Still in search of an original idea -- about anything -- the Palestinians have decided to adapt the concept of Birthright Israel, which was created "to send thousands of young Jewish adults from all over the world to Israel as a gift in order to diminish the growing division between Israel and Jewish communities around the world; to strengthen the sense of solidarity among world Jewry; and to strengthen participants' personal Jewish identity and connection to the Jewish people."
So now we have the Birthright Palestine program (hat tip: Son of the Right Hand), from an organization that modestly hopes to repeal the 1948 borders -- that is, to eliminate the entire State of Israel. Or should I say the "State of Israel"? Number 3 in the 10 reasons for the program is this:
Returning as a Means of Resistance: David Ben Gurion, Zionist pioneer and the founder of ‘Israel’, said in 1949, “We must do everything to ensure they [the Palestinians] never do return… The old will die and the young will forget.” Thus, simply coming back to visit the land that your parents or grandparents were forced to flee from, is a form of active non‐violent resistance against the illegal Israeli occupation. This is because this simple act opposes everything that the ‘State of Israel’ was founded on (the idea to ethnically cleanse the Holy Land/Palestine of all Arabs, so as to create a purely Jewish State).And as the Jerusalem Post notes, "the program does not support a two-state solution, offering trips to 'all of historic Palestine, which includes both the 1967 territories (West Bank, Gaza Strip - OPT [Occupied Palestinian Territories]) and [the] 1948 territories, which some people refer to as "Israel."'"
Yes, some people refer to it as "Israel." And some people refer to this program as "Deathright Palestine." Thomas Friedman could not be reached for comment.
More from Daled Amos over at Soccer Dad.
UPDATE (3/6): Well, that didn't take long to prove my case.
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