Elder Of Ziyon - Israel News

Wednesday, May 31, 2006

United Press on the Palestinian Arab refugee problem, 1948

I have written previously about the origins of the Palestinian Arab refugee problem, talking specifically about the Arabs of Haifa and the Mufti's interest in creating and perpetuating the problem. I started tackling the Palestine Post sources on the birth of the Palestinian Arab refugee problem of 1948. It is actually a huge amount of research, but I found today an interesting article that was published in the Palestine Post but was written for United Press (now UPI).

The author's thesis is that Israel was using the Arab refugees as a bargaining chip in getting Jews out of Arab countries. Of course, this never happened, so the author's analysis is wrong, but the facts that he mentions surrounding the Arab refugees seem to be on target.

United Press' Robert Miller says explicitly that the Jews bent over backwards to stop the Arabs from fleeing ("the greatest concessions were made to the Arabs if they would remain in Jewish territory...The Arabs refused to listen.")

And then, he says that Israel started encouraging the Arabs to flee (he got the reasons wrong, as mentioned above.) But what is the worst that the Jews did?

"They pointed out that the Arabs were welcome to remain, but that the Jews couldn't furnish food. The Jews offered to provide trucks to take the Arabs to the front lines."
Here is the Israeli crime, as of August 1948: telling Arabs that if they wanted to leave, they would help them.

The article does not spell out why the Arabs left, whether it was out of fear or because they were encouraged to, but it does say explicitly that Jews did not force Arabs out of their homes. Not that this never happened - in the course of a war bad things happen and things are always a lot more muddled while they are happening. But so far I have found no contemporaneous evidence of it, although there were plenty of accusations to that effect by the Arab leaders at the time as they tried to demonize the Jews while they grappled with the undeniably huge refugee problem that was dropped on the doorsteps of Syria, Lebanon, Jordan and Egypt.

Interestingly, Saudi Arabia refused to accept any Arab refugees, claiming that they had no money for them, but offered to pay for fighting Jews:

See also Palestinian Media Watch where real Palestinian Arabs admit what happened in 1948.

One of the funniest sections of Aljazeerah.com is where readers write hilarious rants about Israel or America to Sheikha and Dr. Kareem, and Sheikha agrees wholeheartedly.

If you are looking for a laugh, here are some of the recent headlines (almost all end with exclamation points). They encourage responses, too...


	Zionists own Western Media!

	The Israeli constitution is based on Immoral and impractical concept!

	If the U.S. “democracy” is so great; then why are thousands dying to stop it from spreading in Iraq?!

	Non-proliferation must be universal!

	Why was Olmert in the U.S.?

	The Da Vinci Code must be pulled out from all cinemas!

	If we believed that the new government is a credible one, then we must believe all Bush’s lies about justifying the war!

	A Third Intifada?

	Watch out! You’re being spied on!

	What is it that the Ummah of Islam really needs?

	Since when has Mr. Bush become a prosecutor, judge and a witness at the same time?!

	The U.S. chose to side with the Israelis, the stronger party, instead of saving the victims!

	Do Muslim women practice their rights fully?

	America is resorting to tactics used by its 19th Century gangs!

	The Muslims’ pioneering innovations touched every dimension of Western life!

Palestinian Arab capitalism

How mature people handle stock losses:

At approximately 01:00 on Friday, 26 May 2006, unknown gunmen fired shots at the Palestinian Stock Exchange located in the Qasr Hotel building, in the Rafedia Quarter of western Nablus. The attack caused material damage to the exchange. Sources from the stock exchange indicated that the attack was motivated by losses incurred by some individuals, due to the decline in stocks of some companies.

I'm sure that Palestinian Arab stocks skyrocketed right after the gunfire.

Sounds like they're ready for statehood! After all - they deserve it!

BBC lauds Hamas humanitarian work

The BBC has an amazing article online now about the release of a British Hamas supporter.

Israel has ordered a British aid worker to leave the country, accusing him of backing a militant group.
Ayaz Ali, 36, originally from Bradford, had been held in a top security Israeli prison for three weeks without charge.
Mr Ali, who worked in Gaza for Islamic Relief, was freed on Monday and given seven days to leave Israel.
Israel had accused Mr Ali of helping groups linked to Hamas. Islamic Relief, which is Birmingham-based, said his release was a relief to aid workers.
Hamas, which is the ruling Palestinian party, runs an extensive network of social services including kindergartens and clinics.

