Internacional

No conozco muy bien los desencadenantes de esta guerra atroz, por eso solicito desde aquí algún artículo o algún libro que me aclare las ideas. Ahora bien, usted dice que Israel tiene que aparecer en la lista de antiliberales; sin duda, elementos como Arafat se ganan ese puesto a pulso. Gracias. Salu2: Fer.

Israel Has A Moral Right To Its Life
by Yaron Brook (June 23, 2002)

Summary: Morally and militarily, Israel is America's frontline in the war on terrorism. If America is swayed by Arafat's latest empty rhetoric, and allows him to continue threatening Israel, our own campaign against terrorism becomes sheer hypocrisy and will, ultimately, fail.

[www.CapitalismMagazine.com] As yet another appalling suicide bombing takes place in Israel, killing 19 people and wounding dozens more on a bus packed with schoolchildren in Jerusalem - as Hamas claims credit for the massacre - America's policymakers still insist on seeking an "even-handed," diplomatic solution.

In the past 18 months, Israel's six million citizens have suffered 12,480 terrorist attacks. They have buried more than 400 victims - a per-capita death toll six times that of America on September 11. Yet, in an abhorrent act of injustice, Israel continues to be pressured by the United States into making concessions to Yasser Arafat, the archpatron of those terror attacks. In the long run, this means that Israel is being pressured into sacrificing its basic right to exist.

We should be supporting Israel's right to take whatever military action is needed to defend itself against its nihilistic enemies. Morally and militarily, Israel is America's frontline in the war on terrorism. If America is swayed by Arafat's latest empty rhetoric, and allows him to continue threatening Israel, our own campaign against terrorism becomes sheer hypocrisy and will, ultimately, fail.

Consider the facts and judge for yourself:


The Israelis and the Palestinians are not morally equal
Israel is the only free country in a region dominated by Arab monarchies, theocracies and dictatorships. It is only the citizens of Israel - Arabs and Jews alike - who enjoy the right to express their views, to criticize their government, to form political parties, to publish private newspapers, to hold free elections. When Arab authorities deny the most basic freedoms to their own people, it is obscene for them to start claiming that Israel is violating the Palestinians' rights. All Arab citizens who are genuinely concerned with human rights should, as their very first action, seek to oust their own despotic rulers and adopt the type of free society that characterizes Israel.

Since its founding, Israel has been the victim
Since its founding in 1948, Israel has had to fight five wars - all in self-defense - against 22 hostile Arab dictatorships, and has been repeatedly attacked by Palestinian terrorists. Arafat is responsible for the kidnapping and murder of Israeli schoolchildren, the hijacking of airliners and the car bombings and death-squad killings of thousands of Israeli, American, Lebanese and Palestinian civilians. Today he ardently sponsors such terror groups as Hamas, Islamic Jihad and the al Aksa Brigade.

The land Israel is "occupying" was captured in a war initiated by its Arab neighbors. Like any victim of aggression, Israel has a moral right to control as much land as is necessary to safeguard itself against attack. The Palestinians want to annihilate Israel, while Israel wants simply to be left alone. If there is a moral failing on Israel's part, it consists of its reluctance to take stronger military measures. If it is right for America to bomb al-Qaida strongholds in Afghanistan - and it is - then it is equally justifiable for Israel to bomb the terrorist strongholds in the occupied territories.

Hatred of Israel, and of the United States, is hatred for Western values
Like America's war against the Taliban and al-Qaida, the Arab-Israeli dispute is a conflict between opposing philosophies. On the one side are the forces of mysticism, medieval tribalism, dictatorship - and terror; on the other side are the forces of reason, individualism, capitalism - and civilization. Arafat and his sympathizers hate Israel for the same reason that Osama bin Laden and his sympathizers hate America, i.e., for embracing secular, Western values. No "peace process" is possible with such enemies.

This is not an ethnic battle between Jews and Arabs, but a moral battle between those who value the individual's right to be free and those who don't. Those Arabs who value individual freedom are enemies of the Arafat regime and deserve to be embraced by Israel; those Jews who do not value individual freedom deserve to be condemned by Israel.

