Was There Ever a State of Palestine?

Daniel Stuart Eskow and wife Nadene

Danny and I at our farewell party in 1980.  We were moving to Haifa, Israel and leaving Ontario, Oregon.  We were both embarking on a 10 month period of intensive Hebrew Language Studies there, and then our new teaching career.  Dan had been a high school teacher of history and I had taught 4th grade for many years. 

View of the Palestinians -

Couldn't have said it better!

Talk about one picture being worth a THOUSAND words!

Is the world just plain stupid?

An interesting questionnaire for Palestinian Advocates

By Yashiko Sagamori

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 :

1. When was it founded and by whom?

2. What were its borders?

3. What was its capital?

4. What were its major cities?

5. What constituted the basis of its economy?

6. What was its form of government?

7. Can you name at least one Palestinian leader before Arafat?

8.. Was Palestine ever recognized by a country whose existence, at that time or now, leaves no room for interpretation?

9. What was the language of the country of Palestine ?

10. What was the prevalent religion of the country of Palestine ?

11. 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.

12. 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  Judea, and Samaria .

That will mark the end of the Palestinian people. What are you saying again was its beginning?

Can this story be presented any more clearly or simply?


When on a train ride, people used to say, "Don't stick your arm out the window or you'll find it in Jordan."

Creating Arab States from the Ottoman Empire

Nadene Goldfoot
The Sheikhs of Araby
The British had their problems getting their stories straight when they were given the mandate of the land of Palestine in 1918.  The Ottoman Empire, which was ruled by the Turks, had sided with the Axis or German side.  They lost in WWI.  The empire was by then bankrupt and in the hands of the allies who held mandates over the land.  The Arabs didn't like being in the Ottoman Empire under Turks anyway. 

Born in 1853 was a Sheikh, Sharif Hussein bin Ali, Emir of Mecca, a city in Saudi Arabia.  He held title to "King of the Arabs."  This leader was the great grandfather of the present day King Hussein, and was the leader of the Great Arab Revolt.  A Sheikh is an Arab chief.  In his case, his family had held this title from 1201CE to 1925.  He died in 1931.  This was at a time when Russian Jews were making aliyah to the land and developing kibbutzeem, draining swamps, planting Eucalyptus trees,  killing mosquitoes, tilling the land and fighting off raiders.  They had bought land from absent Arab land owners who were having a gay old time in Paris, no doubt. 

Abdullah and Faisal were his sons.  There was a great battle between the Turks and the Arabs.   The British made promises to the Arabs and promises to the Jews.  The promises were about the same piece of land.  This Hashemite family, descending from Muhammad,  secured Arab rule over Transjordan, Iraq and Arabia.

Faisal was the 3rd son of the King of the Arabs.  On January 3, 1919, he signed the Faisal-Weizmann Agreement for Arab-Jewish cooperation.  He knew about the Balfour Declaration as well.  He was the king of Syria in 1920 and then king of Iraq from 1921 to 1933.  He wanted a very large Arab state for himseslf including Iraq, Syria and the rest of the fertile Crescent.

Two weeks prior to signing the agreement, Faisal stated:

The two main branches of the Semitic family, Arabs and Jews, understand one another, and I hope that as a result of interchange of ideas at the Peace Conference, which will be guided by ideals of self-determination and nationality, each nation will make definite progress towards the realization of its aspirations. Arabs are not jealous of Zionist Jews, and intend to give them fair play and the Zionist Jews have assured the Nationalist Arabs of their intention to see that they too have fair play in their respective areas.

 Everything was predicated on the Arabs gaining their independence.  "The Arabs did not obtain their independence and the Faisal-Weizmann agreement survived only a few months."  It wasn't up to the Jews to give them this independence; it was the British. 
 
Though Weizmann argued in 1947 that Britain had given the Arab independence, they actually wanted more.  The catch was that Sharif Hussein formally endorsed the Balfour Declaration in the Treaty of Sèvres of 10 August 1920, along with the other Allied Powers, as King of Hedjaz.  The treaty was still binding.  The UN did not go along with it." 

Transjordan was created in 1922 and Jordan was created in 1946.
Iraq was created in 1958 and Lebanon in 1943.  Syria was under the French mandate and was created in April 1946.  Egypt has been Egypt forever, but also went through changes.  1954 saw a government.  Iran, which was Persia in bible days, had a government in 1953.  Israel was created May 1948. 

If the British had played their cards a little differently, Faisal and Weizmann could have been successful in their goals to bring these two semitic cousins together, but it was not to be.  Weizmann settled for the poorest portion of the original Jewish Homeland promised to the Jews and was rightfully  happy that he had something that had been lost to us.  Each Sheikh in this Hussein family wanted his own kingdom.  If one brother was promised land, the others wanted their fair share as well.  Our forefathers meant well.  Little could they imagine that we'd still be fighting over the right to have Israel after 63 years of their original declaration.  It's too bad that out of all those Sheikhs there isn't another like Faisal, who saw the good in the Jews coming home. 

Resource: http://www.kinghussein.gov.jo/sharif_hussein.html
http://www.kinghussein.gov.jo/his_arabrevolt.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Faisal_I_of_Iraq

Palestinian Qassam Rockets That Hit Israel
Nadene Goldfoot

Since 2001 Qassam rockets, unguided missiles, have been raining down on southern Israel, usually hitting Sderot, the closest Israeli city.  They started off with a range of hitting only 1.9 miles away and built up to 6.2 miles away and now can reach a 12 mile radius.  Considering the narrowness of Israel, they don't need to reach much farther. 

