#if the Palestinians leave then its 1948 all over again and they will never be able to come back

[imperiuswrecked]

"We should call out Egypt & Jordan for not accepting Palestinian Refugees"

Baby girl you can't even call out genocide that's happening live on your screens in full color. Sit down.

#if the Palestinians leave then its 1948 all over again and they will never be able to come back #we learned the first time that if we leave then we have no rights to return #we dont want to leave #we want them to stop killing us #its not that hard to understand but sure blame others blame everyone except the ones killing us let me know how that works out for you #tw: genocide #palestine #current events #sometimes I actually feel insane bc you do know thats what they want right? thats exactly what they want #they want us to leave #they want to make it hell for us to ever set foot on our land #did you know that if you are Palestinian and anytime you travel even with legal documents in or out of the country #they can stop and harass you? #did you know anytime I travel I have to account for at least 4 hours of interrogation at an airport? and I have legal documents #I account 4 hours bc thats the longest time they've held me in a windowless room #anyways im so done with people who do not understand the history every fucking year its the same thing: just go somewhere else #we dont want to go somewhere else

[jewishvitya]

hei. i enjoy your blogs, i hope you could clear something up for me., i just saw someone claim to be "zionist as in i believe jewish people have the right to self determination in their indigenous homeland",, ive actually seen the claim that jewish ppl are indigenous to israel and are somehow denied that identity as a form of anti semitism and erasure of jewish experience multiple times.. and it always confused me so much cuz like israel was set up as this nationalist project in 1948, before the region was a mess mostly under the rule of the ottomans, but the palestinian culture and ppl were always there. how can someone be indigenous to a region if they werent there before? is there any truth to the claim or is it just co-opting leftist language again?

its so evil how the state of israel could jist completely legitimize itself by co-opting jewish culture and pretending like being in support of it is a fundamental part of jewishness :(

Thank you!! I'm glad you do.

I can try, but I'm not sure how good I'll be at explaining this. Maybe someone else can add to this. If I repeat things I said before, I apologize.

That is a definition of zionism used by many zionists who lean politically to the left. I don't subscribe to these softer definitions of zionism because saying it's just "the right to Jewish self determination in our ancestral homeland" ignores that in practice over the last century the next words are "to the exclusion of others." I define zionism through its practical outcome - which is what we did to Palestinians.

Jewish people originate here. Our religious laws and practices (many of which are regularly disregarded by Israel and by settlers when they do things like destroying olive trees and water sources) are tied to this specific land. There are holidays and religious rituals that are either fundamentally changed or can't be practiced at all if we're anywhere else in the world. Culturally most branches of Judaism maintained this connection throughout our history. And we didn't leave willingly. An empire expelled us from the place that was our land. When the point of indigeniety comes up, this is why. You'll see arguments like - when does indigeniety expire? How many generations until you no longer have a claim to the ancestral homeland you were driven away from?

So this is the cultural context for Judaism. This is something that I also can't really ignore. I can't pretend I don't care about this land and the connection we always had to it.

That said, I still see this as using leftist terminology inappropriately.

To talk about Israel, a lot of us talk about colonialism, and specifically settler colonialism. I lived in the West Bank settlements so to me this really resonates. The argument I get at that point is that an indigenous group can't colonize their own land.

And this is why I'm saying it's a misuse of terminology. We're using that label to absolve ourselves. As if the word "indigenous" is a stamp of approval we get to apply to our actions while we repeat the violence of colonizing forces in history.

Ethnic cleansing, occupation, building settlements - and now also genocide. The tools we use resonate with indigenous people all over the world, because they suffered through similar kinds of oppression. Always with differences and different contexts, these things are never 1:1, but there's a reason indigenous groups around the world are in solidarity with Palestinians. I shared about a video from a Korean person talking about how colonialism by Japan broke the thread of their history - old buildings that had to be rebuilt instead of being preserved, historical cultural practices and art forms being lost or changed due to the loss of artisans. These are things Israel is doing now.

So to me, this is using the word "landback" and "liberation" for a violent takeover of land from an indigenous group. You mentioned the Ottomans - Palestine has been conquered over and over throughout history. Those regimes, sure, fighting them off can be liberatory, if the intent isn't to become the conquerors in their place. But there's nothing to liberate from Palestinians, because they're not colonizing anything. They belong in this land.

I'm really angry that so many of us try to deny the Palestinians their own connection. They have roots here, a long and rich history shaped by life in the land. While we destroy so much and say our claim is so strong we get to kill or drive them away for it.

#riki babbles

[filmsoftheflesh]

"Children of Shatila opens with 1982 archive footage of Israeli war planes over Beirut, flames rising from the city, tanks moving inexorably towards Shatila, long panning shots over heaps of dead bodies of people, and a downed white horse, lines of heartbroken grieving women, men in face masks digging burial preparations. That was the history the children in the film never saw for themselves, but know in great detail from family and community lore. One boy talks with complete composure of how the bulldozers in the neighbourhood scooped up bodies of Palestinians and Lebanese together in death as they had been in life, and then, how his own aunt died, “Her head was cut off.” Mai’s technique is very rarely to use interviews, but rather to keep the camera running as ordinary life goes on with people talking, especially children, who have just got used to her being a part of it. Scenes in a classroom, in a family dinner, running through the alleys, jokes and games unfold so naturally that the viewer is in Shatila, not watching from the outside. There is truth conveyed in this seemingly effortless work method (which is in fact the fruit of a great investment of time and of listening skills) that could never be achieved in a traditional interview with all its opportunities for reflection before and cutting afterwards making for a confected product.

Children of Shatila shows a crowd of children watching boys’ and girls’ groups dancing the traditional dabka with everyone clapping along. Mai brought them a new game. She is glimpsed giving a small digital camera to one of the children, and the film begins to show the images and footage of one child after another as they turn the camera on the scene, on each other, even on her, and watch the images on the small screen with absolute wonder.

Children interview each other on film and tell each other their dreams of being grown up, how they will be doctors, engineers, spacemen, and how they will get their houses in Palestine back. Again, their own footage is shown as part of the film. They move through the camp as a group and one girl asks a very old neighbour sitting in the dusty alley outside his home what it had been like leaving Palestine, and what would he do first if he went back. “We were a wretched lot – barefoot,” he tells them of his family’s flight to Lebanon in 1948, before going on to say he would first rebuild his house on returning, then look after the land and the olive trees. He leans forward to speak intently into their camera as he tells the children to promise him that even if it takes 100 years or more they will never forget Palestine. This is the history that all of them know as well as if they have lived it themselves and which we see reflected in all the painting, poetry and dreams that fill the children’s lives."

Text by Victoria Brittain, author of Love and Resistance in the Films of Mai Masri. Published by Palgrave Macmillan 2020

(x, x, x)

#film #palestine #documentary #caps #another screen #another gaze #90s #mai masri #children of shatila #lebanon #children of shatila 1998

[lkblackham]

There are many things to say.

But really, everything can be said in one image.

Handala is a character that was created by Palestinian cartoonist Naji al-Ali. Handala is a 10-year-old boy who is a refugee, most often drawn with his back to the viewer - representing how the world has turned their back on Palestine.

Naji al-Ali was a refugee. He was forced out of his home with his family at the age of 10 during the 1948 Palestinian expulsion - an incredibly violent and excruciating event that was central to the current-day displacement and persecution of Palestinians today. Naji al-Ali grew up in a refugee camp. He went on to join the Nationalist Arab Movement, but was expelled several times and finally left altogether.

He eventually found his voice with drawing political cartoons, which were widely distributed and read. He was forcefully detained in 1985 by Israeli forces during their invasion of Lebanon, but managed to get out. He then left the Middle East altogether and moved to London, where he lived until he was shot in the neck outside of the office of the newspaper he worked for. He fell into a coma and died shortly afterwards. His assassin was never officially found, although there were strong suspects.

Naji al-Ali never committed an act of violence against anyone. He spoke through his art. Handala was/is his most famous character. al-Ali described him as being drawn as a humanisation of Palestine - channelling himself as the 10-year-old boy who was violently forced to leave his home, poor, wearing worn clothes and no shoes.

In al-Ali's words: "Handala was born 10 years old and he will always be 10 years old. It was at that age that I left my homeland. When Handala returns, he will still be 10 years old, and then he will start growing up."

He also said that Handala would "reveal his face to the readers again only when Palestinian refugees return to their homeland."

(Just to be clear, I'm pulling all of my info and a fair bit of wording from Wikipedia here, but you can easily find this information corroborated all over the Internet.)

With the current attempt at blatant genocide being perpetuated by the Israeli government against the Palestinians once again, artists all over the world are showing their support for Palestine by drawing themselves with Handala, or their own version of Handala. I'm not Palestinian, or even Arab. I'm just a white girl from California who barely knows anything. But this - I can at least do this.

I don't often talk about my Ph.D here, because it's usually so difficult to describe in such a way that I can convey its importance. I joke all the time that I'm just getting a degree in comics, but the reality is, it's much, much, much more than that. Comics are, in my opinion, the oldest form of art there is. And the reason comics are viewed as being a "low" or "crude" form of art - sometimes to the degree that it's not even regarded as "art" at all - is that they're accessible. They're so easy to read. They're so easy to publish. They're so easy to understand. And this accessibility has been recognized by artists and political authorities. Comics have been used as weapons to perpetuate political agendas. And they've been used to protest that weaponization. They've been used to spread lies, and truth. Sometimes both at the same time.

Naji al-Ali used comics to tell his story, and the story of all Palestinians - a story that is, horrifyingly, still being hidden. I would implore all of you to read, and to watch, and to listen, and to give whatever you can, to help the people who have been hidden all this time by hateful words and violent agendas.

#free palestine #with handala

[alphaman99]

Reposting this letter written by a Canadian Professor, Lena Bykhovsky who teaches biblical studies at Carleton University in Ottawa.

-----

“Dear Students,

I have spent the last 25 years showing you the beauty of all of the literary, cultural, philosophical, and artistic heights of the human spirit over the course of human history. Teaching you has been the most wonderful and satisfying of callings. I never wanted to do anything other than meet with you, discuss ideas with you, discover and rediscover human insights, truths, and wonders. I never regretted my career path, never hated my job, and never doubted my legacy. I felt privileged and honoured to show you how to analyse, to think critically, to weigh evidence, and to understand people and ideas, contexts and complexity, deeply and thoroughly. I thought my work was helping to make the world a better, more humane, more thoughtful place.

You have broken my heart. No: shattered it, irreparably. I don’t know how I will ever set foot in a classroom again. I don’t know how I will ever see you the same way. I know now that I was deluding myself that I ever had any impact, would ever leave any positive legacy, that my work ever made any difference.

I watch you all on social media, in the streets and the quads, marching in solidarity with a movement that seeks only to wipe me out. To exterminate me, my children, my parents, my entire family and community. I know, some of you think you’re trying to help the oppressed. You think that my kind is the white colonialist racist kind that you hate.

But I thought I taught you how to evaluate arguments. I thought I taught you the importance of understanding context, both historical and rhetorical. I thought that I taught you that the world did not operate according to dichotomies, like black and white, oppressor and oppressed, villain and victim. I thought I taught you about complexity, about judgment, and to examine your sources and not to take anyone’s statements at face value.

Zionism is the Jewish right to self-determination in our ancestral homeland. Israel is that ancestral homeland. Jews are the indigenous peoples of that land; not the only indigenous peoples of that land, to be sure. But Israel is the only land to which we are indigenous. After 2000 years of longing, the result of the Holocaust – a Nazi movement which sought to ethnically cleanse the world of Jews by systematically exterminating us – was that the international community granted us a sliver of that ancestral homeland.

It was to be shared, partitioned into a Jewish state and an Arab state. The Arabs rejected the partition and attacked the Jews when they declared the state of Israel in 1948. The Jews won. Arabs who remained in Israel became citizens with full rights and freedoms. 20% of Israel’s population today is Arab. They fight in the army, they are doctors, lawyers, members of Parliament and supreme court judges. There is no apartheid. Israel’s Jewish population consists of Jews from Arab lands, whose parents or grandparents were kicked out when the state of Israel was formed, and of descendants of refugees from Eastern Europe, Holocaust survivors who had no homes to return to. Some are more recent refugees from Europe, Russia, and the Americas who either returned to Israel for religious reasons or because the Jew-hatred in their communities grew too excessive and they decided to emigrate, to head for the one place in the world Jews can go if their neighbours or governments turn against them.

The West Bank and Gaza strip – along with refugee camps that still exist in Lebanon, Syria, and Jordan -- were the places that the Arab nations who attacked Israel at its founding told the Arabs living in Palestine (later to be known as Palestinians) to flee. It was supposed to be temporary, because the plan was to “push the Jews into the sea.” When the plan didn’t work out, all of these states refused to absorb the Palestinians. They wanted to keep them in camps because they still planned to annihilate Israel and the Jews that lived there and then the Palestinians could return. The West Bank was in Jordan and Gaza was in Egypt until 1967, when the Arab states tried again to push the Jews into the sea. Their failure this time ended with Israel capturing these territories.

When Israel tried to exchange land for peace and give Gaza back to Egypt, Egypt didn’t want it. And so the territories remained in Israel. In 2005 Israel pulled out of Gaza and left it to govern itself. Most of the West Bank is also self-governing, but not all because of the high number of suicide bombers and other threats to Israel’s existence fomenting there, so Israel hasn’t been able to fully remove itself. The current awful Israeli government has allowed religious fanatics, “settlers,” to build settlements there, which makes everything worse.

And you see what I did there? I criticized Israel’s government. I can do that, and still support the existence of a Jewish state in our ancestral homeland.

When you say “from the river to the sea, Palestine will be free,” this is a call to ethnic cleansing of Jews from their homeland, from the only state in the entire Middle East that would look remotely familiar to you in terms of basic rights and freedoms and a democratic system if you were to visit the region. When Hamas supporters – like those who led you all in a rally on my home campus today – talk about Jews as “occupiers,” they don’t mean Gaza. They mean the whole state of Israel. They want Jews eradicated from the entire land. Hamas actually wants us gone from the whole world, as they have stated many times. Who are the Nazis now?

But here I am, teaching again. I can’t help myself. I wish that you cared what I had to say. I wish that some knowledge, some context, some understanding, could reach beyond the slogans and chants for my death that you are repeating mindlessly and endlessly as you march to the beat of hatred across the tattered remains of my broken soul.”

===

[nickyhemmick]

A Very Stressed American Jew here again,

Hi! Thank you for taking the time to respond to my ask and yes, I’m someone who loves hearing as many perspectives as possible so I’d love some sources from you. I also very much appreciate the fact you are being very careful to only reblog posts that are anti Israel, not antisemetic (which is frankly a breath of fresh air, the internet has been a bit exhaustingly full of both antisemitic & Islamaphobic content these past feel days as I bet you’ve seen)

I’ve also been to Israel on a Birthright trip. We met people who ( both Palestinian and Israeli) on various sides of the conflict and learned a ton about it, from both perspectives which I was lucky to have the opportunity to do. We even went a little into the Gaza Strip to talk to these people running a pro Palestine peace movement and it was so important to me hearing those stories.

I never said they were on equal footing militarily, they definitely are not, Israel definitely has that advantage. But you are incorrect about Israel always being the aggressor since 1948,they’ve defended themselves about as often as they’ve attacked. Isreal is a small country comparatively to the ones surrounding it, so it makes sense it defends itself heavily in case of an attack.

I 100% agree that there are too many people who are compliant with the mistreatment of many Palestinians! I’m not anti #freepalestine at all! I get why that is a thing. But I also stand with Israel( but that does not mean I condone every action they take. ) Overall I think the situation is extremely complicated and some sort of compromise should be reached.

It’s just been very frustrating to see so many people reblog things on a situation just bashing Israel because so many others are doing it. Especially when then don’t know what they are talking about or using big buzz words that they don’t know what they mean, or spreading misinformation. It’s been on both sides and has been very very draining. I just want peace and some sort of solution. It makes me extremely happy you know what you are talking about and can debate politely yet happily about it. The internet has been so ‘ either agree with me 100% or you a bad person’ about this so it’s refreshing to see you are not like that.

I’ve done a lot of research into it from as many perspectives as I can get my hands on.

Some extremest Israelis are hurting Palestinians

Some extremest Palestinians are hurting Israelis

Both sides are throwing rockets at each other and it’s terrifying.

Both sides claim the other side is brainwashed

There is so much biased propaganda out there on both ends it’s hard to know what is truly happening.

I know people living in Israel who have sent me videos they’ve taken of rockets flying over there heads and I’m so scared for them. I’m so scared for all the innocent people caught in the crossfire on both sides.

