The world press frequently looks at the conflict in the Middle East as being between Israel and Palestine. There are ongoing talks about peace between Israel and Palestine but these talks rarely include discushion of the rights of the Kurdish People or to an Independent Kurdistan. The U.N. has shown that it is not unbiased or fair in matters of the middle east. Including an Independant Kurdistan in all mideast peace proposals actually could lead to mideast peace. The right to exist in peace and security is what both Israel and Kurdistan desire.

There are many similarities in the history of the Jewish People and the Kurdish People. Historically the term Kurds goes back to the third or fourth century B.C. According to Wikipedia “The Kurdish people, or Kurds (Kurdish: Kurd, کورد), are an Iranic people native to Southwest Asia, mostly inhabiting a region known as Kurdistan, which includes adjacent parts of Turkey, Syria, Iran, and Iraq. They speak the Kurdish language, which is a member of the Iranian branch of Indo-European languages. The Kurds number about 38 million, the majority living in Southwest Asia, with significant Kurdish diaspora communities in the cities of western Turkey, in Armenia, Georgia, Israel, Azerbaijan, Russia, Lebanon and, in recent decades, some European countries and the United States. The Kurds are an indigenous ethnic minority in the countries of the Kurdistan region, although they have enjoyed partial autonomy in Iraqi Kurdistan since 1991.

The history of mistreatment of the Kurdish people is in many ways similar to that of the Jewish people. Starting with Invasions by the Arabs in the 7th century the Kurdish people. Over the next several hundred years the Kurdisk people converted to Islam. The Kurdish fell victim to the Mongolian invasions and later by invasion by the Ottoman Empire.

“The first modern Kurdish nationalist movement emerged in 1880 with an uprising led by a Kurdish landowner and head of the powerful Shemdinan family” according to Wikipedia. “Kurdish nationalism emerged after World War I with the dissolution of the Ottoman Empire which had historically successfully integrated (but not assimilated) the Kurds, through use of forced repression of Kurdish movements to gain independence. Revolts did occur sporadically but only in 1880 with the uprising led by Sheik Ubeydullah were demands as an ethnic group or nation made. Ottoman sultan Abdul Hamid responded by a campaign of integration by co-opting prominent Kurdish opponents to strong Ottoman power with prestigious positions in his government. This strategy appears successful given the loyalty displayed by the Kurdish Hamidiye regiments during World War I.”

“Jakob Künzler, head of a missionary hospital in Urfa, has documented the LARRGE SCALE ETHNIC CLEANING of both Armenians and Kurds by the Young Turks during World War I.” I suggest reading about the 20th century abuse of the Kurdish People at: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kurdish_people

The Kurdish People are a National community that has been divided by lawless conquerers over hundreds of years.

An Independent Kurdistan would protect the Kurdish population from the abuse of their neighbors. Any mideast peace should carve out an Independent Kurdistan. This would include the Kurdish areas of Iraq, Iran, Syria and Turkey. The current strife in Syria has led to mass emigration from Syria of the Kurds who know that they will not fare well when rebel forces eventually throw out the Assad government. The Kurds have been a mistreated group in Turkey for many years. While current peace procedures between the Kurdis and Turkey are positive they will not lead to true independent peace for the Kurdish people.

The fall of Syria is the ideal time to create an independent Kurdistan. Iraq and Iran both have large areas of Kurdistan within their borders. The history of the Kurdish people demand they have an independent nation. They have a much stronger historical and politcal right to exist independently then Hamas or Hezbolah can claim in Israel.

