The Difference Between Munchkins and Palestinians

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This is a day of independence - for all the Munchkins and their descendants!
The Wizard of Oz

Israel Perspectives notes Ariel Sharon's use of "political language" in his new iteration as a liberal centrist running under the banner of Kadimah. He quotes Haaretz which claims:

Ariel Sharon will offer the Palestinians independence in exchange for the guarantee of security for Israelis if he is re-elected prime minister, according to comments by a top adviser published in a British daily Wednesday.

Political strategist Eyal Arad told The Guardian newspaper that Sharon would not operate on the principle of land for peace if he wins elections slated for March.

"Political language" is a term coined by George Orwell, in his essay "Politics and the English Language" where he defines political language as follows:

"Political language - and with variations this is true of all political parties, from Conservatives to Anarchists - is designed to make lies sound truthful and murder respectable, and to give an appearance of solidity to pure wind...".

In his post Israel Perspectives notes 4 examples of "political language" used by Sharon and the Israeli government.

I think that there is another example that borders on the legitimization of a myth, reminiscent of Secretary of State Condeleeza Rice's error when she spoke about

the Israeli withdrawal from the Gaza Strip, returning control of that territory to the Palestinian people...First, for the first time since 1967, Palestinians will gain control over entry and exit from their territory.

Just as the Disengagement did not return control of Gaza to the Palestinian Arabs, nor did they ever have control over Gaza even before 1967--so too Haaretz is misleading when it writes:

Ariel Sharon will offer the Palestinians independence...The root of the conflict is based on the Palestinian quest for independence.

Is this for real?

Since when are Palestinian Arabs under the thumb of some colonial power with imperial designs, that now suddenly they are being given their independence? (contrast: Israeli Occupation? Moslems are Just Being Modest)

The pro-Palestinian propaganda says that Israel is an apartheid state, enslaving Palestinian Arabs on land that Jews stole from them--and now Sharon and Arad are going to imply that the canard is true?

Since when has there been an independent Palestinian Arab state; since when has there ever been an independent Palestinian Arab people, that Israel should have been accused of denying it--and now is suddenly giving it--something it never had?

Talk about your modern day hoaxes.

As James Taranto points out very succinctly

Before World War I, the entire region, including Israel and the disputed territories, was part of the Ottoman Empire. Between World War I and 1948, the British administered it. In 1948 the Arabs went to war rather than accept a U.N. partition of Palestine that would have created Jewish and Arab states. After that conflict and until 1967, Egypt controlled Gaza and Jordan controlled the West Bank.

The only independent Palestinian state that has ever existed--existed for Jews; the only Palestinian People with a national, cultural and religious bond to that land has been the Jewish people.

Palestinian Arabs are not Munchkins.
Israel is not the Wicked Witch of the West.

But Israel is home...and there's no place like home.

Crossposted on Israpundit

Technorati Tag: Israel and Palestinians.