Great works of art can persuade people to believe that a lie is true, that good is evil, and that evil is good.
For example, the film Paradise Now, which I reviewed in these pages more than five years ago, is a brilliant piece of propaganda whose aim was—and still is—to support a (false) Palestinian “narrative” over and above its true Israeli counterpart. It is a powerful film, but one which does not serve the cause of truth so much as that of propaganda.
Director Hany Abu-Assad’s Israelis are all soldiers: ominous, hard-eyed, helmeted, armed, and in tanks. They are depersonalized and demonized. There are no exceptions.
On the other hand, Abu-Assad portrays even Palestinian suicide killers as soulful and compassionate. They are made to seem western, or “just like us.” Abu-Assad’s only female character is completely fictional, but that is why we “like” her. She dresses in a modern, sexy way, lives alone (this is not possible), and is a European-style “pacifist.”
The Big Lies never stop coming—packaged pleasantly, believably. Abu-Assad’s two sympathetic suicide killers tell outright lies: that Israel has consistently rejected a two-state solution when, in fact, it is the Palestinians who have; and that Jewish Israelis, not Muslim Arabs, have carried out “programs of ethnic cleansing.”
Omissions are as important as what is said. There are no bloody Israeli civilian body parts strewn about, no screams, no life-long pain. The film completely omits the fact that Muslim Arabs, including Palestinians, are continuously indoctrinated to hate both Jews and Israelis who, they have been told, poison the water, kill Muslim babies to use their blood for Jewish ritual purposes, harvest Palestinian organs, etc.
In Carmen bin Ladin’s book Inside the Kingdom: My Life in Saudi Arabia, she describes the indoctrination of her 7-year old daughter in Saudi Arabia:
When Wafah was seven or eight, I remember, I looked through her exercise book one evening and I found she’d written down, “I hate Jews. I love Palestine,” in her childish Arabic script. What was happening to my daughter. If she was going to hate somebody, I wanted her to have a good reason. The Arab-Israeli dispute was something she knew nothing about.
In Paradise Now, on camera, a taxi driver tells his passenger that Israelis have polluted the drinking water with anti-spermicides—not so different from what Mrs. Suha Arafat said when she accused Israelis of causing cancer and fertility problems among Palestinian women.
This same Palestinian “narrative” drives the film Amreeka, which premiered at the Sundance film festival in 2009. The Israelis are all bad; we only see them as soldiers and always at checkpoints where they harass, mistreat, and terrorize innocent, sympathetic Palestinian civilians. Again, there are no exceptions. There are absolutely no good Israelis, no innocent Israeli children–nor are there any Palestinians, including the suicide killers and their handlers who are less than soulful, charming, and sympathetic.
When director Cherian Dabis’ heroine, Muna, a Christian Arab from Bethlehem, flees to America, she and her son find that all Americans are anti-Arab and anti-Muslim. Their arrival at the airport in Illinois is fraught with snapping German shepherd dogs and suspicious officials and results in the loss of all their cash. There is hardly a frame that goes by in which Muna does not recite her bitterness about being “occupied” by Israelis, about the “Wall” they are building, nor a frame in which she and her sister, brother-in-law, and eldest neice do not rail against the Americans for having invaded Iraq.
However, unlike Paradise Now, this film actually has three—but no more than three—American exceptions. One is a dope-smoking African-American teenager who can identify with Arabs in terms of “racist Americans,” one is a “freaky” high school dropout who understands that traditional Americans are the real moral “freaks,” the third is the adult son of Polish Jews who really understands what racism is about and who comes to Muna’s rescue. Otherwise, all the Americans shown are cruel, hateful, and dangerous. Post 9/11, they do not hire very qualified Arabs and they stop patronizing a physician because he is an Arab.
On March 27, 2011, CNN broadcast a so-called documentary Not Wanted: The Muslim Next Door, which repeated many of these specific stereotypes. On camera, the Muslim men, including the imam, were all soft-spoken, soulful, compassionate, tearful, enormously likeable. There were absolutely no exceptions. No imam raged, yelled himself hoarse as so many do on satellite television. No southern Christian was presented as anything other than a relentless and violent bigot.
And now, we have Miral, a film which has garnered a huge amount of attention within a three-four day period in the New York area media. In interviews, the director, Julian Schnabel, defends his right to tell the Palestinian “narrative” for the first time. He seems not to know that many others before him have specialized in this particular line of work. But, people who do not know this may happily believe Schnabel. They may also believe that the same Israelis who are capable of alleged brutality towards Palestinians have, until Schnabel came alone, made sure that their version of the “narrative” is the only one out there.
What is the film about?
Miral is based on the the lives of four Palestinian women. The film begins with the period just before Israel’s declaration of independence in 1948 and ends just before the signing of the Oslo accords in 1993. The women are Miral’s mother, Nadia, who was battered and raped either by her uncle, husband, or boyfriend and then jailed by the Israelis for hitting an Israeli woman. Thereafter, Nadia commits suicide by walking into the sea. Miral’s father or stepfather puts her in an orphanage. These facts are purposely vague, and therefore, presumably unimportant, certainly far less important in terms of trauma than the “Israeli occupation” or the all-powerful misery at the checkpoints.
The second woman is Hind al-Husseini, (whose story is presented first). She is the founder of the Dar Al-Tifel home for Palestinian orphans; the third woman is Miral, a young woman who is raised in the orphanage and who comes of age during the first Palestinian intifada ( 1987-1993); the fourth woman, Fatima, is a female Palestinian terrorist who is serving three life sentences. Fatima blew up a movie theatre somewhere in Israel; she is Nadia’s prison friend. Fatima is presented as a sympathetic figure and as someone who once worked as a nurse in a hospital for injured Arab soldiers in 1967 when four Arab nations attacked Israel.
Are you being serious? Have you ever been to the West Bank or Gaza? Have you seen the effect of the occupation on the children in Gaza. Unless you have actually been there and seen it for yourself (which I have) then you are in no position to comment on what is true and what is a lie, in fact, I cannot believe the rubbish I have just read in your article. Can you please elaborate on the lies and provide actual evidence as to why they ar e lies?
When the Palis love their future, their childrens future and themselves more than they love spilled blood and the love to hate and murder Jews (and all the rest of us whenever they can BTW), then MAYBE there'll be peace in this area, until then, the Palis make sure it's not so by their actions.
Palis are the murdering puppets of the world…that's how I see them.
SND, have you ever been to any of the other stink holes called countries that are run by Muslims? Their conditions have nothing to do with Israel or Israelis. Only the ones who have petrodollars pull themselves up to better levels but then mainly to the few privileged who run the country. Wake up. Get real.
Have you ever seen and heard what they teach the children in Gaza? They teach them to be martyrs, to hate and kill Jews, to be suicide bombers, remove their consciences and use them for human shields. Then if bullets do fly because of Hamas constant barrage of launching rockets into Israel in hope of killing Israeli children and then unfortunately some of the children of Gaza are injured or killed, they scream, cry, moan, bewail their deaths. WHY?, when this is what they seem to be raising them for. Take some responsibilty yourselves. We are not ignorant of your evil devices. Stop right there. I already know what your next argument is. "OH then, you must hate Islam." See, we know your devices.
