Here we are at war again. I shouldn't say again, as the war in 1948 has never truly ended. The combatants have changed, but the basic goal of Israel's enemies has not changed; the total eradication of Israel and the death of every Jew in the region.
Hamas has attacked with such brutality that the world is aghast. Hamas posted pictures of their murderous antics themselves. But now they are backtracking and saying, "Oh no, that wasn't us, it was the civilians from Gaza that crossed the fence after us." Of course Israel has saved the pictures, tracked the IPs, they know who did this butchery.
So our leaders are declaring they will erase Hamas from Gaza. Most of the western nations are supporting us, even though there are pro-palestinian protests in many cities around the world. But what is the plan? If our military forces succeed and Hamas is removed from Gaza what is the next step?
So here is yet another attempt to educate the world, to document accurately the facts from history.
First I will start with the Arab world’s insistence that Jews did not live in Ancient Israel, that they have no historic right to be here. This absurd idea is widely taught and believed in the Arab world. It is found in their textbooks, taught in their mosques. However, there is a massive amount of archeological evidence of Jewish existence in ancient Israel. Here for your perusal is a link to a most recent article regarding the identification of a city supporting the biblical account of King David:
http://www.elahfortress.com/page26/page26.htmlFound at that dig is the oldest known Hebrew text to date, estimated to be 3,000 years old:
http://www.iht.com/articles/ap/2008/10/30/news/ML-Israel-Ancient-Inscription.phpMore links :
http://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/Archaeology/hebrewalphabet.htmlhttp://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/Archaeology/kfarkana.htmlhttp://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/Archaeology/templemountgarbage.htmlhttp://www.mfa.gov.il/MFA/History/Early%20History%20-%20Archaeology/Beit%20Alpha%20-%20An%20Ancient%20Synagogue%20with%20a%20Splendidhttp://www.mfa.gov.il/MFA/History/Early%20History%20-%20Archaeology/Archaeological%20Sites%20in%20Israel%20-%20Gamala-%20Jewish%20Cihttp://www.mfa.gov.il/MFA/History/Early%20History%20-%20Archaeology/Archaeological%20Sites%20in%20Israel%20-%20Jerusalem-%20BurialThese are just a few websites documenting Jewish habitation in Ancient Israel, hundreds more are easy to find. I challenge anyone to produce even
one documentable proof that Jews did not live in this land since the time of Abraham!
The Palestinians also claim that they have been in Israel since ancient times, but what is their proof? Rather than taking their word for it, let’s examine the facts.
There has never been a nation called Palestine. The name
Palaestina was a name given to the region by the Roman emperor Hadrian following the crushing of Bar Kochba's revolt in 132-135 in an attempt to suppress Jewish national feelings.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Palestine(please take the time to read & study the timeline and documentation in the above link!)
So do modern day “Palestinians” have a link to the land? They claim to be descendants of the Philistines of the bible:
http://www.bga.nl/en/articles/filist1.htmlBut are they?
http://www.imninalu.net/myths-Arabs.htmSince there is documentation that the original Philistines were not Arabs & the modern day Palestinians are, how can they be the same people? If you read the timeline in the above Wikipedia link you will see that there never has been any Philistinian/Palestinian government in the land of Israel. The Islamics who ruled under the Ottoman Empire (the former Arab nation in the land) were only one of several conquering nations to reside in Israel for a time. At no time did these Islamics claim to be Philistinian or Palestinian. The Ottoman empire ruled over the land from 1517 to around 1917 when the British Empire took occupation during WWI. (Interestingly enough, modern day Palestinians do not claim to be Ottoman descendants – which would give them an actual historical link to the land.)
http://archaeology.about.com/od/oterms/g/ottoman.htm.
The Balfour Declaration of 1917 divided the land between Jew and Arab.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Balfour_Declaration_of_1917The original plan looked like this:
http://focusonjerusalem.com/maproom.htmlhttp://www.npr.org/news/specials/mideast/history/history2.htmlhttp://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?pagename=JPost/JPArticle/ShowFull&cid=1225199622058http://www.palestinefacts.org/pf_maps.phpNote there are two maps, the second being published in 1926. Originally all of the British Mandate (1917) was intended to be a Jewish Homeland. But due to Arab pressure 75% of the land was ceded to the Arab people under the name of TransJordan, which is today’s modern state of Jordan.
With the exception of King Faisal in 1919 the British Mandate was rejected by the Arab world community. Tensions were high in the area between the occupying English, Jews and Arabs in the years between 1922 and the end of WWII. Jewish immigration into the land was limited by the English despite the overwhelming need due to the Holocaust. Finally in 1948, England withdrew completely from the land. The UN voted to support Israel as a modern state, and the modern war began.
Before we discuss the war, let’s take a look at the basic geography. Modern day Israel (2008) has a land mass of 8,522 square miles (about the size of the state of New Jersey at 8,729 square miles) with a population of 7,282,000 – that’s a
population density ratio of 854.5.Here’s a map of the Middle East, Asia and Africa highlighting Islam:
http://www.islam101.com/dawah/muslim_world_map.htmlThe influence of Islam is growing.
