It’s so sad to witness the current state of the world: wars/conflicts in the Ukraine, Sudan, Yemen, Congo, India/Pakistan, Israel/Palestine and Syria … to name just a FEW.
In Syria’s civil war alone, troops from Russia, Iran, the United States and Turkey are also actively involved, and more than 300,000 have been killed, including 12,000 children dead or injured.
But in ALL these terrible conflict zones, there is ONLY ONE jurisdiction … the Palestinian Territories … where those in power openly allow unauthorized ARMED TERRORIST factions to roam free, organize killing squads, assemble, store and fire off thousands of rockets and missiles DELIBERATELY aimed at neighbouring CIVILIANS in Israel (including homes. kindergartens, schools, shops, offices and even farmers’ markets).
In fact, it’s even worse than that: when TERRORISTS operating from Palestinian territories organize and successfully carry out attacks (shootings, stabbings) in Israel against innocent CIVILIAN victims (lately, killing a teenage student from Canada and a mother and her two daughters from the UK), Palestinian officials organize street celebrations/dances and throw candies to the crowd, celebrating the CIVILIAN killings as “sweet” victories.
And to this day, Palestinian schools, text books, summer camps and childrens’ television programs (many funded by Western aid and the United Nations!) still preach hate against Jews … ANY Jews ANYWHERE … and praise the “martyrdom” of TERRORISTS killed or captured carrying out attacks in Israel against not only Jews, but Christians as well … ANY tourist, in fact, visiting that country.
It’s so bad, according to Palestinian Media Watch, graduating students at one Palestinian High School ceremony were told the “real” rewards won’t go to them, but to 16 other students who had been killed over the years carrying out TERRORIST attacks against Israelis. Imagine hearing that as you graduate from high school!
Two months ago the Palestinian Authority televised the funeral of a 14-year-old killed carrying out a TERRORIST attack, serenading the dead child with music: “Oh Mother, come look at me! This is the most beautiful day” … ie having achieved the highest reward: becoming a “Shaheed” martyr and dying for Allah.
What kind of barbarians deliberately teach their CHILDREN almost daily … not to get the best education, jobs and work towards peace and prosperity … but instead to hate and “martyr” themselves by carrying out terrorist attacks?
I’ll tell you: tyrannical corrupt Palestinian regimes that haven’t held elections in 17 years, are ruled by “leaders” who often live in luxury in Qatar or Iran and don’t dare negotiate peace with Israel because they know the extremist, violent TERRORISTS in their own backyards will kill them if they do!
And then, there’s the Palestinian Authority’s own “pay for slay” program that REWARDS families of imprisoned or killed TERRORISTS with monthly cheques (thanks to foreign aid?) that pay more than many Palestinians earn. The total shelled out each year by the Palestinian Authority to reward terrorist acts: more than $400 million!
No wonder in the West Bank governed by the PA and in Gaza, ruled by Hamas, Islamic Jihad, Al Aqsa Martyrs Brigade, Fatah, Abu Nidal and the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine OPENLY walk around, recruit new terrorists, steal away precious goods from legitimate infrastructure or civilian projects to instead assemble, build and store explosives, rockets, missiles … thousands of them.
In fact, over the past several months, BEFORE the latest conflict eruption, TERRORIST-inspired civilian shooting and stabbing attacks inside Israel were taking place, and DOZENS of rockets had also been fired from Gaza, Syria and Lebanon aimed DELIBERATELY at Israeli civilians.
And neither the Palestinian Authority nor Hamas made a single move to detain, arrest or stop ANY of them. To the contrary!
The Palestinian Authority in the West Bank and Hamas in Gaza have protected TERRORIST groups/factions and even rewarded their actions, day after day, week after week, month after month and year after year.
And the number of innocent DEAD CIVILIANS in Israel, including women, children, even foreign workers/visitors had been piling up.
So how could the Palestinians (and the world) feign surprise when finally Israel struck back … with pin-point strikes taking out one, two, three, four and then five Islamic Jihad Commanders?
It is NOT Israel’s fault that these criminal terrorist leaders … knowing they will eventually be targeted for their rocket attacks … take up residence in high rise apartment blocks, filled with innocent families, women, kids, seniors!
