Arab/Israeli Conflict

[boblandis]

[Here are some conveniently overlooked facts in the current Middle East situation. As the conflict escalates, I will share more. I am gone to Minnesota to hold a conference on "Israel, Islam and the Church), speaking at 4 sessions.]

1. Israel became a nation in 1440 BCE, two thousand years before the rise of Islam.

2. Arab refugees began identifying themselves as part of a Palestinian people in 1967, two decades after the establishment of the modern State of Israel.

3. Since the Jewish conquest in 1400 BCE, the Jews have had dominion over the land for one thousand years with a continuous presence in the land for the past 3,400 years.

4. Jerusalem is mentioned over 700 hundred times in Bible. Jerusalem is not mentioned once in the Koran.

5. For over 3,000 years, Jerusalem has been the Jewish capitol. Jerusalem has never been the capitol of any Arab or Muslim entity. Even when the Jordanians occupied Jerusalem, they never sought to make it their capitol, and Arab leaders did not come to visit.

6. Two holy cities are spoken of by Mohammed, Mecca and Medina in Saudi Arabia. In a night vision, the prophet went to a far city and then ascended to heaven. In order to lay a false claim to Jerusalem, Moslem clerics interpret this obtuse reference as if it were fact.

7. King David founded the city of Jerusalem. Mohammed never came to Jerusalem.

8. Jews pray facing Jerusalem. Muslims pray with their backs toward Jerusalem.

9. Arab and Jewish refugees in 1948, the Arab refugees were encouraged to leave Israel by Arab leaders, promising to purge the land of Jews. Sixty-eight percent left without ever seeing an Israeli soldier.

10. The Jewish refugees were forced to flee from Arab lands due to Arab brutality, persecution and pogroms.

11. The number of Arab refugees who left Israel in 1948 is estimated to be around 630,000. The number of Jewish refugees from Arab countries is estimated to be the same.

12 Arab refugees were INTENTIONALLY not absorbed or integrated into the Arab lands to which they fled, despite the vast Arab territory. Out of the 100,000,000 refugees since World War II, theirs is the only refugee group in the world that has never been absorbed or integrated into their own lands.

Jewish refugees were completely absorbed into Israel, a country no larger than the state of New Jersey.

13. The Arabs are represented by eight separate nations, not including the Palestinians. There is only one Jewish nation. The Arab nations initiated all five wars and lost. Israel defended itself each time and won.

14. The P.L.O.'s Charter still calls for the destruction of the state of Israel. Israel has given the Palestinians most of the West Bank and autonomy under the Palestinian Authority, and has supplied them with weapons.

15. Under Jordanian rule, Jewish holy sites were desecrated and the Jews were denied access to places of worship. Under Israeli rule, all Muslim and Christian sites have been preserved and made accessible to people of all faiths.

16. The U.N. record on Israel/Arabs of the 175 Security Council resolutions passed before 1990, 97 were directed against Israel.

17. Of the 690 General Assembly resolutions voted on before 1990, 429 were directed against Israel.

18. The U.N. was silent while 58 Jerusalem Synagogues were destroyed by the Jordanians between 1948 and 1967.

19. The U.N. was silent while the Jordanians systematically desecrated the ancient Jewish cemetery on the Mount of Olives between 1948 and 1967.

20. The U.N. was silent while the Jordanians enforced an apartheid-like policy of preventing Jews from visiting the Temple Mount and the Western Wall between 1948 and 1967. These are incredible times.

We have to ask what our role should be. What will we tell our grandchildren what we did when there was a turning point in Jewish destiny, an opportunity to make a difference?

[Prime Number]

  I enjoyed the history lesson, however some of your interpretaions are questionable. You also ommitted much. If it were only that simple.......I wish it was.

Prime#

[boblandis]

What is omitted Prime? I'm curious.

[Two Lamps]

Thank you for this list boblandis.  If you don't mind, I'd like to share it with someone I know.  We recently had a discussion on the Israeli/Palestinian conflict.  He seems unaware of many of these facts and rejected those I brought to his attention.  He's attending a very liberal university and he's very young and I don't believe he's any more than a cultural christian.  I really wish I could bring the reality of the situation home to him and to others, but I suppose part of my failure to be able to do so is one of the signs of the times.  It's disheartening.  For now, I think that the best I can do is present my friend with reliable historical information.  If you guys have any suggestions, feel free to help out.

[Prime Number]

I was simply commenting on the many other incidents throughout history that make this 'situation' much more complicated. Sorry to be so abrupt.

Prime#

[boblandis]

I will agree with you there Prime. What is happening in the world hasn't been easy to swallow.

[Dhulker]

Let me respond to some of what you have said Bob.

3. Since the Jewish conquest in 1400 BCE, the Jews have had dominion over the land for one thousand years with a continuous presence in the land for the past 3,400 years.

The arabs have had a continuous presence there since they arrived.  Their heritage in Israel is much longer than mine in America, yet you dont see any americans being asked to go back overseas.

14. The P.L.O.'s Charter still calls for the destruction of the state of Israel. Israel has given the Palestinians most of the West Bank and autonomy under the Palestinian Authority, and has supplied them with weapons.

There are still many Israelis in power who call for the purging of the remaining arabs.  Also, anything that Israel gives the Arabs, it takes away a few years later (how can you call taking %40 of arab land away and giving it to Jewish settlers giving?).

10. The Jewish refugees were forced to flee from Arab lands due to Arab brutality, persecution and pogroms.

I'm sure the Palestinians would love to get away from Israel for the same reasons.

We have to ask what our role should be. What will we tell our grandchildren what we did when there was a turning point in Jewish destiny, an opportunity to make a difference?

That we gave both sides weapons to kill each other with, stood by and watched as Israel purged itself of what many believe to be ethnic impurities, that all of the nations who now hate israel continues to receive copius amounts of American Aid ($1-2 billion for Egypt last time I checked).  Also that the arab governments that we supported over time (the same ones who call for Israeli destruciton) are despotic monarchies who deny their people the most basic of rights.  And worst of all, how we used scripture to justify supporting this.

[JohnS]

10. The Jewish refugees were forced to flee from Arab lands due to Arab brutality, persecution and pogroms.

I'm sure the Palestinians would love to get away from Israel for the same reasons.

Would you like a list of the atrocities Jews suffered in Arab countries for as long as 2500 years. I have to warn you, it is quite long and makes the refugee camps in the West Bank look like Disney Land.

[Dhulker]

Would you like a list of the atrocities Jews suffered in Arab countries for as long as 2500 years. I have to warn you, it is quite long and makes the refugee camps in the West Bank look like Disney Land.

However long they are, that does not justify what the Israeli government is doing now.

[JohnS]

What would 1300 years of torture justify?