Elder Of Ziyon - Israel News

Tuesday, June 05, 2007

Nasser's lies and Arab honor

Today is the 40th anniversary of the start of the Six Day War.

One of the most interesting aspects of that war was the role of lies. Nasser lied about Egypt's readiness for war, he lied to his citizens about early victories, he lied to Jordan's King Hussein about how he was shooting down hundreds of Israeli planes, he lied to the Russians and others saying that America had joined Israel in the fighting.

Almost all of these lies were a direct result of the Arab sense of "honor." This has been a pattern of Arab leadership throughout the past century.

By any measure, Nasser was a popular leader. He was charismatic and macho, swaggering with his inciteful rhetoric. Lying is an integral part of Arab politics because the desire for honor, and the desire to avoid dishonor, is ingrained in the Arab psyche. Admitting problems is perceived as a sign of weakness and the Arab masses emphatically do not want technocratic, practical leaders - they want Saladin, someone to sweep the Arab nation into pre-eminence again.

It has been noted that Moshe Dayan's 1967 Sinai campaign was virtually identical to the 1956 Sinai campaign. The reason that the Egyptians didn't anticipate this was because they managed to get Israel out of the Sinai in 1956 politically, so to Nasser's mind it was a victory and no lessons needed to be learned.

There is a symbiotic relationship between the Arab masses who thirst for a powerful leader and the leaders who thirst for power. Exaggerations and lies are eagerly consumed by the people and their adulation is lapped up by the leaders. Inevitably, fantasy replaces reality as the idea of admitting mistakes becomes more remote. The leader becomes imprisoned by his lies and his public image.

A proud Arab warrior cuts off the heads of hundreds of infidels on his way to glory - he doesn't appoint Commissions of Inquiry into mistakes he's made.

The Arab leaders surround themselves with people who won't dare point out the truth, and get rid of those who might sent the entire edifice of false honor crashing down. Lying becomes habitual until the leader himself cannot distinguish between truth and lies anymore. We've seen this with Nasser, with Arafat, with Saddam Hussein, with Hafez al-Assad - almost every Arab leader who did not inherit his position relies on his lies for popular support and tries to convince the rest of the world to believe his lies as well.

Because casual lying is so much a part of Arab culture, the people are willing to forgive the lies after they become obvious, or go along with them in the name of pan-Arab honor. Faced with irrefutable proof of their lies, the leaders will exchange them for more palatable lies - "Israel didn't defeat Egypt, they had help from the US. " They will do anything to minimize the disgrace that comes from admitting mistakes. To the Arab mind, lying is not nearly as disgraceful as defeat.

Of course, the inability to admit mistakes means that these Arabs will never learn from those mistakes. Even on today's anniversary, the Arabic newspapers are filled with articles that justify their defeat in 1967 by making up fantasies about Israel and the US, and very few look upon it as a learning opportunity.

There can be no solution to the Arab-Israeli conflict without the ability for Arabs to admit the truth to themselves. As long as they can fantasize about being able to destroy Israel they will not accept Israel. As long as Palestinian Arabs keep fooling themselves that their problems are more from Israel than from their Arab "brethren" they will never be able to improve their lives. The exoskeleton of lies that holds up the Arab world is a jail cell that keeps them from progressing and becoming productive members of the world community.

Arab culture needs to start seeing deceit as being more disgraceful than defeat.

A Palestinian man smokes a water pipe as he sits in Khan Younis beach in the southern Gaza strip June 4, 2007. Residents of the Khan Younis refugee camp said their venture to the beach was a way to respite from the Israeli military actions that had killed over 50 Palestinians, mostly militants, in the last month. REUTERS/Ibraheem Abu Mustafa (GAZA)

A Palestinian boy plays in the waters of the Khan Younis beach in the southern Gaza strip June 4, 2007. Residents of the Khan Younis refugee camp said their venture to the beach was a way to respite from the Israeli military actions that had killed over 50 Palestinians, mostly militants, in the last month. REUTERS/Ibraheem Abu Mustafa (GAZA)

You see, it is congenitally impossible for Reuters to publish a picture of Palestinian Arabs having fun without finding some bizarre reason to slam Israel. If they look sad, it is because of Israeli actions; if they are happy, it is despite Israeli actions.

The fact that nearly 300 Palestinian Arabs have been killed this year by each other is no reason for a "respite" at the beach; no, Gazans don't get too bothered by that, in Reuterville. All their stress comes from Israel, of course.

And once again we need to wonder: why is there a "refugee camp" in Khan Younis? It's not like it is Syria or Lebanon - there is nothing at all stopping Palestinian Arabs from building new towns and villages for "refugees." Clearly the residents can come and go as they please, as this picture shows.

There is nothing stopping Arab nations from funding houses and community centers and town halls in Gaza.

Except for the fact that it would mean less money for RPGs, Katyushas, dynamite and Qassams.

Perhaps one day Reuters will ask these same questions, rather than parrot provable Palestinian Arab lies. But I won't bet on it.

UPDATE: Soccer Dad finds the exact fact I couldn't find a link to in the above article. In 1977, Israel actually tried to move Palestinian Arabs out of the "camps" and into real houses, and the UN condemned them for it, in UN General Assembly Resolution 32/90:

1. Calls once more upon Israel:

(a) To take effective steps immediately for the return of the refugees concerned to the camps from which they were removed in the Gaza Strip and to provide adequate shelters for their accommodation;

(b) To desist from further removal of refugees and destruction of their shelters;

To the UN, improving the lives of Palestinians is not desirable.

UN resolutions that Palestinian Arabs ignore

Much is made among the loony anti-Israel crowd about the many absurd resolutions that the UN has passed against Israel, as if that is meaningful. However, not too many of them call upon Palestinian Arabs to fulfill the items that UN resolutions have required of them. Of course, most of these include much harsher language and requirements on Israel, but we're talking about the UN here:
United Nations Security Council Resolution 1322 (outset of intifada)
Calls for the immediate cessation of violence, and for all necessary steps to be taken to ensure that violence ceases.

United Nations Security Council Resolution 1397 (2002)
1. Demands immediate cessation of all acts of violence, including all acts of terror, provocation, incitement and destruction.

United Nations Security Council Resolution 1402 (2002)
Calls upon both parties to move immediately to a meaningful cease-fire. Reiterates its demand in resolution 1397 (2002) of 12 March 2002 for an immediate cessation of all acts of violence, including all acts of terror, provocation, incitement and destruction.

United Nations Security Council Resolution 1435 (2002)
Reiterates its demand for the complete cessation of all acts of violence, including all acts of terror, provocation, incitement and destruction;
Calls on the Palestinian Authority to meet its expressed commitment to ensure that those responsible for terrorist acts are brought to justice by it.

