LETTER: Ethnic cleansing

Clive Sindelman is unnecessarily concerned that Palestinians will commit ethnic cleansing should historic Palestine be restored (“Slogan is a call for ethnic cleansing”, May 16). 

A reading of developments in the Middle East since 1948 will show that ethnic cleansing is the speciality of Zionists, not of Arabs. Europe has had a Jewish problem and its history is replete with the expulsion and massacre of Jews. In contrast, for many centuries, Arabs never had a Jewish problem and, therefore, Mizrahi Jews, also referred to as Arab Jews, were well integrated into the societies where they lived, practised Arab culture and often held important positions in government.

The co-existence between Arabs (Christian and Muslim) and Arab Jews was placed in jeopardy with the intrusion of Zionism as a political force in the region. After 1948, Ashkenazi Zionist Jews (European Jews) orchestrated false-flag operations, including the use of bombs, to cause the flight of Arab Jews from their centuries-old and harmonious societies. 

In other words, Ashkenazi Zionists engineered the ethnic cleansing of Arab Jews from Arab lands. In his book, The Forgotten History of Arab Jews, Avi Shlaim, who was born in Iraq, has documented in detail how Zionists uprooted long-established and well-integrated Jewish communities.

Gunvant Govindjee
Ormonde

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