- Who Are the Palestinians?
Page 1
Although this article really belongs into the category of the Newsletters, I place it here into the articles to avoid, a) being too redundant; and b) because it contains teaching. The article was my reply to an essay on Palestinian “history” written by a Nigel Parry in the “history” category of Menlo’s Sun Server. He apparently was a contributing writer on the “Electronic Intifada” as well at the time. His Palestinian version of “truth” demanded a reply, even though there are countless “Nigel Parry’s” who have been brainwashed and indoctrinated into believing falsehood to be the truth, and the truth falsehood. Of course, the belief that every ill in this world and every injustice is the Jews’ fault aids in accepting the Palestinian Arabs’ lies propagated for almost 6 decades as truth. Nigel seems to be a photographer who has dedicated his art to serve the Palestinian “cause” against Israel, the Jewish “Zionist villain.”
Subject: your “history” pages related to <sun.menloschool.org/~sportman/westernstu…./deathpage.html>
From: j_rasco@netvision.net.il
Date: 27/02/2002 18:12
To: diary@nigelparry.comDear Nigel Parry,(assuming this is your work?), reading your pages wants me to make a strong suggestion to you: before writing comes diligent and correct research. Honest writing and reporting is the obligation of any writer of integrity, regardless of political standing. To write that the “Zionist movement” took over the “State of Palestine” is such a gross lack of accurate history that no one with some basic knowledge of these things will take you serious.
There has never been, at any time in history, a Palestinian “state,” as there have never been a sovereign people by the name of “Palestinians”. The only “sovereign” people that ever lived in that land before and then besides the Israelites were the Canaanite nations and the Philistines. The Philistines derived their name from the word “plishtim,” which means “invaders”, because this people came originally from the island of “Caphtor” (today’s Crete) and had been known as “Caphtorim”, but also as Casluhim, descendants of Egypt, son of Ham, son of Noah. No one knows exactly why the Caphtorim left their island, but geological and archeological evidence suggests that there had been a violent and tremendous volcanic eruption, followed by a blow up and resulting tidal wave of a neighboring island that might have precipitated the evacuation of Caphtor. There are various opinions and interpretations extant, the one held prominently as well is that these Plishtim lived somewhere near Egypt, on the mainland, and are not sea people who came from the island of Caphtor. However, the recent archeological and geoligical discoveries support the Capthor/Crete island view.
The Caphtorim fell upon the people known as “Avvim” at Canaan’s coastal strip, destroyed them and settled in their stead. The peoples of that region therefore called the invaders from Caphtor exactly that — “invaders/plishtim/philistines.”
The Philistines lived in the area of Ashdod, Ashkalon, Gaza, Gath, Ekron and Gerar1. They NEVER at any time lived in Jerusalem, Bethlehem, Shechem, Ramallah, etc. The Land was divinely covenanted by an oath of the Almighty to the descendants of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob and NOT Ishmael nor Esau. But even if we leave the religious side out of it, there still has never been a sovereign state by the name of Palestine. The only sovereignty there has been by the people of Israel. 1) when Israel conquered Canaan under the leadership of Joshua, until the Babylonian captivity; 2) after the Babylonian captivity; 3) since 1948 it is a third time the only sovereign state on this land.
Neither the Romans, nor the Crusaders, nor the Caliphs, nor the Turks ever created a sovereign state on the conquered area. None of the Caliphs ever lived in Jerusalem, but only in Damascus, Baghdad and Cairo. It never was a “sovereign Muslim state,” as you claim. Peoples have come and gone in this land, but NONE of them were a sovereign entity on that piece of land G-d calls HIS OWN2.
When the Romans destroyed Jerusalem in 70 A.D. and scattered the Jewish population throughout the Roman Empire, it were the ROMANS who renamed the conquered land “Palestina,” purposefully attempting to eradicate all memory of sovereignty and nationalism in the defeated Jews. Jews, contrary to your account, did not attempt to create a new Jewish State until in the nineteenhundreds because of the many ultra-violent Russian pogroms. It was because of ceaseless anti-Semitism that the Jews sought to return to their homeland to create a place where they could finally live in peace. However, there has always been throughout the 2000 years lasting exile of the Jews a small Jewish presence in the “Holy Land,” in mainly the 3 “holy” cities of the Jews: Jerusalem, Hebron and Safed3.
