Japanese Interment Compared to Gaza Withdrawal
Reader comment on item: The Forcible Removal of Israelis from Gaza

Submitted by Edwin S. Fujinaka (United States), Apr 11, 2005 at 19:28

To dismiss the Internment of all Japanese from areas of the West Coast as merely a temporary relocation is like dismissing the Holocast as a solution to a social conflict. My family of four American born Citizens of the United States were "temporarily" relocated to an Army barrack in the Arizona desert for two full years. It was not a summer camp since there was no indoor plumbing and had only public outhouses. There was no air conditioning for the uninsulated barracks that had tarpaper as a protection against the elements. This was near Yuma. My Mother didn't go back to visit Los Angeles for forty years even though she was born in California, and my Father never went back.

Although the Jewish residents of Gaza are being described as being removed from their "legal" homes, isn't the legality the thing that is being disputed? Did these Jewish residents actually pay someone for the property? I thought that the Israeli Government originally paid people to move there. In any case, I don't dispute the legitimate spoils of war notion that bestows legitimacy to the Jewish possession of these small enclaves carved out of Gaza and the West Bank. The Jews refer to them as disputed territories and that seems appropriate. It's too bad that the Israelis can't negotiate these matters with a rational opposing Government, but the Palestinians do not have such a Government. Maybe if everyone treats the Palestinians like a legitimate Government, they will eventually become one. Unfortunately, this appears to be a long shot.

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