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The National Migration Board fired me for claiming Israel has a right to exist
”What should we tell the refugees from Gaza, who are fleeing the opression of the Hamas? Last time I worked at the National Migration Board most Palestinian refugees left Gaza for the very reason that Hamas was after them. Perhaps we, like the Migration Board, should tell them that Hamas is struggling for freedom?” Those are the words of todays writer, LENNART ERIKSSON, former group manager at the Swedish National Migration Board.
Position 551 was the only unmanned position within the first company’s area. Only a lone flag of the UN was swaying in the breeze to mark our presence. Beyond it were the salt marshes, the Suez canal, and the rest of Egypt. Everything was desolate and empty. But on the ground lay shards, of clay, of pottery. The remnants of human life. When I arrived there in autumn, 1976, I was surprised that such a desolate and unhospitable place had apparently once housed a civilization.
Position 550 was near the Mediterranean Sea. By climbing to the top of the hill, one could see over the salt marshes to the west. There, by the horizon, was the city of Port Said. I could see it in the heat, in a mirage floating above the ground. Many white houses, some of them with domed roofs.
Position 550 had been a part of the so-called Bar Liev-line, an Israeli defensive line along the Suez canal, composed of a number of permanent bulwarks that were mostly evacuated by Ariel Sharon, who, like Patton, wanted to focus on mobile warfare. But 550 was manned during the Yom Kippur war, and was named Budapest by the Israelis. It was completely surrounded by the Egyptian forces, but the defenders held until they were relieved, and the position was never comquered.
The marks from the war were still there. The asphalt, scarred by the explosions. Fragments of grenades. An empty packet of “Lucky Strike”-cigarettes. A lucky strike for whom?
Now only the shards remained. And there I was, a young peacekeeper on a mission for the UN, and at the time I had no idea. But now I know a little more, both about Budapest and why the battalion command post was called Baluza- naturally re-named Ball-lösa [ball-less in Swedish] by the soldiers.
The shards at position 551 where remnants of the once-powerful city of Pelusium, whose name was “arabized” into Baluza. Ezekiel called the place Sin, the bulwark of Egypt. There the attackers from the east were resisted, such as the Persian army of Cambyses II, which attacked and won in the year 525 BCE, and the Arabs who were victorious in the year 640.
Cambyses II was the son of Cyrus, who freed the Jews from Babylonian captivity.
In 1916, soldiers of the British Empire defended themselves from an attack coming from the opposite direction, carried out by soldiers from the Ottoman Empire under German command. The British were victorious not far to the east of Pelusium, thereby breaking the back of the Ottoman defenders and allowing the British to conquer Jerusalem, and the area that would later become the British mandate of Palestine.
Armies have always marched through Sinai. If Pelusium acted as a bulwark for Egypt in times past, then the fortress of Maozim Budapest was one of Israel’s bulwarks in 1973.
Israel is a nation which has been at war since its inception. A state of war still exists between Israel and Syria, among others. Israel has always had to defend itself from attackers refusing to accept the very existence of the nation. Israels is a unique situation. To this day there are still nations, such as Iran, and organizations, such as Hamas, Hezbullah, al-Fatah (a word meaning ‘victory,’ ‘conquest’) and the PFLP, which are bent on Israels destruction. That same goal can be found in the charter of the PLO.
I cannot find any logical answer to why that is the case. In 1948, the UN decided that the Jews were to be allowed to create a state to the west of the Jordan river, and the Arabs were to be allowed the creation of another state. The Jews did the job, but the Arabs still haven’t succeeded. Instead, for more than sixty years, they have been attempting to destroy Israel.
The Arabs have, in word and in deed, shown time and time again during this period that their main project is not the creation of a nation of their own; rather, it is to destroy the Jewish nation. This is still an ongoing project.
If, like the Arabs who seek to destroy Israel, you discard logic, you will find some possible answers regarding why Israel, according to their way of seeing things, does not have the right to exist. Here, I am going to describe one of them, what I perceive as the Islamistic answer.
Firstly, it is important to separate the religion of Islam and the political ideology which is called Islamism. I am not critizising religion, I am commenting upon the viability and validity of political ideologies, against the background of a liberal view of society and every individuals rights and obligations in relation to each other. This liberal view is actually based upon the words of the Jewish rabbi Hillel: “That which is hateful to you, do not do to your fellow”. Or: “Live and let live”.
Islamism wants Sharia, islamic law, to expand to encompass the entire world. Those who do not submit to Sharia will die. Islamism further says that territory once conquered by Islam must never be abandoned. This is likely where one finds the answer to why the Arabs/Islamists wish to destroy Israel. The area once belonged to Islam. It does no more.
If Christianity had embraced the same principle, that any territory which at one time was Christian must never be abandoned, then the Crusades would have been justified. All of modern-day Turkey, North Africa and the Middle East were once Christian. They are no more.
