Ethnic cleansing starts where?
A satirical Facebook post created and published by Students for Justice in Palestine.
July 18, 2014
I’m having an identity crisis.
No, I’m not questioning my sexuality.
I’m questioning my position on our school’s place in the controversial campus divestment movement and the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
Specifically, I’m questioning the integrity of Students for Justice in Palestine at San Diego State.
The petition for divestment on our campus revealed several truths about SDSU. For starters, it proved how divisive our campus became regarding the issue, visibly dividing students into opposing sides: pro- or anti-divestment, pro- or anti-Israel. Perhaps more illuminating was how alarmingly vocal student activists became regarding the issue—specifically our school’s branch of SJP.
What caused me to question my position on the matter was a picture posted on the SJP Facebook page that displays our iconic SDSU logo with the headline, “Ethnic cleansing starts here.”
This kind of one-way communication is not a pathway toward dialogue or resolution, but rather supports a violent misrepresentation of Israel convenient to the specific narrative of SJP.”
While I used to consider myself pro-divestment and, by default, anti-Israel, “Ethnic cleansing starts here” shook something in me as an Aztec.
Essentially, the picture serves its purpose: mocking our school’s decision not to divest. However, by bringing up our school logo and by satirizing our school motto, “Leadership starts here,” it directly attacks the school and its students, a move that is undeniably unprofessional.
Insisting that Israel’s bombings of Gaza were acts of “ethnic cleansing” also raised flags about the accuracy of SJP’s message.
The picture shocked me, for sure. However, it forced me to ask how this aggressive behavior in any way pushes forward a dialogue toward peace and resolution on our campus and abroad.
In short, it doesn’t.
Instead, it further pushes toward a divided campus by instilling an attitude of “If you’re not with us, you’re against us,” and painting this conflict as entirely black or white: either pro-Palestine or pro-Israel, with no middle ground. SJP has been adamant about spreading its message of justice for the Palestinians, and in the process has purposely demonized Israel and its citizens.
It’s tragic to see war’s blind hatred and demonization reflected on our campus and dividing us.
This kind of one-way communication is not a pathway toward dialogue or resolution, but rather supports a violent misrepresentation of Israel convenient to the specific narrative of SJP. It diminishes Israel and its people to one-dimensional caricatures, an act that is deeply offensive and incites anti-Semitic sentiments.
The ad’s attached picture further proves this point. Its violent theme creates a potentially dangerous atmosphere on campus that is not particularly welcoming to guests and students, especially for those who call Israel their home.
Political science sophomore Sydney Abel expressed her discomfort with the anti-Israel sentiment on campus.
“SJP make me feel uncomfortable. As a student on the SDSU campus, the hostile way SJP promotes its position targets who I am as a person,” she said. “SJP looks to point out the Jewish community on campus and targets Jewish students, saying that their homeland is illegitimate. As a person who has recently found their spirituality, Israel is more than a country. It is a place that I can call home even if I am thousands of miles away.”
Her discomfort is justified. FBI statistics show that within the past 10 years, crimes against Jews account for an overwhelming 70 percent of hate crimes in the U.S. Additionally, the anti-Defamation League had found that between 2011 and 2012, the rate of anti-Semitic incidents on college campuses has tripled.
While the divestment movement didn’t explicitly express anti-Semitic ideas, it fostered an environment that could potentially isolate and harm Jewish students. If we opened up to dialogue on campus, this could be prevented, but it seems SJP is not open to the idea.
Sarah Katularu, president of Students in Support of Israel, said that she has tried to invite SJP to their events and she has been met only with rejection.
“We, as an organization, truly care about Palestinians and their suffering. We have tried to hold events to raise money for Palestinian children and they turned us down on our offer to work with them. It’s just sad that two groups of students who care about a cause can’t work together. We try to tell SJP and their supporters that there is such a thing as being both pro-Palestine and pro-Israel,” Katularu said.
In a Letter to the Editor published in The Daily Aztec last semester, a former president of Students Supporting Israel, Nirit Revzin, wrote that she also pushed toward dialogue between organizations but was told “SJP officers do not socialize with sympathizers of a brutal apartheid state.’”
How does this ongoing, immature behavior get us anywhere?
I propose to SJP to start reconsidering their tactics regarding communication and social media as the new semester comes to help create a campus that encourages intellectual dialogue and peace between students of all backgrounds.