What it started off as was a simple steel artilery rocket developed and used by the Izz ad-Dinal Qassam Brigades, the military arm of Hamas.  The name was of a militant Syrian preacher who died in 1935 and was one of the reasons of the 1936 Arab Revolt against the British.  This preacher had died in a guerrilla raid against the British in 1935.  They have created 3 different models.  Actually, all types of rockets are fired into Israel.  The Palestinian Islamic Jihad Al Quds rockets are called Qassams by Israel and other countries.  Since 2000, the Palestinian rockets have killed 22 Israelis and one Thai. 

These may be made right in Gaza, and their design uses common tools and parts.  They use sugar and potassium nitrate, a common fertilizer  to make them move. The warhead is filled with TNT and urea nitrate, another fertilizer.  The TNT is smuggled in through the Rafah border tunnels into the Gaza Strip. 

By 2006 a more advanced Qassam was able to hit as far as Ashkelon.  Israel looked at them as a more psychological than physical threat at first.  IDF used the Red Color warning system in Sderot, Ashkelon and other targets.  This is radar that detects rockets being launched, and used loudspeakers to tell people to take cover.  They had between 15 to 45 seconds before impact.  Now a system called Iron dome has been built to intercept rockets before they hit that has been in use since March 2011, but so far is kept only in the larger cities. 

On July 23, 2004, a Palestinian family actually tried to physically stop the Brigades from setting up a Qassam rocket launcher outside their house and the brigade shot one member of the family, the Arab boy, and wounded 5 others. 

In 2009 They were able to reach Ashdod and  Beersheba with the more advanced Katusha and Grad missiles. 

In October 2010 five children and 3 women were injured after a Qassam rocket exploded near a crowded residential area of Tel As-sultan in Rafah.  Hamas has been condemned for storing explosive material near civilians.   In August another explosion wounded 58 and destroyed 7 houses of the Arabs in Gaza.  In trying to kill Jews, they have managed to kill more of their own civilians. 

Here it is 2011, almost 2012 and they are still raining down helter skelter.  What makes me angry is that the media other than Israel and pro-Israeli media do not understand the damage and deaths that these cause.  One website I had just read thought that because they may be home made are not something to fear and is listed under resources below. 

The word "Qassam" usually means the deadly home-made variety while those from Lebanon are called "Katyushas."  Katyushas are a generic class of rocket.  In 2007 the Palestinian Islamic Jihad or Al Quds fired 34%, Hamas fired Qassams or 22%, Fatah fired 8%, the Popular Resistance committes fired 6% and 30% came from unidentified enemy in Gaza. 

In 2001 only 4 were fired at Israel.  2002: 35, 2003: 155; 2004: 281, 2005: 179, 2006: 946, 2007: 896, and they hit the jackpot in 2008 by firing 2,048 at Israel.  Israel finally retaliated in 2008 with Operation Cast Lead, and then got bawled out by the world for trying to  protect themselves.  All this time there was no country speaking out and advising the Palestinian Arabs that they shouldn't spend their time taking all these shots at Israel if they wanted to live peacefully in this world.  All during this time Israel warned the world that they would retaliate and to stop, but they didn't.  The Arabs of Gaza sped up the attacks, instead, like they were daring: "Bring it on."  This led to the UN's Goldstone Report blaming Israel which he changed later after the damage was done besmirching Israel's name.  This same Goldstone Report is possibly very responsible for groups in the USA to continue to punish Israel by boycotting and divesting from Israel all products.  They are trying to delegitimize Israel's existence.  This has now become one of the largest problems Israelis and Jews are facing. 

Now that Libya has been under attack and Ghadafi is dead, weapons have been smuggled into Gaza, no doubt.  That's where some of the more lethal and long-range onces have been coming from.   Even the newer Qassam 3 made in Gaza can now reach out 12 miles away. 

These weapons rain down in southern Israel without any aiming.  They fall on civilians only.  The distance has been growing that they can reach.  People have 12 seconds to run for a bomb shelter. 

In just this month of November, rockets have come into Israel on the 1st, 4th, 5th, 6th, 9th, 10th, 13th and 15th of the month for a total of 11 rockets.  No one ever knows where they will land.  Though Israel's Iron Dome since March 27th has stopped 24 rockets from coming into several larger cities, they cannot afford an Iron Dome for everyplace.  It costs $100,000 for every interception, and this does not include the cost of creating and setting up an Iron Dome. 

We here who live safely in the USA cannot imagine trying to live a life where you may really feel you are Henny Penny running to tell the king that the sky is falling.  We shudder thinking of an asteroid that could fall out of the sky.  How would Americans feel about living through years of shelling from 12 miles away and have 12 seconds to run to a bomb shelter?  One bout of that and you're done for the day, most likely.  You'd be afraid to even go to the bathroom.  Welcome to a world that the UN pretends doesn't exist but that Jews prayed for 2,000 years to regain.  And yes, it's worth it to us.  Ha Shem said, "but I didn't promise you a rose garden."  He's making us work for it, I think.  We've gone through so much that we're not about to give it up. 

Reference: http://english.peopledaily.com.cn/90777/7640357.html -disgusting report minimizing danger of Qassam to a population
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Palestinian_rocket_attacks_on_Israel
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Qassam_rocket
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Palestinian_rocket_attacks_on_Israel,_2011

 Palestine: Partner-to-be of Lebanon's Attack on Israel

Nadene Goldfoot

Lebanon has  become a terrorist stronghold supplied by Syria and obeying Iran, Ron Paul's "innocent" country.  They now have 50,000 rockets ready to use against Israel which is four times more than they had in 2006.  Villages near the border are now armed fortresses. 

I remember when I lived in Safed and was on my way on a bus down the mountain in 1982 going to the hospital in Haifa to see about my broken arm when I saw our Israeli tanks and trucks on their way up.  They were going into Lebanon as the Palestinians terrorists had been killing the Lebanese Christian militia and Israelis who were helping Israel guard the border.  Sharon allowed his Christian Lebanese friend, Major Hadad and his men go in his place and they shocked us all by massacring their enemy  which got Israel into a lot of trouble. 