When the Ottoman Empire fell which had ruled over that area for 500 years, the whole area was made British Mandate by the League of Nations in 1929. The Arabs who had and still lived in that area were Syrian Arabs of the former Greater Syria, and identified themselves as Syrians, deeply resenting to be referred to as “Palestinians” by the League of Nations (the Arabic Palestinians speak is still Syrian Arabic). Britain then excised Iraq from the Mandate and set up a puppet king, Prince Faisal, the charismatic son of Hussein, the Sharif of Mecca4. They also excised what they called then Trans-Jordan and made Abdullah, grandfather of king Hussein of Jordan, king. The correspondence between king Abdullah and Dr. Weizmann are public knowledge. The peace loving Abdullah was murdered by some Arab fanatics when he attended a service at the Al-Aqsa Mosque5.
The partition plan for two States, one Jewish one “Palestinian” was rejected by the Arabs. They wanted all or nothing, such as is still the case until this day. The world has learned nothing whatsoever from the Nazi Holocaust and is once more ready to annihilate a whole people and build a Palestinian state on their corpses. A state founded on innocent blood shed will NEVER survive!
The Israelis have from the beginning wanted to live in peace with the Arabs renamed “Palestinians,” whose leaders however had no such intentions. Arafat and his gang of lawless men have invented a whole new history that never existed, and you, dear Nigel Parry, have apparently swallowed that story hook, line and sinker.
If you want to be believed as a trustworthy source of information you better learn a thing or two about responsible writing. Any educated person with an objective mind will not read any further after having read the first lines of pure nonsense. Of course, you can always try to influence the ignorant, there are plenty enough of them around. And folks like CNN and BBC will swallow any lie the Palestinian leadership dishes out. They have been so in love with this terror organization, supporting and praising it, that terror has now blossomed and bloomed throughout the world, spreading like gangrene. The nations who have allowed and furthered this disaster will one day themselves suffer the consequences.
Nigel, as long as “Palestinians” subscribe to and believe the lies their leadership has invented, there will never be a rapprochement between them and Israel. Yasser Arafat and his gang don’t care one least bit for their people, feeding them into HIS “intifada” with no regard for life whatsoever. The average Palestinian families suffer NOT because of Israeli “oppression” but because of the PLO’s relentless hatred, terror and ruthlessness. Arafat and his men live in luxury while the people live in misery. He spent money on building a casino and an airport (how important in priority was THAT???) but neglected to create an infrastructure in which his people can make a good living and have a future.
I dearly wish you and people like you weren’t so blinded by your hatred of Israelis, of the Jews, and you wouldn’t mindlessly believe all those lies, when history can be clearly checked out. Of course, just as the Germans try to silence history regarding their atrocities during the Nazi era not only against Jews, but also against Gypsies and other minorities, so the British try to silence their own crimes and breaches of covenants. But you, Nigel, are young and I assume, intelligent, and you still have a chance to help the Palestinian people by clinging to and writing the TRUTH, and not the lying propaganda of terrorists!
If you are the creator of the “Electronic Intifada,” I pray it will blow up soon. I can’t stand lopsided writing and reporting. We already know that CNN and BBC and RAI have abandoned honest reporting and decent journalism because of a definite lack of integrity. It is integrity and honesty that might gain you a readership. What you are doing is only propagating more lies. What a pity! You render the Palestinians no service with this in the final analysis, even if at present you are persuaded that this is precisely what you are doing.
May you awaken to the truth and embrace it with integrity.
Sincerely,
Annelore From YAHOO: ask – answer – discover: shows many different viewpoints; some erroneous, some based on ignorance, some on purely personal opinion, and some on actual research and accurate knowledge of history.Hot Zone from YAHOO Permalink blogs: the blogs posted by abdurrahman_ibn_khatab are most interesting, the more so if he is an Arab Muslim.
