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Blog Smith is inspired by the myth of Hephaestus in the creation of blacksmith-like, forged materials: ideas. This blog analyzes topics that interest me: IT, politics, technology, history, education, music, and the history of religions.
Tuesday, May 31, 2011
David Horowitz, UCLA
The Palestinian Wall of Lies
A short film by the David Horowitz Freedom Center that uncovers the lies of "Israel Apartheid Week"
David Horowitz at UCLA - Part 1
Part 2
Part 3
Part 4
Part 5
Part 6
Part 7, Q and A
Part 8, Q and A
Part 9, Q and A
Monday, May 30, 2011
WESTERN BOOTS ON THE GROUND IN LIBYA
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World news
Libya
Al-Jazeera footage captures 'western troops on the ground' in Libya
Five of Gaddafi's generals are among latest defectors to rebels as South African president seeks to broker ceasefire
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Julian Borger and Martin Chulov
guardian.co.uk, Monday 30 May 2011 15.33 BST
Article history
Armed westerners have been filmed on the front line with rebels near Misrata in the first apparent confirmation that foreign special forces are playing an active role in the Libyan conflict.
A group of six westerners are clearly visible in a report by al-Jazeera from Dafniya, described as the westernmost point of the rebel lines west of the town of Misrata. Five of them were armed and wearing sand-coloured clothes, peaked caps, and cotton Arab scarves.
The sixth, apparently the most senior of the group, was carrying no visible weapon and wore a pink, short-sleeve shirt. He may be an intelligence officer. The group is seen talking to rebels and then quickly leaving on being spotted by the television crew.
Ancient Tunnel Discovered by Jerusalem's Old City
South of the Old City, visitors to Jerusalem can enter a tunnel chipped from the bedrock by a Judean king 2,500 years ago and walk through knee-deep water under the Arab neighborhood of Silwan. Beginning this summer, a new passage will be open nearby: a sewer Jewish rebels are thought to have used to flee the Roman legions who destroyed the Jerusalem temple in 70 A.D.
The sewer leads uphill, passing beneath the Old City walls before expelling visitors into sunlight next to the rectangular enclosure where the temple once stood, now home to the Al-Aqsa Mosque and the gold-capped Dome of the Rock.
From there, it’s a short walk to a third passage, the Western Wall tunnel, which continues north from the Jewish holy site past stones cut by masons working for King Herod and an ancient water system. Visitors emerge near the entrance to an ancient quarry called Zedekiah’s Cave that descends under the Muslim Quarter.
The next major project, according to the Israel Antiquities Authority, will follow the course of one of the city’s main Roman-era streets underneath the prayer plaza at the Western Wall. This route, scheduled for completion in three years, will link up with the Western Wall tunnel.
The excavations and flood of visitors exist against a backdrop of acute distrust between Israeli Jews and Palestinian Muslims, who are suspicious of any government moves in the Old City and particularly around the Al-Aqsa compound, Islam’s third-holiest shrine. Jews know the compound as the Temple Mount, site of two destroyed temples and the center of the Jewish faith for three millennia.
Muslim fears have led to violence in the past: The 1996 opening of a new exit to the Western Wall tunnel sparked rumors among Palestinians that Israel meant to damage the mosques, and dozens were killed in the ensuing riots. In recent years, however, work has gone ahead without incident.
Mindful that the compound has the potential to trigger devastating conflict, Israel’s policy is to allow no excavations there. Digging under Temple Mount, the Israeli historian Gershom Gorenberg has written, “would be like trying to figure out how a hand grenade works by pulling the pin and peering inside.”
Despite the Israeli assurances, however, rumors persist that the excavations are undermining the physical stability of the Islamic holy sites.
“I believe the Israelis are tunneling under the mosques,” said Najeh Bkerat, an official of the Waqf, the Muslim religious body that runs the compound under Israel’s overall security control.
Samir Abu Leil, another Waqf official, said he had heard hammering that very morning underneath the Waqf’s offices, in a Mamluk-era building that sits just outside the holy compound and directly over the route of the Western Wall tunnel, and had filed a complaint with police.
The closest thing to an excavation on the mount, Israeli archaeologists point out, was done by the Waqf itself: In the 1990s, the Waqf opened a new entrance to a subterranean prayer space and dumped truckloads of rubble outside the Old City, drawing outrage from scholars who said priceless artifacts were being destroyed.
This month, an Israeli government watchdog released a report saying Waqf construction work in the compound in recent years had been done without supervision and had damaged antiquities. The issue is deemed so sensitive that the details of the report were kept classified.
Some Israeli critics of the tunnels point to what they call an exaggerated emphasis on a Jewish narrative.
“The tunnels all say: We were here 2,000 years ago, and now we’re back, and here’s proof,” said Yonathan Mizrachi, an Israeli archaeologist. “Living here means recognizing that other stories exist alongside ours.”
Yuval Baruch, the Antiquities Authority archaeologist in charge of Jerusalem, said his diggers are careful to preserve worthy finds from all of the city’s historical periods. “This city is of interest to at least half the people on Earth, and we will continue uncovering the past in the most professional way we can,” he said.
