15 ESSENTIAL FACTS ABOUT THE ARAB-ISRAELI CONFLICT 1. Despite Arab claims to the contrary, there has been a continuous Jewish presence in the land of Israel for approximately 3,000 years. The Jewish people base their claim to the land of Israel on the fact that they settled and developed the land, the international community granted political sovereignty in Palestine to the Jewish people, the territory was captured in defensive wars, and certain Biblical sources. 2. The Palestinians have not had a continuous presence in the land of Israel nor did they settle the land in the way that the Jewish people did. On the contrary, Arabs did not populate the area until the 7th century CE Arab invasion. During the post-Ottoman League of Nations’ Mandate, all of the land’s residents – Muslims, Christians, and Jews – were called “Palestinian.” Through the time of the UN partition, many Arabs disdained being called “Palestinians” and thought of themselves instead as southern Syrians. Many families of the modern day Palestinians can in fact be traced back to Syria, Lebanon and Jordan. 3. The modern State of Israel was created as a result of both the Balfour Declaration (issued when Britain had sovereignty over the area) and the UN’s Partition Plan in 1947. Despite arguments that outside powers should not be able to create nation states, very few have problems with numerous other countries created as a result of other nations’ decisions, or UN votes. 4. In 1947, the U.N. voted to partition the British Mandate of Palestine, in light of its recognition that both Jews and Arabs had legitimate claims to the land. The proposed partition included three areas: a Jewish state, an Arab state, and an internationally administered zone in Jerusalem. The Jewish population accepted, and reaffirmed their intention to coexist peacefully with the Arabs living in the area; the Arab population refused, and responded with riots and violence. 5. The Arab-Jewish conflict generated a two-sided refugee issue, not a “Palestinian refugee issue.” The number of Jews fleeing Arab countries for Israel in the years following Israel’s independence was nearly double the number of Arabs leaving Palestine. Israel absorbed the Jewish refugees. Other Arab nations have refused to address the Palestinian refugee issue, many of which became refugees simply because they followed the orders of the attacking Arab nations to flee the land in preparation for their assumed victory. 6. There are over 20 Arab nations in the Middle East. Many of these countries have discriminatory practice against other religions. There is only one Jewish state, with guarantees freedom of worship, and it is one of the smallest nations in the entire Middle East (in fact, much smaller than the original land contemplated by the Balfour Declaration). 7. Israel has consistently held that a two-state solution is possible if the surrounding Arab nations and Palestinians truly want peace. This is obvious from Israel’s original acceptance of the Partition Plan in 1947 and later acceptances of this idea. In 1967, after defending itself against another war of annihilation, the Israeli government accepted UN Resolution 242 and voted unanimously to return the vast majority of territories it had captured (the Sinai Desert, Golan Heights, Gaza Strip and West Bank) in exchange for peace. The Arab response was unequivocal: “no peace with Israel, no recognition of Israel, no negotiations with it.” In 2000, Israel made a series of two-state proposals which eventually included almost all of the West Bank (plus additional territory from Israel proper), the entire Gaza strip, Palestinian control over East Jerusalem, and a $30 billion solution for the Palestinian refugees. Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat not only refused – he made no counter-offer, abandoned negotiations, and immediately began planning the Al-Aqsa Intifada. 8. Contrary to popular myth, Palestinian Arabs had been deliberately targeting Jewish civilians for decades before Israel was even established, and half a century before the Israeli “occupation” of the West Bank and Gaza. The PLO was founded in 1964, three years before any “settlement” was created. 9. The central issue in the Middle East conflict has never been Israel’s occupation of the West Bank and Gaza – rather, it’s the very fact of Israel’s existence. All major Palestinian organizations are centered around the goal of destroying Israel. The Palestinian National Charter (adopted in 1964 – three years before the Six Day War and the resulting occupation) declares its aim to be “the elimination of Zionism in Palestine.” The PLO’s 10 Point Program of 1974 reaffirmed this as the organization’s goal. The charters of Hamas and Hezbollah both explicitly state that their goal is to “obliterate” Israel. Even while supposedly negotiating for peace, Palestinian leaders have repeatedly stated that any peace agreement would only be a tactic towards the ultimate goal of eliminating Israel entirely. To this day, Palestinian media routinely broadcast the real Arab wish: to claim all of Israel, not just the West Bank and Gaza. 10. For decades, Israel has been the target of widespread condemnation and criticism, out of all proportion to the severity of its actions in comparison with other countries, and with little to no consideration of the context within which the condemned actions were taken. 11. Israel voluntarily withdrew from Gaza and shortly thereafter, the Palestinians started to shoot missiles at Israel. Since 2005, the Palestinians have fired over 20,000 missiles in terrorist attacks against Israel. 12. During the Gaza wars, the Palestinians have deliberately targeted Israeli civilians and use Palestinians civilians as human shields. Israel has decided not to go through with numerous strikes for fear of killing civilians. 13. Throughout the Gaza wars, Israel has offered medical help, supplies and other sources of assistance to the people in Gaza. 14. Although claiming to want to live in peace with Jewish citizens of Israel, many Arab Israelis have committed (and attempted to commit) terrorist acts to support the people in Gaza. Additionally, many have celebrated publicly these terrorist acts. 15. The current conflict started because Hamas kidnapped and brutally murdered three Jewish teenagers, which preceded the murder of an Arab youth. After the Arab youth was killed, Jews were in shock that a Jew would do something like this and major Israeli political leaders and religious leaders uniformly condemned the murder. This is in contrast to many Palestinians and Israeli Arabs who celebrated the kidnapping and murder of the three boys, including creating a “three-fingered salute” in support of it. Hamas is occupying the Gaza Strip. Israel is not occupying any land. Jews have had a strong connection and continuous presence in the land of Israel for the past 3,300 years. In 1917 the Balfour Declaration said a Jewish homeland was to be established in Palestine. At this time Jordan, and Israel were both part of Palestine. In 1918, all the rest of the Middle East 99% was given to the Muslims, with the fall of the Ottoman Empire in WWI. In 1920 the San Remo Resolution made the Balfour Declaration official. In 1921 the British falsely used the MacMahon–Hussein Correspondence to steal Trans-Jordan from the Jewish homeland, which was supposed to be part of Israel, and is three times as big as Israel. In 1922 the international community, the entire League of Nations unanimously voted to recognize the Jewish homeland between the Jordan River and the Mediterranean Sea. This document Mandate of Palestine is still international law today. In 1925, the United States recognized the validity of the League of Nations historic document Mandate of Palestine In the little known Anglo-American Treaty, and granted the Jewish people the right by international law to settle between the Jordan River and the Mediterranean Sea. In 1945, the UN recognized Israel under article 80 of the UN charter. Before 1948 the West Bank and Golan Heights did not belong to Arabs. Arabs acquired those areas (for 19 years) after they attacked Israel in 1948. Before that, Judea and Samaria (the West Bank) was occupied by the British and Golan Heights was occupied by France. Arabs say because of Resolution 181 they own the West Bank and Golan Heights. Resolution 181 was a non-binding recommendation to partition Israel, whose implementation hinged on acceptance by both parties - Arabs and Jews. Since Arabs did not accept the resolution, the West Bank and Golan Heights became No-Man’s Land, which was part of the ancestral land of the Jews. To the victor go the spoils. It is Jordan that is stolen land, not Judea and Samaria This is wat someone shared thoughts please
Posted on: Tue, 15 Jul 2014 06:47:35 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015