Most Asked Questions
DIDN'T ISRAEL DRIVE OUT 600,000 PALESTINIANS AT GUNPOINT IN 1948 AND TAKE THEIR LAND? Most Arabs who left Israel did so under the orders of the Arab leader, the Grand Mufti (a former ally of Hitler) to withdraw and let the Arab armies "drive the Jews into the sea," which they attempted to do in 1948. However, Israel won that first Arab-Israeli war. Not all of the Arabs left. Many stayed, becoming Israeli-Arab citizens. Israel is now 18% Israeli-Arab. These Arabs have full citizenship rights, can own property, vote, and even have 14 representatives in the Knesset (the Israeli Parliament). Unfortunately, their unbridled birth rate will make them a majority within a generation or so and they may "democratically" vote the Jewishness out of the Jewish State! I'VE HEARD THAT SOME ISRAELIS SAY THERE IS NO SUCH THING AS "PALESTINIANS." HOW CAN THEY SAY THAT? Up until the 1967 war, the Arabs living in Israel did not even call themselves Palestinians. The name Palestine came from the Romans who destroyed the Jewish Temple in Jerusalem in 70 AD. To humiliate the Jews, the Romans renamed the land Palestine after their mortal enemies, the Philistines. The modern land of Palestine was given that name by the British when they took control over from the crumbling Ottoman Empire. In British Palestine, both Jews and Arabs were Palestinians.
The Palestinian Arabs west of the Jordan River rejected a 1947 United Nations plan for statehood on approximately half on what was then referred to as "Palestine." The Palestinian Jews accepted their half and formed the Jewish State of Israel in May of 1948. A war was then launched against this tiny Jewish State by the Arab-Palestinians and their Arab supporters from seven neighboring Arab countries. The end result was that the first Arab-Palestinian state [Jordan] took control of what is now the so-called "West Bank." Jordan held on to this territory from 1948 to 1967. NEVER did they offer to give the West Bank "Palestinian" Arabs a state of their own. And never did these Arabs on the West Bank ask for that state. Only after Jordan joined Syria and Egypt in the 1967 war to destroy Israel and after they lost this "West Bank" to Israel, did the Arabs on this land suddenly develop a "Palestinian" nationality!!! However, historically, the West Bank, which Jews call Judea and Samaria, is part of the ancient kingdom of Israel. It was NEVER part of any ancient Arab-"Palestinian" homeland! ISRAELI PRIME MINISTER ARIEL SHARON IS LOOKING FOR ANY EXCUSE TO INVADE AND SHOOT PALESTINIANS. WHY DID THE ISRAELI PEOPLE EVEN ELECT HIM?
WHY ARE THERE ARE SO MANY MORE DEAD PALESTINIANS THAN DEAD ISRAELIS? DOESN'T THIS PROVE THAT ISRAEL IS THE AGGRESSOR HERE?
WAIT A MINUTE! ISRAEL HAS A HEAVILY ARMED STATE-OF-THE-ART MILITARY AND THE PALESTINIANS ONLY HAVE ROCKS AND A FEW OLD GUNS. SHOULDN'T OUR SYMPATHIES BE WITH THE PALESTINIANS WHO ONLY WANT THEIR FREEDOM FROM OPPRESSION AND THE OPPORTUNITY FOR SELF-RULE?
DON'T THE ISRAELIS BUILD ROADS AND FREEWAYS THAT BYPASS PALESTINIAN VILLAGES AND THE PALESTINIANS AREN'T ALLOWED TO USE THEM? These roads do bypass them. They were built because when Israelis drive THROUGH Arab-Palestinian towns they are shot at or have rocks thrown at them. Boulders dropped from heights above the roads have also killed some. The ambushing of Israeli cars and buses has become a national past-time for Arabs. These bypass roads increase the odds that a Jew will make it to his home alive. EVERY TIME A PALESTINIAN WANTS TO GO SOMEWHERE THEY HAVE TO GO THRU AN ISRAELI CHECKPOINT. ISN'T THIS HUMILIATING FOR THE PALESTINIAN PEOPLE? Humiliating?US citizens have to wait two hours at checkpoints at the airport. It's called security against terrorism! One thing must be kept in mind. If there were no Arab terrorism against Israeli citizens, there would be no need for checkpoints. So if the Arab "Palestinians" have a problem with checkpoints, let them complain to Arafat! Or if he can't be bothered, have them contact Attorney Stanley Cohen who fights for the right of all Arab/Muslim terrorists to murder Jews! They don't prevent medical care. However, time and time again the Arabs have transported bombs and terrorists in ambulances so now they must be thoroughly checked. Israel gives free medical care to many Arab Palestinians. In Jenin last April, the IDF supplied blood to the hospital for wounded Palestinians. But the blood was rejected because the Palestinians would not use Jewish blood. So the IDF using military transports brought in blood from Jordan. This is hardly a Crime Against Humanity! THE ISRAELIS HAVE STOPPED THE PALESTINIANS FROM NORMAL COMMERCE, FROM EMPLOYMENT, AND NOW THEY ARE SUFFERING FROM FOOD SHORTAGES. HOW CAN THEY JUSTIFY THIS? Commerce and employment were higher when Israel controlled the area. In nine years with billions of dollars in aid the PA has failed even to feed its people. It has, however, made Arafat and his leadership wealthy thugs. PA warlords under Arafat control UN food allotments and even sell it on the black market. It has been the terrorist attacks that have made business as usual impossible and have hurt the Palestinian economy. Here again, if the average Arab "Palestinian" has a gripe, let them complain to those who supposedly "represent them"... or just contact Stanley Cohen. WHEN THE ISRAELIS SAY THAT THE ARABS ONLY WISH TO DRIVE THEM INTO THE SEA, AREN'T THEY JUST BEING PARANOID AND USING THIS EXCUSE TO JUSTIFY THEIR AGGRESSIONS AGAINST THE PALESTINIANS? 