There may be others but these what I could find immediately.

Palestinian Arab blood gets cheaper

The financially-strapped PA has cut back on its martyr's death benefits, from $350 to $6.

According to Ma'an:

Ma'an learned that the compensation paid for the son's death through the bank and agreed upon by the Palestinian Legislative Council (PLC), was NIS 24 (US $ 8 [sic - EoZ]), whereas previously it had been NIS 1.400 (~ $ 350 US).

Mohammad's brother confirmed that the new compensation is 24 NIS and that this is in accordance with the new law.Mohammad's brother confirmed that the new compensation is 24 NIS and that this is in accordance with the new law. "The issue is not the money, we have refused to receive the money," he said "but such rules are humiliating to the blood of martyrs, these rules do not appreciate the struggle of the fighters."

I'm sure that there is much more martyr money coming from Iran and elsewhere, but this is a good consequence of the minor reduction in aid that the PA receives.

Of course, it looks like that aid has started up again through the PLO bank account, and hundreds of millions have already gone into the coffers of the Fatah "militants," so we'll see how long this austerity towards terrorist families lasts.

Another Gaza kindergarten graduation video

Complete with little girls holding toy rifles in one hand and baby dolls in the other. Also scimitars, for that traditional look.

Notice the large crowd of doting parents, shepping nachas from their lovable tykes with suicide bomb belts.

(H/T Israel Insider.)

"Human rights" organizations show their true colors

In a press release today, the International Solidarity Movement which claims to support "using nonviolent, direct-action methods and principles" to destroy Israel shows how committed to peace it really is: Excerpts:

This resistance is integral part of the history of the Palestinian people - the 1935 – 1939 Great Strike, the crushing of the Palestinian Resistance in September 1970 in Jordan, later in Lebanon or the two Intifadas (1987-1992) and the Intifada Al-Aqsa in September 2000.

Palestinian resistance also acts against the liquidation plans of the freedom national project as the Oslo agreement, the Geneva Initiative or the Quartet Roadmap (UN, USA, Russia, and European Union). Since the creation of the illegitimate State of Israel in 1948, more than 40 peace plans were adopted, without results, because they were not based on the application of these basic humane principles : There can be no justice in the presence of occupation, and there can be no peace in the presence of a racist colonial-settler entity.

The September 2000 Intifada as well as the elections on January 2006 – Hamas victory -, are the expression of the refusal of the legitimacy of the Israel's colonial project over historic Palestine. It is the expression of the people living under occupation's right to resist, which remains the angular stone of its freedom national project in reconstruction.

The question of Israel's legitimacy remains at the core of the conflict and the Palestinians give an answer to it every day by their passive or active resistance in the territories occupied in 1948 or 1967.

We will support the Arab Palestinian struggle till the complete liberation of their historic land, the only solution which will guarantee the return for the refugees.

It would take a great deal of semantic gymnastics to try to explain this praise for Palestinian Arab acts that resulted in the deaths of hundreds of Jewish civilians (the "Great Strike" in the 1930s killed hundreds itself, including many Arabs as well) as being "non-violent."

But even more telling is the list of signatories to this communique, a "call to action" to destroy Israel, including many so-called "human rights" groups who show exactly how much they care about the rights of Jews to live in the Middle East. Here are some of them:

Al-Bahrain Center for Human Rights - Bahrain
Association of Bahreni Youth for Human Rights - Bahrain

Canadian Peace Alliance, Canada

Arab Program for Human Rights Activists - Egypt

Arab European League, Europe
Campo Antiimperialista - Europe

Collectif Paix Comme Palestine, Avignon, France
ISM-France (International Solidarity Movement - France)

Association of Victims of American Occupation Prisons, Iraq
Iraqi Communist Party - Leadership Committee, Iraq

Party of the Committees to Support Resistance – for Communism, Italy

Arab Organization for Human Rights in Jordan (AOHR-Jo), Jordan
Socialist Thought Forum - Jordan
Arab World Center for Democracy and Human Rights - Jordan

Communist Workers and Peasants Party (CMKP) - Pakistan

National Association Against Zionism, Syria
National Committee for the Boycott of US Commodities in Syria, Syria

The Front for Rights and Liberties, Turkey

New Jersey Solidarity - Activists for the Liberation of Palestine, USA
Al-Awda New York, the Palestine Right to Return Coalition, USA

al-Afeef Cultural Association - Yemen
al-Shaqa'eq Arab Forum for Human Rights - Yemen
Democratic Social Forum - Yemen
Yemeni Youth Shoura Council - Yemen
National Assembly for the Defence of Rights and Liberties - Yemen
National Organization for the Development of Society - Yemen
The School of Democracy - Yemen
Yemeni Organization for the Defence of Rights and Liberties - Yemen
Yemeni Youth Development Center - Yemen

With all of these Arab and communist organizations supporting "peace" and "democracy" and "human rights" one need never worry about peace again! It is heartwarming to know that they've solved all their internal human rights issues and are now so gung-ho to sign petitions on behalf of the Palestinian Arabs who they refuse to grant citizenship to - for their own good, of course.

Cycle of Violence

So it seems now that fighting in Lebanon has spread a second "refugee" camp.

You'd think that the Lebanese would learn. Obviously the second front wouldn't have opened if they would have just ignored the murders from the first camp. Now we are in a cycle of violence that threatens to keep spreading until one side has the decency to just stop fighting.

I'm sure that there are plenty of op-eds being written right now to this effect.

Encyclopedia Britannica's 1911 edition is online. It's entry on "Palestine" is especially interesting:

Except in the west, where the country is bordered by the Mediterranean Sea, the limit of this territory cannot be laid down on the map as a definite line. The modern subdivisions under the jurisdiction of the Ottoman Empire are in no sense conterminous with those of antiquity, and hence do not afford a boundary by which Palestine can be separated exactly from the rest of Syria in the north, or from the Sinaitic and Arabian deserts in the south and east; nor are the records of ancient boundaries sufficiently full and definite to make possible the complete demarcation of the country. Even the convention above referred to is inexact: it includes the Philistine territory, claimed but never settled by the Hebrews, and excludes the outlying parts of the large area claimed in Num. xxxiv. as the Hebrew possession (from the " River of Egypt " to Hamath). However, the Hebrews themselves have preserved, in the proverbial expression " from Dan to Beersheba " (Judg. xx.i, &c.), an indication of the normal north-and-south limits of their land; and in defining the area of the country under discussion it is this indication which is generally followed.
Taking as a guide the natural features most nearly corresponding to these outlying points, we may describe Palestine as the strip of land extending along the eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea from the mouth of the Litany or Kasimiya River (33° 20' N.) southward to the mouth of the Wadi Ghuzza; the latter joins the sea in 31° 28' N., a short distance south of Gaza, and runs thence in a south-easterly direction so as to include on its northern side the site of Beersheba. Eastward there is no such definite border. The River Jordan, it is true, marks a line of delimitation between Western and Eastern Palestine; but it is practically impossible to say where the latter ends and the Arabian desert begins. Perhaps the line of the pilgrim road from Damascus to Mecca is the most convenient possible boundary. The total length of the region is about 140 m.; its breadth west of the Jordan ranges from about 23 m. in the north to about 80 m. in the south. According to the English engineers who surveyed the country on behalf of the Palestine Exploration Fund, the area of this part of the country is about 6040 sq. m. East of the Jordan, owing to the want of a proper survey, no figures so definite as these are available. The limits adopted are from the south border of Hermon to the mouth of the Mojib (Arnon), a distance of about 140 m.: the whole area has been calculated to be about 3800 sq. m. The territory of Palestine, Eastern and Western, is thus equal to rather more than one-sixth the size of England.

The West Bank is 2200 square miles, and Eastern Palestine was estimated in 1911 to have been 3800 square miles.

In other words, there is a large area of historic Palestine that is under Jordanian rule.

Why is no one upset over Jordanian occupation of ancient Palestinian lands? Why doesn't anyone want to see an independent Palestinian Arab state on the Eastern banks of the Jordan?

Every map of "Palestine" published by the PA - in their textbooks, in their logos - completely ignores a major part of historic Palestine. If there is a long and ancient tradition of Palestinian Arabs living in the eastern part, why are they being ignored? The arbitrary British boundaries separating Palestine from Transjordan are relatively recent and have no bearing on Arab history. The people who lived on the East Bank have historically been exactly as Palestinian as those who lived in the West.

Not only that, but when Jordan annexed the West Bank there was no "liberation movement" to speak of even in that part of historic Palestine. The PLO was founded in 1964, before there were any "territories."

The only areas of Palestine that Arabs have ever wanted for an independent Palestinian Arab state happen to be whichever areas Jews control at any point in time.

What a coincidence!

Zionist pigs return

I mentioned in April about the latest conspiracy theory among Palestinian Arabs, that Israelis are releasing wild pigs to eat their produce.

Like all good stories, it becomes a recurring theme. In Arabic PalToday (autotranslated):

A correspondent in the northern West Bank that the settlers deployed hundreds of wild pigs and wolves in Salfit, especially near the colony "down", where animals are those in the Al Matwi, by the presence of sewage mentioned in the colony, which is fertile ground for breeding pigs and reproduction is surprising and without interruption.

Transfer correspondent for the San Ibrahim Hamad, director of Salfit emphasis on the cultivation of this matter, stressing that the ministry has spared no effort in combating pigs, despite the weakness of the possibilities available to them.

His Praise "it is difficult to combat the phenomenon of pigs for two reasons : the continuing Israeli occupation forces and settlers deployment, and secondly, the rapid reproduction considerably."

Our correspondent also noted that the farmers in the governorate of Qalqilya and found large numbers of wild pigs roamed the rebel lands and ruining crops.

The correspondent reported that Mohammed Abu Asida director cultivation Qalqilya, saying : "The phenomenon of the proliferation of wild pigs disturbing and dangerous and detrimental to Palestinian farms, explaining that the phenomenon began to spread after the completion of the racist wall, and the establishment of the gates on a large scale in confined areas behind the wall."

So far the "racist wall" is responsible for pig proliferation as well as flooding. Those sneaky Jews manage to even have their inanimate objects multitask.

HH CXIX plus

Haveil Havalim #119 is out at Soccer Dad. I am once again honored to have been included in this weekly roundup of the Best of the JBlogosphere, for articles about staged news photography in Gaza and for the third installment of my Psychological History of Palestinian Arabs.

Check it out!

This blog was also mentioned in the monthly History Carnival for my look back at Jerusalem, 1952.

Some fairly popular website, somewhere, has a link to the Google Images link to my link of a picture at Internet Haganah of the head of a female suicide bomber who was the hostess of a children's TV show from 2004. I am getting a steady number of hits for it and I'd love to know where they are coming from, since I only see the Google Images link.

Exploding cows and another child intrafada martyr

Ma'an (Arabic) autotranslation gives us this interesting puzzle to decipher:

boy died d spring Abed Rabbo (17 years old) who died from injuries suffered in the unfortunate events that took place today after a car hijacking Colonel retired intelligence Yasmin Abu Smahdanh in Jabaliya, north of Gaza.

The boy was injured after Scores of family members Abed Rabbo protesters on the driver kidnapped their son, while addressing them gunmen shot and seriously wounded in the abdomen, then transfer to a hospital Kamal aggression, he died of his wounds.

The kidnappers released the driver Magdi Ahmed Abed Rabbo (34 years old), a few hours after his abduction, where he was assaulted and molested transferred to the hospital to receive treatment.

So this young man was peacefully protesting the abduction of his father. And the kidnappers shot him dead.

This might hurt the Gaza tourism business.

Our PalArab self-death count is now at 278 for the year.

Meanwhile, Ma'an (English) offers this tantalizing Breaking News item (no link to the story yet):

Al Arabiya Satellite Channel: Fatah Al Islam using explosives strapped to cows in confrontations with the Lebanese army

The poor terrorists of Fatah al-Islam are forced to use such humiliating weapons against the far superior Lebanese Army because they have no choice. It would be a much fairer fight if we gave them their own tanks and airplanes so they can properly defend themselves. (I've seen people say that about poor Palestinian Arabs in the territories, so it makes just as much sense here...)

UPDATE: Clan Clash in Khan Younis. 18 year old killed, 16 year old seriously injured. 279.

UPDATE 2: Fatah terrorist Abu Obed, 20, killed by "unknown persons" in Jabalya. 280.

UPDATE 3: PalArab shot dead by PA "police" during a car chase. 281.

Today's news from the Religion of Peace

From YNet:

A Muslim extremist group threatened to behead female TV broadcasters if they don't don strict Islamic dress, leaving the women terrified and marking a further downward spiral in Gaza's anarchy.

The threat to "cut throats from vein to vein" was delivered by the Swords of Truth, a fanatical group that has previously claimed responsibility for bombing Internet cafes and music shops.

The new threat was the first time the organization targeted a specific group of people, and adds to a growing climate of extremism, fear and suspicion in Gaza.