Thank you for a more nuanced response and I’d love some of your sources,

A Very Stressed American Jew

Hi anon, 

I wasn’t going to respond to this until after my math final tomorrow but I’ve spent the past two days thinking of your ask and the things I wish to articulate in my answer. 

I am going to start here: how can you say you support Israel but say you are also pro-free Palestine (as in, you said you are not anti free Palestine). In my opinion, these two ideas cannot coexist. Simply because, the entire establishment of Israel has been on violent, racist, colonial grounds. 

(Super long post under here guys)

You said you don’t support all Israel’s actions, and definitely, just because you support something doesn’t mean you can’t criticize it. However, in my opinion, if you do not support Israel’s actions against Palestinians there’s not much left to support? I admit this is a very biased view as I am Palestinian, but many things that people support about Israel have existed before its creation: as in, these are things and qualities that have existed in Judaism and are not due to “Israeli culture.” There is no Israeli culture. There’s Jewish culture--100%. But there is no Israeli culture, because Israel does not only steal Palestinian land, but Palestinian culture, too. Such as claiming Levant food is Israeli; hummus, ful, falafel, shawarma. I mentioned food from this article I know is culturally and traditionally of the Levant, and has been for centuries, it is not something that has come to culinary creation in the past 73 years. 

I do not think this is a complicated issue. I said that in the previous ask and I’ll say that again. Saying it is a complicated issue is trivializing the deaths of innocent Palestinians, the violent dispossession our ancestors endured, and the apartheid they live under. I hope if anything comes from this discussion it is you removing the “it’s a complicated issue” phrase from your vernacular. 

This is not complicated. A journalist reporting the death of martyrs only to discover that of them include two of his brothers is not complicated. The asymmetry of Israel vs Palestinian armed forces is not complicated, nor is the asymmetry in Israeli vs Palestinian suffering (which I will get to later). It is not complicated.  Destroying the graves of martyred Palestinians (or just in general, the graves of the dead) is not complicated. Little children being pulled from the rubble, children being forced to comfort one another as they are covered in the ashes of their decimated homes, attacking unarmed citizens in peaceful demonstrations (you can find videos before this attack where they were playing with kites and balloons), destroying an international media office and refusing to allow journalists to retrieve the work they are spending every waking hour documenting but claiming it was because it was a hide out for a “Hamas base,” fathers who are trying to cheer their frightened children up only to end up dead the next day, while many Israeli have the privilege and the option to go to hotel-like bomb shelters is not complicated. 

This brings me to my next point: the suffering of Palestinians cannot be compared to the inconvenience of Israeli’s. On one side, you have children who are happy to have saved their fish in the face of their homes and lives being decimated behind them to Israeli’s in Tel Aviv having to cut their beach day short to get to bomb shelters. You have mothers and fathers ready to set their lives down for their children to save them from bombs to Israeli’s enjoying their brunch only after making sure there are bomb shelters there. You have Palestinian children being murdered to blocking out the sound of sirens in the safety of your bomb shelters. (The first picture of the Palestinian child is not from footage of the recent problems). You have the baby lone survivor of a whole family recovered from rubble. His whole family, gone, before he ever had the chance to realize that he even exists, while Israeli’s decide to flee out of the country,(Translate the caption from Twitter, it checks out), or have to leave the shower due to sirens. Who is really suffering? 

I won’t sit here and pretend like the thought of rockets flying over my head, no matter which side I am on, is not terrifying. It is. It’s scary to just think about. But Israeli’s have protection beyond Palestinian’s, they have sirens to warn them (Israel does not always warn Palestinian building members that it is about to be bombed), they have the Iron Dome, they have simply the threat of nuclear power (which I am not saying Israel would use, but the simple fact they have it would make me feel a lot better if I were an Israeli citizen) and they have bomb shelters. What do Palestinians have? Hamas? That smuggles its weapons through the ocean? That only ever reacts to the action Israel instigates? And yet Gazans are branded terrorists and that it is their fault that they “elected” a terrorist organization that only was ever created due to no protection from any armed country? (There are so many links I want to add in this paragraph but it is simply impossible for me to add everything I want, a lot of what I’m referring to can either be found through a Google search, or you can stalk my Twitter account, all that I am posting now is about Palestine, and will include sources of things I cannot add in just this one post.) 

Look, I see myself in the genocide happening in Palestine right now. I see myself in this ten year-old girl. In this three year old girl. I see me and my family in videos of cars being attacked in Ramallah and Sheikh Jarrah (I cannot find the Ramallah video, should be somewhere on my Twitter), I see my father in the countless videos of fathers crying out for their children, of kissing the corpse of their loved ones (again, translate the Tweet, the man holding the body is saying “just one kiss”). I see my grandfather in videos like this (old footage). I see my younger brother, I see my grandmother, my mother, my aunts and uncles and cousins. I see myself and my life and my family were my father not lucky enough to get a scholarship to the UK and out of Palestine, were my maternal grandfather not been lucky enough to make it to a refugee camp and build a life in Jordan. I have an unbelievable amount of privilege to be born into the life I was born in to, in terms of I do not have the threat of bombs and violent dispossession around me, and I do not even live in the US. I have privilege and sheer luck that my parents were able to go to the US so that me and my brothers can be born, because now I have both the protection of the most powerful country in the world while at the same time being part of a people to have suffered so generously the past seventy-three years. 

On the other hand, you saying that Israel has “defended themselves about as often as they’ve attacked. Israel is a small country comparatively to the ones surrounding it, so it makes sense it defends itself heavily in case of an attack,” I offer you this question: why are they using military grade guns and stun grenades in mosques to “defend” themselves from rocks? And before you mention that Hamas hit Tel Aviv, I remind you that Hamas did that due to the violence in the Al-Aqsa mosque square and the attempted ethnic cleansing in Sheikh Jarrah. The violence didn’t begin with us; the violence was brought out of Palestinians in resistance to the generations of oppression we have endured and the attack on Palestinian Muslims during the holiest night of Ramadan. Hamas has since asked for a ceasefire multiple times and Israel is refusing. New reports say there is a possibility of a ceasefire in the coming days, but Israel could have decided this a long time ago and spared many lives. (Remember, no matter what resistance we make, Israel is the one in power).

Israel has been the aggressor since 1948. Just read up about the Nakba! 700k Palestinian families were dispossessed violently. The only reason Israel was established at all was because it simply declared it was now a country and the US and many other countries recognized it as such. (Of course, there are many other historical details here, like the British Mandate of Palestine, the Balfour Declaration, the Oslo Accords and many others. I am aware of them but these are for a different post all together). My paternal grandfather was a little younger than me when Israel as a state was created. The hostility that followed was due to this independent declaration being listened to over Palestinian voices. 

Here is a very, very simplified analogy, one that can also answer some people’s questions as to why Palestinians (not Arabs, we are Palestinian before we are Arab) did not like what happened in 1948 and why they refused a two-state solution (that Israel was never going to go through with anyway). (I am also aware other Arab nations got involved, and that is perhaps what you mean when you said they had to defend themselves, but my response to that would still be we didn't start it, that we only responded to it).

Let’s say you are a farmer. You have many fields of trees, ones you have taken shelter under from the sun since you were a child, or hid behind when you wanted to avoid your parents when you misbehaved. You have seen your trees grow from a seed, to a sprout, to a flower, to a large, beautiful tree with fruits the size of a fist. You pluck the fruits from one tree, and make a jam from it. I don’t know how to make jam but I know it takes a lot of energy. So, you make this jam and from it, produce a lovely, mouth-watering pie. Once it has cooled from the oven, you take it with you outside your balcony just so that you can admire the years, months, weeks and hours this one pie has taken to be created. Suddenly, a stranger walks past and yells to you, “That pie looks delicious, I want it!” And you, shocked at their boldness but ready to share, say, “I will give you a bite.” But the stranger says, “No! I do not want a bite or a slice or whatever you want to offer me, I want the pie!” And they grab it from you. You and the stranger start screaming at one another about who the pie is for, who is allowed to decide what happens to it, and who you can share it with. Then, another stranger comes by and says, “Why all the problems? Let’s cut the pie in half and the both of you can share it!” But why should you, who has spent years cultivating the fruit and grain inside this pie, share it? Why should you give up half of the 100% that you already owned? Of what you already had? So you disagree, and now a crowd has formed around you. “What’s the problem?” someone in the crowd calls. “They don’t want to share their pie!” another voice says. Then you become branded a selfish, mean bastard. Again, this is a super simplified analogy, so don’t take it too seriously, but I am trying to show you why Israel is the aggressor.

In addition, I do not know too much about the Birthright program, just that American Jewish people are sent to Israel, all expenses paid. I tried my best to find the Twitter thread but I read it so long ago, about an American Jewish person who went on their trip and they talked about the propaganda that they were exposed to on that trip. I can’t say for sure that it is true, because I haven’t been on it and never will, but that is the first thing I thought of when you mentioned your Birthright trip. Either way, I think it is still great you went and saw the country. However, I must ask you this: are the people you met ones you, yourself, sought out, or ones you were organized to meet?

Now, I haven’t been to Gaza, so I don’t know what you really saw or didn’t, but did you speak to Palestinians who lost their homes to airstrikes? Did you speak to siblings, parents or children of loved ones who had been lost beneath the rubble of buildings and towers? Outside of Gaza, did you speak to Palestinians that live in poor quarters? Ones who have been victims of an IDF soldier shooting them, or who have family members who have died from such attacks? Did they take you guys to Ramallah, to Nablus, to Beit-Imreen, to Jenin, to small villages in the West Bank, far away from Jerusalem and Tel Aviv? Did you speak to people there? Ask them their stories? Because if you did I have a very hard time believing you still think Israel is “defending” itself.

I’ve been to Jerusalem, many times, even Tel Aviv and Jaffa and Haifa. All the times I visited Dome of the Rock there were IDF soldiers with huge guns strapped to their person, standing menacingly outside the courtyard. For what? Genuinely, genuinely for what? It is nothing but an intimidation tactic. The same way we are not allowed in through the airport. If you could see the struggle some Palestinians actually go through just to get into Palestine, through the land border, you would be disgusted. I love Palestine, it is my ancestry land, it is my culture and tradition. But I always hated going to visit because I knew the way to getting there would be hell.

My father worked in Tel Aviv through the first Intifada. My maternal grandfather was forced out of his home in the Nakba and was forced to leave behind his belongings and the orange trees that have been in his family for generations. Hell, the town they lived in was destroyed! It doesn’t exist anymore except in the memories of my aunts and uncles, who never even saw it, but just heard of it from their father!

I’m not saying there aren’t Palestinians who are racist and anti-Semitic (though, tbh, I will direct you here for that) and who support Hamas in killing Israeli’s, but talking about how there are many “extremist” Palestinians who are hurting Israeli’s and in the next line say there are extremist Israeli’s who are hurting Palestinians is not correct. There are extremist Israeli’s killing, lynching, stealing the houses of Palestinians, and there are Palestinians who are fed up and fighting back. (I am not talking about Hamas vs the IDF here, I am talking about the citizens). I have not seen one reported death of an Israeli due to Palestinian violence (if you have, from a trusted source, send it to me), but I have seen countless of the other way around. I have seen images of charred little bodies, of a baby being dug out of the rubble, of a child’s body that had been so mutilated that you can literally see the insides of their body coming out. (I don’t know if it’s on my Twitter, I didn’t want to save that shit). If this was my country I would be absolutely ashamed of myself and my people and what they are doing in the name of my protection. So you have to forgive me, and forgive other Palestinians, who don’t give a fuck about Israeli’s having anxiety over rockets flying over their heads when we see these images. Where is the protection of our kids? Why does no one seem to mention them except when mentioning the poor, innocent ones in Israel? At least more than the majority of them have their parents to comfort and rock them. At least many of them will probably be saved of ever having to be beneath the rubble of a destroyed building, or digging in it, to hope to find the parts of their parents or siblings just so that they can bury them. Just the links from the start of my answer is enough to support what I am saying.

I have soooo much more I can say, like how Israel uses religion to distort the image of what’s going on (tbh, just check my Twitter for that: language is EVERYTHING), but you didn’t mention religion in any of this and so I won’t either. The only reason I decided to respond to you in such length was because you have been one of the few respectful anons in my inbox in the past few years of me being on here talking about Israel, so I appreciate that from you. 

As promised, some more sources: decolonizepalestine is a good place to start if you haven’t used it already, it has reading materials, myth busting, and more. Here is a map list of destroyed localities from pre-1948 until 2017, run by two anti-Zionist Israelis. Here and here are the articles I promised of a former IDF soldier-turned Palestinian activist, I read these two last year in June and remember coming out much more informed than before I read them. I suggest looking into the writer and his organization, which, if I remember correctly, collects accounts from previous IDF soldiers. I would suggest not to follow Israel and the IDF accounts on any platform, or any Israel times newspaper, simply because they will not tell you the truth. In fairness, you do not have to follow any Palestinian Authority accounts (which I am not even sure there are), but to follow on-ground Palestinians like Mohammed El-Kurd, who has been speaking out since he was 12 (he is now 22) and he is part of the families in Sheikh Jarrah. I have noticed that this and this account have been translating Arabic headlines and tweets for non-Arabic speakers, I have just started following this person but their bio says they are a Palestinian Jewish person so I am interested in their view of things. You can also follow Israeli’s on-ground and see their perspective on things, but I would also advise to compare the Palestinian and Israeli side of things from the people, and critically analyze the language used in each case. Also, this article references Jewish scholars opposed to the occupation (I have not looked into them myself but I plan to after my exams), and Norman Finklestein is another great Jewish scholar to look into if you haven’t. Twitter is better than Instagram and Facebook, so I would stick to getting live-info from there, Twitter does not censor Palestinian content as much as Insta and Facebook so you’re more likely to see things there.

I will end this by saying I personally do not see any other option for peace than to give Palestinians our land back. Whether we may be Muslim, Jewish or Christian, it has always been and will always be our land. I only hope to see it free in my lifetime. 

Free Palestine. 

#palestine #israel #west bank #tala gets asks #anon #whew this ask took me like 2-3 hours to respond to #pls read it even if ure not the anon #lots of good links and info #palestine tag #anon there are more reading lists in my #to read #and palestine tag tags #check my likes on twitter too if u decide btw not just what i retweet #like also: imagine palestinians around palestine and the world who are simply waiting to hear if their relatives are dead or alive or #have been striked from a rocket. like i can see my father worried abt his friend in gaza rn like any day #now he can just never hear back from him and have to guess hes dead somewhere beneath the rubble #and israelis are anxious at the rocket sounds? good for them but again that shows the asymmetry in #palestinian vs israeli suffering #and by ‘good for them’ i mean good that thats what theyre worried abt compared to palestinians #my aunt is in sheikh jarrah #my cousin lives right by the al aqsa square #again theres so much more i couldve mentioned and talked abt but theres just so much #theres so many LAYERS i wld say but not that its complicated #and definitely theres more i need to learn and read and watch dont get me wrong! i am not a fountain of knowledge by all means!!!!

[cincinnatusvirtue]

Six Day War: June 5th-10th, 1967

Background:  The year 70 AD saw the Roman Empire put down the Jewish Revolt, in the province of Judea.  Included in the quelling of this rebellion was the reconquest of Jerusalem and destruction of the Second Jewish Temple.  After this shattering of their homeland, many Jews left the Levant in waves spreading to the far reaches of the Roman Empire and elsewhere forming a diaspora.  For nearly the next two thousand years the diaspora survived amid changing polities and had to adapt to the laws and frequent whims of the societies in which they lived.  Many Jews did face many trials, pogroms, ghettos, heavy taxes, religious and social discrimination among others.  Some Jews depending on the society also could adapt and do fairly well in parts of Europe, this was relatively true in the Middle Ages in some Muslim territories like Al-Andalus in Spain & Portugal and even the Ottoman Empire.  It was also true Jews fared well in medieval Poland as well.  

The 7th century saw the rise of Islam and it spread into the Levant following the early Islamic Caliphate’s victories over the Eastern Roman Empire and Persianate Sasanian Empire which had weakened each other through continual war.  Islam was founded among the Arabs in their homeland of Arabia, today’s Arabian Peninsula.  The Arabs were previously very diverse in their beliefs with some practicing pagan beliefs, other converting to Christianity, Judaism or Zoroastrianism.  Arab Christians tended to live in the Roman Levant or on the borderlands between Arabia and the Roman Empire.  Islam provided them a sense of unity as it did throughout the Middle East and North Africa.  Following the Battle of Yarmouk in 636 AD, Islam spread to the Levant and would be the predominant religion of the region over the following centuries.  In time, Arabs who settled these lands and intermixed with other peoples would became culturally and ethnolinguistically Arabized overall and the region became known as Palestine, though never an official country, it became the common name for the region.  There did remain a continual albeit smaller Jewish presence throughout the land too and this was more or less settled alongside the ruling Islamic dynasties that came and went over the centuries.  

