Editorials, April 2008
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By Hassan El-Najjar
ccun.org, April 4, 2008
Supporters of the Israeli occupation government in the US House of Representatives sponsored H. Res. 185, which gained a bi-partisan support from the other rubber-stamp House members. (1)
The resolution does not represent any new policy or stance as the US Congress never failed to pass any resolution proposed by supporters of Israel, who see their job as to serve the interests of the Israeli occupation government, even if it is damaging to US national interests and the US relations with Arabs and Muslims worldwide.
This resolution addresses the wishes of Israelis of denying the Palestinian refugees and their descendants their right of return to their cities, towns, villages, and lands they were robbed and evicted from in 1948. This right of return was stated in the UN General Assembly Resolution 194, passed in 1948 but confirmed every year ever since. (2)
This explains to average readers why Zionists hate the United Nations, particularly the General Assembly, whose resolutions represent justice and conscience of the world, two concepts incompatible with Zionism.
The new House Resolution 185 simply means that as there are Palestinian refugees, there are also Jewish refugees. For peace to happen, then, Palestinians should stop demanding return to their homeland and property, just like Jews who emigrated to Israel do not demand return to Arab and Muslim countries they left to Israel.
Apparently, the sponsors of the resolution do not want to see the reality they have been trying to hide for sixty years: The true solution for the manufactured conflict in the Middle East is for Jews living in Israel to return to their Arab and Muslim countries they came from and for Palestinians to return to Palestine.
But if this happens, peace prevails in the Middle East and the world!
A nightmare scenario for war beneficiaries.
How can they control the US anymore if there are no more wars?
How can they loot the future generations of Americans by more compulsory borrowing from them, which reached $9.6 trillion so far?
No, no.
All kinds of tricks and hurdles should be employed to prevent peace from happening.
This resolution is one of them.
It represents distortion of truth and facts on five grounds, at least, in order to block any attempts to reach a peaceful resolution for the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
First, Palestinians were evicted by force from their cities, towns, villages, and lands by Israeli forces in 1948. There is no equivalence for that concerning Jewish Arabs, who have never been forced to leave their Arab countries to Israel. To the contrary, they were coerced by Israeli occupation governments to flee their countries, as a result of Israeli terrorist attacks on their communities, like what happened to Iraqi Jews in 1951. (3)
Second, Israelis have dispossessed Palestinians, lived in their homes, used their lands and property, since 1948. However, Palestinian refugees have been living in refugee camps or in Diaspora ever since. They were never given the property of Jewish Arabs who left to Israel.
Third, Jews from Arab and Muslim countries who immigrated to Israel became Israeli citizens, enjoying all the privileges of citizenship there, while Palestinians in the occupied Palestinian territories of the West Bank and Gaza Strip have never been given Israeli citizenship. Moreover, Palestinian refugees in most countries in the Middle East have never been given citizenship, particularly in Syria, Lebanon, Gulf states, and Arab North Africa. There is no equivalency here too.
Fourth, this is a trick to block any attempts to resolve the Israeli-Palestinian conflict peacefully. By denying Palestinian refugees their right of return, Zionists in the US have demonstrated that they still stand by their defunct "permanent war" strategy, which dragged the United States to the Iraqi invasion disaster. They want the conflict between Israelis and Palestinians to continue, as it keeps the oil-rich region in turmoil, which by turn benefits war constituents at home, led by supporters of Israel.
Finally, the resolution is telling George Bush to forget about his attempt to have an independent Palestinian state before he leaves office this year. This is not just a Bush wish. Rather, it's what various US government departments and agencies concluded following September 11 attacks and the Iraq invasion disaster, that the US blind support for Israel is behind the loss of credibility and behind anti-American sentiments in the Arab and Muslim worlds.
That's why justice for Palestinians is an American national interest, a fact that Zionists have been trying hard to conceal and block, like in this case.
So, this resolution is telling Bush that it is the Israel-Firsters who are in control of American foreign policy, not him and other relevant US government institutions concerned with foreign policy, national security, and national interests of the United States.
When will US-Firsters make their move?
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Notes:
(1). House Adopts Bi-Partisan Resolution to Recognize Jewish Refugees
WASHINGTON, D.C. – April 01, 2008
Contact: Shin Inouye
202-225-5635
A bipartisan group of lawmakers welcomed the
adoption by the House of a Congressional Resolution (H.Res.185), which
recognizes the plight of hundreds of thousands Jewish refugees who were
displaced from countries in the Middle East, North Africa and the
Persian Gulf. The resolution was introduced by Reps. Jerrold
Nadler (D-NY), Ileana Ros-Lehtinen (R-FL), Joseph Crowley (D-NY) and
Mike Ferguson (R-NJ). The bipartisan resolution was adopted today
on a voice vote.
“Today, the House has helped shed light on the plight of Jewish refugees
in the Middle East,” said Rep. Nadler. “Their suffering is real
and demands recognition. America must reaffirm that it embraces a
just and comprehensive approach to the issue of Middle East refugees.
