How Israel Has Grown Since 1948

Nadene Goldfoot
Moses, born in 1526 BCE,  left Egypt at the age of 80 (1446 BCE) with 600,000 slaves to start anew in Canaan.  Those Israelites had seen the genocide of their newborn male babies by the Egyptians who were trying to stem their growth, and Moses was saved from this as a newborn by being hidden away in some reeds. That makes it 3,458 years ago that we had been freed from slavery and had set out on a very special journey of 40 years to get to our homeland.

In May 1948 when Israel was re-born through the UN the population was 650,000.  By May 1972 it had grown to 3,164,000.  1,400,000 were immigrants or as they say in Hebrew, olim.  Israel had 4 waves of immigration.
1.  Between May 1948  to the end of 1961, 754,800 olim entered Israel including
       a. refugees from the Holocaust in Europe, remnants of the Jewish communities in Poland, Bulgaria and Czechoslovakia.
       b. Entire Jewish communities from Arab countries including 121,000 out of 130,000 of the Jews in Iraq; 44,000 out of 45,000 of the Jews of Yemen, 30,500 out of 35,000 of the Jews of Libya.

2. Between 1955 and 1957, 165,000 Jews came from Morocco, Tunisia, Poland and other countries.
    A large number of Jews from Romania arrived in Israel under a family reunification scheme.

3. Between 1961 and 1964, 215,056 Jews came, mainly from Eastern Europe and North Africa.

4. Since the Six-Day War in 1967 there has been a new wave of immigration from countries in North and South America, Western Europe and the Soviet Union.  By the end of 1972, about 200,000 immigrants had arrived.  My husband and I arrived in 1980 from Oregon. We were teachers who were set to teach English.

Jews had been living in ancient Jewish communities in Iraq, Yemen, Egypt, Libya for over 2,000 years and they immigrated to Israel, virtually ending the existence of those communities.  In several Eastern European countries, immigration removed what was left of the Jewish communities after the Holocaust.  Poland, Hungary and Romania where they had been a minority only have a handful remaining if any now.  This makes Israel the largest Jewish population next to the USA.  Nearly 700,000 immigrants, almost half the total-came as destitute refugees from Moslem countries.  This number matches that of the Palestinian Arabs who became refugees in 1948.  

When the Jewish immigrants arrived in Israel the first thing they needed was housing and employment.  Israel was still an infant State dealing with heavy immigration in its first 3 years.  Most were housed in tents to start with called ma'barot-or tent camps.  They had to start by living on welfare grants or subsistence wages for work on public welfare projects.  Today they are taken directly to new homes or to absorption centers where they study Hebrew, which is what happened to me.  I was in such a place called an Ulpan in Haifa, studying to earn my credentials to teach in Israel,having been an experienced teacher in Oregon.

The problem Israel faced in those years was a cultural integration of half of the immigrants coming from Moslem countries in North Africa and Asia where most had lived in poverty and of a traditional and authoritarian Muslim society where they were 3rd class citizens or dhiminnis.  Another teacher in my school was from Iran where he had seen half of the male members of his family hung for being Jewish.   The other half came from Europe and America where their background had been of a modern democratic and technological society.  Today East is marrying West and things have worked out. In fact, by 1970, 18.5% of marriages were of couples of mixed cultural origins.    The results are that we have beautiful and intelligent people to be proud of.  Israel did it all by themselves with the help of grants and loans from the USA but never had to involved UNRWA.  They paid back the loans and integrated the people into the society.

Resource:  Facts About Israel, Division of Information, Ministry for foreign affairs, Jerusalem
The New Standard Jewish Encyclopedia

The Elephant in the Room: Right of Return for "Palestinians"

Nadene Goldfoot
The elephant in the room seems to be the "right of return of Palestinian refugees."   The creation of a state of Palestine has this to deal with.  Already there seems to be 5 million refugees which have grown considerably since 1948.  The problem is that their descendants are also being counted.

The shock of it all is that the original Arab refugees  did not take advantage of the newly created Israel who begged the people not to flee at the creation of their state, but to stay.  Those that stayed became citizens of Israel.  Those who listened to their leaders left and wound up in refugee camps.  These people were being used as pawns in the game of Chess.  They were manipulations to pull the strings against Israel.  "See what you have done?  These poor people must live in these filthy camps!"  was the message given to the world.

