to free her. Marriage is done also through yibum where the late husband has male issue and if she refuses, the halisa rite is performed to free her.
Barmitzva called Iwa Akwa.
Respect to the dead,1st 7 dys, 30 dys and 11 months of morning
Kibud ve aknasat orchim.

Do you believe Igbos are Jewish? Do they have to convert?

Yes Igbos are Jews. I don’t believe we have to convert but who am I to challenge HaMaran Ovadia zatzal, who told me why it’s good. So I started before others. According to the Ashkenazi rabbis like Rav Yehuda Frank we don’t have to., although he recommended to go to a mikveh.

How did the Igbo get to Nigeria? Why is there no written Torah?

The Igbos got to Nigeria through Egypt and some came and later left again, though few remained.

King Solomon who saw his minister Yerovam as a threat didn’t allow them come back from Egypt and the Kingdom divided.

The group who continued with Moshe May his name be blessed, came through Beersheva after helping to conquer Jordan.

Many from the tribe of Gad did not enter and scattered before coming to Land and went to Africa.

There was no Torah with them, rather Tanach. This same reason lead to their formation of the 4 market days called Nkwo, Eke, Orie, Afor which was a generally accepted tradition until they had Torah and those who didn’t have continued till today. Everything was primitive of course.

They had Torah and Synagogues till the foreign invaders came in from Portugal, Germany, Britain, etc. with missionary works and introduced their foreign gods and destroyed our Torah and Synagogues.

Have you experienced racism here in Israel? If so, please elaborate and explain what we can do about it?

Racism? In black and white. Mostly from those who are not religious. To curb it, the government has to accept all Jews with open arms. Government offices and Knesset members should comprise black and white.

A committee, I mean trusted ones should be set up by Prime Minister Netanyahu to investigate this issue and enforce a law on this. You heard about the Ethiopians; how they were removed from school because they are black? How they never allowed them to buy houses to places of their choice? How my brothers and sisters after the conversion approved by Maran Ovadia (may he rest in peace) in 2007 were deported? The judges arrested together with me and the rabbis that were teaching us? It was on news on all media. Did the government do anything? Are there no Israelis in Igboland? Lots of them practicing with the Igbo Jews, yet we are tortured in our own land [Israel].

One last question. What do you envision as your role here in Israel and in connection to the Igbo in Nigeria? Where do you want to take it?

My vision, and role here in Israel? You can see for yourself. I left everything, went to Yeshiva and carefully studied for almost 12 years in different places just to help my poor Jews who are eager to come back to our old tradition of Judaism.

It is my dream to have a Yeshiva there in [Nigeria/Biafra]. I believe that the G-d of my fathers is Omnipresent. Rabbenu Nachman is one of the big scholars and was buried abroad. There is a reason for that. All we should know is that kindness is a language, which the deaf can hear and the blind can see. Judaism without chesed is avoda zara [idol worship]. I wish you well.

Today I am blessed with a wife, Ariella Nkechi Daniel and my princess daughter, Bat-El Adaeze Chinaecherem Daniel. This is my 3rd marriage. The first two was destroyed by the interior ministry ( I know the culprits ) whose main aim was to frustrate me being the leader of my people.

Now my questions to the Israeli government:

Why has the government not done anything to bring back our brothers who were deported after their formal conversions since the Supreme Court of Israel approved the conversions done by a recognized Beit Din? I have the list of their names.

I have names of some non religious Israelis teaching some of our poor citizens who want to come back to their religion the opposite of what we learn here. They are teaching women to tie Tefillin and talit. They are using the advantage of the weak to raise money in the name of trumah. Yet we are not Jews? I have a message to all G-d fearing Jews; The hour has come. The Chief Rabbi of Israel HaMaran Yitzchak Yosef will no doubt be like his father who was there for us.

