Letter to the Editor
Hi there.
I just read the vitriol poured out against Cruz Bustamente in that piece in the Israeli press. It was deplorable, but not really surprising.
When you consider the parallels between the Palestinian and Aztlan experience, it is not surprising that people like Weinstein are compelled to spew against Aztlan in the same way that they spew against the Palestinians.
Nobody with any understanding of the history of the American Southwest can ignore that much of New Mexico, Texas and (of course) California was seized illegally - just as the initial "allocation" of Palestine to the Zionists was made without consulting the inhabitants. Thereafter, the Hispanic peoples of the Southwest experienced similar "ethnic cleansing" to that experienced by the Palestinians and Arabs of the West Bank and Gaza.
I am what we Australians call "a white bloke" - Anglo-Saxon, middle class, educated, and libertarian (economic conservative, socially quasi-progressive). I am not generally sympathetic to the claims of "dispossessed indigenes" - especially when (like the Australian aborigines) they did not actively resist the Western conquest (My "favourite" indigenous population is the New Zealand Maori, who fought the British TO A STANDSTILL and signed a treaty in which the two parties recognisedeach other AS EQUALS... a key reason why Maori culture is pretty much intact and is an important part of EVERY New Zealander's education). The key difference between New Zealand Maori and the Australian aboriginals is that the Maori mounted an organised armed resistance against white invaders, while the aborigines had so little sense of nationhood that the only fighting was local "skirmishes". The Maori (who comprised about seventy tribes with divergent languages) actually had to "cobble together" a COMMON LANGUAGE so that tribes who were at war with each other (prior to the white invasion) could co-ordinate to defend their (joint) country. (Sounds like the Tribes of Afghanistan!!). The amazing thing is that they organised inter-tribal councils for JUST THAT PURPOSE, understanding that strategic and tactical advice had to be able to be disseminated quickly. So much for "a bunch of savages"!!
Anyhow - I am getting off the point. I have a great deal of support for the "Reconquista"; it is clear that Mexico (and/or Spain) had primacy of claim to the South West - the region had an organised social system, functioning institutions and therefore a right (in international law AT THE TIME) to retain possession. As the United States declines into oblivion (it will, like the former Soviet Union, collapse as a result of its corruption) the people of Aztlan will eventually be restored to a position of primacy in the region which rightfully belongs to them. My current guess is that this will probably happen within two decades - a blink of an eye in the historical sweep (and will happen MUCH earlier in the event of a genuine large-scale act of "terrorism" in the North Eastern US... in the unlikely event that a nuclear device was detonated in New York, for instance, the United States would cease to exist with three years).
Which brings me to a final point; to the extent to which your organisation plays a role in the eventual recapture of what I fully believe to be YOUR lands, I urge to you actively oppose any retributive action against the "common folk" who currently occupy the area. It is always easy fo those who eventually win, to view the "local peasantry" as little more than livestock - after all, these people participated in the continued seaparation of the people from their land. However most (99% or more) of the population are not actively involved in - or even aware of - the history of the dispossessed; that is, the "gringo" inhabitants of the SouthWest have ALMOST NOTHING IN COMMON with the Israeli settlers on the West Bank.
When Aztlan is regained, it is imperative that everybody moves forward and that historical spite does not arise.
Regards,
G. T. (Full name withheld)
Melbourne, AUSTRALIA.