All the while, there were Jews living in Arab countries at the same time.  At the creation of Israel, Arab leaders  told the Jews they must leave and had very little time to do it.  Whether they wanted to or not, they moved to Israel.  Israel didn't put them in refugee camps.  They made accommodations for them and took them into the fold, for that was really what Israel was created for.  Enough of this business of being kicked out of countries because they were the scapegoat for all the world's ills.  These Jews lost their businesses and their wealth in the move, but were not a burden for the UN.

"There were about 92,300 Arabs in the primarily Jewish -settled area in 1893 which could have increased naturally by 1947 to as much as 249,000 and little more.  Instead,  the Arab population there had grown into 462,900, 5 times as many Arab inhabitants by 1947 in the Jewish-settled areas as in 1893.  Something had happened to the math.  In other words, by the most conservative calculation, 170,000 Arab immigrants were never recorded by the government, were never figured into the political equations, and yet they had moved in".  Joan Peters, in her book "From Time Immemorial" shows in her 601 page book how the numbers were manipulated and incorrect to start off with.  But never mind that.  This isn't even the main issue today.

The issue is that for 64 years Palestinian Arabs have been living off UNRWA and have never worked for their money and the United States are the ones paying most of  this money out.  They could have found residence in 22 adjoining states that are Muslim, but the chess game never formulated rules to allow such a move.  Senator Mark Kirk of Illinois wants to put an end to it as the USA is in the red and can't afford such assistance anymore. After all, we're borrowing money from China to do this, and we are obligated to pay it back with interest!     Senator Leahy, also trying to balance the USA budget has discovered one of the refugee camps in Jordan by the name of Baqa and is quite upset by it.  80,000 people live in there and are indistinguishable from the locals, living in residential homes, have stores and markets, office buildings, schools, hospitals, just like America has. The Baqa refugees are all for Al-Qaeda, the terrorists..  Here they are getting the USA aid and 67% of Jordanians blame the West for their lack of "prosperity" and support suicide bombings against us.  Leahy asks if it is in our national interest to keep plowing money into UNRWA.

UNRWA has a 1.23 billion dollar biennial budget, but there is no ceiling on when a refugee's time is up.  Five million are on the dole now and the fear is that there will be fifty million sooner or later.  What is this?  A protection racket like in the 20's?

In the meantime, the King of Jordan had 1.5 billion dollars to build the Red Sea Astrarium, but they can't lend a hand to get the refugees on their own feet.  That's not an expense our budget likes to see.  We also have had our own problems, such as our city of New Orleans during the hurricane Katrina on August 29, 2005 with 70,000 jobs lost due to that and 15,000 to 20,000 people in the Superdome who had lost their homes.  They were also displaced.  

This refugee problem is also a thorn in the side of the 2 state solution or even a 1 state solution.  Another solution has been to make Jordan the Palestinian state but the king has nixed that as well.  Someone way back when should have laid down ground rules.  You are a refugee for 4 years and that's it.  A committee should have been formed to get them a home and another to become employed.

The refugee problem came about due to war, and the families involved made the choice to listen to the wrong leaders.  They have carried this refugee business into their grandchildren and possibly great grandchildren, making them also refugees.  The UN is culpable of aid and abetting this condition.  It's like people who help the alcoholic to get that drink they want.  We're a people ready and eager to help in time of need, but not ready and eager to keep people in such a state forever.  Shame on UNRWA!

Resource: http://thecable.foreignpolicy.com/posts/2012/05/25/did_the_state_department_just_create_5_million_palestinian_refugees
FrontPage Magazine:  http://frontpagemag.com/2012/06/01/welfare-for-fakek-palestinian-refugees-not-in-americas-interest/ by Daniel Greenfield
From Time Immemorial-the origins of the Arab-Jewish conflict over Palestine by Joan Peters 

The Teacher and the Preacher in Portland: A Miracle

Nadene Goldfoot
A miracle is continuing in the Portland area and is growing in the creation of a radio program called "The Teacher and The Preacher,"  Pastor Dave McGarrah and Charlie Schiffman discuss a number of topics on the air with live callers participating with questions about Judaism and Christianity including Israel.