"Occupation in Gaza"? Surely you jest! Gazan Arabs are suffering with well stocked shelves and luxury malls. Gazan Arabs can't travel freely into Israel, perhaps to kill and maim Jews? Too bad! That is the suffering you refer to. Gazan Arabs voted Hamas to be their representative knowing that Hamas's goal is to kill as many Jews as possible. SND, you are the lie. You are a dupe that is used to spread BS. I have been there and I have seen what the Arabs "wanted" me to see. But guess what? Unlike you I am not stupid and ignorant. The Arabs have the opportunity to live in peace. All they have to do is say "We accept Israel's right to exist as a Jewish State". Wow! Such difficult words to say for a group of people that Hate Jews. Try it yourself, I am certain it's just as difficult for you to say. The effects of being taught to hate another group of people other than the fact that they are Jews is what is hurting the "children". Using children to kill or as human shields is what is deserving of "Are you serious?" Until you become rational I think you should go back under your rock.
All of the Gaza suffering comes from the Palestinians
You are a liar. I've lived in Israel and have seen the children, both Jewish and Muslim. Almost all the children there are suffering the terrible effects of TERRROR that causes the occupation. You and other bigots never talk about the Muslims living in Haifa, Tel Aviv, the little triangle, Lod, Acru, Galilee and so on who are successful business owners, are well-educated thanks to the Jews, and pay their fair share of taxes. Most of them want nothing to do with Hamas, Hezbollah and the other abusive-to-children and women who are heroes to you bigots.
Gaza is 'occupied' by Hamas.
"Have you ever been to the West Bank or Gaza? Have you seen the effect of the occupation on the children in Gaza."
Yes, and my question is what Occupation? Israel completely withdrew from Gaza in 2005. Since that time Israel has provided a "humanitarian lifeline" to the Gaza residents despite incessant terror attacks from Hamas.
For example, in the first quarter of 2010 (January-March), "94,500 tons of supplies were transferred in 3,676 trucks to the Strip: 48,000 tons of food products; 40,000 tons of wheat; 2,760 tons of rice; 1,987 tons of clothes and footwear; 553 tons of milk powder and baby food."
Food and supplies are shipped from Israel to Gaza six days a week, 52 weeks a year. In a typical week the IDF coordinates the transfer of "hundreds of trucks containing about 15,000 tons of supplies." For example, "during the week of May 18, 2010 there were more than 100 truckloads of animal food, 65 trucks of fruit and vegetables; 22 truckloads of sugar, some 27 truckloads of meat, poultry and fish; and 40 trucks of dairy products."
Israel also maintains a corridor for the transfer of "medical patients out of Gaza, and about 200 medical staff members go through the crossings every month." In 2009 alone, "10,544 patients and their companions left the Gaza Strip for medical treatment in Israel. Moreover, there were "382 emergency evacuations from Gaza for medical purposes."
Israel provides for the children of Gaza. The real question is, what effect is Hamas having on the children in Gaza?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YIBNRVgq59Y
But YOU HAVE WHITE BOY? YOUR UN FUNDED HAMAS CLOSE GAZA and KEEP ALL THE GOODS FOR THEMSELVES, WHILE CIA FUNDED FATAH KEEPS ALL THAT AMERICAN MONEY FOR LINING THEIR POCKETS.
SND, did you even read what Ms. Chesler wrote?
you can blame hamas for the conditon of gaza's children not Israel, they are the ones that launched 10,000 rockets not Israel so don't compare the two. Palestinians and arabs routinely teach hate in their classrooms and on their news. israeli cheildren are taught to respect life and to treat others as they treat you. the problem is that the muslims want to kill anything that isn't muslim and especially jews … they brainwash their children into thinking that is what g-d wants. the only rubbish here is the worthless dribble you wrote accusing Israelis of the crimes against humanity that occur everyday in muslim classrooms. Go back to Gaza and read the graffiti, its all death to israel , christains and the US .. thats what they teach children after they dress them up as sicide bombers and parade them around.
Fiction is more powerful than accurate history. A survey by Book of the Month Club and Library of Congress found that the 2 most influential books in American’s lives were the bible and Atlas Shrugged. We need to make our own powerful fiction…..a drama with Israeli heroes in a historically accurate backdrop.
The producer of that film is a Jew who fell in love with a Palestinian girl who twisted his weak mind to think through his crotch. The Jews need to adopt just one of the Muslim's practices – fatwas – to assassinate any of their own who are turncoats. We could adopt such practice in America, as well.
americans like to be entertained. they don't what it is about. furthermore, the lack of scholarship or any aspirations toward finding out what is true and what is false no longer exists.
You have hit upon a phenomenon that is strikingly like the German population regarding the Nuremberg laws (very anti-Jewish but for no reality-based reasons), and the 1936 Olympics, a Nazi-showcase production that Leni Riefenstahl put onto film.____What we have today are the "New Nazis", the new Julius Streicher's of propaganda, the new "Dur Sturmer" publications. The sad part is that a lot of people go to see this crap without even wondering what is behind it.____Both Hitler and Stalin understood the power of "propaganda", the "big lie" repeated so many times that it became an "assumed truth". Americans are among the most gullible people in the world, and that is being polite. In truth too many of them, even the so-called "educated" are dumb as dog crap, and continually prove it. Just look at the November 2009 election if you don't believe me.
Despite all talk about "the occupation", to go by the socio-economic data, that occupation was the best thing that ever happened to them. After taking over the Gaza Strip and the West Bank in 1967, Israel set to work dealing with long neglected infrastructure problems – building roads, laying in electrical, water and sewage lines, building schools and medical facilities. Looking at the period from 1967-1987, infant mortality dropped dramatically, average lifespan went up, as did rates of literacy. Agricultural output went up dramatically, as did average incomes. And there were no checkpoints.
1987, of course, marked the start of the first "intifada" and the emergence of Hamas. And 1993 marked the signing of the Oslo Accords and the arrival of Arafat and his Tunisian thugs, who quickly took over much of Palestinian life – for the worse. And as terror became a more common occurrence, checkpoints started going up. Whatever suffering "the occupation" has brought to them, it was their own doing.
As to Miral, the participants were also graced with positive interviews with Charlie Rose on PBS and Scott Simon on NPR. And of course the liberal Jewish/Israeli press pushed the film (The Forward, Tablet Magazine and Haaretz among them).