'Great relief'

But it is considered by the Israeli government to be a terrorist organisation.
Islamic Relief's president Dr Hany El Banna OBE said: "I am glad that this whole situation has come to an end.
"It is a great relief to Ayaz's family, humanitarian workers all over the world and Islamic Relief.
"We are grateful to all those individuals, international NGOs and the UK government who helped secure Ayaz's release."

So the BBC, clearly sympathetic to Mr. Ayaz, highlights Hamas' "social services" and "kindergartens and clinics"; starts a new section of the story, and then mentions as an afterthought that Israel considers Hamas a terrorist organization.

They give specifics on Hamas' social work, but any specific examples of terror are left unwritten - in fact, the implication is that only Israel considers Hamas a terrorist organization, while the rest of the enlightened world knows that Hamas is a humanitarian network of charities and hospitals.

The BBC also fails to mention that Islamic Relief has been accused of terror ties itself. Russia accused it of supporting Chechnyan terror groups; they seem to have accepted money from Al-Qaeda front groups, and their "orphans" are often the children of terrorists, allowing Islamic Relief to reward terror.

In other words, any facts or background information that may indicate that Ayaz is in fact a terror supporter are completely ignored, and anything that makes him look like an innocent aid worker and victim of unwarranted Israeli aggression is highlighted.

Hat tip to Judeopundit

Advice for NATFHE

The National Association of Teachers in Further and Higher Education in Britain voted to urge their members to boycott all Israeli academic researchers and institutions, unless they publicly disavow supporting Israel's policies.

It's OK by me if the state of British academic research is so strong that they can afford to ignore all research coming out of Israel. But I think if they really care about the Palestinian Arabs, they should make the boycott much broader.

For example, using Intel Pentium 4 and Centrino/Pentium M chips in their computers should be strictly forbidden. THey were designed in Israel, and many of the Israeli researchers came from academic backgrounds.

Similarly, Windows XP was mostly designed in Israel, so they should really boycott that entire OS.

But such sacrifices should be a small price to pay for their principles. Boycotting Israel, and not, say, Iran, shows that these academics have strong principles indeed. So as they throw their cell phones using Motorola technology developed in Israel into the Thames, I will cheer them on.

Until that happens, one must assume that they are hypocritical anti-semites.

AP vs. Reuters photographers

Something interesting happened in the world of wire services yesterday.

Palestinian Arab terrorists planned to shoot their daily rocket barrage into Israeli villages, but the IDF was waiting for them. Between the gun battle and the helicopter missile, four of the bad guys ended up dead, rather than the kindergarteners they were aiming at.

AP was at the scene shortly after the terrorists got their just reward. The AP photographer shot a series of pictures showing the dead subhumans right next to their rocket launchers:

A Palestinian militant lies dead next to a homemade rocket prepared to be fired into Israel after he was killed by Israeli army gunfire in the town of Beit Lahiya in the northern Gaza Strip early Tuesday May 30, 2006. An Israel Air Force helicopter fired also a missile after the gunfight. At least three militants were killed and four other people were injured during the two attacks, Palestinian security and hospital officials said. (AP Photo/Hatem Moussa)

Reuters, alas, missed the opportunity to take similar photos. (A charitable explanation.)

But apprently to make up for missing the story, Reuters rushed to the hospitals in Gaza to show - what else - grieving relatives:

A Palestinian woman cries in a hospital in north Gaza Strip May 30, 2006. An Israeli helicopter gunship fired a missile during a gun battle between Israeli troops and Palestinian militants in the Gaza Strip on Monday night, killing three and causing several casualties, local witnesses said. REUTERS/Mohammed Salem

No mention of Kassam rockets at all! Only the poor, mourning Arabs, who died in a gunbattle with the cold, unfeeling IDF.

Considering Reuters' stated editorial policy...

Reuters news operations are based on the company's Trust Principles which stipulate that the integrity, independence and freedom from bias of Reuters must be upheld at all times.

Which wire service showed more integrity in covering this story?

UPDATE: BackSpin looks at this from a completely different angle. Also, see AbbaGav's take on the AP picture.

Just in case you thought NGOs were unbiased...