And how could these terrorists, who spent their days plotting, organizing, smuggling weapons and firing rockets, trying to kill Israelis, be so dumb (or arrogant) as to surround themselves with their wives and kids and grandparents each night, instead of hiding out somewhere underground or in a safe house?
In the latest conflict alone, Islamic Jihad fired more than a THOUSAND rockets at Israeli cities.
They truly deserved what they got back.
The Israeli Defence Forces no doubt saved many innocent lives of their own citizens and visitors (Jewish, Christian, Muslim) by taking out these TERRORISTS.
And although I saw only one media report it, apparently the Israeli Defence Forces also saved MANY Palestinian lives by phoning (as they have previously) neighbours of the Islamic Jihad Commanders and telling them to flee the building moments before they struck.
What other army does that?
The RESPONSIBILITY for any civilian victims in the Israel/Palestinian conflict … on either side of the border … lies squarely in the lap of Palestinian TERRORISTS … and governing Palestinian officials .
It’s THEIR job to curb the TERRORISTS in their midst.
And if they won’t, don’t blame the Israelis when they do.
Harv Oberfeld
(Follow @harveyoberfeld on Twitter for FREE First Alerts to all new postings on this Blog.)
Israel’s demographics are going to reach a boiling point in the next few decades.
The Ultra Conservative Orthodox Jews that tend to populate the constructed housing in occupied lands don’t serve in the military due to religious exemption.
They are also having kids at twice the rate of the more secular Jews in Israel.
The young secular population is also more inclined to move abroad.
The Jewish population in Israel is dropping while becoming more Orthodox and conservative….all while the Arab population seem to have nothing better to do than make bombs and babies.
When will there be more Arabs than Jews in Israel and the occupied territories?
2040?
2050?
(Response: They certainly do have the demographic issues that you point out. Religious extremists anywhere can pose problems, especially in Israel and the Arab states. The route to peace lies with those in the center on both sides: the Israelis DID previously elect left leaning governments willing to go very far to achieve peace … but they got nowhere with the Palestinians, because Hamas wont even recognize Israel’s right to exist and the PA’s Abbas knows he’ll be killed if he reaches an agreement for peace. A new generation … not raised on hate or glorification of violence is the only hope. h.o)
Hi Harvey, personally I think the Palestinian leaders don’t really want to destroy Israel, they just want to look and act like they do. So keep all those donations rolling in folks, we will destroy Israel, but we need more money for ammunition, rockets and bombs. In the meantime, as you say, they are living the dream somewhere else.
This whole conflict has the look of all the do-gooders that infest places like East Hastings to help all the lost souls there, but not too quickly, there’s money to be made.
(Response: Corruption among Palestinian leaders seems to be a big (was going to capitalize the word, but am trying not to “shout” 🙂 ) problem. This from Wikipedia: “Under the Oslo Peace Accords, Israel undertook to deposit the VAT tax receipts on goods purchased by Palestinians into the Palestinian treasury. Until 2000, these monies were transferred directly to Arafat’s personal accounts at Bank Leumi, in Tel Aviv. In August 2002, the Israeli Military Intelligence Chief alleged that Arafat’s personal wealth was in the range of US$1.3 billion.” If true, how ironic that Arafat banked … not in Jordan or Egypt or even Qatar, but in Israel! h.o)
BEFORE Arafat died, his French wife and kids fought over the estate with the PLA.
He had property holdings in France ( where his wife lived), Italy, Jerusalem, Africa, South America, etc etc etc…….
https://www.nbcnews.com/id/wbna6439479
Money, power and corruption.
But he always looked like a struggling, pious terrorist with his checkered Keffiyeh wrapped around his unshaven grizzled head.
I always wondered if he would grow a full beard or actually shave every day…..
You should really stop SHOUTING, Harvey.
Makes you seem like a kook.
Just saying.
Without destroying, piece by piece, sentence by sentence, the content of your usual racist rant on this subject.
(Response: I admit it’s a BAD habit: capitalizing. I don’t see it as shouting, just EMPHASIZING something I think is very significant. Will try to cut it down a BIT. 🙂 h.o)
I’m really curious. What did Harvey say that was racist?