John Wayne Tributes on Memorial Day
Why Are You Marching, Son? 4:01
"Taps" 2:56
The history of "Taps" written by John Mitchum and spoken by John Wayne.
Sunday, May 29, 2011
Afterlife of the Soul
The psyche for the Greeks is the breath of life, ghost, vital principle, soul, or anima (Peters, Francis, Greek Philosophical Terms: A Historical Lexicon, p. 166). Aristotle addresses two main elements of the soul, movement (kinesis) and perception (aisthesis). Both of these elements have been troublesome points of contention and debate in regards to the soul. Aristotle is on the right track in that the soul may be seen as intertwined with the human body: Homer strayed along the wrong lines and separated the two.
The question of the Human Body (Eliade, Mircea, Encyclopedia of Religion, Vol. 6, God - Ichi, 6:499) and its disposition is intriguing. What survives human life? Organic life exists for a finite period of time, then ceases to be.
I would come down on the side of a dualist which radically differentiates the life principle from all else, as opposed to the homologization of microcosm and macrocosm (which systematically correlates the body with the world outside, p. 499).
"With regard to the first, dualistic physiology posits a radical distinction between base matter and some non-material life principle which inheres only within certain material aggregates for a period of finite duration. the entry of the life principle--be it defined as soul, spirit, breath, warmth, or the life--vivifies and energizes the matter in which it resides: when it departs, death is the result. Such a dualism is implicit in the familiar account of the creation of the first human being in Genesis 2:7 (p. 499).
There are elaborate religious conceptions of origin, existence, and explanations of the soul but what intrigues me is the scientific application of the life force. Energy, insofar as I understand it, does not simply go poof! So what happens scientifically to energy, or a force, and an organic life force at the cessation of death? Ordinarily, and only for the sake of discussion, this is the soul.
David Hume is the skeptic who doubts that "we have any idea of the self" (Stumpf, Samuel Enoch, Socrates to Sartre and Beyond: A History of Philosophy, p. 301). There is no myself that truly exists according to Hume since what I really can catch is only some perception of myself, not the self, itself.
The question of the Human Body (Eliade, Mircea, Encyclopedia of Religion, Vol. 6, God - Ichi, 6:499) and its disposition is intriguing. What survives human life? Organic life exists for a finite period of time, then ceases to be.
I would come down on the side of a dualist which radically differentiates the life principle from all else, as opposed to the homologization of microcosm and macrocosm (which systematically correlates the body with the world outside, p. 499).
"With regard to the first, dualistic physiology posits a radical distinction between base matter and some non-material life principle which inheres only within certain material aggregates for a period of finite duration. the entry of the life principle--be it defined as soul, spirit, breath, warmth, or the life--vivifies and energizes the matter in which it resides: when it departs, death is the result. Such a dualism is implicit in the familiar account of the creation of the first human being in Genesis 2:7 (p. 499).
There are elaborate religious conceptions of origin, existence, and explanations of the soul but what intrigues me is the scientific application of the life force. Energy, insofar as I understand it, does not simply go poof! So what happens scientifically to energy, or a force, and an organic life force at the cessation of death? Ordinarily, and only for the sake of discussion, this is the soul.
David Hume is the skeptic who doubts that "we have any idea of the self" (Stumpf, Samuel Enoch, Socrates to Sartre and Beyond: A History of Philosophy, p. 301). There is no myself that truly exists according to Hume since what I really can catch is only some perception of myself, not the self, itself.
A Warning to America | The Facts of Islam
In May 12, 2011, Bill Warner spoke at the Cornerstone Church in Nashville, TN. His speech was part of Geert Wilders’ event, “A Warning to America”, sponsored by the Tennessee Freedom Coalition.
Saturday, May 28, 2011
9/11 Families Can Not State "Muslim" on Memorial to Son
Peter Gadiel of 9/11 Families for a Secure America is discussed on the Bill O'Reilly news show concerning a new memorial for Peter's son who was murdered in the 9/11 attacks. Peter is insistent that the memorial in Kent, Connecticut state that his son was killed by Muslim terrorists. According to O'Reilly, the city is objecting on the grounds of political correctness.
RT's Adam Kokesh vs. The Man
4:24
RT's Adam vs the Man host Adam Kokesh and several other activists participating in a flash-mob were body slammed, choked and arrested at the publicly-funded Thomas Jefferson Memorial. Their crime? Silently dancing, in celebration of the first amendment's champion and in response to US District Judge John D. Bates' ruling that denounced dancing on the site.
The Most Beautiful Woman in the World: Michelle
CabooseLook at her shoulders and posture compared to France’s first lady and the princess of Spain.
Religion vs. State, Crosses in Utah
I disagree; the cross is a religious symbol and should not be paid for at state expense. On the other hand, these are religious symbols that are historically important for a time when America adhered to Judeo-Christian values. The First Amendment states that the government should neither promote nor prohibit religious observance. Thus, the existing monuments should remain as historically significant, and be paid for by the state, until such time as citizens abandon religious symbols altogether, or, if they decide they would like to be religious once again. In this way, the state is neutral in regards to religious observance which is what I believe is what the Founders intended.