We are not fighting for aliyah, money, house ,etc. I beg with tears that the chief rabbi recognize us, help us with sifrei Torah and more Halachaic books and finally send us a beit din to go cleanse my people from their tuma [impurity] by ritual immersion and acceptance of the yoke of heaven, not teudat zeut. To this there will be a complete peace in the land of Israel. If you are current, you can see that a king from the Jewish land of Africa has emerged. This is not by accident, there is a reason for this. Those who communicate well with the King of Kings may know why. Remain blessed.

June 23, 2016 0 comments

The Society Thought

The story of the Jewish the aunt of the terrorists in Tel Aviv

by Uri Kirshenbaum June 16, 2016

written by Uri Kirshenbaum

Originally published in HaKol HaYehudi

An emotional Facebook post has gone viral in Israel and laid bare the sad state of intermarriage in the Jewish State.

“Nice to meet you, I’m Raza’le the aunt of Khalid and Muhammad Mahamra,” began the post by Yael Cohen. She wrote the post shortly after the terror attack at the Sarona Market in Tel Aviv.

“The attack in Sarona takes me back 15-20 years. Khalid and Muhammad used to run around in my house as small children. They would sit on my lap and they were even babysitters for my young children. The Haredi suits that they dressed up in gave me deja vu and brought back bitter memories.”

Yael further detailed the story of her childhood and how she came to be the aunt of the two Arab terrorists. “I was 14 years old and living in a stable Jewish home in Malaga, Spain. My parents had marital problems and got a divorce. My older sister made Aliyah to Israel, met a Haredi boy from a good home, and got married. I followed in my sister’s path and was accepted to a well-known Haredi seminary in Jerusalem. I was a good student and was liked by both my friends and teachers. The teachers highly praised by me.”

“As a good student and a responsible girl, I was placed in charge of collecting small change from the girls of the seminary to buy treats for Shabbat. I would buy the treats in the Tzion mini-market next to the dormitory. There was a nice boy there named Netanel. He was Haredi, wore a white shirt and jacket, had short payos like Lithuanian yeshiva boys, and an ‘American-style’ black kippah. Most importantly, he wasn’t Ashkenazi…”

“After a year of exchanging glances as I would buy treats, Netanel gathered the courage to speak to me about things beyond my purchases. He started by saying things like, ‘You’re very pretty’ and ‘It would be great if Hashem decided to set us up.’ He also said other nice things. One day my father came to visit me. I went proudly with him to the mini-market and Netanel asked to speak to him alone. Netanel said to him, ‘Hi Mr. Cohen, I’m also from a Cohen family, Netanel Cohen. I know it’s not generally accepted, but I’d like to ask you to speak to my parents about setting me up with your daughter.’ In front of my father, he identified himself as the son of the store owner. My father told me the story and noted that the gentle way Netanel had asked and the self-confidence he showed impressed him. Netanel had also told my father that he learned in Sephardi yeshivas. Netanel took my father’s phone and address in order to be in contact to set up a meeting between the two families.”

“My father was very impressed with the young man, but asked me not to see him until the families had a chance to speak as was accepted. In the meantime, my father wanted to double check the family and the boy. Two days later, on Erev Shavuot, Netanel asked to meet alone in order to get to know one another. I agreed. Six weeks later I found myself in the home of Netanel who had pretended to be a Haredi boy from a good home. His real home was in the village of Yatta.”

“Netanel suddenly became Abdallah. His Haredi uniform became the costume that he wore to work. Suddenly, I was barely 16 and already had a baby in my stomach.”

“Five years passed and I, Raza’le (Yael in Hebrew), had my world destroyed. I had two children on my lap. I quickly learned the Arabic language and maintaining my optimism, I tried to keep up Jewish practices. I lit candles, kept Kosher, and was Shomer Shabbat. Nonetheless, my status was as a maidservant. The beatings and humiliation were constant. The house was my only world- cleaning, cooking, and having relations with a man who had become evil, violent, and disgusting. I was in a living hell.”

