|
|
|
January 16, 2004/Tevet 22 5764, Vol. 56, No.17
Give Southwest back to Mexico?ARIEL NATAN PASKOEvery time I hear an American official remind Israel on the need to end settlement activity, my blood pressure starts to go up.So when David Satterfield, Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for Near Eastern Affairs recently spoke out again, I couldn't agree with him more. And the Mexicans would too. America should return the occupied Southwestern territories it took from them. Since according to international law, conquest does not transfer sovereignty rights, America has been occupying illegally California, New Mexico, Arizona and Texas since 1845. It seems that George W. Bush will have to give up his home. I propose that an international peace conference be convened, to reopen this long historic injustice and settle this conflict permanently. I'm sure America would find Israel to be a friend and an even-handed participant. As Satterfield recently said, Israel must stop building settlements and rethink a barrier in the West Bank and told Palestinian leaders to rein in terrorist attacks. And I fully agree. America should also stop building its anti-immigration wall along the U.S.-Mexican border. Lucky for the Americans, the Mexicans long ago stopped terrorist attacks against American settlers. They just want to return to their homeland to find work. Israelis aren't so lucky. The Palestinians still are trying to slaughter Jewish "settlers" and are all too often successful. Satterfield also should check to see if his membership card for MEChA is still valid. MEChA, by the way, is a radical Hispanic student organization in the Southwest United States, whose constitution Article II, Section 1, says, "general membership shall consist of any student who accepts, believes and works for the goals and objectives of MEChA, including the liberation of AZTLAN, meaning self-determination of our people in this occupied state." This radical movement identifies itself as "America's Palestinians." Their ultimate goal is to reclaim California, Arizona, Nevada, New Mexico and parts of Colorado and Texas. Hispanic activists refer to the former Mexican territory as Aztlan, the mythical place of origin of the Aztec people. Aztecs in Colorado? Palestinians in Hebron or Jerusalem? I think, since anyone can open a Bible and see for themselves that Jews were in Hebron and Jerusalem for thousands of years, there shouldn't be a question as to whose land it is. Jews aren't settlers in Judea and Samaria. They're the indigenous population. The same cannot be said of those European and African settlers living in the American Southwest. I don't recall any New Testament or African writings that claim that God gave them the Southwest United States. By the way, let's not forget the genocidal slaughter of the Native Americans in the rest of what's now called the United States. Fair is fair, and if American officials and American policy can call on Israel to give up lands, Israel should reciprocate and file motions in the United Nations on behalf of the Mexicans, the Aztecs and the other indigenous peoples in North America. Satterfield concluded that a two-state vision "must be the basis for any lasting final status arrangement." Boy is he right-on there. By the way, where does Satterfield live? Ariel Natan Pasko is a free-lance writer living in Israel. |
