So, You’re a Refugee
How long does that status last?
So, you’re stuck in that camp. You and your people got chased off your land (yours for literally untold numbers of generations), and as you moved, you had to fight someone else who didn’t want you there, and luckily for your folks, you won. What now?
As you ponder that question, a bit of a backstory.
I used to go to a website, “To the Center”, now long gone from what it was, where I met several people, three relevant to this. We enjoyed some lively but polite and often quite nice discussions, but alas, nothing lasts forever.
Two of those people I friended on Facebook (can I say that here?), but one not, because as a disabled (blind) person, he couldn’t work well with it. But he had other ways to connect, and one has turned out to be an email group he presides over. At first, all four of us were there, but as time went on into Trump territory, he turned into a Trumpster.
Due to the toxic assholes on the Conservative side of that group, I eventually decided it was no longer worth my time to engage, so I asked him to take me off the list. (And not politely either — even he was toxic by then.) My two friends have stuck it out.
That worked for a while, yet, somehow, my name has slipped back in, and I get these damn things all the time — again. Because of course, I can’t just block HIM, because every time one of those people reply (and there are some thirty on that list!), I get the whole shebang again. Plus, if I did block everyone on that list, I’d block my two friends, and if I didn’t, whenever THEY would answer, yeah, I’d get showered with it again. So, I’ve kinda settled into a thing where I quickly look at what someone has written, shake my head and delete it. I still refuse to answer. Some of those guys are just plain insane.
But this morning, one of the more progressive folks made a point that resonated with me. In short, his question was, “how long does one’s status as a refugee last? My people got chased out of Scotland 250 years ago, am I still a refugee?”
But there’s an extension to that question he added in, which is relevant to the issue they were discussing, which was the status of the Palestinians in 1948 when Israel kicked them out of their homes and confined them in Gaza.
How long do a people have to reside in a particular area and occupy land before they become “indigenous”? Is there a time limit to that?
To me, the answer is clear. There isn’t any such thing. I’d guess that 98% of the human race is currently living in territory that at some point in the past, belonged to some other group. Either they moved away (as nomads) to avoid violence, or got kicked out violently. Perhaps some assimilation took place, but there’s always at least some pressure.
Currently, any such attempt to attack someone militarily and take territory is illegal, internationally. Ask Russia as they struggle through international sanctions. As it should be. The days of undisguised and blatant conquests should be gone forever. There’s no way we can turn back time for thousands of years. Not that some ethnic groups don’t deserve some kind of restitution, but that’s a whole ‘nuther conversation!
Going back to our scenario above, how long would your descendants have to live there to obtain protection under International Law as being indigenous enough to “own” that land? Could you be kicked out unceremoniously before that time was reached? And, more importantly, once you reached that point, if someone did attack you and attempt to toss you out, would the International Community (perhaps as the UN) act to prevent that from happening?
You see, in 1948, the UN gave the Hebrews Israel. Probably as some kind of restitution for the Holocaust and what they’d been subjected to since the Romans kicked them out a couple thousand years ago. Yet, for some crazy and unknown reason, when the new Israelis decided the land the Palestinians lived on was better or they needed that extra territory, nobody stepped up and said “Hey! Israel! Stop that shit! We didn’t give you that land, get back home!”
What would have been different in history if the UN had stepped up, shook their collective fingers at all three — Israelis, Palestinians, and Arabs — and told them to sit their asses down and behave? Would the Arabs have had any excuse to attack Israel if they’d not taken Palestinian lands? Could the Palestinians have been able to have lived harmoniously beside the Hebrews if both sides had accepted one another?
I guess my point is similar to what I was saying the other day. There are no good guys here. None.
The Palestinians had plenty of reason to be pissed, but they acted without reason, instead of petitioning the UN, they just started killing Hebrews indiscriminately, as terrorists.
The Israelis acted predictably and “occupied” Gaza, and have isolated them ever since, also indiscriminately (often) killing innocent civilians. There’s more, in fact than just that.
And the rest of us have completely failed to step in and stop it.
And we could have, at any point. Yeah, I know, Cold War and all that. But in 1948, it could have been cut off in the beginning. The Cold war hadn't truly gotten going so bad — yet.
So, now what? Do we just sit back and let the Israelis do it again? Yet, the Hamas folks do deserve punishment for their actions, also illegal and horrific. This entire thing could trash over thirty years of attempts by the US, Israel and various Arab countries to improve relations between all those people for a better future. And for what? Killing a few hundred/thousand Israelis? Because face it, their “goal” of eliminating Israel just isn’t going to happen.
Should the Israelis stop their over the top and soon to be a virtual genocide and appeal to the International community for a more measured solution? Could that even work? The Netanyahu government won’t last past this for long anyway, given their absolute failure to even see it coming. But being authoritarian in their basic nature, any such reaction is against their values and beliefs.
I don’t know.
What I do know is that at the very foundation of all this is authoritarianism. Netanyahu was deep into his agenda to make Israel a non-democratic country, and frankly, both terrorist groups fighting Israel are also by nature, authoritarian. At no point in this struggle, have any of the common people on the Palestinian side had a real say in what their “leaders” were doing. I’d wonder if they’ve even ever gotten a real view of the reality. And if Netanyahu has his chance, the Israelis won’t in the future, either.
I swear, I just hate authoritarians. (and I don’t often use that word, even seriously.)
Your thoughts?
