On my way up the stairs to make copies, I saw two teachers standing next to an open window. Listening.
"What's going on?"
"We're just listening to the F-16s."
"Okay." Before the war, I would have walked on unperterbed. But today I'm slightly more perturbed. I saw on the front page of The Daily Star that the Israelis attacked a German ship "outside of Lebanese waters."
And just now I read on Yahoo! News that eight Israeli planes flew over southern Beirut and over the South. Israel refused to make any comments about it, because they won't talk about their military operations. But the Lebanese army fired some anti-aircraft stuff at them. And the French members of the UN peacekeeping forces are demanding that Israel comply with the ceasefire.
I am going to the South this weekend. I'm visiting my boyfriend's sister's fiance's village. They have many olives. They might have made a big part of their living from the olives. But now, they might all be poisoned. The government has to check all the produce coming out of the South. People have lost their livelihoods. And our, my, food supply in Beirut is surely affected.
And of course there are cluster bombs. The last three days before the ceasefire Israel just went wild--destroying factories and more bridges--trying to get it all in before the clock ran out. But the best was dropping cluster bombs, like little land mines that haven't blown up yet. I heard about 200 people have died since the ceasefire from these cluster bombs. I also heard that Israel finally gave the map of the cluster bombs to the UN last week.
But as some of you know, I've kept away from the computer and the media for the most part. I don't feel like wasting away in front of the computer anymore. (Who knows maybe I'll come back.) And as you know, my hard drive with photos, music, etc, is all messed up, and I still haven't rectified the situation.
I go into Dahiyeh a lot, too. I have pictures. On the weekends, I'm visiting my boyfriend's family who lives there. I saw the hole in the ground that used to be the two apartments his family owned in Hrat Hreik.
People were saying that maybe things will start up again when Ramadan ends. Others say it won't definately be until after January. The people in Aley think it'll be the summer.
But it's like everyone knows it's coming. "The situation is not stable." I keep telling that to the new hires. "Just keep a bag packed."
Am I sounding too over-dramatic? Not really. But like a Lebanese person, I just chose to not think about it. I mean that's the reality of life. "In sha allah (God willing), nothing will happen." But inside, we all know. We've had all kinds of drills and evacuation procedures at school. And the Internet-based Virtual School is set up. The kids all know how to access and turn in assignments. . .just in case.
October 31, 2006
They destroyed Khiam & Visiting the South
One of my students went last week to Khiam, the infamous prison that Israel established in southern Lebanon, where they threw people suspected of being part of Hizbolah in prison without trial. I went last year. I took pictures of all those medieval torture devices that they were using until the year 2000, when Israel finally ended its occupation of southern Lebanon (because Hizbollah forced them out.)
Hizbollah ran Khiam as a museum, so the world would never forget what Israel did. And now look. It's gone. My student told me. In the war this summer, Israel bombed and destroyed Khiam. It was one of those places the guide books said to visit.
That was the one time I visited the South. I went with a Lebanese friend and an AUB student from Thailand. I forgot to bring my passport. I just had the copy of the first page that I always carry in my wallet. Soldiers at the checkpoint gave us a hardtime, but after 20 minutes of talking about her important relative judges in the region, my friend talked our way in.
My Lebanese friend said that the South is like a different country. There were yellow Hizbollah flags everywhere. And posters of boys' and men's faces on the street lamps and the walls. These are the martyrs. People killed by Israel. Palestine (West Bank and Gaza) does the same thing.
And after Khiam we visited an old Crusader castle--Beufort. And that's where I talked to the Danish UNIFIL officer. Those UNIFIL guys have been patrolling the South since the Israeli withdrawal in 2000. That's why I was like--how is this ceasefire so different now? Now they're just beefing up the forces that were already there.
At Khiam, I bought a bunch of Hizbollah stuff. I thought I got rid of all of it while I was quickly packing up my stuff when I left during the war. But when I got to Houston, and my sister was helping me unpack, she pulled out a yellow bandana with Arabic writing on it.
"What's this?"
Daaag. That could have gotten me in big trouble at Customs. But I was mad that I had to get rid of all those DVDs that told the history of Lebanon from Hizbollah's point of view. But I shouldn't have that many problems finding them now.
Hizbollah ran Khiam as a museum, so the world would never forget what Israel did. And now look. It's gone. My student told me. In the war this summer, Israel bombed and destroyed Khiam. It was one of those places the guide books said to visit.
That was the one time I visited the South. I went with a Lebanese friend and an AUB student from Thailand. I forgot to bring my passport. I just had the copy of the first page that I always carry in my wallet. Soldiers at the checkpoint gave us a hardtime, but after 20 minutes of talking about her important relative judges in the region, my friend talked our way in.
