tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12677825.post5424842022130324943..comments2024-03-14T02:22:26.957+00:00Comments on Point of No Return: Jewish Refugees from Arab and Muslim Countries: The Guardian puts the case for Jewish refugeesUnknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger4125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12677825.post-53880914445691563902007-07-06T07:27:00.000+01:002007-07-06T07:27:00.000+01:00What a glorious admixture you are, anonymous!What a glorious admixture you are, anonymous!bataweenhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15829104245735619972noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12677825.post-16326127149947179262007-07-06T00:44:00.000+01:002007-07-06T00:44:00.000+01:00On the surface this is a good start for Arabs to b...On the surface this is a good start for Arabs to begin acknowledging their responsibilities for suffering in the Arab-Israeli conflict. But, let's not lose sight that this is also very self-serving. For Arab states to open their doors to a "return" of a few million Jews into a total Arab population of some 400 million, this would have little or no impact on Arab democgraphics or the continuity of Arab states. But, for Israel to allow a "return" of Palestinian refugees and their descendants, it would be the end of Israel. <BR/><BR/>Besides, the whole proposition is ridiculous. Two generations after Israel's establishment, my own family is mixed Polish, Yemenite and Moroccan.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12677825.post-4687321605608696032007-06-25T07:48:00.000+01:002007-06-25T07:48:00.000+01:00You are right - even Magdi Allam, the Egyptian jou...You are right - even Magdi Allam, the Egyptian journalist, in spite of his sympathy for Israel and the Jewish refugees, could not bring himself to absolve Israel from its 'responsibility together with Arab states' for the Palestinian refugees. We still have a long way to go. But Diab's article has to be a good thing, swimming as it does against the tide of denial in Arab countries which refuses to admit responsibility for the Jewish exodus. You are absolutely right that even if Zionism had never existed the Jews along with other minorities would have had no future. In fact the plight of the Jews validates Zionism as the only solution for oppresssed Jews.bataweenhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15829104245735619972noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12677825.post-65077336296317569152007-06-24T21:52:00.000+01:002007-06-24T21:52:00.000+01:00There is no reason for Israel to apologize for the...There is no reason for Israel to apologize for the Palestinian refugee problem. The fact that there are such refugees is due to one thing and one thing alone - the decision of the Arabs to initiate a war of extermination against the Jews in 1947-8. All the negative consequences of that decision are entirely the responsibility of the Arabs, and they are the ones who should be doing the apologizing. <BR/><BR/>Many Israelis and Jews in general have a weakness of wanting to be admired and liked by the Gentiles. To achieve this they sometimes indicate willingness to relinquish Jewish rights, and to acquiesce in the distortion and abandonment of historical truth to the detriment of the Jewish side. This tendency should be fought tooth and nail. It is worthy of contempt and disrespect, not admiration.<BR/><BR/>It is highly arguable whether the Jews in Arab countries could have survived as viable communities after the collapse of the Ottoman Empire, irrespective of Zionism. As in Europe after the fall of the Austro-Hungarian empire, the aftermath produced a collection of xenophobic chauvinstic nation-states that persecuted minorities with a vengeance. In the Middle East, the fate of the non-Moslem or non-Arab minorities has been terrible. The list of victims includes Armenians, Assyrians, Kurds, other Mesopotamian Christians, Maronites, Copts, Berbers and Jews. None of these groups can live a life of dignity in any of the contemporary Arab states.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com