which I'm not sure they would know the truth if it slapped them in the face.
The following was sent to us by a very good
friend, (Charleeda) and we have known her for years,
and she lives in Jerusalem. I'm going to leave all of the text, just like
we received it from her,
It is quite lengthy.
Forwarded by Charleeda in
Jerusalem.
This is really good information to save. It comes from Barbara
Richmond's news report service.
It will probably answer a lot of your questions and in turn, help you answer
questions people often ask.
===============================================================
Group: For Your Glory
Title: Special Jerusalem Report #2
Author: Barbara Richmond
The following was sent to us by one of our subscribers, Sharon Keeton. It is
extremely well done
and will provide you with a thorough yet succinct summary of the Middle East
situation. I suggest
you print it out and save it to use with others, and for your own reference.
Thank you, Sharon, for sharing this with all of us.
=====================================================================
PALESTINE: THE BIG SPIN
Seeking Truth in the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict
One could listen to the news, read the newspaper and yet stay quiet uninformed
and even
misinformed concerning the true situation in the Middle East. Half-truths,
biases, myths, confusion,
and propaganda knowingly or unknowingly dominate many articles that are printed
concerning
the conflict
in Israel. The fabrications concerning the Israeli-Palestinian conflict give new
definition to the word spin.
Entire books have been written about the issues concerning this conflict.
To attempt to separate
truth from fiction in a brief exposeŽ is a challenge. In order to present an
article as short
as possible, issues
have been condensed to a few sentences. However, truth has not
been compromised
in the condensation. A longer exposeŽ would only serve to shed
more light on more propaganda.
Let's examine a few statements or assumptions that need to be clarified.
1)Some Bibles label the land as Palestine; the "Palestinians" must be
the
rightful owners to the land in Israel.
Truth: Let's examine the origin of the word Palestine. Before 1948 all of
the land of Israel was called Palestine? the land and the people. Rome
conquered the land of Israel in 70 AD and again in 135, the Romans rebuilt
the city and renamed the area Palestine, after a former enemy of Israel? the
Philistines. It was a way for them to add insult to injury. Before 1948
the Jews living there were called "Palestinians." The Jerusalem Post
was
called the Palestinian Post. A noted Arab leader, Auni Bey Abdul-Hadi is
quoted as saying to the Peel Commission in 1936: "There is no such country
as Palestine! Palestine is a term the Zionist invented! There is no
Palestine in the Bible. Palestine is alien to us; it is the Zionists who
introduced it." Even Bibles that have labeled the land of Israel as
Palestine are in error.
2)Israel is occupying" Palestinian" land.
Truth: The Jews have occupied the land of Israel continuously for the last
3300 years, and they are the only people to have done so. In recognition
of that undeniable historic fact, all of "Palestine" was to be given
to the
Jews for a national homeland by a 1917 ruling of the League of Nations.
Rich Arabic Oil Countries pressured Britain and steadily the Jews were
betrayed by Britain's administration of the mandate. By 1948, when the
Jews finally are granted a homeland, three fourths of the original land had
been parceled out to Jordan, Syria, Lebanon, etc. Some would wonder why
Israel didn't protest. Actually they were quite angry. Considering what
they had just come through? the Holocaust? they were grateful to have a
homeland after so long. Israel is now accused of "occupying" land that
actually has been theirs for over 3000 years.
3)Palestinians deserve a homeland.
Truth: There has never been a land known as Palestine governed by
Palestinians. There is no language known as Palestinian. There is no
distinct Palestinian culture. Palestinians are Arabs, as are Jordanians,
Syrians, Lebanese, Iraqis, etc. Therefore, to use the word to distinguish a
group of Arabs, who want to be known, as the rightful heirs to the land is
outrageous. It is interesting that when Mark Twain visited Israel in 1860
he noted that the land was desolate and with only a few shepherds living
there. The Jews began to return to Israel in 1881; the Jews made the
deserts bloom again. Arabs began to come to the area to get jobs. Only in
1967 did Arabs begin to claim they were the true Palestinians and that the
land of Israel had always belonged to them. World media eagerly promotes
that lie. Yet in 1948, Arabs owned a mere 3 percent of so-called
"Palestine". Arabs control 99.9 percent of the Middle East lands.
