On October 8, I posted regarding a column written by Ray Hanania. I told him that although I disagreed with some of his positions, I felt he was unfairly treated when the Dallas News edited his column, taking out entire paragraphs that I thought changed the tone of his column somewhat. I also sent him an e-mail to that effect and he very kindly wrote me back immediately. Here is his response:

Thanks Howard for your comments.

Newspapers have the right to edit for a lot of reasons. I am sure you know that most people who read my columns find something they don't like and focus on that, rather than looking at the bigger picture. Or, they ignore the positives and always focus on the negatives.

I think that I have an obligation to speak fairly and try to define a moderate middle voice which means that I can criticize both sides with equal enthusiasm and passion, don't you think. When the otherside recognizes that this is good -- not bad -- to have someone criticize in a genuinely middle of the road way that is balanced and fair and recognizes many of their issues, then maybe we might be all able to better understand each other.

One reader attacked me saying that this was the "first time" or that I "finally" condemned suicide bombers, instead of standing with me and saying I am glad there is a voice of reason in the Palestinian community even though I don't agree with all of his points. The fact is, the criticism was even worse because it wasn't the first time and, as you may know, I posted the articles I have copies of dating back to 1994 where I have publicly denounced suicide bombings in strong terms and without qualifications. I have tried to be consistent.

Sure, I make a few mistakes or have let my emotions get the best of me,m like in April 2002 the time of the worst fighting between Palestinians and Israelis and many people died (on both sides) including friends and relatives of my friends and relatives in Bethlehem. Comparing Sharon as "Nazi-like" was out of bounds and the result of my failure to reason at that difficult time. My wife explained that it's not whether or not Sharon is a Nazi, but thatusing the term offends all Jews who see the Nazi crimes and the Holocaust in a special light and using it outside of that context is wrong. Okay, Sharon's politics are terrible and offensive and encourage more conflict and death. Am I not allowed to criticize his politics?

best regards

PS ... please reprint the entire email. A guy named Al Barger at another blog engaged in an email discussion with me and then edited the emails and posted them and by the time I realized he had distorted things I said, it was too late. I thinkw e can have a fair debate without exaggerating that which we disagree with in each other, don't you think?

Ray Hanania

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Since I don't get many chances to correspond with members of the Palestinian Arab community, I decided to send back to him a reply from the heart about what I feel about "the situation":

Thanks for your response - I promise to post the whole thing and I look forward to reading your future columns.

Since you were kind enough to respond so quickly, I would like to tell you what I think is the basis of all Israeli policy and of Zionism in general. I believe this because it is something I feel deep in my soul and I don't have the chance to share it with too many people of Arab descent. Many Jews, and not just Israelis, fear that if Israel is ever lost, they will not be safe anywhere in the world. Sure the U.S and Europe are pretty comfortable places to live now, but that's what Jews have thought throughout history in every country they lived comfortably in, until of course, it wasn't.

In recent generations we have seen one third of our population wiped out by one of the most "enlightened" societies of Europe. Before that it was pogroms in Russia and Poland, expulsions from this or that country, etc. For two thousand years, if we were kicked out of one place we moved to another and so on, and so on, for centuries. There were always open, tolerant countries for us to migrate too. It may not have been the best of situations, but we always made do.

At the end of World War II, things changed - there was literally nowhere to go for hundreds of thousands, if not millions of Jews. Palestine was the only option for them (and even that was technically illegal). Boatloads of refugees were literally turned back to sea everywhere in the world, even from the United States.

It was not, and is not, the Palestinian Arabs' responsibility to feel sorry for, or provide refuge for, the Jews of that era and their descendants. One could say though, that there are really only three options that the Palestinians had/have given that Jews had no other choice but to force themselves onto Palestinian society. One would be to welcome the Jews, accept the influx of new people (is it too flippant to compare them to the Mexicans moving to California and Texas?) and integrate them into the local landscape. The second would be to declare all out war and accept the results of that war. The third is to have constant conflict hoping that the someone will eventually be sick of it and leave. Without placing blame on either party to the conflict, numbers one and two were tried for awhile and didn't work out. It also appears that neither side's leaders want to try those options again - not the first for lack of trust and not the second for fear of losing everything.

So here we are stuck with option number three, at least until there is a major change in "the situation", as the Israelis like to call it. Whatever that change will be, I believe it will come from the Palestinian side, whether it's a mega-terror attack or the development of a true democracy in Palestine. Something that will tip the balance to all-out war (G-d forbid) or all-out peace. I believe this because the only real significant action that Israel can take, unilateral withdrawal, has not led to peace on the Lebanese border due to the same groups that operate freely within the West Bank and Gaza, therefore Israel will never take that step.

As I finish writing this to you, a story just appeared on my local TV about swastikas being marked on someone's car here in the Dallas area. In the year since I've lived here, swastikas were painted on my synagogue's doors. That's why the Jews need Israel. That's why I need Israel - just in case. Somewhere where Jews can dream of being left alone to have control over their own lives and live in peace for a long a time as we can imagine. No matter what the cost.

Respectfully,
Howard

I imagine he is a very busy man who will not be able to keep up a daily conversation with one of his readers, but I promise to post his reply should he choose to provide one.