In many parts of the Muslim world, religious conservative policies keep women out of TV anchoring positions or only let them take the jobs if they wear headscarves. But in some countries scarves are uncommon, like Lebanon and Jordan, and Egypt even keeps newscasters who wear them off its TV stations.

Most of the 15 women broadcasters on government-run Palestine TV wear headscarves. But they also wear makeup and Western clothing, which is not considered strictly observant by the extremists.

The Swords of Truth issued the statement Friday in an e-mail sent to news organizations. "We will cut throats, and from vein to vein, if needed to protect the spirit and moral of this nation."

The group accused the broadcasters of being "without any...shame or morals" and said it knew where to find the women.

Prior to the statement, some women broadcasters said they had received personal threats through their mobile phones. It was not clear if those threats were from the same group.

I just want to savor that quote again: "We will cut throats, and from vein to vein, if needed to protect the spirit and morals of this nation."

Isn't it wonderful that they take their morality so seriously?

Movie: "Recruited to Die"

From the New York Sun, H/T Little Green Footballs:

In 2004, 24-year-old Brooke Goldstein spent her summer in the West Bank filming more than five hours of in-person interviews with terrorists — all of which she conducted without a bodyguard and without a weapon. A Cardozo Law student with a fashion model's high cheekbones and long blond hair, Ms. Goldstein came face-to-face with Zacaria Zubeidah, a notorious recruiter of child suicide bombers. She interviewed suicide bombers' families and children, who aspire to "martyrdom." The resulting film, "The Making of a Martyr," will screen as part of the Brooklyn International Film Festival on Saturday and Tuesday....
The night before her first foray into the West Bank, she was terrified. "I called my sister and said, ‘You should know where I'll be in case I don't come back in 24 hours.' I thought of the lynching of those Israeli reservists. A million horrible things were going through my mind."

Her arrival didn't allay her fears. "There are gallows in Ramallah — they practice public hanging. There are pictures of dead children brandishing weapons — ‘martyr posters' — everywhere you look … with captions like ‘Our hero.'"

As the group walked through the town, they spoke to Palestinian Arab children in schools and on the street. "Our fixer was encouraging us to speak with the children. I think I'd always, deep down, had a hard time thinking the problem was really that bad. I thought maybe it was a lunatic fringe," she said.

In fact, the fanaticism was worse than she ever imagined. "The most shocking thing was reconciling the normal appearance of these kids and what was coming out of their mouths," she said. "I was holding these beautiful children in my lap, and my translator was translating words of hate."

The story was always the same. "No child ever said, ‘I don't want to be a martyr.' They talked about fame, paradise, virgins, and Ferris wheels [after death]. They were happy to tell me they hated Jews," she said.

The children were more fanatical than their parents. "When we interviewed Hussam's family for the film, his parents were distraught. They don't believe in this whole child suicide bomber concept," Ms. Goldstein said. "Then I interviewed his sister, who was like, ‘I'm so proud of my brother. Hamas says he's a hero.' At one point she had a loser, dwarf, mentally handicapped brother. Now she's the coolest girl in class, and very proud."

In addition to the children, Ms. Goldstein interviewed Mr. Zubeidah, commander of the Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades in Jenin. At the time, the Israel Defense Forces had made five attempts to assassinate him. In person, Mr. Zubeidah was not the harsh figure she had expected. "It was like talking to any other kid, about 27 years old," she said. "He was smiling. My translator told me, ‘He's talking about killing Jews.'"

Ms. Goldstein didn't say she was Jewish, but she asked if she were on the streets of Tel Aviv, could she be murdered in a suicide attack? His response was chilling: "He said, ‘Indeed you could. Right here you are my friend. I'm protecting you. But when you are in Israeli territory, I'm no longer protecting you.'"

Now 26, Ms. Goldstein, who finished law school in 2005, is setting up an international think tank of attorneys, psychiatrists, and policy makers to address the problem of recruiting children for terror. "It's a problem everyone should be concerned about," she said. "There are child suicide bombers now in Iraq and Afghanistan. And it's being orchestrated by adults."

It is a point her film makes with honesty and compassion in presenting Hussam and other impressionable children at the mercy of a predatory society, as well as in presenting the adults, some of whom seem to participate in these children's exploitation more due to intimidation than venality.

For a particularly disgusting example of inciting hate ,see this MEMRI video of a kindergarten graduation ceremony.

The impact of years of inciting hate in young children will be felt for decades to come. It will also distance Palestinian Arabs from other Arabs even more than they already are.

Musings on Lebanon

I am not the only one to read stories about the Lebanese Army fight against Fatah al-Islam terrorists in Lebanon and find myself wondering why the rules of war, diplomacy and semantics are so very different for Arabs and Jews.

I've already linked to this article that asks why the Lebanese army can go into a crowded civilian area and kill innocent people in the pursuit of terrorists, while Israel can never do that in world public opinion.

Eye on the World notices that Lebanese tanks and heavy artillery would be considered a "disproportionate response" in the Bizarro world that Israel is forced to inhabit.

I just can't get past the fact that people who were born and raised in Lebanon are considered "Palestinians" and that they are considered "refugees." In any other context, they would be considered Lebanese, but no one on the planet considers it inappropriate for Lebanon (or Syria or Jordan) to keep generations of Arabs in camps with few services and little prospects for jobs. No one says "apartheid" or "genocide" or "ethnic cleansing." Somehow, it is Israel's fault that Arab families are stuck in ghettoes in Lebanon for 60 years, and the UNRWA pretends to help these people by perpetuating their status as non-people with no rights. And when Lebanese kill a few dozen of them, hey, no biggie.

Their desire to integrate into the greater Lebanese society is given no weight whatsoever by the entire world of humanitarians and advocates for the downtrodden. Everyone "knows" that the best solution for them is to "return" to a state that they never lived in (and consequently destroy that same state.) 60 years of Arab desire to punish the Palestinian Arabs for being in the wrong place at the wrong time, 60 years of the most explicit kind of racial discrimination imaginable performed by their ersatz brothers, is crystallized as being moral.

The Arab attitude towards Palestinian Arabs can be summarized like this: Just wait a few more decades or centuries, and one day you can live in your very own Gaza. Meanwhile, we'll pretend to have your best interests at heart.

PalArabs using children as bait

The headlines say "Israeli troops kill Palestinian boys."

The PalArabs are saying either that the boys were out gathering scrap metal, or hunting birds, or playing. They are claiming that there was no warning and the boys were killed in cold blood.

They are lying.

Even al-Haaretz points out anomalies in the Palestinian Arab stories:

Israel Defense Forces troops on Friday afternoon shot dead two Palestinian children, aged 11 and 13, close to the ruins of the former settlement of Dugit, in the northern Gaza Strip.