“In 2007 I found a phone that someone had forgotten in the house. I called my father and he didn’t answer. I didn’t know at the time that my father was in the hospital after having his heart broken. He later passed away. Next, I called my sister and described where I was. A week later I was free with my two sons. Somehow we managed to obtain Spanish visas for the children and we returned to Spain.”

“The story doesn’t end there. My Arab ex-husband, along with his brother (who is the father of the terrorist, Khalid) flew to Spain in order to take me back. However, in Spain the two received a lesson in Jewish solidarity (without the involvement of the High Court or B’tselem). The lesson they received wiped out any future thoughts they may have had of taking me back.”

“I have recovered since then and thank G-d, my sons now learn in yeshiva and are excelling in their studies. They are good Jewish boys. Seeing the suits of the Arab terrorists from Yatta reminded me of another Arab from Yatta who dressed in a suit on Erev Shavuot. For me it was deja vu. Apparently it is the modus operandi of that cursed family from Yatta to dress in suits.”

June 16, 2016 0 comments

Innovation The Society

Healing Shattered Psyches on Scene of Traumatic Events

by Micha Gefen June 14, 2016

written by Micha Gefen

United Hatzalah of Israel inaugurates world’s first fully integrated emergency psychotrauma unit to complement EMTs in the field.

(Article Source: Israel21c.org)

Thirty Israeli EMTs, paramedics and doctors recently completed a training course qualifying them as psychotrauma volunteers and teachers for United Hatzalah, a private community-based network of voluntary first-responders across Israel.

The volunteers already started providing psychological first aid before the graduation ceremony on May 25, 2016. They responded to a bus bombing, three cases of sudden heart attack deaths and three incidents of crib death.

They will be on call whenever United Hatzalah is called to a scene of a terror attack, sudden death, child’s death, severe car accident, severe injuries, natural disaster, suicide and wartime trauma.

“The new psychotrauma unit is something that we have been working towards for a long time,” United Hatzalah Founder Eli Beer tells ISRAEL21c. He says the psychotrauma unit is the first in the world to be fully integrated within an emergency response organization.

“In order to assure that people are not only saved but have a normal life after the traumatic event that they experienced, we need to make sure that they receive not only medical treatment but psychological treatment.”

Beer relates that he and other medical responders “have often arrived at situations where people’s lives can be destroyed if they do not receive immediate psychological treatment. Our new psychotrauma unit is a project that can help provide care for all aspects of a traumatic event. The unit will enable United Hatzalah to help as many people as possible heal on a physical level as well as on an emotional and psychological level.”

First graduating class of United Hatzalah’s psychotrauma unit. Photo: courtesy

Rickie Rabinowitz, one of the founders and instructors of the unit, said she considers psychotrauma as “another level of injury to treat beyond getting the wounded treated by the volunteer EMTs. The extra facet is coming to complement the work of the medic on the scene.”

The supervising psychiatrist of the unit, Dr. Gary Quinn, directs the EMDR Institute of Israel. EMDR (Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing) is a form of psychotherapy aimed at forestalling development of trauma-related disorders caused by exposure to distressing, traumatizing or negative life events. Quinn specializes in crisis intervention and the treatment of anxiety, depressive disorders and post-traumatic stress disorder.

“Many first responders have been taught psychological first aid, which is an eight-stage method of helping people deal with a difficult event,” Quinn said. “This unit has received extensive training which primarily focuses on stage three of that process, which is the stabilization aspect. This step is the most difficult to deal with, and its difficulty is compounded when dealing with people who are in a highly activated state.”

Quinn added that to the best of his knowledge, “this is the first group of EMS responders who are being taught an extra level of stabilization. It is one of the first groups in the world that will be deployed with the specific purpose of providing psychological first aid, and we will need to do a lot of research as we go along.”

Job doesn’t end at the scene

The new unit is headed by Miriam Ballin, a marriage and family therapist as well as a volunteer medic for United Hatzalah.