Parents Not Raising Children Who Are Passive Enough for the Federal Government
Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius told CNSNews.com on Wednesday that the administration's new $500 million early learning initiative is designed to deal with children from birth onward to prevent such problems as 5-year olds who "can't sit still" in a kindergarten classroom.
“You really need to look at the range of issues, because if a 5-year-old can’t sit still, it is unlikely that they can do well in a kindergarten class, and it has to be the whole range of issues that go into healthy child development,” Sebelius said during a telephone news conference on Wednesday to announce the Race to the Top Early Learning Challenge.
Friday, May 27, 2011
Thursday, May 26, 2011
Medvedev says Russia, U.S. may reach agreement on missile shield by 2020
Medvedev Uncorks a Stunner on U.S. Missile Defense Shield
It wasn’t merely that Medvedev had chosen a date almost comically far into the future to suggest when the two nations might come to terms; the particular date he chose carried special meaning. 2020 is the year when the State Department has estimated the U.S. will deploy the SM-3 Block IIB, a missile still on the drawing board but being designed to intercept medium- and intermediate-range missiles that might be launched from the Middle East.
College Students Sign Petition to End Free Speech
This reference to the video was gone after I posted it.
Joe Schoffstall out to see just how far liberals would go to silence conservative speech. Joe went around Georgetown in DC with a petition to "Ban Conservative Hate Sites" that said this:
"The undersigned hereby adamantly demand that the United States government shut down right wing hate sites. The hate speech propagated by sites like the Drudge Report, Hot Air, Instapundit, Big Government, and others must not be allowed to corrupt our political discourse any longer. These sites are dangerous not only to truth and freedom but also to our society as a whole. BAN THEM NOW!"
Good Thing the Americans Are Not in Debt to the Communists
Australian TV reporter Stephen McDonnell recently went to Beijing to report on the underground church booming in China. But he wasn’t in the country long before he started noticing something: he was being followed.
Clarke asleep during Obama speech
Justice Secretary Kenneth Clarke naps while Obummer rambles on at Westminster.
U.S. Congressman Says The Obama Administration Materially Supporting Terrorist
Rep. Gohmert on the Sean Hannity Show
Rep. Gohmert has more information on how Obama is supporting terrorist's organizations.
Indiana Citizens Take Back 4th Amendment
http://RTR.org | After the unconstitutional Indiana Supreme Court ruling removing the protections of the 4th Amendment, the people of Indiana spontaneously organized in a trans-partisan alliance uniting for the Constitution at their state capitol. Gary Franchi was on the scene to report.
Wednesday, May 25, 2011
Honor Killing in Florida
Did Fatima Abdallah really cause her own death by repeatedly striking her face against a coffee table as reported by Tampa Police or was her demise an honor killing? Kudos to Pamela Geller for publicizing the report compiled by a researcher.
Tuesday, May 24, 2011
Netanyahu: Israel Will Always Be Pro-American
Israeli Prime Minster Benjamin Netanyahu is congratulating America for killing bin Laden, saying `good riddance,' and adding the U.S. has a permanent partner for peace in Israel. (May 24)
Monday, May 23, 2011
Bobby Jindal's Birth Certificate
Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal's birth certificate indicates he was born on June 10, 1971, in Baton Rouge, La.
CODENAME SMART ALEC?: UK police label Obama with 'mildly offensive' Punjabi word...
A Punjabi speaker told the paper the word Chalaque is 'not considered rude', but could be 'mildly offensive'.
It is also said to mean 'cheeky, crafty and cunning'.
Codename 'smart alec': British police label Obama with 'mildly offensive' Punjabi word for visit to UK
Sunday, May 22, 2011
Astrud Gilberto and Stan Getz: THE GIRL FROM IPANEMA - 1964
"The Girl from Ipanema" ("Garota de Ipanema") is a well-known bossa nova song, a worldwide hit in the mid-1960s that won a Grammy for Record of the Year in 1965. It was written in 1962, with music by Antonio Carlos Jobim and Portuguese lyrics by Vinicius de Moraes. English lyrics were written later by Norman Gimbel.
The first commercial recording was in 1962, by Pery Ribeiro. The version performed by Astrud Gilberto, along with João Gilberto and Stan Getz, from the 1964 album Getz/Gilberto, became an international hit, reaching number five in the United States pop chart, number 29 in the United Kingdom, and charting highly throughout the world. Numerous recordings have been used in films, sometimes as an elevator music cliché (for example, near the end of The Blues Brothers). In 2004, it was one of 50 recordings chosen that year by the Library of Congress to be added to the National Recording Registry.
The first commercial recording was in 1962, by Pery Ribeiro. The version performed by Astrud Gilberto, along with João Gilberto and Stan Getz, from the 1964 album Getz/Gilberto, became an international hit, reaching number five in the United States pop chart, number 29 in the United Kingdom, and charting highly throughout the world. Numerous recordings have been used in films, sometimes as an elevator music cliché (for example, near the end of The Blues Brothers). In 2004, it was one of 50 recordings chosen that year by the Library of Congress to be added to the National Recording Registry.