The Crusades, undertaken by Europeans in the Middle Ages saw temporary periods of restored Christian control to swaths of the Levant.  In these times Christian pilgrimages and settlements grew and also lived alongside Jews and Muslims to varying degrees of tolerance & intolerance in their interactions.  Nevertheless, following the 13th and 14th centuries Muslim rule was resolutely restored to the whole of the Levant under the Mamluk Sultanate from Egypt.  Control of the area fell to the Turkish Ottoman Empire in the 16th century and it remained in their hands through the early 20th century.

In the 19th century a growing modern movement for the restoration of a Jewish state was gaining some prominence in Europe & America, particularly as outlined by a Jewish journalist and activist Theodor Herzl from the Austro-Hungarian Empire.  The movement and ideology became known as Zionism.  While it is true many Jews since antiquity wished for a restored Jewish state in the Middle East, Herzl is largely credited with articulating and organizing the modern movement of Zionism as we understand it.  The main aim was to establish a nation-state for the Jewish people where their religion, language and culture could be safely practiced on their own without being subject to the politics of the societies the diaspora had found them.  Their was debate about where this homeland would be with some proposals placing Jews in South America or even in Eastern Africa.  Herzl and most Zionists however looked for a place within the confines of the then Ottoman Empire, namely a restoration to their historical ancestral homeland in the region then known as Palestine but to the Jews, the land of Israel.  How this would be accomplished was debated, most advocated for a purchase agreement, to purchase lands from the Ottomans and set up Jewish settlements which would lead to an eventual state.  World War I would provide the impetus and accelerate events, though perhaps somewhat unintentionally.

World War I (1914-1918) pitted the Central Powers of Germany, Austria-Hungary, Bulgaria & the Ottoman Empire against Britain, France, Russia, Italy, the United States and others.  One of its many theaters of war was the Middle East in which the British and French sought to knock out the Ottoman Empire to deny Germany access to the Middle East for oil and trade, political influence and to potential threats to British and French interests in the region.  The British in particular would use their influence and future political promises to undermine the Ottomans in the Middle East.  In doing so, they ignited the aspirations of both Jewish and Arab nationalist movements.  The Jews were promised a future homeland in the region under the infamous Balfour Declaration of 1917 which declared British intent to support such an aspiration.  In turn, a number of Jews formed an actual Jewish Legion which fought in support of the British, under the command of Colonel John Patterson, an Anglo-Irish Evangelical Protestant who was a Christian Zionist and major supporter of the movement.  The Jewish Legion would help put push out the Turks from the Levant, forming the first all-Jewish led combat unit in modern history.  Many future key players in Israel would serve in this unit in various capacities.  Meanwhile, the Arabs also lead a crucial revolt against the Ottomans with aid from the British, under their agent TE Lawrence, known to history as Lawrence of Arabia.  The Hashemite Kingdom of the Hejaz was supposed to be the realization of a united Arab state in the Middle East, under the rule of Hussein bin Ali, Sharif of Mecca.  They too played an essential role in forcing the Ottomans hand in the region, by 1918 the war was over and the British and French now formed protectorates over the region with Syria going to the French and Palestine & Transjordan going to the British.

Over the coming two decades, a gradual but steady influx of Jews arrived from Europe and America to settle the lands in Britain’s Mandate of Palestine.  This gradually increased tensions with the Arabs.  The British decided what yet to do with the rival Jewish and Arab claims, both of which were promised sponsorship from Britain.  Meanwhile, developments in Europe lead to the rise of anti-Semitism and the rise of Nazi Germany in particularly with its anti-Jewish sentiment and policies lead to an even greater increase of Jewish refugees for the Middle East, many were turned away as illegal arrivals by the British.  During the Second World War, tensions remained and their were attempts by the Nazis to appeal to the Arabs to side with them against the British and by extension the Jews.  Though practically speaking not much came of these attempts.  Again a number of Jews fought in the British Army as did some Arabs against the Nazi allied Vichy France which had its colonies and protectorates around the world to varying degrees fight against the Allies, including in Syria.  

Following the defeat of the Nazis in 1945 and the exposure of their crimes against humanity, most expressly in the Holocaust, world sympathy for the Jewish people was more visibly aroused.  The notion that Jews could -re-assimilate to Europe was viewed with greater doubt by the Jews and indeed many non-Jews agreed.  The British overextended and weakened by World War II’s end decided to leave the Middle East, at least overtly.  It handed over the fate of the Mandate of Palestine to the United Nations (UN).  In the years leading up to 1947-48 both Jewish and Arab communities formed paramilitaries engaged in acts of terrorism against each other as well as the British occupation which hastened the British decision to leave without a true decision made on the region’s political outcome.  The UN proposed two new states, one Arab and one Jewish that would zigzag over the region and have crisscross junctures at various spots.  Jerusalem was to remain an international city, despite its sacred status to both Jews and Arabs.  1948 saw the Jews accept this offer with the creation of the State of Israel, but this was rejected by the Palestinian Arabs and not recognized by the Arab states of Egypt, Syria, Lebanon, Iraq or Jordan which resulted in an Arab invasion of Israeli territory that was eventually beaten back by the Jews with an shipment of arms from Czechoslovakia.  Eventually an armistice was agreed to but no official declaration of peace of mutual recognition by either the Israelis or the Arabs.  The de-facto existence of Israel was accepted by the Arabs as a temporary reality but to the Jews it was the fulfillment of Zionist aspirations.

The Cold War & Prelude to 1967:  Post World War II saw the world bifurcate into largely two camps the capitalist oriented camp lead by the United States of America and NATO along with other allied liberal democracies against the Communist Bloc lead by the Soviet Union and Warsaw Pact as well as China.  Both America and Soviet Union sought influence in the world including in the Middle East and both competed for influence among the Arabs and Israelis.  Israeli for its part began to function as a full on nation with elections, growing diplomatic recognition, increased population, including the influx of Jews expelled from Arab nations following the Arab-Israeli War of 1948-49.  Meanwhile, the Palestinian Arabs or Palestinians as they had become known were forced off their lands with some settlements outright destroyed by Jewish forces during the war with both sides committing atrocities.  They had moved to the few territories maintained by various Arab powers despite their defeat, namely the West Bank of the Jordan River and  East Jerusalem controlled by Jordan and the Gaza Strip controlled by Egypt.

In 1952, there was a coup by military officers in Egypt which lead to the overthrow of the monarchy there.  It established Egypt in becoming the Arab Republic of Egypt, under leadership of military officer and now President, Gamal Abdel Nasser.  It promoted an ideology of secular Pan-Arabism and promoted a sort of anti-monarchical view, pared with Syria it became known as the United Arab Republic, though functionally speaking the two nations remained separate. Nasser was courted by both American and Soviet agents to pivot Egypt as a vital chess piece in the game of world influence between the two superpowers.  Nasser also found himself at odds with the British and French over the Suez Canal which was jointly operated by companies on behalf of their governments and had been an international waterway under their control.  Nasser sought to nationalize the canal for Egyptians as a means to coalesce support around him and assert Egypt’s independence.  By 1956 the canal was indeed nationalized by Egypt and under an agreement organized by Britain, France and Israel which sought to end Egyptian tensions with Israel, the three nations launched a joint military operation against Nasser’s Egypt.  In a military sense it succeeded, the Israelis defeated the Egyptians in the Sinai Peninsula while the British and French regained control of the canal.  However, the US did not support the move fearing it would alienate the Arab world from their and NATO’s influence in favor of the Soviets.  Under political pressure from US President Dwight Eisenhower, the British and French agreed to leave Egypt.  Meanwhile, the UN placed a peacekeeping force in the Sinai to buffer between Israel and Egypt.  Britain’s withdrawal showed its decline in stature to America and the world over.  In Egypt though a military disaster Nasser turned it into a political victory, his tough stance against Britain, France and Israel raised his profile in the Arab and greater Islamic world.  Egypt maintained control of the Suez Canal politically but it promised to open the waterway to international shipping.  Despite, America not sanctioning the invasion, it was seen as not doing enough to prevent it and therefore in Nasser’s mind and other Arab leaders, the Soviet Union became more friendly with the Arabs states than previously before.  It became a chief supplier of military arms, intelligence and joint projects.  in turn Israel became more and more under the influence of America, in effect the Arab nations and Israel became client states of America and the Soviet Union.  

From this state of affairs post-1956 a stalemate in the region developed but tensions remained on both sides.  Which lead to May 1967...

Countdown to War: May 1967 saw the Soviet Union develop a plan to increase its influence further in the region.  It sought to undermine the US which was fighting a politically unpopular war against Communism in Vietnam.  Its plan was to orchestrate a war, even a small one in which its Arab allies (Egypt & Syria) demonstrating the power of Soviet backed weaponry would crush Israel and demonstrate the benefits of its support.  It would in turn show American and NATO’s weakness, making more Arab nations turn to the Soviet fold.  The Soviets through the KGB informed Egypt and Syria that Israel was massing divisions against the Syrian border in an attempt to preemptively attack the Arabs and start a war.  These reports turned out to be false.  Whether or not the Soviets truly believed this to be the case, it started a series of events that would unravel into open warfare.  The Soviet information was taken seriously enough by the Arabs who began saber rattling.  Nasser, by then the most revered politician in the Arab world took the lead with Egypt’s forces becoming partially mobilized. In addition, Egypt began mobilizing troops on the Sinai border with Israel, kicked out the UN peacekeepers and ultimately gave the Israelis their casus belli, closure of the Straits of Tiran which was the most vital link to Israeli shipping.  Nasser claimed he was not looking for a war but famously said if the Israelis wanted a fight “We say, welcome!”  Egypt and Syria both planned to fight against Israel and Jordan, under King Hussein also agreed to fight, placing his troops nominally under overall Egyptian command.  Israel now had enemies to consider in the north, east and southwest.  Iraq also supported Jordan and Syria, as did Lebanon but Egypt, Syria and Jordan would be the primary Arab force.

Israel’s leadership at the time was under Prime Minister Levi Eshkol, largely a man known for his micromanaging and accounting skills, not a man who conveyed military expertise.  He and his cabinet met frequently throughout May 1967 to discuss options.  The military leaders wanted a first strike but Eshkol remained non-committal hoping for a diplomatic solution to growing tensions.  he hoped appealing the US and USSR would convince the Arabs to back down.  Sending diplomats to America to find out their position.  The American President Lyndon Johnson, dealing with civil unrest at home and ongoing fallout from escalating the war in Vietnam conveyed token support to reopen the Straits of Tiran through UN consensus but ultimately urged Israel not to strike first.  Ultimately, the US Navy’s Sixth Fleet was deployed to the eastern Mediterranean as a show of force against any Soviet aggression.  The Soviets in turn shadowed the American fleet with detection ships of their own.  Soviet pilots were tasked to leave for Syria on a moment’s notice.  They also urged the Arabs to restrain from striking first.  

Arab propaganda only added to tensions, Radio Cairo and Egyptian television was broadcast daily throughout the Middle East depicting the Jews in stereotypes reminiscent of Nazi era propaganda, the Arabs also depicted the Jews being crushed and killed.  In Israel, everyday citizens of the 19 year country perceived this to be an imminent second Holocaust.  Volunteers of Jews from elsewhere in the world flocked to Israel and rabbis consecrated public parks on the assumptions new cemeteries for many dead would be needed soon. The propaganda was effective in the Arab world and the Egyptian show of force created widespread excitement and support.  Even in Palestinian territory, Nasser was praised as a hero and icon, hailed as their eventual liberator.

Despite realizing the Americans weren’t going to help outright except to deter the Soviets and facing domestic pressure Eshkol continued to hold out.  Finally, the generals and other cabinet members as well as the public demanded more of Israel’s Prime Minister, especially after a speech on the radio that included awkward pauses and forgotten queues, it conveyed a sense of indecision.  The public demanded Eshkol make changes in his leadership.  As Israeli Prime Minister he could also hold the cabinet position of Defense Minister if the government formed yield to such occasions due to Israeli politics.  Eshkol was forced to relinquish his control of the Defense Minister’s position to the charismatic Moshe Dayan.  Dayan was a military figure from the 1948 War and the Suez War of 1956 in which he became a household name.  He possessed extensive military knowledge and projected absolute calm confidence in Israel’s ability to handle itself unilaterally.  Dayan was well known for wearing an eye patch, having lost his left eye in World War II fighting for the British against Vichy France.

Dayan now assumed de-facto control of the military and decisions regarding the nation’s defense.  He agreed with the cabinet by vote...a first strike was needed.

War:  On paper, the Arabs combined had more men and resources than the Israelis.  Their equipment was Soviet made for the most part ranging from planes & tanks to small firearms. Egypt had the largest army overall followed by Syria and Jordan with contributions from Iraq and Lebanon.  Other nations in the Arab world were sending volunteers to aid as well.  Egypt’s army was largely untested though and made of peasant conscripts.  The elite units were actually fighting in Yemen and would play no part in the war.  Jordan’s army and Syria’s aside from raids and skirmishes had little combat experience since the 1948 war.

Israel, even with its reservists did not have the combined manpower of the Arab coalition.  Israeli equipment was a mix of French airplanes and armored ground vehicles from American and British companies along with Israeli self-made small arms such as the Uzi among western contributions.

Israel’s strategy relied on a first strike.  Israel planned June 5th in the morning as the date of the attack.  Seeing air supremacy as key to victory, Operation Focus was the Israeli first strike.  The Israeli Air Force since the 1956 war had actually planned for a preemptive strike against their Arab foes in the event of another war.  Israeli troops were compared to their Arab counterparts much more regimented in their training.  They had relentlessly drilled their combined forces in multiple scenarios to allow for tactical flexibility and strategic deployment.  At dawn on June 5th, the entire Israeli Air Force (bombers and fighters) aside from 12 planes left in reserve took off in various waves toward Egyptian air bases both located in the Sinai Peninsula and across the Suez Canal.  Flying low to avoid radar detection and in an unexpected direction out over the Mediterranean Sea, the Israelis swept southward over the Sinai, the Nile delta and elsewhere.  Egyptian farmers actually are reported to have waved at the planes thinking the planes Egyptian.  The Israelis started bombing runs to destroy the Egyptian air force.  First targeting  runways so as to prevent the launch and potential escape of the planes, then to target the planes themselves, namely bombers that Egyptian propaganda stated was intended to bomb Tel Aviv.  The attack was so effective, that Egypt’s Minister of Defense and Chief of Staff for the military, Abdel Hakim Amer was actually touring the Sinai Peninsula reviewing troops for the upcoming war when he was made aware of its start by Israeli planes flying overhead and bombing the Egyptian planes.  In less than three hours, the Israelis had destroyed almost the entire Egyptian air force.  They then turn north and destroyed the Syrians within two hours to the east destroy Jordan’s in mere minutes.  Completely rending the Arabs without air support.  The few Egyptian planes that did manage off the ground were picked off by Israeli fighters rapidly.  There was no warning, total surprise had been achieved.  The ramifications of this first strike would essentially determine the outcome of the whole war.  

Israel had to fight on three fronts, the Sinai deserts against Egypt to the southwest, the West Bank against Jordan in the east and the Golan Heights against Syria in the north.  Israeli tanks and infantry advanced on these fronts encountering the first Arab counter attacks in Jerusalem when Jordanian artillery began shelling Western Jerusalem.  The Egyptian tanks in the Sinai were essentially sitting ducks as the Israelis at their leisure could bomb them too, destroying their armor in quick succession.  Egypt was in full fighting retreat across the Sinai towards the Suez Canal and Israeli armor was in full pursuit.  The Egyptians did put up some resistance in a number of areas but all in vain with Israeli air superiority and the qualitative superiority of their weapons against the Soviet made weapons used by the Arabs.  By June 8th the entire Sinai Peninsula up to the eastern banks of the Suez Canal were in Israeli hands.  

