[IPSM] Cowboys and Indians: Perspectives on Patterns of U.S. and Israeli Colonization

Mon Dec 13 14:26:40 PST 2004

http://victoria.indymedia.org/news/2004/07/28219.php

Cowboys and Indians: Perspectives on
<mailto:montfu65 at hotmail.com>

    The pattern of demonizing, conquering, colonizing, occupying and
    plundering another nation is still a sad reality in our post-modern
    age. Colonization is conveniently disguised in the noble rhetoric of
    United Nations legality, democratic jargon, and liberationist
    rhetoric. ... Israel as a strategic U.S. partner is also another
    example of this post-modern process of conquering, colonizing, and
    civilizing the uncivilized. ...After all ... the U.S. government
    enriches itself on their natural resources.

Cowboys and Indians: Perspectives on

Patterns of U.S. and Israeli Colonization

Alden C. Mayfield*

The pattern of demonizing, conquering, colonizing, occupying and 
plundering another nation is still a sad reality in our post-modern age. 
Colonization is conveniently disguised in the noble rhetoric of United 
Nations legality, democratic jargon, and liberationist rhetoric. The 
history of the expansion of the U.S. is a clear example of this pattern 
of colonization. Israel as a strategic U.S. partner is also another 
example of this post-modern process of conquering, colonizing, and 
civilizing the uncivilized. While many experts argue that the present 
motives of the U.S. war in Iraq are meant to grant freedom to the Iraqi 
people, others argue that the U.S. is simply pursuing its agenda of 
global domination. This agenda of world domination is quite similar to 
the U.S.'s goal of its westward expansion as it demonized, conquered and 
colonized aboriginal lands in the present U.S. territories.

As such the U.S. government in the guise of democracy and human freedom 
continues this pattern of demonizing, conquering, colonizing and forcing 
its enemies into economic and political submission with military threat 
in order to fulfill its own national interests. After all this is done 
in the noble cause of conquering and civilizing the "native savages," 
the U.S. government enriches itself on their natural resources.

 From the beginning of the American colonies to the present era, the 
U.S. agenda has always been dedicated to territorial expansion in order 
to control natural resources. The colonization of "native savages" is an 
obvious example of this imperialistic agenda. Modest estimations put the 
systematic slaughter of native aboriginals in the U.S. anywhere between 
20 million to 30 million people. From the 1600s to the present time, the 
U.S. government has been systemically demonizing, conquering and 
colonizing American aboriginals and other indigenous peoples in order to 
dehumanize them into being pathetic individuals who are dependent on the 
State as they are placed on segregated lands with third-world living 
conditions.

As a permanent form of colonization, native reservations are benign 
forms of apartheid. Natives as a race have been systemically brainwashed 
through the use of reservations to be dependent on the State for its 
daily existence. If a race is more concerned about its daily 
subsistence, it is no longer concerned about righting the injustices of 
the past. It is no longer concerned about reclaiming its lands through 
political, legal, or, if necessary, military force. If a race is 
separated from the mainstream systems of power and knowledge, it is not 
able to right the injustices of the past through political, legal or 
military intervention.

In other words, reservations have systematically emasculated and 
dehumanized the aboriginal race in order to eradicate any future notions 
of nationalism, independence and Statehood. Reservations are essentially 
long-term tools of colonization in order to make natives powerless in 
reclaiming their lands for independent Statehood. As such, aboriginals 
on reservations are essentially powerless to reclaim their lands through 
legal or political institutions. These governments have succeeded in 
systematically eliminating the notion of natives reclaiming their lands 
through political, legal, or military force. Such native notions of 
nationalism, land reclamation, justice and political independence has 
been deliberately erased with the colonizer's marginalized vision of 
reservation existence.

With this illegal existence of apartheid-reservations, all treaties 
signed between native tribes and Western governments are illegal and 
non-binding pieces of paper as they were created in times of illegal 
occupation. In other words, Canadian, American and Australian 
governments are still illegally occupying and enriching themselves on 
aboriginal lands.

Such a pattern of demonizing, conquering, colonizing and illegally 
occupying Indian lands in order to civilize any Statehood ambitions and 
to control their natural resources has been applied to various places in 
the U.S. territories. The systematic colonization of Mexican, Hawaiian 
and Filipino territories is another clear example of the present 
relevance of American colonization. What are now Texas, New Mexico and 
California were once Mexican territories. The U.S. simply annexed these 
lands by demonizing, conquering, colonizing and permanently occupying 
these lands. In the process millions of Mexican aboriginals were 
systematically slaughtered in order to fulfill the U.S. policy of 
westward expansion and colonization in order to control their natural 
resources.