Hezbollah, the Party of Allah, took over in May 2000 which in reality was a Shiite Muslim group with the backing of Iran fighting against the Sunni Muslims, Christians and Druze of Lebanon.  They went on to kill 241 US servicemen in Beirut.  By July they ambushed and killed 10 Israelis on the border.  Thousands of rockets were fired into Israel, killing 43 civilians.  Our great UN peacekeepers took over a month to impose a cease fire.  The Security Council Resolution 1701 allowed the international peacekeeping force to allow the enemy to get only 4 kilometers or 2.4 miles  from Israel's border. 

If Palestine were an official state it would be able to aid and abet Lebanon against Israel as they both would have the same goal.  Palestinian terrorists are already being supplied by Iran with rockets and missles as it is. 

Hezbolla trains Hamas militants and also works on arming Fatah and the Islamic Jihad.  Iran gives them diplomatic aid and weapons as well as $100 million per year for extras. 

Right now Hezbollah has missiles from Iran capable of hitting all of Israel's ports and oil rigs off shore.  Between smuggling arms to Gaza by their friends, Israel's navy has to guard off-shore activities as well. 

A large Muslim population lives in the Tri Border area of Paraguay, Brazil and Argentina, known as the TBA.  The State Deppartment is investigating the possibility that Hezbollah and Hamas are fundraising there as it is known for its arms and drug traffic in this corridor.   

The Sunni Muslims (Fatah and Hamas of Gaza and Judea/Samaria) and Shiite Muslims (Hezbollah  of Lebanon/Iran) are enemies at heart.  Look at what happened in Lebanon between the two groups.  During the Iraq-Iran War that started on September 22, 1980 a half million soldiers and civilians died from then till August of 1988 when it ended.  Iran  is 98% Shi'a and is an Islamic State and a theocracy while Iraq was 97% Shi'a/Sunni  with a state religiion and supposedly had a parliamentary democracy.  It was more a Shiite versus Sunni fight.  Iran may be backing these Sunnis now, but once in their pocket will overtake them.  Perhaps that is why they may be testing the waters of another arms supplier. 

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424053111904140604576498423827070338.html?mod=googlenews_wsj

http://www.slate.com/id/1006301/

http://www.haaretz.com/news/diplomacy-defense/senior-israeli-navy-commander-hamas-hezbollah-threaten-our-ports-and-oil-rigs-1.376624

http://www.fas.org/sgp/crs/mideast/RL33566.pdf

http://www.cnsnews.com/news/article/us-concerns-growing-over-hezbollah-and-h

http://www.wisegeek.com/what-is-the-difference-between-hamas-hizbollah-and-fatah.htm

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iran%E2%80%93Iraq_War

Holland  Affirms Israel is Jewish State
Nadene Goldfoot
Holland affirms Israel as a Jewish state.  After declaring this on May 14, 1948, I would have thought this isn't necessary, but evidently it is.  Holland is also urging the EU not to recognize a declared Palestinian statehood.  They also realize the dangers in a one state situation of both Jews and Arabs and that it would then no longer be a Jewish majority state. 

This is a brave stand for Holland at a time when practically all other countries are caving into appeasing the Palestinians and have signaled that they are recognizing a future Palestine.  Canada is standing with Israel, also.  The United States has said it would as well. 

The Palestinians say they declared their state in 1988.  All that remains is stating what the border is.  They also declare East Jerusalem as part of their state which they intend to have as their capital.  It's the old story of whatever the Jews have, they want. 

Abbas has focused on Latin America for several reasons.  One is that he speaks Spanish.  Costa Rica recognized them in 2008.  Since then Brazil, Argentina, Bolivia and Equador have recognized Palestine.  Paraguay says it must be within the 1967 borders.  Chile and Peru go along with the proviso of the borders being mutually agreed to.  Columbia is waiting for a peace agreement. 

France and  Britain are ready to recognize a Palestine.  Germany has come down hard on Israel but still says it won't recognize them without Israel's okay to the deal.  Norway is going along with it, it looks like.  Spain is quite positive about supporting it.  Brussels is all for Jerusalem to become the future capital of Palestine, then also says it should be for the two states as well.  Denmark and Ireland have upgraded their status in their eyes.  This is almost saying they are all for their state. 

The Palestinians have not fullfilled the Quartet's provisos in establishing their own state.  Being they have goals to destroy Israel, it is shocking beyond words to me that countries would sign onto such an agreement. 
Caving in and allowing a murderous state is not going to turn them into nice people.  They'll just think they have the green light to do as they have wished; destroy Israel.

Oh, how easy it is for these states to okay a Palestine.  After all, it's nothing of their concern.  What do they care that Hamas wants to destroy Israel.  It's only in their charter to do so. 

http://www.jpost.com/International/Article.aspx?id=208099
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/State_of_Palestine
http://www.adl.org/main_International_Affairs/Recognition-of-Palestinian-State.htm
http://frontpagemag.com/2011/05/30/canada-backs-israels-survival/
http://kern.pundicity.com/9588/europeans-threaten-to-recognize-palestinian-state

People Undermining Peace for Israel

Nadene Goldfoot

A well known principal to establish peace between nations is to have a stable and long lasting peace through negotiations between the parties involved and a committment to keep the peace.