In the West Bank Jerusalem was the primary target, the Israelis had attempted its capture in 1948-49 but were driven back, giving the Arabs a small measure of victory in that war.  Since that time, East Jerusalem which contained the most holy remnants of the ancient Second Temple and the Old City quarter was under Jordanian control.  The earlier destruction of Jordanian, Syrian and Egyptian air forces determined the war’s outcome from the get go.  Iraq’s air force stationed in Jordan was likewise destroyed.  Initially, Moshe Dayan didn’t plan to capture the Old City but upon hearing of a pending UN push for ceasefire, he pressed Israeli paratroopers to do so, thinking it would improve Israel’s negotiation position later.  The Egyptians asked the Jordanians to retreat from all the West Bank to preserve their fighting forces elsewhere, given the Israeli armored deployment from all directions.  The Jordanians began to comply with this but on June 6th and 7th intense fighting remained within the Old City which eventually along with Bethlehem and the rest of the West Bank fell to Israel.  The emotional and political significance of Jews being able to enter the Old City of Jerusalem for the first time freely and under Jewish auspices since antiquity was not lost on many. Suddenly secular Jews began spontaneous prayer at the Western Wall, a remnant of the Second Temple, these moments were etched in Israeli and indeed more broadly Jewish collective psyche for all time.

In the north, fighting over the strategically vital high ground known as the Golan Heights took place.  Syria’s ground troops largely avoided conflict the first few days of the war.  Early Egyptian propaganda was proclaiming great victories on the radio which informed Syrian moves.  Israel having jammed much Arab military communications meant that only public radio informed the Syrians in some respects.  These false reports designed to hold up the façade of Nasser’s image would have bad ramifications for Syria.  Syria joined in shelling Israeli settlements in northern Israel and launched a few remaining fighters along with Lebanon to bomb Israeli positions but the Israeli planes either shot them down or drove them off.  Israel debated taking the Golan Heights but given past Syrian shelling and raids from this area, Dayan pushed for taking them.  Indeed, as the deadline for a ceasefire approached Israel continued its advance taking roughly 20 kilometers of territory.  By June 10th the ceasefire went into effect and the war was over in six days total.

1,000,000 Arabs between the West Bank, Gaza Strip, Sinai Peninsula and Golan Heights were under total Israeli occupation.

Aftermath:  Israel’s victory was total through a combination of pre-war drilling, advanced planning and of course the initiative gained by the first strike on June 5th to achieve total air superiority.  Their attack caught the Arabs totally by surprise and left them in no good position to defend themselves.  700-900 Israelis died, 4,500 were wounded while the Egyptians had 10,000-15,000 dead, Syria 2,500 and Jordan 700 with smaller amounts for Iraq and Lebanon.  Israel would now more than double its territory and begin controversial settlements in all the occupied territories.  Nasser for his part resigned when the obvious sight of Israelis occupying the east bank of the Suez Canal undermined the official story of victory.  The ragtag nature of the Egyptian military in retreat further showed the totality of their defeat.  Despite yet another military defeat and one much worse than 1956, Nasser was encouraged to stay on as President when political party supporters helped amp up support for Nasser in the streets,  He rescinded his resignation due to these demonstrations of support and would remain President for the rest of his days.  Though in private, he was said never to be quite the same for the humiliation of defeat and the hubris his rhetoric had played in its development.  Later that year at the Khartoum conference of the Arab League in Sudan, Nasser and all other Arab leaders took up the famous three no’s.  “No peace, no recognition and no negotiation with Israel.”  Nasser would die in 1970.  During this time, Egypt and Israel continued small scale raids or demonstrations, though it was mostly low level.  Palestinians also began to rely less on other Arab nation-states for their cause, instead many moved to Jordan and began launching attacks from there, forming the PLO headed by Yasser Arafat.

Israel for its part offered to return land for peace but given the Khartoum summit’s Three No’s policy it fell on deaf ears.  At the same time Israeli settlers begin settlements in these newly occupied areas.  Nasser’s successor Anwar Sadat continued Soviet relations despite the obvious failure of Soviet weaponry and failure of Soviet intelligence which lead to a war ending in such disaster for the Arabs.  Sadat would launch the Yom Kippur War in 1973 with Syrian help though this time the Israelis laxed their defenses and were taken by relative surprise.  That war would allow the Egyptians to re-cross the Suez Canal in dramatic fashion before the Israelis would regroup and eventually encircle and defeat the Egyptians , crossing due the west banks of the Suez themselves before yet another ceasefire was implemented.  The Syrians would try and retake the Golan Heights before being pushed back and the Israelis advanced within 25 miles of Damascus, the Syrian capital by war’s end.  In 1978 Egypt and Israel with American sponsorship signed a bilateral agreement to peace and recognition, turning against the Three No’s policy of 1967.  Sadat’s change of heart would change Arab-Israeli politics.  Realizing a military solution was no longer viable, Egypt and Israel formed an alliance which persists to the modern day.  Eventually Jordan and the PLO made similar agreements in the 1990′s with Israel.  In 1981, Egypt was given the Sinai back in accordance with the treaty.  Israel also unilaterally withdrew from the Gaza Strip in 2005.  Though settlements remain in the Golan Heights and West Bank which remain effectively under international law occupied territories but de-facto Israeli territory.  Though Israel, with some international recognition has now claimed the Golan permanently and the West Bank’s status remains controversial since a future potential Palestinian state largely is thought to majority existence in the West Bank.  Jerusalem also remains a political hotbed of controversy but remains completely in Israeli hands since 1967 and is declared its capital with limited recognition.  The conflict remains unresolved yet today and 1967 in some ways exacerbated the issue at hand but at the same time demonstrated the futility of constant warfare between the various nation-states of the Middle East.  Overall, the conflict appears intractable to many for the foreseeable future, with two rival claims to the same piece of land, fueled by religious and historic claims, it remains perhaps the most contentious conflict in the modern world. 

#israel #palestine #1967 #six day war #egypt #syria #jordan #middle east #cold war #arab israeli war #jerusalem #west bank #gaza strip #golan heights #idf #military history #20th century #jews #arabs #balfour declaration #nasser #eshkol #moshe dayan

[ruminativerabbi]

West Bank Story

Is diplomacy merely the costume politics wears when it ventures out into the international arena? Or are diplomacy and politics entirely different fields of endeavor, the one “about” the translation of national principles into the stuff of international relationships and the other “about” the need at least on occasion to surrender those very same principles for the sake of attaining the power necessary broadly to implement them in the forum of national affairs? It’s not that easy to say!

These were the thoughts that came to me this last week when I read that the United States government has determined that there is no inherent illegality to the establishment of Jewish settlements on the land Israel took over from Jordan after the Six Day War in 1967. Of course, illegal and ill-advised are not the same thing—and it is more than possible for something to be technically legal but still a bad idea actually to implement. (It is, for example, fully legal in New York State to purchase cigarettes and to smoke them wherever smoking is permitted.) And, that being the case, asking whether Israel should continue to construct settlements on the West Bank or whether the path toward peace will be made smoother or more rocky by this specific policy shift on the part of the U.S. government—those questions remain on the table for discussion and no doubt prolonged, rancorous debate. And rancor—to say the very least—is surely what will presently ensue now that this week’s decision is in place.

The United Nations has expressed itself repeatedly to the effect that allowing Israeli civilians to live on territory Israel acquired in the Six Day War is a contravention of the Fourth Geneva Convention, an international agreement to which both Israel and Jordan have been party since 1951. Leaving aside the moral bankruptcy of the United Nations and its decades-long history of unremitting and shamefully prejudicial hostility towards Israel, the issue here turns on the fact that the Convention in question specifically prohibits states signed on from moving civilians onto land seized by war, as might be done by a nation eager to establish an ongoing claim to the seized territory in question. But nothing in the Middle East is ever all that simple to unravel. (Also, it’s a good thing the U.S. only signed the convention in 1955—wasn’t Texas acquired by our nation in the Mexican War of 1848? Just sayin’.)

The territory in question on the west bank of the Jordan River was indeed part of sovereign Jordan before 1967. But Jordan only came to control the territory after the Israeli War of Independence in 1948 and its occupation of the territory was itself never recognized by a vast majority of the world’s nations. Furthermore, the land in question was specifically acknowledged as the heartland of the Land of Israel—the ancient homeland of the Jewish people—by the League of Nations in 1922. Most Americans will find it challenging to say whether any real importance should be ascribed to the decision of an organization that existed for a mere twenty-six years and which has been defunct since 1946. But for Jewish Americans, who come pre-equipped with much, much longer memories than their average co-citizens, the issue is rooted in a far older times than the Roaring Twenties anyway.

That the land on the west bank of the Jordan—called by many today by their biblical names, Judah and Samaria—that that land was part of the kingdoms of Israel and Judah in antiquity is debated today by no reputable historian or political analyst at all. Nor, as I wrote in this space a few weeks ago, is at all in dispute the fact that the history of the land that followed the collapse of the Maccabean kingdom in the year 67 BCE was one of endless occupation—first by the Romans, but then by Iran (then called Persia), and then in order by the Byzantine Empire, the Muslim Caliphate, the Crusader Kingdoms, the Mameluke Sultanate, the Ottoman Empire and, finally, the British Empire (acting behind the fig leaf of its League of Nations mandate to rule over what had previously—and at that point for almost five centuries—been Turkish Palestine). That’s a lot of occupiers—thousands of years’ worth—and not a single one held back from settling civilians on territory gained by war. Nor, for that matter, did even a single one of the above— including any of the Muslim occupiers mentioned above—consider the land currently referenced as “the” West Bank distinct or different from the rest of the historic Jewish homeland. When Americans talk about “the” West Bank, therefore, as though it were akin to a state in the Union or a department of the French Republic, they are therefore setting themselves up not at all to understand the issue as it feels on the ground to the average Israeli. Or, for that matter, to the average citizen of any country possessed of a clear sense of the history of the territory in question.

All that being the case, the notion that the Fourth Geneva Convention can be simply be applied to the territory in question as though we were talking about the German occupation of Namibia—a place in Africa with no historical tie of any sort whatsoever to Germany—seems, to say the very least, facile.

And also worth noting—and stressing—is the degree to which I constantly see people with little or no background in the actual history of the region speaking or writing negatively about Israel’s presence on the West Bank at all.  The Balfour Declaration of 1917, for example, was an expression both of acceptance of the indigeneity of the Jewish people in the Land of Israel and also of their natural right to establish a Jewish nation in their historic homeland. That, of course, was nothing more than an expression of British policy with respect to the eventual future of what was soon to become—at least slightly ironically—British Palestine. But dramatically less well known is that the San Remo Conference of 1920 that divvied up the territories of the nations defeated in the First World War among the victors formally affirmed the basic principles of the Balfour Declaration, speaking overtly “in favor of the establishment in Palestine of a national homeland for the Jewish people.” There is not the slightest evidence of any sort that the participants at San Remo meant to exclude the land currently referenced as the West Bank in that thought.

I can’t recall hearing much about the San Remo conference lately, but even less about the Treaty of Sèvres that resulted from San Remo and which, as one of the final agreements that ended World War I, yet again reaffirmed the Balfour Declaration’s intent, and firmly, in these words:  “The Mandatory shall be responsible for placing the country under such political, administrative and economic conditions as will secure the establishment of the Jewish national home, as laid down in the preamble, and the development of self-governing institutions, and also for safeguarding the civil and religious rights of all the inhabitants of Palestine, irrespective of race and religion.” It was these words that the League of Nations affirmed and confirmed in 1922 when it adopted them into the formal mandate declaration awarded Turkish Palestine to the British.

All that being the case, to refer to the West Bank as being “occupied” by Israel because they wrested it from a nation that itself only ended up as its overlords because they managed to seize it militarily after the British withdrew their forces in 1948 and then had their overlordship of the region affirmed by the Armistice Agreement that ended the Israeli War of Independence seems, again to say the very least, forced.

Another point I generally hear made by none in this fraught context is that the United Nations Charter itself affirms the validity of all treaties entered into or brokered by its predecessor organization, the League of Nations. As a result, when the United Nations passed a scurrilous resolution in 2016 decrying all Jewish settlements on the West Bank as one large violation of international law, it was not only ignoring the specific details of the Oslo Accord of 1995 (which, pending a final peace treaty between Israelis and Palestinians, divided the West Bank up into three areas, innocuously labelled A, B, and C, and specifically awarded Israel the right to govern the Arabs and the Jews resident in Area C), but also its own historical obligations. That our government dishonorably allowed that resolution to pass without a veto was a betrayal not only of Israel, but of our own supposed devotion to the rule of law.

People talk about “the settlements” as an untraversable barrier preventing Israel and the Palestinians from moving forward towards a peaceful resolution of their dispute. But even that commonplace assertion only really works on the assumption that the presence of a relatively small Jewish minority in a Palestinian state is impossible to imagine. On the other hand, if Israel is able to pursue its national destiny as a Jewish state with 20% Arab minority, why shouldn’t Palestine also be able to move forward with a Jewish minority of about 380,000 people among its three million citizens? And that number is not even remotely correct because the chances of every single Jewish resident of the West Bank remaining in place after a declaration of Palestinian independence is zero, which would bring the percentage of Jews present in independent Palestine to less than 10%. To describe that as an intractable problem only really makes sense if it goes without saying that a future independent Palestine must be wholly judenrein, an opinion I find both odious and deeply offensive.

Our government acted in a principled and proper way to reject the notion that the presence of Jewish towns and villages on the West Bank is an ipso facto example of illegal settlement under the Fourth Geneva Convention. In a week already filled with cringe-worthy moments by the dozen, the Secretary of State’s announcement of this shift in American policy (which was really just a return to the policy adopted by the Reagan administration) was both welcome and just.

#Judea and Samaria #West Bank #Fourth Geneva Convention

[diarrheaworldstarhiphop]

Provoked by the predictable collapse of the farcical negotiations forced by Secretary of State John Kerry on the Palestinians and the Israelis, I wish to make a confession: I have no sympathy—none—for the Palestinians. Furthermore, I do not believe they deserve any.

This, of course, puts me at daggers drawn with the enlightened opinion that goes forth from the familiar triumvirate of the universities, the mainstream media and the entertainment industry. For everyone in that world is so busy weeping over the allegedly incomparable sufferings of the Palestinians that hardly a tear is left for the tribulations of other peoples. And so all-consuming is the universal rage over the supposedly monumental injustice that has been done to the Palestinians that virtually no indignation is available for any other claimant to unwarranted mistreatment.

In my unenlightened opinion, this picture of the Palestinian plight is nothing short of grotesquely disproportionate. Let me leave aside the Palestinians who live in Israel as Israeli citizens and who enjoy the same political rights as Israeli Jews (which is far more than can be said of Palestinians who live in any Arab country), and let me concentrate on those living under Israeli occupation on the West Bank.

Well, to judge by the most significant measure and applying it only to two instances of what is going on at this very moment: In Syria, untold thousands of fellow Arabs are starving, while according to the United Nations official on the scene in South Sudan, 3.7 million people, amounting to one-third of the population, are now facing imminent death by starvation.

And the Palestinians? True, when they wish to go from the West Bank into Israel proper, they are forced to stop at checkpoints and subjected to searches for suicide vests or other weapons in the terrorist arsenal. Once, when she was secretary of state,      Condoleezza Rice       bemoaned the great inconvenience and humiliation inflicted by such things on the poor Palestinians. Yet she had nothing to say about Palestinians dying of starvation on the West Bank, for the simple reason that there were none to be found.

Nor did anyone starve to death in Gaza when it too was under Israeli occupation. And despite propaganda to the contrary, neither is anyone facing the same fate in Gaza today because of the blockade the Israelis have set up to prevent clandestine shipments of arms intended for use against them.

Speaking of Gaza, it can serve as a case study of the extent to which the plight of the Palestinians has been self-inflicted. Thus when every last Israeli was pulled out of Gaza in 2005, some well-wishers expected that the Palestinians, now in complete control, would dedicate themselves to turning it into a free and prosperous country. Instead, they turned it into a haven for terrorism and a base for firing rockets into Israel.

Meanwhile little or nothing of the billions in aid being poured into Gaza—some of it from wealthy American Jewish donors—went to improving the living conditions of the general populace. Which did not prevent a majority of those ordinary Palestinians from supporting Hamas, under whose leadership this order of priorities was more faithfully followed than it was under Fatah, its slightly less militant rival.

As for the monumental injustice supposedly done to the Palestinians, it consists largely of losing territory in the war they themselves provoked in 1967, and the refusal of their demand that every inch of it be returned to them by the Israeli victors in that war. Such demands have always been known and universally denounced as revanchism or irredentism, most recently over the Russian seizure of Crimea. But where Israel is concerned, everything goes topsy-turvy, so that Palestinian irredentism is universally supported.

The accompanying and equally great injustice allegedly suffered by the Palestinians is that they have been denied a state of their own. But this hardly qualifies as unique, given that dozens of other ethnic groups—the Kurds being the most prominent—are in the same boat.

In any event, this "injustice" is also self-inflicted, since three times in the past 15 years the Palestinians have refused offers of a state on most of the territory taken by Israel in 1967 and with Jerusalem as its capital. They have justified these refusals by one pretext or another, but as anyone willing to look can see, what they truly want is not a state of their own living side by side with Israel but a state that replaces Israel altogether.