If you witness your parents being murdered in front of you, brutalised in front of you degraded in front of you as the palestinian children witness on a daily basis what is going to be their emotion if not hate? Wouldn't your children be full of hate? I lived in a muslim country for 5 years and none of you have a single clue what you are talking about. You are fed lies in the media on a daily basis and you believe it all. Lets think of the west bank for a second, the palestinians have lived there for as long as the jews, dont forget Palestinians also include Chrsitians and Jews. They live on a land under military control, their neighbour has a right to vote in the knesset because he is a Jew, he has the right to travel and work and build as a freeman because of his ethnicity, but the palestinian (christian or muslim) does not have this right yet his/her life is controlled by the decisions of the knesset, where he can set up home, what roads he can travel along, what towns he can visit within the west bank, the amount of water he can drink or use for his land, the amount of electricity he can use to light up his home/office. Now how would you react if it was you?
it's so obvious that you are either a liar (using taqiyya) or schizophrenic, or stupid. I vote on all three. Israel is the only real democratic country in all the Middle East where women can be people, do not have to marry at age 9 (or even 6 like your prophet of doom), and gays/lesbians do not get murdered for being different. Palestine is a Jewish word, SND, (does that stand for Sick Nazi Dreamer?), and the entire political line your muslim buddies are using is merely more of the 7th century and Nazi Germany anti-Semitism that you have used ever since the Jews refused to bow down to mohammad, piss be up in him.
the so-called 'palestinians' have, at the most, lived in the area for a few hundred years. Including a Turkish interlude when the area was "occupied" by the Ottoman Empire. They came from what is now Saudi Arabia. The word 'palestine' was a label that the Romans affixed to the Holy Land after the destruction of the Temple and the expulsion of may of the Jews. The word canot be pronounced correctly in Arabic which does not use the sound of "P". Arabs have to use a "B", as in "Balestine". I guess that perhaps had trouble with the sound of "F" which was the initial sound of the original Palestines AKA the Philistines or Filstines.
(cont) These people, the Philistines, arrived early on around 800 B.C. or so. They were sea-going people who sailed to what is now Gaza. These original Philistines were not Arabs, they were Mycenean Greeks, Veterans of the Trojan War. They disappeared when the Assyrians overran the area. The name "Palestinian" was concocted by Arafat. Very very recently.
The locals who had been known as Arabs now had a new politically persuasive name.There never was a "palestinian" state. "Palestine" was no more than the name of a __Roman Administrative unit. Then the name of an Ottoman admiistrative unit, and finally after the first world war, the name of a British controlled "mandate", a diverse territory where Arabs, Christians, and Jews lived mostly in villages. The original philistines disappeared a couple of millenia ago.
"If you witness your parents being murdered in front of you, brutalised in front of you degraded in front of you as the palestinian children witness on a daily basis what is going to be their emotion if not hate?"
Nonsense, Palestinians are not brutalized or murdered on a daily basis by Israel. In fact, the exact opposite is true. When Israel administered the Territories between 1967 and 1993, the Palestinian population grew dramatically as did its standard of living because of Israel's progressive, humanitarian policies. For instance, the Palestinian population exploded by over 80% from 1994-2003 alone!
Additionally, Israel that provided the economic aid and security necessary to allow the W. Bank to experience a economic and financial boom in 2008-2009 (unprecedented 9% economic increase) that continues to this day. Israel literally millions of tons in humanitarian aid to the Gaza strip (the equivalent of one ton of aid per Gaza resident).
Israel has gone to great lengths to protect Palestinian civilian life despite facing a terrorist war of extermination. Did you know the IDF values the life of Palestinian civilians over that of its own soldiers? As British Colonel Richard Kemp has noted: "I don't think there's ever been a time in the history of warfare when any army has made more efforts to reduce civilian casualties and deaths of innocent people than the IDF is doing…"
None of this would ever have happened if Israel's goal was to "brutalize" and "murder" Palestinians.
"They live on a land under military control…"
Nope, Gaza is governed 100% by Hamas and over 98% of the W. Bank is governed autonomously by the Palestinian Authority.
"their neighbour has a right to vote in the knesset because he is a Jew…."
Huh? You do realize that 20% of Israel's population is Arab and they have full and equal rights under the law including the right to vote. In fact, there are 2 Arab parties currently represented in the Knesset holding approximately 7 seats. Israeli Arabs have also held various government posts, including one who served as Israel’s ambassador to Finland and a deputy mayor of Tel Aviv. Oscar Abu Razaq was appointed Director General of the Ministry of Interior. Ariel Sharon’s original cabinet included an Arab minister, Salah Tarif. An Arab was also a Supreme Court justice. I
"but the palestinian (christian or muslim) does not have this right yet his/her life is controlled by the decisions of the knesset, where he can set up home, what roads he can travel along, what towns he can visit within the west bank, the amount of water he can drink or use for his land, the amount of electricity he can use to light up his home/office."
This is a LIE. Israeli Arabs have full and equal rights under the law in Israel. Palestinians in the W. Bank and Gaza are governed by the P.A. and Hamas respectively. Israel has never extended its laws to those territories. If Palestinians are restricted it is due to the policies of their respective Palestinian governments. As for Water, Israel issued a joint statement with Palestinians in January 2001 opposing any damage to water and wastewater infrastructure, and expressing the intent to ensure the water supply to the Palestinian and Israeli cities, towns and villages in the W. Bank and Gaza Strip. Since 2001, Israel has ensured Water, Electricity and Fuel is provided to the cities towns and villages in the W. Bank and Gaza Strip. Israel continues to provide these necessary utilities despite the fact that the Palestinians continue to wage a war of extermination against the Jewish state.
now how would you react if you had been living like this for over 60 years. A just and fair solution needs to be sought and by bringing the true plilght and struggles of the palestinian people and by stopping this apartheid state is the only answer. Only when the Palestinian children see their family living in dignity, when they have the ability to be educated properly and go to Universities, travel freely within their country and abroad, when they have hope and belief that they can achieve things in life, only then will the hatred stop, you cannot stop hatred through brutality and violance but through education and understanding and this film is trying to do that, open your mind and your eyes!
The suggestion that Israel is an apartheid state can be made only out of complete ignorance about apartheid. Today, within Israel, Jews are a majority, but the Arab minority are full citizens who enjoy equal rights and are represented in all the branches of government (including the Knesset, Cabinet, high-level foreign ministry posts and on the Supreme Court). Under apartheid, black South Africans could not vote and were not citizens of the country in which they formed the overwhelming majority of the population. Laws dictated where they could live, work and travel. And, in South Africa, the government killed blacks who protested against its policies. By contrast, Israel allows freedom of movement, assembly and speech and ensures equal rights and equal protection to Arabs under the law. In fact, Israel has instituted special affirmative action programs for Arabs to combat against any "private" discrimination.
Moreover, Israel never extended its laws to Gaza and the W. Bank, and thus Israeli law never governed these Palestinians who are not Israeli citizens. The Palestinians in the W. Bank achieved under Israeli administration. Hamas (unfortunately) controls the entire Gaza Strip, and the Palestinian Authority governs 98% of the W. Bank. Recall, the Palestinian Authority has its own legislature, administrative, educational and legal system. There is nothing that remotely resembles apartheid law!
Of course, if there is apartheid in Gaza and the W. Bank, then it was instituted by the Hamas and Palestinian leadership, NOT Israel.
