Congresswomen at Qalandiya, photo by J Street: (l to r) Yvette Clark, Donna Edwards, Jackie Speier, Gwen Moore, Barbara Lee, Eddie Bernice Johnson
People are talking about Linda Gradstein’s report at JTA on a delegation of six congresswomen brought to the occupied territories by J Street. Piece is notable for Jackie Speier (D-San Francisco) likening the prospective political situation in the territories to apartheid (it’s there already, if only reporters would say what they see…). And by a settler telling the politicians to forget about the two state solution. And by Rep Eddie Bernice Johnson saying the situation is a powder keg.
“This is a ticking bomb waiting to go off,” says Rep. Eddie Bernice Johnson (D-Tex.) “There must be some other way to do this. After so many years there should be some resolution for this issue.”
The congresswomen clearly are moved by their experience at the checkpoint, and that’s the point….
A group of Jewish women from several area settlements met with the congresswomen and told them they have no intention of leaving their homes.
“I’m holding the Bible; Shiloh was our first capital before Jerusalem and it has layers and layers of history,” Tzofiah Dorot, the director of Ancient Shiloh, told the women. “This is the heart of Israel and I don’t see a future for the state if you take the heart out.”
All of the women said they were sure that their settlements would remain part of Israel.
“This is our homeland, the homeland of the Jewish nation — period,” Tamar Aslaf told the delegation. “A Palestinian who lives here is welcome to stay. It’s his home but it’s our homeland.”
Several of the settlers described a scenario in which Palestinians could stay in their homes but not receive national or voting rights. That drew a sharp reply from the congresswomen, five of whom are African Americans.
“Some people would call that apartheid,” said Rep. Jackie Speier (D-Calif.), the only white congresswomen on the trip.
“It’s easy to sit in your comfortable house and decide what is good for the Jews,” Dorot responded. “I’m begging you to see that we’re not pieces of Lego you can move around. This is life and death. We all need to think out of the box. I’m asking you to forget about the two-state solution.”
“It’s easy to sit in your comfortable house and decide what is good for the Jews,” Dorot responded. “I’m begging you to see that we’re not pieces of Lego you can move around. This is life and death. We all need to think out of the box. I’m asking you to forget about the two-state solution.”
Translation:
It’s easy to sit in your comfortable house and decide that apartheid is not good for the Palestinians. I’m begging you to see that we’re the masters, and Palestinians are pieces of Lego we can move around. This is life and death. (Mostly life for us Jews and death for Palestinians). We all need to think about expanding the the Jewish state out of the “box” that some people call borders.
Linda Gradstein writes about congressional women visiting the West Bank in JTA, which is fine, but won’t report it on NPR. What’s that about? Was it her decision, or her editors’ decision to keep the story out of NPR? I thought when Ellen Weiss, former vp for news, was fired, there would be some balance in NPR coverage of Israeli-Palestinian issues. I guess not.
If NPR won’t run the piece, it must be because the management of the I/P is regarded (by NPR or by Linda Gradstein) as an intra-Jewish THANG and that means, non-Jews have no right to hear or to say, no right to assert any opinion.
(Inter alia, Palestinians have no rights at all in the management of the occupation, no right to complain to the international community, no right to relief from illegal settlements, wall, siege.)
I would love it if these Congresswomen, or as many of them as agree on it, would publish a DEAR COLLEAGUES LETTER in Congress expressing their findings, the dangers, and the international law aspects of what has been going on for 44 years.
RE: “This is the heart of Israel and I don’t see a future for the state if you take the heart out.” ~ deranged settler
FROM “GONE WITH THE WIND” (1939):
TAKEN OUT OF CHRONOLOGICAL ORDER & CONTEXT
Gerald O’Hara: Do you mean to tell me, Katie Scarlett O’Hara, that Tara, that land doesn’t mean anything to you? Why, land is the only thing in the world worth workin’ for, worth fightin’ for, worth dyin’ for, because it’s the only thing that lasts.
Gerald O’Hara: It will come to you, this love of the land. There’s no gettin’ away from it if you’re Irish.
Rhett Butler: Why, all we have is cotton and slaves and arrogance.
Scarlett: I can’t let Tara go. I won’t let it go while there’s a breath left in my body.
Rhett Butler: Don’t give yourself airs, Scarlett.
Mammy: It ain’t fittin’… it ain’t fittin’. It jes’ ain’t fittin’… It ain’t fittin’.
SOURCE – http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0031381/quotes
P.S. INTRODUCING MY NEW AVATAR, NUTTYYAHOO by DonkeyHotey (JPEG) – http://www.google.com/imgres?um=1&hl=en&safe=off&sa=X&nfpr=1&biw=1510&bih=1033&tbm=isch&tbnid=gQq_kuvhv3trAM:&imgrefurl=http://wichitaobserver.com/vt-accused-of-thwarting-israeli-plan.html&docid=tDzeLbjMy94YAM&itg=1&imgurl=http://wichitaobserver.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/11/nuttyyahoo2.jpg&w=318&h=512&ei=8d5UT-rEJoy3twe_udG0DQ&zoom=1&iact=rc&dur=492&sig=108313880650733849730&page=1&tbnh=147&tbnw=84&start=0&ndsp=36&ved=1t:429,r:0,s:0&tx=53&ty=60
For once, someone making an Apartheid analogy has it right. A one state solution where the Palestinians couldn’t vote would be Apartheid. That’s one of the reasons I’m opposed to a one state solution. The other reasons get censored on here.