With this we come to the main reason I believe that the Palestinians do not deserve any sympathy, let alone the astonishing degree of it they do receive (and not least from many of my fellow Jews). It is that ever since the day of Israel's birth in 1948, they have never ceased declaring that their goal is to wipe it off the map. In all other contexts, this would be called by its rightful name of genocide and condemned by all decent people. Yet—here we go topsy-turvy again—for any and every step Israel takes to defend itself against so shamelessly evil an intent, it is the Israelis who are obsessively condemned at the U.N. and by the increasingly strident propagators of what calls itself "anti-Zionism" but is also increasingly indistinguishable from anti-Semitism.

Nor, alas, is it only the leaders of the Palestinians who harbor this evil intent. As revealed by poll after poll, as well as by the elections that led the way for Hamas to take power in Gaza, a decisive majority of the Palestinian people does so as well. No doubt this is the fruit of relentless indoctrination from above, but the damage has been done, and the end result is what it is.

Indeed, the best that can be said of both Palestinian leaders and led is that many of them no longer imagine—as did      Gamal Abdel Nasser,       the former president of Egypt—that they have the power to drive the Jews of Israel into the sea. Therefore they are now willing to give up pursuing the goal of genocide and to settle for the more modest objective of politicide—that is, to get rid of the Jewish state by transforming it, through various "peaceful" means like the "right of return," into a state with a Palestinian majority.

I for one pray that a day will come when the Palestinians finally let go of the evil intent toward Israel that keeps me from having any sympathy for them, and that they will make their own inner peace with the existence of a Jewish state in their immediate neighborhood. But until that day arrives, the "peace process" will go on being as futile as it has been so many times before and as it has just proved once again to be. Another thing that never changes: When John Kerry testified on Capitol Hill on Tuesday, it was the Israelis he blamed for this latest diplomatic fiasco.

       Mr. Podhoretz was the editor of Commentary magazine from 1960 to 1995. His most recent book is "Why Are Jews Liberals?" (Doubleday, 2009).

#neoconservatism #Norman Podhoretz #israel

[dfroza]

“The good news of the coming kingdom of God must be delivered first in every land and every language.”

A line from Today’s reading of the Scriptures that points to the True significance of translation and sharing the spiritual truth of rebirth in Light of the Son amidst a world of many differing religions and paths, yet leaving us only a single path that leads the heart “Home”

[Mark 13]

As Jesus left the temple later that day, one of the disciples noticed the grandeur of Herod’s temple.

Disciple: Teacher, I can’t believe the size of these stones! Look at these magnificent buildings!

Jesus: Look closely at these magnificent buildings. Someday there won’t be one of these great stones left on another. Everything will be thrown down.

They took a seat on the Mount of Olives, across the valley from the temple; and Peter, James, John, and Andrew asked Jesus to explain His statement to them privately.

Peter, James, John, and Andrew: Don’t keep us in the dark. When will the temple be destroyed? What sign will let us know that it’s about to happen?

Jesus: Take care that no one deceives you. Many will come claiming to be Mine, saying, “I am the One,” and they will fool lots of people. You will hear of wars, or that war is coming, but don’t lose heart. These things will have to happen, although it won’t mean the end yet. Tribe will rise up against tribe, nation against nation, and there will be earthquakes in place after place and famines. These are a prelude to “labor pains” that precede the temple’s fall.

Be careful, because you will be delivered to trial and beaten in the places of worship. Kings and governors will stand in judgment over you as you speak in My name. The good news of the coming kingdom of God must be delivered first in every land and every language. When people bring you up on charges and it is your time to defend yourself, don’t worry about what message you’ll deliver. Whatever comes to your mind, speak it, because the Holy Spirit will inspire it.

But it will get worse. Brothers will betray each other to death, and fathers will betray their children. Children will turn against their parents and cause them to be executed. Everyone will hate you because of your allegiance to Me. But if you’re faithful until the end, you will be rescued.

You will see that which desecrates our most holy place [described by Daniel the prophet] out of place.

Let the one who reads and hears understand.

Jesus: On the day you see it, whoever is in Judea should flee for the mountains. The person on the rooftop shouldn’t reenter the house to get anything, and the person working in the field shouldn’t turn back to grab his coat. It will be horrible for women who are pregnant or who are nursing their children when those days come. And pray that you don’t have to run for your lives in the winter. When those days come, there will be suffering like nobody has seen from the beginning of the world that God created until now, and it never will be like this again. And if the Lord didn’t shorten those days for the sake of the ones He has chosen, then nobody would survive them.

If anyone tells you in those days, “Look, there is the Anointed One!” or “Hey, that must be Him!” don’t believe them. False liberators and prophets will pop up like weeds, and they will work signs and perform miracles that would entice even God’s chosen people, if that were possible. So be alert, and remember how I have warned you.

As Isaiah said in the days after that great suffering,

The sun will refuse to shine

and the moon will hold back its light.

The stars in heaven will fall,

and the powers in the heavens will be shaken.

Then you will see (as Daniel predicted) “the Son of Man coming in the clouds,” clothed in power and majesty. And He will send out His heavenly messengers and gather together to Himself those He has chosen from the four corners of the world, from every direction and every land.

Jesus: Learn this lesson from the fig tree: When its branch is new and tender and begins to put forth leaves, you know that summer must be near. In the same way, when you see and hear the things I’ve described to you taking place, you’ll know the time is drawing near. It’s true—this generation will not pass away before all these things have happened. Heaven and earth may pass away, but these words of Mine will never pass away.

Take heed: no one knows the day or hour when the end is coming. The messengers in heaven don’t know, nor does the Son. Only the Father knows.

So be alert. Watch for it [and pray,] for you never know when that time might approach.

This situation is like a man who went on a journey; when he departed, he left his servants in charge of the house. Each of them had his own job to do; and the man left the porter to stand at the door, watching. So stay awake, because no one knows when the master of the house is coming back. It could be in the evening or at midnight or when the rooster crows or in the morning. Stay awake; be alert so that when he suddenly returns, the master won’t find you sleeping.

The teaching I am giving the four of you now is for everyone who will follow Me: stay awake, and keep your eyes open.

The Book of Mark, Chapter 13 (The Voice)

Today’s paired chapter of the Testaments is the 5th chapter of the book of Job that continues with Eliphaz addressing Job’s condition:

[Don’t Blame Fate When Things Go Wrong]

“Call for help, Job, if you think anyone will answer!

To which of the holy angels will you turn?

The hot temper of a fool eventually kills him,

the jealous anger of an idiot does her in.

I’ve seen it myself—seen fools putting down roots,

and then, suddenly, their houses are cursed.

Their children out in the cold, abused and exploited,

with no one to stick up for them.

Hungry people off the street plunder their harvests,

cleaning them out completely, taking thorns and all,

insatiable for everything they have.

Don’t blame fate when things go wrong—

trouble doesn’t come from nowhere.

It’s human! Mortals are born and bred for trouble,

as certainly as sparks fly upward.

[What a Blessing When God Corrects You!]

“If I were in your shoes, I’d go straight to God,

I’d throw myself on the mercy of God.

After all, he’s famous for great and unexpected acts;

there’s no end to his surprises.

He gives rain, for instance, across the wide earth,

sends water to irrigate the fields.

He raises up the down-and-out,

gives firm footing to those sinking in grief.

He aborts the schemes of conniving crooks,

so that none of their plots come to term.

He catches the know-it-alls in their conspiracies—

all that intricate intrigue swept out with the trash!

Suddenly they’re disoriented, plunged into darkness;

they can’t see to put one foot in front of the other.

But the downtrodden are saved by God,

saved from the murderous plots, saved from the iron fist.

And so the poor continue to hope,

while injustice is bound and gagged.

“So, what a blessing when God steps in and corrects you!

Mind you, don’t despise the discipline of Almighty God!

True, he wounds, but he also dresses the wound;

the same hand that hurts you, heals you.

From one disaster after another he delivers you;

no matter what the calamity, the evil can’t touch you—

“In famine, he’ll keep you from starving,

in war, from being gutted by the sword.

You’ll be protected from vicious gossip

and live fearless through any catastrophe.

You’ll shrug off disaster and famine,

and stroll fearlessly among wild animals.

You’ll be on good terms with rocks and mountains;

wild animals will become your good friends.

You’ll know that your place on earth is safe,

you’ll look over your goods and find nothing amiss.

You’ll see your children grow up,

your family lovely and graceful as orchard grass.

You’ll arrive at your grave ripe with many good years,

like sheaves of golden grain at harvest.

“Yes, this is the way things are—my word of honor!

Take it to heart and you won’t go wrong.”

The Book of Job, Chapter 5 (The Message)

my personal reading of the Scriptures for monday, April 12 of 2021 with a paired chapter from each Testament of the Bible, along with Today’s Psalms and Proverbs

A post by John Parsons about the significance of Israel:

After the Jewish people had suffered for nearly 2,000 years of exile as clearly foretold by Moses (see Lev. 26:38, 44; Deut. 28:64-64) and the other Hebrew prophets (Isa. 43:5-6; Jer. 30:11; Joel 3:2; Ezek. 36:8-10; Hos. 9:1-10, etc.), Israel was miraculously reborn as a nation in their ancient homeland on May 14, 1948 (Iyyar 5, 5708). Today Jews across the world celebrate Iyyar 5 as Israeli Independence Day (this year we observe it earlier to so it will not fall on the Sabbath).

Israel’s Independence Day is called Yom Ha'atzma'ut (יום העצמאות), the “day of independence.” In Hebrew, the word independence (atzma’ut) comes from atzmi - “my bones” (i.e., etzem: עֶצֶם), so the name itself alludes to God’s glorious promise to revive the “dry bones” (עֲצָמוֹת) of Israel by bringing the Jewish people back from their long exile during the End of Days (Ezek. 37:1-6). “Son of man, can these bones live?”

But why should Christians care about ethnic Israel? After all, many Christian denominations advocate some version of “Replacement Theology” and regard the promises God made to the Jewish people as belonging exclusively to their church... The existence of the modern State of Israel therefore evokes little thanks to God from these groups, and some of their ranks even regard Israel’s revived presence on the world stage as an embarrassment to their typically “liberal” theology. Hence we see the (remarkably bad) phenomena of so-called “Christian” church denominations that express anti-Israel sentiment, even asking their followers to divest investments in Israel on behalf of the “Palestinians,” etc.

The title "Christ" refers to the anointed King of Israel, the Mashiach (מָשִׁיחַ)... To say "Jesus Christ" is therefore to affirm that Yeshua is none other than the Messiah, the rightful King of Israel (מֶלֶךְ יִשְׂרָאֵל). Followers of Jesus, the One born "King of the Jews" (Matt. 2:2), should therefore care deeply about Israel because the existence of Jewish people - and of the nation of Israel in particular - demonstrates that the LORD (יהוה) is completely faithful to the covenant promises He made to our patriarchs (e.g., Gen. 15:9-21). Indeed, the Scriptures teach that the Name of God is forever designated as אלהי אברהם אלהי יצחק ואלהי יעקב - "the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob" (Exod. 3:15), just as it is also the “LORD God of Israel” (יְהוָה אֱלהֵי יִשְׂרָאֵל). The perpetuity of the Jewish people - despite so much satanic hatred over the millennia - is an awesome testimony of God’s loyal love (Jer. 31:35-37). עַם יִשְׂרָאֵל חַי / am Yisrael chai: "The people of Israel live!" Israel is a sign of the “sure mercies of David” (חַסְדֵי דָוִד הַנֶּאֱמָנִים) that are revealed in Yeshua, the Jewish Messiah (Isa. 55:1-6). Moreover, the New Covenant itself, as foretold by the prophet Jeremiah, explicitly promises the perpetuity of the Jewish people throughout the ages:

"Behold, the days are coming, declares the LORD (יהוה), when I will make a new covenant (בְּרִית חֲדָשָׁה) with the house of Israel and the house of Judah, not like the covenant that I made with their fathers on the day when I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt, my covenant that they broke, though I was their husband, declares the LORD. But this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, declares the LORD: I will put my Torah (תּוֹרָה) within them, and I will write it on their hearts. And I will be their God, and they shall be my people. And no longer shall each one teach his neighbor and each his brother, saying, 'Know the LORD,' for they shall all know me, from the least of them to the greatest, declares the LORD. For I will forgive their iniquity, and I will remember their sin no more.

Thus says the LORD, who gives the sun for light by day and the fixed order of the moon and the stars for light by night, who stirs up the sea so that its waves roar: יהוה צבאות שׁמו - the LORD of hosts is his Name: “If this fixed order departs from before me, declares the LORD, then shall the offspring of Israel (זֶרַע יִשְׂרָאֵל) cease from being a nation before me forever.” Thus says the LORD: “If the heavens above can be measured, and the foundations of the earth below can be explored, then I will cast off all the offspring of Israel for all that they have done, declares the LORD." (Jer. 31:31-37).

According to this theologically critical passage, if you saw the sun shine today or the stars in the night sky, you can be assured that God’s promise to preserve the “offspring of Israel” -- (i.e., zera Yisrael: זֶרַע יִשְׂרָאֵל) -- is in effect. Indeed, in the world to come, heavenly Jerusalem will have the names of the twelve tribes of Israel engraved upon its gates (Rev. 21:12). Note well that this is the only occurrence in the entire Tanakh (i.e., “Old Testament”) that the New Covenant (בְּרִית חֲדָשָׁה) is explicitly mentioned... It is a foundational passage of Scripture for those who claim to be followers of the Jewish Messiah.

The spiritual blessings Christians enjoy come from the root of God's covenants with Israel... Yeshua our Savior was born the King of the Jews, and he plainly said הַיְשׁוּעָה מֵאֵת הַיְּהוּדִים הִיא- “salvation is from the Jews” (Matt. 2:2; 27:11; John 4:22). The Apostle Paul clearly warned those who think the church has "replaced" Israel: "Remember it is not you who support the root, but the root that supports you" (Rom. 11:18). This doctrine is so foundational that it may be rightly said that how you think about Israel will affect every other area of your theology. Indeed, the nation of Israel is God's "super sign" that He is faithful to His covenant promises (Jer. 31:35-37). Celebrating Israel's existence acknowledges God's loyal love for us all! For more on this subject, see the article, “Is Christianity Anti-Jewish?” on the H4C website [Hebrew for Christians]

4.12.21 • Facebook

Today’s message from the Institute for Creation Research

April 12, 2021

Bible Authority

“Every word of God is pure: he is a shield unto them that put their trust in him. Add thou not unto his words, lest he reprove thee, and thou be found a liar.” (Proverbs 30:5-6)

The Bible is unique among all books. Not only is it different in its form, structure, and history, but it takes the position of supernatural superiority to all other communication. It insists on total accuracy for its content and absolute obedience to its commands. No other book is so demanding. The whole of the Bible abounds with the teaching that it has “given unto us all things that pertain unto life and godliness” (2 Peter 1:3).

It is the word of God the Father. Jesus made it clear: “I have not spoken of myself; but the Father which sent me, he gave me a commandment, what I should say, and what I should speak. And I know that his commandment is life everlasting: whatsoever I speak therefore, even as the Father said unto me, so I speak” (John 12:49).

It was confirmed by the Holy Spirit. “For the prophecy came not in old time by the will of man: but holy men of God spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost” (2 Peter 1:21).

It is the source of faith and salvation. “Being born again, not of corruptible seed, but of incorruptible, by the word of God, which liveth and abideth for ever” (1 Peter 1:23).

It is not to be changed. “Ye shall not add unto the word which I command you, neither shall ye diminish ought from it, that ye may keep the commandments of the LORD your God which I command you” (Deuteronomy 4:2).

It is the instrument by which “a young man [can] cleanse his way...by taking heed thereto according to thy word” (Psalm 119:9). It is to be reverenced and obeyed, “for thou hast magnified thy word above all thy name” (Psalm 138:2). “Yea, let God be true, but every man a liar” (Romans 3:4). HMM III

[chiseler]

What is Next for Palestinian Popular Resistance in Gaza? Speaking to Journalist Wafaa Aludaini

Wafaa Aludaini is a witness to many of Gaza’s recent tragedies and also never-ending resistance. She experienced the violent Israeli occupation, the subsequent blockade on the impoverished Strip, and several wars that resulted in the death and wounding of tens of thousands of Palestinians.

But none of Israel’s wars impacted Aludaini’s life as much as the 2014 onslaught which Israel dubbed ‘Operation Protective Edge.’

Of the nearly 18,000 houses destroyed, two homes, one belonging to Wafaa’s family and the other to her in-laws, were also destroyed by Israel’s bombs.