To the extent of my knowledge, there are no people wishing to destroy Turkey in order to establish a Christian nation. But the Islamists want to destroy Israel in order to establish a Muslim nation. Thus, the Islamists apparently consider it appropriate to do unto others what they do not want done unto themselves. Thereby, not unexpectedly, they go against the fundamental aspects of liberalism.
But, like the liberal government of Sweden, I am of the opinion that Israel has a right to exist. Because of this opinion, I have been fired from my job at the Migration Board.
This awakes what Merle Haggard calls “The fightin’ side of me”.
Because, as you know, freedom of speech and of opinion are protected by the Swedish constitution. In spite of this, I was fired from a governtment agency for using this freedom and expressing the same opinion as the one the Swedish state, through the government, has expressed: Israel has a right to exist.
This caused the legal manager of said agency, the National Migration Board, whose name is Mikael Ribbenvik, to say that I, through my blog, “took a stance in a conflict without understanding of his own actions, he doesn’t see the consequenses, thereby showing poor judgment.” (Göteborgs fria tidning 09-03-12). Director-General Dan Eliasson, contrary to this, said to Dagens Nyheter 2009-01-16 that he didn’t have any comments about my opinions or my blog, and that I was fired for other reasons. But, as the article in Dagens Nyheter puts it, “why, in spite of this, it was still Lennart Erikssons opinions that were put forward against him, even in the district court, Eliasson is unable to answer.”
In other words, noone has been able to give me a credible answer regarding what those reasons are. Instead, everything seems to indicate that the current administration of the Migration Board is antisemitic, that it has allied itself with the Islamists who claim that Israel has no right to exist.
This suspicion is supported by the fact that the person representing the Migration Board during the trial regarding my termination/relocation considered the founder of Hamas, Yassin, to be a “Palestinian freedom fighter”.
As you know, contrary to this opinion, the liberal government of Sweden considers Hamas to be a terrororist organisation. This opinion, which I share, was used against me during the trial by the representative of the Board.
And when Member of Parliament Annelie Enochson asked Minister for Migration Billström what was going on, his answer was that he had “no evidence indicating that the Board is conducting any activities that are contrary to government policies. Therefore, there is no reason for me to take any action.”
So what is there to say, except Merle Haggard’s words: “When they’re runnin’ down my country, man, they’re walkin’ on the fightin’ side of me”.
But what should we tell the refugees from Gaza, who are fleeing the opression of the Hamas? Last time I worked at the National Migration Board most Palestinian refugees left Gaza for the very reason that Hamas was after them. Perhaps we, like the Migration Board, should tell them that Hamas is struggling for freedom? Or do we want the refugees to sing, like Cornelis Vreeswijk: May we pass thy border? Judging by what the current administration of the Migration Board seem to think, Palestinian refugees from the Hamas have no business in Sweden.
Of course, it could be that the Migration board “took a stance in a conflict without understanding of its own actions”, thereby showing poor judgment. But the governments trust in the Board seems unshaken [as can be seen in a recent interview with Swedish Minister for Migration Tobias Billström in Swedish radio].
For my own part, my employment is still terminated. General Patton said the following words: “You are never beaten until you admit it. Hence don’t”. Of course, that may be the same guideline as the one those working seeking the destruction of Israel are following. They don’t give up, either, in spite of their many defeats. But though they probably have more of a reason to give up than I, I cannot understand how defending Israels right to existence has to mean that the liberal government of Sweden still supports the apparently antisemitic administration of the Migration Board. Hence, I won’t give up, either!
My employment has been terminated because I stand up for Israel’s right to existence and because I am of the opinion that Hamas is a terrorist organisation. That is the same stance as the one taken by the liberal government of Sweden.
If the liberal government of Sweden really thinks that this termination was justified, then one has to realize that the government of Sweden is no longer a liberal government, but a government which allows Swedish agencies to harass its own citizens, strangely enough for the very reason that the citizen in question, ie. me, is expressing the same opinion as the selfsame government.
It is possible that the administration of the Migration Board isn’t antisemitic. But unfortunately, they have now put themselves in such a situation that it will be difficult for them to convince the rest of the world that they are not.
For my part, I am of the opinion that the Palestinians who have been subject to harassment by the Hamas should have the right to find sanctuary in Sweden.
On the subject of Patton, who didn’t give up either, but on the contrary liberated much of Europe from Nazi opression along with the 3rd army, you will now finally have the opportunity to listen to the march which was written by his wife Beatrice for the 2nd American Armored Division, beginning with the siren of his halftrack.
LENNART ERIKSSON
first published on newsmill.se July 16, 2009
http://www.newsmill.se/artikel/2009/07/16/migrationsverket-gav-mig-sparken-att-jag-tycker-israel-har-ratt-att-existera
Translation: Adam Eberhag
