Sunday, May 16, 2010
Elder of Ziyon
The 6,552-meter chain of scarves was laid out on the grounds of the Sport City Stadium in Beirut, AFP reported, to mark what Palestinians refer to as the Nakba, a day of mourning for the forcible displacement of some 750,000 Palestinians when Israel was established.
Overseen by a Guinness World Records official, the feat reportedly breaks a previous entry of a 2,932-meter scarf set in Spain in August 2009. AFP reported that more than 100 volunteers placed the giant scarf to form the number 194, signifying the 1948 United Nations resolution that grants Palestinians the right to return to their homes in Israeli-occupied land.</blockquote>UNGA resolution 194 doesn't give Palestinian Arabs the right to return to Israel; the non-binding resolution calls for "refugees wishing to return to their homes and live at peace with their neighbours should be permitted to do so at the earliest practicable date." That date has still not arrived.
Other clauses of that same resolution have been roundly ignored by the Arabs, although no one talks about that. For example, the same resolution called for free access to holy places, something that Jordan did everything to stop when it occupied the West Bank.
Even in the very same paragraph as the supposed "right of return" the UN says it wants to "facilitate the repatriation, resettlement and economic and social rehabilitation of the refugees." The Arab world has fought tooth and nail to avoid resettling the refugees and their descendants, and the fact that there are still "refugee" camps 62 years later is a testament to how the Arabs treat their Palestinian brethren.
Also, the Palestinian Arabs themselves do not want to even accept the concept of compensation, which UNGA 194 explicitly advocates as an option for those who do not want to go to Israel.
As far the this world record is concerned:
- Doesn't this look like three keffiyehs, not one?
- How sweet would it be if Israel would break that record with a keffiyeh that sports Stars of David? It would be worth doing just to see the livid reactions from the Arab world. (And I would welcome a parallel effort by the Lebanese to make the world's largest matzoh ball!)