Similarly, Hawaiians were demonized, conquered, colonized and 
subsequently occupied in order to control their natural resources and 
Hawaii's geo-strategic importance for military purposes. The same 
process occurred in the Philippine islands. Hundreds of thousands of 
Filipinos were slaughtered in order for the U.S. to continue its 
westward expansion of colonization. It could be argued that military 
bases in Germany, Italy, South Korea, Japan, the United Kingdom and 
other parts of the world are benign forms of U.S. colonization. The 
simple fact that U.S. troops are based in foreign lands is indicative of 
the fact that the U.S. government not only has influence on the 
political and economic aspects of those lands, but it has the added 
advantage of containing its enemies in other lands.

Some would argue that native reservations are benevolent acts of Western 
governments. Indeed, the U.S. government could have exterminated all 
natives in order to control all their lands. Let's not forget that acts 
of aboriginal genocide have been committed in Canada, Australia and the 
U.S. Some would argue that aboriginals are satisfied with their 
reservation existence and are better off under the wise protection of 
their conquerors. This is another racist argument of ethnic cleansing 
that is also used by the Israeli government. If natives are satisfied 
with living conditions that are below that of third-world living 
conditions, that is a very sad existence with no future hope for their 
children. However, if natives understand that political independence and 
Statehood means first-world living conditions, they'll find more hope 
for their children. The present reservation systems in Canada, the U.S. 
and Australia deny aboriginals of billions and billions of dollars in 
land revenues.

Like dogs living in a household, natives are literally given scraps from 
the tables of their conquering masters. A few hundred thousand dollars 
are given to the natives in order to make them a dependent race with no 
future ambitions of independent Statehood. From the perspective of the 
master, it would be unthinkable for a dog to rise up and reclaim its 
lands and dignity in the form of Statehood. The pet dog has been 
conditioned to be content with his doghouse, meagre scraps, and its 
master's rules. It would be an understatement to say that dogs are 
treated more humanely than aboriginals in their 
doghouse-reservation-like existence.

As such, it shouldn't be surprising that this American pattern of 
colonization is being systematically and deliberately applied to the 
Palestinian occupied lands and Iraq. Despite American and British 
attempts to paint this conflict with Iraq in humanitarian-liberation 
jargon, this present day conflict in Iraq is not about Weapons of Mass 
Destruction, Freedom, Democracy or Human Rights. It is about 
colonization and occupation in order to control Iraqi oil fields. If the 
U.S. can control Iraq's oil fields, it can essentially control the world 
by strengthening the supremacy of its economy and military and thus 
destroying the OPEC cartel as it is now considering changing from the 
U.S. dollar standard to the Euro. If this war was really about true 
freedom, democracy and human rights, the U.S. and the UK would have gone 
to war with most Middle Eastern nations, including Israel, which is just 
as bad if not worse than Iraq.

In following its traditional policy of demonizing its enemies (Saddam) 
through the media and unsuccessfully through the UN, the U.S. is now 
using military force to conquer, colonize and occupy Iraq in order to 
control its vast oil reserves and thus control the world. This pattern 
of colonization is a strategic part of U.S. foreign policy dating back 
to the 1600s. The only difference is that the U.S. now employs phony UN 
diplomacy and liberationist rhetoric to cover-up its real motives of 
colonization and global domination. It is now clear that U.S. policy in 
Iraq and the Middle East has always been regime change in order to 
control oil and the world.

Unfortunately, the terrorist regime in Israel is an exception as it is 
protected by the U.S. We've entered into another era of American world 
colonization through political, economic and military force. This is a 
clear warning to any nation (except Israel) that dares to disagree with 
America's post-modern methods of colonization in order to control the 
world and enrich its own national interests.

If the U.S. is really interested in freedom, democracy and human rights 
in the Middle East, it would treat both Iraq and Israel with the same 
standards. As far as I know, 30 years have passed since UN Security 
Council resolution 242 was passed ordering Israeli troops to completely 
withdraw from Palestinian occupied territories, but I don't remember the 
U.S. giving the terrorist State of Israel a 48-hour ultimatum. The State 
of Israel continues to mock the world and the UN as it continues to defy 
and dismiss close to 400 UN Security Council resolutions ordering it to 
withdraw from Palestinian occupied territories.

Iraq has defied a few UN Security Council resolutions over the past 12 
years, but all of a sudden the U.S. government (the same government that 
supplied the materials and technological know-how necessary to create 
weapons of mass destruction, the same government that turned a blind eye 
to Kurds and others being gassed by Saddam) is pleading intentional 
ignorance and mocking the world with lies of freedom and democracy for 
the Iraqi people as it wages an illegal war in Iraq.

A few hours after stepping down from Blair's government, Robin Cook said 
that he quit because of "the West's double standard in dealing with Iraq 
and Israel regarding their violations of UN Security Council 
resolutions...30 years have passed since UN Security Council resolution 
242 asked Israel to withdraw from the Palestinian occupied lands, but it 
doesn't seem that we are losing our patience over Israel ignoring the 
resolution," added Cook. The only thing the Iraqi people will get from 
the U.S. is a post-modern form of colonization in which the occupying 
power will control its natural resources and thus its future. That's the 
goal of the U.S. government. Don't be fooled by its hollow language of 
liberation. Don't believe George Bush when he says he "has no ambitions 
in Iraq."