The Israeli-Palestinian conflict will probably not be resolved within our lifetime. While peace between opposing sides may be difficult to reach between Israelis and Palestinians, it can definitely be reached between our campus organizations, but only if everyone tries. The greatest hope for SDSU is for supporters of SJP to put their differences aside and listen.
Leadership starts here, Aztecs, and peace can to.
It’s about time we proved it.
“This kind of one-way communication is not a pathway toward dialogue or resolution, but rather supports a violent misrepresentation of Israel convenient to the specific narrative of SJP.”
It’s a provocation and it’s justified by the move by many other campuses to divest. Do your sentiments run deeper than “GUYS, I feel uncomfortable by how angry some people are at Israel?”
I understand this is a sort of Baby’s First Opinion Column but you’re literally writing about how you were sort of traumatized by a meme.
And you, meanwhile, are completely ignoring the actual point of Anthony’s piece, which you conveniently cited in your excerpt: “..a violent misrepresentation of Israel convenient to the specific narrative of SJP.”
SJP doesn’t just use “provocative” images and text. They LIE, they misrepresent and omit important information, and use other disingenuous tactics to appeal to people’s fear and other base emotions (“The Palestinians are all innocent victims!”).
Do you have anything substantive to add to the discussion, like how this isn’t a black & white issue and maybe if SJP was really so concerned about human rights they would work with SSI and other groups to truly promote those principles instead of denying them to Jews?
Sounds like you’re more interested in painting a picture of the SJP than anything else. It would help me if you could be more specific about their particular lies and how they’re misreprenting Israel as violent, which would seem to be self-evident right now.
A polite call for dialogue is nice but it’s easily ignored. If hundreds of civilians in your homeland are being killed, maybe what you want is action, especially when that action (divestment) has already been undertaken on many other college campuses. Is SSI as outraged as others about the number of kids dying in this conflict, or do they simply recognize that it should not be so, but why should that get in the way of a coalition with SJP? I mean both sides agree violent death is a bad thing.
I don’t think Israelis are being denied anything here; can’t they at least acknowledge Palestinians have a right to be outraged?
Be more specific? Obviously you have enough brains to get on the Internet, so why don’t you go to the SJP Facebook page and see the lies for yourself? You’re obviously an SJP supporter who is blind to the intimidation of Jewish students and their supporters on campuses all across this nation. You want outrage? Sure, you got it. I am outraged at the thousands of rockets fired indiscriminately at Israeli civilians, including children. Israel apologizes profusely for having the technology to protect it’s citizens and will attempt to have more civilians killed in the future to appease it’s critics.
Let’s get some facts straight to counter the lies of the SJP. There were 750K Arabs living in the land legally allotted to the State of Israel in 1948. Of those, about 600K left, following their leaders requests to temporarily leave while the armies of 6 Arab countries slaughtered the Jews and drive them into the sea. Didn’t work out as planned, did it? Some, a small minority were forced out by over-zealous Jewish forces, I profusely apologize for that. Of the 750K Arabs that were there in 1948, approximately 60% arrived there within the previous 25 years, escaping conflict, persecution, and poverty in other Arab lands. Many of the “Palestinian” leaders were born outside of Israel. Arafat was born in Egypt, Saeb Berakat in Jordon, Faisal Abdel Qader Al-Husseini in Iraq, Sari Nusseibeh in Syria, Mahmoud al-Zahar, in Egypt. So these people are “Palestinian” how? At the same time, approximately 900K Jews were evicted from Arab countries, many slaughtered just for fun on the way out. They lost everything, wealth, possessions, businesses. Most chose to move to Israel which took them in, fed them, clothed them, housed them, educated them and gave them work. As for the “Palestinian refugees”? The Arab countries ignored them, made them live in “Refugee Camps” and used them as pawns. There have been many refugees after conflicts, 600K Serbs from Yugoslavia, 1.3 million Greeks from Turkey, 12 Million Germans after WWII, 14 million Hindus from Pakistan/Bangladesh, but none of these get special designation from the U.N. Why is that? Try learning the truth instead of BS from the SJP.
Lovely article that clarify the true agenda of people who supposedly support human rights – they don’t, but they do try to advocate for a secret agenda and that’s anti-Israel.
