The Myth Of The Palestinian People

Israel National News ^ | 26 December 2001 | Yehezkel Bin-Nun

[BenF]

there are about 3 million of them and they are all over the occupied territories.

Are there that many in the liberated territories? My goodness, that's a lot of Arabs to deal with. Fortunately, I understand that about 150 thousand of them have left recently due to the benevolent leadership of Herr Arafat.

Would Mr. Bin-Nun suggest granting them citizenship and calling them Israelis?

I doubt it. Denazification is the only solution which will please everyone.

[BenF]

It helps to marginalize the group of people you wish to remove from public discussion.

Well, it doesn't seem like the public wants to discuss them. For example, their human rights under Herr Arafat are virtually non-existent, but no one seems to care about that. If the public wanted to discuss them, why aren't they discussing that? Why aren't they talking about the 95% of the so-called "Palestinians" who are under Arafat's control, but who are very unhappy with it?

folks can read all sides of a story.

The problem is they don't get the truth, such as this article, in the mass media. Why is that?

[BenF]

Here's something for you to discuss

Christian suffering under Palestinian Authority

The following are excerpts from an article that appeared in Dec. 24's Hebrew daily Ma'ariv, written by Hanan Shlein.

"Make no mistake - Arafat's insistence that he would go to the Midnight Mass in Bethlehem, "even on foot" if Israel doesn't permit him to take off from Ramallah, does not necessarily reflect great love between Muslims and Christians in Palestinian Authority-controlled areas. In fact, the opposite is the case. The Christians suffer greatly just by being in PA areas, which is evident from what transpired during the exchange of fire between Palestinians in the Christian town of Beit Jala and IDF troops in the Jerusalem neighborhood of Gilo. At the height of the firing, the Christians of Beit Jala received a particularly painful bear-hug: Tanzim activists, Muslims of course, chose their firing positions as close as possible to Christian religious institutions. The Christians instantly understood the ploy - one slight deviation of Israeli retaliatory fire on Beit Jala would suffice to harm the Christian institutions or homes. In such an event, Israel would receive grave reactions from the world's Christians and the gain would be two-fold: both Gilo and Israel's relations with the international Christian community would suffer a blow. "One resident of Beit Jala remembers sadly: 'We frequently were humiliated by the Muslims in Bethlehem. We Christians used to constitute 50% of the population in the city. Today, we make up maybe 20%. Anyone who was able to do so, left.'.

"Out of fear for their safety, Christian spokesmen aren't happy to be identified by name when they complain about the Muslims' treatment of them. Off the record they talk of harassment and terror tactics, mainly from the gangs of thugs who looted and plundered Christians and their property, under the protection of Palestinian security personnel.

"Relations between Muslims and Christians deteriorated after the Israeli Army withdrawal from Bethlehem. It was then that PA security forces, all Muslims, entered, and the sentiments and frustration on the part of the Muslims turned into actions. Israel began receiving complaints from Christians about damage to churches and the smashing of crosses, without any real preventive measures taken by the local police. In addition, [bodily] harassment against Christians began, which reached its peak when Muslims sexually molested young Christian girls from Beit Sahur."

[Ma'ariv Dec. 24, 2001]

Want to chat about this "propaganda" which will never appear in the American media?

[Don Joe]

"In 1937 the Jewish population swelled to 500,000 as a result of attempt to escape Hitler. At that time there were about 1,200,000 Arabs living there who wanted further Jewish immigration sharply restricted."

I see that "religion of peace" thing goes way back, eh?

[Don Joe]

"Relations between Muslims and Christians deteriorated after the Israeli Army withdrawal from Bethlehem. It was then that PA security forces, all Muslims, entered, and the sentiments and frustration on the part of the Muslims turned into actions. Israel began receiving complaints from Christians about damage to churches and the smashing of crosses, without any real preventive measures taken by the local police. In addition, [bodily] harassment against Christians began, which reached its peak when Muslims sexually molested young Christian girls from Beit Sahur."

It occurs to me that "Morlocks" might be a better term than "Muslims".

[Don Joe]

"you are trying to change the subject to the status of Muslim-Christian relations"

And you are trying desperately to avoid and evade it.

How curious!

[RLK]

What happened was that coincident with, or just after, the Balfour Resolution establishing a zionist state, the attempt was made to grant Arabs minority citizenship status in what was then Palestine. It really pissed the Arabs off. They came to realize the writing was on the wall if further immigration occurred, and they consequently tried to prevent it. According to page 258 of the 1998 Time Almanac there were 678,000 Jews living in the area, and 1,269,000 Arabs. The Arabs didn't want imposition of a Jewish state. This is what they were attempting to prevent in earlier attempts to prevent immigration. Obviously, the Arabs lost out. They haven't forgiven what happened to this day.

