The Native Iowan

Saturday morn here. I was up at 4am. Had to drop my Pet-Teen off at the airport. Here in QLD, this time of year, it’s easy to get up early. It’s light outside by 5am.

Got a lot to do but am sitting wrapped up. A chilled southerly wind blows. it is dry and crisp. No moisture in the air.

I am thinking about the word-use I am hearing, have been hearing for a long time. And I am thinking that definitions are important.

Of course, in recent times, the cry of “RACIST”, has been loud and constant. Here in Aus you shall be called “racist” if you voted “NO” in the recent referendum. In the USofA, the moniker of “racist” is used to silence, frighten, end any discussion on almost any topic… You support The Donald, and you’ll be called racist. You disagree with open boarders, you’ll be called racist.

The word I am hearing this morning, THE WORD that was on the radio as I drove, and as I read an listen to “de-newz” is “Genocide.

The genocide taking place in Israel/ Palestine…

So, as I was driving this morn, ruminating on it all, I think about the use of the word and the effects of the word being used…

First: Genocide
noun: genocide; plural noun: genocides
the deliberate killing of a large number of people from a particular nation or ethnic group with the aim of destroying that nation or group.
“a campaign of genocide”

OK, in this context, the word “genocide means Israel has been carrying out a plan of deliberate killing of a large number of Palestinian Arabs.

Have they? https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Demographic_history_of_Palestine_(region)

Year	Jews	Christians	Muslims	Total
1st c.	Majority	–	–	~1,250
4th c.	Majority	Minority	–	>1st c.[1][2]
5th c.	Minority	Majority	–	>1st c.
End 12th c.	Minority	Minority	Majority	>225
14th c.	Minority	Minority	Majority	150
1533-39	5	6	145	156
1553–1554	7	9	188	205
1690–1691	2	11	219	232
1800	7	22	246	275
1890	43	57	432	532
1914	94	70	525	689
1922	84	71	589	752
1931	175	89	760	1,033
1947	630	143	1,181	1,970

So, by 1947 there were 630,000 Jews, 143,000 Christians, and 1,181,000 Muslims in Israel/ Palestine.

Modern era demographics of Israel, Israelis, and Palestinian territories show us that:
As of 2014, Israeli and Palestinian statistics for the overall numbers of Jews and Arabs in the area west of the Jordan, inclusive of Israel and the Palestinian territories, are similar and suggest a rough parity in the two populations. Palestinian statistics estimate 6.1 million Palestinians for that area, while Israel’s Central Bureau of Statistics estimates 6.2 million Jews living in sovereign Israel. Gaza is estimated by the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) to have 1.7 million, and the West Bank 2.8 million Palestinians, while Israel proper has 1.7 million Arab citizens. According to Israel’s Central Bureau of Statistics, as of May 2006, of Israel’s 7 million people, 77% were Jews, 18.5% Arabs, and 4.3% “others”. Among Jews, 68% were Sabras (Israeli-born), mostly second- or third-generation Israelis, and the rest are olim – 22% from Europe and the Americas, and 10% from Asia and Africa, including the Arab countries.

According to these Israeli and Palestinian estimates, the population in Israel and the Palestinian territories stands at from 6.1 to 6.2 million Palestinians and 6.1 million Jews.

OK, so by 1947 there were 630,000 Jews, 143,000 Christians, and 1,181,000 Muslims in Israel/ Palestine.

By 2014 there were 6,100,000 Jews, and 6,100,000 Muslims in Israel/ Palestine.

Of course, numbers are numbers are numbers. But I do not, DO NOT, see genocide taking place.

Definitions are important, me thinks.

More later