PALESTINE - TRAGIC HISTORY OF ABUSE, page 1

Palestinians have been sytematically abused by Jews and Arabs alike for the last 70 years. As more people wake up to the reality it is becoming increasingly difficult to ignore their plight.

To be sure, Palestinians have committed acts of terrorism and many continue to support freedom by any means necessary even if that means abondoning all morals to achieve their goals. The same is true by some jews.

I do not support the use of suicide bombers or the indiscriminant use of rockets on civillians.Nor do I support the blockade and killing of activists.

However, after researching the history of Palestine from the early 20th century, I can come to no other conclusion than to have sympathy for the Palestinians plight.

In 2001, I was approached by members of the PLO to provide media training in preparation for cable news appearances.

From the beginning, one thing was clearly apparent, representatives of the pro-Israeli position had been trained very well. They used talking points. They used very selective examples of historic events and were very adept at answering only the questions they wanted to answer.

Before I agreed to take the job, I had to determine if I could legitimately support their position.

I grew up having many Jewish friends and no arab friends. What I discovered made me sick and sad.

Here are some of the more salient points that changed my opinion of Palestinians.

During WWI, England asked the small Jewish population still living in Palestine for help in routing the Ottomans from Jeruselam. In return, they would be supported by England in their quest for a Jewish state.

The result was the Balfour Agreement pledging support for the creation of TWO countries in what was then Palestine.

Both states were to have their capitols in Jerusalem. Twenty years later, at the end of WWII, there was a "problem" of what to do with all of the displaced Jews.

The issue was debated by all of the western govts. Speeches made in the united states on capitol hill were frighteningly rascist as were those by other politicians around the world.

Few countries were willing to accept hundreds of thousands of displaced Jewish refugees. I could hardly believe what I was reading. It was only by considering the time, when open racism was tolerated that I could grasp the magnitude of the dillema.

The Balfour Agreement was held up as a solution. The newly formed United Nations was used as a means of legitimizing the call to form the new state by what ammounted to the stealing of land from the Palestinians who had occupied the land for hundreds of years.

No sooner had the ink dried on the declaration by the UN, did the influx of zionists begin.

Try to imagine being a Palestinian subsistance farmer or goat herder in 1945. No internet, no television, no radio and illiterate.

Now imagine having a piece of paper shoved into your face signed by a governing body nobody had ever heard of, much less recognized.

The proclamation demanded that the farmers turn over land that had been in their famlies for generations.

How would you respond if the Galactic Federation suddenly proclaimed that half the people in New York had to simply turn over their homes and businesses to people from Mexico for free?

The Palestinians had no army or political clout to put up much resistance. Meanwhile, the nascent zionists were well organized, better funded and fought with unrivaled emotional fortitude.

Irate Arabs from Egypt and other countries asked the Palestinians to step aside and let a "real army" defend their land.

Needless to say, the Arab armies could not agree on leadership and tactics and were quickly defeated.

The Palestinians have been in refugee camps ever since FOR THE LAST 70 YEARS.

As the land grab continued, the Israelis utilized brutal terrorist tactics to increase their territory. Most of the first and second generation of Israeli leaders were terrorists.

From time to time, other Arab countries attempted to get the land back only to be crushed and lose more land. The refugee camps grew in size.

Of course this is one man's very short version of a very long story. Neither side is blameless. But in the end, the Palestinians got the short end and deserve a better deal.

Today I am disgusted that any attempt at an honest debate is quickly stifled by cries of antisematism or calls for jihad.

In between the militant muslims and right wing Jews is the vast majority of simple human beings whose main desire is not to fight but to live a simple life, to have the opportunity to earn a living and raise a family.

There are millions of innocent children on both side whose only crime was being born a muslim or jew. Many of those children share the same semetic DNA.

The blind quest for revenge and power has consumed all vestiges of sainity.

It is time the world comes together for both sides before God says "Kill them all and let Me sort them out." Can you say Armagedon?