Israelis have a right to the land
Only Israel has a moral right to establish a government in that area - on the grounds, not of some ethnic or religious heritage, but of a secular, rational principle. Only a state based on political and economic freedom has moral legitimacy. Contrary to what the Palestinians are seeking, there can be no "right" to establish a dictatorship.

As to the rightful owners of particular pieces of property, Israel's founders - like the homesteaders in the American West - earned ownership to the land by developing it. They arrived in a desolate, sparsely populated region and drained the swamps, irrigated the desert, grew crops and built cities. They worked unclaimed land or purchased it from the owners. They introduced industry, libraries, hospitals, art galleries, universities-and the concept of individual rights. Those Arabs who abandoned their land in order to join the military crusade against Israel forfeited all right to their property. And if there are any peaceful Arabs who were forcibly evicted from their property, they may press their claims in the courts of Israel, which, unlike the Arab autocracies, has an independent, objective judiciary - a judiciary that recognizes the principle of property rights.

Palestinians are not "freedom fighters"
The Palestinians want a state, not to secure their freedom, but to perpetuate the dictatorial reign of Arafat's Palestinian Authority. Arafat's "police" brutally expropriate property and silence opposing viewpoints by shutting down radio and TV stations. They systematically arrest, torture and murder peaceful dissenters. To call the militant Palestinians "freedom fighters" - when they support the subjugation of their own people, when they deliberately murder children in the streets or gleefully praise such depravity - is a mind-numbing perversion.

Palestinians have consistently sought to destroy Israel
In 1947 the Palestinians rejected the U.N.'s offer of a state larger than the one they are demanding now. Instead, they joined in a war aimed at wiping Israel from the map. Today, that hostility has only hardened. For example, in a televised public sermon, a Palestinian Imam declared: "God willing, this unjust state [of] Israel, will be erased." Palestinian textbooks are filled with vile, anti-Jewish propaganda, such as this exhortation from a fifth-grade Arabic language text: "Remember: the final and inevitable result will be the victory of the Muslims over the Jews."

A Palestinian state under Arafat would become a base for terrorism
A Palestinian state headed by Arafat would be a launching pad and a training ground for terrorist organizations targeting, not only Israel, but the United States. Forcing Israelis to accept a Palestinian state under Arafat is like forcing Americans to accept a state the size of Mexico, 12 miles from New York City, ruled by Osama bin Laden. As long as the Palestinians sanction aggression, they should not be permitted their own state.

Arafat's meaningless words will not restore life to his terror-victims - past or future
No rhetoric by Arafat can change the fact that he is a hater of freedom and a destroyer of innocent human life. Imagine Osama bin Laden being enticed by American diplomats to announce: "We strongly condemn operations that target American civilians, especially the last one in New York. We equally condemn the massacres that have been, and are still being, committed by U.S. occupation troops against Taliban civilians in Kandahar, Shah-i-Kot and Tora Bora." Would any sane individual thereby endorse an immediate withdrawal of U.S. forces from Afghanistan and the creation of a Taliban state, headed by bin Laden, alongside America? If not, why should Israel be expected to act so suicidally?

America, for its own benefit, must allow Israel to uphold the principle of self-defense
The growing demand for Israel to negotiate with Arafat comes from an unprincipled, range-of-the-moment mentality. Surrendering to extortion - which the "land-for-peace" catechism endorses - is profoundly immoral and impractical. In the 1938 version of "land for peace," Nazi Germany was appeased by being allowed to take over Czechoslovakia as part of the Aryan people's "homeland"; the result was to encourage Hitler to start a world war.

The Arab-Israeli conflict could become a dress rehearsal for a wider, global conflict. If America now stops Israel from retaliating against Arafat, the father of international terrorism, how can it ever justify retaliation against its own enemies? If we force Israel to appease Arafat, we will be broadcasting, loud and clear, that terrorism can bring America too to its knees.

We should urge our government to recognize that there is only one means of achieving long-term Mideast peace: Israel's sweeping retaliation against the scourge of terrorism.



About the Author: Dr. Brook is the president and executive director of the Ayn Rand Institute.