Gaza’s infrastructure, which was already dilapidated as a result of previous wars and a protracted siege, took a massive beating during the 51-day Israeli bombardment.

The most irreplaceable of all of this tragic loss is human life, as 2,251 Palestinians were killed and over 11,000 wounded, many maimed for life.

War and siege, however, only strengthened Wafaa’s resolve as she became more involved in covering news from Gaza, hoping to reveal long-hidden truths and defy mainstream media narratives and popular stereotypes.

During the ‘Great March of Return’, a popular movement that began on March 30, 2018, Wafaa joined the protesters, reporting on a daily basis on the killing and wounding of unarmed youth who flocked to the fence that separates besieged Gaza from Israel, to demand their freedom and basic human rights.

Enraged by the refugees’ daily chants of ‘End the siege’, ‘Free Palestine’, and their adamant insistence on their ‘Right of Return’ to their original villages in Palestine, which were ethnically cleansed during Israel’s violent birth in 1948, Israeli snipers opened fire. In the first two years of the March, over 300 Palestinians were reportedly killed, and thousands wounded.

Aludaini was there during the entire ordeal, reporting on the dead and the wounded, consoling bereaved families, and also taking part in an historic moment when all of Gaza rose and united behind a single chant of freedom.

Aludaini was not a typical journalist chasing after a story at the fence, as she was both the story and the storyteller.

“I am a journalist, but I am also a refugee. My parents were expelled from their village in Palestine, which is now in Israel,” she said.

“Being a journalist in Gaza is not easy, because every single day, you are subjected to (the possibility) of being killed, injured, or arrested by the Israeli occupation forces. In fact, many journalists were murdered by Israeli fire this way.”

On why she chose journalism as a career although she studied English literature at a local Gaza University, Aludaini said that the more she understood mainstream media’s reporting on Palestine, the more frustrated she felt by the unfair depiction of Palestine and the Palestinian struggle.

“Journalists who are (advancing) mainstream media (narratives on Palestine) are, in a way, helping the Israeli occupation in killing more innocent people in Palestine, in particular, in the Gaza Strip. (They) are strengthening the people (Israelis) who expelled us in 1948, encouraging them to violate international law,” Aludaini said.

“So I am asking them to come here, to Palestine, to see for themselves, to see the Apartheid wall, to see the checkpoints, to see what is happening in Israeli jails. Only after they see it with their own eyes, can they tell the truth, because journalists should tell the truth and stand for humanity, regardless of religion and regardless of anything else.”

In a similar tone, Aludaini challenged “defenders of the Israeli occupation” to come to Palestine and to “listen to the people who had their children killed; to those who got expelled from their homes. In every home in Palestine, there is a story of misery, but you will never find (these stories) in mainstream media.”

Regarding the Great March of Return, Aludaini said that the March was “a popular protest where the people of Gaza collectively gathered at the separation fence between Gaza and Israel,” to exhibit various forms of resistance that focused mostly on cultural resistance.

Protesters carried out various forms of “traditional activities, like dancing dabka, singing old songs, cooking Palestinian dishes,” Aludaini said, noting that the most touching of these scenes were those of “elderly Palestinians holding the keys of their homes from which they were forcibly expelled in 1948 during the Nakba,” or the Great Catastrophe.

“This kind of popular resistance is not new for Palestinians (as they) have always used all their means to fight for their rights, to fight (against Israeli military) occupation, like the weekly protests (at the Gaza fence), or (the symbolic acts of) stone-throwing. Even when Gazans resort to armed resistance, people never stop displaying popular (forms) of resistance as well.”

But is this the end of the March of Return?

Aludaini said that the March is not over, however, the strategy will be reformulated to minimize the number of casualties.

“After almost three years of the protests, the High Committee of the Great March of Return decided to change the approach of the protests. From now on, the marches are only going to be held on national occasions instead of being held on a weekly basis because Israel uses lethal force against peaceful and unarmed protesters.”

According to Aludaini, the Gaza Ministry of Health, which is already overwhelmed by the lack of hospital equipment, electricity, and clean water, can no longer handle the pressures of daily deaths and injuries.

Aludaini herself spent many hours in Gaza’s hospitals, interviewing and comforting the wounded. She told us of a Gazan mother of four who participated in the March every Friday without fail. “One day, she was shot in the leg, and it was hard for her to walk. But the following Friday, she returned to the fence. When I asked her why is she back despite her injury, she told me: ‘I will never allow the Israelis to steal my land. This is my land; these are my rights and I will come back (to defend them) again and again.’”

For Aludaini, it is the resilience of these seemingly ordinary people that inspires her and gives her hope.

Another story is of a 19-year-old girl who implored her parents repeatedly to join the protests. When they finally relented, the young girl was shot in the eye by an Israeli sniper. Aludaini and her comrades rushed to the hospital to show support for the protester who lost her eye, only to find her in high spirits, stronger and more determined than ever.

“She told us that as soon as she leaves the hospital, she plans to go back to the fence.”  

Aludaini challenges “Israeli propaganda” that claims that its wars and ongoing violence in Gaza are motivated by self-defense. If that is the case, "why is Israel targeting the West Bank which is also subjected to annexation and apartheid?" she asks.

“(Currently) There is no armed resistance (in the West Bank), but (the Israeli occupation army) still kills people every single day.”

Aludaini, who is frustrated by the lack of emphasis on media studies in Gazan universities, is determined to continue with her work as a journalist and as an activist, because when the media fails at exposing Israeli crimes in Gaza, it is the likes of Wafa Aludaini who make all the difference.

by Ramzy Baroud & Romana Rubeo

[katiewattsart]

21/01/20 : TELLING STORIES

AIMS OF THE LECTURE

- To introduce and discuss theories around narratives and stories

- To practise the ability to critique images and artefacts

- To develop the ability to make links between culture and arts practice

- To develop the ability to communicate a response to material shown

We are surrounded by stories in day to day life

Linking towards social media - says something about you and how you communicate

If today you post a Facebook or Instagram update, you are telling a story. The story you want the world to know.  Instagram and Facebook both have a    platform called Stories, where snippets of our day represent the narrative action we want to share with our followers and friends. 

Storytelling is the thing of today. Brands tell stories. Politicians want us to know their stories. Artists live their stories in their art

‘Texts’ that could hold a narrative?

…novels, comics, films, tv series, plays, films, children’s books, animation, games, photographs, news stories, magazine covers, folktales and myths, book covers, paintings, editorial illustrations, window displays, packaging, logos…

poetry 

Songs - music videos 

Social media

Visual image can be ready as text

Each and every individual could be a narrative constructing our own narrative 

Plato mentions old women going down to the harbour to comfort the victims bound for the Minotaur’s table by telling them stories… This is partly a point about social history: people told stories before mass literacy; but it is also about desire: what is loved in stories is often an imagined link to a long, living lineage.

Marina Warner, Once upon a Time

Athenian Girls Drawing Lots to Determine which among them Shall Be Sent to Crete for Sacrifice to the Minotaur

Jean-François-Pierre Peyron (1744–1814)

- Every individual can view a different narrative/story

- blue was the most expensive colour to be worn 

- semiotic understanding 

- immediate emotional response 

- each generation can hold and change the narrative to fit them 

A need to tell and hear stories is essential to the species Homo sapiens – second in necessity apparently after nourishment and before love and shelter. Millions survive without love or home, almost none in silence; the opposite of silence leads quickly to narrative, and the sound of story is the dominant sound of our lives, from the small accounts of our day's events to the vast incommunicable constructs of psychopaths.

Edward Reynolds Price

Questions that we were asked within the lecture:

What’s the first story you remember being told? 

My grandmother used to tell me the myth that if I ate apple seeds that an apple tree would begin to grow in my belly.

What’s your favourite story?

I believe the my favourite stories stemmed from my childhood as I trust that is when stories are most impactful on yourself as an individual

Stories that we wish to tell over and over again

- an element of nostalgia 

- possibly about morals and values

- passing down messages using universal metaphors 

- being re told though many different dynamics 

William Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet (1595)

Warm Bodies 2013

West side story 1961

Gnomeo and Juliet (2011)

Private Romeo (2012)

Same Old Story 

The Taming of the Shrew (1967)

10 Things I hate about you (1999

CULTURAL STORIES 

Cultural narratives are stories that help a community structure and assign meaning to its history and existence. Cultural narratives include creation stories, which tell a story about the community's origins, and fables, which help teach moral values and ethical behavior. Cultural narratives help a community reinforce societal norms, preserve its history and strengthen its identity through shared knowledge and experience. 

Juha and his Donkey

Juha first appeared in an Arabic book of the ninth century, though this was likely adapted from an older oral tradition. From there, Juha quickly splintered to the far ends of the Mediterranean world. He followed the Arabs to Sicily, where he became known as Giufà. In Turkey, his legend merged with a Sufi mystic called Nasruddin, while the Ottomans exported him to the Balkans. Some even claim that Juha inspired Cervantes’s “Don Quixote”

STORIES AND NARRATIVES

- What is the difference between ‘story’ and ‘narrative’?

- Story = a sequence of events (plot)

- Narrative = the way those events are put together to be presented to an audience.

narrative

/ˈnarətɪv/

noun

a spoken or written account of connected events; a story.

"a gripping narrative"

story

/ˈstɔːri/

noun

noun: story; plural noun: stories

an account of imaginary or real people and events told for entertainment.

"an adventure story"

NEWS STORY 

- all telling the same story

- however, the narrative changes within each one 

- narrative changes depending on values and political values 

Narrative Theory

“Narrative theory starts from the assumption that narrative is a basic human strategy for coming to terms with fundamental elements of our experience, such as time, process, and change, and it proceeds from this assumption to study the distinctive nature of narrative and its various structures, elements, uses, and effects….More specifically, narrative theorists study what is distinctive about narrative (how it is different from other kinds of discourse, such as lyric poems, arguments, lists, descriptions, statistical analyses, and so on), and how accounts of what happened to particular people in particular circumstances with particular consequences can be at once so common and so powerful... ....Narrative theorists, in short, study how stories help people make sense of the world, while also studying how people make sense of stories”.

The Ohio State University

If you re-shuffled a story’s events you would essentially have the same story, with a new narrative – a new way of representing the storyTherefore, Narrative Theory explores the construction of the story ie. the way it has been put together, not the story itself.

Matt Madden,  

99 ways to tell a story

(the basic/ template story) 

Matt Madden,  

99 ways to tell a story

(fixed moment in time) 

Matt Madden,  

99 ways to tell a story

(single image) 

Matt Madden,  

99 ways to tell a story

(style and genre) 

Nathan Pyle

Narrative of the Image

Dorothea Lange

1936, California, US Lange’s most famous photograph was taken in a pea-picker camp in Nipomo, California. The woman’s name was Florence Thompson. She is the mythical mother, the unshakable fortress-refuge of our childhood fantasies, the one to whom we can turn when there is no one else.

Photograph: Dorothea Lange/Hulton Archive/Getty

The picture of revellers in Manchester, captured by Joel Goodman in the early hours of New Year’s Day 2016, became a viral sensation, retweeted 29,000 times, after the BBC’s Roland Hughes noted on Twitter that it resembled a beautiful painting.

The Fibonacci sequence

Renaissance artists would use the ratio with the visual aid of the Fibonacci spiral, which is created by drawing circular arcs connecting the opposite corners of squares in the Golden Rectangle. It was devised by mathematician Leonardo Fibonacci in the year 1202.

Pictures like this are often described as "accidental Renaissance", indicating that they inadvertently conform to traditional Renaissance ideas of beauty and symmetry. They often seem to fit the principle of the Golden Rectangle – a rectangle (shown below in pink) used by Renaissance artists where the longer side (a) plus the shorter side (b) divided by the longer side (a) is equal to the longer side (a) divided by the shorter side (b).

Narrative in a Digital Age

“The computer and the screen have revolutionised book production, but the prophet in me sees another more radical revolution, and it has to do with the nature of language itself. With the predominance of textual language we forget that language was first meant to be spoken not written and read. In the beginning was the Word and the Word was spoken. Stories were told. Instructions were given. Then the stories and instructions were memorised and passed down not in scrolls and scriptures, but by word of mouth. Stories were dramatised and then became dramas that were acted out. The actors memorised and passed the text on to the next generations through the formal traditions of drama, storytelling, teaching and memorisation.”

Longenecker (2018)

Accidental storytelling… Never, ever read the comments!

“There are multiple belief patterns in our society and many different types of narratives; however, the majority of these are repressed. The dominant classes have created a norm, a standard that is passed off as “natural” instead of as a social construction. This standard is reinforced by institutions, such as the church, schools, and government. However, this dominant ideology excludes many peoples, their culture, and their ideas. Outsider art and subjugated narratives have been continually produced as a response to the dominant ideology. What are some of these subjugated narratives and what forms do they take?”

Outsider Art

ART  THERAPY PROCESS

The Palestinian Trail of Fish: Artist's Graffiti Dives Into Heart of Refugee Struggle.

Albaba leaves behind familiar Palestinian symbols, opting instead for his 'trail of fish,' a metaphor for refugees as fish out of water. “Keep in a dry and cool place far from the sun’s rays,” and below it is a comment in smaller letters: “Date of manufacture – 1948.” Alaa, The work is part of a series called the “Route of the Fish,” which depicts the tragedy of the Palestinian people in this country not through the traditional association with the land, but rather via the experience of being cut off from the sea. The Palestinian refugees who long to return are represented as fish out of water, hung up to dry, or squeezed into a can of sardines like those that were distributed by the UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees after 1948. It deals directly with the Palestinian Nakba (or “catastrophe,” when more than 700,000 Arabs fled or were expelled from their homes during the 1947-49 Israeli War of Independence) and the refugee experience.

Alaa Albaba (image taken 2015)

Prison Tattoos

Graffiti

Narrative - Jason S Polley

“My tattoos, or, rather, my single narrative tattoo, essentially charts the Eastward migration of Buddhism from its Hindu sources in India through its multiple manifestations / incarnations / influences in Tibet, Myanmar, Thailand, Indochina, China, and, finally Japan. Not unlike Shakespeare’s Parolles, from the ironically (at least from Parolles’ point of view) titled All’s Well that Ends Well, before I put my once-discrete tattoos into dialogue, into the development of classical narrative arcing, I was a “man of shreds and patches.” A tattoo here, a tattoo there. I found my nine scattered tattoos aesthetically unsightly. So over an 18-year period I worked (with the help of tattooists from Canada, Thailand, Colombia, India, Israel, Vietnam, and Hong Kong) on establishing an interconnected narrative. A story. But a postmodern story: one that includes, among other things, fragmentation, flashback, back story, interruption, and openendedness. There’s no single reading of my story of Buddhist passage.”

The nesting place of the storyteller, Walter Benjamin pointed out, are in the loom shed and at the spinning wheel, in the fulling barn and the kitchen when doing tedious tasks - shelling peas in readiness for storing, sorting pulses for bagging, bottling and preserving. Stories were told to alleviate harsh labour and endless drudgery - and they were passed between generations - by the voice of experience, filled with the laughter of defiance, and the hope of just deserts.

Marina Warner, Once upon a Time

Narrative Fashion

- The art of creating the blouse passed from generation to generation. Women kept the tradition of sewing from mother to daughter. 

- Embroidery designs can identify a region of the country or contain a special meaning - while decorative, they are also symbols of cultural beliefs and heritage.

- Narrative in Clothing

- Traditional Romanian Peasant Blouse

“EVERYONE tells stories. Narratives powerful like ancient Greek myths and the Bible have taught us how to relate to certain values and how the impact of stories shape our lives. When fashion designers and brands use these very same narratives, they become the storyteller, the expert of storytelling and apparel comes alive.”

Crafting Narrative

Exploring how makers and designers are using objects and making ,to tell stories.

CRAFTING NARRATIVE AT PITZHAN

MANOR GALLERY (2014)

Swedish graduate Hilda Hellström contacted the last person still living inside the evacuation zone, Naoto Matsumura, and collected soil from his rice fields that can't be farmed due to contamination.

Hellström hopes the vessels - as unsuitable for food storage as the fields are for growing - will act as symbolic objects to help people understand the enormity of the disaster.

Craftsmen usually imitate antique vases in a batch and highly standardized way. I was anxious to criticize the current situation of imitation and even plagiarize and compare it with the situation in Chinese feudal period and the situation in other countries. However, a graduate work from Hao zhen-han (2013) called ‘Imitation, imitation’ made me have a critical thinking about Chinese imitation culture. It is a video documented different people work on ceramic industry and view it in a historical context. This work uncovers the social, political and economic implications of Chinese imitation culture. Hao's unique idea that has a positive attitude toward imitation made me reflect on the ceramic industry in Jingdezhen from an object and historical view.

