Twenty Facts About Israel and the Middle East Conflict

Written by Gary Gilley

The world's attention has been focused on the Middle East. We are confronted daily with scenes of carnage and destruction. Can we understand such violence? Yes, but only if we come to the situation with a solid grounding in the facts of the matter -- facts that too often are forgotten, if ever they were learned. Below are twenty facts that we think are useful in understanding the current situation, how we arrived here, and how we might eventually arrive at a solution.

Roots of the Conflict

1. When the United Nations proposed the establishment of two states in the region -- one Jewish, one Arab -- the Jews accepted the proposal and declared their independence in 1948. The Jewish state constituted only 1/6 of one percent of what was known as "the Arab world." The Arab states, however, rejected the UN plan and since then have waged war against Israel repeatedly, both all-out wars and wars of terrorism and attrition. In 1948, five Arab armies invaded Israel in an effort to eradicate it. Jamal Husseini of the Arab Higher Committee spoke for many in vowing to soak "the spoil of our beloved country with the last drop of our blood."

2. The Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) was founded in 1964 -- three years before Israel controlled the West Bank and Gaza. The PLO's declared purpose was to eliminate the State of Israel by means of armed struggle. To this day, the Web site of Yasser Arafat's Palestinian Authority (PA) claims that the entirety of Israel is "occupied" territory. It is impossible to square this with the PLO and PA assertions to Western audiences that the root of the conflict is Israel's occupation of the West Bank and Gaza.

3. The West Bank and Gaza (controlled by Jordan and Egypt from 1948 to 1967) came under Israeli control during the Six Day War of 1967 that started when Egypt closed the Straits of Tiran and Arab armies amassed on Israel's borders to invade and liquidate the state. It is important to note that during their 19-year rule, neither Jordan nor Egypt had made any effort to establish a Palestinian state on those lands. Just before the Arab nations launched their war of aggression against the State of Israel in 1967, Syrian Defense Minister (later President) Hafez Assad stated, "Our forces are now entirely ready . . . to initiate the act of liberation itself, and to explode the Zionist presence in the Arab homeland . . . the time has come to enter into a battle of annihilation." On the brink of the 1967 war, Egyptian President Gamal Nassar declared, "Our basic objective will be the destruction of Israel.

4. Because of their animus against Jews, many leaders of the Palestinian cause have long supported our enemies. The Grand Mufti of Jerusalem allied himself with Adolf Hitler during WWII. Yasser Arafat, chairman of the PLO and president of the PA, has repeatedly targeted and killed Americans. In 1973, Arafat ordered the execution of Cleo Noel, the American ambassador to the Sudan. Arafat was very closely aligned with the Soviet Union and other enemies of the United States throughout the Cold War. In 1991, during the Gulf War, Arafat aligned himself with Saddam Hussein, whom he praised as "the defender of the Arab nation, of Muslims, and of free men everywhere."

5. Israel has, in fact, returned most of the land that it captured during the 1967 war and right after that war offered to return all of it in exchange for peace and normal relations; the offer was rejected. As a result of the 1978 Camp David accords -- in which Egypt recognized the right of Israel to exist and normal relations were established between the two countries -- Israel returned the Sinai desert, a territory three times the size of Israel and 91 percent of the territory Israel took control of in the 1967 war.

6. In 2000, as part of negotiations for a comprehensive and durable peace, Israel offered to turn over all but the smallest portion of the remaining territories to Yasser Arafat. But Israel was rebuffed when Arafat walked out of Camp David and launched the current intifada.

7. Yasser Arafat has never been less than clear about his goals -- at least not in Arabic. On the very day that he signed the Oslo accords in 1993 -- in which he promised to renounce terrorism and recognize Israel -- he addressed the Palestinian people on Jordanian television and declared that he had taken the first step "in the 1974 plan." This was a thinly-veiled reference to the "phased plan," according to which any territorial gain was acceptable as a means toward the ultimate goal of Israel's destruction.

8. The recently deceased Faisal al-Husseini, a leading Palestinian spokesman, made the same point in 2001 when he declared that the West Bank and Gaza represented only "22 percent of Palestine" and that the Oslo process was a "Trojan horse." He explained, "When we are asking all the Palestinian forces and factions to look at the Oslo Agreement and at other agreements as 'temporary' procedures, or phased goals, this means that we are ambushing the Israelis and cheating them." The goal, he continued, was "the liberation of Palestine from the river to the sea," i.e., the Jordan River to the Mediterranean Sea -- all of Israel.