As a recognized expert on Objectivism, the philosophy of Ayn Rand, Dr. Brook has been interviewed extensively by the media for the Objectivist position on current events,

Israel Has A Moral Right To Its Life
by Yaron Brook (June 23, 2002)

Summary: Morally and militarily, Israel is America's frontline in the war on terrorism. If America is swayed by Arafat's latest empty rhetoric, and allows him to continue threatening Israel, our own campaign against terrorism becomes sheer hypocrisy and will, ultimately, fail.

[www.CapitalismMagazine.com] As yet another appalling suicide bombing takes place in Israel, killing 19 people and wounding dozens more on a bus packed with schoolchildren in Jerusalem - as Hamas claims credit for the massacre - America's policymakers still insist on seeking an "even-handed," diplomatic solution.

In the past 18 months, Israel's six million citizens have suffered 12,480 terrorist attacks. They have buried more than 400 victims - a per-capita death toll six times that of America on September 11. Yet, in an abhorrent act of injustice, Israel continues to be pressured by the United States into making concessions to Yasser Arafat, the archpatron of those terror attacks. In the long run, this means that Israel is being pressured into sacrificing its basic right to exist.

We should be supporting Israel's right to take whatever military action is needed to defend itself against its nihilistic enemies. Morally and militarily, Israel is America's frontline in the war on terrorism. If America is swayed by Arafat's latest empty rhetoric, and allows him to continue threatening Israel, our own campaign against terrorism becomes sheer hypocrisy and will, ultimately, fail.

Consider the facts and judge for yourself:


The Israelis and the Palestinians are not morally equal
Israel is the only free country in a region dominated by Arab monarchies, theocracies and dictatorships. It is only the citizens of Israel - Arabs and Jews alike - who enjoy the right to express their views, to criticize their government, to form political parties, to publish private newspapers, to hold free elections. When Arab authorities deny the most basic freedoms to their own people, it is obscene for them to start claiming that Israel is violating the Palestinians' rights. All Arab citizens who are genuinely concerned with human rights should, as their very first action, seek to oust their own despotic rulers and adopt the type of free society that characterizes Israel.

Since its founding, Israel has been the victim
Since its founding in 1948, Israel has had to fight five wars - all in self-defense - against 22 hostile Arab dictatorships, and has been repeatedly attacked by Palestinian terrorists. Arafat is responsible for the kidnapping and murder of Israeli schoolchildren, the hijacking of airliners and the car bombings and death-squad killings of thousands of Israeli, American, Lebanese and Palestinian civilians. Today he ardently sponsors such terror groups as Hamas, Islamic Jihad and the al Aksa Brigade.

The land Israel is "occupying" was captured in a war initiated by its Arab neighbors. Like any victim of aggression, Israel has a moral right to control as much land as is necessary to safeguard itself against attack. The Palestinians want to annihilate Israel, while Israel wants simply to be left alone. If there is a moral failing on Israel's part, it consists of its reluctance to take stronger military measures. If it is right for America to bomb al-Qaida strongholds in Afghanistan - and it is - then it is equally justifiable for Israel to bomb the terrorist strongholds in the occupied territories.

Hatred of Israel, and of the United States, is hatred for Western values
Like America's war against the Taliban and al-Qaida, the Arab-Israeli dispute is a conflict between opposing philosophies. On the one side are the forces of mysticism, medieval tribalism, dictatorship - and terror; on the other side are the forces of reason, individualism, capitalism - and civilization. Arafat and his sympathizers hate Israel for the same reason that Osama bin Laden and his sympathizers hate America, i.e., for embracing secular, Western values. No "peace process" is possible with such enemies.

This is not an ethnic battle between Jews and Arabs, but a moral battle between those who value the individual's right to be free and those who don't. Those Arabs who value individual freedom are enemies of the Arafat regime and deserve to be embraced by Israel; those Jews who do not value individual freedom deserve to be condemned by Israel.

Israelis have a right to the land
Only Israel has a moral right to establish a government in that area - on the grounds, not of some ethnic or religious heritage, but of a secular, rational principle. Only a state based on political and economic freedom has moral legitimacy. Contrary to what the Palestinians are seeking, there can be no "right" to establish a dictatorship.