My Lebanese friend said that the South is like a different country. There were yellow Hizbollah flags everywhere. And posters of boys' and men's faces on the street lamps and the walls. These are the martyrs. People killed by Israel. Palestine (West Bank and Gaza) does the same thing.
And after Khiam we visited an old Crusader castle--Beufort. And that's where I talked to the Danish UNIFIL officer. Those UNIFIL guys have been patrolling the South since the Israeli withdrawal in 2000. That's why I was like--how is this ceasefire so different now? Now they're just beefing up the forces that were already there.
At Khiam, I bought a bunch of Hizbollah stuff. I thought I got rid of all of it while I was quickly packing up my stuff when I left during the war. But when I got to Houston, and my sister was helping me unpack, she pulled out a yellow bandana with Arabic writing on it.
"What's this?"
Daaag. That could have gotten me in big trouble at Customs. But I was mad that I had to get rid of all those DVDs that told the history of Lebanon from Hizbollah's point of view. But I shouldn't have that many problems finding them now.
October 17, 2006
Has it been a month?
Where's Jane?
Teaching 8th grade Humanities in Beirut.
The kids are great. The other teachers are cool. This is a great place to be.
But I seriously jacked up my harddrive when I was backing up my stuff before I had to get on the plane. So I lost some music, and iPhoto is just whack. It's been a month and I've started fixing it, but then the problems just keep mounting. And I really haven't had any patience to sit down and really work at it.
Plus, I'm trying to see people. I have this whole other life in the mountains. So on the weekends I'm trying to see those friends.
I took pictures of Hrat Hreik. And hopefully I will post them soon. Me, standing in rubble, next to "Made in America" signs. It's really sick looking at kids' shoes, and toys, and books, and photo albums and furniture and just everything that would be in a person's house in huge mountains of rubble in craters on the street. The people are constantly cleaning up. In fact, people were like, "Oh, they've cleaned it up. You won't really see anything." Well, that's crazy. There is no semblance of normality to it at all.
And it's Ramadan. So the people working can't even drink. They wear masks over their faces.
I will eventually post pictures.
Teaching 8th grade Humanities in Beirut.
The kids are great. The other teachers are cool. This is a great place to be.
But I seriously jacked up my harddrive when I was backing up my stuff before I had to get on the plane. So I lost some music, and iPhoto is just whack. It's been a month and I've started fixing it, but then the problems just keep mounting. And I really haven't had any patience to sit down and really work at it.
Plus, I'm trying to see people. I have this whole other life in the mountains. So on the weekends I'm trying to see those friends.
I took pictures of Hrat Hreik. And hopefully I will post them soon. Me, standing in rubble, next to "Made in America" signs. It's really sick looking at kids' shoes, and toys, and books, and photo albums and furniture and just everything that would be in a person's house in huge mountains of rubble in craters on the street. The people are constantly cleaning up. In fact, people were like, "Oh, they've cleaned it up. You won't really see anything." Well, that's crazy. There is no semblance of normality to it at all.
And it's Ramadan. So the people working can't even drink. They wear masks over their faces.
I will eventually post pictures.
September 22, 2006
Demonstration today
I was going to have my friends in Aley come to my new apartment in Beirut for dinner tonight. But yesterday, they all bailed because Hizballah is having a big demonstration. It might be Hassan Nasrallah's first public appearance since the War. For some reason, people at the school haven't been saying anything, but when I went to Aley yesterday and talked to them on the phone, they are all very concerned.
I went to downtown the other day for a tour the school put on for the new hires. They have a lot of signs that basically diss Israel. And a lot of pictures of carnage and destruction. On the main clock tower, in the center of Place d'Etoile, Saha Nijme, Star Plaza, they have long black banners that hang down with pictures of child casualties that say "Jetfighters against Children". I'll post the pictures soon.
I went to downtown the other day for a tour the school put on for the new hires. They have a lot of signs that basically diss Israel. And a lot of pictures of carnage and destruction. On the main clock tower, in the center of Place d'Etoile, Saha Nijme, Star Plaza, they have long black banners that hang down with pictures of child casualties that say "Jetfighters against Children". I'll post the pictures soon.
Keefer Sutherland
Excerpt from an e-mail from a friend in L.A.:
------------------------------------------------
We went to a bar in Hollywood and saw Keefer Sutherland. He was totally drunk and belligerant, but somehow stopped to say hello to me and my Iranian friend. He kissed her and shook my hand. Weird, huh? I told my friend that he must have recognized us as Middle Eastern and then felt bad that his show "24" makes us look like we're all terrorists. Oh well.
------------------------------------------------
We went to a bar in Hollywood and saw Keefer Sutherland. He was totally drunk and belligerant, but somehow stopped to say hello to me and my Iranian friend. He kissed her and shook my hand. Weird, huh? I told my friend that he must have recognized us as Middle Eastern and then felt bad that his show "24" makes us look like we're all terrorists. Oh well.
