" Dear Mr Amr: I get your point - you are not interested in dialogue, you are not

interested in compromise, you are only interested in "proving" that the Jews of Israel have no historical claim on this piece of land. "

Amos Schocken, publisher of Haaretz

NileMedia's Response:

Amos; Wrong, again. I am very interested in dialogue and pragmatic compromises, based on the reality that Palestinians and Israelis must share the land and develop a relationship based on the history they have shared over the last century. Indeed, it was NileMedia that specifically sought out a dialogue with Haaretz.

Amos, I will not seek to repay you in kind, since I happen to have a gut feeling that, inspite of our disagreements, you and many of the journalists at Haaretz are interested in dialogue and compromise and peace and justice. Yours is not the largest paper in Israel, but it is the only major Israeli paper that NileMedia sought out. While we are bothered by the amount of Zionist mythological baggage you haul around, we see that your current coverage of the Israeli/Palestinian conflict has been more balanced than the tainted content of the American mass media machine.

Amos, you are famous on the pages of NileMedia, because I have published your views uncensored and unedited. However, I see that you continue to shelter the readers of Haaretz from the potent medicine we serve at NileMedia.

NileMedia is only interested in a dialogue that divorces itself from Zionist Mythology, primarily because it would allow Israelis to accept the Palestinians as natives to the land who like your grandmother also claim descent from Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. Do not think this is a minor matter. The Palestinians need to hear that Israelis now understand that Zionism was a "dream" ideology that promised and delivered a century of nightmares to the Palestinians. Israelis must also come to terms with the fact that the Zionist movement leaders did not just come to build a country, they also came to destroy another people's country. Further, as their memoirs clearly demonstrate, these Zionist leaders knew from Herzel's time that the requirements for building a "Jewish State" would require "transferring" the native Palestinians.

This is not just idle academic sporting. I am out to encourage Israelis to muster up the courage and show remorse for the Palestinian victims of this audacious 19th century ideology called Zionism. You want practical conclusions, print a full-page apology in Haaretz signed only by the Publisher, Famous Amos. Tell the Palestinians that Amos Schocken has reconsidered the wisdom of being a Zionist. Appeal to their hearts and minds, Amos. I assure you that both Israelis and Palestinians will tune in. Tell them that as a man born to the land of Israel, you cannot dream of living anywhere else. Your love of the land is no less than theirs. But also convey to them your regret that Zionist dreams were built on an assembly line that included many parts imported from darkest corners of a Palestinian psyche haunted by the nightmares of forced exile and brute military occupation. The rest of the speech will need to come from your heart, Amos.

These Palestinian memories need to be honored by Israelis not only to correct history books. The practical consequences will be to create a better climate for a peace agreement that both sides can live with. Problematic issues like resolving the "right of return" will also be easier to resolve and to sell to the Israeli public. Men like Sharon and Netenyahu and Barak will lose their ideological bearings and retire to oblivion. Initially, expect to be assailed by many Israelis. That is when you pull out the DNA lab results and tell them to their face "give it up, already. Stop rehashing Zionist mythology. The Palestinians are natives to this land. What exactly don't you understand about DNA? Let us, for once, deliver justice to these unfortunate victims of Zionist dogma and let us start by issuing an unambiguous apology. ".

Go on Amos, take the DNA challenge. Call up a DNA lab in Tel Aviv and commission a study that will help you and every Israeli come to terms with the Palestinian historic realities that were delivered as a by-product of the process that created the State of Israel.

Amos

Amos Schocken (aka Famous Amos)
Publisher of Ha'aretz Responds to NileMedia
I COULD EASILY SEE ARAB JOURNALISTS IN ANY BEAT
DNA is irrelevant and ridiculous

Ahmed

Amos Schocken, Publisher of HA'ARETZ Refuses NileMedia's DNA challenge
NileMedia to Famous Amos
Take the DNA challenge
NileMedia and Israel's Famous Amos