9. To this day, the Fatah wing of the PLO (the "moderate" wing that was founded and is controlled by Arafat himself) has as its official emblem the entire state of Israel covered by two rifles and a hand grenade -- another fact that belies the claim that Arafat desires nothing more than the West Bank and Gaza.

10. While criticism of Israel is not necessarily the same as "anti-Semitism," it must be remembered that the Middle East press is, in fact, rife with anti-Semitism. More than fifteen years ago the eminent scholar Bernard Lewis could point out that "The demonization of Jews [ in Arabic literature] goes further than it had ever done in Western literature, with the exception of Germany during the period of Nazi rule." Since then, and through all the years of the "peace process," things have become much worse. Depictions of Jews in Arab and Muslim media are akin to those of Nazi Germany, and medieval blood libels -- including claims that Jews use Christian and Muslim blood in preparing their holiday foods -- have become prominent and routine. One example is a sermon broadcast on PA television where Sheik Ahmad Halabaya stated, "They [ the Jews] must be butchered and killed, as Allah the Almighty said: 'Fight them: Allah will torture them at your hands.' Have no mercy on the Jews, no matter where they are, in any country. Fight them, wherever you are. Wherever you meet them, kill them."

11. Over three-quarters of Palestinians approve of suicide bombings -- an appalling statistic but, in light of the above facts, an unsurprising one.

The State of Israel

12. There are 21 Arab countries in the Middle East and only one Jewish state: Israel, which is also the only democracy in the region.

13. Israel is the only country in the region that permits citizens of all faiths to worship freely and openly. Twenty percent of Israeli citizens are not Jewish.

14. While Jews are not permitted to live in many Arab countries, Arabs are granted full citizenship and have the right to vote in Israel. Arabs are also free to become members of the Israeli parliament (the Knesset). In fact, several Arabs have been democratically elected to the Knesset and have been serving there for years. Arabs living in Israel have more rights and are freer than most Arabs living in Arab countries.

15. Israel is smaller than the state of New Hampshire and is surrounded by nations hostile to her existence. Some peace proposals -- including the recent Saudi proposal -- demand withdrawal from the entire West Bank, which would leave Israel 9 miles wide at its most vulnerable point.

16. The oft-cited UN Resolution 242 (passed in the wake of the 1967 war) does not, in fact, require a complete withdrawal from the West Bank. As legal scholar Eugene Rostow put it, "Resolution 242, which as under-secretary of state for political affairs between 1966 and 1969 I helped produce, calls on the parties to make peace and allows Israel to administer the territories it occupied in 1967 until 'a just and lasting peace in the Middle East' is achieved. When such a peace is made, Israel is required to withdraw its armed forces 'from territories' it occupied during the Six-Day War -- not from 'the' territories nor from 'all' the territories, but from some of the territories.

17. Israel has, of course, conceded that the Palestinians have legitimate claims to the disputed territories and is willing to engage in negotiations on the matter. As noted above, Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak offered almost all of the territories to Arafat at Camp David in 2000.

18. Despite claims that the Israeli settlements in the West Bank are the obstacle to peace, Jews lived there for centuries before being massacred or driven out by invading Arab armies in 1948-49. And contrary to common misperceptions, Israeli settlements -- which constitute less than two percent of the territories -- almost never displace Palestinians.

19. The area of the West Bank includes some of the most important sites in Jewish history, among them Hebron, Bethlehem, and Jericho. East Jerusalem, often cited as an "Arab city" or "occupied territory," is the site of Judaism's holiest monument. While under Arab rule (1948-67), this area was entirely closed to Jews. Since Israel took control, it has been open to people of all faiths.

20. Finally, let us consider the demand that certain territories in the Muslim world must be off-limits to Jews. This demand is of a piece with Hitler's proclamation that German land had to be "Judenrein" (empty of Jews). Arabs can live freely throughout Israel, and as full citizens. Why should Jews be forbidden to live or to own land in an area like the West Bank simply because the majority of people is Arab?

In sum, a fair and balanced portrayal of the Middle East will reveal that one nation stands far above the others in its commitment to human rights and democracy as well as in its commitment to peace and mutual security. That nation is Israel.

Status of Jewish Holy Sites

Under Jordanian Occupation (May 28, 1948 -- June 7, 1967), all Jewish holy sites in East Jerusalem, Judea, and Samaria were off-limits to Jews.

In East Jerusalem, 58 synagogues were destroyed or desecrated. Jordan built a road through the Jewish cemetery on the Mount of Olives; used thousands of tombstones from the cemetery for building projects, including pathways to army latrines; let the Western Wall deteriorate; and, during the Six-Day War, used the Temple Mount as an ammunition dump.