Israel has not known peace ever since its birth in May 1948. Her neighbors have been belligerent and unaccepting. I haven't noticed anyone condemming them. In the past, the USA has stepped up to the plate in defense for Israel when others have been their usual anti-semitic selves. However, I see a turn of tide and much two-facedness. On one hand the USA is a friend while on the other hand they are unconcerned or uncaring and certainly not understanding the issues. I feel that much of their attitude of late has encouraged terrorism. They seem to be down-right afraid to continue taking sides with Israel, not wanting the Muslims to think ill of them. In fact, they are denying their friendship or any favoritism with Israel.

December sees a rash of people ready to solve the problems between Israel and Palestine and have taken the sides of the Muslims. The Muslim population is almost equal to Christians right now, and Christianity is seeing a trend of non-practicing or caring about religion at this time. Jews are less than 1% of the world's population, have no oil, and are therefore unimportant in their eyes.

December 4: Brazil recognizes Palestine. This is followed by Argentina, Uruguay and Bolivia, all South American countries who were not helpful at all to Jews during World War 2 or afterwards. Many Nazis found refuge there, though.

Europe was approached for recognition but has stated that it is not time yet for official recognition and they suggested the time would be around August 2011.

December 10: 26 Influential Europeans wrote a letter denouncing Israel's lack of "sincerity" and are deciding on sanctions from anything from the West Bank (thinking all products are coming from Jews), demand that Jewish settlements be disbanded.

Saeb Erekat wrote an Op Ed in the Engish newspaper, "Guardian" demanding to return 7 million Palestinian refugees to Palestine (Number of refugees have now grown from original 600,000)

December 11: Hillary Clinton made a speech in Washington DC saying that the it was unacceptable to keep Palestine from being born. She is demanding immediate talks on borders, security, settlements, water, refugees and the status of Jerusalem

December 12: Portugal made Palestine into an embassy.

December 17: Norway made Palestine into an embassy.

Nobody cares that that Abbas of the Palestinians refuses to talk to Israel anymore. He has wanted the subjects on the table to be discussed decided by him beforehand before he will talk to Netanyahu. It's all one-sided for him.

Nobody has demanded that Gaza Palestinians stop shelling Israel's civilians. Nobody has suggested they stop making war on Israel. Nobody has suggested that they show they can be respectful neighbors.

In their right minds, these people accepting and demanding recognition of Palestine would not want Palestine to be next door to their country. In the present context, they are demanding that Israel accept a death sentence because they have run out of patience, sitting in their homes safe and sound, not having to worry about Katusha rockets, poison gases, poisoned water supplies, missiles, or atomic attacks.

These people have just condemmed the only Democratic country in the Middle East, their ally, their friend in need in fighting terrorism and diseases because Israel is a Jewish state. I think Harry Truman is rolling over in his grave.

At a time when Palestinian terrorists from Gaza are infiltrating and plotting harm to the police force of the Palestinians in the West Bank, I can see that Palestinians are still a divided group with their own infighting for power, and the strongest are the terrorists of Gaza. This is not the time for a state of Palestine to be created, for their goal is the destruction of Israel. Yes, even Abbas's people would go for that. There's no sign that they are readying their people for acceptance of Israel's existence; it's been quite the opposite.

The more the terrorists get people tired of hearing about the Palestine-Israel problem and give into their demands, the more they demand. If the day ever comes when nations speak out for Israel will be the day of peace in the world.

Resource: Friends of Israel

My own thoughts

Accept Us As a Jewish State

by Nadene Goldfoot

Why was Israel created in 1948? It was created as a Jewish state, something we haven't had since 70 A.D. We've been the perpetual "Wandering Jew" without a home, living in other's countries only to be kicked out as we became comfortable, wrongly thinking it was also our country.

There is no other Jewish state. After the Holocaust where 6 million of us were slaughtered, we finally agreed that we sure could have used a state of our own where there wasn't any anti-semitism.

Getting the Arab countries to agree with us has turned out to be impossible. Here they were, on Hitler's side of WWII, agreeing that we should all be killed, and now we expect them to not try to kill us all just because we hold the deed to our old piece of land again.

They continue to not recognise Israel as a Jewish state. This would interfere with their claim in a peace process of the right of their refugees to return to the area. Remember that when Israel was declared a state in 1948, the surrounding Arab states attacked in force to drive us into the sea. While their men were attacking, they told the few Arabs living there to flee and when they won they could return and have the homes of the Jews.

The fact is that they have not been living there for 62 years. They were few in number. The British even stooped so low as to cook the books, making the Arab numbers even bigger than they actually were. The adults have most likely died by now and the refugees are the children and have multiplied greatly. They haven't been working but have remained in Palestinian refugee camps, supported by the UN as the biggest needy group of all people ever. If they were given permission to enter Israel, and I'm not saying returning as they most likely never lived there, they would flood the teeny country and it would no longer have a Jewish majority. We'd be right back to square one only worse as these people hate us and want us dead. Israel is already made up of 20% Arab now with Arabs in the Knessset.

For this reason, Netanyahu has to be given the word that Palestinians must recognize Israel as a Jewish state. After all, there are already 48 states with 50% or more majority of Muslims. Can't we have one Jewish state in this world? We are only about 1% of the population in the United States. We are a noticable but wee group of people, most likely shrinking daily as it is in the U.S.

I'll throw a big party in my neighborhood if Abbas agrees to recognition, but even at that, he doesn't control the extremely hateful terrorist group, Hamas, who vow to never recognize Israel. They get their notoriety from their hatefulness and continuing attacks on Israel. In fact, Hamas still has control of some of Abbas's people, shown by the recent slaughter of four people traveling in the Judea/Samaria area in a car last week.

The 2nd round of talks will take place Tuesday in Egypt with Hillary Clinton present. "Just as we are asked to recognise the Palestinian national state...we also demand and expect the Palestinians to recognise a Jewish state," Netanyahu said at the start of a weekly cabinet meeting. Don't hold your breath, but I won't be far from my TV set Tuesday. Will they or won't they? If they can't do this, why bother discussing the other sticky core issues about the conflict? This would certainly mean that they are not truly serious about any intention for Fatah at least to put an end to the conflict.

