vision2020
Re: Amb. Hume Horan on the US and Islam in the Modern World
Correct. We did not as a part of public policy support the Balfour
Declaration. I find it interesting, though, that many mainstream American
churches did; with the biblical interpretation concerning a "homeland for
the Jews" being established "before the Second Coming." Wonder if that
religious acquiescence had an impact on our not so public policy?
----- Original Message -----
From: "Don Kaag" <dkaag@turbonet.com>
To: "Cliff Todd" <forester@moscow.com>
Cc: "Tim Ewers" <tewers@uidaho.edu>; "Sunil Ramalingam"
<sunilramalingam@hotmail.com>; <meteor2@moscow.com>; <vision2020@moscow.com>
Sent: Thursday, December 06, 2001 6:52 PM
Subject: Re: Amb. Hume Horan on the US and Islam in the Modern World
> Gentlefolk:
>
> If my Historian's memory serves me true, in the aftermath of the Balfour
> Declaration, the Treaty of Versailles, and the British Protectorate of
> Palestine, the U.S. Senate sent a committee to the Holy Land in 1921to
> determine if the United States too should support, in principle, a Jewish
> Homeland in Palestine. The report they submitted said that since the vast
> majority of the population of the area was Arab Palestinian at the time
(less
> than one-third Jewish, as I recall...), the United States, on the
principle of
> self-determiniation as articulated by President Wilson's 14 Points, should
not
> support such a scheme.
>
> Don Kaag
>
> Cliff Todd wrote:
>
> > Tim,
> > Although the U.S. was not directly involved in the Balfour Declaration
we
> > may have been used. Read this:
> > http://www.washington-report.org/backissues/0897/9708018.html
> >
> > Cliff Todd
> >
> > -----Original Message-----
> > From: Tim Ewers [mailto:tewers@uidaho.edu]
> > Sent: Thursday, December 06, 2001 3:57 PM
> > To: Sunil Ramalingam; meteor2@moscow.com; vision2020@moscow.com
> > Subject: RE: Amb. Hume Horan on the US and Islam in the Modern World
> >
> > Friedman discusses this issue at length in "From Beirut to Jerusalem."
If I
> > remember correctly, according to Friedman, the Palestinians were not so
much
> > forced into exile by the Israelis as they were encouraged to get out of
the
> > way by the neighboring Arab states. The Arab states, opposed to the
> > creation of the state of Israel, intended to run the Mediterranean red
with
> > Jewish blood. They failed in 1967 and Israel ended up with even more
land.
> >
> > The point that strikes me is the degree to which America is considered
> > responsible for the situation in the Middle East. I don't for an
instant
> > believe our hands are clean, but the cause(s) of the problems there
precede
> > U.S. involvement, (or even existence). For instance, the Balfour
> > Declaration, which lead to the creation of Israel, was drafted in the
early
> > part of this century. The Declaration was drafted by the British as a
> > land-division agreement involving the French and the Arab states. The
U.S.
> > was not involved.
> >
> > What I find interesting about the piece by former Ambassador Hume is the
> > explication of, perhaps, a more fundamental reason for the conflict in
the
> > region. Pointing fingers at the U.S., Israel, or the Israeli treatment
of
> > the Palestinians may be a diversion from actually addressing what ails
the
> > region.
> >
> > -----Original Message-----
> > From: Sunil Ramalingam [mailto:sunilramalingam@hotmail.com]
> > Sent: Thursday, December 06, 2001 2:04 PM
> > To: tewers@uidaho.edu; meteor2@moscow.com; vision2020@moscow.com
> > Subject: Re: Amb. Hume Horan on the US and Islam in the Modern World
> >
> > One quick thought that jumped out at me when I read this paragraph:
> >
> > "Once, when I appealed to Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Saud for more
> > help to UNRWA, he replied only "You Americans created the refugee
> > problem. You solve it." In response, I asked could he imagine, if a
> > catastrophe had driven half a million Canadians into ND, ID, and MN,
> > that three generations generations later, these populations would
> > still be held in refugee camps? How differently the half million
> > Jews driven from Arab lands in 1948 were received by Israel, compared
> > to how the half million Arabs, driven from Palestine in 1948, were
> > received by their Arab neighbors!"
> >
> > I don't know how one can compare the treatment of Jewish refugees from
Arab
> > countries in 1948, and the Palestinians in exile. Israel was
established as
> > a Jewish state, and naturally accepts Jews from other nations. Lebanon
and
> > Jordan, just to use two examples, weren't created with such a mandate;
why
> > should one expect them to accept refugees from neighboring states? We
don't
> > have that open-door policy here...
> >
> > _________________________________________________________________
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http://explorer.msn.com/intl.asp
>
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