They do that by showing only one side of this conflicts and try to hurt the legitimacy of Israel as a state. The irony is, that Israel is the only democratic state in the middle east. A country that support human rights from the beginning of history. And no, not since 1948, but for 2000 years now. More importantly, Israel is a country the Arabs actually enjoying the good life – better than all Arab countries.
I understand your point of view but as an SDSU alumni I was there when Aztecs for Israel has targeted sjp you are misinformed my friend. You are shocked good. That is the point. The point is to make you uncomfortable and question why SDSU continues investing for Israel. But the point you missed is you are aiming your uncomfortableness towards the wrong crowd. Why don’t you ask Aztecs for Israelis to put their differences aside? Why don’t you ask them to not prey on sjp events just to have a counter argument. Why don’t you ask them to stop celebrating and promoting their fundamentally genocide cleansing state of israel. Because yes at the end if the day the state of Israel was founded on another ppl’s land. See do not ask for peace when Palestinians have wanted that peace and their land back. Until you know your history you will understand reality. Your opinion is that, your opinion. But one day you will look back at this and realize you were living at a time if a genocide. And you my friend was on the wrong side. Until then educate yourself.
Israel belongs to Israel, NOT Palestine. Educate yourself.
Thanks for that straightforward educated reply. Know history then you can dialogue
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aEY2qDI-yA0
Here ya go genius. And if you can’t handle the truth throughout the video, the ending tells it all.
We can’t change the policies of the Palestinian government or the Israel government and we can go back and forth arguing who is right and wrong. What this article is saying is that we have the opportunity HERE to start with a collaboration and show that Israelis and Palestinians can live side by side and can work together towards a common cause.
When Aztecs for Israel reached out to Students for Justice in Palestine earlier this year to ask them to participate in our fundraiser to treat wounded children (Palestinians) from Syria, they refused to collaborate, much less attend.
When Aztecs for Israel reached out and invited them to Save a Child’s Heart fundraiser last year, they refused. This organization funds open heart surgeries by Israelis for children (over 50% of whom are Palestinain).
So…let me know what you suggest we do.
Like I mentioned I was at SDSU when sjp was founded and Aztecs for Israel would show up and purposely say everyone there were Lying And leave events. And how can Palestinians work with an organization on campus that promotes that everything is fine within Israel. That hands out pamphlets about housing and such offered in Israel. It is like someone going to your home and taking pictures of it. Then that person shows those pictures to others and offers them your home without your consent.
SJP is a national organization and not unique at SDSU. They are very committed to their goal and one tenet of their tactics nationwide it to de-normalize relations with people who believe Israel has a right to exist. Their entire ethos is demonize Israel with offering no practical solutions for moving forward other than the dissolution of that state.
SJP nationally has one goal, to demonize Israel. You can see that almost nothing they do is pro-Palestinian, it’s all Israel bashing, and with no regard to the truth because they are more interested in telling a good story.
In that context, isn’t it important that other groups help SDSU students get facts an information and not allow a radical and biased group to slander and malign an entire people unchecked? It’s the responsibility of good citizens to marginalize hate and SJP has all the hallmarks of a hate-group.
Laura, your misrepresentation of history and the current conflict is illustrative and indicative of SJP’s position of talking PAST their opponents, rather than with them.
Among other things, you make a mockery of the word “genocide” when you use it in this context. The tragic deaths of Palestinian non-combatants throughout this conflict is just that – tragic – but it is as far from genocide as the latest school shooting. There are more Palestinians alive today than there were in 1948. That is the end of the genocide argument.
Now can we move on to something more productive, like maybe hosting joint dialogue events where we actually listen to each other? Or set aside the conflict to begin with and have, i don’t know, a hummus tasting event? Dance party with our favorite regional music? Let’s work on building up our respective humanity instead of demonizing the other.
There has been dialogue with them. And genocide is genocide. It is a killing of a people. Israel is creating a Gaza holocaust.
And I’m the one that needs to be educated? Israel is creating a Gaza holocaust? What an idiotic comment. Stupid comments like that is most likely the reason Aztecs for Israel have to interrupt your events. They have to prevent others from being corrupted.
You can say those words all you want, Laura, and for everyone else in the world they will continue to mean something different than they do for you.