(Response: Nothing! Some people apparently just can’t handle the truth when the repetitive, ugly, violent actions/attacks/stabbings/murders by the Palestinians is drawn attention to …so they throw out the “racist” (ho hum) epithet against the messenger, either I suspect out of ignorance or as an attempt to get the truth teller to back off. NEVER works with me! h.o)
Unless you have an “alternative” view of history, you would know that Israel was created from Palestine (hence “Palestinians”) after WWII (1949) by way of 2 decades of terrorist activities by the Jewish immigrants against Britain.
Gaza and the West Bank were not part of that solution. They are “conquered” territories (and the Golan Heights too).
So maybe the Palestinians want their own state too??
Just saying.
The rampant hypocrisy with respect to Israel, when the hammer came down on South Africa, is quite astounding.
(Response: Talk about rewriting history and truth!! You write “Israel was created from Palestine after WWII”: Read my other response to your total lie! Read the Bible and hundreds of other books chronicling the history of the region: Israel was for thousands of years, will be for thousands of years …the true home land of the Jewish people …not the Arabs…. pre-dating even the arrival of the Indigenous peoples in Canada! Strange that your reading of history stops exactly where it is convenient for your bias to begin. Sad. h.o)
Read your own bible.
The Jews were immigrants to Palestine when they fled Egypt.
There were loads of “indigenous” Palestinians there already.
Doh! SMH!
Do the Palestinians recognize the right of Israel to exist? Many don’t. It’s one reason there is so much conflict in that part of the world.
Whether or not they like it, Israel will not go away. When they accept the state of Israel and make a real effpoort to stop terrorism, progress will be possible.
(Response: Officially, the Palestinian Authority, headed by Abbas, does recognize Israel’s right to exist, but Hamas, Jihad, PFLP etc do not. But there are some interesting things going on that the anti-Israel media have totally or mostly ignored, because it doesn’t fit their biased narrative: around 90,000 Palestinians a day now cross into Israel from the West Bank to work and thousands more cross to visit holy places, family and even to seek medical treatment at Israeli hospitals! And for the past year, although they are still technically in a state of War, while it has been relatively peaceful with Hamas in Gaza, two border crossings with Israel have been open for trade, Israel has been supplying Gaza most of its electricity … and about 10,000 Palestinians from Gaza are now allowed to enter Israel daily to work …taking home as much as ten times the wages they earned in Gaza! That’s why Hamas stayed out of the latest conflict with the terrorist group Islamic Jihad. These are certainly very significant positive developments ..that the anti-Israel media have failed to report or recognize the significance of as a small hope for peace being negotiable. h.o)
This is a truly TRUMPIAN interpretation of history.
If Gaza, the West Bank and the Golan Heights are part of Israel, then the people there should be allowed to vote in elections in Israel. They are not. So it is a totally illegal occupation (like Russia’s occupation of the Crimea and eastern parts of the Ukraine).
Without getting further into the weeds, it is really that simple.
Israel should get out of the illegally occupied territories that belong to the Palestinians.
That would bring some stability.
Unfortunately, the Israeli right-wing wingnuts in the West Bank (encouraged and financed by the criminal Netanyahu’s legislative cartel) are as reasonable as the anti-abortionists in Florida, Alabama and other places in the US.
So the Israelis need to re-evaluate their responsibility for this current (and recurring) mess.
Commenting on Middle East/Israel issues, compounded by religious zealot-ism is a tar-pit, that once in, you are stuck and cannot escape.
The Palestinian issue as with our own indigenous peoples are sadly, historical footnotes, with the one big difference in Canada, the government acts as appeasers, and shovels huge amounts of money to the various First Nations, which keeps the vast majority barely sustainable. Massive issues abound because many First nations are unsustainable in today’s world, leaving the children with no future, with the all too predictable results.
The Palestinians were dealt a rough hand and today, after almost 7 decades later, no real change has happened and the pent up venom of being taught to hate just increases their misery. There is no real future for the children and in today’s world, leaves us with predictable results.
The leaders tend to live in wealth, blaming everyone else for their troubles, but doing little to change. Change will not happen as far too many are feeding off the trough of the naive.
Then you at religious zealotry into the mix and the mess in Palestine multiplies.