I see you have all sat in a classroom in Gaza, wow well done, did you get copies of the teaching materials. Who on earth told you what they teach in the classes? Re ethnic clensing of the arab countries, before the creation of Israel in 1948, was there any ethnic cleansing of the Jews….no none, in fact as brothers the arabs (including christians) lived in peace with Jews, in fact through out history e.g. when the Moores ruled Spain the jews flocked to Spain to escape anti-semitism because they were protected by Islamic law look it up! So the troubles started when the Palestinians were removed from their land, is that suprising? Is it suprising that the other arab countries showed some support? Is it suprising that the Jews were encouraged to leave, look what is happening in Tunisia, Israel is trying to get the Jews to leave and Tunnisia has asked Israel to leave the Tunisian Jews alone, look at Iran are the Jews not protected there? They could leave if they wanted to? Arabs love Jews, they are the brothers of the Arabs or do you forget your own history too? They only hate what Israel is doing!
SND, your comments here show off your ignorance. There were over 3 dozen pogroms against the Jewish communities in Arab countries from 1840 (the year of the infamous Damascus Blood Libel) up until the declaration of the State of Israel in 1948. This includes the ethnic cleansing of Hebron in 1929 by Arabs whipped up by the highest Muslim religious authority in the land, the Grand Mufti Haj Amin al-Husseini. That's the same Grand Mufti who spent much of WW II as Hitler's guest in Berlin, raising divisions of Muslim SS soldiers to oppress Jews in the Balkans, and had plans drawn up for a Nazi concentration camp to be located near Nablus. After the establishment of Israel, about 800,000 Jews were forced to leave their homes in the Arab world, in most cases their homes, businesses, and community property was stolen by the Arabs. Mind you, in some cases, those Jewish communities predated the Arab invasion by over 1000 years! About half of those Jews migrated to Israel (the rest came to the West); they and their descendants now make up about 40% of Israel's Jewish population.
The Arabs have nothing to be proud of in terms of their treatment of minorities. Try learning some real history, not the tendentious nonsense you get from the Arabs.
Thank you Stosh. You saved me the painful effort to even try to make a command to this SND ignoramus and just pure useful idiot that is so buying the film's propaganda.
I grow up in Israel, I came from Europe, I KNOW what and why is happening in Israel and I am so sick and tired to see what is happening in American universities all across the country especially in California.
Most of those students know nothing about the history of the Jews or the Middle East or Israel, yet they get bombarded by the Muslim Brotherhood representatives on campus in the form of the Muslim Students' Organization.
This organization spreads lies on top of lies and no body stop them or protects the Jewish students from the open hostility and open anti Semitism, not even the American Jews, which are either ignorant, or just too leftists.
The TRUTH has no agenda, and does not need one and the situation today is very sad and very dangerous.
Thank you Stosh for taking the time to be informed!
"I see you have all sat in a classroom in Gaza, wow well done, did you get copies of the teaching materials."
Yes, I have copies of Palestinian textbooks and teaching materials – they are disgustingly racist, xenophobic and antisemitic. In fact a 2005 Congressional Statement found that Palestinian textbooks included references to the infamous Protocols of the Elders of Zion, failure to acknowledge the State of Israel, and failure to discuss Jews in sections dealing with religious tolerance.
http://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/Peace…
BTW MixChess, one does not have to go to Gaza to get to see what they teach the children in the school.
They teach that in Israel, in the Palestinian schools under the knowledge of the Israeli government that in their stupidity and fear of more criticism allows it!
You are absolutely correct, and now the Saudis are slowly infiltrating the education system in the U.S. to teach hatred, xenophobia and Islamic-supremicism to American children. Very scary indeed!
YEah, Yeah that's why family had to leave EGYPT in the 50s cause of Nasser's love for Jews. White boy.
Finally, how do Jewish people feel about Nazis? In Nazi Germany how were the Jews described in Nazi papers, they were dogs, animals, less than human they were dehumanised so that when the atrocities happened no one would feel anything for them……….wow when I look at the above comments there are many similarities, wouldn't you agree?
SND: You are a complete fool! Your comments reek of ignorance and since you claim to have lived in Muslim lands I take your ignorance as willful. Christians are being killed by Muslim Arabs DAILY. For you to deny this is ludicrous. Arab parents are not being killed by Jews daily and for you to imply they are is a complete lie. Arabs living in the "west bank" are NOT Israeli citizens and do not have the rights granted to Israeli citizens. It's too bad that Mexicans living on the border can't have the same rights as Americans. When the same "peaceful" Arabs you refer to step up and stop their brethren from killing Jews you can say "you see there are peace loving Arabs". You even try to deny that kids are taught to hate Jews and Israel. What is your problem? Do you really believe that if you say the same lie over and over again the people on this board will believe you? You are a fool and it's a shame that you don't see how ignorant you are.
Funny, because it is the Palestinian leadership, not Israel, who have adopted Nazi-like methods. They have resurrected the same anti-Semitic literature, racist incitement and dehumanization that the Nazis used against the Jews in the 1930's. Palestinian religious leaders call for the genocide of the Jews and praise Hitler in their sermons. These are broadcast repeatedly on official PA television. The Palestinians TARGET innocent civilians, murdering them for no other reason than that they are Jewish, just as the Nazis did.
I suppose it should come as no surprise that Mein Kampf is printed, sold, and distributed by a Palestinian publisher and ranked 6th on Palestinian best sellers' lists. Hitler is a folk-hero to many Palestinians.
The producer of that film is a Jew who fell in love with a Palestinian girl who twisted his weak mind to think through his crotch. The Jews need to adopt just one of the Muslim's practices – fatwas – to assassinate any of their own who are turncoats. We could adopt such practice in America, as well. What kind of comment is this, not only do you want to kill the palestinian you want to kill each other. 10 years ago no jewish person would have made this film, now look at all the anti Israel films made by Jews, check out the promise by channel 4 directed a jew, check out the louise theroux show ultra zionist these have aired in the last 2 months!
I am deeply grateful to the brave IDF heroes who fight on the front lines of global jihad for the entire Free World.
Col. Richard Kemp, a British commander in Bosnia and Afghanistan
stated: "The Israel Defense Forces did more to safeguard the rights of civilians in a combat zone than any other army in the history of warfare. " (Guardian-UK)
Goldstone Gaza Report: Col. Richard Kemp Testifies at U.N. Emergency Session http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NX6vyT8RzMo&fe…
Thank you, IDF for your extraordinary ethics! At the same time, I am very sad that many IDF soldiers have died because they made protecting Muslims civilians more important than protecting their own lives whilst in extremely dangerous situations. Whilst Islamo Nazis DELIBERATELY target Jewish civilians.
@SND I recommend that you read Jews of Arab Lands: A History and Source Book by Norman A. Stillman of the University of Oklahoma, Islam and Dhimmitude by Bat Ye'or, and The Legacy of Islamic Anti-Semitism by Andrew G. Bostom. When I first read these books I was definitely shocked to read that it was Arabs who were the first to make Jews wear yellow badges. Since we're talking about Spain, you should look into the Granada massacre of 1066, during which Muslims murdered thousand of Jews.