These two good friends are building bridges between the two religions and cover the theological differences while concentrating more on the things we have in common.  They realized that the USA is built on the principals of the Judeo-Christian faith and they have learned to walk together with mutual respect for each other's views.  There is no desire in the Pastor's heart of converting Charlie, so that the two can dialogue comfortably about what they share along with the differences.  I enjoyed the fact that Charlie answered questions from the audience without blinking an eye.  He told it straight and was truthful.  So did Dave, while the callers were grateful and seemed to understand and appreciate the answers.  Where else can you get such straightforward answers to questions you wanted to know about?  Both men are of the highest caliber to answer some of these tough questions.   They are convinced that America's closest ally in the world today is Israel, and so supporting Israel is both politically and diplomatically important, as well as is Biblically mandated.

People marvel at this but they say it's like a good marriage.  They have love for each other and mutual respect.  they can see the goodness in each other, and that helps when they come to an issue that needs more understanding.

Tonight they were able to reach the Treasure Valley area of Boise, Idaho and Eastern Oregon, my old stomping grounds. They will also be heard in Seattle another time.  Any living out-of-town can go to the KPDQ website and listen online.  They can also call in through the 800 number that they announced.

Charlie had commented to the audience that June 6th is D Day, the day Jews had hope that the war would end.  They had said after losing 6 million to the Nazis, never again.  Pastor Dave commented that his idea of Jesus is that he wants us all to live in peace and not in war.  We can say ditto that as well.  That's why Charlie commented about Iran making plans to do away with another 6 million and we do not want that to happen.

CUFI is another wonderful organization showing their love and concern for Israel and the Jewish people as well.  Charlie commented that it's really a surprise to many Jews who are so used to being confronted by people who only intend to convert them, that it's awesome to find true friends with love in their hearts and that's all.  I can add that the way the European Union and the UN have treated us makes this turnabout of attitude an even bigger and more important miracle, for this is the time that friendship and a showing of love is indeed the most important.

Tonight the program was heard on KPDQ, 93.9 FM at 6pm to 7pm.  The regular show is on at 6:30 pm Sundays.

Rumbles, Terrorist Activities in Gaza and Samaria

Nadene Goldfoot
Gaza is not "Occupied" by Israel, but is under the authority of Hamas, a terror organization which the people voted for.  Gaza is right next door to Israel, like across the street.  Since Israel pulled out, lock, stock and barrel, they've been the targets of an ongoing raining of missiles, mortars and rockets.  It was done as a good will gesture towards peace but instead got war in return.  This happened in August 2005 causing Jews to be resettled that were ousted from Gaza and 4 towns in northern West Bank (Judea and Samaria).

The IAF struck back at 3 factories who were making weapons in the central part of Gaza on Saturday night and hit 2 terror tunnels as well, one in northern Gaza and one in the south.  This came as a response to the killing of a 21 year old IDF soldier when terrorists tried to infiltrate the western Negev from Gaza early Friday morning in the fog.

The terrorists had been advised some time ago that Israel is no longer just sitting on their haunches while they are being used as target practice.  If their Israeli citizens and IDF soldiers are harmed in these terrorist acts, Israel will respond.  Israel tries to take out the sources of the problems and not the people in the area like the rockets, missiles and mortars can do when they fall everywhere into Israel.

 A separation barrier was built in 1994 by Israel between the two places to protect its citizens,  but it doesn't stop the lobbing of this shelling.  Gaza is only 13 miles away from the large city of Ashkelon, Portland's sister city and cite of  the big hospital, "The Barzilai Medical Center which services all people, Palestinians and Israelis.  Sitting right on the border just about is the town of Sderot  "which has been in the line of all the fire which has been under constant attack, shock and confusion, suffering daily fears and a regular routine of silent threat."

And then we have UNESCO's slant on things.  "At the three days of meetings in Paris, which began Wednesday, speakers charged Israel with “systematic terrorism,” “throttling the people” of Gaza, pursuing “criminal” policies and a “policy of racist violence.”  When will they ever  look into the causes of Israel's "throttlings?"  


Now that Abbas has teemed up with Hamas, there are more attacks on Jews coming from Judea and Samaria, who also are not "Occupied" by Israel.  The PA are the authority in their area, of which Abbas is responsible.  Israel's military looks out for the Jewish villages, towns and cities also located there.

 One such attack just came in Shomron, Samaria in the town of Yitzhar which is south of Nablus.  This is an Orthodox Jewish community of about 895 people.  Yitzhar lies in area C of the West Bank which is under Israel''s civil and security control.  They often have clashes with Israel's security force and the local Palestinians.