This is why I am so afraid of religious private schools in Canada, as we are supposedly a secular country, why do we have religious schools. They just should not be allowed.
There is no answer in the Middle East and the misery, hate and murder will continue unabated.
Sadly, for the Palestinians, it will all end badly, as Israel will have had enough and deal with it, as the Romans did 2,000 years ago.
Peace in the Middle East, never going to happen.
(Response: There are extremists on both sides … making prospects for peace very very difficult. But at least in Israel the extremists aren’t walking around with rocket launchers and 1,000 missiles deliberately stored and regularly fired from right near schools and hospitals. And when some Israeli wacko does run amok, he does get arrested, tried and imprisoned. Not so in the West Bank or Gaza … and before there can by any meaningful peace negotiations, the Palestinians have to get rid of the bloodthirsty terrorists in their midst … or, as you say, Peace is never going to happen. h.o)
I believe religious schools should be allowed. Many teachers in our public schools are very liberal and support the redefinition of marriage, drug injection sites and transsexuality. In a certain sense, they teach their own religion.
I am OK with religious schools paid for by the religious organization, not paid for with public monies. Religious school acedemic curriculum must parallel public school academic curriculum.
The practice of warning civilians of impending military attacks isn’t very common. There were some instances of the use of the practice by the Allies in World War 2 in Japan and occupied Europe. The initial phase of the 2003 Coalition Invasion of Iraq (Operation Shock and Awe) saw the US Air Force drop leaflets warning civilians of impending air raids but this didn’t stop major civilian casualties in the early phase of the invasion (and later on in the conflict).
In contrast, the Israeli Military is unique in that it does make major efforts to warn civilians of incoming attacks (they’ve done so since the early 1980s during the Lebanese War and since 2000, when raids on the Gaza Strip have become more common). While the Israeli’s make the effort to mitigate civilian casualties, it is the para military/terrorist groups like Hamas and Islamic Jihad etc. that deliberately set up military targets (rocket making/launching facilities) in civilian areas (mostly in dense residential tower blocks) and they refuse to allow civilians (often at gunpoint) to leave (even when they’ve been warned that Israeli drones/cruise missiles are incoming). Using civilians as Human Shields is a War Crime and all the major Human Rights Groups have documented the use of it in the Gaza (but its very rarely covered or often downplayed in the major press outlets). As you said at the end of your article, it is the Palestinian Authorities that have to bear responsibility for those deaths.
Given the population density of the Gaza, its inevitable (and very sad) that there will be civilian casualties, when the Israeli military try to stop rocket attacks on cities like Sderot and Ashkelon. With hindsight (from a strategic point of view), it was probably a major error by Ariel Sharon (the then PM of Israel) to hand over the Gaza to the Palestinians (as it has become a launching pad for Arab attacks on Israeli targets). Going forward, hopefully as drone/sensor technology improves, the Israeli’s can pinpoint targets more accurately and mitigate the number of civilian casualties.
(Response: What is really interesting is that, in the latest attacks by Islamic Jihad … two civilians were killed in Israel: an Israeli grandmother and a Palestinian from Gaza who was working in Israel under the new open-border employment plan …. this, of course, either totally ignored or downplayed by the anti-Israel media. Also, the Palestinian terrorists have long held the position that any civilian living/visiting/working in Israel (Jew, Christian, Arab, foreign workers, kids, grandparents etc) is a legitimate “military” target … but I have NEVER seen any of the intrepid media hammering them on this. And I have not seen a single interview where Palestinian (Jihad, Hamas, PLO) spokespeople are even asked why do their terrorist leaders, after firing a few hundred rockets/missiles into Israel then go “home” to be surrounded by their wives, kids, grandparents? And when these “civilians” are killed or injured, the world media, the UN go wild … blaming Israel,not the scum who placed them in such danger. h.o)
Please read some history, Harv.
The Palestinians were well entrenched, for several thousand years at least, in what is now “Israel”. For thousands of years. The territory was called “Palestine” by the Brits, who controlled it. Most of the Jews who had recent or ancient ties to that territory came flooding back in the ’20’s after (Russian Revolution was kind of bad) and after WWII (obviously horrible).
I could go one with the controverting the disinformation Harv is sowing here.
I would just suggest that you read on independent sites on this.