Crazy Cartoon
Go to Click on the first link that says "Slideshow: Check Out The Controversial Comic Book"
It is super-dooper whack.
The whole part about Allah being a moon god and a former idol in Mecca is so stupid. The exact same arguments could be made about Jehovah of the Old Testament.
It is super-dooper whack.
The whole part about Allah being a moon god and a former idol in Mecca is so stupid. The exact same arguments could be made about Jehovah of the Old Testament.
September 19, 2006
Back in Beirut
I'm here.
Some people are upset by that. A couple people called to try to have me rethink the decision. But I know it's the right one. I was praying that God would make everything clear--open the doors, close the doors. And he miraculously opened the doors, with a great job, with a great package, with a really nice hook up in Hamra.
And I still have my concerns; I know the situation is not exactly stable. Yes, anything can happen.
But as Corrie Ten Boom said, "There's no safer place to be than at the center of God's will." And God has been doing all kinds of things. I know this is where I'm supposed to be.
As you can see, I haven't been on the computer since I've gotten here. Thank God. I directly went up to Aley and spent the weekend with my friends. It was really amazing to walk in the souk and surprise the few people who didn't know I was coming back.
It brought tears to our eyes. Really. It means a lot--my coming back, any of the foreigners coming back--like we believe in this place, we're not abandoning it. We're going to be a part of rebuilding, that Lebanon has a good future.
I took the bus from Aley to Cola, through the Dahiye. But the part I went through, I couldn't really see that much damage. And I haven't gone to the beach yet either. But I have a friend from the Dahiye who's going to show me around. Everyone says I must be accompanied. And I'll be going to the beach this weekend.
In some ways, it feels. . . normal. But eveyone has really sad stories. Lots of stories, about being freaked out, about having to leave.
But the South is beyond disgusting. They cluster bombed really low to the ground, and left all these explosives that haven't exploded yet that look like little toys. A reporter working in Iraq (my new boss's daughter) said that the destruction in the South is the worst she's ever seen.
And the beach--the oil spill--is beyond disgusting. They couldn't start cleaning it up at the beginning because they were still bombing. So coming in weeks later to start is too late. And for some reason they haven't brought that state-of-the-art bacteria stuff that eats the oil.
But I haven't seen it yet.
I've been doing orientation with the new job and seeing my friends. I'm sooooooo happy to be back. I went clubbing on Monot on Saturday night. My new apartment in Hamra is in an amazing location. I have a guest bed in the living room. So you should come! You are most welcome!! It's really a beautiful place. One friend said he's thinking about coming over the Christmas break.
Some people are upset by that. A couple people called to try to have me rethink the decision. But I know it's the right one. I was praying that God would make everything clear--open the doors, close the doors. And he miraculously opened the doors, with a great job, with a great package, with a really nice hook up in Hamra.
And I still have my concerns; I know the situation is not exactly stable. Yes, anything can happen.
But as Corrie Ten Boom said, "There's no safer place to be than at the center of God's will." And God has been doing all kinds of things. I know this is where I'm supposed to be.
As you can see, I haven't been on the computer since I've gotten here. Thank God. I directly went up to Aley and spent the weekend with my friends. It was really amazing to walk in the souk and surprise the few people who didn't know I was coming back.
It brought tears to our eyes. Really. It means a lot--my coming back, any of the foreigners coming back--like we believe in this place, we're not abandoning it. We're going to be a part of rebuilding, that Lebanon has a good future.
I took the bus from Aley to Cola, through the Dahiye. But the part I went through, I couldn't really see that much damage. And I haven't gone to the beach yet either. But I have a friend from the Dahiye who's going to show me around. Everyone says I must be accompanied. And I'll be going to the beach this weekend.
In some ways, it feels. . . normal. But eveyone has really sad stories. Lots of stories, about being freaked out, about having to leave.
But the South is beyond disgusting. They cluster bombed really low to the ground, and left all these explosives that haven't exploded yet that look like little toys. A reporter working in Iraq (my new boss's daughter) said that the destruction in the South is the worst she's ever seen.
And the beach--the oil spill--is beyond disgusting. They couldn't start cleaning it up at the beginning because they were still bombing. So coming in weeks later to start is too late. And for some reason they haven't brought that state-of-the-art bacteria stuff that eats the oil.
But I haven't seen it yet.
I've been doing orientation with the new job and seeing my friends. I'm sooooooo happy to be back. I went clubbing on Monot on Saturday night. My new apartment in Hamra is in an amazing location. I have a guest bed in the living room. So you should come! You are most welcome!! It's really a beautiful place. One friend said he's thinking about coming over the Christmas break.
September 11, 2006
September 8, 2006
Beirut or Bust
Yesterday, my friend said she's going to make me a T-shirt that says "Beirut or Bust."
