Posted on 04/17/2002 6:40:35 AM PDT by Luis Gonzalez
Hey FReepers!
I received this e-mail yesterday, it's one of those read and pass it along to your friends thing.
I found some points interesting, and thought that maybe some of you could support, or debunk the information it contains.
Read below, the following material was written by an American Christian professor. It's important information to know since we don’t get fair and accurate reporting from the media and facts tend to get lost in the jumble of daily events.
Crash Course on the Arab Israeli Conflict
Here are overlooked facts in the current Middle East situation; these were compiled by a Christian university professor. It makes sense and it's not slanted. Jew and non-Jew --it doesn't matter. Thank You.
1. Nationhood and Jerusalem. Israel became a nation in 1312 B.C.E., two thousand years before the rise of Islam.
2. Arab refugees in Israel began identifying themselves as part of a Palestinian people in 1967, two decades after the establishment of the modern State of Israel.
3. Since the Jewish conquest in 1272 B.C.E., the Jews have had dominion over the land for one thousand years with a continuous presence in the land for the past 3,300 years.
4. The only Arab dominion since the conquest in 635 C.E. lasted no more than 22 years.
5. For over 3,300 years, Jerusalem has been the Jewish capital. Jerusalem has never been the capital of any Arab or Muslim entity. Even when the Jordanians occupied Jerusalem, they never sought to make it their capital, and Arab leaders did not come to visit.
6. Jerusalem is mentioned over 700 times in Tanach, the Jewish Holy Scriptures. Jerusalem is not mentioned once in the Koran.
7. King David founded the city of Jerusalem. Mohammed never came to Jerusalem.
8. Jews pray facing Jerusalem. Muslims pray with their backs toward Jerusalem.
9. Arab and Jewish Refugees: In 1948 the Arab refugees were encouraged to leave Israel by Arab leaders promising to purge the land of Jews. Sixty-eight percent left without ever seeing an Israeli soldier.
10. The Jewish refugees were forced to flee from Arab lands due to Arab brutality, persecution and pogroms.
11. The number of Arab refugees who left Israel in 1948 is estimated to be around 630,000. The number of Jewish refugees from Arab lands is estimated to be the same.
12. Arab refugees were INTENTIONALLY not absorbed or integrated into the Arab lands to which they fled, despite the vast Arab territory. Out of the 100,000,000 refugees since World War II, theirs is the only refugeegroup in the world that has never been absorbed or integrated into their own peoples' lands. Jewish refugees were completely absorbed into Israel, a country no larger than the state of New Jersey.
13. The Arab - Israeli Conflict: The Arabs are represented by eight separate nations, not including the Palestinians.
There is only one Jewish nation.
The Arab nations initiated all five wars and lost.
Israel defended itself each time and won.
14. The P.L.O.'s Charter still calls for the destruction of the State of Israel. Israel has given the Palestinians most of the West Bank land, autonomy under the Palestinian Authority, and has supplied them.
15. Under Jordanian rule, Jewish holy sites were desecrated and the Jews were denied access to places of worship. Under Israeli rule, all Muslim and Christian sites have been preserved and made accessible to people of all faiths.
16. The U.N. Record on Israel and the Arabs: of the 175 Security Council resolutions passed before 1990, 97 were directed against Israel.
17. Of the 690 General Assembly resolutions voted on before 1990, 429 were directed against Israel.
18. The U.N was silent while 58 Jerusalem Synagogues were destroyed by the Jordanians.
19. The U.N. was silent while the Jordanians systematically desecrated the ancient Jewish cemetery on the Mount of Olives.
20. The U.N. was silent while the Jordanians enforced an apartheid-like policy of preventing Jews from visiting the Temple Mount and the Western Wall.
These are incredible times. We have to ask what our role should be. What will we tell our grandchildren we did when there was a turning point in Jewish destiny, an opportunity to make a difference?
When was it posted?
I can't speak to the first point, but can for the second. Muslims pray towards Mecca. The only Muslims who pray with their backs toward Jerusalem are those who happen to be in a line facing southeast between Jerusalem and Mecca at the time. It would also be true to say that MORE Muslims face Jerusalem during prayer than have their backs turned to it, because those in Turkey would be facing both, as would those who live in Saudi Arabia, southeast of Mecca.
Frankly I don't think what happened 1000 years ago matters anyhow. What happened 40 years ago isn't that important either. This whole grudge settling thing just leads to ongoing violence.
No need, it was right there in front of my eyes :-)
Except that the Pallies are claiming the land as their "ancestral homeland", so history does lend credibility to the Jews' deed to the real estate, so to speak. You are correct that what is more important than history is what happens now. It is history in the making, the redrawing of borders the old-fashioned way; by conquest or defeat.
Now, how do we know that your data holds up?
:-)
Thanks;
Luis
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