Resource: http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20100912/wl_mideast_afp/israelpalestinianspeace/print

Book: From Time Immemorial by Joan Peters-The Origins of the Arab-Jewish Conflict over Palestine.

PLO's Three-Stage Plan to Destroy Israel

Do Palestinians Want the Two States?

In 1974 the PLO had its 12th National Convention. They adopted "The Strategy of Stages."

They wanted to give the Western world the impression that they were moderate. Up to now they had turned down opportunitites to create their own state, but this time they would "agree to set up a Palestinian Arab state in any West Bank and Gaza territory vacated by Israel." Yet they would not recognize Israel in doing so. This would be their first stage of the great plan.

Stage II would include resuming fighting from their closer base which would make it possible for the Arabs to destroy Israel. (They have been doing this by attacking southern Israel with rockets and mortars for the past 6 years. In the last 3 days Israel has been attacked from Lebanon and in Eilat, which has also hit Jordan).

Stage III will be for them to take all of what they call Palestine, which would be the total destruction of Israel. This will be the outcome of the "Two State Solution." The Palestinian Arabs therefore have no intention of there ever being two states: Israel and Palestine, only Palestine.

Reference: http://www.printfriendsly.com/getpf?url=http%3A//www.israelunitycoalition.org/news%3F from The "Two State Solution": Reality or Delusion? Daily News-Problems of Middle East Peacemaking, Study Paper August 2010 by Arnold M. Soloway-5 pages.

Palestine: Too Big A Risk
Commenting on Mort Zuckerman's viewpoint of a two state solution

Israel is being asked to take such a huge risk in advancing the idea of a two-state solution. Creating an Arab Palestine right alongside of Israel is an act of suicide.

First off, there is no unification of the two aspects of Palestinians. They are of opposing views and power, with Abbas in the West Bank subject to the force of Hamas's Gazan terrorism. There is no organization that can stop this terrorism except Israel itself.

The area is too small. It's like moving in a nestful of hornets under your bedroom window and expecting them to stay in place. Sooner or later they'll find the hole and crawl through like they did at my mother's home.

You just cannot rely on U.N. peacekeeping forces. They turn tail at every little provocation. They've done it every time so far.

What makes me so angry is that when Israel left the Gaza in 2005 Bush wrote a commitment that the US would recognize Israel's right to secure, recognized and defensible borders. Obama reiterated this pledge when campaigning but since then has disavowed it. Clinton has said that the pledge didn't become part of the official position. Obama and Clinton ignores the fact that this was in the 242 Resolution and Bush unequivocally provided guarantees to Sharon if we withdrew from Gaza. How soon they forget or ignore! The Bush letter has approved by both houses of Congress but our present administration repudiates it. This reminds me of the days of Indian treaties that were broken by our government. So Israel has lost its trust of our government. At least I have in regards to Israel's well being.

I've read in other sources that there are many Arabs living in East Jerusalem that are very happy being Israeli citizens. They wouldn't have it any other way. Perhaps that has to be the solution to this mess for the disgruntled Arabs there. Somehow the West Bank Arabs must come under the jurisdiction of Israel and become good citizens as these others are. They have more freedoms and know they are better off. Someday down the pike, things like their own state could be considered if they find it's so necessary. However, first and foremost, Israel's security has to come first. We can't allow another area to be in terrorist hands that can destroy Israel.

Reference: Prerequisites for a two-state solution by Mort Zuckerman: I hope you read this one-it's terrific. http://www.jewishworldreview.com/mort/zsuckerman072610.php3?printer_friendly

Palestinian Believes in Forcing Israel

Palestinians demand Obama action follow words

AP via Yahoo! News Tue, 19 May 2009 11:40 AM PDT

"A key Palestinian official demanded Tuesday that President Barack Obama follow up his tough talk with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and force Israel to stop West Bank settlement construction and accept creation of a Palestinian state. "

That's the voice of a possible future neighbor of Israel. To force Israel to stop construction and to accept the creation of a state? How does he propose to force Israel? By war as they have done?

The idea of accepting Israel as an entity, something they have not done, doesn't even enter his mind, obviously. According to his logic, Palestinians don't have to do a thing to gain their ends. Just force Israel to do their bidding.

Obama, Netanyahu Meeting: Obama Says Israel Must Stop Expanding Settlements

 by Nadene Goldfoot
The Huffington Post Mon, 18 May 2009 11:24 AM PDT

"President Barack Obama, meeting at the White House with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, says he told the prime minister that Israel must stop expanding Jewish settlements in the West Bank." Huffington Post

I feel that until the Palestinians accept Israel as a Jewish State and stop shooting into Israel, Israelis have a right to do whatever they need to do in their own country. Netanyahu said the same thing. Israel has been waiting for 60 years for acknowledgement from the Palestinians, and from all facts coming in, they have no intention ever of recognizing Israel and becoming peaceful. The more they shoot, the more I'd build, if I were Netanyahu. The picture above is of Sderot after an attack. There has been a lot of damage here and repair must take place. People are afraid and some are looking for safer places to live. They are right on the front line here.

The fact remains that Jews are returning to their country. They are the actual natives that were there since Moses led the Israelites back to Canaan. The Palestinians are a mixture of peoples who moved into the area when the Jewish settlers made their first aliyah back to Palestine in the late 1800's. There were a few people already living there, but not many. Most landowners lived abroad in France and other nice places in Europe. There wasn't any thrill in living in Palestine. Many landowners were only too happy to sell their land to the returning Jews, which is what they did. It was arid land with nothing in it. These people moved into the area to find work with the Jews who were rebuilding their country. They didn't have in mind any idea of creating their own country. They weren't a people, though most were Arabs. They were from the whole surrounding areas.