I had all these points ready to go, but Jonah Goldberg published them just the other day, so here you go: “If the Israelis are, or have ever been, interested in genocide, they are utterly incompetent at it…. The Palestinian population has grown more than 100 percent since 1970. The population in the Gaza Strip has grown nearly threefold since 1990. The Palestinians themselves expect the population to double over the next two decades. “Genocide” is a loaded political term, but under any remotely reasonable definition, shouldn’t those numbers be going the other way?”
— http://www.nationalreview.com/article/382816/palestinian-genocide-lie-jonah-goldberg
No genocide, no holocaust (I won’t even dignify your use of that word with a response), and again, no productive statement from you about resolving the conflict here or there.
Let’s hear you: do you support a two-state solution? Do you believe Israel has a right to exist in peace alongside an independent Palestinian state?
ok. let’s do history: arabs were murdering jews in palestine long before there was an “occupation of ’67, even long before there was a jewish state or any intention thereof (my own father was a victim of the hebron massacre of ’29… no he didnt die then). as for those “palestinians” whose land was taken – they were brought here by the turks from pakistan and the urals to build their railroads because the turks didnt trust the local bedouins not to steal the supplies and the local jews were religious fanatics too lazy to work. if there is a truly palestinian nation (besides jews who were here before) it’s probably the christian arabs whom the molsims have been doing everything in their power to obliterate ever since (see elias freij post ’67 and every other countries the two religions live “side by side” in).
now let’s do semantics – when you use the word genocide, you dehumanize the jews and armenians and others who actually DID undergo a genocide (i.e. the destruction of an entire nation). disfigure words, rape language & you got nothing to use for communications thereafter.
Finally let’s talk politix: how do you explain the sudden financial riches of hamas leaders in qatar as their “followers” are submerged in the filth they themselves created? how do you explain that every single arab leader has condemned hamas for inciting and creating the current war? have you even HEARD about the rocketing that came before?
The UN has raised humanitarian concerns not only about the current campaign, but of the Israel imposed sanctions in occupied territory in Gaza — hence validating that some might feel like there is ethnic cleansing going on with the permission of the Western world, hence the meme is factual in some sense, even if its heightened. Additionally, you cannot be both historically pro-Palestine and pro-Israel, because Israel was carved out of Palestine 66 years ago, displacing thousands of refugee Palestinians. Archbishop Desmond Tutu called for the Western world to treat Israel like they treated South Africa years and years ago. The idea that this is some issue you can talk through and that college students raising a few dollars in the USA is going to fix is just naive, and seeks to paint Palestinians as unreasonable in their savagery while Israelis are victims trying to get them to the table. I would be far more open to that discussion if any pro-Israel advocates started their discussions with an acknowledgement that occupation is causing a humanitarian crisis, and that Israel refuses to this day with UN resolution 191 allowing ANY refugee to return to their original location of residence, which is impossible when a wall and military are in their way.
There wasn’t a wall and military in their way until their own people started blowing themselves up and shooting into Israel…Terrorism is never the answer
Anthony,
When you said that this facebook post shook something in you as an aztec, that’s good. It’s supposed to, but not in the way you reacted.
I was not a part of the creation of this post and this is actually the first time I’ve seen it, but I feel that it is not directly attacking the school and especially not the students (I am an sdsu student and I do not feel attacked). I feel that this post is supposed to instead shock students and give them a picture of the kind of violence our school has an investment in.
Also, Irael’s ethnic cleansing is so much more than just their bombings on Gaza and I think before you attack SJP’s accuracy you need to research the full history of the conflict. The dictionary definition of ethnic cleansing is “the mass expulsion or killing of members of an unwanted ethnic or religious group in a society.” Furthermore, Encyclopedia Britannica defines ethnic cleansing as “the attempt to create ethnically homogeneous geographic areas through the deportation or forcible displacement of persons belonging to particular ethnic groups.” Israel has continued to take more and more Palestinian land and you can literally watch footage of them bulldozing Palestinian homes, leaving many Palestinians homeless with nowhere to go. I would say that does fit under the definition of “mass expulsion” and if they actually cared about the treatment of Palestinians, why would they destroy everything they own and leave them homeless?
You also critisized SJP’s “aggressive behavior” and how “SJP has been adamant about spreading its message of justice for the Palestinians, and in the process has purposely demonized Israel and its citizens.” I would encourage you to talk to some of the members from SJP. Some of them have family in Palestine that have been directly affected by this conflict. There are Palestinian students at sdsu who have to go to sleep every night not knowing whether bombs from Israel are killing more of their family. If you were in their position, wouldn’t you get mad? Could you honestly stand there and listen to other students praise Israel?