As to the rightful owners of particular pieces of property, Israel's founders - like the homesteaders in the American West - earned ownership to the land by developing it. They arrived in a desolate, sparsely populated region and drained the swamps, irrigated the desert, grew crops and built cities. They worked unclaimed land or purchased it from the owners. They introduced industry, libraries, hospitals, art galleries, universities-and the concept of individual rights. Those Arabs who abandoned their land in order to join the military crusade against Israel forfeited all right to their property. And if there are any peaceful Arabs who were forcibly evicted from their property, they may press their claims in the courts of Israel, which, unlike the Arab autocracies, has an independent, objective judiciary - a judiciary that recognizes the principle of property rights.

Palestinians are not "freedom fighters"
The Palestinians want a state, not to secure their freedom, but to perpetuate the dictatorial reign of Arafat's Palestinian Authority. Arafat's "police" brutally expropriate property and silence opposing viewpoints by shutting down radio and TV stations. They systematically arrest, torture and murder peaceful dissenters. To call the militant Palestinians "freedom fighters" - when they support the subjugation of their own people, when they deliberately murder children in the streets or gleefully praise such depravity - is a mind-numbing perversion.

Palestinians have consistently sought to destroy Israel
In 1947 the Palestinians rejected the U.N.'s offer of a state larger than the one they are demanding now. Instead, they joined in a war aimed at wiping Israel from the map. Today, that hostility has only hardened. For example, in a televised public sermon, a Palestinian Imam declared: "God willing, this unjust state [of] Israel, will be erased." Palestinian textbooks are filled with vile, anti-Jewish propaganda, such as this exhortation from a fifth-grade Arabic language text: "Remember: the final and inevitable result will be the victory of the Muslims over the Jews."

A Palestinian state under Arafat would become a base for terrorism
A Palestinian state headed by Arafat would be a launching pad and a training ground for terrorist organizations targeting, not only Israel, but the United States. Forcing Israelis to accept a Palestinian state under Arafat is like forcing Americans to accept a state the size of Mexico, 12 miles from New York City, ruled by Osama bin Laden. As long as the Palestinians sanction aggression, they should not be permitted their own state.

Arafat's meaningless words will not restore life to his terror-victims - past or future
No rhetoric by Arafat can change the fact that he is a hater of freedom and a destroyer of innocent human life. Imagine Osama bin Laden being enticed by American diplomats to announce: "We strongly condemn operations that target American civilians, especially the last one in New York. We equally condemn the massacres that have been, and are still being, committed by U.S. occupation troops against Taliban civilians in Kandahar, Shah-i-Kot and Tora Bora." Would any sane individual thereby endorse an immediate withdrawal of U.S. forces from Afghanistan and the creation of a Taliban state, headed by bin Laden, alongside America? If not, why should Israel be expected to act so suicidally?

America, for its own benefit, must allow Israel to uphold the principle of self-defense
The growing demand for Israel to negotiate with Arafat comes from an unprincipled, range-of-the-moment mentality. Surrendering to extortion - which the "land-for-peace" catechism endorses - is profoundly immoral and impractical. In the 1938 version of "land for peace," Nazi Germany was appeased by being allowed to take over Czechoslovakia as part of the Aryan people's "homeland"; the result was to encourage Hitler to start a world war.

The Arab-Israeli conflict could become a dress rehearsal for a wider, global conflict. If America now stops Israel from retaliating against Arafat, the father of international terrorism, how can it ever justify retaliation against its own enemies? If we force Israel to appease Arafat, we will be broadcasting, loud and clear, that terrorism can bring America too to its knees.

We should urge our government to recognize that there is only one means of achieving long-term Mideast peace: Israel's sweeping retaliation against the scourge of terrorism.



About the Author: Dr. Brook is the president and executive director of the Ayn Rand Institute.

As a recognized expert on Objectivism, the philosophy of Ayn Rand, Dr. Brook has been interviewed extensively by the media for the Objectivist position on current events,



Y algunas hechos básicos para pensar:
http://www.frontpagemag.com/media/slideshowimages/...

