By ALEXANDER DOLITSKY
Historic patterns repeat themselves.
In his My Turn column, “Israel-Palestinian conflict explodes at our door,” in the Sept. 26, 2001 Juneau Empire, printed two weeks after the Sept. 11 heinous terrorist attacks in New York, Pennsylvania and Washington D.C., Lisle Hebert made various historical and statistical errors that in 2001 could lead to a divisive and anti-Semitic outcome on the matter in our country.
Hebert’s arguments were: (1) Unjust creation of Israel in 1948 had provoked conflicts in the Middle East; (2) “Israel-Palestinian conflict exploded at our door on September 11,” and, therefore, “… the United States have to cut off foreign aid to Israel to encourage fairness.”
Soon after Hebert’s opinion piece was published in the Juneau Empire, members of the Juneau Jewish Community courageously responded to his misleading and fabricated article via several submissions in the Empire and public meetings in Juneau.
One of the responses came from Shari Kochman’s article, “More than one book on Mideast history,” published in the Juneau Empire on Oct. 4, 2001. At the time, she was a board member of the Juneau Jewish Community. In fact, the narrative and information in her article is still relevant to today’s Israel-Palestinian conflict in Gaza, and explains it all. Several critical points in the Kochman’s article of More than one book… reverberates today.
On the history of creation of the modern Israel, she responded to Hebert’s article as follows:
“Stating that, ‘President Truman decided to give the displaced Jews someone else’s country, i.e., Palestine,’ is extraordinary. Palestine was not Truman’s to give. The partition plan was established by the United Nations based on recommendation from an 11-member commission, which did not even include the United States. The Jews of Palestine were not completely happy with the plan, but accepted it. The Arabs rejected it. They went to war. Had Arab governments not gone to war in 1948 to block the UN partition plan, a Palestinian state in the West Bank, Galilee and Negev could be celebrating 54 years [76 years today] of independence. Instead, Egypt occupied Gaza; Jordan occupied the West Bank.
“Mr. Hebert’s reference to the land in question as clearly Palestinian by right is amazing. I challenge him to offer clear proof that it is Palestinian land and not the ancient land of the Jews.”
The second point in Kochman’s article was on establishing a two-state solution in the region. Kochman writes:
“Mr. Hebert claims Israel will not accept the legitimacy of a Palestinian state. In the most recent peace efforts, Israel agreed to establishing a Palestinian state in the West Bank and Gaza. Palestinians rejected the offer and insisted on the “right of return.” That has the façade of a justifiable request. But by sheer numbers, it would mean destruction of the land of Israel as a Jewish homeland [i.e., “From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free”]. Based on the years of exile, discrimination and murder suffered by Jews, can Mr. Hebert understand why the destruction of Israel is not an option? Would any nation willingly allow self-destruction?”
And in her final point, Kochman warned that a rhetoric of the Hebert’s article may lead to a possible emergence of terrorist activities in the region.
“Perhaps most alarming of all Mr. Hebert’s assertions is that Palestinians, out of despair brought on by an uncaring world, became terrorists. It seems Mr. Hebert is supplying an excuse, an explanation for terrorism. Is such a thing possible? Have other horribly persecuted peoples resorted to terrorism? And if they had, if they do in the future, would we offer an excuse that an uncaring world drove them to it? Is there ever a justification for terrorism?
“I am among the millions, who pray for peace in the Middle East and recognize it will require compromise and concessions by Israelis and Palestinians. While this quest continues, terrorism is not and will never be a legitimate path.”
Indeed, progressive and radical far-left advocates for a ceasefire between Israel and Gaza/Hamas must learn from Kochman’s insights—written 23 years ago—in order to understand the geo-political complexity and history of the region.
Today, “Hamas lovers” and violent pro-Palestinian protesters are either naïve or misinformed, or both. The world-wide pro-Palestinian and anti-Semitic protests clearly resemble those of the leftist Black Lives Matter and Antifa. These violent protests and anti-Semitic rhetoric must be stopped by rational and patriotic Americans.
As Golda Meir, an Israeli fourth prime minister from 1969 to 1974, observed: “You cannot negotiate peace with somebody who has come to kill you.”
