R
Ridgerunner
Guest
I decided to post once more here, because I feel CAF has been honored by the presence of a member of the Israeli judiciary, and because everything he has said is familiar to me.
I am, by marriage, related to a very large, widely respected Palestinian tribe that has members in the West Bank, Jordan, and virtually every country in the Middle East. Various of them have been the guests of President Mubarak, King Abdullah, Ehud Barak (and other Israelis) and work with them for peace in ways more effective than anything I have seen some of the more strident partisans ever do. I have talked at length with some of them. They want nothing more than peace in the Eastern Mediterranean, and see Israelis as partners, not enemies, in the process. The real enemies of peace have been Hamas and certain factions of the PLO/Fatah organization, as well as the duplicitous and self-seeking foreign elements (e.g., Iran, sometimes Saudi Arabia, Syria, previously Iraq) that influence events away from peace and prosperity for the region, for their own aggrandizement.
First and foremost, (and this added much to my education) they consider themselves members of their tribe first, then as simply “Arabs”. The term “Palestinian” in the sense of a territorially limited, discrete “nationality” in the western sense, is meaningless to them. They know, as I have learned from them, that Palestinians are people whose tribes tend to predominate in the West Bank, Gaza and Jordan. Nevertheless, it is their position that the West Bank and Gaza will need to be a state or states of their own, if for no other reason, that some form of rational governance must replace the chaotic situation in which a segment of the Palestinian population has, by the design of other Arab states, remained “stateless”. While Israeli governance is benign as compared to Hams or Fatah governance, it will not do to have a Jewish state govern a largely Muslim population indefinitely. They envision and support (one lost his life because of that support) free movement of Arabs and Jews in the region and the free flow of labor and trade. Still, they recognize that the Jews in the region must have their own state in order to ensure, for themselves, safety in a region that is often hostile to Jews (and Christians) tends to be politically unstable and is always under the threat of radical Islamist influences and the machinations of those foreign powers that seek hegemony over the region and over other states within it.
Finally, I will report that while this “tribe” (huge, extended family) has no hatred of Isralis, its members do consider Israelis “tough”, even sometimes “arrogant”. But at the same time, they recognize that Israelis have been given little choice in the matter, and regard Israelis as fundamentally honest and ethical. They do what they say they will do.
I will also speak in favor of the poster who suggested that those who wish to support the Melkite Church in the Middle East, do so through their own parishes. No harm will be done by taking this approach, and it will ensure that responsible people will guide your charitable efforts.
Likely the judge, by now, knows the tribe of which I speak. Because he knows, as I do, that revenge in the region is taken by the murderous Palestinian and foreign organizations with very little provocation, I ask that he not mention its name on here.
I will now resume my “break” from CAF.
I am, by marriage, related to a very large, widely respected Palestinian tribe that has members in the West Bank, Jordan, and virtually every country in the Middle East. Various of them have been the guests of President Mubarak, King Abdullah, Ehud Barak (and other Israelis) and work with them for peace in ways more effective than anything I have seen some of the more strident partisans ever do. I have talked at length with some of them. They want nothing more than peace in the Eastern Mediterranean, and see Israelis as partners, not enemies, in the process. The real enemies of peace have been Hamas and certain factions of the PLO/Fatah organization, as well as the duplicitous and self-seeking foreign elements (e.g., Iran, sometimes Saudi Arabia, Syria, previously Iraq) that influence events away from peace and prosperity for the region, for their own aggrandizement.
First and foremost, (and this added much to my education) they consider themselves members of their tribe first, then as simply “Arabs”. The term “Palestinian” in the sense of a territorially limited, discrete “nationality” in the western sense, is meaningless to them. They know, as I have learned from them, that Palestinians are people whose tribes tend to predominate in the West Bank, Gaza and Jordan. Nevertheless, it is their position that the West Bank and Gaza will need to be a state or states of their own, if for no other reason, that some form of rational governance must replace the chaotic situation in which a segment of the Palestinian population has, by the design of other Arab states, remained “stateless”. While Israeli governance is benign as compared to Hams or Fatah governance, it will not do to have a Jewish state govern a largely Muslim population indefinitely. They envision and support (one lost his life because of that support) free movement of Arabs and Jews in the region and the free flow of labor and trade. Still, they recognize that the Jews in the region must have their own state in order to ensure, for themselves, safety in a region that is often hostile to Jews (and Christians) tends to be politically unstable and is always under the threat of radical Islamist influences and the machinations of those foreign powers that seek hegemony over the region and over other states within it.
Finally, I will report that while this “tribe” (huge, extended family) has no hatred of Isralis, its members do consider Israelis “tough”, even sometimes “arrogant”. But at the same time, they recognize that Israelis have been given little choice in the matter, and regard Israelis as fundamentally honest and ethical. They do what they say they will do.
I will also speak in favor of the poster who suggested that those who wish to support the Melkite Church in the Middle East, do so through their own parishes. No harm will be done by taking this approach, and it will ensure that responsible people will guide your charitable efforts.
Likely the judge, by now, knows the tribe of which I speak. Because he knows, as I do, that revenge in the region is taken by the murderous Palestinian and foreign organizations with very little provocation, I ask that he not mention its name on here.
I will now resume my “break” from CAF.
