I think this is important:
This letter was sent to Debbie Ducro, an American-Jewish
>journalist
> > > > with the
> > > > Kansas City Jewish Chronical. She published this letter, and was
> > > > fired the next
> > > > day for publishing it.
> > > >
> > > > Quest for Justice", By Judith Stone
> > > >
> > > > I am a Jew. I was a participant in the Rally for the Right of
> > > > Return to
> > > > Palestine. It was the right thing to do.
> > > >
> > > > I've heard about the European holocaust against the Jews since I
> > > > was a small
> > > > child. I've visited the memorials in Washington, DC and Jerusalem
> > > > dedicated to
> > > > Jewish lives lost and I've cried at the recognition to what level
> > > > of atrocity
> > > > mankind is capable of sinking.
> > > >
> > > > Where are the Jews of conscience? No righteous malice can be held
> > > > against the
> > > > survivors of Hitler's holocaust. These fragments of humanity were
> > > > in no
> > > > position to make choices beyond that of personal survival. We must
> > > > not forget
> > > > that being a survivor or a co-religionist of the victims of the
> > > > European
> > > > Holocaust does not grant dispensation from abiding by the rules of
> > > > humanity.
> > > >
> > > > "Never again" as a motto, rings hollow when it means "never again
> > > > to us alone."
> > > > My generation was raised being led to believe that the biblical
> > > > land was a vast
> > > > desert inhabited by a handful of impoverished Palestinians living
> > > > with their
> > > > camels and eking out a living in the sand. The arrival of the Jews
> > > > was touted
> > > > as a tremendous benefit to these desert dwellers. Golda Mier even
> > > > assured us
> > > > that there "is no Palestinian problem."
> > > >
> > > > We know now this picture wasn't as it was painted. Palestine was a
> > > > land filed
> > > > with people who called it home. There were thriving towns and
> > > > villages, schools
> > > > and hospitals. There were Jews, Christians and Muslims. In fact,
> > > > prior to the
> > > > occupation, Jews represented a mere 7 percent of the
> > > > population and owned 3 percent of the land.
> > > >
> > > > Taking the blinders off for a moment, I see a second atrocity
> > > > perpetuated by
> > > > the very people who should be exquisitely sensitive to the
> > > > suffering of others.
> > > > These people knew what it felt like to be ordered out of your home
> > > > at gun point
> > > > and forced to march into the night to unknown destinations or face
> > > > execution on
> > > > the spot. The people who displaced the Palestinians knew first
>hand
> > > > what it
> > > > means to watch your home in lames, to surrender everything dear to
> > > > your heart
> > > > at a moment's notice. Bulldozers leveled
> > > > hundreds of villages, along with the remains of the village
> > > > inhabitants, the
> > > > old and the young. This was nothing new to the world.
> > > >
> > > > Poland is a vast graveyard of the Jews of Europe. Israel is the
> > > > final resting
> > > > place of the massacred Palestinian people. A short distance from
> > > > the memorial
> > > > to the Jewish children lost to the holocaust in Europe there is a
> > > > leveled
> > > > parking lot. Under this parking lot is what's left of a once
> > > > flourishing
> > > > village and the bodies of men, women and children whose only crime
> > > > was taking
> > > > up needed space and not leaving graciously. This particular burial
> > > > marker
> > > > reads: "Public Parking".
> > > >
> > > > I've talked with Palestinians. I have yet to meet a Palestinian
>who
> > > > hasn't lost
> > > > a member of their family to the Israeli Shoah, nor a Palestinian
> > > > who cannot
> > > > name a relative or friend languishing under inhumane conditions in
> > > > an Israeli
> > > > prison. Time and time again, Israel is cited for human rights
> > > > violations to no
> > > > avail. On a recent trip to Israel, I visited the refugee camps
> > > > inhabited by a
> > > > people who have waited 52 years in these 'temporary' camps to go
> > > > home. Every
> > > > Palestinian grandparent can tell you the name of their village,
> > > > their street,
> > > > and where the olive trees were planted. Their grandchildren may
> > > > never have been
> > > > home, but they can tell you where their great-grandfather lies
> > > > buried and where
> > > > the village well stood. The press
> > > > has fostered the portrait of the Palestinian terrorist. But, the
> > > > victims who
> > > > rose up against human indignity in the Warsaw Ghetto are called
> > > > heroes. Those
> > > > who lost their lives are called martyrs. The Palestinian who
>tosses
> > > > a rock in
> > > > desperation is a terrorist.