An IDF spokeswoman said the two children and another 16-year-old were trying to place a bomb near the Gaza Strip border fence.

The army believes that they had been paid by one of the militant groups to place an explosive device.

"We know that a number of Palestinians crawled towards the border fence. They know that it is a dangerous area but they did not heed repeated calls to stop and they planted a suspicious device close to the fence," the spokeswoman said.

The 16-year-old, who was unarmed, was taken to an Israeli hospital for treatment, the IDF said.

YNet adds more detail:

Palestinians organizations said that no cell was operating in the area and that the IDF was claiming that gunmen approached the fence in order to justify shots fired for no real reason.

IDF officials noted, however, that terror organizations and Palestinian groups had distributed false information in the past few weeks claiming the IDF fired and hurt civilians. In a number of incidents, Palestinians also reported that IDF soldiers were killed or injured, but these reported were also proven to be false.

The troops spotted five Palestinians moving near the fence and called on them to stop. As the Palestinians ignored the call, the soldiers fired at them and killed two. A 16-year-old Palestinian was injured and evacuated to the Barzilay Medical Center in Ashkelon. A fourth Palestinian was arrested by the soldiers and taken in for questioning.

All of a sudden, the story changes from two twelve year olds innocently playing to a group of youths, including a 16-year old and at least one other, crawling near the fence that every Gaza parent knows is a kill zone.

Sorry, but these boys (if they were really 12, that could be a lie too) did not innocently walk into IDF fire. The entire group was warned and ignored the warnings. Whether someone put them up to it, or paid them, or perhaps they were older teenagers looking to become heroes, either way the IDF acted appropriately and the Palestinian Arabs at the very least acted negligently and at worst, maliciously and cynically.

"Mere fireworks" vs. "proudly manufactured" Qassams

To a Western audience, here is how PalArabs describe Qassams:

Bethlehem - Ma'an - Israeli TV Channel Two broadcast an interview on Thursday with the Palestinian Prime Minister's advisor, Dr Ahmad Yousef, in which Yousef described the homemade projectiles launched from the Gaza Strip at Israel as "fireworks".

But in their own media they look at Qassam rockets as scientific breakthroughs and proof of Arab ingenuity as they keep trying to "improve" them. From Ma'an Arabic (autotranslated):

The Nasser Salah al-Din Brigades, the military wing of the Popular Resistance Committees claimed responsibility for shelling the town of Sderot missile new aircraft Nasser 4 medium term.

The brigade sent Ma'an a copy of which was able to rocket bombardment of Sderot new aircraft Nasser 4 medium term were tested for the first time successfully at the town of Sderot. "

The brigade : "The Nasser rocket 4 advantage and the extent of the largest capital explosive device detonated greater precedent, which would have a deep impact on the destructive power."

Notice how the development stage of Palestinian Arab weapons R&D uses live Jewish women and children as guinea pigs.

May Qassam Calendar

As with the February, March and April calendars, the numbers for each date represent the number of Qassams fired on that day. The numbers in parentheses (second row after date) are those I saw reported by Palestinian Arab media, outside of parentheses (first row after date) are those reported in Israeli media. Linked dates are dates that Israel fired back. (Israel has fired back every day since the 15th and I have not maintained links for each day.)

May

Italicized numbers indicated number of mortars claimed to have been fired, as opposed to rockets.

June calendar here.

A Psychological History of Palestinian Arabs - part 3

The superficially cordial relations may have been the rule, but there were exceptions. The first Arab attack on a Jewish settlement occurred in 1886 when hundreds of Arabs descended on Petah Tikva in an attempt to destroy it. Around 1898 the Ottoman Empire outlawed Jewish ownership of land in Palestine but it reversed itself under European pressure in 1901. Arabs attacked Jews in Tiberias in 1901 and 1904, and in 1911 Arabs strongly protested the legal Jewish purchase of a large tract of land from the Sursuq absentee landlords of Beirut (the al-Fula incident.)

All of these incidents had one thing in common: Arabs protesting Jewish ownership of land in Palestine. No matter how legally the land was acquired, the very idea of Jews in control of land has historically caused reflexive Arab protest. Even in this early time period the Arab leaders would try to find legal arguments against Jewish land ownership.

History is almost necessarily weighted towards documents, and when historians talk about "Arabs" in this context it appears to refer to the Arab intelligentsia - the leaders, the writers, and those who are most likely to leave a record of their thoughts. Ordinary Arabs who moved to Palestine to work did not leave such a historical record, and their opinions of the Jews are left up to conjecture. While anti-semitism is a given in the Arab world at large, by the end of World War I they were starting to work directly for Jews. Clearly their antipathy for Jews did not outweigh their practical desire for jobs. In fact, there is some evidence that the most pronounced anti-semitism in the early 1900s came from Arab Christians, not Muslims.

In short, the average Arab in Palestine in this timeframe was more interested in his economic well-being than with politics or hating Jews. But that didn't mean that they could not be easily used by the press and by self-proclaimed leaders. The lack of sophistication among the average Arab, along with his sense of communal unity and his pre-existing biases, made him uniquely susceptible to manipulation by others. The entire concept of the "Arab street" has been a myth perpetuated by Arab leaders to strike fear into Westerners, and there was never a shortage of Arabs who could be easily manipulated into rioting or other violence.

These "leaders" had their own agenda. Arab nationalism emerged from a number of factors - the planting of nationalistic ideas from American missionary/teachers in the Middle East, the the decline of the Ottoman empire and early hopes for a pan-Arab state that would result, exposure to Zionist ideas and fear of Zionist plans being realized. In large part, Palestinian Arab nationalism seems to have been fueled more by their disgust at the possibility of Jews controlling any "Arab" land rather than any real desire to build their own country. The well-being of the Arab people themselves was never a part of the equation.

The best proof of Palestinian Arab "leaders" who had no interest in their followers except as pawns comes from the life of the infamous Mohammad Amin al-Husayni, the Mufti of Jerusalem. At first, Husayni advocated independence for "Greater Syria" which comprised today's Syria, Jordan, Lebanon and Israel. In fact, he wrote for a Palestinian newspaper named "Suriyya al-Janubiyya", or "Southern Syria" in English. This is not surprising as from the Arab perspective, Palestine had historically been considered "southern Syria" - an Arab map from 952 CE shows Jerusalem as part of Syria and Palestine is not listed as one of the 17 Islamic nations at that time.

But after the Sykes-Picot agreement dividing the Middle East between Britain and France, Husayni's dream of pan-Arabism was modified to pure anti-semitism disguised as Palestinian Arab nationalism. He instigated riots (with British help ) against the Jews during Passover in 1920, killing 5 Jews as Arabs ransacked the Jewish Quarter of Jerusalem.

