Commentary on Kimmerling

Kimmerling's comments on the scene unfolding in Israel during the creation of Unit 101 raise a few necessary questions.

1. Was the land of Palestine predominantly Jewish or Arab at the unit's founding?
2. Who owned the land - Arab or Jew - at this time?
3. Among the thousands of inciting incidents recorded during 1953-1956, how many were precipitated by Arabs, whether from Egypt, Jordan, Syria, or Lebanon?
4. Was Unit 101 habitually "excessive" in its carrying out of orders, as Kimmerling implies and states?
5. How comparable is the founding of the state of Israel and its treatment of the Palestinians to the founding of the United States and its treatment of Native Americans?

These questions will be addressed in future posts.