While it is technically true that Arabs are Semites, the term "anti-Semitism" refers to hatred of Jews specifically. My source for this is the dictionary.
I would second the recommendation to read Professor Stillman's book, as he is a mainstream scholar and presents both sides of the story. A decade ago, I was trying understand Arafat's refusal to consider Israel's extensive concessions for peace (instead he launched the 2nd intifada). Stillman documents the anti-Jewish invective that is in the Koran and the discrimination and debasement of all infidels inherent in early Islamic law as set out in the Pact of Umar. If Arafat had dared to conclude a peace agreement, he would have been murdered just as Sadat was.
The world hates Israel very much and is hungry for ever more anti-Israel propaganda. What the world doesn't understand is that anti-Israel movies made in Israel by Israelis are proof of the fact that Israel is a free country. It is free enough to produce people with all sorts of conflicting ideas, some of which are ridiculous. And it is extraordinarily free in the way it does not censor hostile propaganda despite the fact that it is threatened by its neighbors and by countries that don't share a border with Israel and have no quarrel with it–Iran, Venezuela, and North Korea, for example.
anyone who cannot recognize the difference between good and evil can easily go along with Islam and thereby, the "Palestinian cause." the goal is to destroy Israel and the Jews–one imam even said that he hopes all the Jews would go to Israel so he wouldn't have to go find them from around the world–he's not just evil and anti-Semitic, he's a lazy b_s_a_rd
That wasn't just some anonymous imam, that was Nasrallah, the head of Hezbollah. Hezbollah is the Iran-backed Shi'ite terrorist organization that now controls the government of Lebanon and has tens of thousands of missiles pointed at Israel. How long before he tries to provoke a war, as he did in 2006?
Wrong, the goal is not to destroy the Jews, the goal is to destroy zionism, big difference. Zionism is a racist movement and should be destroyed.
Uh, no. Nasrallah clearly said "Jews" and not "Zionists". So sorry to overturn so many of your cherished beliefs, SND, but you've been misinformed.
And Zionism is no more racist than any other people's national liberation movement. It is the recognition that after a millenium of oppression by both Christians and Muslims, the Jewish people must have their own sovereign state. If that bothers you, too bad.
In england we have th National Front, the BNP and a couple more national liberation movements that are all deemed racist. That is the difference between the UK and Israel. We actually understand what the term racist means, it means the beliefe that one race, religion, color etc should be treated better than another. Zionism has the same prinicples as these dispicable and appalling organisations that brainwash the week minded into believeing that being white is better than any other colour.
Nasralla has used both Jews and Zionist when addressing the public, most Jews are now Zionists which they were not just over 100 years ago, it is a generalisation which I do not agree with but I understand what he means!
Put your money where your mouth is and defeat the bigoted admirers of TERROR.
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The new marxist (old democrat) party here in America, along with Hollywood, the main- stream media have the propaganda machine going 24/7 against Israel, and all the western civilizations. They have a lock on all the textbooks from Kindergarten on. They are even in the churches where they claim to be devout Catholics but have no problem with abortion. They also have bought into "liberation" theology. No wonder we have become such a nation of pansies spouting political correctness and victimology. And now we have our White House stirring up trouble all over the world so that they and their marxist buddies can ride on a chariot and save us all from the chaos they themselves created. G-d help us all! He is on the side of good and He will win in the end.
In 627, Muhammad's followers killed between 600 and 900 of the Jewish men in Medina.
In 8th century Morocco, whole Jewish communities were wiped out by the Muslim rulers.
In 1066 in Granada, Spain, Muslim mobs razed the Jewish quarter of the city and slaughter its 5,000 inhabitants.
In the 12th century in N. Africa, the Almohads decimated several Jewish communities.
In 1465, in Fez, Morocco, thousands of Jews were slaughtered, leaving only 11 alive.
In 1785 in Libya, Ali Burzi Pasha murdered hundreds of Jews.
In the 19th century in Algiers, Jews were massacred in 1805, 1815 and 1830
In Marrakesh, Morocco, more than 300 hundred Jews were murdered between 1864 and 1880.
There were anti-Jewish progroms all throughout the middle east in the 19th century.
In the 1940's more than a thousand Jews were killed in anti-Jewish rioting in Iraq, Libya, Egypt, Syria and Yemen.
Need I really go on?
"Anti semitism dont make me laugh, Palestinians are semites or did you not know that!"
SND you are ignorant of the etymology of the term antisemitism. Antisemitism is "prejudice against or hostility towards JEWS often rooted in hatred of their ethnic background, culture, and/or religion."
While on the surface it may seem that the "antisemitism" is directed against all Semitic peoples, the term was coined in the late 19th century in Germany as a more "scientific-sounding term for Judenhass ("Jew-hatred"). It has always been used as a term for Jew-hatred specifically and never referred to other Semitic peoples.
So yes, the Palestinians can be (and many are) in fact antisemitic ("Jew-Hatred").
"What about the Settlers living in the west bank who are actual neighbours of the palestinains can they vote in the knesset?"
Settlers in the W. Bank also hold Israeli citizenship and thus can vote in Israeli elections and for parties to serve in the Knesset. Palestinians living in the W. Bank do not have Israeli citizenship, and most only have Palestinian Authority citizenship. Thus they can only vote in Palestinian Authority elections. Recall, Israel chose to never extend its laws to the W. Bank, and the Palestinian Authority governs the Palestinians in that territory – NOT Israel.
"Can the palestinain vote in the knesset?"
Israeli Arabs who are citizens of Israel (which make up about 20% of the Israeli population) have full and equal rights under the law and can vote in Israeli elections and vote for members of the Knesset. Palestinians living in Gaza and the W. Bank are not governed by Israeli law, but by Hamas and the P.A. respectively – they can vote in elections (if they ever hold them) for those governing institutions.
From the time that the Roman Emperor Hadrian in 135 A.D. changed the name of Judea to Palestina, to forever wipe out all memory of Judea and the Jews, and outlawed Judaism, after he had defeated the last Jewish rebellion under Bar Kochba, "Palestine" was synonymous with "land of the Jews" or "the Holy Land," and "Palestinian" was synonymous with "Jew." That is why the Zionists wanted to go to Palestine and that Great Britain was awarded the Palestine Mandate after World War I to be the "homeland of the Jews."
In 1964, in Cairo, the Soviet Union and Egypt's Gamal Nasser invented the "Palestine Liberation Organization" with all the phony history and propaganda to go along with it, like calling Arabs "Palestinians."
Israeli Arabs have all the civil rights that all Israelis have, including the right to vote.
No, Arabs have not lived in the land of the Jews as long as Jews have. The Arabs came after the 7th century A,D. (1300 years ago), with the conquests of Mohammedans, while Jews have been there since the days of Abraham, say, 19th century B.C.
The Arabs drove the Jews out of Arab countries after Israel was established in 1948, about 500,000. The Israelis did not drive Arabs out of Israel.
