Monday, December 06, 2004
The Palestinians
This morning on the Weekday show on KPLU, Steve Sher interviewed Michael Tarazi, the legal advisor to the PLO.
The so-called liberal press doesn't examine the history or current condition of Palestinians, nor does it investigate the regional and local influences at play. All I ever hear is reports that touch the surface of the issues or rantings that they're all terrorists that deserve extermination a la Michael Weiner/Savage and Michael Medved.
For a solid hour, I was able to hear more about the Palestinians and the PLO than I had heard in years. I was astounded by facts that are never revealed such as:
- The purpose of the State of Israel is to create a nation for Jews. All non-Jews are discouraged or prevented from becoming Israeli citizens and routinely discriminated against by law.
- When Israel became a member of the United Nations, their government promised to resolve the issue of Palestinian refugees. Instead, the Israeli government has segregated them into camps, made a continuing program of reducing the amount of land on which they can live and prevented any social or economic progress by them.
- A refugee is a refugee, Palestinian or otherwise. All refugees want to return to their homes. Granting them permission to reside in a neighboring state does not negate their status.
This one-hour program, of course, doesn't make me an expert. But I encourage you to listen. It will raise many questions.
