In Australia I was taught as a child of European ‘settlement’. This has a very nice , cosy feel about it. Not so much blood and guts. It was not until much later that we talked about invasion. Even still this is hard to hear for some European Australians.

I realise many will be mortified to even try and compare European invasion of countries like Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, the US or Canada to Israel.

Yes there has been an indigenous connection with the land for millenia. Yes the land holds deep spiritual and cultural heritage to Jewish people. However, this spiritual and cultural heritage is not unique to Judaism. Palestinian Christians and Palestinian Muslims too share in the rich heritage of this land.
They saw the British come after the Ottomans had been defeated and replace one master for another. They saw mass Jewish immigration from the 1920s to 1940s.

Yes Palestinians could have done more to provide a refuge for European Jews fleeing persecution in Europe. However, what is a fair share of the burden? Australia, closed it’s doors after taking no more than 16,000 Jews, South Africa and other European colonial countries similarly took few people.

My sadness is that we learn little from the past oppressed people become oppressors in just a lifetime. This is as true of my Scottish ancestors who came to this land for a new life after being kicked out of ‘their’ land by the English. My ancestors proceeded to demonise and persecute Aboriginal people.

The last 60 years of Israel whilst exhibiting clear differences still reflects the difficulties in coming to terms with what it means to build a democratic and free society for all people regardless of race, religion etc.

My fear is that so much hatred has been stirred up amongst elements within the Palestinian community that they too given the chance would not learn from history. But that fear cannot stop me from ensuring that we honestly speak about the wrongs committed in the past as a step towards rapproachment and healing and hopefully a new way of relating to each other as fellow human beings, as brother, sister, mother and father.

Todays edition of Haaretz carries this article on “Are teachers introducing Nakba to students against state’s wishes?” (http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1090345.html). Here
“An educational kit on the Nakba [catastrophe] – the Palestinian term for what happened to them after 1948 – is being disseminated among teachers throughout the country. It was developed by Zochrot, a non-government organization, and is meant to serve the Jewish educational system for pupils aged 15 and above, and includes history plus literary and personal views on the Nakba, as well as discussion of the ways the issue has been sidelined in public discourse.”
…
” initially the pupils express all the usual opposition such as denial, justification of the Jewish side and sometimes even calls to kill the messenger – in this case the teacher. The pupils find it very difficult to accept there is no one truth to the story. Spivak says there is no 180-degree change in the pupils’ views but “I can see that there is the start of questioning.”
…
“The Education Ministry responded: “The education kit was not approved by the ministry. Teachers using materials not approved by the ministry are acting against ministry procedure and policy.” The ministry also said it would conduct “an immediate investigation, including into this case.”

I am deeply touched by your initiative, and also by your replies to some of the hostile comments. If more people would think like you, it might be easier to come to Peace in that region of the world which is Holy to three religions. The article clearly shows, though, that there is still a long way to go.

This speaks to the question of ‘balance’. When there is a historical injustice, such as the forced exile of an entire population from its home, a partisan response is required.
True, we want to include many perspectives in consideration.
However, the use of torture, collective punishment, administrative detention, checkpoints, five hundred miles of security barriers, sniper towers, massive military assault, destruction of land, loyalty oaths, denial of access to education and health care, forced starvation by denying access to food and water by one military superior side against a basically defenseless population is not a balanced situation. That is why some rabbis and Jewish community activists show partisanship toward victims of terrible and ongoing abuse. This is the situation of the Palestinian people. In order not to be biased, and because we all deeply believe in the security and well-being of Jewish people wherever we live, including Israel, of course, we condemn the firing of rockets on civilians in Sederot. However, we see that condition as a result and response to the forty year military occupation of Gaza by Israel. The only way forward is to first acknowledge the event that catapulted Palestinians into the unending trauma unleashed by ongoing military occupation. Therefore, I remember the Nakba which is not in the past, but is a daily ongoing event in the lives of millions of Palestinians. Let us remember, and let us act. Join the movement for ending the siege on Gaza. Search the JVP website for ways you can become active for the sake of peace.

Except in this case, I’m sure it’s far more than 40.5 % of Jews who refuse to recognize the Palestinian tragedy, or at least our part in it.

What Blake says has come true of both sides: “They became what they beheld.” (And Auden: “I and the public know / What all schoolchildren learn: / Those to whom evil is done / Will do evil in return.”)

Not all Palestinians are our enemies, and not all Palestinians want to kill us. If we are going to find a way out of this horrible conflict, we will need to come together in common understanding. The central question for me is not which people has a “right” to this land, but rather, how are we going to extend equal rights to all who live upon it?

You should know that more than one Palestinian participant at my house mentioned their sorrow over the Jewish tragedy of the Holocaust. This gave me hope that there is indeed a chance for a better future together. I fervently believe that if there were more attempts at common understanding and learning from one another, the numbers in that survey would change dramatically.

The gathering and Nakba commemoration at your home Thursday night was incredibly meaningful to me in so many different ways. Your initiative felt so genuine and grounded that as a Palestinian, I was “at home” discussing and reflecting on this painful situation with you.

I read a previous comment about the gathering being unbalanced. But demanding or expecting balance in a situation that’s so acutely unequal and unbalanced prevents a necessary coming to terms with the major injury and injustice that was done and continues to be done to the Palestinian people on a daily basis. There are few Palestinians who haven’t experienced the effects of dispossession or occupation. I don’t think my experience of having lived under military occupation is different than most Palestinians in that it is that much more difficult to get to a place of healing when the wound is ongoing.

I think you’re exactly right when you say it’s important that we work and move forward together as Arabs and Jews. When all is said and done, there will be a major reservoir of painful memories and experiences for people to draw on when carving out a future. It’s critical that we build another kind of historic memory now, as we work in solidarity to end the occupation and support human rights and equal rights for all.

I hope you know how important your leadership felt in furthering a new kind of relationship.

Miryam