These settlements that Obama is so upset over happen to be on the very Jewish land of Judea and Samaria. We have a long and vital history connected with these places. How did we happen to have these areas as part of the original division of the land? We were attacked and the attackers lost. My advice would have been not to attack innocent people in the first place.

Originally we had two states: Judea and Israel. Our regained Israel was to be about four times larger than what it was finally whittled down to, and now the the world expects us to be happy with more slicing up of Israel and giving it to our neighbors who hate us. Appeasing these people isn't going to work. They weren't appeased with Gaza, were they?

Do they really want their own state? Do they really want the West Bank? It was so meaningful to us, and we had so much love for it, that we were willing to share it in 1948 in order to have a chance to live on a portion of it. We've had to shed a lot of blood since then, and we've hardened our hearts. We got that portion through legal lawful means and didn't have to attack any country to get it. We didn't oust any Indians like America did. We said, "STAY".

They didn't, and they attacked us. People, what do you want from us? Anyone ready to trade places with the Palestinians and be our good peaceful neighbors and let them have your space in your country? Well, Obama just wants us to be the givers and is allowing the Palestinians to be the takers. Of course I feel that this is completely wrong. It's not the course America has taken. Logic is not prevailing anymore. What is?

Reference: Huffington Post: May 18, 2009

A Two-State Solution on Both Sides of the River Jordan

by Victor Sharpe

Very few people understand why Israel is now balking at a two-state solution and are against Obama's plan. This is an excellent explanation of why and what has been happening to the area. -Nadene Goldfoot

The phrase "Two State Solution" has been embraced by politicians and journalists alike, repeated endlessly, and touted as the panacea for a "just and equitable" solution to the Israel-Palestinian conflict.

It has assumed the repetitious role of a muezzin's call to Islamic prayer. But it is based on erroneous geography and history; on a mixture of wishful thinking, naiveté and a brilliant Arab propaganda campaign of disinformation and falsehood. To understand why, it is necessary to learn a small but vital chapter of Middle Eastern history.

Shortly after the conclusion of the First World War and the total defeat of the Turkish Ottoman Empire, which had ruled most of the Middle East for 400 years, Britain was made trustee by the League of Nations for the whole of the geographical area known as Mandatory Palestine.

Incorporated within the Mandate was the 1917 Balfour Declaration, which specifically referred to the historical connections of the Jewish people with Palestine and to the moral validity of reconstituting within it a Jewish National Home.

The British Mandatory power, however, arbitrarily tore away 80% of the Palestine Mandate in 1922, giving it to the Hashemites, a Bedouin tribe with links to Mecca. Only the land west of the River Jordan remained from the original territory promised to the Jewish people as a National Home.

Jewish residency was immediately forbidden in all the lands east of the River Jordan, which in time became known as Trans-Jordan and then the Kingdom of Jordan.

The U.N. Partition Plan of 1947 created two states, Jewish and Arab, which were roughly equal in size. But these two states were to occupy only the remaining western geographic area of Mandatory Palestine - from the Mediterranean Sea to the River Jordan - barely 50 miles wide and a mere 20% of what now remained of Mandatory Palestine.

This plan was accepted by the Jewish leadership with deep reservations but as a pragmatic solution to the plight of the 850,000 Jewish refugees who were being driven from Arab lands at the time of Israel's rebirth.
The miniscule size of the state was also reluctantly accepted in order to facilitate the absorption of the surviving Jewish remnant still languishing in European refugee camps following the Holocaust.
The State of Israel, thus reconstituted in part of its ancient and biblical homeland in May, 1948, was immediately invaded by seven Arab armies in order to completely destroy it and drive the surviving Jews into the sea.
The Jordanian Arab Legion, led by British officers, occupied the eastern half of Jerusalem along with Judea and Samaria (the West Bank), driving the Jews out of their towns and villages. In the south, the Egyptians occupied the Gaza Strip, similarly driving the Jews from their homes.

The Jewish state astonished the world by surviving the Arab aggression. The Arab states, however, totally rejected the existence of a Jewish state in the Middle East and an uneasy armistice remained in force routinely broken by acts of Arab terror.

In June, 1967, the Egyptians, Jordanians and Syrians, launched a new aggression against Israel with the avowed intention of annihilating it. Israel defeated her Arab enemies in six amazing days and in so doing liberated the eastern half of Jerusalem, along with Judea and Samaria (the West Bank), from the Jordanians. At the same time, Gaza was freed from Egyptian occupation.

Despite subsequent and repeated offers by Israeli governments to give away territory in return for a true and lasting peace with the Arab belligerents, the Arab world continued to support terror and refused to accept a Jewish state within the Middle East.

Interestingly in April, 2009, the Holocaust denying leader of the Palestinian Authority, Mahmoud Abbas, Israel's supposed peace partner, rejected any willingness to accept Israel as a Jewish state; a sure indication of the falsity of any Arab claim to live in full and lasting peace with Israel.

True, a peace exists today between Israel and Jordan and between Israel and Egypt but it is a frigid, cold and precarious peace with neither Jordan nor Egypt truly interested in full and mutually beneficial relations. Thus ends the history lesson.

The creation of a Palestinian Arab state within the mere 50 miles separating the Mediterranean and the Jordan River is a recipe for war and for the piecemeal destruction of the Jewish state. Such an Arab state will more than likely soon fall under the control of the Islamist Hamas movement, itself a branch of the Muslim Brotherhood, which seeks a worldwide Islamic Caliphate. Gaza, and what it has become, is living proof.