In Hebron Jews were barred from the cave of Machpelah, containing the Tomb of the Patriarchs, and the Cave of Othniel (Jud. 3:9). Also, Hebron's Jewish cemetery was almost completely destroyed.

Jordan's actions directly violated the Israel-Jordan Armistice Agreement of April 3, 1949, which called for "free access to the Holy Places and cultural institutions and use of the cemetery on the Mount of Olives" (Article VIII, para.2).

After 1967

Following the Six-Day War, Jewish holy sites in all of Israel, including East Jerusalem, Judea, and Samaria, were under Israeli control. On June 27, 1967, Israel passed the Protection of Holy Places Law, safeguarding free access to the holy sites of all religions.

On June 17, 1967, in a show of goodwill, Israeli Defense Minister Moshe Dayan granted custodianship of the Temple Mount to the Muslim Waqf (religious trust). Israel was responsible for Temple Mount security, but the Muslims were to manage the site. Jewish people were to be given permission to visit the Mount, but not to pray there.

The Agreement on the Gaza Strip and the Jericho Area of 1994, the Israeli-Palestinian Interim Agreement on the West Bank and the Gaza Strip of 1995, and the Protocol Concerning the Redeployment in Hebron of 1997 placed 21 Jewish holy sites in 13 locations under jurisdiction of the Palestinian Authority, which is responsible for protecting them and guaranteeing freedom of access. Rachel's Tomb near Bethlehem remained under Israeli protection. No agreement was reached regarding the Tomb of the Partiarchs in Hebron, other than retaining the status quo (Muslims control 80 percent of the complex, with no Jewish access to the Muslim side).

In November 1999, the Muslim Waqf for the Temple Mount began building an egress for an underground mosque at the southeastern corner of the Mount complex. Bulldozers were used, along with heavy stone-cutting machines. Trucks hauled away tons of rubble, some containing ancient Jewish artifacts, and disposed of it in the nearby Kidron Valley. Despite Israeli outcries, work continued. Likud leader Ariel Sharon visited the Temple Mount on September 28, 2000, to inspect the damage. The Palestinians reacted with the second intifada.

Today's Status

Almost all Jewish holy sites in Palestinian-controlled areas are highly restricted or prohibited to Jews, a clear breach of the Oslo Accords and other agreements. The Temple Mount is closed to Jews, and the southern wall is in danger of collapsing because of the Waqf's construction.

Palestinian police stood by as Arabs ransacked, demolished, and burnt Joseph's Tomb in Nablus. The ancient Shalom al-Israel synagogue in Jericho was damaged by arson. Arabs repeatedly have fired on Jewish worshipers at the Tomb of the Patriarchs in Hebron and at Rachel's Tomb. Palestinian attackers tried to storm the Tomb of Joshua in Kifel-Hares, but the Israeli Defense Forces repelled them.

Most Muslim clerics and Palestinian leaders claim there is no evidence any Jewish presence existed on the Temple Mount and say no legitimate Jewish claim to the site exists. Further, they assert that all of Israel is Islamic territory, including the Jewish holy sites.



by Southern View Chapel

An Open Letter to Gaza

I recently received an email accusing me of hating Arabs and my father. This email is typical of Arab media accusations of my views regarding the Arab-Israeli conflict. Since most Arabs have no chance to read my book, Now They Call Me Infidel, Why I Renounced Jihad for America, Israel and the War on Terror, which explains in detail my position, I will answer the email in this article. First, below is the translation of the Arabic language email which I received without a signature:

Salam to you,

With all of our pride in your father we pray that Allah will bless him with entering paradise, which is the wish of every person after this short prideful meaningless life. I want to ask you, has your father become your enemy after his death? We in the city of Gaza take pride in your father and I live on a street by the name of Shahid Moustafa Hafez which also has a school by the name of Shahid Moustafa Hafez. We never forgot his sacrifice, so how could you become an enemy to the tortured Palestinian people who are still suffering at the hands of Arab Zionists? I ask Allah to give you health and strength.

Awaiting your response and thank you in advance.

Here is my response:

Dear Gaza resident,
Your email touched me as sincere even though your accusations are wrong. I am not the enemy of Arabs and I assure you that I love my original culture and people. What makes me different is that I do not only love Arabs, but I also love the Jewish people. I am speaking my conscience. I respect their right to live in peace in their tiny homeland, Israel. I understand how that could be puzzling and unbelievable to many Arabs, to love both Jews and Arabs.