Seguramente tengas razón, aunque no es una de mis prioridades, puesto que el daño que pueden hacer es menor (hay que recordar que ya se han desmantalado asentamientos en el pasado al llegar a acuerdos de paz). Sospecho que el gobierno los permite como moneda de cambio en una posible negociación; de hecho muchos se están quedando del "otro lado" del muro que están construyendo.

Vamos, un tema menor y quizá demasiado coyuntural para meterlo en esta web. Esos temas los tratamos mejor en las bitácoras.

No entiendo el própio título de este foro.Todos los que viven en Palestina ahora (o como mínimo 90%) son colonos,eso es correcto tanto para los judios que vinieron de Alemania,Rusia,Polonia para no morir en pogroms como para los árabes que vinieron de Siria,Egipto,Tunez-buscando la vida.?¿Cual fue la poblacion árabe en Palestina en 1880?Tan solo 246 mil.¿Y en 1890?Ya 432 mil.Y en 1945-ya mas de un millon.La población árabe creció casi 500% en 60 años-es un milagro demográfico.¿Como podría ser eso sin la inmigración?¿Ó las mujeres árabes han inventado el metodo para dar a luz 5 veces al año,y solo a los gemelos?Y el padre del pueblo palestino-sr.Yasser Arafat,nacido en Cairo en 1929-¿el que tiene que ver con Palestina?Y por que Arafat,nacido en Egipto, no es el colono-y Sharon,nacido en Palestina-lo es?Algo no cuela.O todos son colonos,o nadie.En todo caso, los judios de ninguna manera robaron la tierra de los árabes,porque eran los arabes que en el año 637 vinieron a Palestina de la Península Árabiga,la conquistaron,islamizaron a todos los que vivian en Palestina(o los mataron),y colonizaron este territorio.En este caso son los arabes que son mas colonos en Palestina.A proposito,sabei que en la Resolución de la ONU nñumero 181 de la partición no hay ni una palabra sobre los "palestinos"?Se habla de dos estados-judio y árabe.Ningunos palestinos.¿Sabeis por que?Porque hasta el año 1967 nadie en el planeta no sabia nada sobre el mítico pueblo palestino.Palestina en todo el mundo se asociaba con los Judios.Vamos a ver que decian los própios arabes sobre esto:
Antes de la partición, los arabes palestinos no identificaron a si mismos como algo separado de los otros árabes. En el Primer Congreso de la Asociación musulmana-cristiana en 1919
reunida para elegir a los representantes palestinos para la Conferencia de paz en Paris, fue adoptada la siguiente resolución:”Nosotros consideramos palestina como parte de la Siria Árabe,porque nunca fue separada de ella.Nosotros estamos vinculados con Siria con los vínculos nacionales, religiosos, naturales, económicos y geográficos”( Palestinian Arab National Movement: From Riots to Rebellion: 1929-1939, vol. 2, (London: Frank Cass and Co., Ltd., 1977), pp. 81-82.

En 1937 el lider árabe, Auni Bey Abdul-Hadi,dijo a la Comisión de Peel” No hay un tal país Palestina. Palestina es un TERMINO INVENTADO POR LOS JUDIOS! No hay ninguna Palestina en la Biblia.Nuestro país por siglos ha sido parte de Siria”.El representante del Alto Comité Árabe en la ONU en el mayo de 1947 presentó un informe a la Asamblea General de la ONU,donde decia”Palestina era la parte de Siria”Unos años mas tarde, Ahmed Shuqeiri el futuro Presidente de la Organización de Liberación de Palestina,dijo al Consejo de Seguridad de la ONU” Todo el mundo sabe,que Palestina es nada mas que parte sureña de Siria”.No olvidemos ,así pensaban los árabes que vivian en los tiempos mas cercanos a los raices del conflicto.Es dificil de creer que nuestro estimado amigo Nasser ,que vive en el año 2003,sepa mejor lo que pensaban los arabes hace 60 años que los árabes que vivian hace 60 años.Pero en este caso-¿de donde se ha aparecido este pueblo palestino,y que derecho tiene el a esta tierra?