Two incidents happened with one attack prevented by the Israeli security team..  The proposed demolition of the Ulpana neighborhood in Beit El is thought to induce more violence. Some homes in this Beit El  have been deemed to be illegal according to Israel's Supreme Court and were ordered to be demolished, but has now been given a 60 day extension.  However, the Supreme Court has ruled that Israeli law does not apply in Judea and Samaria, which has never been annexed and remains under military rule.

 Two weeks ago some young people of Yitzhar fought with nearby PA Arabs.  When the army reached the scene one of the security force members wounded a Palestinian in retaliation to a threat from him.  Arson was one cause from either the residents or the Arabs.  Incitement is also a big cause for arrests.

It is the Palestinian goal of ousting all Jews from Judea and Samaria and East Jerusalem and make it their state, which will be Judenrein, free of Jews.  On the other hand, Israel is made up of 1.4 million Arabs and is a democracy.  The fear is that this is only step one in ousting Jews out of Israel period, as they have threatened to do.

Resource: Arutz sheva news@israelnationalneews.com:  IAF Strikes Terror Targets in Gaza by Elad Benari
PA Arabs Attack, Israelis' Weapons confiscated by Maayana Miskin
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Israel%27s_unilateral_disengagement_plan
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yitzhar
http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/155691 Beit El
http://www.youtube.com/watch_popup?v=_Q5--mNIZhU&hd=1 Israel's first Cantor of the IDF, a Lt. Col of the Paratroopers sings "Avinu" with Philharmic Orchestra. It's the prayer for the state of Israel.   Not a lot of connection with above essay except to say our soldiers are also abiding by Jewish ethics while doing their job of defending their people from onslaught.
http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/156500#.T8035rDL5GY

Occupation? Israel's Involvementa in Judea and Samaria Isn't This

Nadene Goldfoot
Looking at the facts may be hard as they are so flavored with political involvement that they are almost hard to decipher today.  The fact is that Israel was attacked by all the neighboring states in 1967 and won.  The many against the littlest on the block is what occurred.  It wasn't a fair fight nor was there even a logical reason to attack.  It was out of greed and misplaced  egotistic righteousness on the attackers' parts. In fact, it was downright coveting, that sin listed in the Ten Commandments that many think is out of date.

In winning, Israel took over the West Bank, a name given to Judea and Samaria by Jordan, who had occupied the area without any legal basis in 1948 when Israel was created a state legally through the UN.  Israel did not take land from a state called Palestine.  It was taken from Jordan who occupied it illegally in the first place from 1948 to 1967.  Actually that area had been supposed to be a part of the future Jewish state under the British Mandate, and they in turn had the Mandate because the Ottoman Empire had it and lost it at the close of the 1st World War, and they had lost it to the Allies because the Ottoman's had sided with Germany who was defeated, but then the only people noticing this little fact are a few Israelis and a smattering of other caring historians.

"Occupation" is often used as a political word.  The people who use it do not understand the general or legal meaning of the term.  By using "occupation" it reduces complex situations of competing claims and rights to Right and Wrong.  Today it's freely used when talking about the Israeli-Palestinian conflict which implies that Israel bears ultimate responsibility for the welfare of the Palestinians and is used in an extreme derogatory manner.  This denies Israel's right to even defend itself against the continual Palestinian terror.  It takes away the Palestinian's responsibility for their own actions and the consequences thereof.  It's another assault on Israel's legitimacy, as if Israel didn't follow enough of the rules to be re-established after its 2,000 year hiatus.  It has nothing to do with Israel's status as an occupier under international law, which I'm sorry to say, is not being followed by the U.N. itself.

Israel maintains that Judea and Samaria are "disputed territories" under international law.  This does not stop them from developing and settling its own ancestral homeland.  What had become absolute untended and wild wasteland, left alone for Israel's absence of  2,000 years, was sacred land to the Jews, land of historic and valued meaning.  It was only when Jews had returned to their brothers who had never left the "Palestine" area-in reality Judah and Israel but renamed by the Romans to remove the stigma or fact that it had been the Jewish state, did the nomadic Arabs come around hoping to get jobs.  They had no interest in building another state themselves.  When Mark Twain visited in the 1860's it was an utter wasteland.  One should read his "The Innocents Abroad"  when he traveled to "Palestine" in 1867.  When he visited Jerusalem there were only 14,000 people living there: " Moslems, Jews, Greeks, Latins, Armenians, Syrians, Copts, Abyssinians, Greek Catholics, and a handful of Protestants of which there were 100.  Rags, wretchedness, poverty and dirt, those signs and symbols that indicate the presence of Moslem rule more surely than the cresecent-flag itself abound."   page 240.