The forced exile of Jewish refugees from Arab lands must be a part of
the public dialogue on the peace process. By seeking justice for
those who suffered, we can help establish a strong and lasting peace.”
“Discussions of Middle Eastern refugees invariably focus exclusively—and
shortsightedly—on the plight of those of Palestinian descent,” said Rep.
Ros-Lehtinen. Far fewer people are aware of the injustice faced by
Jewish refugees from Arab lands and Iran. Many Jews saw their
communities, which had existed vibrantly for centuries systematically
dismantled. They lost their resources, their homes, and their heritage
sites, fleeing in the face of persecution, pogroms, revolutions and
brutal dictatorships.”
“Almost one million Jews have fled persecution in the Middle East.
The suffering endured by Jewish refugees deserves acknowledgement by the
international community, and today the U.S. House of Representatives
stood united in seeking the recognition they deserve,” said Congressman
Crowley.
“The House’s action today reaffirms our commitment to recognize the
plight of the hundreds of thousands of Jewish refugees who have been
displaced by violence in the Middle East, North Africa and the Persian
Gulf,” said Rep. Ferguson.
Following the creation of the State of Israel in 1948, the status of
Jews in Arab and Muslim countries changed dramatically. When virtually
all of Israel’s neighbors declared or supported war on the Jewish state,
approximately 850,000 refugees were forcibly expelled from their homes.
Others became political hostages. In virtually all cases, individual and
communal properties were seized and/or confiscated by governments
without any compensation provided.
The Nadler Resolution urges the President to ensure that when the issue
of Middle East refugees is discussed in international forums, any
reference to Palestinian refugees be matched by a similarly explicit
reference to Jewish and other refugee populations.
The lawmakers noted that the recognition of the plight of Jewish
refugees has been led by Justice for Jews from Arab Countries, B’nai
B’rith International and the Conference of Presidents of Major American
Jewish Organizations. In addition to these three groups, many
other organizations had strongly advocated for the adoption of the
bi-partisan resolution.
The above press release is from the website of
Representative Jerrold Nadler of New York's 8th District
http://www.house.gov/apps/list/press/ny08_nadler/Jewish_Refugee_Res_Passes_House_040108.html
(2) UN General Assembly Resolution 194 Concerning the Right of Return for Palestine Refugees
On December 11, 1948, the United Nations General Assembly passed Resolution 194 III, article 11 of this resolution states the following:
"Resolves that the refugees wishing to return to their homes and live at peace with their neighbors should be permitted to do so at the earliest practicable date, and that compensation should be paid for the property of those choosing not to return and for loss of or damage to property which, under principles of international law or in equity, should be made good by the Governments or authorities responsible;
Instructs the Conciliation Commission to facilitate the repatriation, resettlement and economic and social rehabilitation of the refugees and the payment of compensation, and to maintain close relations with the Director of the United Nations Relief for Palestine Refugees and, through him, with the appropriate organs and agencies of the United Nations."
Successive Israeli occupation governments never accepted Resolution 194, which has contributed to the continuation of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict for sixty years so far.
(3) Israeli Terrorist Attacks to Force Iraqi Jews to Immigrate to Israel in 1951
"Tensions resurfaced in the early 1950s because of
the Israeli campaign to force the Iraqi Jews to immigrate to Israel. The
new Israeli state numbered only about half a million. Instead of trying
to solve the Palestinian refugee problem by
repatriation and compensation, as urged by the United Nations
Organization, the Israeli leaders started looking for Jewish immigrants
to replace Palestinian refugees. Strange as it was, the Israeli
government planned and executed a campaign of terrorizing Iraqi Jews in
an attempt to force them to immigrate to Israel. The campaign was so
successful that most Iraqi Jews left to Israel. However, the campaign
contributed to more tensions between Iraq and Israel. Between October
1951 and January 1952, the Iraqi government conducted three trials, in
which twenty-eight Jews and nine others were charged with espionage and
illegal possession of arms.
"Some of the accused were also charged with the
bombing and grenade attacks on the Al Bayda coffee shop in Baghdad, in
which four Jews were injured in April 1950; on the Jewish emigrants'
registration office at the Mas'uda Shem-Tov synagogue, in which three
Jews were killed in January 1951; on the US Legation's information
office in March 1951; on a Jewish home in May 1951; and on a Jewish shop
in June 1951. The prosecution maintained that the aim of the attacks was
to undermine the regime, to give the regime a bad (anti-Semitic) name
and to create bad blood between Iraq and the Western powers. Some Iraqi
Jews maintained, then and for years afterwards, that the attacks on the
Jewish targets, especially on the Mas'uda Shem-Tov synagogue, were
organized by the Mossad and/or the Mossad LeAliya Bet in order to
persuade hesitant Iraqi Jews that it was in their interest to leave
their growingly anti-Semitic homeland and emigrate to Israel."[28]
Black, Ian and Benny Morris. 1991. Israel's Secret Wars: A History of
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