Consideration of Property is crucially important in human affairs. Without Property there can be no
Justice or Liberty, let alone prosperity or peace. The Law is actually pretty simple:If you take something
that doesn't belong to you, you have to give it back. That principle alone sets us apart from the beasts. Since
people tend to fight over property and religion, the principal program of the 20th century was to abolish both.
The main sources of conflict would be eliminated. History records the result.
The Middle East situation is just one example of something that has been going on everywhere for as
long as there have been people —40,000 years or so. But we don't need to go back that far in the Middle
East, or in Northern Ireland. In the former we could go back to 1948 with
the creation of The
State of Israel
and in the latter to 1969 when "republicans" saw the British Army
arriving to protect the Catholics from the
Protestants, concluded the British had invaded, and reinvigorated the IRA
with American fund-raising.
But each person doesn't actually need to go back farther than his last transaction. If it was lawful,
then he would have added a tiny piece of wholesomeness to what is the real "peace process" — ordinary
daily living. By his thought and deed he would have improved the Culture and the world. What each person
does every day is what matters, not elections and "negotiations" conducted by political leaders.
With
regrets to anyone who may be offended, I'm afraid I have to conclude the
Palestinians have a
case. They should make it. But they don't. Instead they resort to terror when war fails. Crime does not
justify more crime. It makes no difference that some of the people who created The State of Israel were
terrorists who engaged in what today is called "ethnic cleansing". It doesn't
matter to Israel's case that six
million Jews were murdered during World War II. And it doesn't matter that Israel was the Kingdom of
David 2700 years ago. It was something else before and was something else after. Prime Minister Rabin
correctly stated, "The Bible is not a land deed."He
was assassinated, by an Israeli, you may remember.
I
recently discovered an interesting website. Apparently, some orthodox rabbis
consider Zionism to
be heresy. Maybe the website I found is actually a Palestinian lie. Maybe
not. Check it out: See Neturei
Karta at http://www.netureikarta.org/.
I don't know if I'd go as far as they do: I can't say that God forbids Jews from returning to the
"Promised Land". Maybe He does. I don't know. Jews would be better off returning
to New York City
anyway. I'd cut off the money to terrorists and to people who encourage terrorists. That would include the
U.S. government's subsidy to Israel, as well as the money that comes from Saudi Arabia and Kuwait that
subsidizes the PLO. I'd have specific people charged with specific crimes. I'd kick out of my government
anyone who says things like "Palestinians are lice."I'd lock up any mullahs who encourage twelve-year-olds
to blow themselves up. Maybe I'd have such people blow themselves up. I'd forget about having a State of
Israel or a State of Palestine. The State as a repository of legitimized
crime is indefensible.
Forget about it. Why not rename the place "The Holy Land" where all of it's inhabitants see them-
selves as custodians of something holy and members of the Brotherhood of
Man? They are that.
Of
course I can't do much — only the really important thing:I'd
get busy building peace one kind
and lawful act at a time. It doesn't matter what or where since everything adds up, worldwide. That's what
I'll do. You can do it too: whoever you are, wherever you are. You are probably doing it now! If everyone
did this which everyone knows to be right, the world would be gloriously
and immediately transformed.
© December 2001