Today we still hear the obligatory call of "OCCUPATION' from Judea and Samaria even though  they were placed under the Palestinian Authority (PA-meaning Fatah through Abbas) on September 28, 1995.  Israel had then withdrawn its military forces and today one cannot call it "occupied" by Israel.  The agreement did include the presence of Israeli troops in the area.  That was a part of the Agreement, but that this presence can not longer be looked upon as the O word-OCCUPATION.  Let's face it.  The Arab people living there are constantly fed a diet of hatred for the Israelis by their leaders, no less.  They have not ended their attempts and successes of killing Israelis.  Thus the need for this policing of terrorism.  If it didn't happen there would be no need.

The miracle of this all is that Judea and Samaria were originally to be a part of the Jewish Homeland, decided upon on November 2, 1917: England was in favor of the establishment in Palestine of a national home for the Jewish people.  It was given international ratification.  This was laid down in the preamble.  Therefore, the British Mandate was to carry this out, but everything got under the control and pressure of politics going on under the surface and once again the Jews were screwed.  They wound up settling for far less.  Another miracle came along under the guise of a slaughter of little Israel and who knew the little land of milk and honey could conquer all those armies?  Our rose garden in Eden is full of thorns, though, one of which is the UN who cannot bring themselves to accept Israel today.  Probably they never thought they'd last for 64 years in the first place.  But they have and in doing so are trying more than any other country would to be be fair to those that hate them and desire their blood.

Occupation?  Are the people locked up inside a ghetto as the Jews had been treated in Italy's  past?  No!  Since 1967 Israel had an Open Bridges policy allowing movement of people and goods between the administered areas and Arab countries.  People traveled overseas freely through Israel's airports and harbors.  Open bridges over the Jordan River permitted regular trade with the Arab countries and free movement of persons either way.  People had family reunions, work and study advantages.  In 1972 people in the administered areas visiting Arab states were over 100,000.  Every summer residents got permission for visitors from Arab states to stay with them for up to 4 months.  152,000 arrived, with some asking to remain and most went on to visit---yes---even Israel.  There were more than 40,000 Arabs joining their families by the end of 1971.  An arrangement with Egypt was an exchange of people, so that 3,1000 Palestinian Arabs had been brought back.  Any problems?  Only the ensuing terrorism against Israel that doesn't make any sense at all.

Resource: http://emetnews.org/analysis/why-is-israels-presence-in-the-territories-st
http://emetnews.or/analysis/occupation-whose-occupation.php  by Moshe Sharon
Book: The Innocents Abroad by Mark Twain, copyright 2009 by Seven Treasures Publications
Facts About Israel, Ministry for Foreign Affairs, Jerusalem by division of Information.  

Secretary of State Hillary Clinton Says to have Direct Negotiations Once Again

Nadene Goldfoot
Hillary Clinton is also pushing for the two parties of the Palestinian PA and Israel to take advantage of a new political opening and goodwill gestures to resume peace negotiations and said this on a visit to Denmark. Netanyahu asked the Palestinians in person at the UN in a full assembly meeting.  He was ignored.  He asked again to give peace a chance to work.

A goodwill gesture on Israel's part was the release of 91 terrorist bodies to the PA with more to come in the future from the many terrorist attacks in killing Israelis.  So far, it hasn't moved Abbas, though.  He did accept the "gestures," however. Hillary, on the other hand, is encouraged by Israel's new formation of their unity government and sees it as the best for several years who can reach a negotiated agreement.  So she's nudging again, for something that hasn't happened since September 2010.

The PA is demanding: before they negotiate.  So they are negotiating to negotiate.

1. Israel recognize a Palestinian state along the 67 pre-border; which is indefensible.  They say they will go along with equal territorial swaps.
2. Israel stop all construction in Judea and Samaria and East Jerusalem.

Israel is also asking that: ( I say asking and not demanding because this is most likely what the peace talk would cover. ) 

1. The Palestinians recognize Israel as the Jewish state which is what the USA has done.  Also, since it passed the UN in 1948, the UN must have had a majority to do so likewise. (Quite frankly, I don't see how Abbas can do it being the Muslim Brotherhood and Qaradawi, religious leader in Qatar, are so against this as well as Iran. It seems to me that both Hamas and Fatah are not their own man anymore.  Without it, a peace agenda is useless. There must be recognition on both sides to work.)  