“Stabilization can mean many different things,” Ballin explained. “We may need to stabilize the scene during an incident when the situation is so chaotic that no one can get their job done. Alternatively, we may be called upon to stabilize family members of the injured people who were hurt at the scene, or we may even be called upon to stabilize the patient in a case where the patient is so activated that the paramedics cannot treat the person.”

Jonathan Hoffman, one of the new graduates, said he is eager “to have a positive impact on people who are suffering from an immediate trauma. I want to be there for them, and in the moment provide them with care that can save their lives. That is what the psychotrauma unit is really all about.”

Ballin added that the job often does not end at the scene.

“Another job of ours is to ease the mourning process and help the person do the things that they will need to do in order to get through the chaotic period following a trauma — whether it is helping them make the first few phone calls for funeral arrangements or assisting them and providing support while empowering them enough so that they will be able to tell their children that a family member has passed away.

“The job is certainly not easy, but it is important for the person’s health and stability in the moment and hopefully in the future.”

For more information, click here.

June 14, 2016 0 comments

Regional Analysis The Society Thought

The Alchemy of Palestinian Nationhood

by Martin Sherman May 15, 2016

written by Martin Sherman

“Alchemy: a seemingly magical process of transformation, creation” (The Oxford Dictionary).

“I do not think there is a Palestinian nation at all. I think there is an Arab nation. I think it’s a colonialist invention — a Palestinian nation. When were there any Palestinians? Where did they come from? I think there is an Arab nation.” (Azmi Bashara, Channel 2, 1996).

“The Palestinian people are an integral part of the Arab nation. … The Palestinian people believe in Arab unity. In order to contribute their share toward the attainment of that objective, however, they must, at the present stage of their struggle, safeguard their Palestinian identity and develop their consciousness of that identity” (The Palestinian National Charter).

As the end of May draws closer so does the prospect of a French convened international summit, aimed at “relaunching the Israeli-Palestinian peace process.” Inevitably, efforts will be focused on reviving the relevance of the two-state paradigm, after a long — and well-deserved — period in “cold storage.”

Plausible perils

Indeed, perhaps the most puzzling conundrum regarding the discourse on the Middle East conflict is the enduring centrality of an idea that has so little to support it, either in terms of its empirical record or its conceptual plausibility.

After all, as Israel’s newly appointed consul general in New York, Dani Dayan wrote some time ago in a New York Times opinion piece: “The insertion of an independent Palestinian state between Israel and Jordan would be a recipe for disaster. … The new state [would become] a hotbed of extremism. … Any peace agreement would collapse. … Israel would then be forced to recapture the area.”

This is hardly an improbable scenario, given the precedent of previous Israeli withdrawals. Indeed, every time Israel has evacuated territory it has become a platform from which to launch lethal attacks against it — whether in Gaza, Lebanon or Sinai, where an assorted collection of jihadi extremists are ever-tightening their grip over the peninsula.

Clearly, in the absence of compelling evidence to the contrary, there is no reason — other than unsubstantiated hope and unfounded optimism — that a similar fate would not — sooner or later — befall the “West Bank,” were the IDF to evacuate it.

The question then arises: Why would any rational person embrace a policy that so clearly threatens to wreak tragedy on Israelis and Palestinians alike?

Transparent trickery

In the course of modern history mankind has not infrequently been afflicted by political perspectives and policy prescriptions that were manifestly misguided, and by doctrinal dogmas that were demonstrably disastrous. Few, however, have been as transparent in their undisguised trickery as what has, perversely, become known as the “two-state-solution” (or TSS).

Based on the flawed and failed notion of land-for-peace, whose validity has repeatedly been disproven, but somehow never discredited and certainly never discarded, it has, for decades, inexplicably monopolized the debate on the Israel-Arab conflict in general, and the Israel-Palestinian conflict in particular.

What makes the dominance of the TSS-approach so difficult to fathom, is not only that it is anchored neither to empirical fact nor to logical consistency, but that the Arabs openly admit that it is nothing but subterfuge.