You said that this is a “violent misrepresentation of Israel convenient to the specific narrative of SJP.” I don’t understand how this is a misrepresentation, Israel is violent. So is Hamas. But that’s because WAR is violent. Be careful next time before you mistake facts for a “narrative.”
Also, in regard to your statistic of Jews accounting for 70% of hate crimes in the U.S. for the past ten years, I have a few things. 1) This isn’t 70% of all hate crimes, it is 70% of all religious hate crimes. 2) Looking further into the context, there is another FBI page in which I quote, “The actual number of reported anti-Muslim hate crimes is small for a country the size of the United States, but the FBI statistics are known to be notoriously understated, in part because more than half of hate crimes are never reported to police.” (http://www.splcenter.org/home/2012/spring/fbi-bias-crimes-against-muslims-remain-at-high-levels) I am not disregarding your statistic and I reprimand any and all hate crimes regardless of religion, but I also feel that in a post-Holocaust post-9/11 America, there may be some religious bias affecting these statistics.
You also accused SJP of fostering “an environment that could potentially isolate and harm Jewish students. If we opened up to dialogue on campus, this could be prevented, but it seems SJP is not open to the idea.” Dialogue is good, but when SJP is excluded from countless events at SDSU, dialogue really can’t happen. In regard to Sarah Katularu, I think all you need to do is listen to the open dialogue at the Divestment vote to understand why SJP might decline her invitation. Here’s the youtube link to that. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3jzb8PI9VkQ
So before you decide to post another article unfairly denouncing SJP, remember that you don’t have to go to sleep every night wondering if you’ll wake up to more of your family dead, or if you’ll even wake up at all. This is the life of the Palestinians in Gaza. And it might be hard for sdsu students directly affected by the Israeli occupation to work with other students who support the country who continues to murder their friends and family.
I damn well hope SJP is “alarmingly vocal.” They have right to be.
Well said Rachel, well said. I couldn’t have said it perfectly myself and as an SDSU Alumni I completely agree with what you have said.
http://virtualjerusalem.com/news.php?Itemid=13544
That is why there are civilian deaths. They are brainwashed to act as shields. Israel warns them to evacuate.
Excellent reply
actually, that’s the feeling every jew in israel has when he gets on a bus, sits at a cafe, walks down the street, etc. ad nauseum. the only diference is that israel doesnt TARGET civilians. palestinian terrorists DO. that’s why we call them terrorists – they like hearing things go BOOM – they dont really care why – in fact, make it difficult for them to blow up jews and they blow up other palestinians (remember the hamas takeover of gaza and the hurling of fatah officials from off of tall buildings?).
you are right to cry for the palestinians, only do so for the correct reason – their corrupt leaders, their being played as pawns by surrounding countries who have kept them in camps for 60 years (where are all those JEWISH refugees from 1948, i wonder), you know what – even maybe because israel had a bunch of cheap laborers for a while in 67 (all now replaced by others who will soon demand their rights and possible be granted them).
but then take a look at your average palestinian city in the west bank and watch how their economy improves with every year there is less terror emanating from there. soon, they too will realize that prosperity trumps heavenly virgins for the suicide bomber any day.
meanwhile, especially in gaza, too many people are making good money off the palestinian problem for it to ever go away.
Tell that to the Fogel family who was slaughtered while they slept in Itamar, Israel.
Or the American baby and Ecuadorian woman who were murdered by a hit-and-run Palestinian last week.
You are such a brainwashed little fool. There is not a whole lot to say to someone like you. Most Arabs left in 1948 on their own, with their leaders and the Mufti of Jerusalem urging them to go while the armies of 6 Arab countries invaded Israel with the intent of slaughtering all of the Jews and driving what were left into the sea. It didn’t work out as planned. Sorry. Now to say they deserve to return is ludicrous. 600K Arabs were displaced from Israel and 900K Jews were displaced from Arab lands at the same time. Where is the outrage for those 900K Jews? Oh, I see, they were actually taken in, given homes, education and jobs, built a modern country that actually contributes to world society so they don’t count, right? Pathetic brainwashed children.
