Rules of Engagement for Comment on the Israeli Palestinian Conflict

Posted by Lambcut

Lambcut with a very special Semitic friend

At the discretion of Busted Blonde and the Brunette, I will probably continue to post occasionally as time allows, on Saturdays and Sundays on the delicate topic of Israeli Palestinian politics. If you wish to comment on any post going forward you will have to abide by certain rules of engagement. In previous posts on the topic or in reply to any comment thus far, you will note that I haven’t indulged in any ad hominem attacks, pejorative language, racist insults or hate speech. The same cannot be said for some VRWC commentators. Though, some of those commentators resorted to other blogs as their forum for this. Notwithstanding, I published all comments sent to Roarprawn. I will not continue to do so.

There have been assertions by Roarprawn’s commentators, albeit on other blogs that I am anti-Semitic. Arabs, along with Jews, are Semitic people. In any event, I do not countenance anti-Semitism in any form. There will be no holocaust denying here, there will also be no nakba denying. I do not compare nakba to the holocaust. The horrors of the holocaust thankfully remain out in a league of their own. Nakba is an atrocity in its own right. And I will not ignore it.

I refer to my recent post entitled, Israel and the Fine Art of Sophistry. It attracted remarkable traffic and vitriol from the VRWC’s readers. It was essentially a post on the poor standard of journalism on both sides. Read it properly and see. Not one commentator asked me whether or not I agreed with a withdrawal to the 1967 borders or if I supported a two state solution. The most inflammatory thing I said was, “for Netanyahu to assert that the 1967 borders are indefensible is demonstrably untrue and mischievous”. Not one commentator provided any rebuttal to that statement. No-one talked about the quality or veracity of press coverage.

As it happens I am not convinced a two state solution is best. If Israel took over the West Bank and Gaza, and was made a whole country on that basis, certain things would eventually have to happen. If Israel wished to be thought of as a civilised state the rights of all of its citizens would have to be recognised equally. The Gaza wall would have to come down or it would be an apartheid state, and would have to be regarded as such by the international community. Any violent act by any citizen Palestinian or Jew would have to be recognised for what it is – a criminal act punishable at criminal law. Water and other vital infrastructure would need to be provided to all areas of the country in proper proportions. Persons born in Israeli territory would have automatic citizenship and have the right to leave the country and have the right of return. Disputes over real property, historic or not, would have to be addressed on an appropriate legal basis. Universal suffrage would have to be enacted. Those persons now held in Israeli prisons without trial would have to be brought before the Courts without undue delay.

If you wish to make any comment on any post of mine on this topic I will publish it, provided the comment does not contain:

Ad hominem attacks; or

pejorative language; or

racist insults; or

hate speech against any ethnic group.

Lambcut on the Holocaust

Posted by Lambcut (the Brunette is still away)

With the death of bin Laden, there is a lot of chat on the blogosphere about Muslims and the Middle East. Most of it is horrifyingly misinformed. I commented just now on a post of Cactus Kate’s – “Hone Denigrates Jews”. Kate’s post is not directly related to the bin Laden situation but it threw up Holocaust rhetoric undoubtedly heated by bin Laden’s death. Having spent time and done business in the Middle East, I am familiar with the Levant and Palestinians in particular. I commented as follows in reply to Kate’s outpourings. Busted Blonde and the Brunette will probably have me killed for posting it on Roarprawn, but, here it goes anyway:

No sane person should ever stoop to detract from the sufferings endured during the Holocaust mainly by Jews, but also by gays, gypsies, the disabled and communists. Having said that, no sane person should stoop to detract from the sufferings now being endured by Palestinians. The Palestinians call the events that took place in 1948 the Catastrophe. It’s not comparable on a numeric basis to the Holocaust, but it’s getting pretty bad. Around one million Palestinians were displaced at the time or shortly following the Catastrophe. More than ten thousand Palestinians are currently imprisoned without due process in Israel. Hezbollah has about one prisoner currently – Corporal Gilad Shalit, a combatant. I am not aware that Hamas have any – but I am happy to be corrected especially as to numbers. A significant number of the Palestinians held by Israel are minors. Most by any reckoning are civilians. Around 350,000 Palestinians are living as stateless refugees without full human rights in the Lebanon. They are not able to own land or occupy most professions (ironically, a very similar situation to Jews in Europe until later in the 19th century). Because they only have refugee passports it is very difficult for them to emigrate elsewhere. Most of Palestine has been taken unlawfully beyond the Israeli borders that were established during the ’67 war. 1.6 million Palestinians living in Gaza have been walled off in a ghetto easily comparable to Warsaw. Palestinian deaths attributable to the conflict outnumber Israeli deaths attributable to the conflict around ten to one.

And we in the West, we authored this situation to salve our conscience about the various roles our state’s played in contribution to the Holocaust.