SND fess up and give us ALL of the suras in the Quran about the Jews please. Lets see where the hate began
SND – Leigh, just because I am a palestinain it does not make me a muslim but I have read the Quran and in it the Jews are descrived as Gods chosen people but they have lost their way. Why is that a palestinian born in Jaffa is not allowed to return to his home yet a a Jew from Tunisia is paid $5,000 for twi years plus benefits if he moved there, is that not racism? If a Jew wanted to move anywhere in the world can he? If a Palestinian wanted to move to Israel can he? That is racism, that is apartheid, the Jews have lost their way, the insecurity and fear that has continually developed over generations following a history of brutality means that you are all blind to the terror you inflict on others.
In the same Koran, Jews are also described as "the sons of apes and pigs", "filth", and "cursed". So which is it, SND? I understand some imams like the first phrase, which dehumanizes the Jews, making it easy for Muslims to oppress them.
As far as not being able to go to Jaffa, I can't say I'm sympathetic. Why not ask your Arab brothers, who terrorized their own indigenous Jews into fleeing, to let you reside in one of the houses they stole? Israel took in those refugees; ask your brothers why instead of taking you in, they forced you to live generation after generation in UNWRA camps? After all, its not like they didn't have room, just look at a map to see how small Israel is compared to the Arab world. No, the Palestinian refugees were deliberately left to fester in those camps in order to produce the hate that has manifested itself in innumerable terrorist attacks.
By the way, did you know that Jordan (which made up over 75% of the original Palestinian Mandate) was set up by the British (at Arab insistence in 1922, when it was still called Transjordan) as Jew-free zone? Several Jewish communities that were east of the Jordan had to pick up and move west back then. To this day, no Jew can own land in or become a citizen of Jordan. Now that's real apartheid! If Jordan can exist like that, what's wrong with having Israel as a state for the Jewish people. Calling Israel racist while ignoring Jordan is hypocritical, to say the least.
Only when you learn to love instead of hate will you truly be gods chosen people! A land without a people for a people without a land, what a lie, the country has always been populated by peopleof all religions. The funny thing is, if you took a DNA test of a palestinian muslim and a palestinain jew it would show that they have the same ancestory, the only difference is at some point in history the Jew followed the Torah and Muslim converted to Islam, and in terms of terror check the numbers of palestinian children killed and injured since the year 2000 and compare that to the number of Jewish children?
"…and in terms of terror check the numbers of palestinian children killed and injured since the year 2000 and compare that to the number of Jewish children?"
Which side has more casualties has nothing to do with who initiates and perpetuates the violence. Since the outbreak of the second intifada, more Palestinians than Israelis have been killed only because Israel has managed to thwart most Palestinian terrorist attacks. If Israel reduced its anti-terrorism measures, Israeli casualties would FAR surpass those of Palestinians. From 2000 to 2003 alone there were over 30,000 attempted terror attacks on Israeli civilians. From 2000-2009 there have been over 8,000 rockets fired from Gaza into Israel.
Which side has more casualties has nothing to do with who initiates and perpetuates the violence. Since the outbreak of the second intifada, more Palestinians than Israelis have been killed only because Israel has managed to thwart most Palestinian terrorist attacks. If Israel reduced its anti-terrorism measures, Israeli casualties would FAR surpass those of Palestinians. From 2000 to 2003 alone there were over 30,000 attempted terror attacks on Israeli civilians.
The fact that the Palestinian Authority and terrorist groups have not succeeded in killing more Israelis does not mean they have not consistently tried to do so.
Of course, the truth is in the numbers… It is estimated that from 2000-2009 over 70% of Israelis killed by Palestinian terrorism were civilians, whereas less than 30% of Palestinians killed were civilians. Palestinians target innocent Israeli civilians, Israel targets terrorists – big difference.
I have just re-read some of the comments and you are all so ignorant and blind to the truth, you are all fed liles from the zionist propoganda machine, the future of Israel as a Jewish state will come to an end, what will take its place is a peaceful true democratic country that the whole world will want to emmulate, then you will all truly become gods chosen people, think about it, once you get rid of the fear and insecurity that breads hate in all of you and allow yourselves to trust people from other races and religions only then will there be peace. The palestinians never ever had anything but love for the jews until the creation of Israel in 1948 (the Nakba).
"the future of Israel as a Jewish state will come to an end, what will take its place is a peaceful true democratic country that the whole world will want to emmulate."
Israel is already a secular democracy that the World (including Palestinians) want to emulate. Despite all their criticism, when asked what governments they admire most, "more than 80 percent of Palestinians consistently choose Israel because they can see up close the thriving democracy in Israel, and the rights the Arab citizens enjoy there. By contrast, Palestinians place Arab regimes far down the list, and their own Palestinian Authority at the bottom."
"The palestinians never ever had anything but love for the jews until the creation of Israel in 1948 (the Nakba)."
What? Palestinian violence against Jews goes back at least to the 1920's when Arab riots literally killed hundreds of Jews! Learn your history, you are completely ignorant.
MixMChess, Let me tell you about the history, boat loads of European Jews came to Palestinian in the early 1900 for the sole purpose of ethnically cleansing the country by force to make it a Jewsih State. If I came to your home with a gun what would you do? Most fled some stayed and fought back and some managed to keep their homes (which are now the Arab israeli's who stay there not because they love living in a Jewish state but because they have always lived there so why should they leave. Those that fled are the refugees and it is these people that want to come home, me included. A true secular democracy is a country not based on ethnicity or religion so how can a Jewish State be a secular deomcratic state? It goes against what a true democracy is! Am I against a Jewish state, yes I am just as much as I am against a moslem state, a white only state, a black only state, a christian only state. A Jewish state is a racist state end of story, just like a white state would be racist or a moslem only state would be racist!
Really, SND, how are we the ignorant ones…specifics, please. You're the one who's been brainwashed since birth with hatred of Israel and the Jews. That's in your own school textbooks and your imam's khutbas. The truth is that the Jews have been oppressed in Muslim and Christian lands for over 1000 years; that is the reason for the establishment of Israel. You talk about getting rid of fear and insecurity…only after you ditch the hatred of Jews that is endemic to your culture. You say its not there? Please, we translate what your political, religious, and academic leaders say…don't insult our intelligence.
Tell me, have you ever talked with Jewish refugees from the Arab world? When growing up in the U.S. in the '60s, I had friends whose families were Egyptian Jewish refugees, and in the course of my working career I had as colleagues Jews who had fled Algeria and Iraq. I know whereof I speak. Do you?
Stosh, the Jews have not been persecuted in the Moslem world until the European Jews started the ethnic cleansing of Palestine. In fact the Jews were protected in Moslem countries before this happened. Your translations are wrong, yes there is now a lot of hatred for Zionism, even Iran deferentiates between Jews and Zionism, the Jews in Iran are protected more than Sunni Moslems are. Zionism is clearly a racist movement full stop! It is stated in the Quran that the people of the book are tobe protected, and the Jews are called Gods chosen people throughout the Quran but they have lost their way, and although I do not follow the Islamic religion I certainly can see why that is true! Also being Palestinian,I have a lot of Paelstinian friends and none of them think any differently to me. So instead of reading all your hate filled rubbish about what Palestinians think, why not actually speak to palestinians.