The Palestinians have had 64 years to contemplate recognition of Israel.  The Palestinians were not thinking of creating a state until, sometime after 1967 when they saw that they didn't overtake this tiny country and drive it into the sea.  Taking over Israel was not going to be that easy.  Thus, the idea of their own state, which they were offered way back in 1948 and had refused with successive offers since.

Resource:  Arutz Sheva, news@israelnationalnews.com: Clinton Calls for Direct Negotiations between Israel and PA by Elad Benari
http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/156323 Returning bodies, list

Israel, That Little Devil and Pakistan, Born At the Same Time

Nadene Goldfoot
The world has a population of 6.7 billion people.  Jews make up only 0.2% of that population.  We live mostly either in Israel or the USA with a few sprinkled through the some of the other countries like Germany,  England and South Africa.  

The size of Israel is about the same as New Jersey.  It would take 8 Israel's to be the same size as Florida.  Israel's pre 1967 borders is only 8,019 square miles or 20,770 sq km.  The population of Israel is 7,116,200 with 5,393,600 being Jews or about  75% of the population. 25% of the population is made up of Arab citizens who are Muslims and Christians.   It was pronounced a state on May 14, 1948 through the UN with the United States being the first with Harry Truman to recognize it.  It is the world's only Jewish state.  It is still in a state of war with the Palestinians outside of Israel, those living in Gaza who are ruled by Hamas and now those living in Judea and Samaria who have been under the PA (Palestinian Authority in which Fatah, and therefore, Abbas has been at the helm.)  The situation now is that Fatah and Hamas have teemed up together again in their continual attacks against Israel.  George Bush has said that Israel is about the size of a Texas ranch.

The year before, on August 14-15 1947, Pakistan was created for Muslims living in India who were having a rough time of it in a Hindu majority country.  Families were facing terrorist attacks on their homes.    Pakistan is two times the size of California, being 310,403 sq miles or 803,940 sq km.in size.  Their population is 173,593,383 as of 2011.  It is the world's 6th most populous country.  Consider that California's population is 37,691,912.  97% of Pakistan are Muslims with the majority being Sunni.  It is an Islamic state.    It was not an easy partition, causing a mutual hostility and suspicion between the two countries.  However, it put an end to the terrorist attacks on each other.  Pakistan now has the 2nd highest Muslim population out of all 48 Muslim majority countries.  Indonesia ranks #1.  India is left with a population amounting to 1,170,938,000 as of 2010.  As of 2011, the USA population was 311,591,917.  There certainly are a lot of people in the world that are living fairly peaceful-like.  It isn't happening in the Middle East, however.

Israel is not out of step in this world's order of things to have declared itself a Jewish state.  The only thing unusual is that it is a first again, so stands alone in doing so.  It also is doing so in a sea of Islam belief who just so happen to not abide Judaism today.  There was a day when they were more tolerant, when Jews were living in the Middle Eastern countries under Muslim rule.  There, though they were considered to be 3rd class citizens which the word dhminnis tells us, they were tolerated.  There were even times when the Ottoman Empire had asked some to return as they were needed in their financial crisis.  This was at a time when Europe was terribly intolerant of someone different than they, especially since they were of a different religion, the one espoused in their New Testament to be vile, and suffered from pogroms and anti-Semitism of all sorts of indecencies.

Can this little state find happiness and security finally in today's world after wanting to come home?  That is all it is trying to do.We're almost like the swallows who keep coming back to Capistrano, but the difference is that we've always maintained a Jewish population in the land of Palestine, which it became sometime after 70 CE through the Romans.    I think our leader has been the traditional Dove of Peace but he's limping on one leg,  now.     Iran calls the United States the big Devil and Israel the little Devil.  Iran's leadership is  intolerant.  It's even possible that old Ahmadinejad himself  has some Jewish genes, being Jews lived in Persia for a long time.  Netanyahu is again asking leadership of the Palestinians to reconsider and live with them as neighbors in peace, not like the Hatfields and the McCoys. Israel has been asking this since 1948.  It's getting old.   It may take the pressure of the Palestinian people themselves to bring about this peace, if they truly are for it.    Instead of letting us see their rejoicing over a terrorist's acts and kills, they're going to have to see their neighbors as human beings, too.

Resource:  http://www.lookisrael.com/files/justbig.php
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Partition_of_India