> > > >
> > > > Two years ago I drove through Palestine and watched intricate
> > > > sprinkler
> > > > systems watering lush green lawns of Zionist settlers in their new
> > > > condominium
> > > > complexes, surrounded by armed guards and barbed wire in the midst
> > > > of a
> > > > Palestinian community where there was not adequate water to drink
> > > > and the
> > > > surrounding fields were sandy and dry. University professor Moshe
> > > > Zimmerman
> > > > reported in the Jerusalem Post (April 30, 1995), "The [Jewish]
> > > > children of
> > > > Hebron are just like Hitler's youth."
> > > >
> > > > We Jews are suing for restitution, lost wages, compensation for
> > > > homes, land,
> > > > slave labor and back wages in Europe. Am I a traitor of a Jew for
> > > > supporting
> > > > the right of return of the Palestinian refugees to their
>birthplace
> > > > and
> > > > compensation for what was taken that cannot be returned?
> > > >
> > > > The Jewish dead cannot be brought back to life and neither can the
> > > > Palestinian
> > > > massacred be resurrected. David Ben Gurion said, "Let us not
>ignore
> > > > the truth
> > > > among ourselves...politically, we are the aggressors and
> > > > they defend themselves...The country is theirs, because they
> > > > inhabit it,
> > > > whereas we want to come here and settle down, and in their view we
> > > > want to take
> > > > away from them their country..."
> > > >
> > > > Palestine is a land that has been occupied and emptied of its
> > > > people. It's
> > > > cultural and physical landmarks have been obliterated and replaced
> > > > by tidy
> > > > Hebrew signs. The history of a people was the first thing
> > > > eradicated by the
> > > > occupiers. The history of the indigenous people (only 52 years
>old)
> > > > has been
> > > > all but eradicated as though they never existed. And all this has
> > > > been hailed
> > > > by the world as a miraculous act of G-d. We must recognize that
> > > > Israel's
> > > > existence is not even a question of legality so much as it is an
> > > > illegal fait
> > > > accompli realized through the use of force while supported by the
> > > > Western
> > > > powers. The UN missions directed at Israel in attempting to
>correct
> > > > its
> > > > violations of have thus far been futile.
> > > >
> > > > In Hertzl's "The Jewish State," the father of Zionism said, "...We
> > > > must
> > > > investigate and take possession of the new Jewish country by means
> > > > of every
> > > > modern expedient." I guess I agree with Ehud Barak (3 June 1998)
> > > > when he said,
> > > > "If I were a Palestinian, I'd also join a terror group." I'd go a
> > > > step further
> > > > perhaps. Rather than throwing little stones in desperation, I'd
> > > > hurtle a
> > > > boulder.
> > > >
> > > > Hopefully, somewhere deep inside, every Jew of conscience knows
> > > > that this was
> > > > no war; that this was not G-d's restitution of the holy land to
> > > > it's rightful
> > > > owners. We know that a human atrocity was and continues to be
> > > > perpetuated
> > > > against an innocent people who couldn't come up with the arms and
> > > > money to
> > > > defend themselves against the western powers bent upon their
>demise
> > > > as a
> > > > people.
> > > >
> > > > We cannot continue to say, "But what were we to do?" Zionism is
>not
> > > > synonymous
> > > > with Judaism. I wholly support the rally of the right of return of
> > > > the
> > > > Palestinian people.
>
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