Native seeds

The German magazine, Der Spiegel has a fascinating interview with Iran's dictator, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. Much of the interview is taken up with discussions about Israel and Palestine (along with with the obligatory softball questions about the World Cup). In one portion of the interview, Ahmadinejad asks, rhetorically, "Where did the Israelis come from?"

I say this is a rhetorical question, because he clearly believes the answer is "Europe" and that if they just all went back where they came from, then peace would return to Palestine or something like that. However, it is interesting to note that the correct answer to the question of where the Israelis came from is actually "Israel."

The majority of Israelis were born in Israel and are as "native" to that land as the average American is a native of the United States, never mind what country their ancestors came over from. This is something many anti-Israel folks are either unaware of or prefer to ignore, probably because admitting that most Israelis were born there totally undermines the idea that Israel si some kind of "foreign" presence in the region.

A peaceful settlement of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict requires the the historic claims of both peoples are addressed and that some kind of two-state solution becomes a reality. Part of any reconciliation is a requirement that both sides accept the complete legitimacy of the other side. Both Palestinians and Israelis are complete "natives" of that small sliver of land. No one can go "back where they came from" and the best we can do is move forward somehow.