Zionism and zealots

Here's a history lesson for Ken Frankel, who states that the Palestinians are supposed to stop any attempts to return to Israel and also stop asking for Israel to take care of the Palestinian refugee problem [Letters, Oct. 16]. I wonder if he is aware of how many people wanted the Jews to stop their attempts to return to Palestine over 100 years ago.

Theodore Herzl brought the idea of a Jewish homeland to the public in 1896, though the ideology of Zionism already existed. As early as 1882, while Palestine was under Ottoman rule, there were many Jews participating in a secret immigration to Palestine, where their people and culture had not been living en masse for over 2,000 years. In 1882, 24,000 Jews settled in Palestine. In 1922, 84,000. In 1937, 400,000. In 1940 the Jews had become one third of the population.

Many of the young people I know seem to think that Israel should exist because of the Holocaust, but clearly the plot to take over Palestine existed long before the atrocities of WWII. Those who use the events of the war as an excuse for the actions of Israel need to look at the history of Zionism a little closer.

WWII made the Jewish identity more important, and the world was full of sympathy for the much-persecuted culture. Before the war there was a plan to give 20 per cent of Palestine to the Jews, who were still the minority population. But the fighting started, so no decisions were made. After the war, a plan was made to give the Jews, who at the time were 30 per cent of the population, 56 per cent of the land. The guilt of Western nations began to work in favour of the Zionists.

All of the plans made by the UN became irrelevant due to the wars that ensued after Israel was created. Religious zealots were determined to expel anyone who got in the way of their invasion of a land they said was theirs despite a 2,000-year absence.

I support the idea that Zionists should stop "returning" to Israel, not the idea that Palestinians should stop trying to get back to their homes and families. If we force the Palestinians out, soon we will be hearing a call to create a homeland for these displaced people. There are thousands of Palestinian refugees living in camps in Jordan and Lebanon; they will not simply be absorbed into the population of Jordan or any other country.

Frankel has made no suggestion as to where the Palestinians should go, because, as he said in his letter, Israel shouldn't have to deal with the refugee problem, even though the Israeli government caused it. He seems to want Israel to have a clean slate, but you can't simply wash away the history. My family on my mother's side were American Loyalists. They had homes and farmland in New Jersey. They were born in America, not England, but they fought against America in 1776. My ancestors were forced to leave their homeland, taking only what they could carry. They settled in Ontario, where to this day they live in peace. I was thinking about gathering up all the other thousands of descendants of the American Loyalists who were expelled from their homeland and beginning a secret invasion of the upper parts of the U.S. Zionists should agree with me.

I'm only trying to follow their example. Perhaps the invasion should wait until a couple thousand years have passed, because apparently the longer a group is displaced, the stronger their claim to their "homeland" becomes.

» Beverly Brown

Walking scared, not tall

While I'm pleased to learn that Barry Merson can "walk taller" on the streets of Montreal because of Israel's creation [Letters, Oct. 23], the fact remains that most Israeli Jews are now walking scared in Jerusalem as a result of terror attacks that are the inevitable result of Ariel Sharon's repressive policies.

Should anyone be surprised if revenge is sought by some of the 1,200 Palestinian victims of collective punishment recently made homeless in Gaza by Israeli bulldozers and missiles? Expressing his contempt for armchair-Rambo Jews who cheer Israel's terror-provoking polices from the safety of North America, the late Prof. Israel Shahak once blurted out in exasperation: "What is the worst thing that can happen to them, that they will weep in front of a television set?"

» John Dirlik

Smart shopping

I found Kristian Gravenor's piece on the hell of lineups quite true [Kristian Perspective, Oct. 16]. But consider this: Perhaps the whole fast-food and mega-industry approach to products and services has dulled our brains, leaving us standing in crappy stores waiting for crappy food (the banks are a whole other can of worms) like a bunch of imbecilic drones.

How about doing your eating or shopping in small, local businesses? Granted, you may be just as likely to get crappy service, but there are usually just one or two lines, and you're less likely to be poisoning yourself on McProducts or the stress buzz. We line up because we want the cheapest and the "fastest." That's a choice. Go out and find better shopping experiences.

» Genevieve Gore

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