I have utmost respect for the Israeli nation. About two years ago, Benjamin Netanyahu gave an interview and was asked about Israel's occupation of Arab lands. He gave a very accurate and honest answer, "It's our land". Since we rarely get fair and accurate reporting from the media and facts tend to get lost in the jumble of daily events, the following is a short but important review of historical facts compiled by a Christian university professor:
1. Nationhood and Jerusalem: Israel became a nation in 1312 BC, two thousand years before the rise of Islam.
2. Arab refugees in Israel began identifying themselves as part of a Palestinian people in 1967, two decades after the establishment of the modern State of Israel.
3. Since the Jewish conquest in 1272 BC, the Jews have had dominion over the land for one thousand years with a continuous presence for the past 3300 years.
4. The only Arab dominion since the conquest in 635 lasted no more than 22 years.
5. For over 3300 years, Jerusalem has been the Jewish capital and has never been the capital of any Arab or Muslim entity. Even when the Jordanians occupied Jerusalem, they never sought to make it their capital, and Arab leaders did not come to visit.
6. Jerusalem is mentioned over 700 times in the Tanach, the Jewish Holy Scriptures. It is not mentioned once in the Koran.
7. King David founded the city of Jerusalem. Mohammed, the self-proclaimed prophet, never came to Jerusalem.
8. Jews pray facing Jerusalem. Muslims pray with their backs toward Jerusalem.
9. Arab and Jewish Refugees: In 1948, the Arab refugees were encouraged to leave Israel by Arab leaders promising to purge the land of Jews. Nearly seventy percent left, without seeing an Israeli soldier. The Jewish refugees were forced to flee from Arab lands due to Arab brutality and persecution.
10. The number of Arab refugees who left Israel in 1948 is estimated to be around 630,000 while the number of Jewish refugees from Arab lands is estimated to be about 800,000.
11. Arab refugees were intentionally not absorbed or integrated into the Arab lands to which they fled, despite the vast Arab territory. Out of the 100,000,000 refugees since WWII, theirs is the only refugee group that has never been absorbed or integrated into their own people's land. Jewish refugees were completely absorbed into Israel, a country no larger than the state of New Jersey.
12. The Arab-Israeli Conflict: The Arabs are represented by 22 separate nations, not including the Palestinians. There is only one Jewish nation. The Arab nations initiated all five wars and lost. Israel defended itself each time and won.
13. The PLO's Charter still calls for the destruction of Israel. Israel has given the Palestinians most of the West Bank land, autonomy under the Palestinian Authority and has supplied them.
14. Under Jordanian rule, Jewish holy sites were desecrated, and the Jews were denied access to places of worship. Under Israeli rule, all Muslim and Christian sites have been preserved and made accessible to people of all faiths.
15. The UN record on Israel and the Arabs: Of the 175 Security Council resolutions passed before 1990, 97 were directed against Israel. Of the 690 General Assembly resolutions voted on before 1990, 429 were directed against Israel. Fair and balanced?
16. The UN was silent when 58 Jerusalem synagogues were destroyed by the Jordanians. The UN was silent while the Jordanians systematically desecrated the ancient Jewish cemetery on the Mount of Olives. Again, the UN was silent while the Jordanians enforced an apartheid-like policy of preventing Jews from visiting the Temple Mount and the Western Wall. What an austere body!
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