| January 5 |  |
Editor says, In which we continue our Israel60 thread by returning to the Jewish Colony in Alaka a week after it has reverted to the United States, as Michael Chabon envisages in his ingenius novel, "The Yiddish Policemen's Union". Please note that the opinions expressed in this post do not necessarily reflect the views of the author(s).
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In 2010, on this day sixty years after the Slattery Report (the Problem of Alaskan Development), recommended the provision of land in Alaska for the temporary refugee settlement of European Jews who were being persecuted by the Nazis during World War II, the first citizens of the newly formed Federal District of Sitka exercised their newly obtained right of return to Palestine.
Right of ReturnBecause under the arrangements for the "Reversion", on the stroke of midnight 31st December 2009, the sixty year lease on the independent Jewish settlement created on the Alaskan coast had expired. The Acting Mayor of the Federal District of Sitka Sarah Palin had reached a broad settlement with both the Tlingit Alaska Natives and also the Governments of Palestine and Jordan.
"Jerusalem, a city of blood and slogans painted on the wall, severed heads on telephone poles"Unsatisfied by the American lease, at the climax of World War Two Zionists sought to create a Jewish Homeland in Palestine. Their expectations had been unfairly raised by the Balfour Declaration, in which the British Government stated that whole of Mandatory Palestine would become the Jewish National Home. But by the time the State of Israel was declared, Britain was committed to the Hashemite Kingdom of Transjordan. Five Arab armies immediately attacked the new nation including the Arab Legion headed by a British Officer, John Glubb.
After months of savage fighting, an Arab Palestine State was created. But the so-called "West Bank" of Jordan, comprising East Jerusalem, Samaria and Judea remained Jordian "occupied territories". Jewish institutions and houses of worship were destroyed, and inhabitants expelled. And it was the grand children of those Palestinian refugees that travelled to Sitka who were now offered a right of return negotiated by Sarah Palin.
During the sixty years since the failed attempt to create a Jewish homeland in Israel, Sitka had thrived. Undoubtedly the high point of Jewish Civilization was the "Safety Pin", a tall building erected for the 1977 World Fair held in Sitka and a source of pride for its inhabitants.
This article is a part of the Sitka thread.
Entry posted by Todayinah Editor
© The Yiddish Policemen's Union, Michael Chabon (2007), Arabian Fables, published by Facts and Logic about the Middle East (Flame)
Story Tags
Permalinks: Post, Day. Browse Thread: Sitka Source: Wikipedia Labels: Israel, Sitka, Slattery Report, America, Alaska. Editor says, Please note we extended the lease from fifty to sixty years to bring Sarah Palin into the timeline. Given her role in Alaska it would add more excitment to a McCain-Palin Campaign Ticket, perhaps.
~ They weren't interested in Birobidjan, so why would they be interested in Alaska?
~ a) In the novel the the death of Anthony Dimond, Alaska Territory delegate to the U.S. Congress, in a car accident (in our ATL he voted against)
b) Yes a number of options had been declined e.g. British Uganda Programme. My suggestion for this thread is fall of Cairo to Rommel, whereby the Final Solution comes to Palestine thus forcing movement to Alaska. Agree this is counter intuitive from a 1948 perspective so assume Germans are defeated by Monty in Palestine have only just started the genocide.
~ OK. Think fast - you are a Jew in Germany, Poland, Austria whatever. It is 1938 after Kristalnacht. Europe is clearly sliding towards war and Hitler hates your kind. The rest of east central Europe doesn't especially lie your kind much better. However you reject Stalin's 'hospitality'. Does this mean you would turn down being in the worst part of the USA? Not a chance. Alaska is better than waiting for the next pogrom and doesn't have commisars or purge trials.
~ Britain was committed to Transjordan since 1921. Once they gave up on the Mandate, British ambitions were to expand Transjordan to the sea from Jaffa to the Egyptian border. They wanted Jerusalem for the Hashenites, but were not interested exterminating the entire population. They would have halted the Egyptians and left the Galilee and coast to Tel Aviv in Jewish hands. A major massacre was not in their interest. As an expert in the 48 war, I believe that while the war was extremely difficult for the Jews, I don't think that the war was ever in doubt. Despite their massive advantages in arms, manpower, and training, the Arabs simply lacked the tenacity and the flexability to take on the Haganah.
~ There was substantial opposition to this proposal not only among non-Jewish Americans but also among American Jews. Influential figures like Rabbi Steven Wise feared that this proposal would be seen as a scheme for allowing Jews to "take over" part of the USA--and indeed non-Jewish opponents of the plan did cast it in that light. This was a period, remember, when Jews--even Jewish refugees from Hitler--were largely barred from immigrating into the U.S.
What divergence might have changed people's minds?
© Today in Alternate History, 2013-. All characters appearing in this work are fictitious. Any resemblance to real persons, living or dead, is purely coincidental.