IMITATION IMITATION, ZHENHAN HAO, 2013. PART OF CRAFTING NARRATIVE AT LONDON DESIGN FESTIVAL 2014

Task

Based on today's lecture, find examples of relevant work in your discipline and apply this to your reflection; consider how you would explore some of these themes in your own work.

References:

http://livedoor.blogimg.jp/mement_mori_6/imgs/1/e/1ebc1252-s.jpg 

http://dujye7n3e5wjl.cloudfront.net/photographs/1080-tall/time-100-influential-photos-dorothea-lange-migrant-mother-23.jpg 

https://www.shwrm.com/themagazine/five-beautiful-fashion-narratives/ 

https://blouseroumaine-shop.com/en 

#gcop200

[arab-gurl-posts]

The Robbery of the Free People ; Palestine!

Mariam, Aisha, Dam Il-Izz, Fatma, Sabha, Ahlam, Taghreed, Nawal, Dalal, Leila, Asma and thousand others died FIGHTING for their country. They went as martyrs.

Does your religion allow you to burn someone alive? I asked one of the Jews. They said never…..  so how do they accept to burn a child alive? I only ask God to give me patience… Hasbiya Allah w ni’ma Alwakeel 3alehum.

Many mothers  suffer everyday for their children. Every Palestinian suffered in war and is still suffering. They are obliged to live under an unfair

regime. It seems like their land is being robbed from them, their future taken from them, their freedom stolen from them, the unfairness they live in is not enough. They have to be tortured, bombed, and killed.

This problem has been going on now for about 100 years.  The problem is called the Israeli-Palestine conflict. Or as I call it the Robbery of the Free People.  The Palestinians have lived in unfairness for a such long time. The problem is still going on with no resolution. If you haven’t realized, I stand in strong affirmation that the Palestinians should be free and the land belongs to the Palestinians!

The conflict between Palestinian Arabs and Israeli Jews is conflict dating to the end of the nineteenth century. Although the two groups have different religions (Palestinians include Muslims, Christians and Druze), religious differences are not the cause of the problem. The conflict began as a struggle over land. From the end of World War I until 1948, the area that both groups claimed was known internationally as Palestine. Following the war of 1948–1949, this land was divided into three parts: the State of Israel, the West Bank (of the Jordan River) and the Gaza Strip.  The whole area is a small area—approximately 10,000 square miles.

 The Israeli people view the conflict as a matter of security and defense. They believe in their right to the land of Israel due to their history and identity tied to it. Israel is constantly defending themselves from hateful terrorist attacks produced by the Hamas terrorist group and Palestinian people. Due to this, they view themselves in a constant state of defense for the security of their citizens, sovereignty, land, and identity.

One of the main reasons why the Israeli people believe the land to be theirs is due to their history. Historically, the ancient Jews from Biblical times called their land Israel, Canaan, Judea, Samaria, Galilee and other long-ago names. Modern Jews, and quite a few Christians, believe that in the days of the Bible and the Torah, God gave this land to the ancient Jews (also known as Hebrews), led by men such as Abraham, Moses, David, and others. About 2,000 years ago, the Roman Empire ruled this area, and in overpowering several Jewish rebellions, the Romans destroyed the Jewish temple in the city of Jerusalem, killed large numbers of Jews, and forced many others to leave their homeland in an exodus called "The Diaspora." Some Jews remained in the area, but large numbers of Jews did not return until the 19th and 20th Century, especially after World War Two and the Holocaust. This history makes the Jews think that Israel is theirs.

However, The Palestinians claim the land is  heirs based on continuous residence in the country for hundreds of years and the fact that the majority demographic is theirs. The argument of the Jews getting Palestine because of biblical-era kingdom is in valid. If the Palestinians would believe the  same thing they can say the biblical argument then it would also apply to them because Abraham's son Ismail is the forefather of the Arabs so Gods promise of land to the children of Abraham includes the Palestinian/Arabs as well. Palestine also does not believe that they should give up there land to make up for Europe's crimes against Jews. 3000 years ago an entire population was removed to there homeland and so the land was simply taken over by other people.  Now all of a sudden those people have returned and they want to kick you out and get their land back. This is what it's like for the Palestinians , and they think it's crazy that one population can simply replace another. The Palestinians never had anything against the Jews, they would be just as unhappy if the occupiers were Muslims, French, etc. To them this conflict is about the land and justice. Palestine has now been a home for many Arabs and it was mostly operated by Arabs until the Jews came in and now that is all gone. The argument of Palestine belonging to the Jews because their ancestors ruled it for a period of time is like saying that England belongs to the Vikings only.

I still keep his clothes and the newspaper that published the news of his martyrdom… and today my happiness is great because he comes back to me again  ….. 34 years I awaited his return, and the return of his body means he came back to us alive. In what world? In what book is it okay for death to be happiness? Where does it tell us to torture people and kill them? Where do you get all this selfishness from ? How can you sleep and put your kids to bed as you wish them a good-night kiss s , while knowing kids are looking for their dead parents under the rubble. What is their mistake? What did they do to you?

Can you just please explain to me this how a population dying could be causing terrorism. These people living under unfairness, being tortured, bombed, and killed are the ones causing terrorism. Because I can’t see where the Israelis are being bombed, killed, and tortured. Israelis believe that all this torture they are doing to the Palestinians is in response to the hateful terrorist attacks. However, how can the Israelis be so blind to think they are the victims here.  Because I can’t find one terrorist attack from the Palestinians against the Israelis. But what I can find is a massive number of dead innocent Palestinians. According to BBC news poll 510,000 thousand Palestinians have died over the past 5 years. So you tell me now who are the terrorists here the Palestinians or the Israelis? Right now while you are reading this article a house is being bombed , a family is being torn apart, and  kids are dying.

Even if Palestine wanted to attack it doesn’t have the weapons nor the means to do so. Israel has a huge supporter the United States. The United States agreed to provide Israel a record $38 billion in new military aid over the next decade. The agreement, which equates to $3.8 billion a year, is the largest two-sided military aid package ever and includes $5 billion for missile defense, additional F-35 joint strike fighters and increased mobility for its ground forces. Does Israel need all these weapons to destroy all those innocent people? It will destroy their body yes, but not their souls nor their beliefs nor their hope.

One of Israel’s main motives to take the land is because of their religion. They believe that Judaism/God gave this land to the ancient Jews (also known as Hebrews), led by men such as Abraham, Moses, David, and others. They seem to care so much about religion, the whole government is based on Judaism. Where in the Torah does it say kill and torture? The Torah clearly states (Exodus 20:13) Thou shalt not kill, meaning you should not kill. The Israeli/Jews are not only killing a person but a whole population. 510,000 thousand people have died over the five years. If god really promised you the “Holy Land” he also stated in the Torah "God announceth to Jerusalem that they [Israel] will be redeemed only through peace." Deuteronomy Rabah 5:15. I see no peace all I see is the Israelis killing, torturing and bombing awhole population. They can’t even stand with their beliefs. They don’t even understand their right from wrong. Even the Jews don’t agree with their state. There have been many marches where hundreds of Jews went out protesting against their state to give back Palestine to its people. What I see the state as not a state following its religion but a state hungry for power and money. The state doesn’t even know what it’s religion said then to know if its their land or not.

Adding to all of this the Palestinians were robbed from their country. Imagine you invite a dying running-away refugee over to your house. What he ends up doing is taking–over your house sending you out and killing you. This the same thing the Israelis did to the Palestinians

Before Israel’s creation, Palestine willingly accepted s 700,000 Jewish refugees escaping World War I and the Holocaust. This is a massive number considering Palestine’s Muslim population in 1947 was only around 1.2 million. Palestine did not vote for the creation of Israel. Instead Israel’s creation was imposed on Palestine by the United Nations. We often hear the talking point “no country on Earth would tolerate rockets raining down on its civilians.” This is true, but in fairness we must also accept that no country on Earth would tolerate being split in two without the right to self-determination or a say in the matter. If you disagree, imagine if tomorrow the United Nations decided half of your country would go to another nation of people — while you have no say in the matter. What would you say? I would be the first to disagree? Because where is the fairness here? Palestine served as a haven for Jewish refugees before Israel’s creation. The Palestinians accepted the Israelis who had no home. But what they ended up doing is taking over and killing the population. This is true robbery, instead of the Jews taking their right from the Europeans. They came to torture the Palestinians.

Till now we suffer. Every day we lament how we were and what has become of us, how much we suffer, everything we had is under the rubble; the clothes, the mattresses, belongings. The kids screaming  “ the books, the clothes, the mattresses, everything we had mama.  No one cares for us mama?” We still suffer, the children still suffer. … Where are the human rights? Where is humanity? Where are the women rights? Have they all disappeared? When will this unfairness end? When will this torture stop? What kind of heart do they have? Do they even have a heart? They send off their children to school to learn how to care? Do themselves know how to care ? Because no one is caring! They live the happy luxurious life while they sit at home ordering the bombs to kill us. All we are asking for is our piece of  land back. Is that too much to ask? Isn’t our rights important!

Mariam, Aisha, Dam Il-Izz, Fatma, Sabha, Ahlam, Taghreed, Nawal, Dalal, Leila, Asma these sacred names connect us to Jrash, Bisan, Haifa, Naqab, Deir Aban, Safad and all the villages and towns that were Palestinian and will rise up again Palestinian from under the rubble, from under the fake parks and from under the cancerous colonies. These sacred names preserve the heritage, the  history and the culture. These sacred names plant in  the spirit of resistance, keep it burning, shining in our hearts, leading our way, telling us that only through resistance will we be liberated, only through our sacrifice will Palestine be free and future generations will enjoy justice and true peace.

These sacred names bind us forever to their mother Palestine; telling us that we have no mother but she, no home but hers’, no existence without her. They carry Palestine in their blood, in their hearts, in their souls!

[swawesome-wow]

If you wanted people to be informed, you'd have mentioned Palestinian terrorists and Hamas. You'd have mentioned the suicide bombings and hundreds of murdered innocent Israelis. You'd have mentioned the Palestinian leadership that first declined coexistence in 1948 and rejected every offer of peace since then. You'd have mentioned lies and propaganda and blood libel against Jews, thought in Palestinian schools. You care about playing the victim. But it's an old game. And you'll lose.

I wasn’t going to take the time to respond, but it’s summer break, and I refuse to let you hide behind anonymity and not learn a little something while you’re there.

1. “If you wanted people to be informed, you’d have mentioned Palestinian terrorists and Hamas. You’d have mentioned the suicide bombings and hundreds of murdered innocent Israelis.”

Oh yes, how could I forget to talk about Palestinian terrorists and Hamas. The thousands upon thousands of innocent Israelis killed. Wait, what’s that? 1,213 Israelis have been killed since September 29, 2000. 9,478 Palestinians have been killed since September 29, 2000. I have never claimed that Palestinians have not killed innocent Israelis. Those numbers are only since the year 2000. Israel has occupied Palestine for 50 years, give or take, as you yourself aptly admitted by bringing up the conference in 1948. There is immense loss on both sides, though one has lost nearly 9x as many lives. However, comparing it numerically is extremely reductive, not only are you wrong numerically, you’re ignoring why people have been slaughtered on both sides, and what brought everyone to this point. There is no “justifying” the murder of Israelis by Palestinians, there is only understanding why these killings happened, holistically, and understanding the context.

People refer to it now as the Israeli-Palestinian “Conflict, Divide, etc.” But before recent, heavy political and monetary support of Israel, it was called the Palestinian Genocide, for good reason. 

2. “You’d have mentioned the Palestinian leadership that first declined coexistence in 1948 and rejected every offer of peace since then.”

Let me make this very, painfully clear. 

Palestine does not owe coexistence to Israel. Israel is an occupying state, an oppressive state, and one that has committed genocide against the Palestinian people. 

To bring it down to your level of understanding, the Palestinians were there first. Palestinians of EVERY religion, including Judaism, though I’ll touch on that later. The Palestinian leadership has been lamentable, no one is denying that. But let me put it this way:

Let’s say America was invaded today, by, say, Canada. (Sorry Canada, you were the first country to pop into my head, since I owe half my citizenship to you.) After things calm down enough for the leaders to meet, Trudeau says to *shudder* Trump (or even Obama, in this fake scenario, would make the same decision), “Hey man, I know you were here first and everything, and I know we bloodily invaded you, but like, let’s just coexist, like on that bumper sticker you guys are so fond of.” Do you honestly think the President of the United States of America, would EVER agree to something like that? Seriously? Of course not, that would be ridiculous. Even 50 years later, America would still be fighting for its freedom from its maple-drenched oppressors. So why are you holding Palestine to such ridiculous standards? 

I am truly saddened by the violence that has stemmed from this entire situation, but until Israeli soldiers stop wrongfully arresting, imprisoning, and killing Palestinians, even children, I don’t think you can possibly hope for “peace.”

My grandmother, a few years back on a return visit to Palestine after she fled so many years ago to Canada, was stopped at the border wall (yes, there is a wall there, in case people were unaware) for eight hours, for no reason. She was not charged with anything, neither were her daughters, my aunts, that were with her. Her crime was being Palestinian. I wonder what that sounds like. 

Oh yes, and because of that wall, the already pitiful economy of the Gaza Strip has crumbled, and they have no way of rebuilding it. Even if Palestinians find jobs in Israel, they’re backed up for hours each day just trying to get processed through the wall in either direction. They’ve been economically choked off from the rest of the world, yet Israel continues to receive monetary aid as if they’re in desperate need.

3. “You’d have mentioned lies and propaganda and blood libel against Jews, thought in Palestinian schools. You care about playing the victim. But it’s an old game. And you’ll lose.”

Once again, I need to make something crystal clear. So listen up. \

Palestinians do not hate Jews. They hate the Israeli government. Not Israelis, not Jews, the Israeli government, because that is the body that is responsible for Palestinian suffering. 

Since I was in elementary school, any time someone found out I had Palestinian parents, they immediately made quips or even stated directly that I must hate Jewish people. I had someone say “oh, so you’re anti-Semitic.” I’ve had people ask me if myself or my parents are terrorists (and I used to be Christian, now I don’t practice anything, my point being that I can’t imagine how hard it is for any Muslims). This misconception is so widespread that it’s toxic, killing any reasonable discourse on the subject by people stamping me with the anti-Semite sticker. So, I’m sorry, I haven’t had the chance to play the victim. Let me know how that goes for you. 

What I said earlier, about all religions coexisting? Let me elaborate.

For the thousands of years that Palestine has existed, Christians, Muslims, Jews, ~whatever~ lived side by side, happily and comfortably. Another misconception is that the Israeli movement came from within Palestine, which is just plain misinformation. This is a very, very reductive explanation of what actually happened, forgive me for not being more detailed:

When the second World War ended, there were thousands upon thousands of displaced European Jews (mostly German as you might imagine, but elsewhere as well). When Europe (and America) tried to figure out where to help these people relocate, no one wanted to take them in, deciding it would be too difficult to reintegrate. Palestine had the room and the kind heart needed to take them in, so that’s where many were relocated, en masse. But it was a finite time that Palestine agreed to host these refugees as refugees, they would eventually need to either integrate with the Palestinian people (gain citizenship, etc), or decide where they would want to move, if not stay there. But the relationship began to change, as some began to perpetuate the idea that they belonged there all along, and that the Palestinians were the ones that needed to leave or integrate elsewhere. As with most conflict, religion took a match and set it to kerosene, as suddenly Jerusalem was the center of the occupier’s claims to the land. While I won’t try to argue about it as I’m not informed enough on religious history, I will say that it is entirely possible to create a religious homeland without literally invading the country and creating a religious state. Church and state are separate for a reason, and have to cooperate, not override one another. 

So there are plenty of Palestinian Jews that understand and are outraged at the Israeli government, though they have been left out of intentional eviction, arrests, torture, and killings. 

COMIC RELIEF BREAK that is actually somewhat related but I promise it’s funny:

One time my mom was telling me about something that happened over in Palestine to friends of our family so word made it back to us. Like I said, the three major religions were living pretty happily together, especially where these friends lived. The IDF was evicting all the Palestinians from a neighborhood to allow Israeli settlers to take over. Our friends were one of the families kicked out, and they were best friends with the Jewish family next door! So when the IDF came knocking on the Jewish family’s door to offer them the keys to their best friends’ house, (they were Jews so they were allowed to stay with the new Israelis coming in), the husband of the family was FURIOUS. He started to back-talk, offended at the very thought, but his wife (the really clever one in this story) shut him up and took the keys. The husband couldn’t believe his wife would betray their best friends like that, but she just rolled her eyes in a “you idiot” fashion. They had the keys now, and they promptly gave them back to their best friends so they could reclaim their property! I always thought that story was hilarious :D

While I am disgusted at the thought that you could somehow compare this entire subject to a game, if that’s the only way you can comprehend such a vast discourse, I’m happy to oblige the metaphor: The only “loser” here is the one who can’t think for themselves and hasn’t done a little goddamn research, you soggy walnut. 