These Yahoo sites are added only to the “Articles” web site to allow expression for differing viewpoints, regardless of true or false. Some of these view points agree with those of the Or Tzion web site, others are diametrically opposed to the Truth as set forth by the Word of G-d, which ultimately will be confirmed by the divine acts prophesied in the Scriptures.
1 Joshua 13:2-3; 2 Joel 3:2; Ezekiel 35:10, 13; 36:5, 24, 28 (33-36); 37:21-22; 38:8, 16; 39:28 3 The Jewish Virtual Library covers all of Jewish history, both ancient and modern, based on researchable facts backed by actual history. 4 see“Amalek_4″ ; the British install a ruler; British puppet king Faysal Ibn-Hussein 5 Modern Jewish History Table of contents - A Japanese View of the Palestinians
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If you are so sure that “Palestine, the country, goes back through most of recorded history”, I expect you to be able to answer a few basic questions about that country of Palestine:
A Japanese View of the Palestinians
by Yashiko Sagamori (pen name)When was it founded and by whom?
What were its borders?
What was its capital?
What were its major cities?
What constituted the basis of its economy?
What was its form of government?
Can you name at least one Palestinian leader before Arafat?
Was Palestine ever recognized by a country whose existence, at that time or now, leaves no room for interpretation?
What was the language of the country of Palestine?
What was the prevalent religion of the country of Palestine?
What was the name of its currency? Choose any date in history and tell what was the approximate exchange rate of the Palestinian monetary unit against the US dollar, German mark, GB pound, Japanese yen, or Chinese yuan on that date.
And, finally, since there is no such country today, what caused its demise and when did it occur?
You are lamenting the “low sinking” of a “once proud” nation. Please tell me, when exactly was that “nation” proud and what was it so proud of?
And here is the least sarcastic question of all: If the people you mistakenly call “Palestinians” are anything but generic Arabs collected from all over — or thrown out of — the Arab world, if they really have a genuine ethnic identity that gives them right for self-determination, why did they never try to become independent until Arabs suffered their devastating defeat in the Six Day War?
I hope you avoid the temptation to trace the modern day “Palestinians” to the Biblical Philistines: substituting etymology for history won’t work here.
The truth should be obvious to everyone who wants to know it. Arab countries have never abandoned the dream of destroying Israel; they still cherish it today. Having time and again failed to achieve their evil goal with military means, they decided to fight Israel by proxy. For that purpose, they created a terrorist organization, cynically called it “the Palestinian people” and installed it in Gaza, Judea, and Samaria. How else can you explain the refusal by Jordan and Egypt to unconditionally accept back the “West Bank” and Gaza, respectively?
The fact is, Arabs populating Gaza, Judea, and Samaria have much less claim to nationhood than that Indian tribe that successfully emerged in Connecticut with the purpose of starting a tax-exempt casino: at least that tribe had a constructive goal that motivated them. The so called “Palestinians” have only one motivation: the destruction of Israel, and in my book that is not sufficient to consider them a nation” — or anything else except what they really are: a terrorist organization that will one day be dismantled.
In fact, there is only one way to achieve peace in the Middle East. Arab countries must acknowledge and accept their defeat in their war against Israel and, as the losing side should, pay Israel reparations for the more than 50 years of devastation they have visited on it. The most appropriate form of such reparations would be the removal of their terrorist organization from the land of Israel and accepting Israel’s ancient sovereignty over Gaza, Judea, and Samaria.
That will mark the end of the Palestinian people. What are you saying again was its beginning?
- The Everlasting Hatred – the Roots of Jihad
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WHO ARE THE PALESTINIANS? One of the most misunderstood issues today is the question of “Who are the Palestinians”? The truth about this matter has been so deliberately obscured that even to raise the question will seem strange to most readers.
By Hal LindseyIn my book, The Everlasting Hatred, the Roots of Jihad, I trace the history of the people now being called the “Palestinians.” The land of Israel became known as Palestine after the Roman destruction of Israel in A.D. 70. It was ruled by many different invaders for the following 19 centuries.