We Arabs have suffered from an unnatural and consistent indoctrination into Islamic supremacy and Jew hatred for over 1400 years. Thus it has become unfathomable to the Arab mind to comprehend loving both Arabs and Jews and wishing both well. Our culture has deprived us for many centuries from loving all of humanity as equals, through intense religious indoctrination resulting in self-imposed isolation and non-integration with other cultures. This isolation and jihad against non-Muslims has become increasingly difficult to maintain. Muslims everywhere are trying desperately to save face, reform Islam’s image and deny the undeniable. But they also want to have their cake and eat it too. While they are telling the world Islam is a religion of peace, they still want to continue with the jihad against non-Muslim countries. While one leader says, let’s kill all the Jews and take over Rome, another says to Western media that Islam is a religion of peace and we are deeply offended by the anti-Islam rhetoric. To play this sick game, Muslim culture must live a dysfunctional double life where everyone is deceived, including Muslims.

Thus to do the kind of jihad that Bin Laden, Ahmadinejad, Hamas, the Muslim Brotherhood, Assad, Nasser, Saudi jihadists etc, do and which is dictated by Sharia, Muslims find it hard to be honest. Thus, Muslims must claim victimhood in order to justify jihad. The entire Muslim world is using your people, the Arabs of the West Bank and Gaza, to justify their jihad against not only Israel, but also all non-Muslim countries. That includes Iran, which supports Hamas and Hezbollah.

Your people in Gaza should have realized this game a long time ago, but you refuse to see and be open about who is your true oppressor. Arab and Muslim media is using and abusing your people in order to justify their Islamic jihad around the world. That is why they never want to resolve your problem and want you to suffer and live in constant terror against Israel.

Under Islamic law, non-Muslim countries are never equal to Muslim countries and actually their sovereignty as a non-Muslim nation must always be challenged by Islamic jihad. Islamic law codified jihad as a permanent war with non-Muslims to establish the religion. Muslims thus have to use Taquiyya, lies, to legitimize their aggression on Israel and the West. That is why Muslim countries can never abandon the constant hate propaganda, lies and misinformation about Israel and the West. If that ends, their jihad ends. The UN must be constantly bombarded by complaints from Arab countries against Israel. The Arab street must be constantly bombarded with ridiculous accusations and Zionist conspiracies. Lately on Syrian TV a Syrian intellectual accused Israel of stealing human organs in Haiti while they were helping them after the earthquake. This is not something new; it started in the 7th century, when the prophet Mohammed accused the Jews of treason to justify killing and expelling them and taking over their wealth. To explain this away, he stated that Jews are worthy of this treatment since they are the descendants of apes pigs and enemies of Allah. Muslims still use the same dynamic and the world still falls for it every time.

The Arab mind was trained to never venture outside of the box of Islamic superiority, and that prevented us from treating the rest of humanity as equals. It is alien to Muslim preachers today to preach love to all of humanity and wishing non-Muslims the same human rights as Muslims. I have never heard that from a Muslim preacher. Only after 9/11 and in the West today, do we see some Muslim preachers trying to preach some Western values and engage in interfaith dialogue, in order to rehabilitate the image of Islam in the West and attract more converts.

I often get mail from secular Muslims who ask me: I can understand that you chose to leave Islam, but how can you support the Jews? I get mail like this because, in the Muslim mindset, loving, accepting and feeling good about Jews or Christians and thinking of them as equals, is unthinkable and an act of treason to Islam itself and even worse. It is as though the whole religion of Islam is dedicated to hating and killing Jews.

After centuries of this kind of education, the Muslim world produced a dysfunctional society, unable to relate to the rest of the world. While wanting to convince the world they are a religion of peace, do not be afraid of Islam, they are still hell-bent on conquering the world for Islam. That is Islam’s dilemma today.

What I, and a few others, are trying to do is to bring the truth to both Muslims and non-Muslims to finally face this sick game. We want to encourage Arabs to look at Jews and others as human beings and not as enemies to conquer. What kind of God will tell his followers to kill more than half of humanity if they don’t submit to Islam? The Muslim world today is a disaster waiting to happen. Ahmadinejad, who is not an Arab, wants to continue the Islamic jihad against Jews by destroying Israel. I have news to especially the Left in Europe and America: Islamic jihad will not end with Israel; you will be next.

To my email writer: in your letter to me, I have noticed that your outlook on life is pessimistic describing it as short and meaningless pride. Your views are prevalent in Muslim culture and I have heard it thousands of times when I lived in the Middle East. I remember even when we laughed and giggled as young girls, we were immediately silenced as being improper and that Allah somehow does not like us to laughing for no reason or in public. Even a heartfelt laugh to a Muslim was not going to get you friends, but critics. Your message to me and to Muslims is that life on earth will not get us happiness and the only escape from such misery is the everlasting happiness in the pleasures of Allah’s paradise after dying in jihad. But why take the Jews with us? They want to live and enjoy life and to make the earth, right here, a better place.