Alexander B. Dolitsky was born and raised in Kiev in the former Soviet Union. He received an M.A. in history from Kiev Pedagogical Institute, Ukraine, in 1976; an M.A. in anthropology and archaeology from Brown University in 1983; and was enroled in the Ph.D. program in Anthropology at Bryn Mawr College from 1983 to 1985, where he was also a lecturer in the Russian Center. In the U.S.S.R., he was a social studies teacher for three years, and an archaeologist for five years for the Ukranian Academy of Sciences. In 1978, he settled in the United States. Dolitsky visited Alaska for the first time in 1981, while conducting field research for graduate school at Brown. He lived first in Sitka in 1985 and then settled in Juneau in 1986. From 1985 to 1987, he was a U.S. Forest Service archaeologist and social scientist. He was an Adjunct Assistant Professor of Russian Studies at the University of Alaska Southeast from 1985 to 1999; Social Studies Instructor at the Alyeska Central School, Alaska Department of Education from 1988 to 2006; and has been the Director of the Alaska-Siberia Research Center (see www.aksrc.homestead.com) from 1990 to present. He has conducted about 30 field studies in various areas of the former Soviet Union (including Siberia), Central Asia, South America, Eastern Europe and the United States (including Alaska). Dolitsky has been a lecturer on the World Discoverer, Spirit of Oceanus, andClipper Odyssey vessels in the Arctic and sub-Arctic regions. He was the Project Manager for the WWII Alaska-Siberia Lend Lease Memorial, which was erected in Fairbanks in 2006. He has published extensively in the fields of anthropology, history, archaeology, and ethnography. His more recent publications include Fairy Tales and Myths of the Bering Strait Chukchi, Ancient Tales of Kamchatka; Tales and Legends of the Yupik Eskimos of Siberia; Old Russia in Modern America: Russian Old Believers in Alaska; Allies in Wartime: The Alaska-Siberia Airway During WWII; Spirit of the Siberian Tiger: Folktales of the Russian Far East; Living Wisdom of the Far North: Tales and Legends from Chukotka and Alaska; Pipeline to Russia; The Alaska-Siberia Air Route in WWII; and Old Russia in Modern America: Living Traditions of the Russian Old Believers; Ancient Tales of Chukotka, and Ancient Tales of Kamchatka.
Paraphrasing: there will never be peace until they love their children more than they hate us.
Us? Nobody hates me. What did you do?
Well Alex I could say the same about the Putin loving wing of the Republican Party.
They are either naïve or misinformed, or both.
Can you name any of the Putin loving members of the Republican Party?
Are any of them in the room with us now?
Are you one of those people who insist if you don’t support Zelensky, you are then are Putin supporter? How about realizing they are both tyrants and warmongers and in Zelnsky’s case have figured out to extort billions from our county?
Please explain what you would do if invaded by a foreign power like Russia?
There is no comparison. And $100 billion and tens of thousands of dead Russians at the cost of zero American troops. Seems like a heck of a deal. Now if we could just send a couple dozen cruise missiles into the Kremlin and Cntrl Alt Del Russia again.
Really weird how all those Putin loving Republicans (who you cannot seem to name) are supporting sending those funds and munitions to Ukraine.
Zelenskyy is Jewish, and a spook asset, he does not care to preserve ethnic Ukraine. The last time Ukrainians died on a scale like this is when the Jewish commissar Ghenrik Yagoda forcibly starved 7-11 million Ukrainians in the event known as the Holodomor . I once watched an American delegation of Bnai B’rith tell the Ukrainian government ( not Zelenskyy ) that if they compared the Holodomor to the “Holocaust” they would loose funding from the U.S. .. they didn’t loose funding they lost a nation.
Bnai B’rith and Jewish bankers like Warburg and Schiff ( to name a couple ) funded and organized the Red Terror known as the Bolsheviks. 80% of the Red commissars were ethnically Jewish. Marx was Jewish as was the Red Terror all across Europe. They brought hordes of Mongolians to rape and pillage Germany and Poland etc.
General Patton was horrified to see the barbarity of the Eastern front . “We butchered the wrong pig” he said.
These people are unbelievable.
I’m genuinely curious.
In your “mind”, did the Final Solution not go far enough?
Since you don’t want Jews anywhere, should they all be exterminated?
If not, what? Sold into slavery?
Do you own a copy of Mein Kamph?
Are you really this stupid, or just a bad troll?
Why do I have to care about Jews? I don’t care about Koreans or Nigerians. I care about founding stock White Americans.
World Jewry fully supports and promotes mass immigration to western nations.
Every Palestinian and Arab that comes to the west is one less bad neighbor for Israel. BiBi is fine with sending Palestinians to Canada and Ireland ffs. Get a clue.
Patton believed in reincarnation and as such, and a history participant, knew that down through the ages, the huns were despicable. He also foresaw the cold war and though we should fight it while it was winnable.
In the wake of WWII Patton was made the military governor of Bavaria. The man best known for his role in liberating those in concentration camps was well known for having made direct remarks and among the parting statements leading up to his death in 1945 was his statement that by invading Germany the US Military had gone after the wrong people.
