[lbo-talk] Re: Alex Cockburn

joanna bujes jbujes at covad.net
Sun Aug 17 09:51:38 PDT 2003


Shane wrote

"Suicide bombings aren't just a disagreeable tactic of resistance to the occupation of Gaza and the West Bank. They are not the tactic of someone seeking a two state or binational single state solution. They're a violent rejection of Jews having any business living anywhere in what was once Palestine. They are also acts of collective punishment. Hence the equation of supporting suicide bombers with anti-semitism."

I take great exception to "They're a violent rejection of Jews having any business living anywhere in what was once Palestine."

Jews have lived as peacefully in Palestine as anybody else until the Zionist project. They were not originally kicked out by the Arabs but by the Romans. So, you're taking a series of events in a new war between Arabs and Zionists and making it look like a genocidal campaign against Jews. Not good.

Next, notice that smooth little phrase: "...what was once Palestine." So tell me, how did "Palestine" become "what was once Palestine"? How deftly you bury a half century of murder and theft under that relative clause...while reserving your right to call suicide bombing terrorism.

Joanna



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