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9:54 PM
Reut R. Cohen
1. Nationhood and Jerusalem: Israel became a nation in 1312 B.C. 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., 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 A.D. 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 Qu'ran.
7. King David founded the city of Jerusalem. Muhammed 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. Under Arab-Muslim rule, Jews in Middle Eastern lands were third-class citizens.
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 up to 1,000,000.
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 refugee group 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 twenty-one 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 PLO 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.
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2 comments. Leave a comment:
Dear Ms. Cohen:
I am an Jewess born in Egypt, and residing in New York. I consider myself American, and JEWISH.
There are a couple of things you need to know:
1) Read the book the Seventh Million, written by historian Tom Segev. You will have an understanding of the founding of Israel as you've never seen it before. Tom is an Israeli historian.
2)The refugees from Arab lands were not wholly absorbed by Israel. They were considered highly undesirable because of their "ethnic" background. In fact only 40% of them migrated to Israel, whereas the rest found their way to France, England, Australia and the UK through various Jewish American philanthropic organizations.
3)The desire to create a modern Jewish state, is just that: modern. The Ashkenazi Jews who formed that state did not come from these lands. Their origins are Russian, Polish and German. The biblical Jews were most likely sephardic, like myself.
4)Just this evening, I had a chance to listen to Benny Morris' introduction of his book "1948" on CSPAN Book TV. He went from a strong voice against Palestinian abuse to a vociferous Zionist after he was blasphemed into it by other Jews. They can do that to you, you know. Did you have a chance to hear it?
5)No matter what one feels in one's heart, there are always two sides to a story. Please allow from expression from the other side, even if you do not agree with it.
I invite you to visit Women's Lens, my blog, where you can find a plethera of posts in English and French about this very question.
With warm regards,
Aimée Kligman, née Dassa
I am also Mizrahi/Sephardic. Our communities found more acceptance in Israel than any Arab society.
Middle Eastern Jews in France (and other European countries) today face extreme anti-Semitism and we've seen a large amount of these Jews making aliyah to Israel. Israel is a beacon of light for distressed Jews.
And you should also be aware that more than half of Israel today is composed of Jews with Middle Eastern roots. Today Israel is a very accepting society, and Ashkenazim and Sephardim have no issues with marrying each other, living together, etc.
The desire to return to the Jewish homeland is not a modern Ashkenazi idea. There were Jews who never left the Jerusalem (some of my relatives included). Jerusalem and Israel are integral parts of Judaism.
Zionism is not an evil term. Zionism is the desire for a Jewish homeland in lands that always had a Jewish presence. It is the right to self-determination.
The fact is that Palestinians could have had their own country already but their leaders and their Arab neighbors choose violence over peace. Israel is a threat to the Arab world. Similarly, Jews living in what became Islamic lands also posed such a threat that these Jews lived as third-class citizens and faced intense persecution.
Thanks for your comment.
Reut R. Cohen
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