5.5 million Jews. 250 million Arabs. Missiles with germ and radiological warheads on Israel's northern frontier controlled by Hizbollah Muslims. Twenty-one terrorist attacks a day against common Israelis. The Arabs said "into the sea" in 1948 and even after Oslo. They really mean it. This is paranoid??? DIDN'T THE INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE IN DURBAN, SOUTH AFRICA CONDEMN ISRAEL AS A RACIST STATE? The conference was made up of Arab dictatorships pushing their own anti-Semitic agenda. The US and most of Europe boycotted the vote. Today, the United Nations is comprised of 70% dictatorships and even Syria, a well-known terrorist-sponsoring state, is on the Security Council! Libya, another Arab dictatorship and known sponsor of world terrorism, is head of the UN "human rights" commission which, by the way, includes other repressive regimes. THE PALESTINIANS AND THE JEWS HAVE BEEN FIGHTING FOR THOUSANDS OF YEARS. AREN'T THEY EQUALLY RESPONSIBLE FOR THE VIOLENCE? First of all, the term "Palestinian" is historically meaningless. It certainly does not distinguish between Jewish "Palestinians," Christian "Palestinians," Arab "Palestinians, etc. Remember, the Arab "Palestinians" are really just "ARABS!" When there was violence between the Jews and Arabs, it was always initiated BY the Arabs. The basic reason for this violence then (as it remains today) is the Arabss total rejection of ANY Jewish presence in what they consider an Arab/Muslim Middle East-- period. The Jews offer to negotiate peace while the Arabs are really just negotiating the end of Israel. No sane nation should be expected to negotiate away its own existence! THE SUICIDE BOMBINGS ARE TERRIBLE BUT AREN'T THEY DONE BY A SMALL HANDFUL OF EXTREMISTS? ISN'T IT WRONG TO CONDEMN ALL THE PALESTINIAN PEOPLE FOR THE ACTS OF A FEW?
WHY DOES ISRAEL PRACTICE COLLECTIVE PUNISHMENT AGAINST THE PALESTINIAN PEOPLE? Israel does not practice collective punishment. The security checkpoints are there solely to prevent more suicide bombings and attacks. During a reprisal, such as the bombing of a house from which sniper shots have been fired, a warning is given and THAT HOUSE is destroyed. Likewise, wanted criminals are found and executed since it is impossible to hold them accountable in a court of law under Arafat's regime. Often it is easy to determine the culprit.... the Palestinians carry them down the streets on their shoulders. The dead ones have posters praising them and streets are named after them. Contrast this with the almost daily attacks on Israeli civilians making all citizens fearful of going shopping for groceries, riding a bus or stopping in for a slice of pizza. Is not THIS the real "collective punishment!" I KNOW THAT THE ISRAELIS DON'T WANT TO DEAL WITH YASSIR ARAFAT, BUT DIDN’T THE MAJORITY OF THE PALESTINIAN PEOPLE ELECT HIM?
AREN'T THE JEWISH SETTLERS ON THE WEST BANK JUST AN EXCUSE FOR SHARON TO INVADE THE PALESTINIAN AREAS? AND GIVEN HOW MUCH OPPOSITION THE PALESTINIANS HAVE TOWARD ISRAELIS BUILDING HOMES ON THE WEST BANK, ISN'T SHARON JUST ENCOURAGING MORE SUICIDE BOMBINGS? Many Jews, especially the Orthodox Jews, believe the land of Judea and Samaria to be divinely given to the Jewish people. This is the same belief of many Righteous Christians. However, the Jewish settlements are on only 1.7% of the West Bank territory. While home-building by Jews is often given as a reason for conducting more suicide bombing attacks, does this sound even slightly reasonable? To commit suicide and mass murder to protest the building of homes by people of another religion when there is ample room for everybody? The "settlements" have residents who own homes and businesses. Why can't they stay as part of a state of Palestine and be Palestinian citizens as part of a peace settlement? The reason THIS will never happen is that the Arabs, who accuse democratic Israel of racism, repeatedly say NO JEWS may live anywhere in Palestine. THE CONFLICT BETWEEN THE MUSLIMS AND THE JEWS IS RELIGIOUS AT ITS CORE. ISN'T IT REALLY AN INSOLUBLE ISSUE MARKED BY RELIGIOUS INTOLERANCE ON BOTH SIDES? While there are sects of Islam which use passages in the Koran to justify the killing of "infidels," there are also passages in the Koran which forbid suicide. Other passages teach that lands given by the Lord to other peoples are given for a reason known only to God. Likewise, religious Jews, who remain fixed on prophesies of the rebuilding of the Jewish Temple, the return of the Jewish people to the State of Israel and the coming of the Messiah are not likely to give in to Arab pressure to leave their holy sites. For the Arabs it is a tribal affair of honor and vengeance. Racism is at its core. Racism is a sickness and sicknesses can be cured. Israel seriously wants peace with the Arabs, but not at the expense of her existence being whittled away bit by bit through terrorism until she is destroyed. The healing will come when the world focuses its energies on helping the Arab world to come out of generations of tribal warfare, the subjugation of women, illiteracy and feudal kingdoms. These are the conditions which spawn hatred of the Jews and is only slightly more vehement than their hatred of Christians. Above article by Lee Kaplan, founder of DAFKA, a new pro-Israel campus organization and Becky Johnson, a righteous gentile and homeless rights advocate and activist in Santa Cruz County California. Reprint permission and modifications granted to Masada2000.org
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