Israel
represents one-tenth of 1 percent of the landmass. Another way to look at
the situation: Arabs control over 5,000,000 square miles yet there is only
one Jewish state consisting of only 8,000 square miles? Israel. Why haven't
Jordan, Syria, or Egypt offered to given the "Palestinians" a
homeland?
These Arabs who call themselves "Palestinian" deserve a home. They may
remain in Israel and abide by their laws, living in peace with their
neighbors; if they cannot live in peace in Israel they can move to an Arab
country.
4)The West Bank belongs to the "Palestinians." Israel stole land from
the
Palestinians in 1967.
Truth: The West Bank is not a narrow strip of land adjacent to the Jordan
River. The West Bank includes the Jordan Valley. The West Bank also
consists of Judea and Samaria, very Biblical areas. These Biblical areas
have ancient Biblical roots that existed long before Mohammad was born in
570 A.D. Prior to the 1967 Arab-Israeli war, there was no serious
movement for a Palestinian homeland. Upon winning the war of 1967 Israel
captured the West Bank and Old Jerusalem, areas with ancient Jewish roots.
An important fact that has been overlooked: The West Bank and Old
Jerusalem were captured from Jordan's King Hussein not Yasser Arafat.
Both the war of 1948 and the war of 1967 were acts of aggression against
Israel. The intent of Arab countries each time was to annihilate the Jews.
When you go against another country and you loose you do not get to keep
the land you had before the acts of war. Israel did give back portions to
Egypt and Jordan. (Neither has the US 'given back' Texas to Mexico!)
The "Palestinians" claim that these three different areas were taken
from
them in 1967?Judea, Samaria (the Jordan Valley) and Gaza. These ancient
biblical sites have a Jewish population of over 100,000. Some of these
"settlers" as the Palestinian Authority calls them have lived in these
areas long before the Oslo agreements, which began the "land for
peace"
negotiations. The Palestinian Authority wants these areas for their
State? three different areas.
When the British Mandate had offered this land to the Arabs for a state
within a Jewish state in 1948 the Arab countries refused the offer and
chose to go to war against Israel in an attempt to destroy Israel and have
all the land. Again, during the peace talks of 2000 just prior to the
latest intifada, Arafat turned down a huge offer of "land for peace".
He
wanted more.
One way for Americans to understand this situation more clearly is to
consider that many of our states in our country have ethnic communities.
We have a vast assortment of ethnic communities: Jewish, Hispanic, Greek,
Chinese, Vietnamese, just to name a few. Israel is about the size of New
Jersey. Now would we allow an ethnic community to terrorize the rest of a
state, warring for independence? Absolutely not. Ethnic communities must
live in harmony with the State.
5)The "Palestinian" refugees should have the "right to
return".
Truth: When the phrase "right to return" is used it is in reference to
the
Arabs who lived in Jerusalem before the war of Independence in 1948. Now
you may be wondering if the Arabs were living there why did they leave
anyway. The reasons for the Arabic flight are varied to include: fear,
safety, break down in leadership, and it seems that the Arabic leadership
(Syria, Lebanon, Iraq, Egypt, and Jordan) told the Arabs to get out of the
way so they could destroy the Jews; then those Arabs who had left their
homes could return after the Jews were annihilated. The only trouble with
that plan was it didn't work. The Jews actually won both wars so it was
impossible for the Arabs to return.
It is interesting that about the same number of Jews (870,000) were evicted
from Arab countries. Most of these Jews were absorbed into Israel. It
would have been quite easy for the Arab countries to absorb the refugee
Arabs, even giving them the homes and possessions of the evicted Jews. It
seems that the Arab countries prefer to keep refugees homeless to get
sympathy from the World. To allow these Arabs and their descendents to
"return" to Jerusalem (2 to 3 million) would be demographic suicide
for the
little country of Israel.
6)Israel is trying to keep Islamic "holy" sites from the
"Palestinians".
Jerusalem is Islam's third holiest city.
Truth: The Koran says nothing about Jerusalem. It mentions Mecca hundreds
of times. It mentions Medina countless times. It never mentions
Jerusalem. Mohammad never visited Jerusalem. Meanwhile the Bible mentions
Jerusalem over 800 times and the Jews can trace their roots in Jerusalem
back to the days of Abraham. Israel became a nation 2000 years before the
rise of Islam. The first Jewish temple built on the Temple Mount by
Solomon was built over 1600 years before the Moslems built the Dome of the
Rock on the Temple Mount.
7)Israeli soldiers kill innocent children.