Adolf is that you?
Sheep being led to the slaughter, is that you?
The Israeli Defense Force will place themselves in the line of fire to protect the innocent.
Palestinians will place the innocent in the line of fire to protect themselves.
.
Just look at the 15 terrorist that were just united with allah while using a UNRWA School as a base. I thought using children as human shields was a war crime? But, the UN seems to think it is OK.
.
A “palestinian columnist” wrote in a Qatari newspaper that the goal is war, not peace. Given that hamass has repeatedly broken ceasefires, continues to use hospitals and schools as military bases, and will never turn over the hostages alive, there is no reason not to believe perpetual war is the goal. At least while a single Jew breathes.
Literally parasitical, always in someone else’s nation or being supported by someone else’s nation. For thousands of years. Just go away, the White man has nothing left to give you and we don’t owe you anything. You could have had Uganda or Madagascar but you chose the Middle East, now deal with it on your own and leave the west to its opinions. The notion that you can invite yourself into other nations politics is absurd. From the gates of Toledo Spain to Mayorkas at our southern border nothing has changed. Traitors and subversives.
Nat,
Are you comfortable admitting your obvious antisemitic views, or do you want to pretend that what you are s saying is a nuanced version of legitimate criticism against the state of Israel?
White nationalism bad. Jewish nationalism good?
Better think that proposition through.
My criticism of world Jewry is not nuanced.
They are continuously found guilty of treason, corruption, and leveraging their positions in western nations to suit their international ethnic interests at the cost of host nations best interest, as this article so clearly exemplifies.
Nat,
I appreciate your earnestness and willingness to voice your opinion, as wrong as it might be.
“White nationalism bad. Jewish nationalism good?” Flip side of the coin would be White nationalism good. Jewish nationalism bad? One of the bigger problems with White Nationalism, as most view it here in America, is that it’s roots come from Nazi Germany and the left wing fascist government and not from the founding of this nation, hence all the rampant antisemitism that wasn’t a part of American history the way it is practiced among the modern day White Nationalist movement.
Clearly you aren’t interested in being correct but I’ll offer you objective detail all the same. White nationalism is not rooted in a foreign fascist government but instead is an outgrowth of what you see expressed in this thread. The term you have conflated with white nationalism is white supremacy and incorrectly so.
You refer to others as being antisemitic when that’s clearly not the case and Nat has expressed no sentiment of the sort. You are stating that everyone needs to be in support of whatever Jews come up w/ next or they’re being antisemitic and the reality is that nobody needs to give the slightest care what you think or what any other Jews think, ever.
There are a ton of examples of government giving money to groups that are either demonstrably underperforming, subversive, or worse yet and all of that money comes from one group that has no advocate at all and in your mind it’s fashionable to assume that that same productive backbone of America is also privileged when in fact the opposite is true.
Whatever it is that gives you the impression that white nationalism stems from Nazi Germany is as wrong as several of the other impressions you’ve posted. Remove the term “white” from that and insert ‘productive’ and you’d have a term more representative of reality. Are those voices against anything in particular? Yes, reparations for things they’re not responsible for, financial support of parasites and people like Dolitsky attempting to bend history to fit an imagined historical paradigm.
Somewhere in that mess is the origin of the greater lie; something about walking on water, waking up dead people, an ark, and a benevolent creator that must have watched humanity annihilate one another for a couple hundred thousand years before stepping in 2k years ago and sending a scape goat to teach us all a fable of vicarious redemption; a story that requires faith.
Whomever gave away the middle east many years ago was wrong to have done so and the usurpers attempts to draw a parallel between themselves and legacy occupants of the territory is 100% untrue. If you don’t believe me ask Mr. Netanyahu. Better yet, check to see what his DNA indicates and yes, that info is online. And yes, you should have checked it already; a clear indication that you too are either intentionally lying or have swallowed a BS story you should have researched prior to having made such an emotional investment in same.
Clam,
That’s a lot of word salad, you could have stopped after the first paragraph when you made it abundantly clear that you do not believe in the meaning of words. You also could have stopped after the second paragraph wherein you completely fabricated what it is I have and have not said.
You instead continued on substituting words to suit your fancy and wholly disregarding the facts at hand, which is certainly your right. Your long winded race obsessed posting is evidence enough.
At least Nat has enough conviction in his beliefs to admit it, you…well not so much.
Your grasp of history is almost as bad as your bigotry.
People that are passionate about these issues- on both sides- ought to volunteer their own time and treasure. I resent both for bringing their sectarianism here.
Agreed. And besides Israel never deployed its armed forces to help the U.S. in the Middle East. Some ally.