(Response: Well, if you believe history, rather than today’s reality, that is most important … don’t start just where it meets your …or the Palestinians’ … bias. The Bible works for me, followed by the writings of Josephus, and the chroniclers of the Roman conquerors, the Crusades and the Inquisition .. ALL … detail that the lands from the sea to the River Jordan was originally GIVEN by God to the Israelites (not the Arabs), occupied for millennia by the Israelites (not the Arabs) … and what greater proof of their attachment to the land than the fact “Jerusalem” is mentioned in the Hebrew/Christian Bible 669 times; but in the Quran …ZERO!! The people today called Palestinians were squatters, who moved in after various expulsions of the Jews by various Emperors/Crusaders etc. And not even they, even under threat of death, could totally eliminate the presence of the Jewish people in that land! The people of Israel are now back …in their land … in the millions: get used to it …and so should the Palestinians. h.o)
Lets not “credit” the Brits with anything in the area. They may have called it Palestine, but you can bet they did that so they didn’t have to refer to it as Israel because they did not have any interest in having Jews from war torn Europe move there. The Brits contributed to many problems we have today in the middle east. they carved up the area, with the permission of other countries.
The Brits have never been too keen on Jews. if you were Jewish and trying to get into G.B. it was very difficult but then Canada and the U.S.A. weren’t keen on taking in Jews prior to the War either.
Note to Max; Harvey is not “sowing misinformation” regarding the history of Jews or the on going fighting between the Israel’s and the Arabs. Jews have been in the area for much longer than the Arabs There are a number of groups who come to Canada and peddle their version of the conflict. Some churches, political parties, unions buy into the b.s. However, it works for the Palestinian “peddlars” of disinformation, they gather more donations.
So you believe the Bible is a true/accurate account of history?
If so, you have really gone off the deep end.
Harvey, I didn’t want to comment on this topic because I agree with DMJ when he says
“Commenting on Middle East/Israel issues, compounded by religious zealot-ism is a tar-pit, that once in, you are stuck and cannot escape.”
But reading some of your responses I have to add something. There is no question that Jewish people have lived in present day Israel for thousands of years. The Bible is fascinating reading. But do you really want to use it as your source “that the lands from the sea to the River Jordan was originally GIVEN by God to the Israelites (not the Arabs), occupied for millennia by the Israelites (not the Arabs)” Here is the Biblical narrative as I understand it.
Abraham lived about 4000 years ago. 2000 BCE. Moses lived around 1400 BCE so his successor, Joshua, would have entered the promised land about that time. The Torah was composed around 500 BCE. When it was written, the Jews had already established themselves in the region so the story about God’s involvement could just as easily be a creation type story telling how they got from southern Iraq (where Abraham started) to what is now modern day Israel.
That aside. The Bible tells us that God promised the land to Abraham’s descendants. Abraham’s first born was Ismael. His mother was Hagar, Sarah’s servant. Sarah was barren until she miraculously gave birth to Isaac at the age of 99. The Arabs are descended from Abraham through Ishmael. The Jews through Isaac.
When Abraham reached the promised land there were people already living there, most notably the Canaanites. In the Bible Isaac, sends his son Jacob back to Abraham’s homeland to find a wife rather than have him marry a Canaanite like his twin brother Easu did.
At the end of Genesis, Jacob’s family (his 12 sons) have relocated to Egypt where in future years they become slaves. In Exodus and the rest of the Torah, Moses leads them out of slavery to the Promised Land. Again, there were people there when they arrived. The book of Joshua which is the next book after the five books of the Torah describes all the wars/battles that took place.
So if we are using the Bible as history, it still gets pretty muddy.
And to be clear, there is no question that Jewish people have lived in the region for thousands of years. Saul, David and Solomon (the builder of the first temple) were kings of a pretty powerful nation. They were under the yoke of several conquerors – Assyrians, Babylonians, Greeks, Romans, Byzantines, British. Throughout the diaspora, they have faced undue hardship culminating in the holocaust. As a small nation, they have done wonders. Most people do not question Israel’s right to exist.
But the history both ancient and modern has led to such a horrible tragedy in the region. Smarter people than I am have their opinions on both sides of the conflict. I just wish there was an even smarter person who could find a workable solution.
