They both have ancient languages, spoken by a minority, tribe members reflected. They have both struggled for sovereignty against suppressive forces, and they both have a deep respect for their ancestors.
With these similarities in mind, leaders of the tribe contacted the Israeli Consulate in Houston last year, extending their hand to the people of Israel, in an act of friendship.
"At the beginning we were perplexed," Asher Yarden, consul general in Houston tells ISRAEL21c, when he got the message. But seeing that the tribe's intentions were good, Yarden and a group of seven others from the consulate headed to the tribe's village in Louisiana in November, where they were met as dignitaries, treated to colorful celebrations, a traditional Coushatta stomp dance, and flags from the State of Israel.
5 comments:
Being friends with Israelis does not necessarily mean "choosing them over the Palestinians". But one does wonder what their stance is on the current situation in Israel area.
I agree that "They have both struggled for sovereignty against suppressive forces, and they both have a deep respect for their ancestors." applies to Israelis AND Palestinians, even if I do not agree with the Palestinian government's current goal of annhilating the Israelis.
With the massive disinformation campaign that is waged by the US Government and media on behalf of right-wing Israeli interests, its no surprise that some tribe somewhere swallowed the propaganda they were fed and allied themselves with a racist colonial power.
In fact, its hard to believe there aren't more given the almost total blackout of news critical of the Israeli right-wing interests by the mainstream media.
dmark's comment is a perfect example of the kind of half-truths typified by mainstream US media. Not only does he misrepresent the goals of Hamas (ending the state of Israel vs "annhilating the Israelis"[sic]) but he also fails to mention Israel's practice of annihilating the Palestinians and colonizing their territory.
If your only source of information was comments like dmarks or the glitzed up versions of such comments on fox/cnn/msnbc, you could hardly be blamed for partnering with an apartheid government like Israel.
Gazelbe: I misrepresent nothing, and I have told the entire truth here, not "half truths". Hamas has been quite clear about its goals of extermination down to individual Jews, and if you seek to annihilate a nation, you seek to annihilate its people. "Ending the state of Israel" is a represensible and genocidal goal.
The Israelis have a right to exist and to live. I clearly do not agree with those who want them annhiliated, or those who think that it is good to "end" their lives, nation, and culture.
"almost total blackout of news critical of the Israeli right-wing interests by the mainstream media."
This is not true either. There is not such a blackout, and the mainstream media is/are have many critical reports. There is no such news blackout, however antisemitic types such as neo-Nazis love to make various claims of Jewish control of the media. This claim seems to be very much related to that.
"Israel's practice of annihilating the Palestinians and colonizing their territory."
I favor Israel withdrawing from the 1967-taken lands, actually.
The "right-wing" reference is odd and out of place. It is a near universal belief across the Israeli right and left that Israelis have a right to exist.
The Native American Coushatta Tribe is to be commended for knowing the facts about Israel, and partnering with its people, against the wishes of those who want them wiped out.
I forgot to add: there is a middle path: One can support both the existence of the Palestinians and Israelis. One does not have to have genocide against the Israelis (Gezelbe's preferred term is "end") in order to let Palestinians exist.
I'd say the half-truth is claiming that an outdated statement in a document is the same as the belief of millions of Palestinians. It isn't.
For more on the issue of recognizing Israel's right to exist, see the following:
http://www.csmonitor.com/2007/0202/p09s02-coop.html
http://electronicintifada.net/v2/article6742.shtml
http://www.counterpunch.org/amiri02102009.html
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