The Iranian mullahs, perhaps soon armed with nuclear weapons, will have a command and control base within the territory given away to the Arabs. They will be ensconced in Gaza on the eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea, determined upon launching ever more lethal terror against what is left of Israel and threatening Europe itself.

Israel will again be reduced to a nation a mere nine miles wide at its most populous region. When President Bush was still Governor of Texas he flew over Israel's tiny waist and remarked, "...why, in my state we have driveways longer than that."

That is the most likely outcome of the current proposed Two State Solution west of the Jordan River, which the Obama Administration is pushing with the flawed zeal of a misguided zealot. But to truly create a just and equitable solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, I propose a Two State Solution on both sides of the River Jordan.

To repeat: The present day Kingdom of Jordan occupies four-fifths of geographical Palestine. This territory consists of the land east of the River Jordan, extending north to Syria, east to Iraq and south to Saudi-Arabia.

Compared to Israel, it dwarfs the Jewish state yet it originated in an act of unprincipled perfidiousness by the British government of the day and remains an Arab state that has from its inception forbidden Jewish habitation within its borders,

This is even though it includes territory promised in Britain's 1917 Balfour Declaration and by the League of Nations as a Jewish National Home.

Jordan's population is currently made up of 75% Arabs who call themselves Palestinians with the remainder being Hashemite Bedouins. As it is exists on land originally forming four fifths of Mandatory Palestine, and as the population is three fourths Palestinian Arab, it follows that the "just and equitable" solution to the creation of a Palestinian Arab state should be within the present day Kingdom of Jordan and, therefore, east of the River Jordan.

The Arabs who call themselves Palestinians and who choose to remain in Judea and Samaria should be required to end all terrorism against Israel - hardly an onerous demand - and by finally living in peace could flourish within an Israel whose territory would now formally extend west from the Jordan River to the Mediterranean Sea. That would still only be a distance of barely 50 miles at its widest. The United States in comparison is some 3,000 miles wide.

Israel would now formally give up 80% of the originally mandated territory but would now possess all of her biblical and ancestral Jewish lands - with the exception of biblical Gilead east of the Jordan River, which is in present day north-western Jordan.

If there is a desire within the international community to truly arrive at a "just and equitable" solution, then this would be it. Of course, if this was a perfect world, it would satisfy historical, geographical, religious and ethnic considerations. But, alas, it is anything but a perfect world and the fanatical desire among so many Arab and Muslim nations to wipe out all vestiges of a Jewish state is, perhaps, insurmountable.
Nevertheless, it can do no harm to raise it in the corridors of power and promote and articulate it forcefully as a truly "just and equitable" solution.

When Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu arrives for his fateful meeting with President Barak Obama on May 18, 2009, it is unlikely that this solution will be raised. That is a shame because the accepted wisdom, now exercising the minds of Obama, the neo-libs who surround him, his problematic advisors, and the legions of people around the world who have succumbed to the churning mills of the Arab propaganda machine, is that there exists a people called Palestinians with a distinct history who lived in an independent Arab state called Palestine.

It is a lie, perhaps one of the greatest scams in history, swallowed in direct proportion to the amount of times it has been repeated. It is a fraudulent history of a fraudulent people in a fraudulent land.
Indeed, there has never in all of recorded history existed an independent, sovereign Arab nation called Palestine.

Here are the words of a local Arab leader, Auni Bey Abdul-Hadi, speaking in 1937 before the Peel Commission, which was considering partition of the Palestine Mandate, west of the River Jordan:
"...There is no such country as Palestine! ...That is a term the Zionists invented! ...There is no Palestine in the Bible."

Professor Philip Hitti, the Arab-American history professor at Princeton, said in unambiguous words before the 1946 Anglo-American Committee:
"...There is no such thing as ‘Palestine' in history, absolutely not."
President Obama has made it crystal clear that he is not prepared to let such inconvenient truths deter him from his strange obsession in forcing through the creation of a terror supporting Palestinian Arab state during his term of office.

He intends to shower the Arab and Muslim world with favors. No favor could be more eagerly snatched at than that of the Israeli democracy abandoned by this American President to the tender mercies of the ever circling mullahs, imams, dictators and oligarchs.And as the President prepares to leave on his strange mission to Egypt to give a speech to the Muslim world he will also no doubt ignore the fact that from the Al Azhar University in Cairo spews forth a constant stream of Islamic hatred towards non-Muslims; those they call "infidels."

Doubly strange that President Barak Hussein Obama should choose Egypt whose government controlled media routinely drips anti-Jewish poisonFor Binyamin Netanyahu, May 18th, 2009 may therefore, to paraphrase Dickens, be the best of times and the worst of times. He may surprise us yet by being a leader not made of petroleum jelly, but one who finally stands up to President Obama and simply says, No.
After all, the stakes are harrowingly high - the very survival of modern Israel. But it is worth doing the right thing, or, as Mark Twain put it:
"... always do right. This will gratify some people and astonish the rest."

Abbas Refuses to Recognize Jewish State

Nadene Goldfoot

Push has come to shove, and the President of the Arab "Palestinians" refuses to accept that Israel is a Jewish State. To do so might negate his idea of the right of return of thousands and thousands of Arabs to swamp his "Palestine", therefore putting Israel in danger all the more. It's their idea of driving Israel into the sea and ending it once and for all.

So we come to stalemate. Marshall, Obama's representative, has said that the only solution is to have a Palestine next door to Israel, no matter what, it looks like. Just get the job done, get it on his resume, two states, side by side, and then they can fight it out again. Marshall will then be out of the way of crossfire.

To have a state next door that does not recognize the most basic fact in that it is a state created as a haven for Jewish people, at a time in the world where there is no Jewish state at all, and this would be the only one, is insane. Would anything else be recognized? Rights, Safety ? No, this is the point. This is not a workable idea.