Why? Because we ask them not to.
This isn’t just about Gaza and Israel, it is about the preservation of Western Civilization. It is another chapter in the ancient saga of the Freeman of the west who value individual rights vs the Slaveman led by the God Kings of the East.
Don’t be deceived you on the American left. This is Civilization vs Barbarism.
BTW, ever notice how Facist and Commies always seem to cozy up to the Islamic leaders? Hey, could that be why the radical leftist in America have such an affinity for Hamas?
The leftists ADORE muslims and islam.
They use it as a template for structuring their governments. Strong central control? Check. Micromanage everyone’s life to the Nth degree? Check. Hate Jews? Check.
.
In fact, the only difference between the oppression and control you get from the islam and that from the left is that (for the moment) the left adore the LGBTQWERTY+ crowd. (Expect that do disappear as soon as the leftist consolidate power.)
Does one automatically fall under the moniker “Hamas lover” if they think indiscriminately killing women and children is wrong? It sure seems that way.
Why must we care what Golda Meir had to say? Did he go on to say that indiscriminately killing women and children is OK? Completely pulverizing the lands of the Palestinians until they were a wholly displaced people and then sending them on to be resettled on the lands of “his greatest ally”? Or was that just the quiet part? He is no hero of mine.
The founders of this nation understood those problems over there, and they built a CHRISTIAN nation HERE. The founding documents of our Constitutional Republic were conceived in LOVE and TRUTH.
THOSE are heroes worthy of quoting.
The founders of the United States of America most certainly did not found or build a Christian nation here. The founders of the United States of America did however, most certainly, found a nation based upon Judeo-Christian principles and values.
The 1797 Treaty of Tripoli said, in part “the Government of the United States of America is not, in any sense, founded on the Christian religion.” This treaty was started under George Washington, signed by John Adams and ratified unanimously by a Senate still half-filled with signers of the Constitution. Thomas Jefferson, who was certainly not a christian said “(I)t does me no injury for my neighbor to believe in twenty gods or no God. It neither picks my pocket nor breaks my leg.” The signers of the United States Constitution endorsed the idea that there should be no religious test Christian or otherwise required to hold federal office. Further, the United States was the first nation in history to abolish religious disqualifications from officeholding and civic engagement. Those responsible for the First Amendment also championed the free exercise of religion and rejected a government-sponsored church. It is abundantly obvious to anyone who holds even a shred of knowledge about the founding of this country here was done with the clear purpose of founding a country based upon religious freedom and liberty.
Golda Meir was a woman, not a man.
The only party in the Israel-Hamas war that has taken part in indiscriminately killing women and children is Hamas.
Well done, Steve!!
The God given liberty was for ALL, and they were NOT going to deny that of anyone. That said, in all the cities and towns built on the continent from the 1600s through to now, there were not 20 or more synagogues to every church. It was, and still is the other way around. Yes, the Christian faith is grafted onto Jewish root stock, and without Jesus Christ, the Jew who just so happened to have called out the Synagogue of Satan, there would be no Christians. He obviously loved and served the people and was referring to a specific thing. So what was it he was calling out? What does your ADL inspired AI say that means? Why are Christians spit upon in Israel in this day and age? Why would anyone spit upon anyone, anywhere?
They told us Michelle Obama was a woman, too.
Chicken twirling, boxes on their head, wall humping, holidays based on the deaths of gentiles, the entire Talmud is vehemently anti Christian. Pogroms from every Christian nations, holding the gates open for the Moores in Spain. Martin Luther wrote a book about them as did Henry Ford, there is nothing Christian about these people. Historically or otherwise. “Judeo Christian “ is an oxymoron.
It damn sure was not founded Judaism, in those times they were known as “the destroyers of nations”. I believe that was Madison.
There is so much wrong here it would take the rest of my life correcting it.
The short form is it’s ignorant, bigoted, and overall 3rd rate trolling.
Go back to feigning excitement over televised sports scores or try to come up w/ an actual useful view beyond that of irritating dolt.
Dolitsky’s dreck is nothing beyond hasbara victim culture propaganda and clods such yourself do little more than fill the void when the Megaphone Desktop Tool alerts you. Step beyond tripe and suggest to us that you’re capable or writing something worth reading.
Hasbara Project:
‘https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Public_diplomacy_of_Israel
Megaphone Desktop Tool:
‘https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Megaphone_desktop_tool
Who, exactly is indiscrimately killing women and children?
in this… well in every conflict between Israel and the muslim terrorists hell bent on destroying every Jew alive, which side:
Continually launches unguided missiles toward civilian neighborhoods? HINT: Not Israel.