In the 7th century, the Muslims took control of Palestine for the first time. From A.D. 635 until 1917, the Muslims ruled it, with only a few interruptions by the European Crusaders. During that span of time, the land was reduced to total desolation. Many people who traveled the land in the 19th century remarked on the fact that Palestine was as desolate as the moon and very few people lived there.
In 1867, Mark Twain remarked about his visit to the Holy Land in his book, “The Innocents Abroad.” He lamented, “Stirring scenes occur in the valley [of Jezreel] no more. There is not a solitary village throughout its whole extent for 30 miles in either direction. There are two or three small clusters of Bedouin tents, but not a single permanent habitation. One may ride 10 miles hereabouts and not see 10 human beings.”
By all eyewitness accounts of that era, Palestine was a total desolation. There were virtually no trees and no people. Because of lack of trees, the weather changed and it rarely ever rained. The irrigation systems of the once fertile valleys were all destroyed, rendering most areas into malaria-ridden swamps. The terraces of the mountainsides were torn down, causing terrible erosion that left only barren rocks. This was the condition of Palestine by the beginning of the 19th century. It was at this time that Jews began to flee severe persecutions in Russia and Eastern Europe. In the mid 1800s, some Jews came to Palestine and, with the generous aid of some successful Jews like the Rothschilds, began to buy property from Muslim Ottoman Turks. The Muslims thought the land was worthless anyway, so they sold it to the “dumb Jews” for extremely inflated prices.
To everyone’s amazement, the Jews were very successful at reclaiming the land. Many of them died from malaria and the rigorous life the work demanded, but they performed an agricultural miracle that made the land very productive again. As a result of their success, poor migrant workers from the surrounding Muslim countries began to flood in to work for the Jews. The Jews literally became victims of their own success. Almost all of the people calling themselves “Palestinians” today are the descendants of those migrant workers.
Much more is said and documented on this subject in my book. But the main point is this: The Muslims have repeatedly shown they understand these things. Since they know that the so-called “Palestinians” are not a homogeneous people, but rather a mixed conglomerate of workers with no cohesive organizational or political skills, they have repeatedly not given them a state.When the Hashemite Tribe, who were rulers over Mecca and Medina for centuries, were driven out by the Saudis, the British gave them control over the vastly greater numbers of “migrant workers” in Trans Jordan. The British said this would be, in effect, “The State of Palestine.” Instead, the Hashemites, who make up only about 20 percent of the population, turned it into their own kingdom and called it the Kingdom of Jordan. When the Jordanians and Egyptians controlled the so-called West Bank and the Gaza Strip for 19 years (1948 to 1967), there was never a thought of giving the disorganized mass of “migrant workers” a state. Why? Because they knew there was no cohesive, homogeneous people known as “Palestinians.”
The current efforts of Jordan and Egypt (and all the rest of the Muslim Middle East nations) to give these same people a state is clearly a ploy to get a foothold inside Israel. It is a strategic accommodation to establish a base from which the final assault against Israel can be made. What they couldn’t do militarily is now being facilitated through the United States and the E.U.
Muslims will never accept a permanent presence of infidels in what they claim is sacred Islamic soil. Especially Jewish infidels for which the Koran reserves its most vehement condemnations. In their minds, the Koran and Allah will not let them accept Jews in what they view as their third holiest site.
The United States had better learn these things, or we will find ourselves guilty of facilitating the destruction of God’s people, to whom the Word of God says the land belongs forever. God will not let that happen, but He will certainly judge those who have any part in trying to do it. God warned: “Therefore thus says the Lord God: ‘Surely I have spoken in My burning jealousy against the rest of the nations and against all Edom [Arabs], who took MY LAND to themselves as a possession, with whole-hearted joy and spiteful minds, in order to plunder its open country … But you, O mountains of Israel, you shall shoot forth your branches and yield your fruit to MY PEOPLE ISRAEL, for they are about to come.” Ezk 36:5,8