Nadene Goldfoot
Right now there are 48 Muslim majority countries in the world with over 1 billion people living in an area 672 times the size of Israel. These same Muslims are having a fit over the creation of the only Jewish state in the world that happens to be in their neighborhood. They are more than intolerant-they are anti-semitic!
1.4 million Arabs are citizens of Israel, but the planned Palestine will have no Jews at all. Arabs in Israel have the same citizenship as Jews do, even their own political parties and are voted into the knesset. Yet Jews are not allowed in Arab countries today. The recent earthquake in Iran called for all people to come help them except the Jews.
Over 3,300 years ago Israel was the birthplace of the Jewish people. This biblical kingdom was first ruled by Saul in 1020 BCE. King David ruled from 1004-965BCE and his son, King Solomon ruled from 965-930 BCE. When Solomon died the kingdom was split into the northern kingdom of Israel and the southern kingdom of Judah. Then the Romans conquered the area in 70 CE and it was renamed as Palestine in 135 CE to eradicate the Jewish presence. To the Jews who never left, it has always been known as Eretz Israel. Though much of the land was decimated and prisoners were taken or killed, some did remain. We have always managed to have a Jewish presence in the land.
The first Arabs arrived as conquerors in the 7th century, 2,500 years after the Jews had been there. Jewish tribes were living in Saudi Arabia but were either killed or converted by Muhammed and his followers when Islam stormed the area.
Jews started returning to Eretz Israel in the late 1800's and created the kibbutz. They bought land legitimately, drained swamps, killed mosquitoes and started communities. They had been caught in pogroms in Russia and had endured anti-semitism in Europe. They felt they needed their own homeland and remembered Jerusalem in their prayers every day for 2,000 years. This caused them to form zionist congresses and confer with Arab leaders. They bought land from Arab landowners who were living in Europe, and paid the extreme high prices because the unkept, deserted, swampy barren land was precious only to them because of their history with it. After all, it was G-d who told them to live there. We are eternally tied to this land.
In 1917 after WWI, Britain was given the task of supervising Palestine. Jews had fought with the British and Arabs had fought with the Germans. Chaim Weisman, Jewish, developed dynamite for the British and Jews were rewarded the homeland they had strived for. Our promised homeland consisted of both present day Jordan, Israel, and the administered territories. This was all written up in the Balfour Declaration.
Yet the British also made promises to the Arabs, so in 1922, Britain transferred 2/3 of the mandated Palestine to the Hashemite Bedouins who were driven out of Saudi Arabia by a rival clan. That became Jordan and no Jews were allowed to live inside it, even today. Yet Israel allowed Jordanians to come across the bridge to work in Israel. Jordan and the Palestinian Arabs had a war, and somewhere along the way the king married a Palestinian lady. Now it is made up mostly of Arabs who called themselves Palestinians. They have stated that they do not want any more Palestinians living in Jordan!
The Holocaust in Europe took the lives of 6 million Jews. Those that lived tried to get to Palestine, but the British fought against that, causing many to return to gas chambers or die in the ocean. Some managed to get into the holy land. They hit the ground off of ships only to be given a gun to fight Arabs who were attacking Jews. Was there no place that Jews could find refuge?
The Arabs that are citizens in Israel today are the ones whose ancestors, about 160,000 of them, stayed instead of leaving when all the Arab countries attacked Israel. 200,000 had fled upon the warnings of their leaders. Many successful Palestinian Arabs are the Christians who live in Haifa. Arab incomes in Israel are higher than others in the rest of the Arab world. They have freedoms that others can't even begin to understand.
Ironically, 700,000 Jews had been living in Arab countries, but when Israel was created, they were forced out. Yemen is a good example. They came to Israel and were found homes. Ofra Haza, our famous singer, was from this group of Yemenites. So just about the same number of Arabs left to become displaced people from then till now living in camps run by the U.N, while the same number of Jews were forced out of their homes by Arabs and were able to be integrated into a European-Ashkenazi community. Jews living in Arab lands were treated as 2nd class citizens, but they weren't subjected to acts like pogroms.
Russia was the vilest of all the European countries in keeping Jews on the Pale of Settlement, an area where they were allowed to live. They couldn't come into Russia proper. They were kept poor in shtetles for the most part. France was showing lots of anti-semitic qualities with the Dryfuss affair where a French soldier was treated differently because he was Jewish. England had periods of keeping all Jews out of the country.
Despite all the hardships, Jews kept their faith, and Judaism did not die. Being the first monotheistic faith, that is quite a feat to continue for almost 4,000 years.