This assertion cannot be dismissed as some radical right-wing rant. It is the unavoidable conclusion that emerges from the deeds, declarations and documents of the Palestinians.

Nationhood as alchemy

To understand how unmoored the TSS-approach is from both fact and logic, consider how devoid of substance the key elements, which allegedly underpin it, are — such as the “Palestinian nation” and “Palestinian homeland.”

To illustrate this seemingly far-reaching assertion, suppose for a moment that the Arabs had not initiated the war of annihilation against Israel in 1967. Who then would have been the Palestinians? More important, what would have been Palestine?

After all, at the time, the Arab Palestinians resident in the “West Bank” were not stateless. Until 1988, all were Jordanian citizens.

Moreover, the 1964 version of the Palestinian National Charter (Article 24) explicitly proclaimed, not only that the “West Bank” was not part of the Palestinian homeland, but that it was part of the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan.

So, had the Arabs not initiated a war of annihilation against Israel, the Arab residents of the “West Bank” would have been Jordanians, and the territory of the “West Bank” would have been Jordan.

However, in 1967 the Arabs did initiate their overtly genocidal aggression against the Jewish state, which resulted in spectacular failure.

From this mixture of defeat and disappointment, “a seemingly magical process of transformation/creation” began to emerge before our very eyes. Poof! As if by some mysterious alchemistic mechanism, Jordanian nationals were transformed into a “Palestinian nation” and Jordanian territory was transformed into a “Palestinian homeland.”

Palestine is where the Jews are

On May 27, 1967, barely a week before the outbreak of the Six-Day War, Ahmad Shukeiri, Yasser Arafat’s predecessor as chairman of the Palestine Liberation Organization, bellowed: “D-Day is approaching. The Arabs have waited 19 years for this and will not flinch from the war of liberation.”

On June 1, he crowed: “This is a fight for the homeland — it is either us or the Israelis. There is no middle road. The Jews of Palestine will have to leave. … We shall destroy Israel and its inhabitants and as for the survivors — if there are any — the boats are ready to deport them.”

Even for the most avid adherent of the TSS-approach, Shukeiri’s use of the words “liberation” and “homeland” should be enlightening. For they certainly did not — and could not — apply to the “West Bank” (or Gaza), since both were under Arab rule and clearly did not comprise the “homeland,” towards which Palestinian “liberation” efforts were directed.

The conclusion appears inescapable.

Rather than defining any specific territory as homeland, “Palestine” is a highly fluid geographical entity, used to designate any territory where the Jews exercise control, from which Arabs have a “sacred duty” to “liberate” it.

Palestine: Pre-1967 vs post-1967

Following the debacle of June 1967, the thrust of Arab “liberation” efforts changed.

Whereas prior to this date, the focus was on the land west of the Green Line, Arab endeavor now switched to that lying east of it, and which had fallen under Israeli control as a result its victory in the defensive war forced upon it — despite Israel’s entreaties to Jordan not to join the planned Arab onslaught against it.

This, however, was only an intermediate aim in a staged strategy to eliminate the Jewish state entirely, whatever its borders.

Perhaps the most explicit — but certainly by no means, the only — articulation of the post-1967 design was that of the oft-quoted, but yet-to-be repudiated, Zuheir Muhsein, former head of the PLO’s Military Department and a member of its Executive Council.

Echoing the identical position set out in the introductory excerpt by Azmi Bishara, a self-proclaimed “Palestinian” who represented the anti-Zionist Arab list Balad in the Knesset until forced to flee because of allegations of treason, Muhsein also opined that “the Palestinian people does not exist.”

He elaborated: “The creation of a Palestinian state is only a means for continuing our struggle against the State of Israel for our Arab unity. … It is only for political and tactical reasons that we speak today about the existence of a Palestinian people, since Arab national interests demand that we posit the existence of a distinct ‘Palestinian people’ to oppose Zionism.”