Well, now she doesn't have to. I got a job offer. They want me to fax back the contract with the signature. It's with the best American school in Beirut, where those Embassy people and local rich people send their kids. Therefore, I will have a real work visa and a good salary. And if anything were to happen, I would be right there, and I'm sure would be on those secret helicopters that get out before everybody else. (I heard rumors about those.)
Yesterday, I went to a training session to subsitute teach in Katy I.S.D. And it was just so depressing. I seriously felt bad about myself.
This is a good opportunity--not just work-wise, where I can actually learn from other, more experienced teachers. But I can continue with the Arabic and get to know all those NGO people I started working with and help Rania at my church start a home for street kids. There's a lot of people doing good work. And I do hope I can figure out ways to help them. One idea is to get those local non-profits with websites. So they can advertise themselves and tell the world what's happening and find supporters.
As Wally keeps pointing out, I had big ideas to raise money and do this kind of work. So hopefully I'll be working on that a little on that end. But at the same time, I'll have a real JOB. And have to do all that. But maybe it can be community service stuff through the skill--getting those rich, priveleged kids to show other kids how to use the technology, so they can help out their own communities.
I'm supposed to report September 14. What does that mean, leave on Tuesday???
Well, now she doesn't have to. I got a job offer. They want me to fax back the contract with the signature. It's with the best American school in Beirut, where those Embassy people and local rich people send their kids. Therefore, I will have a real work visa and a good salary. And if anything were to happen, I would be right there, and I'm sure would be on those secret helicopters that get out before everybody else. (I heard rumors about those.)
Yesterday, I went to a training session to subsitute teach in Katy I.S.D. And it was just so depressing. I seriously felt bad about myself.
This is a good opportunity--not just work-wise, where I can actually learn from other, more experienced teachers. But I can continue with the Arabic and get to know all those NGO people I started working with and help Rania at my church start a home for street kids. There's a lot of people doing good work. And I do hope I can figure out ways to help them. One idea is to get those local non-profits with websites. So they can advertise themselves and tell the world what's happening and find supporters.
As Wally keeps pointing out, I had big ideas to raise money and do this kind of work. So hopefully I'll be working on that a little on that end. But at the same time, I'll have a real JOB. And have to do all that. But maybe it can be community service stuff through the skill--getting those rich, priveleged kids to show other kids how to use the technology, so they can help out their own communities.
I'm supposed to report September 14. What does that mean, leave on Tuesday???
September 7, 2006
18 Israel and Jerusalem Facts: Wally's old post
These facts that Wally sent me are in all caps. My response comes after each of them. I basically went to Wikipedia to confirm stuff I knew. I would invite anybody with some good evidence and arguments to jump in here.
Many of these "facts" are just not true. Wally put these at the end of a post where the Israeli Prime Minister was defending his actions in Lebanon. I don't see how any of these are a defense, or answer to any of the arguments I or the Arab World has leveled against Israel's human rights violations.
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1. ISRAEL BECAME A STATE IN 1312 B.C., TWO MILLENNIA BEFORE ISLAM;
Are you saying that Arab or Palestinian=Muslim?? Many Palestinians are Christians. And the majority of Palestinians who have been in the U.S. for many generations are Christians.
Does this not mean that other groups of people lived in Palestine before the 12 tribes of Israel settled there around 1312 BCE? God told Moses he would bring him "into the land of the Canaanites, Hittites, Amorites, Perizzites, Hivites and Jebusites--a land flowng with milk and honey" (Exodus 3:17). Now, I'm not going to say that the modern-day Arabs are descendents of these groups.
There is much historical debate as to whether today's Arabs can be traced back to these groups. It's a muddled and kind of silly project--of course, people have mixed and moved over all these millinia. But have their been non-Israeli people there since before the 12 tribes of Israel setteled there? Of course. Are these the ancestors of today's Palestinians? That's a trickier question.
2. ARAB REFUGEES FROM ISRAEL BEGAN CALLING THEMSELVES "PALESTINIANS" IN 1967, TWO DECADES AFTER (MODERN) ISRAELI STATEHOOD;
Semantics? The politics of identity? The words "Palestine" and "Israel". Even today, different groups of people use these same words to mean the same thing and different things. Arabs don't call the region Israel, they call it Palestine. In the U.S., many people say Palestine refers specifically to the West Bank and Gaza. These names are very political, and people use them differently in all kinds of contexts.
Am I Latina, Hispanic (not Herspanic), or white, or Anglo? People use different words to refer to the same thing, and they all have political connotations and baggage? Of course, in 1967, the territories were occupied, so people decided to take on a new name to reflect their new political and social situation. So? When did Americans start calling themselves Americans, and not British? It has something to do with the Revolutionary War. Were they still the same people?
