- A member of the Likud party has proposed "massive
ethnic cleansing" of non-Jews in Palestine-Israel as a "final
solution" of the Palestinian-Israeli conflict.
-
- Uzi Cohen, a member of Ariel Sharon's right-wing party
and a deputy mayor of the town of Raanana, told Israeli public radio on
Sunday there was widespread support in Israel for "the idea of ethnic
cleansing".
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- "Many people support the idea but few are willing
to speak about it publicly."
-
- Cohen, an influential figure in Likud, proposed that
Israel, the United States, the European Union as well as oil-rich Arab
states make concerted efforts to create a Palestinian state in northern
Jordan.
-
- He suggested the Hashimi royal family in Amman "might
view favorably this idea".
-
- Cohen said Palestinians should be given 20 years to "leave
voluntarily".
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- "In case they don't leave, plans would have to be
drawn up to expel them by force."
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- 'Israel's ugly face'
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- Cohen's racist ideas have drawn strong reactions from
Palestinian leaders in Israel. Israeli Arab Knesset member Ahmad Taibi
described Cohen as representing "Israel's ugly face".
-
- "This man espouses Jewish fascism and he is trying
to foster his venomous ideas, and I must say he is achieving remarkable
success," Taibi told Aljazeera.net.
-
- "The idea of ethnic cleansing is no longer confined
to the far-right parties in Israel; many in the Likud support ethnic cleansing."
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- Taibi said tabling a racist proposal for discussion is
in itself a grave development.
-
- "It is not important what the result will be. The
important thing is that they are going to dignify a fascist proposal like
this by discussing it in a formal meeting."
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- Demographic threat
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- Israeli leaders have lately been warning of an "encroaching
Palestinian demographic threat".
-
- On Friday, a leading Jewish demographer warned Jews were
on the verge of becoming a minority in mandatory Palestine, the historic
region administered by Britain until late 1947 from the River Jordan to
the Mediterranean.
-
- Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon has so far been circumspect
about the idea of banishing the Palestinians from their ancestral land.
-
- Last year, when members of his Likud party approached
him with the idea, Sharon reportedly told them "the international
situation wouldn't be conducive to expelling the Palestinians".
-
- In 1948, the newly-born Jewish state expelled the bulk
of the Palestinian population from what is now Israel and destroyed more
than 460 Arab towns and villages.
-
- Israel has consistently refused to allow the repatriation
of the refugees, arguing that allowing some or all of them back to their
homes, many of which no longer exist, would undermine the "Jewish
identity" of Israel.
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- © 2003 Aljazeera.Net
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- http://english.aljazeera.net/NR/exeres/9DCD41A2-E372-4732-8F1A-411EC28F603D.htm
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- Comment
- From Ron Palmer
- 1-11-4
-
- Dear Jeff -
-
- This is just a comment concerning the article entitled:
"Israeli Official Proposes Palestinian 'Ethnic Cleansing" at:
http://www.rense.com/general47/etn.htm
- These racist statements by Uzi Cohen & the growing
support among Israelis for the "ethnic cleansing" of Palestinians
are outrageous. Equally outrageous is the relative silence from the rest
of the world. It was not so long ago that these sort of sentiments &
polices were condemned & repudiated.
-
- Much of the world was very vocal in its opposition to
the former Apartheid ruling regime's racial policies & their institution
of the Bantustans in South Africa for the diverse Bantu groups. While this
too was a form of "ethnic cleansing" (within South Africa proper),
at least the Bantustans were BUILT AROUND THE MAIN SETTLEMENTS OF THE VARIOUS
BANTU PEOPLES IN QUESTION. (Though some comparatively small numbers were
also relocated by the State) The policies proposed by Cohen & other
Israelis seeks to REMOVE & RELOCATE people from their homes then placed
into ANOTHER country! IE: Northern Jordan. This would be the equivalent
of removing the Bantu populations (of South Africa) to Zimbabwe or to Botswana
or to Mozambique or to Namibia.
-
- Some interesting side notes: there are more White people
(five million) in South Africa than the entire population (one million
nine hundred thousand) of Namibia. The Israelis (at about six million)
are not that much larger than the White population of South Africa! The
world called for a multi-national dispensation (administered by the far-left
& Xhosa dominated ANC) (the largest group the Zulu being outmaneuvered
& short changed & only in control of KwaZulu-Natal) (the Boer farmers
being the most "at risk group for murder" during "peace
time" in the world) solution for South Africa, but defend the clear
Apartheidesque policies of Israel.
-
- The Republic of South Africa is expected to function
as a State for eleven different ethnic groups & diverse cultures with
eleven official languages, yet the notion of a bi-national solution with
only two langaues for Palestine-Israel is considered "out of bounds"
or not an option by the same people who pushed for the multi-national dispensation
solution for South Africa. Seems that it was o k for White South Africans
(of whom the Boers are descendent from mainly Dutch settlers, French Huguenot
refugees, German Protestants (& other groups including Indian slaves
who amalgamated with some early settlers) who arrived in the mid 1600s
-that's sixteen hundreds- that's 350 years ago folks) to become a minority
in their own land, but it is not o k for the Israelis (who are mainly descended
from Ashkenazic Jews of Eastern Europe whom purportedly are not even a
Semitic group) (Slavic-Turkic with Mongolian strain) to share a land they
only began arriving in & populating since the late 1800s.
-
- There appears to be somewhat of a double standard.
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