Educating Stephen about Palestinians

In "Two Peoples--One Struggle" reader Stephen wrote:Interesting how you whine on and on about Israel and the US and yet you seem to have no problem with Iran, Saudi Arabia, Cuba etc.Actually, I rarely post items about Israel. And I don't whine about them--unlike your frequent whining about how you and your white relatives are as persecuted as minorities.

But let's get to the point. Are you really so stupid that you haven't noticed the theme of this blog? Even though it's staring you in front of your face every time you visit the page? It's the intersection of Native American and pop culture, dumbass--not the comprehensive reporting of racism, oppression, and terrorism around the world.

I post items on Israel only when they have a Native connection, dumbass. How many articles on Iran, Saudi Arabia, Cuba, etc. have a Native connection, and how many of them have I omitted? Go ahead and answer these questions, dumbass. Put up or shut up.

Stephen cites WNDAnd the 'Palestian people' fairy tale which you spout is a myth:

http://www.masada2000.org/been-had.html

The fact simply is that there are no Palestinians. These people are Arabs like all other Arabs, and they happen to live in a region called Palestine. They are not a separate people.Dumbass Stephen thinks I'm spouting a "fairy tale" simply because I've used the word "Palestinians" (not "Palestians"...duh). This makes me akin to the vast majority of the world--including every recent US president, lawmaker, and diplomat. Yeah, it's a shame I'm as "ignorant" as the world's leaders...not.

Because I've used a word commonly found in political negotiations, the media, and the dictionary, Stephen concludes I'm ignorant:Your posts indicate that you know next to nothing about it.He seeks to inform me with an article by Sharon Nader Sloan posted at WorldNetDaily.com. For those who don't know it, World Net Daily is a far-right "news" site that makes Fox News look moderate. Here's some info on it from Wikipedia:The website's Commentary page features editorials from the site's founder, Joseph Farah and other social conservative authors such as Pat Buchanan, Ann Coulter, David Limbaugh, Bill O'Reilly, and Chuck Norris.

In March 2006 Republican Colorado State Representative Jim Welker was criticized for forwarding a WorldNetDaily commentary by Jesse Lee Peterson. Congressmen criticized Welker for uncritically sending a copy of the article by email, which included the statements "President Bush is not to blame for the rampant immorality of blacks" and accused "welfare-pampered blacks" of waiting for the federal government to save them from Hurricane Katrina.

On September 13, 2001, WND published a commentary by Anthony C. LoBaido regarding the terrorist attacks on New York City and Washington two days earlier. In his column, LoBaido outlined what he regarded as the moral depravity of America in general and New York in particular, asking whether, "God (has) raised up Shiite Islam as a sword against America."

A commentary by Canadian evangelical Tristan Emmanuel decried so called "Anglo-Saxon self-hatred" in Canada and the United States, and used "warring factions" of third world immigrants as a base against multiculturalism in order to suggest a whites-only immigration policy for North America.

During the closing days of the 2008 presidential campaign, and in the weeks following Barack Obama's election as president of the United States, WorldNetDaily posted numerous articles that advanced conspiracy theories about his citizenship status, alleging he is not constitutionally eligible to be president because he is not a natural-born citizen and that his Hawaiian birth certificate is a forgery

In a February 10, 2009, column, Janet Porter further alleged that President Obama was acting as a mole for the Soviet Union. Porter suggested that Obama was raised as an atheist and Communist and was subsequently trained by Soviet agents during the early 1990s.Now you know what Dumbass Stephen considers "objective reporting." That alone should be enough to discredit anything he says.

On to the Palestinian "myth"

But wait...there's more. Here's how much of an idiot you are, Stephen:

I didn't say anything about the history of Palestine or the Palestinians in the previous posting. Your stupid mistake if you can't read or understand plain English. So you've invented a straw-man argument to accomplish your usual goal: trying to bolster your pathetic ego by proving yourself superior to me.

It doesn't matter if the Palestinian quest for sovereignty is only a century or two old. In that time we've seen the birth of a couple hundred countries in Africa, Asia, Eastern Europe, the Caribbean, and the Pacific Islands. Few of the peoples forming these countries had a national self-identity or desire for nationhood until recently. They were inspired by the anti-colonialist movements of the 20th century to seek everyone's birthright: the right of self-rule.

This point also encompasses the Indian nations in the United States and Canada. Although they had an inherent right to govern themselves, I doubt many of them considered themselves nations akin to Great Britain, Russia, or China. Now they do.

Since you think I'm ignorant, you can read some of what I know about Palestinians below. Maybe you won't sound so ignorant the next time you open your mouth.

Palestinian nationalismWalid Khalidi writes that Palestinians in Ottoman times were "[a]cutely aware of the distinctiveness of Palestinian history ..." and that "[a]lthough proud of their Arab heritage and ancestry, the Palestinians considered themselves to be descended not only from Arab conquerors of the seventh century but also from indigenous peoples who had lived in the country since time immemorial, including the ancient Hebrews and the Canaanites before them."

Baruch Kimmerling and Joel S. Migdal consider the 1834 revolt of the Arabs in Palestine as constituting the first formative event of the Palestinian people. Under the Ottomans, Palestine's Arab population mostly saw themselves as Ottoman subjects. In the 1830s however, Palestine was occupied by the Egyptian vassal of the Ottomans, Muhammad Ali and his son Ibrahim Pasha. The revolt was precipitated by popular resistance against heavy demands for conscripts, as peasants were well aware that conscription was little more than a death sentence. Starting in May 1834 the rebels took many cities, among them Jerusalem, Hebron and Nablus. In response, Ibrahim Pasha sent in an army, finally defeating the last rebels on 4 August in Hebron. Nevertheless, Benny Morris argues that the Arabs in Palestine remained part of a larger Pan-Islamist or Pan-Arab national movement.

Rashid Khalidi argues that the modern national identity of Palestinians has its roots in nationalist discourses that emerged among the peoples of the Ottoman empire in the late 19th century, and which sharpened following the demarcation of modern nation-state boundaries in the Middle East after World War I. Khalidi also states that although the challenge posed by Zionism played a role in shaping this identity, that "it is a serious mistake to suggest that Palestinian identity emerged mainly as a response to Zionism."

Historian James L. Gelvin argues that Palestinian nationalism was a direct reaction to Zionism. In his book The Israel-Palestine Conflict: One Hundred Years of War he states that "Palestinian nationalism emerged during the interwar period in response to Zionist immigration and settlement." Gelvin argues that this fact does not make the Palestinian identity any less legitimate:

"The fact that Palestinian nationalism developed later than Zionism and indeed in response to it does not in any way diminish the legitimacy of Palestinian nationalism or make it less valid than Zionism. All nationalisms arise in opposition to some "other." Why else would there be the need to specify who you are? And all nationalisms are defined by what they oppose."Any questions on how much better I understand the Palestinian issue than you do, Stephen? If so, you know where to reach me.

For more on the subject, see The Indian-Palestinian Connection.

Below:  Palestinians dress as (stereotypical) Indians because they both seek their sovereign rights.