3. AFTER CONQUERING THE LAND IN 1272 B.C., JEWS RULED IT FOR A THOUSAND YEARS AND MAINTAINED A CONTINUOUS PRESENCE THERE FOR 3,300 YEARS;
The Romans burned down Solomon's temple and destroyed Rome in 70 CE. My World History textbook said that these Roman persecutions led to the Jewish diaspora that started around 150 CE. That was when Jewish people started settling in Europe. That's why they started coming back in the late-ninteenth century with the Zionist movement.
4. THE ONLY ARAB RULE FOLLOWING CONQUEST IN 633 B.C. LASTED JUST 22 YEARS;
So then who did the Franks conquer Jerusalem from in the First Crusade in 1099? Wasn't it the infidels?
"Further east, Anatolia, Syria, Palestine, and Egypt were all under Muslim control" http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/First_crusade#The_East_in_the_late_eleventh_century
5. FOR OVER 3,300 YEARS, JERUSALEM WAS THE J EWISH CAPITAL. IT WAS NEVER THE CAPITAL OF ANY ARAB OR MUSLIM ENTITY. EVEN UNDER JORDANIAN RULE, (EAST) JERUSALEM WAS NOT MADE THE CAPITAL, AND NO ARAB LEADER CAME TO VISIT IT;
"The Fatimids, at this time ruled by caliph al-Musta'li (although all actual power was held by the vizier al-Afdal Shahanshah), had lost Jerusalem to the Seljuks in 1076, but recaptured it from the Ortoqids in 1098 while the crusaders were on the march." http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/First_crusade#The_East_in_the_late_eleventh_century
6. JERUSALEM IS MENTIONED OVER 700 TIMES IN THE BIBLE, BUT NOT ONCE IS IT MENTIONED IN THE QUR'AN;
Palestinian=Muslim? This really isn't about religion. I find it bothersome that Westerners like to portray people in the Middle East as somewhat savage, uncivilized, and very irrational because religion plays such a big part in their thinking and leads them to violence.
People aren't any more religious than Americans. And it's probably a similar percentage of the population that uses religion to justify their politics. In fact, in the U.S. it might even be more. (You know, that whole religious right. George W. reads My Utmost For His Highest every morning.)
Again, the media likes to play up this fear that doesn't exist, so the current administration will be justified when it does bad things like go to war and occupy other countries. Making Middle Easterners out to be irrational religious fundamentalists plays into this.
The more the arguments can stay in the realm of politics and history, the better.
7. KING DAVID FOUNDED JERUSALEM; MOHAMMED NEVER SET FOOT IN IT;
Jerusalem is considered the third most holy city in Islam. The Dome of the Rock is considered the place from where the angel Gabriel led Muhammad on a tour of heaven and hell. This is called the night journey.
"Some time in 620, Muhammad told his followers that he had experienced the Isra and Miraj, a miraculous journey said to have been accomplished in one night along with Angel Gabriel. In the first part of the journey, the Isra, he is said to have travelled from Mecca to the furthest mosque, in Jerusalem, presently known as Masjid al Aqsa. In the second part, the Miraj, Muhammad is said to have toured Heaven and Hell, and spoken with earlier prophets, such as Abraham, Moses, and Jesus.
Muslims believe that the Dome of the Rock is the site from which Muhammad ascended to Heaven." http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Muhammad
But what does this have to do with the current political situation of how Israel deals with its occupied territories?
8. JEWS PRAY FACING JERUSALEM; MUSLIMS FACE MECCA. IF THEY ARE BETWEEN THE TWO CITIES, MUSLIMS PRAY FACING MECCA, WITH THEIR BACKS TO JERUSALEM;
So???
9. IN 1948, ARAB LEADERS URGED THEIR PEOPLE TO LEAVE, PROMISING TO CLEANSE THE LAND OF JEWISH PRESENCE. 68% OF THEM FLED WITHOUT EVER SETTING EYES ON AN ISRAELI SOLDIER;
Now this is such an interesting claim. I've never heard this. Most of the literature says that about 700,000 people were made refugees on Israeli Independence Day/Al-Nakba (the catastrophe). But you're saying these people left because the Arab govenrments told them they would start the war.
So you think that means the Arab leaders wanted these people to leave their land and homes and not ever come back? If they warned them about the fighting and told them to leave so as to not get killed, that's one thing, but telling them to leave and they don't have the right to return is another. The Arab leaders did not make these people into refugees. They told them to get out during the war, so they could come back to their homes, alive.
10. VIRTUALLY THE ENTIRE JEWISH POPULATION OF MUSLIM COUNTRIES HAD TO FLEE AS THE RESULT OF VIOLENCE AND POGROMS;
Yes. This is true.