(Response: The saddest part of so many world conflicts is that, rather than seek how to get a solution, protagonists and their supporters on both or sometimes all sides debate and rehash history … going back thousands of years or picking a point to start that is most convenient to back their point of view. You may have noticed, I did not introduce the very, very long history of the Holy Land in my original piece: in the reality of today, it’s really not going to solve the continuing deaths, injuries and fears millions suffer under on both sides. What is necessary is to look at how peace negotiations can get going again (many people don’t realize how very close they were to an agreement at one time): how Israel can live in peace and safety; and, how the Palestinians can achieve their own state. If that ever comes close, I fully believe the people and government of democratic Israel are capable of containing even arresting the right wing extremists in their midst; but I just don’t see right now or for the foreseeable future how the Palestinian people and government can … or would even try … to contain the extremists on their side, who are so violent and so entrenched with thousands of high-powered weapons, missiles and rockets. And that is the real obstacle … which the media all but ignore. h.o)
I don’t want to summarize the entire history of the region that includes Israel and Palestine. It’s long, and it’s best to focus on the present situation. What is clear is that the Jewish people have lived there for thousands of years, and the country that is now Israel is very different from what was there before. In comparison to the area before the creation of the state of Israel, it is unrecognizable.
Israel is a very modern country with skyscrapers, fertile land, modern hospitals and good infrastructure. It has completely changed. Before it was rocky and barren, arid, full of wilderness and had completely gone to ruin. The country of Israel today is truly a modern-day miracle.
We know that the Jewish people returned from exile in Babylon in the 6th century BC. That was a long time ago. We also know that they are the only people in history to revive a dead language, Hebrew.
A common view at one time was that Palestine was a land without a people. Of course that wasn’t entirely accurate because there were people there, but they weren’t organized and didn’t even give the impression of a viable country. It was an administrative region of the dying Ottoman Empire, which did almost nothing to develop it. At no time has there even been a country called Palestine.
The reality is that the Jews are now in Israel, and they won’t go away. To make progress, the Palestinians need to learn to co-operate with Israel and oppose extremists and extremism. That is the path to real progress.
(Response: Just think of the possibilities if the Palestinians and Arab neighbours took on and eliminated once and for all the Palestinian terrorist groups … celebrated/aided by the likes of Iran, Syria, Qatar … who are the real culprits! Peace could be achieved; reworked boundaries/land exchanges could protect Israel’s security and establish a viable Palestinian state; and the Palestinian state could prosper, even do joint ventures with Israel … just as a growing number of Arab nations are doing now every day. But before any of that can happen … the Palestinians have to take on/destroy the terrorist groups in their midst. h.o)
Just imagine if the criminal Netanyahu government granted the Palestinians self-government over the occupied territories — which is basically all they want.
Unfortunately, by allowing huge numbers of “settlers” (largely Jewish religious zealots), to occupy much of the West Bank, finding any way to give the native Palestinians has been rendered impossible.
There is only one party responsible for the current mess — the oppressors who have stolen Palestinian land.
When ever I have heard/read that the Israeli’s phoned ahead regarding missles coming, it usually caused me to have a good laugh.
Some have made a nice living being “leaders” of those who are being oppressed–Palestinians. Seven decades not solving an issue is a tad long. Other countries have tried to assist to NO avail. The thing which always bothered me was the refugee camps were still refugee camps after decades. Always wondered why other Arab countries did not settle refugees in their countries. Eventually figured that out.
Will there ever be peace. Doubtful. Even if the majority of Israelis wanted peace there will always be the “ultra othodox” or religious extremists in Israel who don’t want it and sometimes they hold the balance of power in Parliament.
I’m not sure I’d agree with your opening line because the current government of Israel isn’t interested in peace either. “Benni” likes war. He is a dictator at heart. His attempts to destroy a corner stone of democracy, an independent judiciary. It is doubtful that “Benni” will ever want to make peace with the Palestians. He most likely has never gotten over his brother being killed at Entebee. Israel needs to stop permitting “settlers” usually “ultra othodox” to “settle” on Palestinian land.
The recent fighting was started by the Palestians and “Benni” took the bait. With the current leadership of the various Arab factions and “Benni” and his gang, this is going to go on for some time. It works for both sides. It doesn’t work for the citizens of either group.
