Fighting to Have and to Keep Our Land of Israel
Nadene Goldfoot
Britain held the mandate after WWI on Palestine, making promises to the Jews of a National Jewish Homeland and why not? Israel and Judea had been our homeland 2,000 years ago before the Romans put an end to Jerusalem in 70 CE. Bar Kokhba had made a last stand in 135 CE and lost. The problem was that Britain also made promises to the few Arabs that were living there as well.
Regular Arab armies invaded in May 1948 minutes after Israel was declared a state They used rifles, grenades and homemade Stens. Jewish children fought with the men. Jordan’s Arab Legion invaded with a British commanded leader with artillery, tanks, and planes, but weren’t trained very well. Jews had an undying spirit that the Arabs lacked.
Israel had from 7,000 to 10,000 dead, more than one out of every 100 Jews living in Israel then. Arab toll was higher. We paid a high price to give birth to our state.
In the 6 Day War of 1967 Israel lost about 800 dead out of a populaton of 2.5 million. Israel had learned how to protect its soldiers by then.
Today, with a population of 5.5 million Jews and 1.4 million Arabs, we are still being attacked. Gaza, an area we gave back, has become the site from which Hamas terrorists strike with mortars, rockets and missiles. Even Lebanon has allowed terrorists to strike from the their northern border as well.
Abba Eban, David Horowitz of the Jewish Agency and Jon Kimche, pro-Zionist British journalist were able to have a meeting with Abdul Rahman Azzam Pasha, moderate Arab nationalist in 1948. He was an Egyptian diplomat opposed to the partition of Palestine into two parts. Azzam served as Secretary General of the Arab League from 1945 to 1952. In the Savoy Hotel in Jerusalem, the men discussed a plan of a political arrangement, security guarantees and an economic program for joint development of the Middle East. Abba Eban was excited about it wanting to make an effort to reach an agreement.
Azzam cooly explained that the Arab world was not in a compromising mood, and that the plan was rational and logical, but the fate of nations is not decided by rational logic.
He went on to explain," Nations never concede; they fight. You won't get anything by peaceful means or compromise, and can get things by force of arms, perhaps. We shall try to defeat you. I'm not sure we can but we'll try as we drove out the Crusaders, but then we lost Spain and Persia. It's too late to talk of peaceful solutions. The conflict of interests among nations is not amenable to anything but an armed clash."
The decision was not taken with logic but with blind fatalism. This is why we have had to keep on fighting. Their attitude hasn't changed a bit. As I see it, much of the world has also adapted a very illogical outlook as well.
Reference:: Book: Genesis 1948-The 1st Arab-Israeli War by Dan Kurzman
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abdul_Rahman_Hassan_Azzam
Nadene Goldfoot
Britain held the mandate after WWI on Palestine, making promises to the Jews of a National Jewish Homeland and why not? Israel and Judea had been our homeland 2,000 years ago before the Romans put an end to Jerusalem in 70 CE. Bar Kokhba had made a last stand in 135 CE and lost. The problem was that Britain also made promises to the few Arabs that were living there as well.
Regular Arab armies invaded in May 1948 minutes after Israel was declared a state They used rifles, grenades and homemade Stens. Jewish children fought with the men. Jordan’s Arab Legion invaded with a British commanded leader with artillery, tanks, and planes, but weren’t trained very well. Jews had an undying spirit that the Arabs lacked.
Israel had from 7,000 to 10,000 dead, more than one out of every 100 Jews living in Israel then. Arab toll was higher. We paid a high price to give birth to our state.
In the 6 Day War of 1967 Israel lost about 800 dead out of a populaton of 2.5 million. Israel had learned how to protect its soldiers by then.
Today, with a population of 5.5 million Jews and 1.4 million Arabs, we are still being attacked. Gaza, an area we gave back, has become the site from which Hamas terrorists strike with mortars, rockets and missiles. Even Lebanon has allowed terrorists to strike from the their northern border as well.
Abba Eban, David Horowitz of the Jewish Agency and Jon Kimche, pro-Zionist British journalist were able to have a meeting with Abdul Rahman Azzam Pasha, moderate Arab nationalist in 1948. He was an Egyptian diplomat opposed to the partition of Palestine into two parts. Azzam served as Secretary General of the Arab League from 1945 to 1952. In the Savoy Hotel in Jerusalem, the men discussed a plan of a political arrangement, security guarantees and an economic program for joint development of the Middle East. Abba Eban was excited about it wanting to make an effort to reach an agreement.
Azzam cooly explained that the Arab world was not in a compromising mood, and that the plan was rational and logical, but the fate of nations is not decided by rational logic.
He went on to explain," Nations never concede; they fight. You won't get anything by peaceful means or compromise, and can get things by force of arms, perhaps. We shall try to defeat you. I'm not sure we can but we'll try as we drove out the Crusaders, but then we lost Spain and Persia. It's too late to talk of peaceful solutions. The conflict of interests among nations is not amenable to anything but an armed clash."
The decision was not taken with logic but with blind fatalism. This is why we have had to keep on fighting. Their attitude hasn't changed a bit. As I see it, much of the world has also adapted a very illogical outlook as well.
Reference:: Book: Genesis 1948-The 1st Arab-Israeli War by Dan Kurzman
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abdul_Rahman_Hassan_Azzam
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