Author David Grossman: Settlers abuse Palestinians

You may or may not be surprised to find out that you know nothing about the origin of Palestinians. When Joshua led the 12 tribes of the Israelites across the river Jordan into Canaan, also known at that time as Palestine, the land was inhabited by (among others) semite tribes, Hittites, Amorites and Jebusites. The Jebusites had built Jerusalem, and they inhabited it for 100 years after the Israelites entered Canaan.They weren't called Arabs then, and the Israelites weren't called Jews. Those names weren't known yet. There are many notable historians and scholars who have determined that the Jebusites are the forebears of the Palestinians. According to the New York University School of Medicine, and the National Academy of Sciences, Middle East Jewish men and Palestinian, Lebanese and Syrian men have the same genetic signature, different from any other non-Jews in the world. Some of those same tribes, and the Canaanites also occupied Judea and Samaria.

Do we do etiquette lessons or ethnic lessons maybe on bus screens and interactive ads about one persons way of life crossing over with another person way of life by religious and bloodline destiny?Maybe blip ads on screens on buses in the shopping districts. Lessons of ethnicity to each other.Like wow I didnt know you had to go thru that today or every day. Here take my umbrella no wonder you hate me you think my life easier than your very hard one. What are the reasons that drive people to distractions of man and wife.Sustaining marriages and families in a life style where in USA the husband leaves you with a baby on your hip and he goes after a looser woman of bad reputation calling you a prude to your faith. Family values.IS it harder to follow the commandments and easier to sin.My son Trevor age 18 on March 13 said it so hard to be good everyone else is drinking and partying with girls all the time and all I do is work and go to school and date my one girlfriend. Rankoo-Karoon

"Inhabiting East Jerusalem is illegal for Israelis." - John That depends upon how they came to 'own' the property John. IF the owner of the property sold willingly, without duress and for a reasonable price to an Israeli then living in a location in East Jerusalem is not a violation of international law. The Fourth Geneva Convention forbids a nation for dispossessing indigenous peoples an inhabiting occupied territory with it's nationals. It does not prohibit transfer of land by legitimate processes.

"but if any peace agreement the Palestinians want involves forcing Jews to give up land that is historically theirs, which includes all of Gaza and the West Bank" Your statement is probably not based on facts. When having to guess I would expect average Palestinians whatever their religion to be more closely related to the people living in 700bc in Judea than diaspora Jews. I cannot see why the land is not also their land.

At least according to international law. Same goes for every other Israeli settlement on the wrong side of the green line.

...but if any peace agreement the Palestinians want involves forcing Jews to give up land that is historically theirs, which includes all of Gaza and the West Bank, then you can kiss that peace agreement goodbye. Israeli Jews will take national security over unnecessary compromise any day. They tried compromise (read "land for peace") and it didn't make Israel any safer.

Both sides can be blamed by their leader's decisions. Both pick on the other. I don't notice David Grossman commenting when all the time an Israeli car is attacked by the Palestinians. Just read the papers, don't take my word for it. Neither is right but I think they can live together if their leaders want to.

"They complicate the situation to such an extent that a peace agreement becomes impossible and in a general way, destroy our future," Grossman said." That is precisely what the settlers and this coalition government intend. In any case, they put no value on peace-shmeace. Live-by-the-sword-and-to-hell-with-the-rest is their motto.

doesnt anyone from the usa posting here know its history ??

My condolences for the death of Grossman's son, but what does this have to do with what went on. The buildings were owned by Jews. They were forced out by the '48 War. The land was retaken in '67. The Jews won the right to their property in court. The Arabs refused to abide by the court decision to remain in the building by paying rent. They were evicted properly. How are they being abused?

I watched a video of an interview with a Palestinian concerning the weekly demonstrations. The video showed youths throwing and slinging good sized rocks at the IDF. As an IDF officer explained, "throwing rocks is no little thing" A Palestinian adult OTOH claimed "throwing rocks is a little thing" Here's a hint if you want to be taken seriously at a "peace" demonstration - don't do anything violent. The casual attitude of the Palestinians towards what they consider "minor violence" suggests maybe it may not be the settlers at fault.

Settlers are zealots that do not allow truth, justice or human values interfere with their hunger for homes and land. I have been in the West Bank and have talked with both settlers and Palestians. A theme I heard from the settlers is that Palestinians must leave the West Bank and move to Jordan. They encourage violence to accomplish this. Settlers are a barrier to peace.

enthusiastically and tacitly. In her govt policy, courts, casual racism, etc. It's obvious to the world that Jews are working out their resentment against the white Christian West by torturing Arabs. It's a typical cycle of abuse. I guess I was very lucky to be born white, Episcopalian and American, but I still believe that racist Jews can rise above the disgraceful trap they've set for themselves.

You ask "Why are Palestinians so racist?" and end up with: "Arabs won`t win again as Jerusalem is our raison d`etre" East Jerusalem (Al Quds) is also a "raison d`etre" for Palestinians, as it is the largest Palestinian city and the place where they want their capital to be. You dismiss all this in you retort and accuse them of being racist because they refuse to comply with your diktat to deny them their part of Jerusalem. Sorry, but you are not confused, you are being simply intransigent and dogmatic (and have the chutzpah to expect from them to submit to your whims). If France was occupied and the occupiers said "take back everything except for Paris", would the French accept this offer? They would NEVER do (but lots of Israelis and Jews somehow expect the Palestinians to accept such type of offer and even be grateful !! )

"Evil triumphs when good men do nothing". Mr. Grossman suffered the ultimate sacrifice, the loss of his own son in a meaningless war. He has been doing everything that he could to put an end to an evil occupation long before he lost his beloved son.