עם ישראל חי
Please watch this 5 minute video about BDS, offered by Prager University. 5 minutes will sum up the whole story!
http://www.prageruniversity.com/Political-Science/BDS-The-Attempt-to-Strangle-Israel.html#.U8mvGJRdUul
Anthony, good article….a little passive for one of your opinion pieces and you in general, but the more the more and varied opinions/responses you receive like above….the greater the article i think this is. you know what i say about your writing…..`keep stiring that sh#t up!!!!`.
Why are people regurgitating random Zionist rhetoric with absolutely no idea about the Apartheid state of Israel, the Palestinians, or Hamas. Pick up a credible book read a little bit beyond the front cover and then come back and pretend to have an idea of what your talking about. Hamas whether you like it or not came to power through this process called elections. Israel came to being through this process called imperialism by way of genocide. By its own Zionist charter it is a facist state that is meant to be be for a specific race of people similar to how Hitler was trying to create a state in which the Aryan race dominated. The Apartheid state has broken 65 UN resolutions, more by far than any other nation on earth since the birth of the UN and has been saved by the US’ s veto 64 (and counting) other times in the security council. In the past 100 years it is by far the most rogue state in existence. It bombs UN buildings, commits repeated crimes against humanity and continual genocide, attacks other sovereign nations at will (Sudan, Egypt, Lebonon, Syria, Iraq, and Iran (and US by attacking the USS Liberty). It has been caught multiple times spying on the nation that sustains its existence, the US, in trying to steal military secrets. Its politicians openly call for the eradication of the Arab RACE, for the rape of Palestinians as a war strategy. Continues to use illegal weapons on a civilian population against all international laws. Has the most human rights violation than any other nation according to Amnesty International. Have thousands of prisoners being held in prisons with absolutely no due process or even charge them for crimes but indefinitely held in prison which is also against the Geneva Conventions (oh yeah that document) with a large amount of those prisoners being women and children. The Apartheid state attacks churches, Mosques, hospitals, homes, orchards, farmland, and grave yards with complete impunity to any international laws. According to Amnesty International, it is the only party to use civilians as human shields and instead of using Jews the Israeli Occupation Forces uses Arabs and usually Arab children as their Human shields. I am running out of space and breath but there is no act of evil and no international law that Israel has not broken..correction shattered. It has broken within months every single agreement it has ever agreed to including Oslo and every single ceasefire agreement since then. If you doubt a word I’ve said then ask me for references. The Israeli rhetoric may work with the average joe who cannot point out Australia on a map but save the simple minded rhetoric from people who know exactly who the Apartheid state is and who the Palestinians are.
Apartheid, genocide, UN resolutions, USS Liberty you sound like Al-Jazeera or just a typical racist uneducated broken record that isn’t past chapter one of the Palestinian activist handbook.
Ah yes, Hamas came to power via a process called elections. Very nice. That was in 2006. Since then, they have held zero elections, slaughtered dissidents and anyone that doesn’t agree with their policies, threw members of Fatah and their families off rooftops (nice bunch of people) and murder gays, discriminate against Christian Arabs, women and gays. Their charter calls for the total destruction of Israel. So, at the end of the day, they are a democratic organization that sits around the campfire singing songs of love. Israel was legally formed, flourished in a sea of poverty and corruption, gives full voting rights to all of it’s citizens, has Arab members of Parliament and the Supreme Court. Jews are banned from living in Gaza, PA controlled areas of the West Bank and most Arab countries. In the Arab countries that still have a small Jewish population, they are (as well as Christians) second class citizens with almost no rights. So keep spewing your lies. Most educated people see right through them.
Oh, and the “Palestinians”? Yeah, those peope? 60% of the Arabs that were in the land given to Israel immigrated there between 1920 and 1948 from other Arab countries so please tell me how they became “Palestinian”? A mind is a terrible thing to waste.
You just gave a great example of the ignorance of the ARABS.
Genocide means the willful roading up of etnic, racial, or religious community for extermination. For your information, the U.S. has been spying on ISRAEL.
ISRAELI politicians do not call for the raping and genocide of the ARABS.
Those countries , you just metioned attacked ISRAEL at least twice.
AMNESTY INTERNAL is completely biased.
They ignore certain facts, while attenuating others.
HAMAS admitted they use PALESTINIANS as human shields.
It looks like you really need a education and lose the brainwashing .
As backward as you are – you really need it
It’s very important to note that the picture attached to the add is (in my opinion) fake, I have seen multiple Pallywood fake explosion photos, the artists who Photoshopped this photo forgot that there are trees in the original photo, they are completely undistributed!.