If everyone thought that Abbas was so willing to have a reasonable situation and work with Israel, they were mistaken. He has just taken a different tactic. He's just a different personality from Arafat, but has the very same intentions. It's a sad fact of life.

Abbas said all this at a conference. At the end he was presented a map covering all of Israel with the name on it in English, Palestine. There's his intention, boldly presented.

References: http://www.nytimes.com/2009/04/28/world/middleeast/28mideast.html?_r=1
Palestinian Media Watch
Mahmoud Abbas: "I do not accept the Jewish State, call it what you will"by Itamar Marcus and Barbara Crook"

Realistic Creation of a Palestine State

by Nadene Goldfoot

Israel is not about to jump into the fire to please the nations of the world. It doesn't intend to self-destruct.

Benjamin Netanyahu of the Likud party has just been deemed the new Prime Minister. His foreign minister is Avigdor Lieberman of the Yisrael Beitenu , the 2nd largest party in the coalition. Lieberman has declared that Israel will not follow the 2007 Annapolis meeting's outcomes. Israel had never ratified Annapolis, nor did parliament. Instead, they will continue to follow the 2003 road map.

Netanyahu has not endorsed statehood for the Palestinians. He believe they should govern themselves but have limited powers of authority that would not harm Israeli's security. The 2003 road map was more realistic. This plan made the Palestinian state contingent on the Palestinians reining in militants.

To me, it is utterly ridiculous to create a state that is bent on destroying its neighbor. They must sign papers and show after an x amount of years that they are accepting Israel and willing to go to the nth degree to live in peace. Otherwise, it's like taking a new medicine that you know will create cancer and kill you. I am very happy to read that Israel's new government is more realistic and not so eager to satisfy and please greedy nations.

Resource: Yahoo News: Israel not bound by Annapolis understandings: Lieberman, by Jeffrey Heller http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20090401/wl_nm/us_israel_12

Missed Opportunities for a Palestine: Opting for Terror Instead

Nadene Goldfoot

The so called Palestinians missed many chances to create their own state, but opted instead for terrorizing Israel. That was more important to them. They missed their first chance in 1947 when the UN was partitioning the region and wanted to create two states.

In 1949 through 1967, Egypt and Jordan were the occupiers of Gaza and the West Bank. The Palestinians did not even try to create their own state then. It probably was not even in their minds to do so.

The Six Day War against Israel occurred in 1967, and Israel offered to withdraw from lands they captured in the winning of that war. The Palestinians refused the offer, and stated: no peace, no negotiations and no recognition of Israel. Thus, the land was in Israel's hands. Up to this time, we had no Israelis in any settlements in Gaza or the West Bank.

From 1968-1979, we see that 6,000 Israelis settled in these areas. Menachem Begin became Prime Minister in 1977. Terror from Palestinians did not deter us. Then we had a peace treaty with Egypt, and Israel removed their Sinai settlers in order to have peace with Egypt. In 1979 the Camp David treaty was created. Israel offered autonomy to the Palestinians, something just short of statehood that would have led to independence. This also allowed Israel to watch their behavior and see if they turned away from terrorism. At this time Israel had 136,109 settlers in the territories, which is about 1/4 the population of Portland, Oregon.

From 1995 to 1999 we had the 2nd Oslo Agreement and we continued to withdraw from territories while terror never stopped. Terror then escalated, and Israel realized peace was not to be with the Palestinians. At this time we had only a slight increase in population to 146,207 in the territories as we stopped withdrawing people from these areas.

In 2000 we had a 2nd Camp David and we probably reluctantly agreed to the creation of a Palestinian state in all of Gaza and most of the West Bank. We also promised to dismantle most of the West Bank and compromised on one point on Jerusalem; that being that East Jerusalem would be the capital of Palestine. To my great relief, Yasser Arafat rejected the deal without even countering another idea. For him it was all or nothing, no negotiations. At this time we had a growth in the territories to 203,067 Israelis. Ehud Barak was Prime Minister of Israel then.

Two years later in 2002 the Road Map to Peace was created. The Palestinians are asked to fulfill some commitments starting with ending the violence against Israel. Israel's part is to end the settling of the territories. However, the Palestinians just escalated their terror. The Road Map fails. Israel does evacuate all their citizens and soldiers from the Gaza Strip. Palestinians ignore the chance to build a state in Gaza to prove that they are interested in living as peaceful neighbors. Instead, Hamas takes over Gaza and fires over 10,000 rockets and missiles into southern Israel. Israel reels at the reality that they have traded land for terror, and are unwilling to discuss new territorial concessions. Why should they? The Palestinians are not behaving like Egypt did. At this point there are now 253,748 Israelis living in the West Bank. None are in Gaza.

Today Israelis have given up on the idea of trading land for peace for these deadly neighbors. Hamas has deadly rockets that could hit any part of Israel. Now the settlers in the West Bank total 276,000. It would be difficult to move and resettle them. What has stopped the state of Palestine from being created is the people's own rebellion and hatefulness toward their future neighbor, Israel. If the Palestinians would adopt the mind-set of Anwar Sadat, there would be a peaceful Palestine that would not be a threat to Israel. Evidently it is not to be.

Don't blame Israel for settling in the territories. What it was promised originally in the Balfour Declaration was a much larger Israel that was hacked up, until it became very small. If the Arabs don't ever intend on having peace with Israel, Israel is legally free to use the land they inherited from the Arab attacks that failed. That is a lesson; don't mess with Israel and attack it, or you suffer the consequences. Crime doesn't pay off. Somebody seems to be watching over Israel.

Resource: Mitchell Bard #69
http://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/talking/69_settlegrowth.html