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Yes, You Can Make a 150-Foot Basketball Shot With a Homemade Catapult
The Legendary Shots are a group of basketball fans who go to great lengths to get the ball in the net – literally.
The Alabama friends recently scored a basket from around 150 feet – potentially a new world record – but it was actually the method of the shot that pleased them more than the distance.
The nine-strong gang built a wooden catapult which they used to fire the ball across a street and through the rim.
Free fall shot
The End of the World
Skeeter Davis -- The End Of The World, 2:34
Her best-known hit was the pop classic "The End of the World" in 1963; the video is from a television appearance in 1965.
Music video by R.E.M. performing It's The End Of The World As We Know It (And I Feel Fine) (2003 Digital Remaster), 4:04
Little Man, Big Man - Atlas Shrugs
Little Man, Big Man - Atlas Shrugs
This speech is from Canada's Prime Minister, Stephen Harper, from November 2010.
Saturday, May 21, 2011
Obama to Congress; I Don't Need Your Permission, Constitution Thwarted
White House on War Powers Deadline: 'Limited' US Role in Libya Means No Need to Get Congressional Authorization
If Obama's ignorance of the Constitution holds, then limited actions such as Vietnam, which led to the deaths of 58,000 Americans, is a legitimate presidential action. In addition, if we are taking orders from an international body such as NATO, then we do not need the approval of not only Congress but the American people as well.
“Since April 4,” Obama wrote, “U.S. participation has consisted of: (1) non-kinetic support to the NATO-led operation, including intelligence, logistical support, and search and rescue assistance; (2) aircraft that have assisted in the suppression and destruction of air defenses in support of the no-fly zone; and (3) since April 23, precision strikes by unmanned aerial vehicles against a limited set of clearly defined targets in support of the NATO-led coalition's efforts.”
Friday, May 20, 2011
Students Who "Support" Free Speech Want to Ban Conservatives From Radio & TV
College students who claim to support the freedom of speech wish to ban conservative talk-show hosts from both radio & TV (filmed at CSU Fresno).
Check out our website http://www.ExposingLeftists.com and follow us on facebook at https://www.facebook.com/ExposingLeftists
Netanyhu Schools Obama
This is a shorter clip but you do not see Obama's rigid and unmoved body language in it.
1967 Israel Borders
Here’s the map of that area legally belonging to Israel (unchanged today) as granted by the League of Nations:
These documents are the last legally binding documents regarding the status of what is commonly called “the West Bank and Gaza.”
The Jewish homeland was to consist of all the land west of the Jordan River, stretching to the Mediterranean Sea – and including the West Bank and the Gaza Strip.
The the Arabs would not have it. The League of Nations dissolved into the United Nations and the problem was handed over to the U.N., including the trusteeship of the British mandate to make a Jewish state a reality. The Mandate stood.
U.N. Resolution 181, known also as the U.N. 1947 Partition Resolution, was passed by the U.N. General Assembly, and implemented but never accepted by the Arabs. The Iraq spokesman took to the podium and put on record “Iraq does not recognize the validity of this decision.”
From Syria: “My country will never recognize such a decision [Partition]. It will never agree to be responsible for it.” From Yemen: “the Government of Yemen does not consider itself bound by such a decision.”
The Partition Plan was met not only by verbal rejection on the Arab side but also by concrete, bellicose steps to block its implementation and destroy the Jewish polity by force of arms, a goal the Arabs publicly declared even before Resolution 181 was brought to a vote.
Arabs not only rejected the compromise and took action to prevent establishment of a Jewish state but also blocked establishment of an Arab state under the partition plan not just before the Israel War of Independence, but also after the war when they themselves controlled the West Bank (1948-1967), rendering the recommendation ‘a still birth.’
The UN itself recognized that 181 had not been accepted by the Arab side, rendering it a dead issue: …
The U.N. partition began. More land was taken from the Jewish homeland.
The partition plan took on a checkerboard appearance. This was largely because Jewish towns and villages were spread throughout Palestine. This did not complicate the plan as much as the fact that the high living standards in Jewish cities and towns had attracted large Arab populations. This demographic factor insured that any partition would result in a Jewish state that included a substantial Arab population. Recognizing the need to allow for additional Jewish settlement, the majority proposal allotted the Jews land in the northern part of the country, Galilee, and the large, arid Negev desert in the south. The remainder was to form the Arab state.
The map now looked like this:
Israel’s land which was originally mandated at 126,000+ sq. km., was now to be a mere 14,245 sq. kms. In addition to limiting Jewish lands, the immigration of Jews was also limited so that a majority of Jews in the land would never be accomplished.
Arab immigration had no immigration restrictions.
Israel accepted the partition, but in reality, it did not change or diminish the legality of the lands mandated for Israel – which still included the West Bank and the Gaza Strip – because the Arabs would agree to nothing which facilitated Jews in Palestine.
Creating the Arab state of Jordan in no way affected or “changed the status of Jews west of the Jordan River, nor did it inhibit their right to settle anywhere in western Palestine, the area between the Jordan River and the Mediterranean Sea.” Nothing from the time of the Mandate until today, changes the fact that under international law, the West Bank and Gaza is open to Jewish settlement.
