A History Lesson
And a street protest to underline support for Israel and the hostages
One of my neighbours is, like me, an immigrant. He hails from Germany. He was born in 1943. He was raised in Bavaria, but his family decided to make the big trek across the ocean because Germany’s south was not really a fit for them. They were actually refugees from another place. They had fled the city of Danzig which was a largely German city in what is now Poland, now best known by its current Polish name: Gdańsk. Hundreds of thousands of Germans were forcibly moved after the end of World War II and so were many Poles and others. Roosevelt, Churchill and Stalin basically took a map and determined what Europe would look like upon the destruction of Nazi Germany. The people affected, those refugees that would become had no option to return home and no one in the subsequent eighty years ever indulged in a request for them to be returned. It was harsh and quite possibly unfair. But it happened and people - including my now eighty year old neighbour - made it work and rebuild their lives in new places.
Why do I bring this up? Well it was actually Bill Maher who discussed this as part of this really instructive summary of history. Have a look, it is worth eight minutes of your day.
Of course if you watch this you come to realize that the forcible movement of people and wars that result have forever been a part of human history. Rather than waging endless terror against Israel and seeking to destroy the country and expel every last Jew, Palestinians could have chosen some far better options and make it all work. David Roytenberg on his Substack yesterday explained what has been poured into Gaza in terms of aid and how it could all have been used to actually build something valuable rather than create a terror state. A state that by the way does as much damage to its own people, probably even more, as it does to Israelis.
Of course, it is an old story. But in the context of the way that ‘two state’ and ‘one state’ solutions are thrown around this week it is worth revisiting history. And it is important that we understand why given the current circumstances these concepts are further away than ever as I explained last week. Not according to Canada’s Foreign Minister who thinks that the two state solution is more possible to achieve now than before October 7th. Sure, but only if:
Global tensions ease with an Iran that is ‘defanged’ or ‘neutralized’;
Palestinians opting to never again do what they have been doing for the last seventy-five years;
Israelis to believe that items (1) and (2) are here and for real;
Political re-alignment takes place on both sides;
No one repeats past mistakes, Gerson Baskin has a useful summary on this; and
What do you think? I think we are further away than ever and we really have to question politicians who say with a straight face that a two-state solution is ‘within reach’ or ‘the only option’. It is a political tune to placate certain parties or position some sort of ideal future outcome. It is aspirational and anyone discussing would do well to reflect the reality on the ground and indicate that a long and arduous journey is ahead of us to get there.
Yesterday I attended the pro-Israel rally in Vancouver which got underway right after the pro-Ukraine protest. It may be good to remember - as many of the speakers were trying to do - that Russia is still waging a brutal war and that Ukraine’s suffering continues unabated. Israel and Ukraine are in a very similar position: up against a strong and authoritarian force while the support they both are getting from the ‘free West’ is under serious pressure.
Anyway, the Israel rally got under way with a few good speeches and songs, including of course Hatikvah. After that the attendees took a walk through downtown Vancouver with flags and chants with a focus on bringing back the hostages. Wherever Yarden, Shiri, Ariel and Kfir Bibas are at the moment, it was heartwarming to see their names being mentioned at a rally in faraway Vancouver. Most of the people on the streets were actually more busy with their Christmas shopping, but the blue and white flags - supported by a few Indian and Iranian ones - indicated that many will not give up and keep what happened on October 7th alive for everyone to see.
Thank you so much for this information and especially for the Bill Maher piece. We are so short on historical perspective which allows so many tales to be told and stories made up and shared on the grizzly web.