Three-day conference of European NGOs calls for a total boycott of Israel

GENEVA, May 29 (KUNA) -- The European Coordination Committee of Associations for Palestine, called for a boycott of Israel including sanctions and halting of investments. At the end of a 3-day conference Sunday the ECCAP applauded the mobilization of public opinion aimed at convincing governments and the International Community to exert its pressure on Israel to abide with its international obligations, as an occupying power, in conformity with international law.

Fund terrorists and boycott Jews. What a great bunch of people for governments to send their money to!

May 29, 1939: Palestine at the World's Fair

In May, 1939, Britain issued the infamous White Paper which overturned previous British policies of partitioning Palestine into two separate Jewish and Arab states. The White Paper itself is a remarkable read, as it shows the mindset of capitulating to Arab terror clearly, as well as the implicit idea that since Jews don't make as much trouble as Arabs, it is better to capitulate to Arab demands at the expense of Jewish lives.

The White Paper limited Jewish immigration for the entirely absurd reason that Palestine could not possibly economically support so many people without impacting the existing population - even as it admits that the Jews that immigrated so far has had no problems integrating and growing the economy. It is a wonder that the population of the area is increased many times over since then and yet somehow Israel hs a better economy than its more-roomy neighbors. Imagine that.

The White Paper also infamously capitulated to the Arab demands that Arab land sales to Jews be limited, in an amazing bit of enshrined political bigotry.

Unsurprisingly, the White Paper does not address the huge amount of illegal Arab immigration into the country. Only Jews are deemed a threat to the area.

In reality, of course, the reason is more clearly indicated here:

The lamentable disturbances of the past three years are only the latest and most sustained manifestation of this intense Arab apprehension [...] it cannot be denied that fear of indefinite Jewish immigration is widespread amongst the Arab population and that this fear has made possible disturbances which have given a serious setback to economic progress, depleted the Palestine exchequer, rendered life and property insecure, and produced a bitterness between the Arab and Jewish populations which is deplorable between citizens of the same country. If in these circumstances immigration is continued up to the economic absorptive capacity of the country, regardless of all other considerations, a fatal enmity between the two peoples will be perpetuated, and the situation in Palestine may become a permanent source of friction amongst all peoples in the Near and Middle East.

In other words, Arabs riot and murder and rampage when Jews move in, so if we have a choice of saving millions of Jews from certain death in Europe or upsetting Arabs who are quick to riot, it is much better to let the Jews die. Jews don't make as much trouble.

The fact that Palestine's economy was almost entirely the result of Jewish immigration is ignored. Economic reasons are the fig leaf of British fears of Arab terror, and Arabs then as now used terror to manipulate Western fears and policies, something I recently called the diplomacy of fear.

Against this backdrop. the World's Fair opened up in New York. The official British government of Palestine had no interest in exhibiting there, so the Jews of Palestine created their own exhibit. It is instructive to read Chaim Weizman's radio speech to the attendees, as it lays out the Jewish reaction to the bigoted and ultimately genocide-friendly White Paper. He makes the points that while the White Paper is immoral, it will not stop the ultimate rebirth of a Jewish state, that it was Jewish sweat that built Palestine up from an ignored slum to a major player in the Middle East.

Notice also Chief Rabbi Yitzchok Herzog's address, which was written before the White Paper, emphasizing how the Jewish return to Palestine has ecomonically benefited their Arab neighbors. Rather than talking about displacement and colonization, as is commonly charged nowadays, the Jewish leadership of Palestine always and consistently spoke of a win-win situation where Arabs and Jews both prosper.

The Arab leaders always pretended that Palestine was a zero-sum game, and the British White Paper codified that thinking. The Jews and the facts bore out a completely opposite conclusion - Palestine could and did turn into an economic powerhouse, benefiting hundreds of thousands of ordinary Arabs who moved in to take advantage of the Jewish-built economy.

Then, as now, outsiders pretend that they know the best solution to the Jewish "problem", and they come up with sometimes well-meaning plans to solve this problem. And then, as now, if their ideas end up accidentally resulting in the mass murder of Jews, they can say "oops - but we meant well."

Ahmadinejad's DNA, redux

I noticed today that Hyscience has linked to my scholarly debate of whether Ahmadinejad is a chimp or an ape.

On a related thread at Israellycool, someone named Woland pointed out this great picture that sheds light on the topic:

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said Sunday that the "international Zionist web" was trying to keep him from visiting Germany for the World Cup soccer match.

Well, this is flattering. Considering that ZOG and the Worldwide Zionist Conspiracy and the dreaded Israel Lobby get all the good press, my own Web division of the Elders has been keeping low-key.