11. SOME 630,000 ARABS LEFT ISRAEL IN 1948, WHILE CLOSE TO A MILLION JEWS WERE FORCED TO LEAVE THE MUSLIM COUNTRIES.
"the 1948 Arab-Israeli War that erupted following the invasion of neighbouring Arab states, resulted in the flight or expulsion of an estimated 700,000 Palestinian refugees, [4] and the abandonment and destruction of up to 418 Palestinian villages." http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nakba_day
I don't know how many Jews had to leave Arab countries.
12. IN SPITE OF THE VAST TERRITORIES AT THEIR DISPOSAL, ARAB REFUGESS WERE DELIBERATELY PREVENTED FROM ASSIMILATING INTO THEIR HOST COUNTRIES. OF 100 MILLION REFUGEES FOLLOWING WORLD WAR 2, THEY ARE THE ONLY GROUP TO HAVE NEVER INTEGRATED WITH THEIR CORELIGIONISTS. MOST OF THE JEWISH REFUGEES FROM EUROPE AND ARAB LANDS WERE SETTLED IN ISRAEL, A COUNTRY NO LARGER THAN NEW JERSEY.
This is true. Shame on Lebanon and all the others.
13. THERE ARE 22 MUSLIM COUNTRIES, NOT COUNTING PALESTINE. THERE IS ONLY ONE JEWISH STATE. ARABS STARTED ALL FIVE WARS A GAINST ISRAEL, AND LOST EVERY ONE OF THEM;
Some say Hizballah won this one. Israel certainly didn't win.
So are you saying that Israel is justified in treating its Palestinian population the way it does, becauase the Arab countries started all the wars against Israel?? That doesn't seem to make sense.
14. FATAH AND HAMAS CONSTITUTIONS STILL CALL FOR THE DESTRUCTION OF ISRAEL. ISRAEL CEDED MOST OF THE WEST BANK AND ALL OF GAZA TO THE PALESTINIAN AUTHORITY, AND EVEN PROVIDED IT WITH ARMS;
Israel has ceded most of the West Bank to the Palestinian Authority? How much land are we talking about here? These are small places. And there are still too many Israeli settlements and not enough land for the Palestinians? When it all used to be their's and now they have practically nothing, it seems that the least Israel can do is give them all of West Bank and Gaza. But the details of how much land and where these boundaries should be drawn is the difficult work of these peace negotiations that has to be continued now.
I should definately get more stats to show how much land is in the West Bank and how much of it goes to the Palestinians.
15. DURING THE JORDANIAN OCCUPATION, JEWISH HOLY SITES WERE VANDALIZED AND WERE OFF LIMITS TO JEWS. UNDER ISRAELI RULE, ALL MUSLIM AND CHRISTIAN HOLY SITES ARE ACCESSIBLE TO ALL FAITHS;
Yes, and unfortunately, people who live in Arab countries cannot visit these sites becasue their govnerments won't let them. But that's not Israel's fault.
16. OUT OF 175 UNITED NATIONS SECURITY COUNCIL RESOLUTIONS UP TO 1990,
97 WERE AGAINST ISRAEL; OUT OF 690 GENERAL ASSEMBLY RESOLUTIONS, 429 WERE AGAINST ISRAEL;
So the international community recognizes the crimes and illegal violations of the Israeli government. Shouldn't the U.S.?
17 was missing???
18. THE U.N. WAS SILENT WHEN THE JORDANIANS DESTROYED 58 SYNAGOGUES IN THE OLD CITY OF JERUSALEM. IT REMAINED SILENT WHILE JORDAN SYSTEMATICALLY DESECRATED THE ANCIENT JEWISH CEMETERY ON THE MOUNT OF OLIVES, AN D IT REMAINED SILENT WHEN JORDAN ENFORCED APARTHEID LAWS PREVENTING JEWS FROM ACCESSING THE TEMPLE MOUNT AND WESTERN WALL.
Okay. Should I start to list the Israeli crimes?? There isn't enough room here.
Many of these "facts" are just not true. Wally put these at the end of a post where the Israeli Prime Minister was defending his actions in Lebanon. I don't see how any of these are a defense, or answer to any of the arguments I or the Arab World has leveled against Israel's human rights violations.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
1. ISRAEL BECAME A STATE IN 1312 B.C., TWO MILLENNIA BEFORE ISLAM;
Are you saying that Arab or Palestinian=Muslim?? Many Palestinians are Christians. And the majority of Palestinians who have been in the U.S. for many generations are Christians.
Does this not mean that other groups of people lived in Palestine before the 12 tribes of Israel settled there around 1312 BCE? God told Moses he would bring him "into the land of the Canaanites, Hittites, Amorites, Perizzites, Hivites and Jebusites--a land flowng with milk and honey" (Exodus 3:17). Now, I'm not going to say that the modern-day Arabs are descendents of these groups.
There is much historical debate as to whether today's Arabs can be traced back to these groups. It's a muddled and kind of silly project--of course, people have mixed and moved over all these millinia. But have their been non-Israeli people there since before the 12 tribes of Israel setteled there? Of course. Are these the ancestors of today's Palestinians? That's a trickier question.