You're just repeating arguments that I and several other commenters have already refuted. And frankly, you can tell me all you want about what Palestinians think, the material you get at school, in mosques, and from your political system has been well documented, so why should I believe you? When you say that Zionism is a racist movement, you are saying that alone among the peoples or the world, the Jews have no right to a sovereign state. That statement in itself is racist. If you believe it, you are a racist, full stop.
Don't lecture me about the Koran, Over the years I've compared 3 different English translations, and it says many different things about the Jews, very little of it positive and much of it downright racist.
As far as what I read, much of it is just translations of what your political and religious leaders say in Arabic, plus results of polls done by Shikaki and others. My dealings with Moslems (as an engineer 3 decades ago, I knew several) showed me that they tailor their words to their audience, telling me how well Jews were treated in their home countries (Lebanon, Egypt and Iran, specifically). I found out later that it was when they talked to Christians, their hatred of Jews and Israel came out. Feel free to draw the appropriate inferences.
One more thing, if the current Iranian regime is so wonderful to its Jews, why is it that far more Iranian Jews live in the Los Angeles area than in all of Iran? I can tell you that there were very few there before 1979. Its a shame, because there have been generally friendly relations between Jews and Persians for 2500 years, since the days of King Cyrus.
If Iran is so terrible and Israel has offered the Jews there cash to move, why are they still there? And when did I say Iran was wonderful? I dont think that it is! Secondly, I have reada many translations of the Quran and they are all translate it wrong that is why the translations are different, learn arabic then read it then come back and tell me what it says! Zionism is racist because I am not allowed to live there because of my race. In true democracies no one is descriminated against because of his race therefore Zionism is a racist movement, if its not then why am I not allowed home?
SND, you continue to spew the same lies and appear so arrogant about it! Most Jews left Iran soon after the Khomeini takeover. What is left is a small and vulnerable remnant, who are understandably careful not to provoke the regime in any way. And as far as the Koran is concerned, the Bible has been successfully translated into many languages, but the Koran can't be? Please, your argument is typical self-serving nonsense usually presented by Muslims. If three different English translations (all done by Muslims, by the way) can't get close, then why shouldn't I conclude that that book is gibberish?
As for why you are not allowed to go back to what you claim is your former home in Israel, why should you be? You are clearly opposed to the existence of the State of Israel, there is no law or principle that says one has to allow one's enemies to infiltrate. About 20% of Israel's population consists of Arabs and other non-Jews who neither fled nor took up arms against the new State. Fortunately, the Arab states, who openly threatened genocide against the Jewish community of Israel (see comments from Arab League leaders during that period), lost. You and/or your ancestors made the wrong choice. If (G-d willing) there is a peace settlement concluded between the Palestinians and Israel, your circumstances will change.
Some more history for you: In the aftermath of WW II there were 40+ million refugees and displaced people. This includes over 10 million Hindus and Muslims on the Indian subcontinent, millions of Germans pushed to the west by the Russians, Karelian Finns who were forced west into today's Finland (also by the Russians), Jews displaced by the Nazis and by anti-Jewish riots in the Arab world (yes, before the creation of Israel), etc etc. All of them were resettled by 1960 in the lands of their brethren, or in the West…all except the Palestinian Arabs. The truth, SND, is that your Arab brothers hated the Jews and Israel so much, even back then, that they thought nothing of making your family and thousands of others pawns in their political game. They refused the 1947 UN partition agreement, and refused Israel's offer to return the captured territories in exchange for recognition after the 1967 war. In recent years, your Palestinian leadership refused Ehud Barak's very equitable land for peace offer in 2000, before the 2nd intifada, and also refused to acknowledge the goodwill inherent in Israel's voluntary exit from Gaza in 2005. Instead your people elected Hamas there, an organization whose very charter includes Muslim scripture that calls for genocide of the Jews. You talk a lot about racism…now that's racism…but democratically elected, of course.
Stosh, Israel was created on stolen land through terror and continues to terrorise a nation of people of daily basis. I do not want the destruction of anything I want peace and I want to go home. The reason why I can't go home is because I do not claim to be Jewish, That is racism pure and simple. European Jews, African Jews, American Jews are all allowed to settle in Israel but as someone who actually comes from there, my ancestors have always been there I am not allowed to go (and dont you dare tell me they didn't, I know my ancestory far better than you do!) Are we not all human beings? Does that not shock you that a state in this modern day, when human beings are educated and informed, and after all the history including what happened in Germany, a state can still behave in this way. What you are telling therefore is that what Hitler did was fine, that there are no lessons to be learned from that as human beings, that we shouldn't move forward and treat all human beings as equals and never allow anything like that to happen again to anybody?
Am I shocked, no not at all, it proves my point and as the world watches and learns and as the Jewish people see the truth, as is happening now, the state of Israel as a racist state will be no more and I will be allowed home. 10 years ago there were only a handful of Jews that spoke against Israel two prominant ones being Finklestein and Chomski, now there are far too many to count. Israel's days as a zionist state are numbered, in fact Zionism's days are numberd and there will finally be PEACE in the region, something that you seem to be fighting against!
"we only see them as soldiers and always at checkpoints where they harass, mistreat, and terrorize innocent, sympathetic Palestinian civilians."
You're kidding! A movie told from a Palestinian POV presents Israelis the only way Palestinians get to see them? How absolutely surprising!
The thing that frustrates SND and all the Israel/Jew-haters is the fact that Israel is the reality on the ground. Israel isn't going away. Israel has the support of its people, the most powerful military in the region, and one final weapon … nuclear weapons. In 2013, Israel will have a friend in the White House, again (Conservative/Tea Party America will see to that).
Israel is reality on the ground.
So, dream of your Palestinian "paradise" all you wish. Israel isn't going away …
Think I’ll not vote for Mr. Obama next election.
Where are you all educated? None of you are very bright are you? Where in any of my posts did I ever say that I hated Jews? Do you find reading and understanding words difficult? No wonder it is so easy to brain wash you? You are all selfish people, who put themselves first before anything else, do you not have any humanity?
SND, you've been unable or unwilling to to cite any facts to challenge our knowledge of the long and violent history Arabs have in oppressing Jews. All you do is call us uneducated, stupid, brainwashed, and haters lacking in humanity. Those ad-hominem attacks show the weakness of your argument. You need to learn some real history and understand how many places Jews have been oppressed and dispossessed, including Palestine. Why are you so against the world having one state for the Jews, when there are over 20 Arab states, including some where Jews are openly discriminated against, like Jordan and Saudi Arabia? The notion that the Jews have no right to a state (which is essentially the point you are making) is itself racist. It is unfortunate that the actions of your forebears and others over more than a millenium made Israel a necessity, but that's the reality.