Our rejection of life is not a coincidence: since jihad does not value life, then it must value death. The first casualty of the jihad principle is peace and that is why I never learned peace as a value in Gaza. I have never heard a peaceful song in Arabic. To think of peace with the Jews is equal to treason to Islam. Rejection of peace has detrimental consequences to the healthy functioning of the Arab personality, family, society and the whole region. It is not a coincidence that Saudis reject under the law any celebration of Valentine’s Day, reject celebrating love between a man and a woman, teaching peace and compassion to their children towards the others. Just look at our Islamic law books and see the most cruel and unusual punishments ever created in any culture on earth. Only a culture that demands war and terror can promote such cruelty.

As to your question about hating my father, again I want to assure you that I adore and respect my father more than all of the people of Gaza. Actually I love him and wish him heaven not because he killed Jews, but because he was a good human being who was respected by many including the Israeli soldiers who killed him. He was known even to Israel as a cut above his peers and had integrity and honor. My father was the victim of the blood-thirsty culture of death all around him. He is one of the many thousands and even millions of victims of the jihad ideology, practiced over the last 1400 years.

Dear Gaza resident, yes, I cannot blame the Jewish people, or the government of Israel, for what you call the ‘misery’ of the Palestinians. I can only blame Arab and Islamic culture which used and abused you and which you allowed. I believe that this is an Arab self-inflicted crisis that has nothing to do with Israel.

Arab education has never told us the truth about the Israeli people and the story from their side and what Jerusalem means to them. We were told that Jerusalem was a Muslim city simply because Mohammed dreamt one night that he went to the farthest mosque but he never mentioned Jerusalem. The Koran never mentioned Jerusalem, which is mentioned hundreds of times in the Bible as the heart and soul of the Jewish people. We as Muslims never respected other religions holy cites and always claimed them to Islam; even Spain and India are being claimed as Muslim land. It was the tradition of Muslim conquerors to convert churches and temples to mosques and that is exactly what happened to the Jewish Temple Mount when 100 years after the prophet Mohammed died, Muslim conquerors built the mosque right on top of it. Just imagine if Jews or Christians had built a temple on top of the Kaaba in Mecca. This is how Islam has treated the Jews. It is time for Muslims to seek redemption and forgiveness and to extend the hand of reconciliation and peace to the Jewish people.

Nonie Darwish





Front Page Mag'

Gaza Conflict Moves to Virtual World

A shadow war between pro-Israeli and pro-Hamas forces is taking place on the Internet — and it is getting fierce.

If you're one of millions of Americans who use social-networking sites such as Facebook and Twitter or participate in virtual worlds like "Second Life," don't be surprised if you get sucked into a war thousands of miles away in Gaza.

Support groups have sprouted up on Facebook, drawing in thousands of members on both sides of the conflict. Protests erupted in "Second Life"'s virtual Israel, where demonstrators showed up to voice support for Hamas and the Palestinians.

People are using Twitter updates to tell the world what they're witnessing on the ground or how they feel about the news. And videos of the carnage in Gaza have been posted on YouTube, including some from the Israeli government.

On Facebook, the pro-Hamas group "Stop Genocide in Palestine" has more than 117,500 members. On the other side, "I Support the Israel Defense Forces in Preventing Terror Attacks from Gaza" has more than 65,000 members.

Some Facebook users have changed their profile pictures to Israeli or Palestinian flags, bloody images of war or other partisan graphics to get their messages across.

Facebook users can use applications to set messages in their status bars expressing affiliation with one side or the other. An application called "Qassam Count" enables users to voice their support for Israel by automatically updating their status bar when rockets are fired from Gaza into the Jewish state.

Joel Leyden, an American working in Israel, said he founded the "Support the Israel Defense Forces in Preventing Terror Attacks from Gaza" group to give members a place to voice their opinions and grievances about the conflict.

"Facebook, as we all know, was created by a university student for university students, and it's turned into the number one watering hole for the international community," Leyden said. "That can't be better illustrated than how it's being used today with the war here that we have with Hamas."

Thousands of messages have been posted to the group. Moderators watch over the conversation in Israel, Europe and North America.

Leyden said he's received dozens of death threats since he started the group.

"I've served in [the Israeli army] in combat and in the spokesperson's office and with the border police," he said. "I've never felt more in a dangerous environment than I do here. Everyone is trying to make as much noise as they can to break through."