2. ARAB REFUGEES FROM ISRAEL BEGAN CALLING THEMSELVES "PALESTINIANS" IN 1967, TWO DECADES AFTER (MODERN) ISRAELI STATEHOOD;
Semantics? The politics of identity? The words "Palestine" and "Israel". Even today, different groups of people use these same words to mean the same thing and different things. Arabs don't call the region Israel, they call it Palestine. In the U.S., many people say Palestine refers specifically to the West Bank and Gaza. These names are very political, and people use them differently in all kinds of contexts.
Am I Latina, Hispanic (not Herspanic), or white, or Anglo? People use different words to refer to the same thing, and they all have political connotations and baggage? Of course, in 1967, the territories were occupied, so people decided to take on a new name to reflect their new political and social situation. So? When did Americans start calling themselves Americans, and not British? It has something to do with the Revolutionary War. Were they still the same people?
3. AFTER CONQUERING THE LAND IN 1272 B.C., JEWS RULED IT FOR A THOUSAND YEARS AND MAINTAINED A CONTINUOUS PRESENCE THERE FOR 3,300 YEARS;
The Romans burned down Solomon's temple and destroyed Rome in 70 CE. My World History textbook said that these Roman persecutions led to the Jewish diaspora that started around 150 CE. That was when Jewish people started settling in Europe. That's why they started coming back in the late-ninteenth century with the Zionist movement.
4. THE ONLY ARAB RULE FOLLOWING CONQUEST IN 633 B.C. LASTED JUST 22 YEARS;
So then who did the Franks conquer Jerusalem from in the First Crusade in 1099? Wasn't it the infidels?
"Further east, Anatolia, Syria, Palestine, and Egypt were all under Muslim control" http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/First_crusade#The_East_in_the_late_eleventh_century
5. FOR OVER 3,300 YEARS, JERUSALEM WAS THE J EWISH CAPITAL. IT WAS NEVER THE CAPITAL OF ANY ARAB OR MUSLIM ENTITY. EVEN UNDER JORDANIAN RULE, (EAST) JERUSALEM WAS NOT MADE THE CAPITAL, AND NO ARAB LEADER CAME TO VISIT IT;
"The Fatimids, at this time ruled by caliph al-Musta'li (although all actual power was held by the vizier al-Afdal Shahanshah), had lost Jerusalem to the Seljuks in 1076, but recaptured it from the Ortoqids in 1098 while the crusaders were on the march." http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/First_crusade#The_East_in_the_late_eleventh_century
6. JERUSALEM IS MENTIONED OVER 700 TIMES IN THE BIBLE, BUT NOT ONCE IS IT MENTIONED IN THE QUR'AN;
Palestinian=Muslim? This really isn't about religion. I find it bothersome that Westerners like to portray people in the Middle East as somewhat savage, uncivilized, and very irrational because religion plays such a big part in their thinking and leads them to violence.
People aren't any more religious than Americans. And it's probably a similar percentage of the population that uses religion to justify their politics. In fact, in the U.S. it might even be more. (You know, that whole religious right. George W. reads My Utmost For His Highest every morning.)
Again, the media likes to play up this fear that doesn't exist, so the current administration will be justified when it does bad things like go to war and occupy other countries. Making Middle Easterners out to be irrational religious fundamentalists plays into this.
The more the arguments can stay in the realm of politics and history, the better.
7. KING DAVID FOUNDED JERUSALEM; MOHAMMED NEVER SET FOOT IN IT;
Jerusalem is considered the third most holy city in Islam. The Dome of the Rock is considered the place from where the angel Gabriel led Muhammad on a tour of heaven and hell. This is called the night journey.
"Some time in 620, Muhammad told his followers that he had experienced the Isra and Miraj, a miraculous journey said to have been accomplished in one night along with Angel Gabriel. In the first part of the journey, the Isra, he is said to have travelled from Mecca to the furthest mosque, in Jerusalem, presently known as Masjid al Aqsa. In the second part, the Miraj, Muhammad is said to have toured Heaven and Hell, and spoken with earlier prophets, such as Abraham, Moses, and Jesus.
Muslims believe that the Dome of the Rock is the site from which Muhammad ascended to Heaven." http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Muhammad
But what does this have to do with the current political situation of how Israel deals with its occupied territories?
8. JEWS PRAY FACING JERUSALEM; MUSLIMS FACE MECCA. IF THEY ARE BETWEEN THE TWO CITIES, MUSLIMS PRAY FACING MECCA, WITH THEIR BACKS TO JERUSALEM;
So???
