07.04.2004

Why Assassinations Don't Work

ALLOW me some space please, to remind some of your readers that before they write about any conflict around the globe and the people involved in it, to do some research first on particular matters and to have a more realistic approach.

A letter to the Namibian "Condemn the Killers" is an example where

the writer shows his total ignorance about the situation in the

Middle East and it's people.

The writer claims that Palestinians are foreigners in the Holy

Land and should be expelled by the Israelis in order to achieve

everlasting peace.

 

He also writes that Palestinians are not mentioned in The Bible

or recorded by historians.

 

In the letter he criticised EU Governments for condemning the

assassination of Hammas leader Yassin by Israelis.

 

This isn't the place for me to write about the 10,000 year long

history of these two great nations who contributed so much to world

cultures in terms of many discoveries, writings and science.

 

My sole objective is to correct misperceptions on this

particular issue.

 

The fact is that the Arabs and the Jews believe that they

descend from the same father - Abraham.

 

No-one is sure who came first to the Holy Land.

 

History only tells us that Palestine was first peopled by

wondering Stone Age hunters and that permanent agricultural

settlement appeared at Jericho about 8,000 B.C.

 

According to historical claims Hebrew (Jews) tribes arrived from

the desert in Palestine between the 14th and 12th century B.C. and

that roughly the same time the Philistines invaded from the

sea.

 

The name Palestine is in fact an adaptation from a Greek word

"the land of Philistines" and the name is mentioned many times in

The Bible.

 

First Book Gen 21:34: "Abraham lived in Philestia for a long

time".

 

Just for the record I would like to mention that in 1918 the

Palestine population consisted of 500,000 Muslim Arabs,100,000 Arab

Christians and 60,000 Jews.

 

At the time of the 1948 war, more than 500,000 Palestinians fled

from their country to seek refuge with Arab neighbours.

 

In every Arab country where they landed, they were treated as

second-class citizens, confined to ghettos specially created for

them.

 

Why EU Governments condemn killing of Hammas leader Mr. Yassin

is because they believe that the assassination of political leaders

promotes more violence and does not provide a solution for either

sides.

 

Not long ago, Swapo was just like Hammas, on American terrorist

lists, and everybody would agree with me that assassination of its

President, Sam Nujoma, by the former South African white regime

would only have destroyed the relationship between blacks and

whites and caused more hatred; but would ultimately never have

prevented Namibia from becoming independent.

 

Slavko Filipovic

Okahandja

 

The writer claims that Palestinians are foreigners in the Holy Land

and should be expelled by the Israelis in order to achieve

everlasting peace.He also writes that Palestinians are not

mentioned in The Bible or recorded by historians.In the letter he

criticised EU Governments for condemning the assassination of

Hammas leader Yassin by Israelis.This isn't the place for me to

write about the 10,000 year long history of these two great nations

who contributed so much to world cultures in terms of many

discoveries, writings and science.My sole objective is to correct

misperceptions on this particular issue.The fact is that the Arabs

and the Jews believe that they descend from the same father -

Abraham.No-one is sure who came first to the Holy Land.History only

tells us that Palestine was first peopled by wondering Stone Age

hunters and that permanent agricultural settlement appeared at

Jericho about 8,000 B.C.According to historical claims Hebrew

(Jews) tribes arrived from the desert in Palestine between the 14th

and 12th century B.C. and that roughly the same time the

Philistines invaded from the sea.The name Palestine is in fact an

adaptation from a Greek word "the land of Philistines" and the name

is mentioned many times in The Bible.First Book Gen 21:34: "Abraham

lived in Philestia for a long time".Just for the record I would

like to mention that in 1918 the Palestine population consisted of

500,000 Muslim Arabs,100,000 Arab Christians and 60,000 Jews.At the

time of the 1948 war, more than 500,000 Palestinians fled from

their country to seek refuge with Arab neighbours.In every Arab

country where they landed, they were treated as second-class

citizens, confined to ghettos specially created for them.Why EU

Governments condemn killing of Hammas leader Mr. Yassin is because

they believe that the assassination of political leaders promotes

more violence and does not provide a solution for either sides.Not

long ago, Swapo was just like Hammas, on American terrorist lists,

and everybody would agree with me that assassination of its

President, Sam Nujoma, by the former South African white regime

would only have destroyed the relationship between blacks and

whites and caused more hatred; but would ultimately never have

prevented Namibia from becoming independent.Slavko Filipovic

Okahandja