Truth: "Palestinian" children are taught to hate Israel from an early
age
at home, at school, by television, by radio, and books. They are put in
the line of fire, as are women; men are behind with weapons. Israeli
soldiers try to avoid hitting children but many times it cannot be
prevented. Children should not be in those dangerous situations. It makes
Israel look bad in the eyes of the international community when children
are killed? which is just what the Palestinian Authority wants. Israeli
intelligence has proved that Palestinian snipers have killed some of these
children. But of course that news doesn't print nearly so well.
8)The Jews fire upon "Christian" Bethlehem.
Truth: Christians primarily occupied the city of Bethlehem until the mid
1980's. Arabs began to buy the land and now it is 80% Arab not Christian.
It certainly makes great headlines for Jews to be shooting into Christian
cities but this statement is far from truth. (NOTE from Barbara: Despite
continuing so-called 'press releases' about so-called Israeli offenses in
Bethlehem, I reported two weeks ago that I personally met with two
Bethlehem Christians while I was in Israel recently who both told me the
suffering they are enduring is at the hands of the Palestinians, not at the
hands of Israel. They admitted that they pray for Israel to take back
Bethlehem because they had a better life under Israeli rule than they do
under the PA.)
9)The Palestinians insist that they will allow Jerusalem to be an
International Holy City for all religions.
Truth: Now the "Palestinians" cry out for East Jerusalem to be
returned to
them. They insist that they will allow the holy city to be an
international city for all nations. It should be noted that from 1948 to
1967 no Jews could visit the city. Even today, though Israel controls the
Temple Mount and Western Wall, the Palestinian Authority governs the Temple
Mount. Jews and Christians are not allowed to pray on the Temple Mount.
For over a year the Palestinian Authority has been involved in heavy
excavations of the Temple Mount destroying ancient ruins while building
additional mosques. To avoid additional violence Israel has not resisted
these efforts. Just last month scientists noticed that cracks and bulges
are appearing in the foundational walls. Should we really believe that the
Palestinian Authority would allow the holy city to be an international city
for all nations? Only Israel can be trusted to control and govern the
Temple Mount. Under Israeli rule, all Muslim and Christian sites have been
preserved and made accessible to people of all faiths.
10)The cycle of violence in the Middle East must stop. Palestinians are
enduring a war of aggression; state supported terrorism, and ethnic
cleansing.
Truth: The media would like for us to believe that both terrorist actions
and Israel's retaliation are acts of terrorist aggression. The truth is:
terrorists target innocent civilians; Israel targets terrorists. There is
no "cycle of violence." Israel should be allowed to protect their
citizens. There is a great deal of difference between the actions of
terrorists and government retaliation. However, when the media reports the
number of deaths it looks like Israel is the bad guy because more
Palestinians are killed. That is a consequence of war when someone puts
himself or herself in the position of aggression. It is not ethnic
cleansing. Many "Palestinians" are killed in what Israel lists as
"work
related" accidents. This means they were killed while creating a bomb that
goes off prematurely or killed while transporting the bomb to its
destination. Of course suicide bombers are killed along with several
innocent Israeli citizens. If Israel is waging a war of aggression, state
supported terrorism, or ethnic cleansing then the United States is guilty
too.
11) Terrorism in the Middle East is different from the terrorism that
landed in America on September 11.
Truth: We are being told that the Palestinians use terrorism because
Israel provokes them. We cannot believe that it is ever justified for
innocent citizens to be targeted. The come-lately "Palestinians" are
sustained by the world in the lie that they are the original owners of this
land. As a result, terrorism is perpetrated not only against Israel but,
also now, in this latest act against the US to apply pressure to force
Israel out of its rightful land. Israel has been pressured all year long to
not deal violently with the terrorists, to show restraint, to not target
terrorists for assassination. Isn't it interesting that we are dealing much
differently with those who terrorize us? Why should the tiny country of
Israel, the only democracy in the Middle East, be forced to give in to the
demands of the terrorists? Make no mistake, for the United States to
pressure and even demand that Israel negotiate under impossible conditions
of Palestinian violence that have taken place against civilians on a daily
basis for more than a year would reward terrorism and encourage more
violence not only in the Middle East but around the world to include
America.
12)Palestinians are freedom fighters not terrorists.