Speaking of research! Here are a couple of resources for those who have been following along! I honestly can’t say that the second is an unbiased source, however if you’re looking for straight statistics and numbers, check out the first link! It’s where I got the exact numbers I used above. If you want the international law/human rights perspective, check out the third link. Thanks y’all!

http://ifamericaknew.org

http://www.globalresearch.ca/israels-genocide-towards-palestinian-arabs/5591341 (thanks canada)

https://ccrjustice.org/genocide-palestinian-people-international-law-and-human-rights-perspective (really good source explaining the international law and human rights perspective on the issue)

#palestine #israel #palestinian #palestinian genocide #israeli occupation #international law #human rights #anon #swawesome is pissed right off

[justsomeantifas]

This was a bad post, it was antisemitic, it was white supremacist, and simply incorrect, I’m sorry for making this post, and I hope you all read the posts in the comments that correct why it is wrong. I will post some of them that describe why this post is incorrect @hero-israel this post is antisemitic blood libel.  It was nice to see that you recently apologized for antisemitic erasure of Jews from social justice movements so I hope you’ll take my point here as well.   This author says Israel has killed 24 MILLION PEOPLE.  Here in this solar system, the combined, all-sides grand total death count from 100 years of conflict between Zionists and Arabs is about 115,000.  If you only start counting after the declaration of Israel in 1948, the combined all-sides death count is about 92,000, of which 30,000 were Egyptian soldiers.   Further down on the page you linked, the author says Zionist governments want global warming to cause a Muslim genocide.  If you looked up the author on Wikipedia, you’d also see that he claims since 9/11, Zionism has caused the deaths of 15 million Americans.   And while far be it from me to defend the British Empire, the author says they killed 1.8 BILLION people in India from 1757-1947, when, again, here in this solar system there wasn’t even a total combined worldwide human population of 2 billion until the 1920s.  That’s not defending the British, that’s just…. true.   The whole thing is a parody of street-corner screaming insanity, just look at the writing style, it should have set off every warning flag you’ve got.   And no, it doesn’t count as “criticism of Israel.”   Not a damn word of it. 

@vermiciousyid This whole thing is a mess, double counting things, trying to blame Churchill for policies from before he was born…I mean, he was a shitbag, but he’s hardly responsible for things that happened in 1757! Much less so responsible that you can count it against him multiple times like the above does.Blaming him for Japanese entry into WWII and all the deaths they caused is also ridiculous, as the Pacific Theatre war started in 1931, well before the war in Europe.And of course, there’s the numerical problems that @hero-israel mentioned.Bad post OP. Do better.

@tikkunolamorgtfo, who is blocked by OP, and asked me to post it so that it would appear. I’m sorry, but as a Bengali Jew, this is just thoroughly un-fucking-acceptable.  I’m not exactly an Israel fan, but to exploit the genocide of my people as a political prop to make false comparisons between indigenous Jewish refugees and European colonialists is disgusting.  And don’t even try to pretend it’s not exploitation, because if you actually cared about Bengalis you would have also mentioned the 3 million of us who were slaughtered by Pakistan (a country that is almost identical to Israel in its creation with regards to British partition) in the 1970s.  You didn’t, and for that you owe me and really all Indian Jews (MOST OF WHOM LIVE IN ISRAEL) an apology for this fucking disrespectful mess of a post.BENGALIS ARE NOT YOUR FUCKING PROPS

brehaaorgana Take it a step further, you cannot blame Churchill for the Japanese entry into WWII because Japan was waging war FAR LONGER than the Europeans were, and before the “start” of the Pacific theater.Like yes the Japanese invaded Manchuria in 1931, BUT the Japanese had already pushed the Japan-Korea Treaty of 1876 to integrate Korea into the Japanese empire, and in 1905, another Treaty was made calling Korea a protectorate of Japan. Then in 1910, Japan annexed Korea.It’s also hard to just go “Oh Japan started this in 1931” as if Japan’s march towards becoming aggressively imperialist was rather sudden. It wasn’t:1876 - Attempts made to integrate Korea into the Japanese Empire 

1894-1895 First Sino-Japanese War (Korean Joseon Dynasty removed from Qing Empire’s vassalage, now under Japanese influence - this later leads to the Xinghai Revolution in China in 1911, the Qing Dynasty falls in 1912) 1904-1905 - Russo-Japanese War - this war actually basically bankrupts Japan and their people are furious Siberia wasn’t ceded to Japan. 1905 - Treaty claims Korea is a protectorate of Japan (and not under the influence of Russia). The ending of the Russo-Japanese war with the diplomatic mediation of Roosevelt causes anti-American riots in Japan which go on for three days before the government declares martial law. 1910 - Japan Annexes Korea 1931 - Japan invades Manchuria 1937 - the “traditional” start of the Sino-Japanese War marked by the Marco Polo Bridge incident.But that’s just arbitrary dating - since the Joseon Dynasty was a vassal under the Qing Dynasty, the conflicts between China and Japan as ruling powers goes back to the late 1870’s and continues until it reaches a head in the 1930’s.So in addition to being bunk antisemitic blood libel which grossly distorts real numbers of the Israeli-Palestinian conflicts, it’s also bullshit historical writing which badly attempts to reframe Japanese imperialism as the sole fault of the western world “making” it happen, as opposed to part of Japan’s decades long expansionism.It’s FASCINATING how people will accuse Jews of blood libel and genocide but are happy and WILLING to appropriate the term “holocaust” for everyone else’s genocides that they pretty much deem as “more worthy” or more sympathetic.Also just to note: Historically Britain PULLED OUT of Singapore at the WORST POSSIBLE MOMENT. Japanese forces were stretched too thin, out of backup and out of supplies and pretty much would have immediately lost the conquest of Singapore had the British stayed to defend the island. Japanese forces would have been easily overwhelmed because they simply did not have the kind of rations or supplies left to fight any kind of lengthy fight. The British panicked instead of defending the Island however, and the Japanese took over because there was no longer a British military force to stop them. It is not that Singapore was indefensible. It is that the British didn’t even attempt to try.Also the above 1917 or whatever date of Russia and the famine….incidentally leaves out the fact that Russia had JUST lost a war with Japan in 1905 and then immediately had a revolution following that. Another reblog quoting tikkunolamorgtfo also pointed out you blatantly left out the deaths of millions of Bengalis due to Pakistan (another British created country). Everything about this is a mess.0/10 Bad post OP, call me when you’ve learned basic historiography.

I would like to say that we never had @tikkunolamorgtfo blocked, we can post picture proof if need be, but them being able to reblog this post would be proof that we have not blocked them.

#winston churchill #genocide #famine #white supremacy #racism #capitalism #classism #class warfare #long post #antisemitism #me fucking up

[allianceforisraeladvocacy-blog]

To whom does the land of Israel belong? Ask Robert F. Kennedy

Robert F. Kennedy wrote a clear explanation of British perfidy and collusion with the Arabs against Israel in 1948. The “Two State Solution,” is the lingering result of the British and Arab collusion to destroy Eretz Israel.

The League of Nations 1923  “Any attempt to negate the Jewish People’s right to Palestine, Eretz-Israel, and to deny them access and control in the area designated for the Jewish People by the League of Nations is a serious infringement of international law. The Origin and Nature of the “Mandate for Palestine”

Nehemiah: 18-20

18 And they said, Let us rise up and build. So they strengthened their hands for this good work.

19 But when Sanballat the Horonite, and Tobiah the servant, the Ammonite, and Geshem the Arabian, heard it, they laughed us to scorn, and despised us, and said, What is this thing that ye do?

20 Then answered I them, and said unto them, The God of heaven, He will prosper us; therefore we  His servants will arise and build:  But ye have no portion, nor right, nor memorial, in Jerusalem.”

Nehemiah is saying no to a two state solution or any solution that does not leave the land in Jewish hands. The Jewish People would rebuild Jerusalem and Eretz Israel and their enemies had absolutely no rights to their land.  Their enemies did not want to see Israel resettled by the descendants of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. Yet these brave Jewish People never begged their enemies for peace and they never signed treaties with their deceitful ungodly neighbours.

The Arabs have been promoting a lie and the world wants to believe it, namely that the territory taken in the 1967 war of Jewish survival should be given back to the Arabs, when it was never theirs to have or to keep. They have been invading Israel at least since the 1930s or even earlier .

The U.N. demands that Israel must make the earlier theft of its own land legal, by agreeing to the Two State Solution.

King David the Prophet said it best in Psalm 69:4, “They that hate me without a cause are more than the hairs of mine head: they that would destroy me being mine enemies wrongfully, are mighty: Then I was forced to restore that which I had not stolen.”

The Jewish People should never make treaties with the people residing in the Land.

Exodus 34:12 Take care, lest you make a covenant with the inhabitants of the Land to which you go, lest it become a snare (trap) in your midst.

Deuteronomy 23:6  Thou shalt not seek their peace nor their prosperity all thy days for ever.

Ezra 9:12  12 nor seek their peace or their wealth for ever: that ye may be strong, and eat the good of the land, and leave it for an inheritance to your children for ever.    

Deuteronomy 7:2 make no covenant with them, nor shew mercy unto them:  

Exodus 23:32 Thou shalt make no covenant with them, nor with their gods.

How have the “Oslo Accords, the “Peace Process” or any other agreement with the Arabs worked for the Jews of Israel. Have they brought peace or have they been a "trap in your midst," as Exodus 34:12 has warned that they would be? It has cost hundreds and even thousands of Jewish lives.

The most  remarkable thing about the Oslo  Accords and the Peace Process is their complete lack of success.

The British and the Arabs worked in collusion, in an attempt to destroy the State of Israel before it was even born. Arabs were encouraged and allowed to illegally mass immigrate into Israel, while the British detained and turned back the Jews from entering their own State of Eretz Israel.

Both of these two actions were against the intent and of the, nature of the “Mandate of Palestine” and were a breach of International Law. The British took things even a step further by supporting Arab violence against the Jews of Israel.

Those illegal Arab immigrants then demanded a Two State Solution from the Land that they invaded.  This “Two State Solution,” is the lingering result of the British and Arab collusion to destroy Eretz Israel.

Robert F. Kennedy wrote a clear explanation of this despicable behaviour against Israel. In excerpts of his articles written in1948, while in his early twenties when he was in Israel working for the Boston Post, he gives examples of this collusion. He warned America that Jewish Rights in Israel were being trampled upon by both the British and the Arabs.

Robert F. Kennedy wrote that he grew to admire the Jewish inhabitants of the Land. When he became a Senator in 1965 he became a strong supporter and advocate for Israel until his assassination during his Presidential Campaign in June 5, 1968, exactly twenty years after he had published his June 5, 1948 articles favouring Israel. The assassin was a Palestinian terrorist who disapproved of Robert Kennedy’s support for Eretz Israel. Robert F. Kennedy died 26 hours after being shot.

I found Robert F. Kennedy to be a far more honourable man than I had thought, he stood on solid moral ground in his defence of a Jewish Eretz Israel.  I think that he should be considered to be among the “Righteous of the Nations."

Examples:

Boston Post- Headline –  “British Position Hit in Palestine. Kennedy says they seek to crush the Jewish Cause because they are Not in accord with it."

“Once again the land of Israel was desolate and underdeveloped before the Jewish migration. (By Robert F. Kennedy June 5, 1948.)"

Beginning Articles- "Set Up Laboratories"

"Under the supposition that, at the finish of the mandate, this was to be their National State, they went to work. They set up laboratories where world-famous scientists could study and analyse soils and crops. The combination of arduous labour and...funds from the United States changed what was once arid desert into flourishing orange groves. Soils had to be washed of salt, day after day, year after year, before crops could be planted. One can see this work going on in lesser or more advanced stages wherever there are Jewish settlements in Palestine.”

"From a small village of a few thousand inhabitants, Tel-Aviv has grown into a most impressive modern metropolis of over 200,000. They have truly done much, with what all agree, was very little. Once again the land of Israel was desolate and underdeveloped before the Jewish migration..” (Robert F. Kennedy)

“The Jews point with pride to the fact that over 500,000 Arabs in the 12 years between 1932 and 1944, came into Palestine to take advantage of living conditions that existed in no other Arab state. This is the only country in the Near and Middle East where an Arab middle class was in existence.” (Robert F. Kennedy).

The Israelis should have made a great outcry condemning the 500,000 Arabs who illegally mass immigrated into land designated for a Jewish Home land.  By all rights they should have driven them back to the neighbouring Arab countries from which they invaded Israel. Pointing with pride at the Arab invasion into Eretz Israel was foolish and self-destructive. For a Jewish State this invasion was a catastrophe!  Even so it can always be turned back.

The Arabs,being ungrateful to the host nation of Israel, then began rioting, and committing  murderous attacks against the Jewish population, predicated and dedicated to the lie that Israel had suddenly become their land, and not the land of the Jews as was stated in the “Mandate of Palestine.”  

Even their leaders in Gaza admit that they are not so-called Palestinians but actually Egyptians, and therefore illegal aliens, illegally occupying your territory in Gaza.

According to the Mandate of Palestine the Arabs have no right to any part of Israel.

"Just before I arrived in Palestine there was the notorious story of the foundry outside of Tel-Aviv. It was situated in a highly contested area, and the British accused the Jews of using it as a sniper post for the Jaffa-Jerusalem road. One day the British moved in, stripping the Jews of all arms and ordered them to clear out within 10 minutes. The British had scarcely departed, when a group of armed Arabs moved in, killing or wounding all the occupants. The British government was most abject in it’s apologies. ” (Robert F. Kennedy)

“Because of this action I believe we have burdened ourselves with a great responsibility in our own eyes and in the eyes of the world. We fail to live up to that responsibility if we knowingly support the British government who behind the skirts of their official position attempt to crush a cause with which they are not in accord.” (Robert F. Kennedy)

“I notice myself more and more conscious of the great heritage and birthright to which we as United States citizens are heirs and which we have the duty to preserve. A force motivating my writing this paper is that I believe we have failed in this duty or are in great jeopardy of doing so. The failure is due chiefly to our inability to get the true facts of the policy in which we are partners in Palestine.

"The British government, in its attitude towards the Jewish population in Palestine, has given ample credence to the suspicion that they are firmly against the establishment of a Jewish State in Palestine. ”  (Robert F. Kennedy)

Religious Crusade

“Five weeks ago I saw several thousand non-Palestinian Arab troops in Palestine, proudly pointed out to me by a spokesman of the Arab higher committee.  Every Arab to whom I talked, spoke of thousands of soldiers massed in the 'terrible triangle of Nablus-Tulkarem-Jenin' and of hundreds that were pouring in daily.” He told me, 'whether it takes three months, three years, or 30, we will carry on the fight. Palestine will be Arab.'” (Robert F. Kennedy).        

In addition to these handicaps that the Jews suffered through the presence of the British, there are many more far-reaching aspects of British administration which unfortunately concern or, rather involve us in the United States.

“The Arab responsible for the blowing up of the Jewish Agency on March 11, 1948, said that after the explosion, upon reaching the British post which separated the Jewish section from a small neutral zone set up in the middle of Jerusalem, he was questioned by the British officers in charge. He quite freely admitted what he had done and was given immediate passage with the remark, Nice going.” |(Robert F. Kennedy)                                                                                                                                                

This ends Robert F. Kennedy’s  final Article ends - Excerpts on Palestine 1948.

During the time leading up to the establishment of Israel as a Jewish State a concerted effort was made by the British forces to disarm the already badly out numbered and out gunned Jews of Eretz Israel. The British were raiding Jewish homes as well as institutions and confiscating all weapons found. While there was an opposite policy toward the Illegal Arab Aliens who invaded Israel.  When the British were preparing to leave Israel just before Israeli independence, in the Arab neighbourhoods the British would leave behind weapons and munitions in their recently vacated police and military offices. This was nothing less than a blatant attempt of  Genocide against the Jews of Eretz Israel on the part of the British and their Arab allies.

The  Israelis are being pressured to surrender their territory for the sake of Western Appeasement.    

Do not let the Jewish People once again become the Scapegoats for Western Appeasement of the Arabs.  The Western World appeased Hitler and the Jews were the Scapegoat, and payed an incredible price on the mantel of Western Appeasement.