9. IN 1948, ARAB LEADERS URGED THEIR PEOPLE TO LEAVE, PROMISING TO CLEANSE THE LAND OF JEWISH PRESENCE. 68% OF THEM FLED WITHOUT EVER SETTING EYES ON AN ISRAELI SOLDIER;
Now this is such an interesting claim. I've never heard this. Most of the literature says that about 700,000 people were made refugees on Israeli Independence Day/Al-Nakba (the catastrophe). But you're saying these people left because the Arab govenrments told them they would start the war.
So you think that means the Arab leaders wanted these people to leave their land and homes and not ever come back? If they warned them about the fighting and told them to leave so as to not get killed, that's one thing, but telling them to leave and they don't have the right to return is another. The Arab leaders did not make these people into refugees. They told them to get out during the war, so they could come back to their homes, alive.
10. VIRTUALLY THE ENTIRE JEWISH POPULATION OF MUSLIM COUNTRIES HAD TO FLEE AS THE RESULT OF VIOLENCE AND POGROMS;
Yes. This is true.
11. SOME 630,000 ARABS LEFT ISRAEL IN 1948, WHILE CLOSE TO A MILLION JEWS WERE FORCED TO LEAVE THE MUSLIM COUNTRIES.
"the 1948 Arab-Israeli War that erupted following the invasion of neighbouring Arab states, resulted in the flight or expulsion of an estimated 700,000 Palestinian refugees, [4] and the abandonment and destruction of up to 418 Palestinian villages." http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nakba_day
I don't know how many Jews had to leave Arab countries.
12. IN SPITE OF THE VAST TERRITORIES AT THEIR DISPOSAL, ARAB REFUGESS WERE DELIBERATELY PREVENTED FROM ASSIMILATING INTO THEIR HOST COUNTRIES. OF 100 MILLION REFUGEES FOLLOWING WORLD WAR 2, THEY ARE THE ONLY GROUP TO HAVE NEVER INTEGRATED WITH THEIR CORELIGIONISTS. MOST OF THE JEWISH REFUGEES FROM EUROPE AND ARAB LANDS WERE SETTLED IN ISRAEL, A COUNTRY NO LARGER THAN NEW JERSEY.
This is true. Shame on Lebanon and all the others.
13. THERE ARE 22 MUSLIM COUNTRIES, NOT COUNTING PALESTINE. THERE IS ONLY ONE JEWISH STATE. ARABS STARTED ALL FIVE WARS A GAINST ISRAEL, AND LOST EVERY ONE OF THEM;
Some say Hizballah won this one. Israel certainly didn't win.
So are you saying that Israel is justified in treating its Palestinian population the way it does, becauase the Arab countries started all the wars against Israel?? That doesn't seem to make sense.
14. FATAH AND HAMAS CONSTITUTIONS STILL CALL FOR THE DESTRUCTION OF ISRAEL. ISRAEL CEDED MOST OF THE WEST BANK AND ALL OF GAZA TO THE PALESTINIAN AUTHORITY, AND EVEN PROVIDED IT WITH ARMS;
Israel has ceded most of the West Bank to the Palestinian Authority? How much land are we talking about here? These are small places. And there are still too many Israeli settlements and not enough land for the Palestinians? When it all used to be their's and now they have practically nothing, it seems that the least Israel can do is give them all of West Bank and Gaza. But the details of how much land and where these boundaries should be drawn is the difficult work of these peace negotiations that has to be continued now.
I should definately get more stats to show how much land is in the West Bank and how much of it goes to the Palestinians.
15. DURING THE JORDANIAN OCCUPATION, JEWISH HOLY SITES WERE VANDALIZED AND WERE OFF LIMITS TO JEWS. UNDER ISRAELI RULE, ALL MUSLIM AND CHRISTIAN HOLY SITES ARE ACCESSIBLE TO ALL FAITHS;
Yes, and unfortunately, people who live in Arab countries cannot visit these sites becasue their govnerments won't let them. But that's not Israel's fault.
16. OUT OF 175 UNITED NATIONS SECURITY COUNCIL RESOLUTIONS UP TO 1990,
97 WERE AGAINST ISRAEL; OUT OF 690 GENERAL ASSEMBLY RESOLUTIONS, 429 WERE AGAINST ISRAEL;
So the international community recognizes the crimes and illegal violations of the Israeli government. Shouldn't the U.S.?
17 was missing???
18. THE U.N. WAS SILENT WHEN THE JORDANIANS DESTROYED 58 SYNAGOGUES IN THE OLD CITY OF JERUSALEM. IT REMAINED SILENT WHILE JORDAN SYSTEMATICALLY DESECRATED THE ANCIENT JEWISH CEMETERY ON THE MOUNT OF OLIVES, AN D IT REMAINED SILENT WHEN JORDAN ENFORCED APARTHEID LAWS PREVENTING JEWS FROM ACCESSING THE TEMPLE MOUNT AND WESTERN WALL.
Okay. Should I start to list the Israeli crimes?? There isn't enough room here.
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