Husayni's role in the riots bought him a ten-year prison sentence in absentia (he fled to Syria to avoid jail,) but he was granted amnesty and the new British civil administration appointed him Mufti of Jerusalem in 1921. As such he built his power base, getting elected as leader of the Supreme Muslim Council, controllingWaqf funds, the shari'a courts and many jobs. As he cemented his leadership role, his concerns for his Palestinian Arab brethren diminished.

For their part, the Palestinian Arab masses were not happy about this pogrom. 82 Arab villages who claimed to represent 70% of the Palestinian population and 90% of the peasant landowners condemned the riots and said that they prefer a Jewish settlement under British mandate to being at the mercy of the Arab effendi and money-lenders. These were not Husayni's concerns.

Three weeks after he reassured the British High Commissioner that he was a peaceful man dedicated to tranquility, Husayni discreetly instigated another set of riots, these much deadlier, in Jaffa and later to a few other areas. 43 Jews were killed.

In the wake of these riots, the Haycraft Commission placed the blame almost entirely on Arabs, and noted that they were encouraged by their leaders. While the 1921 riots do not appear to have been pre-planned (they were sparked by an altercation between Bolshevik and Communist Jews during a May Day march) they were fanned by unfounded rumors of Jews killing Arabs, showing again how easily a spark can turn into a conflagration when you combine Arab ignorance, latent anti-semitism and naivete. Nevertheless, Haycraft even-handedly mentioned that Arab fears and antipathy towards Jewish immigration and Zionism was a cause of the rioting.

This motif, where Arab violence would be blamed partially on Jews, helped set the stage for British restrictions on Jewish land ownership and immigration in the decades to follow. Not surprisingly, leaders like Husayni would see that instigating Arab riots would bring immediate political results, and even threats of violence could be used as an effective political tool.

Part 1
Part 2

British UCU boycott call: worse than is being reported

Yesterday, the British University and College Union voted to boycott Israeli academic institutions for the usual Jew-hating-masquerading-as-human-rights reasons. While this has been reported pretty widely, what people don't realize is that they passed two anti-Israel resolutions, the second one arguably worse.

The full of the resolutions are not even available on the UCU website - are they perhaps a bit embarrassed? - but I found a copy here:

Resolution 30 Boycott of Israeli academic institutions
Congress notes that Israel’s 40-year occupation has seriously damaged the fabric of Palestinian society through annexation, illegal settlement, collective punishment and restriction of movement.

Congress deplores the denial of educational rights for Palestinians by invasions, closures, checkpoints, curfews, and shootings and arrests of teachers, lecturers and students.

Congress condemns the complicity of Israeli academia in the occupation, which has provoked a call from Palestinian trade unions for a comprehensive and consistent international boycott of all Israeli academic institutions.

Congress believes that in these circumstances passivity or neutrality is unacceptable and criticism of Israel cannot be construed as anti-semitic.

Congress instructs the NEC to
§ circulate the full text of the Palestinian boycott call to all branches/LAs for information and discussion;
§ encourage members to consider the moral implications of existing and proposed links with Israeli academic institutions;
§ organise a UK-wide campus tour for Palestinian academic/educational trade unionists;
§ issue guidance to members on appropriate forms of action;
§ actively encourage and support branches to create direct educational links with Palestinian educational institutions and to help set up nationally sponsored programmes for teacher exchanges, sabbatical placements and research.

A count was taken of the voting on this motion which was as follows:
FOR 155 [61%]
AGAINST 99 [39%]
ABSTAIN 17

Resolution 31 European Union and Israel
Congress notes:
1. That since the Palestinian elections in January 2006 the Israeli government has suspended revenue payments to the Palestinian authority (PA), and the EU and US have suspended aid, leaving public-sector salaries unpaid and earning the condemnation of the Palestinian General Federation of Trade Unions;
2. That Israel is seeking to upgrade its relations with the EU to the same level as Norway and Switzerland, permitting free passage of goods, people and capital, while denying these freedoms to Palestinians.

Congress resolves to campaign for:
1. The restoration of all international aid to the PA and all revenues rightfully belonging to it;
2. No upgrade of Israel’s status until it ends the occupation of Palestinian land and fully complies with EU Human Rights law;
3. A moratorium on research and cultural collaborations with Israel via EU and European Science Foundation funding until Israel abides by UN resolutions

Congress instructs the NEC to encourage Branches/Associations to
1. raise these campaigns in their Institutions and
2. investigate the possibilities of twinning their Institution with a Palestinian University or College

This motion was declared passed on a show of hands –with a majority visibly still higher than that for Resolution 30.

The hypocrisy of calling for boycotts of Israel while allowing every oppressive nation on the planet to do business as usual is obvious.

But what is stunning is the fact that these same self-styled humanitarians support Palestinian Arab terrorism - at the same time that they want to boycott Israel, they are trying to prop up the same universities that lecture hate, support terror attacks against civilians and daily advocate genocide against Jews. Arab terrorism against Israel is not only condoned; it is encouraged by these moral midgets.

There are no shortage of znti-Zionist Israeli academics who freely condemn Israel - but they must be punished, according to the EUdiots in Britain. Yet can one even imagine a Palestinian Arab lecturer who can espouse a Zionist position in his classes? Free speech is an oxymoron in the Palestinian Arab universities that they want British universities to "twin" with.

Beyond that, they call for unconditional monetary aid to go to the same Hamas-led government that is behind the daily barrage of Qassam attacks on Israel. The amazingly stupid British intelligentsia doesn't only support Arab terror - they want the EU and US (and Israel) to fund it!

These resolutions are beyond imbecilic - they are embarrassing, and the fact that the British wackademics go along with these absurdities will ultimately make British academia and research irrelevant, not Israel's.

Crippled 13-year old killed by Qassam, ignored by media

A third victim of the recent escalation of Qassam attacks has been reported:

Thirteen-year-old Chai Shalom suffered from cerebral palsy, and was deaf, mute, and confined in a wheel-chair. He was hospitalized after a rocket landed next to a bus transporting him and three other disabled children.
According to the report, all four children were wounded by the force of the blast. The driver of the bus fainted and Shalom's caretaker alerted his father.
The boy died last week in Soroka Hospital after his condition worsened.
His father asked that Shalom be recognized as a terror victim and was denied because his particular incident had not been reported.

Chai is now the 11th fatality of Qassam rocket fire altogether.

I only saw this reported in The Jerusalem Post (5 hours ago) and Arutz Sheva (1 hour ago). (H/T Backspin.)

