[Midden-Oosten] Ander Nieuws week 41

[Jeff]

On 2017-10-09 21:11, vredesnieuws op vredesmedia.nl wrote:
> .....
> 
> Hoe Koerdische onafhankelijkheid centraal staat bij Israelische plannen
> voor de regio
> (http://vredessite.nl/andernieuws/2017/week41/1002-israel-kurdish-independence.html)
> Het uiteenvallen van het Midden-Oosten zou waarschijnlijk leiden tot
> chaos. En dat zou ruimschoots uitgebuit kunnen worden door een sterk,
> met kernwapens bewapend Israel.
> Jonathan Cook in The National (UAE), 2 oktober 2017

It is very unfortunate that a supporter of the Palestinian struggle 
would ignore the rights of the Kurdish people who have faced similar 
oppression in each of the four states where they are a sizable minority. 
While pointing out that "Palestinian support for the Kurds is not 
difficult to understand," Cook seems to portray that solidarity as 
short-sighted. Not once in the above article does he affirm the basic 
right of Kurdistan to self-determination!

Here is a much better discussion of the Israeli relationship to the 
Kurds which maintains a principled support for the Kurds' national 
rights regardless of maneuvering by other states:

http://www.aljazeera.com/indepth/opinion/israel-supporting-kurdish-secession-iraq-171006105039473.html

Excerpt:

"The provocative photos and footage of Israeli flags in Erbil and 
Kirkuk, as painful as they are to us, should not lead to the isolation 
or demonisation of the Kurds. We have to acknowledge the responsibility 
of Arab states, as well as Iran and Turkey in the historical injustice 
that was inflicted on the Kurds.

"Arguments that Kurds are a pawn to Israel and the West ignore the fact 
that any persecuted minority, regardless of its ethnicity or religion, 
can fall prey to foreign influence and interference, and we cannot deny 
their right to self-determination."