It will be interesting to see what happens in Israel the next time Benni tries to take control of the Israel Supreme Court.
(Response: There are huge issues that many people don’t recall … and that the anti-Israel far left media ignore … First, is that: in 1947, when the UN voted to partition the area into two separate states (Israel and Palestine) … the Israelis accepted but the Palestinians/Arab dictatorships in the area rejected the solution … believing they would easily conquer the little weak new Jewish state. In fact, tens of thousands of Palestinians fled Israel to avoid the coming destruction/barrages and join/return in “victory” after crushing the tiny state. Didn’t happen! That’s how most became refugees … while the 150,000 Palestinians who remained in Israel have now grown to 20% of the population, have had free education, health care, voting rights and most have prospered much better than any of their neighbouring Arab cousins! The second issue, also conveniently ignored by the anti-Israel pro-Palestinian propagandists/media, that during the conflict more than a MILLION Jews living in Arab lands were attacked, expelled and their properties stolen! Who cries or seeks justice/compensation for them??? The difference is … Israel welcomed their brothers and sisters; while the Arab nations placed theirs in camps/slums in deplorable conditions and have kept them there for political and their own fear/dislike of them for 75 years. That’s the real shame… ignored by many. h.o)
This an absolutely fabulist account of history.
If you have any evidence/source to support this statement (not the Bible) I would love to see it:
The second issue, also conveniently ignored by the anti-Israel pro-Palestinian propagandists/media, that during the conflict more than a MILLION Jews living in Arab lands were attacked, expelled and their properties stolen!
Complete fiction!
(Response: Well, let’s see: we can believe Max … or Wikipedia and a myriad of other institutional and government sources: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jewish_exodus_from_the_Muslim_world. They set the number at 900,000 from 1948 to the 1970s: the rest (as well as many Christians) suffered terrible attacks, violence, synagogue and church burnings and fled Arab dictatorships subsequently. The World Jewish Congress, which has collated meticulous records, calculated ” Until the 1960s, approximately one million Jews lived in Iran and other Arab countries having arrived in the region more than 2,000 years before. Nowadays, it is estimated that only around 15,000 remain, as the majority of the Jewish population in Muslim lands were forced to flee their homes in the years following the establishment of the State of Israel.” Also, read this, from the Canadian House of Commons: https://www.ourcommons.ca/DocumentViewer/en/41-1/FAAE/meeting-78/evidence. h.o)
Max, Harvey is correct. Over the years I’ve read comments regarding people leaving various countries and re settling elsewhere. One of the situations which always interested me was when Pakistan was created and how it impacted India and all the people of all the religions. Along the way, I also read how many Jews left various countries to go to Israel because it was safer there. I do believe, based on what I’ve read over the years in any number of newspapers and magazines that there was a decline in the number of Jews living any number of other areas and yes, Iran was one. (the newspapers I read were usually large internationally know, i.e. Washington Post, NYTimes, Time Mag, some european mags and newspapers.)
Israel is not going anywhere. The Arabs are not going to force them into much of anything. Egypt and Jordan have come to “terms” with Israel. No reason the others can’t beyond, some are making a lot of money off of the current situation. Big money, as in billionaires can finance all sorts of things, including anti Israeli and anti Jewish groups along with putting several billion into anti climate change organizations so oil/gas companies can continue with their assault on our lives. as they used to say, in tought times you can get half the working class to kill the other half of the working class. It just takes money.
Why don’t the wealthy Gulf states accept Palestinian refugees? There’s little doubt that they could accommodate them very easily. Well, I suspect there are two big reasons. One is that they don’t want refugees in their country, not even Muslims. The second is that they have no real desire to end the conflict.
(Response: Few Muslim countries have the welcome mat out for their Palestinian brothers and sisters: they’ve seen their impact on Jordan, Egypt, Lebanon, Syria and Iraq …. so, as you note, the richest Muslim nations (Saudi Arabia, UAE, Bahrain Kuwait and Qatar) … all dictatorships whose leaders fear/prohibit all protests … have taken in very few … although Qatar regularly provides safe haven for terrorist leaders and heavily funds Gaza. h.o)