In case you live under a rock and only visit atheist blog sites, here is what Helen Thomas said:
I find it mind numbing when Muslims or Arabs in the West state that Jews should go home.
Here is the hypocrisy in a nutshell: There are over 8 million people of Lebanese descent living in Brazil alone today. Why is it OK for Arabs to migrate to the West, but prior to 1948, it was wrong for Jews to migrate to a non sovereign land that was 75% swamp and/or desert, to add to an already Jewish presence there and to escape anti-semitism?
Whether it is Brazil or Dearborn, Michigan, when Arabs show up in droves, the life on the indigenous people are affected, the culture changes. But this escapes many Muslims and Arabs, because to them, it is OK for Muslims to go to Western lands and take over pocket by pocket, but it is a crime for anyone, especially Jews, to live and govern on "Muslim" land.
Demographics change everywhere, Dearborn, Brazil, Israel, etc. It seems it is OK as long as it doesn't involve Jews.
One more point. Over 65% of Jews in Israel today were born in Israel. No matter how you slice it, whether you are completely against immigrants or not, these Jews are home, they aren't from Poland or Germany.
Now for Whoopi. Yesterday on The View, she was sort of defending Helen Thomas' comments. But the stupidest thing she said was, "For many years, there were not Jews in Israel."
It was disappointing to me to see that Joy Behar actually nodded when she made that ignorant point, because I know Behar gets it most of the time.
However, it does illustrate how misinformed many people are about the history of Israel. Jews have always been present, though at times, the numbers were tiny (but so was the total population there).
When people believe that, I can see how they can lean to the Palestinian side in many cases. It would be the same argument as the white man coming to America and taking over the land from the Native Indians (who took the land over from the European Clovis, but that is another story).
But reality is that in 1880 there were approximately 450,000 people living in the region, 20,000 were Jewish. Less than half a million people living in a land that now has 5 million Jews and 4 million Arabs (including the West Bank and Gaza).
In other words, it is equal to a small city turning into a big city, where the people who migrated there were majority Jewish (but not by much, as many Arabs also migrated there once Jews established a good job market). The land was not sovereign until 1948. And to put things into total perspective, the people who were mostly affected by the original conflict in 1948 today are either dead or in their 80's.
Lastly, I received an excellent comment on my last blog piece. It is worth putting in print, because it is from someone from the Far Left who gets it:
the_last_name_left · 16 hours ago
I feel like the only leftie who sees this "humanitarian activism" as the provocation it so obviously is. Everyone is being played - and they've fallen for it.
It's quite astonishing to me see the extent of (left) anti-semitism - I have never been so aware of its scope, depth and threat before. It's really disturbing.
Every time it's "Israel attacked the boat"......and the ferocious beatings with metal bars of the soldiers was "self-defense". Yet intercepting shipping - to ensure it isn't rearming Hamas - is not legitimate self-defense. Nor is retaliation against Hamas provocation of firing rockets at Israeli civilians - war crimes according to the Goldstone report (which people only know accuses Israel of war crimes).
Under such circumstances Israel has no right of self-defense -- and anything Hamas does is always self-defense and justifiable by some historic slight, real or imagined. There is no balance - there's a massive Israeli/jewish exceptionalism - prejudice.
The (only) problem boat of the flotilla had passengers including children and elderly folk - and they took it upon themselves to disregard many warnings from the IDF whom had promised to deliver the aid, so long as it passed inspection at Ashdod. But the flotilla's priority was not attempting to deliver the aid - because the flotilla decided to ignore IDF entreaty to submit, and attempt to break the blockade - despite repeated warnings from the IDF that the ship would be placing itself - including the children and the elderly - at risk. This is the responsibility of the ship's crew - whatever the legal technicalities or the history or whatever. You listen to people with guns - especially when you have children on board - and especially when you are "peaceful humanitarians". It's utter bullshit to claim they weren't obliged to stop, on some technical argument about legality or otherwise of the blockade etc. especially when Israel had promised to deliver the aid - which amounted to one day's worth of the aid which Israel already expedites to Gaza.
A very similar event happened during the Sri Lankan/Tamil war in 2009 - except a french aid ship was boarded and prevented reaching port to deliver aid to Tamils. The Sri Lankans were far more obstructive over aid for the Tamils than the Israelis have been over this flotilla - and yet where was the worldwide condemnation? There was absolute silence - who is even aware it happened? Where were the cries that Sri Lankans were Nazis? NOWHERE.
Similarly we have the hypocrisy of Erdogan supported by the useful idiots everywhere, apparently completely ignorant of Turkey's attacks on the Kurds.....in very similar circumstances to Israel/Palestine conflict. But again - met with near absolute SILENCE.
hundred of thousands of Tamils were held in detention camps - surrounded by barbed wire - a real prison. But silence.
On the plight of Gaza and its poverty - we need be careful to distinguish the extent of poverty and suffering which is directly attributable to Israel. One way to assess that is to compare Gaza with other states whom Israel has no effect upon - for example, Yemen.
According to UN/NGO statistics, “More than 10 percent of children in Gaza are chronically malnourished,” said WHO officer Mahmoud Daher in Gaza, reporting a slight increase over 2008." Dreadful, right? But what about Yemen? "A 2006 report by the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) said Yemen had very high levels of food insecurity and that more than ****one third of its population was chronically undernourished****."
Why is every failure of Gaza and Hamas Israel's fault? Anyone can accept a degree of Israeli responsibility, surely - but the simple blind acceptance of complete Israeli responsibility at every turn - whilst the Nazi-sympathizing Protocols of Zion-publishing Hamas get a free pass, every turn. It's myopic, outrageous and dangerous. I'm appalled - especially by the supposed left. I expect it from the lunatics, but from almost the entire gamut of the left? Wow. Shocking.