This American pattern of colonization and occupation has been 
systematically and ruthlessly implemented by the Israeli State. From the 
origins of the Israeli State in 1948, Western governments demonized 
Arabs as uncivilized terrorists who are unwilling to share their lands 
with the Jewish people. After this phase of demonizing Arabs as 
terrorists, Western powers under UN cover illegally justified this 
arbitrary form of institutionalized colonization as it partitioned 
Palestine. In the next phase of this colonization, Western powers 
trained, armed and organized Israeli militants who systematically 
slaughtered hundreds of thousands of Palestinians. At gunpoint, many 
Palestinians were either forced to leave their lands or were killed. 
With this phase done, the process of illegal UN and Israeli colonization 
is now complete. The next phase of colonization is forced assimilation 
into apartheid-like reservations for Palestinians, but this phase of 
colonization has not worked as smoothly as the Israeli State had 
planned. Disobedient Palestinians are now demonized as terrorists who 
don't want to share their illegally occupied lands with the Israeli 
colonizers.

For the past 40 or so years, the Israeli government has been 
unsuccessful in seeking to put Palestinians in apartheid-like 
reservations in order to erase their national aspirations of Statehood 
and in order to control their natural resources. In fact, the Israeli 
government's present policy of occupation and ethnic cleansing is a 
clear indication that their project of putting Palestinians on 
Western-style reservations has failed. Unlike the American and Canadian 
projects of aboriginal reservation existence in order to eradicate 
foolish notions of aboriginal independence and Statehood, the 
Palestinians have successfully resisted this hopeless reservation life 
under Israeli occupation. In short, Israeli policy is quite similar to 
Western policies of dehumanizing aboriginals on reservations in order to 
brainwash them into a dependent relationship: a master-servant existence.

With this American-Israeli model of colonization and occupation of 
Palestinian lands, it is now easier to understand why the U.S. 
government gives unqualified financial, military, and diplomatic support 
to Israel's illegal and brutal occupation of Palestinian lands even 
though Israeli policies are against international law. If Israel, as 
Chomsky has cogently argued, is a strategic partner of the U.S. in the 
Middle East, the U.S. government will simply view illegal Israeli 
policies as necessary in order to dehumanize and control an indigenous 
race that needs to be civilized like "savage American Indians." The U.S. 
and Israeli States are afraid of aboriginal nationalism and democracy, 
as this would mean independent Statehood and the loss of billions of 
dollars in land revenues.

The U.S. has a sad record of conquering and colonizing other aboriginal 
races. Since the U.S. government has been illegally conquering and 
colonizing aboriginal lands, it doesn't see any need to treat Iraq and 
Israel with the same standards under international law. Iraqis like 
Palestinians are uncivilized "savages" that need to be conquered and 
civilized. Israelis like Americans are the enlightened race that needs 
to enlighten the unenlightened aboriginals. As savages, Iraqis need to 
be civilized by American occupation in order to fully develop their oil 
fields.

As a pioneer of colonization, the U.S. views Palestinians and Iraqis as 
"savage Indians" who are messing up their plans of colonization and 
world domination. The U.S. can easily control its Israeli client as it 
is really an extension of the U.S. military and the U.S.'s political and 
economic agenda in the Middle East. Iraqis and Palestinians are the 
modern-day "Indians" that need to be conquered, colonized, civilized and 
dehumanized on reservations in order to control their natural resources 
and to erase all foolish notions of Statehood. Since Israel as an 
extension of the U.S. military is allowed to possess weapons of mass 
destruction as a superior race, any race--especially indigenous 
(inferior) races--that foolishly dreams of Statehood is systematically, 
politically and economically marginalized by the organs of knowledge and 
power. The very fact that the U.S. government supports a 
pseudo-democracy like Israel and a war criminal like Ariel Sharon is 
indicative of America's concern for justice in the Middle East.

If these methods of post-modern colonization don't work, the U.S. and 
Israeli governments simply resort to illegally confiscating lands, 
bulldozing homes, uprooting farmlands and families, assassinating 
political opponents with state-of-the-art military technology, shooting 
missiles into crowded residential areas in order to kill civilians, 
torturing political opponents without due legal and humanitarian 
processes, carpet bombing or sanctioning any disobedient nation, and 
excusing the killing of innocent babies, children, women and others as 
collateral damage, or as necessary in order to civilize the race and 
bend it to its national interests which is seen as world security and 
peace. But, if those being occupied dare to resist such injustice, they 
are systematically demonized as terrorists by the colonizers and their 
media organizations. "Let's civilize the crazy Indian by burning down 
his teepees, controlling his lands, exterminating his buffaloes, raping 
his women and killing his children," remarks the brave American cowboy.

The pattern of American-style post-modern colonization continues its 
terrorist cycle in terms of freedom, democracy, and globalization.

*Canadian scholar residing in Asia.

 From Palestine Times, April 2003 (http://www.ptimes.org)