But now that Ahmadenijaddio has blown the lid on the IZW, I have to 'fess up. I'm one of the founders of the IZW, and I even designed the logo with super-secret ancient Hebrew writing:

Now that we are "outed" you will be seeing a lot more from us, as we continue in our never-ending plan to ensnare evil goyim in our web.

If you want to join the IZW, just place the logo from my sidebar on your blog and link to this posting, and I will add you to the Conspiracy!

Haveil Havalim #71 - and the hits just keep on coming

WestBankMama at WestBankBlog hosts this week's Haveil Havalim #71, listing notable posts from the J-Blogosphere.

As usual, I dislike self-nominating, so I am honored that two of my posts are listed: Old Jerusalem and the post about the Americans killed by the terrorist Israel arrested last week (also linked by BackSpin.)

And of course it includes many good articles that I didn't notice the first time around, so check it out!

Lebanese-Americans publicly support Hezbollah

The Arab American News, a newspaper in Dearborn, Michigan, covered a "Liberation Day" rally that Detroit suburb last Thursday night, celebrating Israel's withdrawal from southern Lebanon (they call it a military defeat.) The rally organizers stressed that they are loyal Americans - and that they support Hezbollah against Israel:

The speakers stressed the importance of remembering the community’s victories, and the need to stay brave in the face of intimidation against expressing support for movements of justice and liberation. Osama Siblani, AAPAC president and publisher of The Arab American News; Abed Hammoud, President of CAAO; and Consul General of Lebanon, Dr. Ali Ajami, were adamant about the need to make it clear to American policy makers that the Lebanese are very loyal to America and its people despite having strong objections to the hypocrisy in the U.S.’ policy towards Lebanon and its one-sided support for Israel.
The speakers insisted that the Lebanese American community’s support for the resistance in Southern Lebanon and their opposition to the crimes of the state of Israel do not, in any way, detract from their loyalty to America.
Osama Siblani said “I have never been to the South of Lebanon until my recent trip earlier this month. I went from Beirut all the way to the border in the South. I want all of the American officials to know that I did not see a single person with a firearm from Beirut all the way to the border, except at one Lebanese Army checkpoint. What I have seen calls for us to be proud: people living their lives, smoking the water pipe, playing cards, watching their kids play on both sides of the border without threat! So why are you calling Hizbullah a terrorist organization, and why do you want to take their arms? I didn’t see any arms.”

The Lebanese Consul General in Detroit, Dr. Ali Ajami, gave brief remarks in English and Arabic. Responding to the Lebanese government’s deletion of Liberation Day as a national holiday he said “If they don’t want to celebrate liberation there, I will celebrate it here!” He also said that the resistance in Lebanon was to be celebrated and that it was a natural reaction of any people to occupation, threat and aggression. Ajami said “We did what any simple man would do. If your house is invaded you have to know what should be done, drive them out of your house. We are no terrorists, we are simple people trying to live in peace … yes I would agree both of us, Lebanese and Israelis, want peace, we want peace, p-e-a-c-e, and they want piece, p-i-e-c-e, a piece of our land!”

They glossed over the fact that their heroes killed 241 American servicemen in October 1983 and 17 in April, 1983. In fact:

Using names like the Organization of the Oppressed on Earth and the Revolutionary Justice Organization, Hezbollah is also believed by the United States to have kidnapped and tortured to death[11] U.S. Marine Colonel William R. Higgins and the CIA Station Chief in Beirut, William Buckley, and to have kidnapped around 30 other Westerners between 1982 and 1992, including the American journalist Terry Anderson, British journalist John McCarthy, the Archbishop of Canterbury's special envoy Terry Waite and Irish citizen Brian Keenan. Hezbollah was accused by the US government of being responsible for the April 1983 bombing of the U.S. Embassy in Beirut that killed 63; of being behind the suicide truck bombings that killed 241 U.S. Marines in their barracks in Beirut in October 1983; of bombing the replacement U.S. Embassy in East Beirut on September 20, 1984, killing 20 Lebanese and two American soldiers; and of carrying out the 1985 hijacking of TWA Flight 847 en route from Athens to Rome. Hezbollah denies involvement in these attacks and no evidence has come forth since.

No dual-loyalty there....just "loyal" Americans who support terrorists and would-be genocidal murderers who scream "Death to America!" at every opportunity.