Tibetans prone to identify with Jews in the diaspora

Editor,

On March 27, you published yet another hateful response by Vicky Johnson against Israel. This time, Johnson compared Israel to China and the Palestinians to Tibetans.

Although the errors in most of her arguments and facts have been addressed previously by readers here, I would like to point out that many of the Tibetans actually identify with Jews in the diaspora, not with Palestinians.

UNM scholar Julia Meredith Hess noted this identification in her book Stateless Citizens: Culture, Nation and Identity in the Expanding Tibetan Diaspora published by Stanford University Press. She writes: "The connection between the Tibetan and Jewish diaspora has been made by a variety of sources . a surprising number of informants, including two settlement officers, explicitly referred to the Jewish diaspora as something to emulate."

Further, Hess quotes Dara Ackerman, the founder of Dharamshala Earthville Institute, an organization founded by Israeli and American Jews. On the connections between the Tibetan and Jewish peoples, she writes: "The Jews and Tibetans have a strong common bond - that of knowing what it is to live in exile. The world's awareness of this tragedy (the Holocaust) led to the establishment of the Jewish state of Israel. One can easily wonder if the world's awareness of the genocide happening now in Tibet can lead to Tibetans being able to have freedom in their country again some day as well. Strengthened by this belief, many people around the world work hard for Tibet's freedom - and Jews in great numbers are among those activists."

In fact, following the logic of Johnson, who is contesting the historical right of the Jewish people to settle in Israel, the exiled Tibetans would never be able to return to their homeland, which is now predominantly settled by Han Chinese. Clearly, this is not the case.

Tamar Ginossar

UNM faculty