Andrew Johnson
In regard to Manny Benhamou’s (“Palestinian people victims of bad leaders,” Dec. 4, pg. 6). I should state that the Palestinian-Israel problem did not start two years ago or even twenty years ago. It has been almost a century since the Zionist leaders have attempted, and I am repeating, attempted, to conquer Palestine to establish a country of their own, Israel. Having said that, Palestinians had no choice but derive the invaders out of their country as did the Afghans droved the Soviet communists out of Afghanistan. I don’t suppose you disagree that Afghans did the right thing.
The ironical point in Manny’s letter is that Palestinians did try to solve this problem politically and without any blood by reaching the English authority, and later on in the United Nations, but it was the Israeli terrorist group, Irgun, who started killing the British and Palestinians. Israel and Arabs, a book written by a Jew and Arab, states that “Irgun terrorists, who were extreme Zionists, blew up bridges, raided British military camps, destroyed railways, and so on”(16). According to the same source, on July 22, 1946, Irgun terrorists blew up the headquarters of the British administration and armed forces in Jerusalem, Ninety-one people were killed (16).
I would also like to mention that when Jews were faced with anti-Semitic prejudices in Europe, they were allowed to purchase lands and live in Palestine as Palestinians citizens.
Maybe I should put all the blames on Britain that promised Palestinians an independent state two times because Britain wanted the support of the Arab states in two world wars, but later turned the Palestinians down. Britain even put forth an encouragement for Zionist Jews to conquer Palestine as the Balfour Declaration states, “His Majesty’s Government view with favor the establishment in Palestine of a national home for the Jewish people, and will use their best endeavors to facilitate the achievement of this object,” in November 2nd, 1917.
I quoted the Bible the other day that specifically stated the demolition of the Palestinian’s houses, state, and life.
When Israeli forces, namely the Palmach and Haganah, wanted to captured Bab el Wad and Kastel on Tel Aviv road in 1948, the attack went so far that Haganah attacked Narkis, a nearby village. Let’s state that Narkis was officially a Palestinian territory mandated by the UN. And then when Abdel Kadir, a renowned Palestinians military, most Palestinian soldiers left their posts to attend the funeral, where meanwhile the Israeli forces (Lehi and Irgun) attacked Deir Yassin. Ezra Yakhin, a clandestine member of Lehi, says, “When I got there, I found out that our next action was to conquer an Arab village. Until then, we had only set explosives and run, or shot Arabs and escaped. This time we were going to conquer part of the land of our fathers.” Cohen, the Irgun commander recalls, “I gave the order that our fighters should not enter a single house without using explosives or throwing a grenade or two inside.” Pail, also a Jewish fighter, recalls what happened after the Arab soldiers were killed, “I saw twenty to twenty-five men stood up by the wall of the quarry and shot. I went with my man from house to house and saw women murdered there. In the corner of one house I saw a woman, two children and an old man dead. All of them killed by bullets.” According to Moneta, “The bodies were piled up….the Youth brigades came and tried to burn them.” Shiman Moneta also confirms that the survivors were taken to Jerusalem on the street to show people that Legi had strength and power and knew what it was doing.
What do you expect the Palestinians to do after witnessing all of these being done to them? What do you expect any nation to respond to such discrimination? You want them to just watch and allow themselves to be wiped out of existence? The Palestinian leaders have no control over the situation because they certainly do not have many spots to maneuver about. We see the Israeli Parliament and the party system collapse and undergo a huge depression, why do you think that is? Why do you think the Yitzhak Rabin got assassinated? How do you expect Palestinians to respond to Ariel Sharon’s brutal preparation to wipe them out? And all they have stones, and a few guns to fight against $3 billion dollars and rest assured the jets and helicopters specially made to kill?
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