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Politics : War -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Thomas M. who wrote (4830)	9/27/2001 3:56:49 PM
From: chalu2	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 23908

To define someone as a Palestinian is racist, as there is no difference between such a person and the people in surrounding countries. So Meir was 100% correct, in that sense. It's like talking of a Wyoming people. Unless you're speaking of my beloved Arapaho, there is no difference between a man from Wyoming and a man from Idaho or Oregon. There's no such thing as "Wyomingness" that would justify characterizing its inhabitants as a separate people. What are the characteristics of "Palestinian-ness", other than geographic?

To: Thomas M. who wrote (4830)	9/27/2001 4:59:22 PM
From: Hawkmoon	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 23908

There really isn't any such thing... They never were a nation, even under the Turks.. Even Arafat was born in Cairo, Egypt, and is thus, an Egytian.. ahram.org.eg palestine-net.com No where can anyone point to the previous existence of a Palestinian state, or define what the origin of the Palestinian people (unless one perceives them as descendants of the Philistines). But does that mean that Palestinians AREN'T a nation?? Well, that depends... The US wasn't a nation either before the American revolution. It was only through our force of will, military might, and the defeat of our British rulers, as well as the conquest and expansion of our boundaries into the lands of native Americans. But most importantly, our ideals were what held us together and permitted us to deserve the title "nation", and not just a geographical state. Well, the Palestinians are like the Americans back then, except they are functioning in a period where the trend and desire has been to lock in geographical boundaries as they are, historical, or artificially created (as with the mid-east). However, the Palestinians have nothing that binds them together, except their mutual hatred for Israel (and the US). No higher ideals, no royal lineage, no historical reference in the books identifying them as a nation/state... Nothing but political recognition that only was granted recently. Furthermore, the Palestinians have undermined their claims by limited them only to Israel, and not Lebanon, Syria, Jordan, or Saudi Arabia. And this especially the case in Jordan, the population of which is comprised nearly 60% of people who refer to themselves as "Palestinians". So it's NOT a matter of hate, but of political reality. Israel existed 2,000 years ago... just as did Egypt. But BOTH nations ceased to exist as political entities after the Roman conquest and their populations were conquered, scattered, or marginalized by their ruler's bloodline. Thus, both Egypt and Israel could point to a period in ancient history that substantiated their historical claim to those regions. However, NO OTHER STATE in the middle east can make such a claim. Iraq, Saudi Arabia, Oman, Yemen, Kuwait, Libya, Tunisia, and so many other Arab states are NOTHING MORE THAN CREATIONS OF POLITICAL EXPEDIENCY, spawned out of the ruins of the Ottoman Empire. Hawkmoon

To: Thomas M. who wrote (4830)	9/27/2001 9:57:54 PM
From: Nadine Carroll	Respond to of 23908

Palestinian nationalism was born in the '60s. In the 40's there was no such concept (which is why the effendi class of Palestine skeddadled to Cairo and Damascus before the Mandate ended). Racially and culturally, there was no difference between the Palestinian Arabs and the Arabs of the surrounding countries. Indeed, at least one third of the Palestinian Arabs had immigrated from one of the sourounding countries within the previous 20 years. So Golda Meir was correct.