The Left never seems to recognize, or even know, that Jordan killed and expelled between 1948 and 1967 every single Jew from the WB. Was that something that should be allowed to stand? The Jews are merely coming back to where they lived. There might be a bit of friction, but this is disputed land, and so there will be disputes. Once Abbas goes to the table with Bibi and negotiates the borders, the dispute will be ended.

The 1 million Palestinians who live in the state of Israel were born to parents who were born there and so were their grandparents and their great-grandparents and before that. I would wager Ross's great-great grandfather didn't live there. That's another story. They are Israeli citizens. Israeli citizens are not supposed to take homes or land in East Jerusalem or the West Bank not because of their ethnicity because changing occupied land is illegal. Don't tell me about racism. Palestinians are being evicted in East Jerusalem, which is illegal. Allegedly these guys are producing documents of ownership, but Palestinians who live in the West Bank or Lebanon cannot present documents of ownership. The problem of prejudice is more of a problem on the Israeli side because they have the guns to use that prejudice in a lethal way, unfortunately, and they do.

Grossman is my hero - ever since I read his book "The Yellow Wind" -decades ago. Wonderful man !!! David

How are these people calling for housing discrimination for Jews only? I don't get it, don't they see that they are being overtly racist and discriminatory as they say Israel is being. They have a warped sense of reality and they are dangerous to public safety.

will subside in time. Jerusalem belongs to Jewish people and they will settle anywhere within Israeli proper. As for arabic population of Israel if they do not like Jews living everywhere they must join their brothers and sisters in multiple arabic speaking countries.

They say: "Jewish takeover of Palestinian homes in East Jerusalem through the use of ownership documents dating from the period of the British mandate in Palestine." Is not it obvious that it were Palsetinians who took over the properties they did not own? In any case, the real settlers are Pals- they came to this region and settled in the Jewish land thousands years after Jews built Jerusalem and had the Temple there.

About a half million Palestinian families hold land deeds from the British Mandate era as well. They now live in refugee camps. Before 1948 they lived in the villages of Israel that were bulldozed to make way for settlements. Can they too obtain eviction orders from Israeli courts?

Prof. Leibowitz predicted that Israel will need a Civil War (like US) in which the pro-peace part of the population wins, before any peace is possible. And if they loose, this is the end of the state of Israel. This article shows first signs of the this civil war.

When I see Israeli Jews betraying their own country I try to understand how it is possible and what we, Jews outside Israel, should do, how we must behave in the same issue. By the way, I know Jews in the Soviet Union, who sent their close relatives to GULAG to save their position.

David Grossman is a settler in the land of Israel.He does not beleive in the divine right of Jews to live in Israel therefore he is a settler what does he do on arab land. I am of the opinion that leftists Jews like Grossman should be expelled from the Jewish nation.Israel could replace them with decent Arabs.You don't hear arabs abusing their homeland.Leftists all over the world bite the hand that fids them.

The settlers may be winning, but Israel is losing. In a few short years from now, Israel will be synonymous with racism and Apartheid, like South Africa was, and from there the road is short to outright sanctions. Not even AIPAC will be able extricate Israel from that conundrum.

"They complicate the situation to such an extent that a peace agreement becomes impossible and in a general way, destroy our future," - David Grossman The Settlers have the support of the government, IDF and many if not most Israel's. Their intent is clear and their methods obvious. The Settlers are winning.

What on earth does your entire post have to do with the article above? The "racism" of Palestinians is not at issue; their abuse at the hands of settlers is.

Fredy, why must you always distort what is obvious to everyone else but most Israelis? Quit putting spin on everything you say. So labeling the Pals 'racist' will somehow eventually justify Israels brutality towards them. Is that how it works, after all the Pals are nothing but terrorists right? Your spin for one of layman mind would cast the Pals as being racist because they do not want Israelis in their midst. Aren't you failing to mention that they are protesting the continuing land grabs, demolitions, and inequality in East Jerusalem. Even a noted Israeli author with whom a son has paid the ultimate price understands this. You Fredy Ross, are shallow and dangerous to Israel's existence.

Freddy, you need some introspection. palestenians can't be racist againt the Israilites since both are semetic and belong to the same race. I would rather say that both Israilis and pals are prejudiced againt each other and for some rational reasons.

The reason for your confusion is that you think the palistinians are some guests staying in Palestine. Your own racist remark about having an arab woman in a bed near your sister's bed speaks for itself. Once people like you stop thinking like that, perhaps you will be able to live in peace. Until then, you and everyone around you will continue to suffer as a result of abusing Israel's military power against the pals. But you and I know that this will only last when there is a balance of power in the area.

"I am confused" You might be less confused if US-backed, armed fanatics were kicking out of your home. "Jerusalem is our raison d'etre" lol...You win today's "pretentious git" award.

There is no rational explanation for Muslim racism against Jews. It is deeply seated. It has been my professional experience as an attorney in the U.S. that there are many Muslims that after perceiving that I am Jewish, won't shake my hand. That has nothing whatsoever to do with anything to do with "Zionism" or the state of Israel.

im glad you and your sister were so 'diplomatic' in being in the same room as an arab woman. you deserve a nobel peace prize.

Why are Palestinians so racist. After all 1,000,000 live in Israel and I don't protest nor mind them living here. My sister was in Meir Hospital next to an Arab woman and we didn't complain. We all have to live together in harmony or history will be repeated and the Arabs won't win again as Jerusalem is our raison d'etre

Israeli jews.

lets hear the voice of a wise man. settlers regard themselfs as the pillars of judaism, but in reality they are their worst enemies and ours.