He then clearly elucidated the rationale of the post-1967 staged strategy, and the crucial role the construct of a “Palestinian identity” had to play in implementing it: “For tactical reasons, Jordan, which is a sovereign state with defined borders, cannot raise claims to Haifa and Jaffa, while as a Palestinian, I can undoubtedly demand Haifa, Jaffa, Beersheba and Jerusalem. However, the moment we reclaim our right to all of Palestine, we will not wait even a minute to unite Palestine and Jordan.”

Temporary tactical construct

It would be a grave error to dismiss this as merely the opinion of a single, long-forgotten Palestinian leader.

It is a view that has been expressed by many Arab leaders, Palestinian or otherwise, from Farouk Kaddoumi to King Hussein.

More recently, it has been reiterated by none other than the head of the Palestinian Authority, Mahmoud Abbas, who in 2014 proclaimed: “We will never recognize the Jewishness of the State of Israel.”

But more important, it is a sentiment that permeates the entire Palestinian National Charter, according to which, “The partition of Palestine in 1947 and the establishment of the State of Israel are entirely illegal, regardless of the passage of time.”

But no less significant and revealing is the proviso conveyed in the citation from the charter in the introductory excerpt above, regarding the need for the Palestinians to “safeguard their Palestinian identity and develop their consciousness of that identity,” which is to be limited to “the present stage of their struggle.”

Think of it. What other nation declares that its national identity is merely a temporary ploy to be “safeguarded” and “developed” for the “present stage” alone? Does any other nation view their national identity as so ephemeral and instrumental? The Italians? The Brazilians? The Turks? The Greeks? The Japanese? Of course not!

The merging of ends and means

But what is the purpose of this temporary ruse? The charter is quite explicit: For Palestinians “to contribute their share to the attainment of [the] objective of Arab Unity.” And Arab unity, to what end? The liberation of Palestine, “illegally partitioned” in 1947, which is both the goal of, and the vehicle for, Arab unity.

Article 13 says it all: “Arab unity and the liberation of Palestine are two complementary objectives, the attainment of either of which facilitates the attainment of the other.

“Thus, Arab unity leads to the liberation of Palestine, the liberation of Palestine leads to Arab unity.”

So there you have it: The Palestinians’ political philosophy in a nutshell … and in their own words. The aspiration for the liberation of Palestine — aka the destruction of Israel — is the force for Arab unity, while the achievement of such liberation/destruction will provide the impetus for pan-Arab unity — presumably via the sense of empowerment and achievement it will generate.

Debunking a dangerous dichotomy

While it is true the implementation of the TSS will in all likelihood bring tragedy to both sides, that is not the only reason to oppose it.

It is a proposal that has no foundation in fact, morality or logic; it is devoid of any justification in history or in present politics.

To quote Dayan again: “Giving up this land in the name of a hallowed two-state solution would mean rewarding those who’ve historically sought to destroy Israel, a manifestly immoral outcome.”

Sadly, it is precisely because the TSS-paradigm is so unfounded, no more capable of resolving the conflict than alchemy is capable of transforming base metal to gold, that its dominance of the discourse constitutes a huge indictment of the intellectual competence of the Israeli leadership.

For not only has that leadership been unable to expose it as a flimsy falsehood, openly acknowledged by Arabs, and to consign it to the garbage heap of history, they have allowed the discourse to be needlessly corralled into a false dichotomy.

It is a dichotomy that is as dangerous as it is deceptive, making it seem that the only choices are either a geographically untenable Jewish democracy, or a demographically untenable Jewish ethnocracy.

Israeli intellectual ineptitude

This is a completely misleading and misplaced perception of reality. Indeed, there exist alternative democratic and Zionist-compliant options that can provide both Palestinians and Israelis with better and more secure lives. Regrettably, it is only Israeli political ineptitude that has prevented serious discussion of their viability and validity.

Unless the Israeli leadership can muster the political will and the intellectual ability to force these alternatives to the center stage of the debate, the consequences will almost certainly be calamitous.

(Originally published on Israel Hayom)

May 15, 2016 0 comments

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