Uses schools and hospitals as military bases, missile launch sites, and arms depots. You guessed it, hamass does. (15 islamic terrorist were just killed while using a UNWRA school as a base.)
Who uses overwhelmingly defensive measures to protect their citizens? (Iron dome is not a muslim system…)
When necessary to actually take military action against military targets, which side will drop leaflets and send text messages telling the civilians to leave the area? Israel does.
Hostages are taken by… whom in this conflict?
Following combat, which side treats all wounded regardless of religious or political affiliation? Not hamass.
Attacking a music festival is the action of who, exactly?
Placing civilians in harms way is something done by???
.
I could go on and on. Is it true that some civilians are being wounded or killed in this conflict? Yes. That is true of EVERY armed conflict that has EVER happened during ANY time in human history. The difference is who is actually targeting the civilians. And, the party that is actively trying to minimize civilian casualties is Israel, not hamass.
.
If you are opposed to the indiscriminate killing of women and children, you do not support hamass. You support Israel.
Like a skipping record Mr. Dolitsky, you seem fixated on the recent history of the nation of Israel. May I suggest you give the turntable a bump and let the record show the earlier history of secular European Zionism which was vehemently opposed by many members of the Jewish community at the time. I suspect you know it very well.
The concept of a Palestine and Palestinian people is a recent construct. The Ottomans controlled that region for centuries until 1918, it was a province they called Jerusalem. The Turks were forced out and several Arab tribes, who had been severely oppressed subjects, remained. The area reserved for local Arabs was the Trans Jordan, we now call Jordan. Instead of a peaceful settlement the Arabs in Israel were encouraged to exterminate every native Jew and European holocaust survivors. The Arab armies of the surrounding countries invaded and were defeated. The concept of a Palestinian state was designed to exploit the refugees and create a perpetual conflict.
Oh for gosh sake, Alex, there you go again with another one of these shabby foreign propaganda diatribes on behalf of your other country as you ridiculously struggle to strike the pose of a scolding American conservative.
While it should be noted that you rightly decry terrorism, it’s also worth noting that your other country was irrefutably founded on Haganah, Irgun, and Stern Gang terrorism which spilled over into a JDL bombing spree here in the U.S. (not really all that long after the Jonathan Pollard spying scandal and the treacherous attack on the USS Liberty, Alex) and that terrorism could further easily and persuasively be argued to have been a contributory factor in subsequent Islamic blowback terrorism directed at the U.S. which should have stayed out of Middle Eastern affairs to the greatest extent possible. We’ve certainly never needed their oil.
And much as you’d like to get away with trying to smear any American who doesn’t gush over supporting your other country to the degree that you’d like as “pro-Palestinian”, “anti-Semitic”, or less than patriotic, the fact of the matter is that a rapidly increasing number of decent American conservatives are tired of having to pay outrageous amounts of money borrowed from China to support your other country which has a rich history of selling America’s military secrets and technologies, whether given or stolen, to America’s enemies.
Moreover, more and more decent American conservatives don’t want to have our American military members put in harm’s way for your other country anymore, we don’t want to contend with any refugee crises created by the endless wars over there, and we don’t want your grossly un-American AIPAC warping our political processes any further.
Don’t try to make your problems our problems, Alex. It’s beyond tiresome. You might have American citizenship now but you conduct yourself like a whiny foreigner trying to take advantage of the good will of the people you live amongst.
Just go away and take some of these nasty protesters with you if you can’t be a good American with singular loyalty to the U.S.
Dolitsky’s a one trick pony. When he’s not twisting history or pretending to be something he’s not, he’s whining about mistreatment and how you need to pay reparations in support of the one group that through the centuries has been most strongly disliked.
His biggest lie though?
That modern Jews have any historical claim to the region they’ve been inappropriately gifted. He should be ashamed but has no capacity for such and only wants more, more, more.
Most anyone on this forum is familiar w/ the Castle Doctrine and would gladly kill an invader attempting to either steal chattel or simply take over your home. I’m not a fan of Palestinians or any other subset but I certainly understand their interest in ridding themselves of duplicitous usurpers. Oddly, Dolitsky’s proposed solution is to rid the region of Palestinians and those that can’t be killed should be sent to live here. He’s a snake and those that don’t think for themselves are bound to be caught out in his calculated violation of your trust.
Jews in Israel were not gifted the lands managed by Britain they had taken by force from the Turks. They had to fight for the land and to literally survive. Native Jews and various Arab clans (who did not call themselves “Palestinians”,
there was no such tribe, or people), who inhabited what had been the Turkish province of Jerusalem were left to work things out. The Arabs assumed they could easily kill them off, but were defeated.
Comments are closed.