Does the creation of Israel have any direct relation with the Holocaust? After all, the thrust to create a state occurred decades before the WWII Holocaust.   In 1951, the number of Israelis who could be directly identified with the Holocaust was estimated at about 240,000, less than 20% of the Israel population and a small portion of world Jewry at that time. It has not been publicized that many of these persons used Israel as a temporary station and eventually left for the United States and other countries. After 1950, Israel’s population growth came primarily from North African, Ethiopian, Yemen, Middle Eastern and Russian (Jews and non-Jews) immigration.

Ben Heine/ MWC NEWS

In an article, The Course of History, which appeared on several Internet sites, the writer described the difficulties of characterizing Israel as a Jewish nation.

Avraham Burg, former Knesset speaker and former head of the Jewish Agency has been quoted as saying, “to define the State of Israel as a Jewish state is the key to its end.” The term ‘Jewish nation’ has never been adequately defined and there is nothing exceptional in Israel that identifies a specific Jewish morality, culture or Judaic atmosphere.  There are some, but relatively few foods, architectural styles, songs, dances and landscapes in Israel that are not related to the Arab Mediterranean Twenty percent of Israel’s population are Arabs and a portion of the citizenry, such as the Ethiopian Falasha and Russian immigrants, have dubious relation to world Jewry.  Many of the Mizrahim immigrants to Israel, who constitute a great part of Israel’s population, can be considered Arab – having previously spoken Arab, adopted Arab customs and culture and lived for generations in Arab nations. Many Israelis, although technically still considered Israelis and recorded in the population statistics, have citizenship and residency in other countries.  Although exact figures are not available, Israel’s Absorption Ministry estimated in 2006 that about 600,000 Israelis had left the country to live abroad.  Since many Israelis carry dual citizenship and return to Israel only for brief interludes, that total can probably be doubled.  It has also been shown that Israelis of Arab nationality, who trace their heritage back more two generations, might be comparable in numbers to Israelis of Jewish nationality who also trace their heritage back two generations.

The troubling fiction that has characterized the Israeli/Palestinian struggle has also characterized all of the negotiations.  And that will probably not change – expect calculated ambiguity. Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas ‘ present proposals and Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert’s responses to them have been unofficially reported by correspondent Shimon Schiffer in the August 16 issue of the Israeli newspaper Yedioth Ahronoth and by Akiva Eldar in the August 22 Haaretz journal.

Mahmoud Abbas  wants Israel to return to the 1967 borders. This will allow a Palestinian state to be established in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip.

Olmert proposes an Israeli withdrawal from what he defines as “more than 90 percent of the West Bank,” but maintains the settlement blocs under Israeli sovereignty. Israel will give the Palestinians territory in the Negev, adjacent to the Gaza Strip.

Mahmoud Abbas wants Israel to recognize the right of the refugees to return to their homes, in accord with the resolution of the Security Council. Implementation of the right of return will be by agreement between the sides.

Olmert offers the Palestinian refugees a return only to the territory of the Palestinian state which will be established in the future, and not within the borders of the State of Israel.

Mahmoud Abbas wants a safe passage, entirely under Palestinian control, between the West Bank and the Gaza Strip. 

Olmert has the West Bank joined to the Gaza Strip by bridges or tunnels. The ground will remain in Israeli sovereignty.

Mahmoud Abbas wants East Jerusalem as the capital of the Palestinian state. The Temple Mount/Al-Haram al-Sharif. will be under full Palestinian control.

Olmert concedes neighborhoods on the edge of East Jerusalem to Palestinian sovereignty. He recommends joint control of the Temple Mount/Al-Haram al-Sharif. with international participation.    

Can the aggrieved Palestinians ask for less? Don’t justice and reason support their negotiated positions? Will the prosperous Israelis, who are satisfied with the status quo and have the power to acquire more, be willing to concede anything? If the Israel military can kill Palestinians with impunity and without protest, why would their government take any negotiations seriously?  Negotiations will continue endlessly until the world’s peoples recognize the cataclysm that awaits them and take action.

We have already witnessed severe destruction in several Middle East wars and the consequences to the Israeli, Palestinian, Lebanese and other Middle East peoples. The violence has reinforced world terrorism. Now, we have the destruction of Iraq, a nation that was no proven threat to the United States, but was considered to be Israel’s most serious antagonist.  U.S. government neoconservatives, many of whom have shown excessive loyalty to Israel, were instrumental in promoting the U.S. invasion of Iraq. In effect, the U.S. fought, and is still fighting, Israel’s battle.

Extrapolating from these atrocities, what is a predictable scenario in the near future? We have, as one outcome of the Iraq occupation, the accusations that Iran and Syria, two other serious antagonists to Israel, are threats to world peace – similar to Hussein’s Iraq – and both of them, without any firm evidence for confirmation and much evidence to the contrary, are accused of busily assisting Iraqi insurgents. Iran, the latest number one antagonist, is viewed as the next nation to be liberated and decimated. With that done, what will be the fate of those allied with Hezbollah and Hamas? Annihilation? Will the battles end then? There will still be Syria, Sudan and other nations viewed as too antagonist to Israel. Millions killed, horrific terrorism, economic catastrophes, tens of millions of refugees and possible uncontrollable worldwide epidemics. And for each death, new grievances, new converts to battle and new antagonists to one another. Present day Iraq has highlighted that story.  If the battle does not end soon, it will be a battle for eternity.

In a November 2003 European Union poll, 59 percent of Europeans selected Israel as the greatest threat to world peace, in the top position, ahead of Iran and North Korea. So, what’s the problem? Can’t the United Nations force Israel to recognize the rights of the Palestinians and satisfy Mahmoud Abbas’    negotiation proposals?  Apparently not, because there is another problem: the forces which manipulate the information concerning the situation, guide the discussions of the situation, control the decisions to ameliorate the situation and have the military muscle to counter any attack on their roles in the situation are the forces which prevent a logical approach or a just solution to the conflict. A logical approach and just solution to a deadly conflict don’t favor the policies of Israel and the United States. Their road to peace leads to a world shattered into pieces.

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