Aref Assaf, re “Palestinians should follow path of non violence by Dewayne Wickham.
"Daily Record. 5-01-02
After 35 years of oppressive Israeli military occupation of their homeland, many
Palestinians have lost hope in the viability of nonviolence as a tacit for
ending the Israeli occupation. Israel does not recognize the humanity of the
Palestinians. Columnist DeWayne Wickham argues that the Palestinians' best
chances to gain independence is to use the peaceful tactics of India's Mahatma
Gandhi. This advice couldn't be implemented even if the Palestinians chose this
direction. For Israel's occupation of Palestinian lands has been a most violent,
oppressive and dehumanizing attempt to cleanse an entire population. Israel has
no history of tolerance for civil disobedience simply because it does not extend
to the Palestinians any rights of citizenship, or a venue for expression of
political dissent. A Palestinian stone thrower or peaceful marches are always
met with tanks, live bullets and collective punishment. Israel, unlike Great
Britain, occupied Palestine not only to benefit from its resources but also to
replace the indigenous population with new “more civilized” settlers. Britain
ruled India expecting one day to leave it; Israel’s colonization of Palestine,
was promoted by Zionists as a fulfillment of” biblical prophecies”. Hertzel, the
founder of Zionism, wrote in 1895 that Jews must “ spirit the penniless (Arab)
population across the borders and deny it employment in our country”. The
indigenous Palestinian Arabs who owned more 95 percent of the land were
considered to being foreign and outside the designs of Zionism. Unlike Britain,
Israel has caused the expulsion of 5 million Palestinian refugees off their
native land. Israel has not built a regime of democratic institutions, as what
happened in India, to enable Palestinians to realize their political, economic
or cultural rights. Instead, Israel has systematically destroyed Palestinian
political and cultural institutions, suppressed political and academic leaders
who dare to voice their objections to Israel’s inhumane treatment of the
Palestinians people. Palestinians acceptance of a two state solution is perhaps
the most sincere expression of nonviolence embodying the emerging Palestinian
thinking. A just and lasting solution, however, will require Israel to end its
illegal occupation of Arab and Palestinian lands and the establishment of an
independent, contiguous and economically viable Palestinian state along side
Israel. Non-violence will prevail between the two states. Nonviolence cannot
describe the relationship between occupier and occupied. Occupation itself is
violence.
Respectfully,Aref Assaf
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