Right now there are 48 Muslim majority countries in the world with over 1 billion people living in an area 672 times the size of Israel. These same Muslims are having a fit over the creation of the only Jewish state in the world that happens to be in their neighborhood. They are more than intolerant-they are anti-semitic!
1.4 million Arabs are citizens of Israel, but the planned Palestine will have no Jews at all. Arabs in Israel have the same citizenship as Jews do, even their own political parties and are voted into the knesset. Yet Jews are not allowed in Arab countries today. The recent earthquake in Iran called for all people to come help them except the Jews.
Over 3,300 years ago Israel was the birthplace of the Jewish people. This biblical kingdom was first ruled by Saul in 1020 BCE. King David ruled from 1004-965BCE and his son, King Solomon ruled from 965-930 BCE. When Solomon died the kingdom was split into the northern kingdom of Israel and the southern kingdom of Judah. Then the Romans conquered the area in 70 CE and it was renamed as Palestine in 135 CE to eradicate the Jewish presence. To the Jews who never left, it has always been known as Eretz Israel. Though much of the land was decimated and prisoners were taken or killed, some did remain. We have always managed to have a Jewish presence in the land.
The first Arabs arrived as conquerors in the 7th century, 2,500 years after the Jews had been there. Jewish tribes were living in Saudi Arabia but were either killed or converted by Muhammed and his followers when Islam stormed the area.
Jews started returning to Eretz Israel in the late 1800's and created the kibbutz. They bought land legitimately, drained swamps, killed mosquitoes and started communities. They had been caught in pogroms in Russia and had endured anti-semitism in Europe. They felt they needed their own homeland and remembered Jerusalem in their prayers every day for 2,000 years. This caused them to form zionist congresses and confer with Arab leaders. They bought land from Arab landowners who were living in Europe, and paid the extreme high prices because the unkept, deserted, swampy barren land was precious only to them because of their history with it. After all, it was G-d who told them to live there. We are eternally tied to this land.
In 1917 after WWI, Britain was given the task of supervising Palestine. Jews had fought with the British and Arabs had fought with the Germans. Chaim Weisman, Jewish, developed dynamite for the British and Jews were rewarded the homeland they had strived for. Our promised homeland consisted of both present day Jordan, Israel, and the administered territories. This was all written up in the Balfour Declaration.
Yet the British also made promises to the Arabs, so in 1922, Britain transferred 2/3 of the mandated Palestine to the Hashemite Bedouins who were driven out of Saudi Arabia by a rival clan. That became Jordan and no Jews were allowed to live inside it, even today. Yet Israel allowed Jordanians to come across the bridge to work in Israel. Jordan and the Palestinian Arabs had a war, and somewhere along the way the king married a Palestinian lady. Now it is made up mostly of Arabs who called themselves Palestinians. They have stated that they do not want any more Palestinians living in Jordan!
The Holocaust in Europe took the lives of 6 million Jews. Those that lived tried to get to Palestine, but the British fought against that, causing many to return to gas chambers or die in the ocean. Some managed to get into the holy land. They hit the ground off of ships only to be given a gun to fight Arabs who were attacking Jews. Was there no place that Jews could find refuge?
The Arabs that are citizens in Israel today are the ones whose ancestors, about 160,000 of them, stayed instead of leaving when all the Arab countries attacked Israel. 200,000 had fled upon the warnings of their leaders. Many successful Palestinian Arabs are the Christians who live in Haifa. Arab incomes in Israel are higher than others in the rest of the Arab world. They have freedoms that others can't even begin to understand.
Ironically, 700,000 Jews had been living in Arab countries, but when Israel was created, they were forced out. Yemen is a good example. They came to Israel and were found homes. Ofra Haza, our famous singer, was from this group of Yemenites. So just about the same number of Arabs left to become displaced people from then till now living in camps run by the U.N, while the same number of Jews were forced out of their homes by Arabs and were able to be integrated into a European-Ashkenazi community. Jews living in Arab lands were treated as 2nd class citizens, but they weren't subjected to acts like pogroms.
Russia was the vilest of all the European countries in keeping Jews on the Pale of Settlement, an area where they were allowed to live. They couldn't come into Russia proper. They were kept poor in shtetles for the most part. France was showing lots of anti-semitic qualities with the Dryfuss affair where a French soldier was treated differently because he was Jewish. England had periods of keeping all Jews out of the country.
Despite all the hardships, Jews kept their faith, and Judaism did not die. Being the first monotheistic faith, that is quite a feat to continue for almost 4,000 years.
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