state soltion fro" the pessi"istic and 3hrchillian-sonding portrayal of being “not the best option,” bt rather the “least worst option!”
Israel as a modern indigenous state; Palestinian dreams of one of their own
It is i"portant to re"e"ber that the +ewish state of Israel is argably the world's first "odern indigenos state
1althogh acade"icians and states"en in contries in 3entral and Eastern Erope "ight reasonably "a#e a si"ilar clai" based on their own ethno-nationalist e$perience4! As a reslt, not only can the history of Israel's own e"ergence help shape and infor" the fight of other peoples arond the world for their own recognition and rights!
More to the point in relation to Israel's lti"ate sr&i&al is the fact that little of the indigenos arg"ent has been consciosly and conspicosly incorporated in a way as to "a#e the two-state soltion not only plasible, bt also wor#able! The facts on the grond clearly delineate Israel's relationship &is-a-&is tribal peoples elsewhere today! As I noted in "y boo#
%eoples of the Earth& Ethnonationalism$ Democracy and the Indigenous hallenge in '(atin) America
, “The protection of ancestral lands, di"ly nderstood if at all by "odern rban dwellers in the global orth, is nonetheless a powerfl and ec"enical sy"bol for indigenos and traditional peoples arond the world!” As the )ritish historian 2gh 0eton-Watson pointed ot< “Theodor 2er?l and other Cionist leaders ca"e to clearly nderstand that a nation cold not be created fro" langage and religion alone8 a state cold only e"erge when there was an nsha#able bond with a specific territory fro" which it cold be created! .
F
)ritish Pri"e Minister Winston 3hrchill is re"e"bered, a"ong other things, for his dict" that “7e"ocracy is the worst for" of go&ern"ent, e$cept for all those other for"s that ha&e been tried fro" ti"e to ti"e” 1fro" a 2ose of 3o""ons speech on o&e"ber ((, (5:H4!
G
Israeli belonging to the world co""nity of indigenos peoples is flly warranted gi&en their deter"ination to preser&e, de&elop and trans"it to ftre generations their ancestral territories, and their ethnic identity, ths ensring their contined e$istence as peoples, in accordance with their own cltral "ores, social instittions and legal syste"! Ad"ittance of Israel in the indigenos co""nity is in #eeping with the criteria set down by anthropologist +osJ 9! MartKne?-3obo, the for"er special rapporter of the 0b-co""ission on Pre&ention of 7iscri"ination and Protection of Minorities for the Bnited ations! In fa&or of the +ewish stateLs "e"bership are the following facts< Its lands were occpied first by the 9o"ans, then by the Arabs8 it shares co""on ancestry with pre&ios occpants8 its +ewish cltre can be traced directly to the @e&ant, while e&en thogh &arios co""nities ha&e slightly different traditions, they all share the sa"e ni%e root cltre8 its traditional langage, 2ebrew, has been resrrected as its pri"ary langage8 it has spirital ties to the land, which play an n%estionably i"portant role in their traditions as a people, and archaeological e&idence of the Tabernacle e$ists in the "odern +ewish city of 0hilo! And, finally, e&en the 3anaan dog 12ebrew< NQRRSU VXSXU, ele& naLani, Arabic< YZ[\] ^_], aleb
anaLan4, recogni?ed today as Israel's national breed, is referenced in ancient car&ings and drawings!
H
Bnfortnately, althogh one of the /stly-hailed intellectal capitals arond the globe, Israel has for so"e ti"e failed to "aintain the #ind of pro"inence and recognition in the de&eloping world it en/oyed three or for decades ago! That said, a closer e$a"ination of the wor# of diaspora +ews in the ci&il right "o&e"ent in the Bnited 0tates, in leadership roles against Argentina's infa"os “dirty war,” and with elson Mandela in 0oth Africa, for e$a"ple, can help create a "ore /st en&iron"ent for engage"ent!
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%eoples of the Earth
contined< “Perhaps ot of si"ilar reasoning, a wo"an who was a "e"ber of the Winnebago tribe too# part in the (5G5 ta#eo&er of Alcatra? Island by B!0! Indians and their sy"pathi?ers that sy"bolically clai"ed the island for indigenos peoples! There she told a /ornalist that she had nsccessflly &olnteered to fight for the Israelis dring
the (5GH 0i$-7ay War, pointedly