I suppose if a Disney Channel star and hip-hop artist are qualified to render informed opinions on the conflict in the Middle East, then “comedian, writer and filmmaker” Katie Halper is just as entitled to dive in over her head as they are. Perhaps she wanted to prove that Jews can be just as clueless and ignorant about Israel as non-Jews can.
In a shockingly offensive article in Raw Story, to which I will not link here because I wish neither to drive additional traffic to it nor to raise it up in the search engine rankings, Halper repeats the tired claims that Israel’s motive for its campaign in Gaza is “ethnic cleansing.”
Right. And that’s why Israel withdrew all of its settlements and soldiers from Gaza in 2005, handing control of the territory over to the Palestinians whom Halper claim it is trying to cleanse. Hey, Katie, tell me something… If Israel wanted to cleanse Gaza of Palestinians, wouldn’t it have made more sense to do it in 2005, rather than disengaging and letting Hamas and company shoot rockets into Israel continuously for nine years?
But since you brought it up, let’s talk about ethnic cleansing. Katie, have you read the Hamas Charter? In case you missed it, here are some highlights…
The prophet, prayer and peace be upon him, said: “The time will not come until Muslims will fight the Jews (and kill them); until the Jews hide behind rocks and trees, which will cry: 0 Muslim! there is a Jew hiding behind me, come on and kill him!”
[Peace] initiatives, the so-called peaceful solutions, and the international conferences to resolve the Palestinian problem, are all contrary to the beliefs of the Islamic Resistance Movement.
There is no solution to the Palestinian problem except by Jihad.
The liberation of that land is an individual duty binding on all Muslims everywhere.
As regards local and world wars, it has come to pas s and no one objects, that they [“They” means the Jews, Katie, just in case you didn’t get the reference. HTH.] stood behind World War 1, so as to wipe out the Islamic Caliphate. They collected material gains and took control of many sources of wealth. They obtained the Balfour Declaration and established the League of Nations in order to rule the world by means of that organization. They also stood behind World War II, where they collected immense benefits from trading with war materials, and prepared for the establishment of their state. They inspired the establishment of the United Nations and the Security Council to replace the League of Nations, in order to rule the world by their intermediary. There was no war that broke out anywhere without their fingerprints on it. [Yes, Katie, that’s right… According to Hamas, World War II, in which six million Jews perished, was a Jewish plot.]
Israel, by virtue of its being Jewish and of having a Jewish population, defies Islam and the Muslims.
Under the shadow of Islam it is possible for the members of the three religions: Islam, Christianity and Judaism to coexist in safety and security. Safety and security can only prevail under the shadow of Islam, and recent and ancient history is the best witness to that effect. [*snort*]
World Zionism and Imperialist forces have been attempting, with smart moves and considered planning, to push the Arab countries, one after another, out of the circle of conflict with Zionism, in order, ultimately, to isolate the Palestinian People. Egypt has already been cast out of the conflict, to a very great extent through the treacherous Camp David Accords, and she has been trying to drag other countries into similar agreements in order to push them out of the circle of conflict… Leaving the circle of conflict with Israel is a major act of treason and it will bring curse on its perpetrators. [It would appear that Hamas doesn’t much like the idea of making peace with IsraelL.]
Their scheme has been laid out in the Protocols of the Elders of Zion, and their present [conduct] is the the best proof of what is said there. [You are aware that The Protocols of the Elders of Zion is a fictional anti-Semitic work, right, Katie? Apparently Hamas isn’t.]
Let me spell it out for you, Katie, in case you still haven’t figured it out… The explicitly stated, self-admitted mission of Hamas is to use violence and every other means at its disposal (propaganda, subterfuge, lies, etc.) to cleanse “Palestine,” by which they mean every inch of land comprising the West Bank, Gaza, and Israel, of Jews. In short, there is indeed a party in this conflict whose goal is to ethnically cleanse the land of its enemies, and that party is not Israel.
Let me ask you a question, Katie… Have you ever heard of a group engaged in ethnic cleansing setting up a field hospital to treat the people it is trying to cleanse? Because, see, Israel is treating wounded Gazans, while Hamas is firing rockets at Israeli hospitals.
Israel has made peace with Jordan and Egypt; Hamas has made peace with no one. The position of the Israeli government is, and has been for decades, in favor of a two-state solution, as long as Israel’s security can be assured; it should be obvious to anyone with a functioning adult brain that Israel’s security can not be assured as long as Hamas controls Gaza.
Katie, people like you who are clueless of the history and reality of the conflict between Israel and its neighbors are a dime a dozen. Normally, I wouldn’t waste my time responding to such ignorant drivel, because haters gotta hate and people like you live in a reality distortion field too powerful for mere facts to penetrate it. But your snarky, insipid, ignorant, look-at-me-I-can-rebel-against-my-Jewish-parents-by-trashing-Israel article in Raw Story made one argument that is so incredibly fallacious, so mind-numbingly irrational, that I felt I had to respond.
Your article focused on a recent column by Moshe Feiglin. In that column, Feiglin proposed a plan for how Israel should deal with Gaza. You called Feiglin’s plan “ethnic cleansing.” You’re right, Katie. Feiglin’s proposal, if enacted, would constitute ethnic cleansing, and it’s shocking, offensive, frightening, appalling, and disgusting that a senior member of the Israeli government would propose such a thing.
Let me ask you a question, Katie… If Feiglin’s proposal were the actual policy of the Israeli government — if Israel were actually in the process of trying to ethnically cleanse Gaza using the framework he laid out — then why, exactly, would he feel the need to publish a proposal about it on the Arutz 7 web site? Did Harry Truman write an op-ed proposing to drop nuclear bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki? Did Barack Obama write an op-ed last week proposing that a federal law expanding access to health-care might be a good idea?
Your absurd column cites Feiglin’s op-ed as proof that Israel’s “real goal is to rid the area of Palestinians and populate it with Jews.” In fact, Feiglin’s op-ed proves exactly the opposite: if that were actually what Israel is trying to do, then Feiglin wouldn’t need to publish a column on a right-wing web site advocating for it.
Feiglin is an extremist. I won’t tell you there isn’t anyone else in Israel who shares his views — I’m sorry to say that there are some who do — but I will tell you that my family and I, who have been on vacation in Israel for the past month, haven’t met a single one of them. His views are not mainstream, and they are not reflected in the policies or actions of the Israeli government.
So please, Katie, do me a favor and take your head out of your ass and learn something about Israel and Gaza before writing another column about the conflict. kthxbye
