LETTERS: Osman’s claims about Zionism lack context and are nonsensical
Israel was created on land purchased in the 19th century at inflated prices from Arab owners and absent landlords, writes Victor Gordon
Dr Firoz Osman should do himself a favour and re-examine the definition of Zionism. He would be surprised to find that it is not, as he claims, "an ideology based on racist laws that discriminates against Palestinians", but the aspiration of the Jewish people, originating in 1897, to have a homeland of their own. This was sanctioned by the Balfour Declaration of 1915, the San Remo Conference in 1920, the League of Nations in 1922 where Palestine was placed under British Mandate (with the instruction that said homeland was to be established), the Treaty of Sevres in 1920 and, finally, the UN, which partitioned what was left of the land originally designated for "close living" by Jews and offered to the region’s Jews and Arabs for the establishment of two independent homelands existing side by side in peace. As we are aware, the Jews accepted the offer while the Arabs rejected it and embarked on a failed war of extermination. Familiar as we are with Dr Osman’s non-contextual and nonse...
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