Messages like "death to the Jews" and "we can't wait to murder you" have been posted to the group, he said, but since positing pro-peace messages to the site in Arabic, Leyden said things have toned down considerably.

None of the pro-Palestinian groups on Facebook responded to a request for comment.

The operators of Facebook, meanwhile, are taking pains to ensure that the online war doesn't get out of hand.

Facebook takes its "Terms of Use" policy seriously and removes groups that violate that policy from the Web site, spokeswoman Elizabeth Linder told FOXNews.com in an e-mail.

"We are sensitive to and subsequently take down Groups that threaten violence towards people. We also remove groups that express hatred towards individuals and groups that are sponsored by recognized terrorist organizations," Linder wrote.

Facebook on Thursday removed a Web site called "Hitler Took the Right Decision With Jewish People," saying the group violated its policies.

"We want Facebook to be a place where people can openly discuss issues and express their views," Linder wrote. "As such, we do not aim to control the discourse on Facebook.

"Rather, we take swift action to remove content that violates our policies. Our goal is to strike a very delicate balance between giving Facebook users the freedom to express their opinions and beliefs, while also ensuring that individuals and groups of people do not feel threatened or endangered."

In the virtual world "Second Life," SL Israel saw protests from virtual pro-Palestinian activists when the violence in Gaza flared up.

"Lots of people yelling," the founder of SL Israel, who goes by Beth Odets in the game, told Second Life blogger Wagner James Au. "They were going on and on with slurring obscenities about murderous Israeli forces, etc."

Odets began ejecting the most offensive protesters from the area, she told Au.

"I had to be careful not to boot people who didn't actually do anything wrong," she said.

She temporarily had to close SL Israel to outsiders to quell the protests, but protesters kept coming. Eventually, however, people came who wanted to talk.

Twitter user Ahuvah Berger, who lives in Israel, said she has been using the network to update her contacts about terrorism for years.

"I believe it is very important to help get our side of the story using a medium in which I already have a large audience who 'know' me," she wrote in an e-mail to FOXNews.com.

"As we know Israel is not good at PR, and as the perceived aggressor it needs to show the world why it does and continues to do what it feels necessary to protect its citizens," she wrote.

"I have encountered a lot of nasty Twitter users who believe in their own propaganda and when confronted with facts, not only facts emerging from Israel, they resort to calling me a Nazi and a perpetrator of a Palestinian holocaust."

Ron Kutas of Stand With Us, a pro-Israel group, said taking the war onto the Internet has its problems.

"It's opening up the door to anybody who wants to say anything," Kutas said. "It's very hard for people to distinguish between emotional commentary about the conflict and factual journalism about the conflict ... you have an open forum and people who are not educated about the conflict are being told misinformation all the time."

Kutas said he uses Qassam Count to spark discussion with friends who oppose Israel's actions in Gaza.

"People who I'm friends with who have opinions that are not the same as mine, we have dialogues about real issues and real facts. When that happens it's a great thing," he said.

Asked if any of his friends had chosen not to associate with him on Facebook because of his pro-Israel activism, Kutas replied, "I don't know of anything of that sort, but I should look into that."




Fox News

Israel & Apartheid

Isn't Israel's treatment of the Arabs just as bad as South Africa's Apartheid?

Today, within Israel, Jews are a majority, but the Arab minority are full citizens with voting rights and representation in the government. Under apartheid black South Africans could not vote and were not citizens of the country in which they are the overwhelming majority of the population.

The situation of Palestinians in the territories - won by Israel in a defensive war forced upon it by its neighbors - is different. The security requirements of the nation, and a violent insurrection in the territories, have forced Israel to impose restrictions on Arab residents of the West Bank and Gaza Strip that are not necessary inside Israel's pre-1967 borders. The Palestinians in the territories, typically, dispute Israel's right to exist whereas blacks did not seek the destruction of South Africa, only the apartheid regime.

If Israel were to give Palestinians full citizenship, it would mean the territories had been annexed. No Israeli government has been prepared to take that step.

Meanwhile, Palestinians from the territories are allowed to work in Israel and receive similar pay and benefits to their Jewish counterparts. They are allowed to attend schools and universities. Palestinians have been given opportunities to run many of their own affairs. None of this was true for South African blacks.

- from Israel Is Not An Apartheid State, JSource -

Yet Zionism itself, and not only the current policies of the Israeli government, is constantly accused of being equivalent to apartheid simply because it represents a national emancipation movement which differs from others in being Jewish.

- Jacques Givet, "The Anti-Zionist Complex" -

Does Israel force Arabs into laborious work, menial labor?