Under international law, neither Jordan nor the Palestinian Arab ‘people’ of the West Bank and the Gaza Strip have a substantial claim to the sovereign possession of the occupied territories.
The UN Charter’s Article 80 implicitly recognizes the “Mandate for Palestine” of the League of Nations. The International Court of Justice has reaffirmed the validity of Article of 80.
In other words, neither the ICJ nor the UN General Assembly can arbitrarily change the status of Jewish settlement as set forth in the “Mandate for Palestine,” an international accord that has never been amended.
All of western Palestine, from the Jordan River to the Mediterranean Sea, including the West Bank and Gaza, remains open to Jewish settlement under international law.
The new Jewish state was to have the right to self-determination of political, civil and religious rights. “Not once are Arabs as a people mentioned in the Mandate for Palestine. At no point in the entire document is there any granting of political rights to non-Jewish entities (i.e., Arabs).”
The Arabs accepted nothing. They wanted no Jews in Palestine, under any circumstance – there would be, to this day, no acceptable plan to which Arabs would agree to living next door to Jews.
On May 14th, 1948, a temporary legislature of the soon-to-be Israel, accepted the U.N. partition and declared statehood.
Eleven minutes after, the United States recognized the State of Israel. On May 15th, 1948 Egypt, Iraq, Lebanon and Syria invaded the sovereign nation of Israel, crossing international frontiers, and the Arab-Israeli War (Israeli War of Independence) began.
By July 24, 1949, Syria had signed an armistice agreement and Israel had increased it’s land area by almost 50% over the U.N. partition plan. The resulting armistice determined Israel’s borders for nineteen years. Egypt gained Gaza in the armistice. This document offers an extended discussion and links to maps.
The odd and secretive 1956 War began. The short but incomplete story is that Israel took Egypt’s Sinai Peninsula, and then under threat by the U.S., gave it back.
Then came the 1967 Six Day War. In the Spring, Syria conducted terrorist raids against Israel, water was diverted by Syria, from Israel and irrigation projects for south and central Israel, although approved by Arab engineers as non-detrimental to Arab lands, were not approved by the Arab governments. In May, Egypt blocked the Strait of Tiran to Israeli ships. “Lebanon, Kuwait and Saudi Arabia all mobilized their troops. Iraqi troops reportedly approached the Syrian and Jordanian borders while Jordan moved tanks towards the West Bank.”
Egypt, Syria, Iraq, Jordan and Saudi Arabia formed a “defense pact.” Egyptian President Nasser said “Our basic objective will be the destruction if Israel."
The Arab people want to fight.” This link is an excellent map of the areas of attack on Israel from the “pact.” Click to enlarge the map. The tiny nation of Israel was surrounded by “some 500,000 troops, more than 5,000 tanks, and almost 1,000 fighter planes.” France, Israel’s major arms supplier, issued a “complete ban on weapons sales and transfers to Israel.”
Under the leadership of Moyshe Dayan, Israel decided to go to war on June 5, 1967.
After a three days of fierce fighting, especially in and around Jerusalem, Israeli forces defeated the Jordanians and gained control of all of Jerusalem as well as the West Bank, the historical heartland of the Jewish people known to Israelis as Judea and Samaria. Following an air attack by the Syrians on the first day of the war, Israel dealt a shattering blow to the Syrian air force. On the fifth day of the war, the Israelis mustered enough forces to remove the Syrian threat from the Golan Heights. This difficult operation was completed the following day, bringing the active phase of the war to a close.
Israel now looked like this:
Israel has since returned all of Sinai to Egypt in return for peace.
Most of Gaza is currently under the jurisdiction of the autonomous Palestinian Authority (2002).
Parts of the West Bank (see Map of Israel and Palestinian territories following Oslo II) had been ceded to the Palestinian authority, but these areas are currently re-occupied by Israel. Following the 6 day war, Israel began building settlements in these areas.
The aftermath of the war was complicated, but one fact was all too simple: Arabs rejected all diplomatic attempts. Some of [the] displaced people were able to return to Israeli-controlled West Bank and, along with their neighbors, witnessed unprecedented economic growth over the course of the next two decades. Israeli investment into the infrastructure of the West Bank and the Gaza Strip, coupled with policies that allowed Arabs to move freely increased the standard of living of Palestinians, who were now able to work both in Israel and in the oil rich countries in the Middle East. After years of relative prosperity followed but Palestinians and the Palestinian Liberation Organization (PLO) insisted that they would replace Israel, not co-exist with her.
With continued PLO agitation of the people, violence became common. Israel made peace with Egypt and returned the Sinai. The 1993 failed Oslo Peace Accord had Israel giving up the Gaza Strip and the West Bank – which was accomplished with Israel’s withdrawal, including the ejection of Jewish residents in the area in 2005. Once out of Gaza, nothing changed. The terrorists of Gaza Strip became slumlords and violence against Israel has continued. Palestinian militants—with the support of their Hamas-led government—have used the evacuated territory to launch rockets into Israel’s pre-1967 borders, shelling residents of Sderot and other neighboring communities and causing death, injuries and damage within Israel. Since Israel’s withdrawal from the Gaza Strip, the territory has also become the site of deadly internecine violence among Palestinian factions, kidnapping of journalists, vandalism, looting and general mayhem. Far from bringing peace to the Gaza Strip, the withdrawal has resulted in less secure borders for Israel.
