Israeli Settlements

Israeli Settlements
One of the saddest chapters in American history is that of the treatment of the Native Americans. It began with Christopher Columbus’ discovery of Hispanola, the island that is today the Dominican Republic and Haiti. His cruel treatment of the natives he found included enslaving them and in some cases cutting of body parts for punishment. The inhumane treatment of the Native Americans continued through all of the conquistadors- Coronado, Cortes, and Pizarro, to name a few. After the United States of America was founded, during the 19th century an ideology known as “manifest destiny” became popular. It was the idea that it was the God-given destiny and right of the American nation to possess the entire North American continent, or at least the land all the way to the Pacific Ocean. Along the way, Indians were raped, massacred, and scalped. It is a horrible memory that the American people must live with, and reparations for these atrocities are still being made. Today, few would agree that the European and American settlers were right in their treatment of the Native Americans.
As many of you have heard me say repeatedly, history repeats itself. In 1948 the United Nations approved the recreation of the state of Israel in the land that was formerly Palestine. Approximately 57% of the land would be given to Israel, with 43% remaining with the Palestinian Arabs. What happened to the Palestinians living in the land designated for Israel? Sadly, the same thing that happened to the Native Americans who inhabited the lands being conquered for America: they were raped, massacred, or forced to flee into the surrounding countries as refugees. I have many friends who are the descendants of these refugees. If anybody in your family was a Palestinian refugee, I would be very interested in hearing their story.
Yet this was not enough for the Zionists. In 1967, during the six-day war, Israel increased its land to include Gaza, the West Bank, portions of Syria and Lebanon, and the Sinai Peninsula. In other words, all of Palestine now belongs to Israel in an illegal apartheid. What of the Palestinians living there? Again, many were raped, massacred, or forced to flee. Today, Palestinians inhabit approximately 21% of their original land, and that small bit is occupied by the Israeli military.
Yet even this remaining 21% is diminishing. In 2010, Israeli settlers began building homes in the Palestinian territories of the Gaza Strip, the West Bank, and East Jerusalem. What happened to the Palestinians living there? Their homes were bulldozed. The United Nations deems these settlements to be in violation of international law; however, Israel disputes this and more settlers are coming into the Palestinian territories daily. The Palestinians are not happy about this, and some are resorting to terrorism. Last year, a family of settlers was murdered.
Americans know what it is to live with the harsh reality that the land we now inhabit was gained only through cruel bloodshed of the original occupants. The government is still trying to make amends to the Native Americans, who live on reservations and are plagued with social evils such as alcoholism and dire poverty. Tell me, is this the legacy that we want Israelis to have to pass on to their children?

About the author

I grew up in conservative Christian circles in the American South, and majored in theology at an Alabama Southern Baptist college. Without really understanding why, I believed that Muslims were to be avoided at all costs, and we have to unilaterally support Israel. Like many young adults, after college I wasn't sure at all of what I wanted to do with my life, so I traveled to the Middle East for a year and a half. Most of the people I met were descendants of the Palestinian refugees forced out of their homeland in 1948, when Israel was recreated. I fell in love with Arab culture, and realized that on the world scene, Arabs have no voice. Living in the Middle East gave me fresh new eyes to read the Bible, and interacting with Arab Christians, especially Palestinian Christians who live in Jordan, caused me to question all the dogmas regarding Israel with which I had grown up.

Living in the Middle East also gave me the courage I needed to pursue my lifelong dream of being an author. My first book, A Theology of Chaos, will come out this next spring. I plan to use the profits from it to support organizations in the Middle East that are fighting for justice. I have written some short stories as well, which you can find on smashwords.com under my full name, Margaret Elysia McColley.

I now live in New York City, where emergency procedures for a potential terrorist attack are constantly updated, and where the sharp divide between Christians, Muslims, and Jews can be clearly seen on posters in the subways. My goal in life is simple: to end terrorism in my lifetime, by giving a voice to social injustices that compel terrorists to violence.

View the Original article