"We do not want to create a situation like that which exists in South Africa, where the whites are the owners and rulers, and the blacks are the workers. If we do not do all kinds of work, easy and hard, skilled and unskilled, if we become merely landlords, then this will not be our homeland"

- David Ben-Gurion in conversation with Musa Alami, 1934
from Shabtai Teveth, Ben-Gurion and the Palestinian Arabs: From Peace to War, London: Oxford University Press, 1985, p. 140

Is there racist Apartheid in the Middle East?

Another myth about Islam is that it promoted equality. In reality Islam permitted the ultimate inequality--slavery. As Muir says of Mohammed: "He rivetted the fetter." "There is no obligation whatever on a Moslem to release his slaves.' Mohammed himself had slaves--17 men and 11 women. One of the early Caliphs, Omar "insisted on a medieval Apartheid with the Arabs as master race."

In subsequent years the Arabs had one of the worst records as slavers, and this has continued right up till the later years of the 20th century and may still be going on. Some of the worst feudal regimes in history were based on Islam as is the present regime in Saudi Arabia.

- from THE DEAD HAND OF ISLAM, by Colin Maine

In fact, in an Islamic country, an infidel is a necessary evil, who is just about tolerated. The dignity of man signified by human rights, and promoted by bloody revolutions over a period of centuries, is a piece of sheer nonsense in Islam. It is because a non-Muslim in an Islamic state is required to pay jaziya, which in the Koranic language is a Humiliation Tax. In fact, the life of an unbeliever is a series of humiliations in a Muslim country. He has to wear distinctive clothes and mark his house to express the unbelief of its dwellers. Muslims are forbidden to associate with him and attend his matrimonial or funeral ceremonies. He must not ride horses or bear arms. Since it is the Islamic way of life, which requires an unbeliever to yield way to the Muslim when they happen to be walking on the same path, it can be safely called the forerunner of the South African apartheid.

- from ISLAM and Human Rights, by Anwar Shaikh -

Is Mandela a hero of the Free World?

"Mandela's Mideast Muddle"
by Patrick Goodenough

More than a year ago, on August 19 1996, South African President Nelson Mandela was due to arrive on a long-awaited visit to Israel. The trip was postponed because -- we were told -- Mandela's health at the time was poor.

Since then, however, Mandela has travelled to most corners of the globe, addressing international gatherings and conducting full state visits from Britain to Indonesia. This week he visited Israel's neighbour, Egypt, before heading for a highly controversial visit to Libya. It's hard to believe any longer that Mandela is not staying away for political reasons.

His reaction to US opposition to the visit, and those of his somnolent Foreign Minister, Alfred Nzo, suggest that these two old men are woefully out of touch with late 20th century reality. Mandela accused Washington of arrogance for dictating "where we should go or who our friends should be" Nzo called for an end to UN sanctions against Libya.

On October 21, the Johannesburg MAIL & GUARDIAN newspaper published letters on its Internet edition from Libyan exiles, deploring Mandela's decision to visit. One wrote: "I simply cannot believe that it is too much to ask of you what you have asked the world to do in the recent past: boycott tyranny and oppression".

Another called the visit "an insult to Libyan martyrs who have been hanged publicly by [Muammar] Gaddafi and left to rot in public squares for days; to the families of Libyans whose bodies were dug up by his thugs and thrown to the sea for opposing him during their life; and to the thousands of Libyans who are still in the jails of this tyrant, subjected to torture on a daily basis for asking nothing more than what you and the people of South Africa have asked for: to breathe free in our own land".

The reaction of these dissidents -- shock at Mandela's apparent blindness to the irony of his stance -- is not new. Many South Africans with a deep love both for our country and for this one share their concerns.

To many of us who grew up in the shadow of apartheid, Mandela in his prison cell were a constant reminder of a future, better South Africa which we, too, could work towards. But our joy at the transition when it occurred was tempered by profound misgivings about the close relations between the ANC and the likes of Libya, Iran and the PLO.

We hoped the ANC's ties with such dubious allies of the exiled organisation would diminish once Mandela assumed power, but that did not happen. His loyalty to old friends appears to have blinded him to a cold assessment of the damage done to his reputation by images of him embracing Yasser Arafat and Gaddafi.

Pretoria's shifting policy on the Middle East is cause for deep misgiving. A case in point was last year's agreement to store Iranian oil, flying in the face of American appeals for sanctions against Tehran. (The deal was since aborted, reportedly for reasons unrelated to US pressure).