In the 1973 War (Yom Kippur War), again the Arab world came against Israel, as Egypt sought to regain territories lost to Israel in 1967. After two days of trying to recover from the surprise attack, Israel’s IDF blocked Syrian, Egyptian and Iraqi assaults and once again took the Golan Heights. By the time a U.N. ceasefire was implemented, “Israel had completely surrounded the Egyptian Third Army.”
The Palestinian leadership remains committed to the destruction of Israel. The terrorist organizations Hamas and Fatah have never accepted “peace” with Israel. They co-exist next door to her – if only Israel will remove all settlements from wherever they may be currently. The issue is not the Jews in the settlements. The issue is the Jews in the Middle East.
No discussion of the Israeli-Arab conflict is complete without taking a look at the Palestinian people. Who are they? Who did they evolve from? The area known as Palestine was and is a geographic area, not an ethnic people. In other words, Arabs living in the area are not ethnically Palestinian. To say it another way: Palestinians are not a native people. “The word Palestine is not even Arabic.” Palestine is a name coined by the Romans around 135 CE from the name of a seagoing Aegean people who settled on the coast of Canaan in antiquity – the Philistines. The name was chosen to replace Judea, as a sign that Jewish sovereignty had been eradicated following the Jewish Revolts against Rome. In the course of time, the Latin name Philistia was further bastardized into Palistina or Palestine. During the next 2,000 years Palestine was never an independent state belonging to any people, nor did a Palestinian people distinct from other Arabs appear during 1,300 years of Muslim hegemony in Palestine under Arab and Ottoman rule. During that rule, local Arabs were actually considered part of, and subject to, the authority of Greater Syria (Suriyya al-Kubra). Archeologists explain that the Philistines were a Mediterranean people who settled along the coast of Canaan in 1100 BCE. They have no connection to the Arab nation, a desert people who emerged from the Arabian Peninsula. Tagging the Arabs in Palestine as Palestinian was a mission fabricated by Arabs to attempt to assert the Arab right to the Jewish holy lands at the time when Jewish statehood was becoming a reality – but history shows that Arabs were never identified as Palestinians.
This is substantiated in countless official British Mandate-vintage documents that speak of the Jews and the Arabs of Palestine – not Jews and Palestinians. The Jerusalem Post, founded in 1932, was called The Palestine Post until 1948.
Bank Leumi L’Israel, incorporated in 1902, was called the “Anglo-Palestine Company” until 1948. The Jewish Agency – an arm of the Zionist movement engaged in Jewish settlement since 1929 – was initially called the Jewish Agency for Palestine. Today’s Israel Philharmonic Orchestra, founded in 1936 by German Jewish refugees who fled Nazi Germany, was originally called the “Palestine Symphony Orchestra,” composed of some 70 Palestinian Jews. The United Jewish Appeal (UJA) was established in 1939 as a merger of the United Palestine Appeal and the fund-raising arm of the Joint Distribution Committee.
Fifty-one countries acknowledged that Israel had an historic connection to the land eventually known as Palestine: whereas recognition has been given to the historical connection of the Jewish people with Palestine and to the grounds for reconstituting their national home in that country. Furthermore, the rhetoric by Arab leaders on behalf of the Palestinians rings hollow. Arabs in neighboring states, who control 99.9 percent of the Middle East land, have never recognized a Palestinian entity. They have always considered Palestine and its inhabitants part of the great “Arab nation,” historically and politically as an integral part of Greater Syria. The Arabs never established a Palestinian state when the UN in 1947 recommended to partition Palestine, and to establish “an Arab and a Jewish state” (not a Palestinian state, it should be noted). Nor did the Arabs recognize or establish a Palestinian state during the two decades prior to the Six-Day War when the West Bank was under Jordanian control and the Gaza Strip was under Egyptian control; nor did the Palestinian Arabs clamor for autonomy or independence during those years under Jordanian and Egyptian rule.
The population of Lebanon, Syria, Jordan and Iraq did not “evolve,” but were created by “colonial powers.” There is no Palestinian DNA. Unlike nation-states in Europe, modern Lebanese, Jordanian, Syrian, and Iraqi nationalities did not evolve. They were arbitrarily created by colonial powers. In 1919, in the wake of World War I, England and France as Mandatory (e.g., official administrators and mentors) carved up the former Ottoman Empire, which had collapsed a year earlier, into geographic spheres of influence. This divided the Mideast into new political entities with new names and frontiers. The prevailing rationale behind these artificially created states was how they served the imperial and commercial needs of their colonial masters. Iraq and Jordan, for instance, were created as emirates to reward the noble Hashemite family from Saudi Arabia for its loyalty to the British against the Ottoman Turks during World War I, under the leadership of Lawrence of Arabia. Iraq was given to Faisal bin Hussein, son of the sheriff of Mecca, in 1918. To reward his younger brother Abdullah with an emirate, Britain cut away 77 percent of its mandate over Palestine earmarked for the Jews and gave it to Abdullah in 1922, creating the new country of Trans-Jordan or Jordan, as it was later named. Israel did not steal the homeland of the Palestinians.