Qassam attacks are no longer news - it is getting harder to keep track of the daily numbers shot as fewer Israeli news outlets bother counting them.

When the Israeli media themselves start treating rocket attacks on Israeli citizens as no big deal, how can we expect the rest of the world to take them seriously?

Did the UN call on PalArabs to stop Qassams?

YNet reports:

The UN Security Council issued a statement Wednesday, calling the Palestinians to cease Qassam fire at Israel.

Unlike previous statements made by the council, calling on both Israel and the Palestinians to cease fire, Wednesday's statement did not call for a bilateral ceasefire, but rather for curbing of clashes in Gaza and the firing of rockets at Israel. (Yitzhak Benhorin, Washington)

This would certainly be interesting. It is unimaginable for the UN to scold Arabs for aggression against Israel without saying that Israel is doing something at least as bad.

Ma'an Arabic, probably copying YNet, wrote what appears to be an identical story.

Unfortunately, it doesn't seem to be true.

SECURITY COUNCIL PRESS STATEMENT ON BREAKDOWN OF CEASEFIRE IN GAZA STRIP

The following Security Council press statement on the breakdown of the ceasefire in the Gaza Strip was delivered today by Council President Zalmay Khalilzad ( United States):

The members of the Security Council expressed their grave concern at the breakdown of the ceasefire in the Gaza Strip and the resulting increase in violence. The members welcomed the efforts of Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas to establish a ceasefire, and expressed appreciation for the active support of the Government of Egypt in this regard. They urged all parties to join the members of the Council in supporting the call of President Abbas for an immediate end to the violence.

This refers strictly to an end to PalArab internal violence, and not a word about violence against Israel.

So the next question is - what is stopping the UN from such a call to Palestinian Arabs to stop Qassam attacks on civilian targets, a gross violation of international law in anybody's book?

Do we even have to ask?

UPDATE: It seems that YNet got confused with a statement that the Quartet made yesterday:

The Quartet strongly condemned the continued firing of Qassam rockets into Southern Israel as well as the buildup of arms by Hamas and other terrorist groups in Gaza. It endorsed PA President Abbas’ call for an immediate end to such violence, and called upon all elements of the PA government and all Palestinian groups to cooperate with President Abbas to that end. The Quartet called for the immediate and unconditional release of Israeli Corporal Gilad Shalit. The Quartet urged Israel to exercise restraint to ensure that its security operations avoid civilian casualties or damage to civilian infrastructure. It noted that the detention of elected members of the Palestinian government and legislature raises particular concerns and called for them to be released.

While the UN is a member of the quartet, this statement was not made by the UN.

Two Palestinians were killed and two others wounded when a car exploded in the West Bank city of Nablus on Wednesday, witnesses and hospital officials said.

They said the casualties were men in their 20s. Their identities were not immediately known.

Nablus has seen frequent fighting between Palestinian militants and Israeli troops over the past 6 1/2 years of conflict. A military spokesman said he knew of no Israeli actions in Nablus at the time of the blast.

Even though Israel is not known to use car bombs in the territories, that doesn't stop the PalArabs from blaiming Israel. Ma'an Arabic says:

two Palestinians died, and several others wounded, one seriously wounds in the assassination attempt carried out by Israeli forces bombing collection downtown Nablus tonight.

According to our correspondent, quoting security sources said that a big explosion occurred inside the jeep-type vehicle "Suzuki" in the Sheikh Muslim city center, which led to the martyrdom of young Mahmoud Fatayir, and another unidentified because Coked body, were near the enclave addition to the injury of a number of other citizens passers wounds, one critically.

Dude, the body was totally Coked!

Call me a Zionist bigot, but I tend to believe the IDF in this one. Our PalArab self-death count for 2007 is now 276.

UPDATE: One killed in Gaza by "unknown gunmen." 277.

Palestinian refugees, who fled the besieged refugee camp of Nahr al-bared in north Lebanon, walk in front of a mural at the adjacent refugee camp of Beddawi, 29 May 2007. Crowded into schools with little food and deteriorating sanitary conditions, life is growing more miserable by the day for thousands of Palestinian refugees who fled fighting in northern Lebanon. AFP PHOTO/JOSEPH BARRAK (Photo credit should read JOSEPH BARRAK/AFP/Getty Images)

People are upset over the al-Qaeda-linked Fatah al-Islam group that started taking over "Palestinian refugee camps" in Lebanon. But is anyone asking what made the camps such an ideal place for terror to spread?

This picture gives a good answer to that question. When generations of people are raised to worship weapons, when they decorate their own towns with romantic representations of instruments of death, why is anyone surprised that these places become incubators of terror?

Two notable articles

The real Palestinian Naqba
Jenin comes to Lebanon - so where's the outcry?

Terrorists: Propaganda in the media is our favorite weapon

The Arabic Ma'an has an article this morning on how important the media is to terrorists. (Probably later today the English site will have a better translation.) Excerpts:

Abu Al-Hassan, Director General of the web site of the Nasser Saladin Brigades, the military wing of the Popular Resistance Committees said "that the media is crucial resistance is supplementing the role of the struggling, No less a session on the role of the warrior in the battle it gives moral batches at the psychological and focuses on the negative impact on the psychology of the occupier. "

The spokesman Abu Ahmad media on behalf of Al Quds military wing of the Islamic Jihad Movement in Palestine, said that media resistance "as a fundamental and strategic resource for the resistance, and gives the resistance operations and activities of the various needs of the legitimacy of the Zionist media in the counter trying to show resistance as terrorist movements task only killing, slaughter and destruction."

He emphasized that "the role of media is to show that the resistance is self-defense and attempt to restore rights, and detect crimes of the occupation as real and tools used to kill the Palestinian people, and this is what happens when great equalizers domestic public opinion and the world in which we need to be this opinion to our side always."

His spokesman Hossam Abu al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigade of the Supreme Military Council said : "As long as there is resistance to the occupation must be accompanied by information shows the nobility message of Jihad and resistance, and the role of Mujahideen For this significant influence in the management of the battle with the occupier."

He continues, "Media resistance today is a fundamental pillar underlying resistance factions living among them Nasser Saladin Brigades, as an important means no less important than the rocket attack."

The Abu Ahmed "that the media can be sometimes more important than armed action, and sometimes other tributary of this work provide him with legitimacy and give cover for the continued addition of directing many of the messages both on a psychological level or practical."

He noted, "The media has real achievements supports and strengthens resistance to the image viewer and monitor local and managed to stabilize the Arab Palestinian version refuted the Zionist story, which is based on lies, fraud and deception."