Truth: Targeting innocent civilians can never be justified. Palestinians
do not want freedom; they want to annihilate Israel. It is interesting to
note that Palestinian maps produced by the Palestinian Authority label the
whole geographic area known as Israel as Palestine. There is no mention of
Israel. The PLO charter still calls for the destruction of the State of
Israel. Now, if we decide to call "Palestinians" freedom fighters,
what
freedom are they fighting for: the freedom to destroy Israel?
13)Arafat is a peace partner, a man who can be trusted.
Truth: Arafat is a
terrorist. He is history's bloodiest most vicious and
successful terrorist. Arafat and his PLO held the record for the largest
hijacking (four aircraft in a single operation)? which has just been equaled
on 9/11, the greatest number of hostages held at one time (300), the
greatest number of people shot at an airport, the largest ransom collected
($5 million paid by Lufthansa), the greatest variety of targets (40
civilian passenger aircraft, five passenger ships, 30 embassies or
diplomatic ministries plus innumerable fuel depots and factories), etc.
Instead of being tried by an international tribunal, as were the Nazi and
Serbian leadership, Arafat exploits gained for him acceptance as a peace
prizewinner (John Laffin, The PLO Connections, Transworld, 1982,18).
Before he could come to the US during the Oslo peace talks his passport had
to be amended because he was listed as a terrorist. On September 11
national television showed clips of "Palestinian" children rejoicing
over
the collapse of the twin towers. What you may not know is that the PA
arrested and warned reporters not to report those images. It made Arafat
and his Palestinian Authority look bad.
14)The "Palestinians" just want a state of their own; once they get
their
own state they will be peace-loving neighbors.
Truth: Well, actually that is what Arafat says to the press but, to his
own people in Arabic, he says that an official state will be a springboard
for further aggression against Israel until Israel is no more. The borders
of Israel would be indefensible. Iraqi and Egyptian tanks could roll into
this new State and attack Israel at will.
To quote a PA leader who outlines the true goals of a Palestinian state:
"The goal of the current Intifada is a Palestinian state, but afterwards,
there will be even greater things for which to strive . . .There is no room
for more than one state between the Jordan River and the Mediterranean."
(Marwan Bargouti, PA leader of Palestinian Tanzim militia (anti-Israel
militant group), Arutz 7, July 3, 2001).
15) "Jews are responsible for the destruction in the US on September 11.
Jews are responsible for assassinating the Israeli cabinet member."
Truth: These latest lies are just too absurd to even refute.
If there is to be a man made peace solution to the violence in the Middle
East it needs to begin with truth. Pretending will only lead to more
chaos. Treating a 5000-year-old birthright backed by over whelming
historical and archaeological evidence equally with illegitimate claims,
wishes and wants give diplomacy a bad name. Israel has been tricked into
giving away "land for peace" to people who do not want peace.
The spinning must stop. The truth must be told. Reporters must return to
being truth seekers? investigating for truth and exposing lies and
propaganda.
Blessings and shalom,
Barbara
www.foryourglory.org
(((( SPECIAL NOTES: ))))
Recently on the evenings National News, Secretary of State Colin Powell was
giving a speech
that there must be a peace treaty between Israeli and the Palestinians,
It would appear to me that he
doesn't know enough about Biblical History to know what he is talking about, and
that's pretty sad
for a United States leader not to know that there really is no such nationality
as Palestinians.
*****************
(( as quoted in 3)Palestinians deserve a homeland.
))
There has never been a land known as Palestine governed by
Palestinians. There is no language known as Palestinian. There is no
distinct Palestinian culture. Palestinians are Arabs, as are Jordanians,
Syrians, Lebanese, Iraqis, etc. Therefore, to use the word to distinguish a
group of Arabs, who want to be known, as the rightful heirs to the land is
outrageous.
*****************
WHY, should Israel give even one foot of their
land to the Arabs.
WHO in their right mind would think they could ever make a peace treaty with
Arafat, a known
terrorist.
It is also very sick that the United States keeps
blaming Israel for all the turmoil in that part
of the world, trying to force some authority over Israel to give up more of their small piece of land
to
the terrorist, and yet the
United States is willing to fight the whole world for what happen
in New York,
Sept. 11, 2001.
We should be supporting Israel 100 %, less we may be judged as a
goat nation.
For those of you that don't know what I'm talking about when I say goat nation,
all nations will
be judged as either a goat or a sheep nation.
I didn't say that, but God did.
Matthew 25: 31-46
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created on December 6, 2001
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