[RLK]

I might add, shortly afterward the soon to be israelis took over the area by force of arms, then declared a Jewish state. The United States recognized and supported Israel immediately, leaving nearly 1,300,000 Arabs in the area stammering in helpless rage. That is part of why they fly airplanes into buildings when they can manage it. Additionally, it was an affront to the entire Islamic world, which is one reason why they help support the flying of airplanes into buildings. If I were an Arab, I'd be mad as hell about it and doing the same thing.

We watch movies such as Sophie's Choice and The Diary of Anne Frank, and it's hard not to sympathize with the Jews and want them to have their own country. However, the Arabs don't think they should be the ones who should pay for the injustice of the concentration camps. Neither do Islamics like the high-handedness and the insulting way they are regarded.

I don't have a horse in this race. I am not a Jew. I regard Islam as having a 1,400 year history as an aggressive psychosis. I only call it as I see it.

[College Repub]

Well, look. The original "Palestine" mandate covered the land that is now Jordan and Israel. Jordan for the Arab Palestinains and Israel for the Jewish Palestinians. Most of the Jews lived on the Israel part, most of the arabs on the Jordan part. The vast majority of the overall land was aloted to Jordan. This wasn't good enough for the arabs. They attacked Israel 2 days after getting thier own Arab Palestinan state. A war followed. Israel won the war. After wars fought over land end, population changes often occurr. In this case, the population change invovled an exchange of hundreds of thousands of Arab Palestinians to Egypt/Jordan/Syria in exchange from virtualy all of the Jews (also hundreds of thousands) from the arab countries into Israel. Then a strange thing happend. Egypt and Jordan and Syria refused to integerate their own people into their societies and brutally held them around in camps. I could go on with some more truthful history, but I'm not sure you're open to the truth.

[College Repub]

Oh yeh, let me add something. The arabs that were exchanged left on their own free will becuase they were told by their fellow muslims that the war would be quick and all the Jews would be gone and another Islamic country formed. The Palestinan arabs were told to come to their lands temporarly so as to make it easier for the Arabs to kill as many Jews as possible during the 48 war. Unfortunenlty for the arabs, it didn't quite work out like that. However, on the other hand, the Jews that came to Israel were FORCED out by the arab countries. They came to Israel with virtualy nothing but the shirts on their backs. And they made a great prosperus bastion of western democracy and capitalism out of it.

[College Repub]

Israel, the current state was reformed then. Israel, the nation, has always existed since biblical times. The current occupyer of the Israeli State is the Israeli nation.

[Pharmboy]

Thanks for the clarification, Ben. I guess I need to brush up on my mid-20th century history. Because of the Balfour Declaration (1917?), I always thought the Brits honoured their commitment to the Jews. I guess not.

But explain how the '56 Suez War fits in: weren't the Israelis with the Brits on that one, against the Egyptians?

[EternalVigilance]

No informed American Christian makes the silly historical mistake of thinking that the 'Philistines' of the Old Testament are in any way related to modern so-called Palestinians.

The Philistines were wiped out, or faded away, millenia ago. The Palestinians are ARABS.

It is always amazing to me that anyone could make this error based solely on similiar sounding names, and the fact that both have been enemies of Israel.

Sheesh..

[EternalVigilance]

Thank you for posting this piece.

I hope and pray that many will read it, and gain some historical depth concerning the Land and the People of Israel.

Ignorance is the best friend of the fascist anti-semite anti-Christian propagandists.

Truth, on the other hand, is powerful.

[EternalVigilance]

Additionally, it was an affront to the entire Islamic world, which is one reason why they help support the flying of airplanes into buildings. If I were an Arab, I'd be mad as hell about it and doing the same thing.

Well, you are despicable then.

This admission on your part; that you would repay perceived grievances by murdering innocent men, women and children; disqualifies you from deserving any respect on this site whatsoever.

[EternalVigilance]

However, the Arabs don't think they should be the ones who should pay for the injustice of the concentration camps.

Why not??

Read a little history. The leadership of the Muslims before and during the war was viciously anti-semitic. The Grand Mufti of Jerusalem was a Nazi collaborator to the max...

They were just as guilty as Hitler of the blood of the Jews.

Neither do Islamics like the high-handedness and the insulting way they are regarded.

Then maybe they should quit murdering, terrorizing and enslaving others.

Frankly, I am far past caring how they feel. They have attacked my country, murdered my fellow Americans, and then celebrated in the streets.

Scr*w em.