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West Coast Indigenous Lands Valued in Oil, Not Beads - Appropriations Not Necessarily Valued for Reparations

Reader comment on item: Israel Is the Least-Stolen Land
in response to reader comment: Manhattanite Objects - $24 were paid by predecessors on the land I live on!

Submitted by M Tovey (United States), Sep 27, 2022 at 14:08

Baby boomers all, this generation and this observer also being a product of the same generation might be accused of learning differing approaches of how our heritage and descendant legacy occurred on 'appropriated lands;' beads were also likely considered acceptable currency on the west coast, but beads were not exchanged in the 'appropriation of indigenous peoples' land here in the land of the Spanish conquests. Only now, in the sense that many might bring accusations (j'accuse) of colonialistic endeavors in similar ambitions of appropriations, on the west coast a sense of reparations is in the works as tribal factions of some of the indigenous peoples have been allowed to build centers of commerce based upon the weaknesses of the colonial descendants for enterprises of chance: and a great gamble it is.
This observer (in this same generation) would not be so quick to point a shaming finger at the Dr. for reasons that the finger is easily redirected (as if into the mirror) for suffering the most corrupted educational system in the world that wrote (then rewrote multiple times) a history syllabus which tended to favor those whose stories needed embellishment in order to promote a synthesized version of history; one that always struggled with the truth of how freedom was obtained in America in spite of the dirty dealings that so many times were underlying the advantages derived for 'we the people.' America was destined, both in the good sense as well as the more devious aberrations of conquering for the sake of avarice, to be viewed as the recipient of the observation of 'manifest destiny;' an appropriation of the most obvious sort. The history books will not reveal the real reason why since, as it is observed, the victors are usually the authors.
In any event, the modern views of how America was built in a completely different frame of reference, from a perspective of a career built on understanding title issues and the Biblically based understanding of possession versus ownership. Israeli land was indeed stolen, but not by the Jews. It is only in human terms of misdirection of those facts of who Zion belongs to does the world find itself in troubling times. Eventually, when the final adjudication of title is determined, Abraham and his descendants will be vindicated; and the Israeli victory completed.

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