Your Opinion: Israelis again attacking their victims

Dear Editor:

The Israelis are at it again - attacking their victims. Sounds odd? Yes, because the statement is contrary to decades of Israeli propaganda. Here is a short attempt to straighten out the record.

Palestine has almost always been subject to foreign control. The Romans took over in 63 B.C. and expelled all Jews. Then the Muslims took over in 638 A.D., and then the Turks in 1517. Turkey, however, found itself on the losing side in WWI and the British took over, ruling subject to a mandate from the League of Nations. The British were charged with preparing the country for democracy and independence.

Meanwhile a Jewish movement called Zionism had formed in the late nineteenth century and was dedicated to reclaiming Palestine as a Jewish homeland. They sent settlers into the area and Jewish terrorist bands, the Hagannah, the Irgun and others, were formed to pressure the British into turning Palestine over to the Zionists.

On July 22, 1946, the Irgun bombed the King David hotel in Jerusalem, the site of the offices of the British Mandate. The attack killed 91 and wounded 46. This, coupled with other terrorist pressures, caused the British to seek relief. In November 1947 the United Nations acted. The General Assembly passed a resolution partitioning Palestine. The country was to be cut into six pieces, mostly separate, three pieces given to the Zionists and three to the Palestinians. The Palestinians have always objected that the U.N. had no authority to partition their country and give half of it to a group of religious settlers from Europe.

Of course after WWII there was a lot of sympathy for the Jews. President Truman who was in a close re-election race and with an eye toward the Jewish vote in New York supported the plan.

The plan went into effect in 1948 and the first Arab-Israeli war began May 15 1948. The Zionists prevailed and forced many Palestinians to take refuge in nearby Arab states. These refugee camps still exist and have grown to millions.

Meanwhile, due to other wars and to relentless Jewish settlement-building in the West Bank area, the Israeli area of occupation has grown and the Palestinians continue becoming embittered and angry. Their anger naturally bursts into violence, and the Israelis, as they are doing now in Gaza, use these provocations to justify violent attacks on the Palestinians.