GENOCIDE IN GAZA: Heinsohn’s Proxy War Against The Palestinians

“The atrocities committed by Israel is a genocide of a conquered people. Gaza is a concentration camp and no amount of PR can reduce the magnitude of this horrible crime against humanity and decency”.[i]

The ‘Youth Bulge’ theory that Gunnar Heinsohn feverishly promotes is far from legitimate in an analysis of any society, let alone a society like Gaza, which is riddled with poverty and war and whose citizens, as a result of the illegal Israeli occupation, have no freedom of movement. The theory suggests that in countries where at least 30% of the male population is aged between 15-29, there is a tendency for these young men to “eliminate each other or get killed in aggressive wars until a balance is reached between their ambitions and the number of acceptable positions available in their society.”[ii]  Even at first glance, this theory is clearly far too reductionistic and does not take into consideration the many complicated and interrelated factors that determine the make up of Palestinian society – for instance, the overriding impact of the Occupation on the very possibility of ‘acceptable positions’ in the first place. It is interesting to note that the ‘youth bulge’ theory has become highly influential on US Foreign policy with two key consultants to the US Government, Jack Goldstone and Gary Fuller, ardently supporting it.[iii]   

View the full article here.

[i] Bakhtiar, A. (10 January 2009). The Source of Arabs’ Shame: Egypt, Jordan and Saudi Arabia. http://www.dissidentvoice.org/2009/01/the-sources-of-arabs%E2%80%99-shame-egypt-jordan-and-saudi-arabia/

[ii] Heinsohn, G. (12 January 2009). Ending the West’s Proxy War Against Israel.  http://online.wsj.com/article/SB123171179743471961.html#articleTabs%3Darticle

[iii] Hendrixson, A. (December 2004). Angry Young Men, Veiled Young Women. The Corner House. http://209.85.229.132/search?q=cache:7Umg6onhVb4J:www.thecornerhouse.org.uk/item.shtml%3Fx%3D85999+youth+bulge+theory+and+us+foreign+policy&hl=en&ct=clnk&cd=14&gl=uk

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~ by Tamara Al-Om on January 14, 2009.