Compare the struggles of the Kurdish to the following facts about the Israel Palestine conflict:
(reprinted from e-mail without quoted author)
1. ISRAEL BECAME A STATE IN 1312 B.C., ALMOST TWO MILLENNIA BEFORE ISLAM;
2. ARAB REFUGEES FROM ISRAEL BEGAN CALLING THEMSELVES “PALESTINIANS” IN 1967, TWO DECADES AFTER (MODERN) ISRAELI STATEHOOD;
3. AFTER CONQUERING THE LAND IN 1272 B.C., JEWS RULED IT FOR A THOUSAND YEARS AND MAINTAINED A CONTINUOUS PRESENCE THERE FOR 3,300 YEARS;
4. THE ONLY ARAB RULE FOLLOWING CONQUEST IN 633 B.C. LASTED JUST 22 YEARS; (When Israel was invaded by Arabs)
5. FOR OVER 3,300 YEARS, JERUSALEM WAS THE JEWISH CAPITAL. IT WAS NEVER THE CAPITAL OF ANY ARAB OR MUSLIM ENTITY. EVEN UNDER JORDANIAN RULE, (EAST) JERUSALEM WAS NOT MADE THE CAPITAL, AND NO ARAB LEADER CAME TO VISIT IT;
6. JERUSALEM IS MENTIONED OVER 700 TIMES IN THE BIBLE, BUT NOT ONCE IS IT MENTIONED IN THE QUR’AN;
7. KING DAVID FOUNDED JERUSALEM; MOHAMMED NEVER SET FOOT IN IT;
8. JEWS PRAY FACING JERUSALEM; MUSLIMS FACE MECCA. IF THEY ARE BETWEEN THE TWO CITIES, MUSLIMS PRAY FACING MECCA, WITH THEIR BACKS TO JERUSALEM;
9. IN 1948, ARAB LEADERS URGED THEIR PEOPLE TO LEAVE, PROMISING TO CLEANSE THE LAND OF JEWISH PRESENCE. 68% OF THEM FLED WITHOUT EVER SETTING EYES ON AN ISRAELI SOLDIER;
10. VIRTUALLY THE ENTIRE JEWISH POPULATION OF MUSLIM COUNTRIES HAD TO FLEE AS THE RESULT OF VIOLENCE AND POGROMS;
11. SOME 630,000 ARABS LEFT ISRAEL IN 1948, WHILE CLOSE TO A MILLION JEWS WERE FORCED TO LEAVE THE MUSLIM COUNTRIES;
12. IN SPITE OF THE VAST TERRITORIES AT THEIR DISPOSAL, ARAB REFUGEES WERE DELIBERATELY PREVENTED FROM ASSIMILATING INTO THEIR HOST COUNTRIES. OF 100 MILLION REFUGEES FOLLOWING WORLD WAR 2, THEY ARE THE ONLY GROUP TO HAVE NEVER INTEGRATED WITH THEIR CORELIGIONISTS. MOST OF THE JEWISH REFUGEES FROM EUROPE AND ARAB LANDS WERE SETTLED IN ISRAEL, A COUNTRY NO LARGER THAN NEW JERSEY;
13. THERE ARE 22 ARAB COUNTRIES, AND 57 MUSLIM COUNTRIES. THERE IS ONLY ONE JEWISH STATE. ARABS STARTED ALL FIVE WARS AGAINST ISRAEL, AND LOST EVERY ONE OF THEM;
14. FATAH AND HAMAS CONSTITUTIONS STILL CALL FOR THE DESTRUCTION OF ISRAEL. ISRAEL CEDED MOST OF THE WEST BANK AND ALL OF GAZA TO THE PALESTINIAN AUTHORITY, AND EVEN PROVIDED IT WITH ARMS;
15. DURING THE JORDANIAN OCCUPATION, JEWISH HOLY SITES WERE VANDALIZED AND WERE OFF LIMITS TO JEWS. UNDER ISRAELI RULE, ALL MUSLIM AND CHRISTIAN HOLY SITES ARE ACCESSIBLE TO ALL FAITHS;
16. OUT OF 175 UNITED NATIONS SECURITY COUNCIL RESOLUTIONS UP TO 1990, 97 WERE AGAINST ISRAEL; OUT OF 690 GENERAL ASSEMBLY RESOLUTIONS, 429 WERE AGAINST ISRAEL;
18. THE U.N. WAS SILENT WHEN THE JORDANIANS DESTROYED 58 SYNAGOGUES IN THE OLD CITY OF JERUSALEM. IT REMAINED SILENT WHILE JORDAN SYSTEMATICALLY DESECRATED THE ANCIENT JEWISH CEMETERY ON THE MOUNT OF OLIVES, AND IT REMAINED SILENT WHEN JORDAN ENFORCED APARTHEID LAWS PREVENTING JEWS FROM ACCESSING THE TEMPLE MOUNT AND WESTERN WALL.

There are calls for US involvement in the Syrian Civil war. The problem is that the rebels may be less friendly to the United States and Israel and more dangerous that the Assad regime. If the United States decides to support rebel action in Syria we should support the Kurdish people who consider themselves allies of the United States. They are proven friends from the Iraq war. They deserve an independent state.