Here is a great article by Thomas Wictor, a munition specialists who writes and debunks Pallywood:
http://www.thomaswictor.com/fake-story-fake-photos/
Highly recommended!
Dennis Praeger has it mostly right. But the Jewish People’s rights in Palestine commenced in 1920. In 1919 the Jewish People and the Arab People presented competing applications to the Supreme Council of the Allied Principal War Powers meeting at the Paris Peace Talks. The Allies had the right to dispose of them under International Law because they were the victors in a defensive war. Both Jews and Arabs claimed the right to self-determination in Palestine and sought the collective political rights to Palestine. The Council didn’t finish all its work in Paris and reconvened in San Remo in April, 1920. There they decided to recognize the Jewish People as owning the collective political rights to Palestine, implicitly rejecting the claim of the Arabs. Their reason was the long historical connection of the Jews with Palestine, some 3,700 years of continuous habitation of at least some Jews. A Commission of Inquiry formed by Woodrow Wilson to determine who had the right of self-determination found that Palestine was the cradle and home of the Jewish People and they were the only people that had no other home. The Arabs had exclusive control over the national rights to 22 other states. At San Remo they were awarded these rights for Syria, Lebanon and Mesopotamia. These collective political rights or national rights are the group rights to form a government and administer it. Individual political rights, the right to one vote for each citizen, are included in the category of civil rights and were guaranteed to the non-Jewish communities along with their religious rights.
There was one problem. The Jews in Palestine had mainly been dispersed by the Romans. They had been coming back to Palestine and had been in the majority in the Jerusalem area since 1863. However in Palestine as a whole, they constituted only 10% of the population. If the Jews formed a government immediately, it would be a minority government and be antidemocratic. The Allies solved the problem by ordering that the Jews had an immediate right to settle in all of Palestine west of the Jordan and placing the collective political rights in trust of a so called Mandatory Power who was the trustee of the trust contained in the Palestine Mandate. In 1922 52 countries and the US approved this plan. In 1948 the Jewish People met the two standards for vesting of the trust res, that is 1. A majority of the population in the area they proposed to rule, and 2. The capability to exercise sovereignty. I have written up an account of all this archived at SSRN.com/abstract=2385304 A bogus legal opinion published and widely distributed by a division of the UN whose only task is to publish anti-zionist propaganda has persuaded many people to believe that settlements outside the Green Line are illegal. This opinion was refuted by a world acclaimed International Lawyer, the late Julius Stone of Australia who viewed it as an assault on International Law. See Stone, Israel and Palestine: Assault on the Law of Nations. SSRN.com/abstract=2404738
In 1948 the Jewish People who were beneficiaries of the trust, were successful in defending all of their territory except the West Bank and Gaza. Legal dominion over the territory within the Green Line vested.. Jordan became an illegal occupier of the West Bank and Egypt of the Gaza Strip. In 1967 the Jewish People liberated the West Bank and Gaza.
Its liberation and its unified control over the Judea, Samaria, East Jerusalem and the Gaza Strip gave the Jews the capability of exercising sovereignty over these territories too.
Ever since 1920 the Arabs have by threats of violence, actual violence and fraud, been trying to take these collective political rights away from the Jewish People.
Some 95% of this opinion is the same as opinions of Julius Stone and Dean Eugene Rostow of the Yale Law School, both recognized at the top of their profession of International Law. In my opinion the legal dominion over the trust res devolved to the beneficiaries of the trust after the trustee abdicated its trust in May, 1948 and the beneficiaries had met the standards for the vesting of a part of the trust res. In 1967 the met the standards for the vesting of its remainder.
Why hasn’t my comment been accepted? It is certainly pertinent to the BDS campaign. That campaign is directed at the proposition that Jewish settlements are not illegal. The BDS movement is based on the unsupported Arab proposition that they are illegal. I have given you facts relating to the bogus opinion that is fully discussed in the paper archived at SSRN.com/abstract=2404738
Why are you unwilling to present facts and law on the other side? If your university is still another that advertises it is a free and open marketplace of ideas, you should be ashamed to reject my comment.
The SDSU article was debunked.
http://son-of-solomon.tumblr.com/post/109431693937/a-reply-to-ethnic-cleansing-starts-at-my