"As the Arabs see the Jews"

[SHRED]

Some historical perspective.


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Summary

This fascinating essay, written by King Hussein’s grandfather King Abdullah, appeared in the United States six months before the 1948 Arab-Israeli War. In the article, King Abdullah disputes the mistaken view that Arab opposition to Zionism (and later the state of Israel) is because of longstanding religious or ethnic hatred. He notes that Jews and Muslims enjoyed a long history of peaceful coexistence in the Middle East, and that Jews have historically suffered far more at the hands of Christian Europe. Pointing to the tragedy of the holocaust that Jews suffered during World War II, the monarch asks why America and Europe are refusing to accept more than a token handful of Jewish immigrants and refugees. It is unfair, he argues, to make Palestine, which is innocent of anti-Semitism, pay for the crimes of Europe. King Abdullah also asks how Jews can claim a historic right to Palestine, when Arabs have been the overwhelming majority there for nearly 1300 uninterrupted years? The essay ends on an ominous note, warning of dire consequences if a peaceful solution cannot be found to protect the rights of the indigenous Arabs of Palestine.



"As the Arabs see the Jews"
His Majesty King Abdullah,
The American Magazine
November, 1947

http://www.kinghussein.gov.jo/kabd_eng.html

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[ayeshahaqqiqa]

1. Thanks for posting this

It gives background on exactly what caused the whole mess in the Middle East--the meddling of Europe in Middle Eastern affairs.

[balantz]

2. KnR

[Karenina]

3. Context is everything.

[DavidDvorkin]

4. He was later assassinated because of his secret contacts with Jewish leaders

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abdullah_I_of_Jordan

[burythehatchet]

5. thanks

[loudsue]

6. And it supports my long-held belief that there is money to be made in the

prospect of keeping this war going. Just as there is money to be made by keeping India and Pakistan at odds. There are solutions out there. People want to live in peace and have a fair shot at making a living and keeping their families fed and schooled. So when you see wars being waged, there is someone in government that benefits.

[Scriptor Ignotus]

8. i can assure you WAY more money could be made

be flooding capital into Israel AND Palestine for resorts, tourists and the related industry. Jerusalem is a cultural and religious mecca for what, 3-4 billion people? Peace would most definitely be profitable to everyone in the region.

You are completely leaving religious fanaticism out of your equation, and it's driving you to the wrong conclusion. Yes people in government "benefit" on both sides, assuming of course they're not assassinated by their own "side" before they turn 50.

I suspect it's mainly foreigners selling arms to each side that are the ones making true profits (and with little risk).

[bertman]

11. Well, yeah, but the same could be said of Amerika. What if we stopped spending our

precious trillions on weaponry, defense contractors, military bases all over the world, wars of opportunity and oppression, black ops, etc. etc. We might be THE most wonderful place on the planet if we started spending money on peaceful projects.

You gotta admit, the military thang has a lot going for it in this conflict.

[Recursion]

12. That's my problem with the "rich conspiracy" theory of war

War is ruinously expensive and "war profiteers" are generally profiteering on the level that is much less than the uber-elite (Cheney, for instance, is much much less rich than his "base" is). Before World War I, the Rothschilds were frantically shuttling from capital to capital trying to stave off war because they knew how much money they would lose no matter what happened.

War is the result of social and spiritual problems more than economic ones.

[bertman]

15. It's not the profiteering that bothers me AS MUCH as the billions thrown down the

proverbial drain. Let's say that the profiteering only represents a 20% segment of the expenditures in total. If you're talking about profiteering at $10 billion, WE HAVE STILL THROWN $100 billion into the hole. That $90 billion would have done a lot of good on non-war-related efforts.

[druidity33]

7. K&R, excellent essay. nt.

[baldguy]

9. The Jews weren't forced to go to Palestine after WWII

They went there because they WANTED to.

[DavidDvorkin]

10. Large numbers of Jews had already been there for decades, before WWII

And after the war, it wasn't easy for Jews to emigrate from Europe to most of the rest of the world. Their fellow Jews in Palestine wanted them and helped them get there.

[MicaelS]

14. Right.....

Because NO ONE would take them before the war. And we know the result of that.

[baldguy]

17. Sort of the way the Palestinians are being treated by the Israelis today, huh?

Funny how that works.

[MicaelS]

18. Real funny...

Considering it's their Arab / Muslim "brothers" who refuse to take them in. Real Islamic Brotherhood there. :sarcasm: Saudi Arabia has plenty of land, room and money, yet they have never offered the Palestinians citizenship. I wonder why that is? Couldn't be they hope to keep the pot in the ME bubbling by portraying the Palestinians as eternal victims while never doing anything concrete about it. Naw, couldn't be that. :sarcasm:

[anonymous171]

16. As has been previously stated, Jews were already living there.

Peacefully, I might add.

[Still Sensible]

13. This provides helpful context, but

it is somewhat inconsistent for the king to cite "...Jews and Muslims enjoyed a long history of peaceful coexistence in the Middle East..." and then conclude by arguing that the jews shouldn't be coming to the ME. Of course, his point about the failure of other regions to accept more than a "token number" is well taken. I don't think, over time, one can call the level of Jewish people in the US a token, but it may have been that way in '48.