Oh, and I have two advanced degrees (engineering and business); all my post-secondary education was at Ivy League schools. I'll put my education and smarts up against yours any day of the week, since clearly you are unwilling to learn, even when you are confronted with facts that disprove the fairy tales you've been brought up with. Again, learn some real history; Stillman's books are a good place to start.
what do Mexicans living in Mexico have to do with this? ok i get it Jews are Palestinians. like Mexicans are 1st nation people just like Jews are in Palestine. so you are saying that the Jews are the original owners of the land.
John, in some cases Paelstinian Jews owned land just as Palestinian Christians owned land as did Palesinian Moslems own land, not sure what your point is, my point is clearly that all the European Jews that had no connection with the land, have now stolen most of the land from the Palestinians (whatever their religion). But my main point that you seem unable to grasp is that today in the west bank you have Settler Jews living next door to Palestinains, the settler jews can vote in the knesset etc the Paelstinians can't. The whole area, be it Land, air water etc is controlled by the Knesset therefore this is an apartheid state. It really is very simple and very easy to grasp
Actually, SND, that's not true. Most of the land in the Palestinian Mandate was state land, not owned by any individuals. When the State of Israel was established, that state land naturally came under the auspices of the state. In any case, whatever land may have been taken from the Arabs who fled from Israel during the War of Independence is less than the amount of property stolen by the Arabs from the Jews of Iraq, Syria, Egypt, Libya, Algeria, etc. during the expulsions that followed Israel's creation. You have a problem with Israel? Go to your Arab brothers and ask what they did with the Jewish homes, businesses, and community property they stole.
As far as Arab voting rights in the disputed territories are concerned, I know of no country that allows non-citizens to vote. The reason that there were no Jews there before 1967 is that they had been ethnically cleansed by Arab mobs (from 1929 Hebron) and Arab armies (1948, from Etzion bloc and east Jerusalem, where over 50 synagogues were destroyed). The list of Arab crimes against the Jews is long, and far outweighs anything done by "European" Jews, who for some reason had been praying to return to the land of Israel for nearly 2000 years, in re-establishing their state.
Tell you what, SND. Let the so-called "Palestinians" wander the world for 2000 years and if after that time they can still remember who they are, they can have it back. Given that all the surrounding peoples are Arabs who speak the same language, follow the same religions, and have similar cultures to the "Palestinians", the odds would seem to heavily favor their just blending in. But that's what the Jews didn't do. Whether Ashkenazi, Sephardi, Mizrahi, etc., after 2000 years of wandering, the Jews still knew who they were and where they were from.
Firstly you say that the land was state owned prior to 1948, yet you tell me that there was no state before Israel in 1948, which state owned it prior to 1948? The land was owned by the people living there therefore it was stolen at the creation of Israel. Secondly, most Jews left arab country's after the creation of Israel they were not expelled, however there was abviously some terrible actions taken against the Jews by the Arabs but as you say this happened after the creation of Israel as a direct result of what had happened to the Palestinians, the fact is, once Israel allows the Paelstinians the right of return the Jews who were treated badly should either be compensated or allowed to return to the land that they originate from, my prefence is that they should return home. Trust me, we will return to home if it takes us 2000 years but I doubt that it will!
There are a couple more things to read, to add to Stosh's suggested reading list. 1. Martin Gilbert's new book, 'In Ishmael's House' – 'the tale of Gilbert's book is that of the humiliation heaped on Jews by Muslim rulers over 1, 400 years, largely through the subjugation known as 'dhimmitude'. Under Sharia law, non-Muslims are referred to as 'dhimmis', regarded as a lower category of people, and therefore subject to institutionalised discrimination (which, btw, includes the fact that dhimmis are forbidden to keep and bear arms, and are not permitted to strike a Muslim under any circumstances – i.e. they have NO right of self-defence – and in court the word of a Muslim always trumps that of a dhimmi, which means that Muslims were essentially free to prey upon dhimmis with absolute impunity – my note, dda). In many cases the rigorous codes set up to enforce this were more humiliating even than the segregationist rules imposed on black South Africans by the apartheid system". [From the review of 'In Ishmael's House' which appeared in The Times]. And here is the testimony of Maimonides in his letter to the – cruelly persecuted – Jews of Yemen, who were being threatened with forced conversion to Islam, ca. 1200 AD: "God has hurled us in the midst of this people, the Arabs, who have persecuted us severely, and passed baneful and discriminatory legislation against us…Never did a nation molest, degrade, debase and hate us as much as they…we were dishonoured by them beyond human endurance and had to put up with their fabrications..our sages instructed us to bear the prevarications and preposterousness of Ishmael in silence…We have acquiesced, both old and young, to inure ourselves to humiliation…All this notwithstanding, we do not escape this continual maltreatment [that is, maltreatment inflicted on the Jews **by the Arab Muslims** - dda] which well nigh crushes us. NO matter how we suffer and elect to remain at peace with them, they stir up strife and sedition…" – Iggertet Taiman, Epistle to Yemen, ed A S Halkin, trans. B Cohen, New York, 1952, p. 18.
Oh yes, and the massacre (including gang rapes of minor girls, and gross mutilations of the living and dead victims) of the Jews of Hebron by the Arabs in 1929 was not the first such pogrom by Muslims against Jews in eretz Israel, by a long chalk. At the end of the 18th century the local Arabs violently persecuted the dhimmi Jews in the Land, causing many to flee. In 1833-34, Arab Muslim mobs carried out murderous pogroms against the unarmed, peaceful, scholarly dhimmi Jews of Safed in the Galilee. That was under Turkish rule; yet bad as it was, it was preferable to life in Muslim Persia – in that same year, 1834, Jews from Persia fled to eretz Israel after others had been forced to convert to Islam in Persia. Note – in the yeas before 1840 there were systematic attacks upon Jews in eretz Israel, carried out both by Muslim authorities and also by the local Arab Muslim mobs. All of this, of course, happening when the Jewish community in the land was essentially defenceless, unarmed, deeply dhimmified, and BEFORE any significant migration of Jews from Eastern or Western Europe into the Land. We can go back to 1625-1627 and discover that under the Ibn Farouk Muslim family's rule of Jerusalem, the Jewish community was persecuted unmercifully – Muhammad ibn Farukh persecuted the entire Jewish community in the land of Israel, extorting huge sums of money, and jailing and torturing anyone who could not pay what he demanded. There were 2500-3000 Jews in Jerusalem in 1625 – by 1627 the Farukh persecution had reduced this to a few hundred. So much for SND's claim that the Arabs/ Muslims loved the Jews as their 'brothers' and 'protected' them, prior to the formation of the modern Jewish state of Israel.
SND is nothing more than a typically brazen, stony-hearted Muslim Big Liar: lying till he's black in the face, using Turnspeak and projection from start to finish. I bet he knows damn well that Muslims – Arab Muslims, Persian Muslims, any kind of Muslims – suck in Jew-hatred with their mothers' milk and that Jews in Muslim lands were hated and humiliated, ruthlessly exploited and periodically mass-murdered – and sometimes force-'converted' – and that Jewish girls were constantly kidnapped, raped, and forcibly 'married' to Muslims, all the way through Islamic history, starting with what Mohammed did to the peaceful Jewish farmers of the Khaybar Oasis.