The world's worst criminals are saying explicitly that the Palestinian Arab media are a weapon, that accuracy is not the aim of their media but propaganda is. Yet the world's news organizations will take the information published by Palestinian Arabic "news" sources uncritically. They employ stringers and photographers who make no secret of their biases nor their disregard for the truth and accuracy.

We are not just talking about their own websites. "Palestine Today" is a pro-Hamas newspaper that delights in any damage Qassam rockets inflict on Sderot - on their main page they've had a link to a large photo collection of Qassam rockets being fired and Jews in fear in Sderot. The "International Middle East Media Center" routinely refers to Israeli arrests as "abductions" and "kidnappings."

Truth has been left far behind in the PalArab media and the terrorists are pulling the strings.

This week's best terror arrest

From WND:

Israel today arrested a longtime wanted terror leader here in the West Bank city of Ramallah.

According to Israeli security officials and Palestinian sources in Ramallah speaking to WND, the terrorist was arrested while having car sex just a few hundred feet from late PLO leader Yasser Arafat's gravesite.

Khaled Shawish, an officer in Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas' Force 17 presidential guards, was captured by undercover Israeli police forces following scores of shooting attacks he is suspected of carrying out. Shawish, who doubles as the Ramallah chief of the Al Aqsa Martyrs Brigades terror group, previously boasted of involvement in a West Bank shooting attack in December 2000 that killed Israeli ultranationalist leader Benjamin Kahane and Kahane's wife, Talya.

The Brigades is the declared "military wing" of Abbas' Fatah party.

After the Kahane murder, Shawish was extended refuge by Arafat to live in the late PLO leader's Ramallah compound, widely known as the Muqata. Arafat is buried at the entrance to the Muqata.

Shawish continued the past seven years to live in the Muqata, from which, according to Israeli security officials, he directed the Brigades to carry out scores of shootings against Israelis driving on West Bank roads.

Several years ago Shawish sustained an injury during a gun battle with the Israel Defense Forces and has since been confined to a wheelchair, although he is still able to drive.

According to Israeli security officials and Al Aqsa Martyrs Brigades sources in Ramallah, Shawish was arrested after the Israeli police stormed his jeep, which was parked in a lot outside the Muqata, about 200 feet from Arafat's grave. The sources said at the time of his arrest, Shawish was having intercourse in the back seat of his jeep with a Palestinian woman, whose identity is being withheld by WND. The woman was not his wife.

The Brigades, founded by Arafat, largely considers the late PLO leader's resting place to be a sacred site.

I wonder if he still rates the 72 virgins when his time arrives? I hope he finds out soon.

Another hypocritical "human rights" statement

The "Palestinian Center for Human Rights" got a bit upset when their office in the Jabalya camp was damaged on Saturday:

At approximately 23:00 on Saturday, 26 May 2007, an Israeli warplane fired a missile at a security room belonging to the (Hamas - EoZ) Executive Force of the Palestinian Ministry of Interior near Timraz fuel station in the center of the densely populated Jabalya refugee camp in the northern Gaza Strip. The missile hit the room from the south and penetrated its roof. It then hit the ground causing heavy damages to PCHR’s branch office in Jabalya, nearly 40 meters away, and to dozens of houses and shops. Additionally, 15 Palestinian civilians were wounded by shrapnel. This attack apparently aimed at causing maximum damage to civilian property.

The hypocritical PCHR admits that the IDF shot its Hamas terror target exactly and then turns around to claim that Israel intended to cause maximum damage to civilians.

Beyond that, PCHR does not say a single word about the fact that Hamas operates out of civilian areas, endangering civilians in a cynical ploy to avoid getting hit itself.

Once again, "human rights" is not what PCHR is about - demonizing Israel is.

The civil war isn't over

While there have been few recent deaths, just today it is reported at PalToday that a tunnel was discovered leading to government buildings in Gaza, and that a PalArab judge had been shot multiple times.

A Ma'an poll in Arabic shows that two thirds of its readers say that Hamas' firing rockets at Sderot helped prevent fighting between Hamas and Fatah. Killing Jews is a time-honored formula for Arab peace, at least in the short term.

UPDATE: A "mysterious explosion" in the Nuseirat camp, two killed. PalToday says it appears to have been internal, not from an airstrike. Our self-death count rises to 273.

UPDATE 2: 3 dead from the explosion. 274.

A Psychological History of Palestinian Arabs - part 2

Although Jewish immigration to Palestine predates Zionism by centuries, the first major waves occurred in the late 1800s. Accurate demographic information about the Arab population of Palestine in the same time period is impossible to find, but it is apparent that the Arab population increased in concert with the Jewish population. An Ottoman population report for the Jerusalem district, which may not be accurate but is still instructive, shows the total population of the Jerusalem district (2/3 of Palestine) to increase dramatically between 1885 and 1910:

Year:	1885	1890	1900	1910
Population in Thousands:	233.2	336.1	341.6	382.1

While many claim "natural increase" to explain the Arab population growth, I have yet to see anyone explain why such natural growth should have only started in that time period. A regression analysis of the numbers above would indicate an absurdly tiny population in Palestine in the 18th century but by all indications it remained fairly steady at least since Christian pilgrims started writing about their travels there.

The most obvious explanation for the increase in Palestine's population is that many Arabs moved there. Jewish immigration brought in new capital, Jewish effort increased the amount of agriculture and industry, and Arabs naturally migrated to where they could honorably take care of their families. The entire Middle East was under the administration of the Ottoman Empire and there were no borders to stop Arab migration.

Arabs have, to this day, been naturally itinerant. Recent studies show that 70% of the residents of Qatar and the United Arab Emirates are immigrants and that "the world’s highest share of migrant population is to be found in the Middle East." The incomplete data we have coupled with the Arab history of migration and the Arab male's desire to support his family, together with the undeniable increase in the standard of living as the economy improved, all indicate a concurrent explosion of two immigrant populations in Palestine, Jews and Arabs, under the late days of the Ottoman Empire.

Interactions between the two groups seem to have been cordial although not as direct as one might think. Jews tended to employ Jews in the early decades of the Zionist movement and the Arab economic boom seems to have been more indirect from the infusion of new capital in the area rather than from direct employment.

It would be a mistake to confuse cordiality with respect, though - both the Arabs that moved to the area and the native Palestinian Arabs had a visceral hate for Jews as a people. A Christian travelogue published in 1874 noted the "Men in Palestine call their fellows 'Jew,' as the very lowest of all possible words of abuse." when explaining an insult of "Dogs, brutes, pigs, Jews!" So while practicalities and honor allowed Arabs to move to the area, and the Arab hospitality allowed them to interact relatively pleasantly, their innate hatred of Jews as a people far precedes Zionism.

(Part 1 here. It is going more slowly than I would like but these things take time....)