The Fatah Constitution states in Articles 12 and 19: Complete liberation of Palestine and eradication of Zionist economic, political, military and cultural existence.” Armed struggle is a strategy and not a tactic, and the Palestinian Arab People’s armed revolution is a decisive factor in the liberation fight and in uprooting the Zionist existence, and this struggle will not cease unless the Zionist state is demolished and Palestine is completely liberated.” The PLO Charter Article 15 calls the liberation of Palestine a national (qawmi) duty to repel the Zionist and imperialist aggression against the Arab homeland, and aims at the “liquidation of the Zionist presence” in Palestine. The Hamas Charter: “The Day of Judgement will not come about until Moslems fight the Jews (killing the Jews), when the Jew will hide behind stones and trees. In the Hamas Charter Article 15 (a portion): “The day that enemies usurp part of Moslem land, Jihad becomes the individual duty of every Moslem. In face of the Jews’ usurpation of Palestine, it is compulsory that the banner of Jihad be raised. To do this requires the diffusion of Islamic consciousness among the masses, both on the regional, Arab and Islamic levels. It is necessary to instill the spirit of Jihad in the heart of the nation so that they would confront the enemies and join the ranks of the fighters.”
Related and Background: Israel – Palestine Flight from Fact – The Maddening Reality Other Sources: The Origins of the Arab-Jewish Conflict Over Palestine The Myth of Moslem-Jewish coexistence in “Palestine” How Feudal Arab landowners who exploited their peasantry became Nationalist Leaders" Map of Israel and Palestinian territories following Oslo II) Map of Israel and Palestinian territories following Oslo II) had been ceded to the Palestinian authority, but these areas are currently re-occupied by Israel. Following the 6 day war, Israel began building settlements in these areas. Click for a map of the settlements.
The aftermath of the war was complicated, but one fact was all too simple: Arabs rejected all diplomatic attempts.
Some of [the] displaced people were able to return to Israeli-controlled West Bank and, along with their neighbors, witnessed unprecedented economic growth over the course of the next two decades. Israeli investment into the infrastructure of the West Bank and the Gaza Strip, coupled with policies that allowed Arabs to move freely increased the standard of living of Palestinians, who were now able to work both in Israel and in the oil rich countries in the Middle East.
After years of relative prosperity followed but Palestinians and the Palestinian Liberation Organization (PLO) insisted that they would replace Israel, not co-exist with her.
With continued PLO agitation of the people, violence became common. Israel made peace with Egypt and returned the Sinai. The 1993 failed Oslo Peace Accord had Israel giving up the Gaza Strip and the West Bank – which was accomplished with Israel’s withdrawal, including the ejection of Jewish residents in the area in 2005. Once out of Gaza, nothing changed. The terrorists of Gaza Strip became slumlords and violence against Israel has continued.
Palestinian militants—with the support of their Hamas-led government—have used the evacuated territory to launch rockets into Israel’s pre-1967 borders, shelling residents of Sderot and other neighboring communities and causing death, injuries and damage within Israel. Since Israel’s withdrawal from the Gaza Strip, the territory has also become the site of deadly internecine violence among Palestinian factions, kidnapping of journalists, vandalism, looting and general mayhem. Far from bringing peace to the Gaza Strip, the withdrawal has resulted in less secure borders for Israel.
In the 1973 War (Yom Kippur War), again the Arab world came against Israel, as Egypt sought to regain territories lost to Israel in 1967. After two days of trying to recover from the surprise attack, Israel’s IDF blocked Syrian, Egyptian and Iraqi assaults and once again took the Golan Heights. By the time a U.N. ceasefire was implemented, “Israel had completely surrounded the Egyptian Third Army.”
How could they succeed when Palestinian leadership remained and remains committed to the destruction of Israel? Those deluded into thinking that terrorist organizations Hamas and Fatah will accept “peace” with Israel, and co-exist next door to her – if only Israel will remove all settlements from wherever they may be, please rethink this issue, and believe the words of Palestinian leadership, which says it will never happen.
The issue is not the Jews in the settlements. The issue is the Jews in the Middle East.
No discussion of the Israeli-Arab conflict is complete without taking a look at the Palestinian people. Who are they? Who did they evolve from?
Palestine is a Geographical Area, Not a Nationality
The area known as Palestine was and is a geographic area, not an ethnic people. In other words, Arabs living in the area are not ethnically Palestinian. To say it another way: Palestinians are not a native people. “The word Palestine is not even Arabic.”
Palestine is a name coined by the Romans around 135 CE from the name of a seagoing Aegean people who settled on the coast of Canaan in antiquity – the Philistines.
The name was chosen to replace Judea, as a sign that Jewish sovereignty had been eradicated following the Jewish Revolts against Rome.
In the course of time, the Latin name Philistia was further bastardized into Palistina or Palestine. During the next 2,000 years Palestine was never an independent state belonging to any people, nor did a Palestinian people distinct from other Arabs appear during 1,300 years of Muslim hegemony in Palestine under Arab and Ottoman rule.
