Indigenous People #255
By Hank Silverberg
This Monday we celebrate Indigenous People's day here in the United States. It's a commemoration of the culture and lives of 50 to 100 million or so people who occupied North and South America before Columbus began the exploitation of them starting in 1492. The holiday in October used to be called Columbus Day, but his star faded as the real story of the famed explorer started creeping into history books just a few decades ago.
When Columbus landed on Hispaniola in the Caribbean, he was seeking fame and fortune. He got the fame, but the fortune eluded him. But not before he enslaved many of the local population and destroyed their political and social structure.
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| (Zuni Adobe, in American Southwest, Courtesy National Achieves ) |
By 1650, the number of native people in the entire hemisphere had dropped to an estimated 8 million.
And all this occurred before the often-documented Indian wars of the American west in which the native peoples were mostly portrayed as the bad guys.
Today there are about 9.7 million Native Americans (2.9% of the population) living in the United States, according to the 2020 census. About 30% of those still live on reservations where inadequate housing and health care remain a major focus.
The current immigration debate has produced a lot of rhetoric about who is a "native" American. Unless your ancestors were Navajo or Cherokee or Nez Perce, or one of the dozens of the other tribes, you don't qualify.
It is noted that the annihilation of these millions of Indigenous people also destroyed their culture, their science (yes, they had science) and their ethnic and religious beliefs. And every lost culture is a failure for our species.
Our land existed long before Columbus in 1492 or Jamestown in 1609 or the United States in 1776.
This is just something to think about the next time you hear someone spouting off rhetoric about being a "real American".
Israel
Who are the indigenous people of Israel? Both sides in the current conflict will make the claim that they are. And in fact, they are both right. Starting any debate on what is going on right now has to leave that issue behind. Both Jews and Arabs can trace their ancestry in the region back to biblical times, and to even have that discussion is a waste of time and energy.
Today's Israel is a small but prosperous western style Democracy which in its short 70 years of existence has given the world remarkable scientific and medical advances. There are Muslim and Christian Arabs and Druids living in the Jewish state as equal citizens. Israel is often one of the first countries to offer medical assistance or other help to places where natural disasters strike.
When tensions are not high, Israel has let hundreds of Palestinians come across the border for lucrative work that they can't get anywhere else.
On the other side is Hamas, an Iranian funded terrorist organization which exists simply to destroy Israel. In Gaza they provide little for their people except weapons and rhetoric about returning to a home which may once have belonged to their great- grandfather before the Turks took it away, or the British put it on the other side of a fence.
It's pretty much the same on the West Bank where the corrupt Palestinian Authority still purports to be a government but can't provide clean water or electricity without the help of the Israelis who they continue to call "occupiers". It's worse in southern Lebanon, where Hezbollah controls the local population with fear and Iranian-backed militias. (The Lebanese government is unwilling and unable to stop them.)
All three of these groups have occasionally breached the border and killed innocent civilians or ambushed army patrols. Hezbollah fires rockets into northern Israel routinely as if to say, "we are still here". The target is almost always a civilian one.
And now Hamas has launched a major assault on southern Israel killing hundreds of people and kidnapping more than 100 civilians to use as hostages. More than five thousand rockets hit Israel. (Some of the hostages and casualties may be American.) The motive may have been Israel's attempt to open diplomatic relations with the oil- rich Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, which has always challenged Iran for leadership in the region.
Over the next few days you are likely to hear someone say Israel is overreacting and using brute force to attack Gaza. As the casualties mount you will hear terms like "apartheid state" and "fascists" and many other derogatory comments.
Israel has not always been right in the way it has handled the Palestinians. But please, right now, put yourself in Israel's position and ask, what would you do?
Papal Passion
I noted with some interest this week that Pope Francis has jumped into the climate change debate with some passion. In his latest message he has taken a swipe at big industry for irresponsible practices and world governments for their lack of intervention on "irreversible environmental damage". In a public letter he wrote: “Despite all attempts to deny, conceal, gloss over or relativize the issue, the signs of climate change are here and increasingly evident. No one can ignore the fact that in recent years we have witnessed extreme weather phenomena, frequent periods of unusual heat, drought and other cries of protest.”
But at the same time, the Pontiff also placed the responsibility largely on the "western lifestyle" noting that the emissions of individuals in the United States was twice as much as those in China.
He also called on big business to stop prioritizing short-
The Pope has no real political power outside of Vatican City, but moral leadership of pontiff's in the past have led for some policy changes. Let's hope he reaches some people.
Dumbest Quote of The Week!
The hostility underway in Israel brought on by an invasion by the terrorist group Hamas is tragic. The loss of life is appalling, the solution not simple and support from America, as always, is critical to the survival of the Jewish state. Most of the comments coming from U.S. politicians was in support for one of our closest allies as they counterattack in an attempt to save the dozens, maybe hundreds, of innocent civilians taken captive by Hamas. But not everyone understands the gravity of the situation for the people involved or for world peace. Take Republican National Committee Chairwoman Ronna McDaniel.
Fox News asked her about the move by Hamas and Israel's response, and she said:
"I think this was a great opportunity for our candidates to contrast where Republicans have stood with Israel time and time again."
So let me get this straight, Ronna! The invasion of one of our allies, the deaths of more than a thousand people, mostly civilians, hostage taking and missile barrages is a "great opportunity" for the GOP?
People are dying, including hundreds of Palestinians, Jews and even a few Americans caught in the assault, and she is looking for political gain towards next year's election? Some people have no sense of priority.
(Your comments and suggestions are welcome)
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