Israel is the
ONLY Jewish state in the world. Israel has 21 Islamic recognized neighbors, but the reality is that there are many neighbors where Islam is the controlling religion. I have listed 23 nations below (with their square miles, population and population density):
Israel's Islamic Neighbors Sq Miles Population Density Year Est
Algeria 919,595 33,769,669 36.722 1962
Saudi Arabia 829,996 27,601,038 33.254 1932
Libya 679,359 6,173,579 9.087 1951
Iran 636,372 70,472,846 110.742 1979
Mauritania 397,954 3,069,000 7.712 1960
Egypt 387,048 75,500,662 195.068 1953
Pakistan 340,403 172,800,000 507.634 1956
Afghanistan 251,772 32,728,376 129.992 1919
Yemen 203,849 23,013,376 112.894 1990
Morocco 172,414 1,541,130 8.939 1956
Iraq 169,234 29,267,000 172.938 1932
Malaysia 127,355 27,730,000 217.738 1965
Oman 119,498 2,577,000 21.565 1651
Syria 71,479 19,405,000 271.478 1946
Tunisia 63,170 10,102,000 159.918 1956
Bangladesh 55,559 150,448,340 2707.902 1971
Jordan 45,495 6,198,677 136.250 1946
United Arab Eremites 32,278 4,621,399 43.175 1971
Kuwait 6,880 3,399,637 494.133 1961
Qatar 4,416 1,541,130 348.988 1971
Lebanon 4,035 4,196,453 1040.013 1943
Bahrain 253 1,046,814 4137.605 1971
Maldives 115 350,000 3043.478 1965
TOTAL 5,518,529 707,553,126
128.214
On May 15th 1948, the day after Israel declared itself an Independent Nation State, 5 countries attacked. Egypt, Jordan, Syria, Lebanon, and Iraq.
1948 Aggressors Sq Miles Population Density Year Est
Egypt 387,048 75,500,662 195.068 1922
Iraq 169,234 29,267,000 172.938 1932
Syria 71,479 19,405,000 271.478 1946
Jordan 45,495 6,198,677 136.250 1946
Lebanon 4,035 4,196,453 1040.013 1943
TOTAL 677,291 134,567,792
198.685(The facts from these tables are easy to verify - just type the country name into your web browser).
It’s quite clear, when you look at the population density figures from the above tables that the
“Land for Peace” premise makes absolutely no sense. If you also review the years these modern states were established – with the exception of Oman, every single one of these Islamic states has a 20th Century inception making them no different from Israel regarding appearance on the international stage as a modern entity.
“Occupation”. Where did this term come from in relation to the War in Israel? In 1967 Israel defended itself against 3 aggressors: Egypt, Jordan and Syria. During the war, Israel as the defender, not the aggressor, took the Sinai Desert, the Golan Heights, the West Bank, the Gaza Strip, and East Jerusalem. In 1979 Israel returned the Sinai Desert to Egypt. In 2005 Israel disengaged from the Gaza Strip. In history, there has been no other country required to return land taken in defensive actions. Defensible borders against it’s aggressing neighbors has required that Israel maintain a presence in the so called “occupied” areas. But please note, that the countries these areas were “taken” from (Golan Heights from Syria, West Bank from Jordan, East Jerusalem from Jordan) technically had no more right to the land than Israel did & lost those areas as a result of their unwarranted aggression. Again, there was no “Palestinian Nation” against which Israel aggressed to occupy these areas. Also note that Jordan is not demanding the return of the West Bank or East Jerusalem. The Gaza strip technically never belonged to any country post the British Mandate:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gaza_StripSince the Gaza disengagement in 2005 there has been a constant barrage of rockets into Israel, targeting innocent civilians:
http://www.sderotmedia.com/"Peace Partners"? The PLO is not a country. It is a terrorist organization. Hamas is not a county. It is a terrorist organization. Gaza is not a country. Where else in the world is any other country expected to negotiate peace in exchange for land with a terrorist organization?
Aid to the Palestinians. What is rarely reported in the media is that any Arab who applies for Israeli citizenship is awarded the same rights and freedoms of any other Israeli citizen. Freedom of religion, freedom of speech, representative government, socialist support in the form of medicine, aid with food, living expenses, and education among other benefits are available. Before the 1st intifada in 1987 180,000 Palestinians held jobs in Israel. As aggression increased against innocent Israeli civilians that number has been greatly reduced. So what is the basis for the claim of Israeli “oppression” against the Palestinians?
There has been an uneasy but steady peace with Jordan and Egypt since 1977 and 1994 respectively. Although it should be noted that Hamas manages to access arms through hidden tunnels between Gaza and Egypt, and Jordan's porous borders allow arms from Iran to flow into Judea and Samaria.
So what is this war all about? Keeping in mind all the information above, there is not really a clear answer.
Here are some links to review:
PLO charter – note especially points 15, 19, 21 and 22. In light of the fact that it has been established there has never been a nation of “Palestine” what is this based on?!
http://www.iris.org.il/plochart.htmHamas Charter – of course the “people of the Scriptures” are Jews and Christians.
http://www.palestinecenter.org/cpap/documents/charter.htmlIran / Mahmoud Ahmadinejad
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mahmoud_AhmadinejadOf Course there is always the ADL’s watch on antisemitic political commentary & satire:
http://www.adl.org/main_Arab_World/Financial_Crisis.htmhttp://www.adl.org/PresRele/ASaw_14/5245_14.htmhttp://www.adl.org/PresRele/ASaw_14/default.htmhttp://www.adl.org/main_Arab_World/asam_jul_dec_qatar_2006.htmThe world loves an underdog. And I suppose those who scream the loudest get the most attention. Media the world wide tends to lean in support of this supposed underdog. Unfortunately it appears to be "politically incorrect" to double check the facts. Militant Islam has no problem acknowledging they are embroiled in a religious war with Jewish Israel. When will the rest of the world acknowledge it?