During that rule, local Arabs were actually considered part of, and subject to, the authority of Greater Syria ( Suriyya al-Kubra). Archeologists explain that the Philistines were a Mediterranean people who settled along the coast of Canaan in 1100 BCE. They have no connection to the Arab nation, a desert people who emerged from the Arabian Peninsula.
Tagging the Arabs in Palestine as Palestinian was a mission fabricated by Arabs to attempt to assert the Arab right to the Jewish holy lands at the time when Jewish statehood was becoming a reality – but history shows that Arabs were never identified as Palestinians:
This is substantiated in countless official British Mandate-vintage documents that speak of the Jews and the Arabs of Palestine – not Jews and Palestinians.
The Jerusalem Post, founded in 1932, was called The Palestine Post until 1948.
Bank Leumi L’Israel, incorporated in 1902, was called the “Anglo-Palestine Company” until 1948.
The Jewish Agency – an arm of the Zionist movement engaged in Jewish settlement since 1929 – was initially called the Jewish Agency for Palestine.
Today’s Israel Philharmonic Orchestra, founded in 1936 by German Jewish refugees who fled Nazi Germany, was originally called the “Palestine Symphony Orchestra,” composed of some 70 Palestinian Jews.
The United Jewish Appeal (UJA) was established in 1939 as a merger of the United Palestine Appeal and the fund-raising arm of the Joint Distribution Committee.
Fifty-one countries acknowledged that Israel had an historic connection to the land eventually known as Palestine:
Whereas recognition has been given to the historical connection of the Jewish people with Palestine and to the grounds for reconstituting their national home in that country.
Furthermore:
The rhetoric by Arab leaders on behalf of the Palestinians rings hollow. Arabs in neighboring states, who control 99.9 percent of the Middle East land, have never recognized a Palestinian entity. They have always considered Palestine and its inhabitants part of the great “Arab nation,” historically and politically as an integral part of Greater Syria…
The Arabs never established a Palestinian state when the UN in 1947 recommended to partition Palestine, and to establish “an Arab and a Jewish state” (not a Palestinian state, it should be noted). Nor did the Arabs recognize or establish a Palestinian state during the two decades prior to the Six-Day War when the West Bank was under Jordanian control and the Gaza Strip was under Egyptian control; nor did the Palestinian Arabs clamor for autonomy or independence during those years under Jordanian and Egyptian rule.
The population of Lebanon, Syria, Jordan and Iraq did not “evolve,” but were created by “colonial powers.” No “Palestinian DNA exists!
Unlike nation-states in Europe, modern Lebanese, Jordanian, Syrian, and Iraqi nationalities did not evolve. They were arbitrarily created by colonial powers.
In 1919, in the wake of World War I, England and France as Mandatory (e.g., official administrators and mentors) carved up the former Ottoman Empire, which had collapsed a year earlier, into geographic spheres of influence. This divided the Mideast into new political entities with new names and frontiers.
The prevailing rationale behind these artificially created states was how they served the imperial and commercial needs of their colonial masters. Iraq and Jordan, for instance, were created as emirates to reward the noble Hashemite family from Saudi Arabia for its loyalty to the British against the Ottoman Turks during World War I, under the leadership of Lawrence of Arabia. Iraq was given to Faisal bin Hussein, son of the sheriff of Mecca, in 1918.
To reward his younger brother Abdullah with an emirate, Britain cut away 77 percent of its mandate over Palestine earmarked for the Jews and gave it to Abdullah in 1922, creating the new country of Trans-Jordan or Jordan, as it was later named.
The Palestinian position denounces Israel
Fatah Constitution Articles 12 and 19: Complete liberation of Palestine and eradication of Zionist economic, political, military and cultural existence.” Armed struggle is a strategy and not a tactic, and the Palestinian Arab People’s armed revolution is a decisive factor in the liberation fight and in uprooting the Zionist existence, and this struggle will not cease unless the Zionist state is demolished and Palestine is completely liberated.”
The PLO Charter Article 15 calls the liberation of Palestine a national (qawmi) duty to repel the Zionist and imperialist aggression against the Arab homeland, and aims at the “liquidation of the Zionist presence” in Palestine.
The Hamas Charter: “The Day of Judgement will not come about until Moslems fight the Jews (killing the Jews), when the Jew will hide behind stones and trees….Hamas Charter Article 15 (a portion): “The day that enemies usurp part of Moslem land, Jihad becomes the individual duty of every Moslem. In face of the Jews’ usurpation of Palestine, it is compulsory that the banner of Jihad be raised.
To do this requires the diffusion of Islamic consciousness among the masses, both on the regional, Arab and Islamic levels. It is necessary to instill the spirit of Jihad in the heart of the nation so that they would confront the enemies and join the ranks of the fighters.”
Related and Background:
Israel – Palestine Flight from Fact – The Maddening Reality
Other Sources:
The Origins of the Arab-Jewish Conflict Over Palestine
The Myth of Moslem-Jewish coexistence in “Palestine”
Feudal Arab landowners who exploited their peasantry became Nationalist LeadersHow
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