Missed this. Here is a moving piece from January by Julia Good Fox in a leading Native American publication called Indian Country Today, informing indigenous people here about the Nakba of the Palestinians and relating the "apartheid" conditions of the West Bank. Good Fox says that Israel removes the names of villages and discourages the use of Arabic. Familiar, eh.
As indigenous peoples, we can supplement our local and tribal self-determination activity by setting aside just a few hours to locate and work through an international political or human rights organization that promotes informed solidarity and intelligent mutual support with the Palestinians. In doing so, we can bring to a halt the U.S. and Israel’s attempt to re-create “Indian country” in the Occupied Territories.
I have a contrasting story.
When I ran the Green Island Cooperative Library, an Indian activist called up our offices to complain about the presence of a audiobook in our library that he considered fraudulent. It probably was an opportunist hip fiction.
In our conversation, he asked my name, how did I come by the name.
I told him that it was an Ellis Island name, that the bureaucrat probably couldn't understand the original, and just gave my great great grandfather the equivalent of a slave name.
Maybe I should go by Richard X.
He said that he had a similar name, and appreciated that I actually had roots.
Most tribes migrated. Only a very few lived in the exact same close region over 5 centuries. Their linkage was more tribal, social, than land based, as much as many came to strongly identify with a land region.
In that regard, it was more similar to the Jews than to the Palestinians.
Lakota activist Russell Means has long championed the Palestinian cause and compared their plight to that of the Native Americans.
This appeared on KABOFEST and other websites in January:
This is on the Republic of Lakota website:
The Truth about Palestine and Israel
Richard,
You have a point. Native Americans are more like Jews in this one respect. But even in this regard they are like non-Zionist or anti-Zionist Jews. In all other regards they are like Palestinians. You will hear their Philip Weises all the time if you hang out in their organizations.
An even more interesting group is the Rastafarians. Their spiritual belief is explicitly tied to identifying with the Jews vs the Pharaoh. Yet anti-colonialism and anti-racism are central themes too. Most that I have met see the Palestinians as the Jews and the Zionists as the Pharaohs and Babylonians.
They are often like Palestinians in their negative aspects though as well. (There is no way to generalize about "all" Native Americans. They are very diverse in all respects.)
For example, the Lakota were accomplished as warriors. They often kicked others off their lands, but then described themselves as "always there". (I don't know if that is similar to Palestinians or not.) Their society was built for them to remain psychologically brave, that that was their greatest virtue. When their society functioned well, it was through the reminders of all in the society of that virtue.
Other tribes were accomplished in other skills, farming, arts, prayer. More women centric.
The dilemma with modern Zionism is that it is BOTH Pharoah in ways and Jew in ways. For that reason, reform and renewal are the appropriate remedy. Many societies don't have the means to reform themselves, can only be held accountable by warring with neighbors (thats destruction more than accountability) or imposed from without (BDS).
Jews have historically. They had to internally.
There is an additional dilemma for the whole prospect, which is that Israel IS under repeated attack (not nuclear yet, escalating weapons though, they are not facing mosquitoes).
There was a comment earlier by Phil, reporting someone else stating that Jews don't govern others well, though they do self-govern well (though that seems to be declining).
It does go back to the old quandry, of whether their current enemies (those sympathetic to resistance and ultimate removal of Israel) will ever shift to actual willingness to co-exist.
When that is obvious and confident (even if conditional), then the questions of Israel's strategies will be an actual test.
That's not the case right now. Israel's tests are perceived internally, and among those that are sympathetic with their facing recurring and real threats, as being their ability to muster the determination to persevere.
That Palestinians bear the same motivations and encouragement, is the recipe for more conflict and war, rather than more reconciliation and peace.
"I'm willing" is the important slogan.
Famous east coast Indian Chief to head of British settlers:
"When we were stronger than you, we were good to you, let you take root, many times offered our help. Now you are stronger. You ask us, what do you want? We only want you to do what we did."
(The settlers cut off his head and stuck it on a pole, where it remained for two decades as a warning to Indians not to think about becoming "traitors.")
There were two Indian words about the land. One did not separate the Indian from the land itself
because the natives saw how they lived off the land and then became part of it upon death. They viewed themselves as just part of the Great Spirit's whole. Gradually, the native world that separated the Indian from the land became more prominent, gradually and in accord with the
settlers' view; this was first adopted by those members of the tribe who came to live in "prayer towns," converts to Christianity.
This according to a relatively new TV series, The American Experience.
oops: correction: "world" =word
@ Witty
"It does go back to the old quandry, of whether their current enemies (those sympathetic to resistance and ultimate removal of Israel) will ever shift to actual willingness to co-exist."
What insurance policy do host nations have that 5th column jews will ever vanish?
Isn't that the other side of the coin? Somebody here asked why is it that nobody ever talks
about why Egypt gradually grew distrustful of the hebrews after years where hebrews occupied high slots in Egyptian regimes and had been accorded many privileges beyond most average
Egyptians. And so it has gone, down through the ages–but for starters, how about some details
regarding ancient Egypt in this context? Do we begin with Joseph, or no?
Or is such inquiry merely a red herring dreamt up by born anti-semites? Amaleks?
Do you think Hamas will co-exist with Israel, or do you think that they are lying?
If not, do you think that Israel should accept its civilians being murdered, or forcefully removed?
A direct question to you "citizen".
Fifth column.
Are you at war?
You do know that Avigdor Lieberman uses that exact term to describe Arab Israeli citizens.
Why do you sink so low?
What kind of movement would be engendered by that choice of slogan?
One can't imagine the Israelis living in peace alongside anyone. There is absolutely NO precedent for them doing so. Their raison d 'etre is hatred and war.
"One can't imagine the Israelis living in peace alongside anyone. There is absolutely NO precedent for them doing so. Their raison d 'etre is hatred and war.
Look. It's a future UN weapons inspector.
Hard not to notice that Witty answered Citizen's questions with questions that do not even begin to respond to Citizen's questions. Witty is exactly what Kafka was annoyed by enough to write his
stories. Witty is the administrator of absurdity in behalf his own comfortable life. The whole point of Witty is his comfort, which includes, additional to his family's comfortable security, the time
to play he represents Good.
RE: "Fifth column.
Are you at war?
Posted by: Richard Witty"
Is AIPAC at war?
Native American Indians are supporting Palestinians because both nations are victims of a colonial zionists brutal, primitive and oppressive genocidal plot to wipe them out, destroy their culture, national identity and keep them in open concentration camps without any rights and dignity where they will degenerate and become a museum peace as a " has been people". This is the last stand for Palestinians to achieve the statehood and all the human people of the world should help them to achieve it. Unfortunatelly, for Native American Indians I wonder how that could be possible because the momentum has been lost with the passing of time and a bunch of 100 000 loonies American Christian Zionists are too powerful to fight as they rule and control politics of America and 51st state of America, Israel. People like Russell Meads, however, can make a great difference and I hope they get justice soon.