[Nettime-bold] Re: <nettime> Palestinians as Myth

[Jonathan Prince <jonathan@killyourtv.com>]

By this logic, I could go to Italy, claim it as my own, tell all the 
current residents to either leave or live in special areas of my 
choosing, deny them basic human rights and so on.

Italy only came into existence as 'Italy' in 1870 - a mere 130 years 
ago.  Certain 130 years isn't enough to claim 'statehood', right? 
Those so called 'Italians' before were only from various cities and 
small towns.

Tongue in cheek example, of course.

What is a nation-state? What/who claims right to have one and so is 
an interesting question - but ultimately irrelevant.  Should a state 
be based on ethnicity? Race? Religion? Genetics? Geography? or, as it 
most common, a series of lines drawn on a map to end a conflict or 
war?

Palestinians are treated as second class humans, under occupation and 
against international law.  The Israelis should know by now (and 
increasingly many do, now) that allowing a Palestinian State to exist 
is the only path to peace.  Either that or secular democratic state 
for all.

Israel should want a Palestinian state, if Israel wants peace.  The 
question is how to get there without causing world war three.

Whether or not 'Palestinians exist' or not - the reality is that 
Palestinians have more of a sense of nationalism and nationhood now, 
because of Israel's inhumane treatment of them, than they probably 
ever did before.  If it is true that Palestinians did not exist 
before, they do now - because of the Israelis.

my 2 cents,

jonathan


Some Italian history:
http://www.state.gov/www/background_notes/italy_9910_bgn.html
''By the early 19th century, a nationalist movement developed and led 
to the reunification of Italy--except for Rome--in the 1860s. In 
1861, Victor Emmanuel II of the House of Savoy was proclaimed King of 
Italy. Rome was incorporated in 1870.''

At 7:34 AM -0400 10/19/00, Douglas Rushkoff wrote:
>Could this article from Worldnet Daily possibly be true? It's apparently
>by an Arab-American journalist/commentator, whose columns are at
>http://www.worldnetdaily.com/bluesky_btl/20001011_xcbtl_myths_brmi.shtml
>
>----
>Myths of the
>Middle East
>Joseph Farah
>
>© 2000 WorldNetDaily.com
>
>[...]
>The truth is that Palestine is no more real than Never-Never Land. The
>first time the name was used was in 70 A.D. when the Romans committed
>genocide against the Jews, smashed the Temple and declared the land of
>Israel would be no more. From then on, the Romans promised, it would be
>known as Palestine. The name was derived from the Philistines, a
>Goliathian people conquered by the Jews centuries earlier. It was a way
>for the Romans to add insult to injury. They also tried to change the name
>of Jerusalem to Aelia Capitolina, but that had even less staying power.
>
>Palestine has never existed -- before or since -- as an autonomous entity.
>It was ruled alternately by Rome, by Islamic and Christian crusaders, by
>the Ottoman Empire and, briefly, by the British after World War I. The
>British agreed to restore at least part of the land to the Jewish people
>as their homeland.
>
>There is no language known as Palestinian. There is no distinct
>Palestinian culture. There has never been a land known as Palestine
>governed by Palestinians. Palestinians are Arabs, indistinguishable from
>Jordanians (another recent invention), Syrians, Lebanese, Iraqis, etc.
>Keep in mind that the Arabs control 99.9 percent of the Middle East lands.
>Israel represents one-tenth of 1 percent of the landmass.
[....]
-- 

..
Jonathan Prince          : No New
jonathan@killyourtv.com  : Oilgarchies
http://KillYourTV.com    : http://www.GWBushSucks.com
........................................................
  'Political language...is designed to make lies sound
  truthful and murder respectable, and to give an
  appearance of solidity to pure wind.' - George Orwell


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