Even more disturbing was the admission by former Energy Affairs Minister, Pik Botha, that nuclear cooperation between the two countries was on the agenda during his visit to Tehran early last year. Botha told the writer he had "met with representatives of Iran's nuclear research industry" whom he said were "engaged in research and the peaceful application of nuclear power"

Yet Iran's attempts to buy nuclear know-how from China, North Korea and former Soviet republics have triggered alarms among intelligence services around the world. In the light of this, Botha's insistence in response to my queries that "under no circumstances will South Africa become involved in any form of cooperation in violation of its obligations and responsibilities in terms of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty"sounded naive at best -- if not downright untrue.

If Mandela is unaware of the involvement in terrorism of Tripoli and Tehran, he is clearly not being properly advised by Nzo (who was himself warmly received in Tehran in October 1994).

When it comes to Arafat, one wonders what Mandela sees to talk about with a man not just with a history of personal responsibility for terrorism, but who even now oversees a security force which kidnaps, tortures and kills opponents in the areas under his authority. At a time when South Africa's Truth and Reconciliation Commission is hearing gruesome evidence of "dirty tricks"activities carried out by operatives of the apartheid state, doesn't it strike Mandela as ironic that his government's foreign policy transforms the perpetrators of similar crimes into diplomatic and trading partners?

Should he ever decide indeed to visit Israel, Mandela will have to bear in mind that, by legitimising the tyrants in Tripoli, Gaza and Tehran, he has relinquished any right to advise Israelis on matters which could affect the very survival of the Jewish state.

Did Israel have a special relationship with the Apartheid regime?







Peace Faq

Lieberman: We Don't Want to End Up Like Czechoslovakia

FM tells counterparts Kouchner, Moratinos Europe's pressure on Israel attempt to make up for failure to resolve conflicts in Somalia, Afghanistan, North Korea, Zimbabwe and Sudan. Adds: We'll protect our vital interests.

"Before you teach us how to resolve conflicts here, I expect at the very least that you solve all the problems in Europe," Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman told his French and Spanish counterparts Bernard Kouchner and Miguel Moratinos Sunday night.

During their meeting in Jerusalem, Lieberman said, "In 1938 the European community decided to appease Hitler instead of supporting the loyal ally Czechoslovakia, and sacrificed it without gaining anything.

"We have no intention of becoming 2010's Czechoslovakia and will insist on Israel's vital interests," the FM added.

Lieberman also told his counterparts that the West has failed in resolving conflicts and that he does not understand why Israel was being singled out. "It seems as though the international community is trying to make up for its failure to resolve conflicts in Somalia, Afghanistan, North Korea, Zimbabwe, Sudan and other places by trying to bring about an Israeli-Palestinian agreement within a year," he said.

"Instead of discussing the upcoming referendum in Sudan with the Arab League or discussing the explosive situation that is expected in Iraq in 2012, Israel is being pressured. This may lead to the collapse of the negotiations, just as it did in 2000 following the Camp David summit."

Earlier Sunday, Kouchner and Moratinos told President Shimon Peres their countries want to help progress the peace process. Peres said, "Peace involves many difficulties. We must not give up. We must advance peace, since the alternative is so dangerous."



Ynet News

There is No Peace Process

The reality being evaded is that Israel’s yearning for peace was shared neither by the Arab world in general nor by the Palestinians in particular. Their rejection to Israel's overtures had nothing at all to do with what Israel had done or failed to do... but to the very fact that Israel existed!

READ MY LIPS: "There is No "Peace" Process!"

The question REALLY is how did Israel get itself into this mess! It all began with a backroom deal among Yitzhak Rabin, the weasel Shimon Peres and representatives of a gang of Jew-murdering Arabs. In case you forgot, Rabin was the soft-headed Jew who prided himself on a "brilliant" military career which included the killing of fellow Jews on the Irgun ship, Altelena. And Peres never got elected to any office except head of the Peres Peace Center which he humbly named after himself! BOTH whackos would sell their mother's graves for a Nobel Peace Prize! These are the two Leftist dreamers who got Israel boxed into a corner after the wedding between Prime Minister Ehud Barak and his lover Yasser Arafat, culminating in the afterbirth of their bastard child, "Oslo!" Oh what a pity that the Jewish People have been cursed with self-hating, groveling leaders who still view themselves as losers!

The idea of the Oslo Peace Accords was to turn over Gaza and Jericho to the PLO leadership, now sanitized and repackaged as the PA (Palestinian Authority), to see if they could put aside their obsession of murdering Jews and try to administer their fellow Arab Palestinians in a responsible way. Yet to talk about the PLO and democracy in one breath is to reveal unfathomable depths of ignorance. With this chance for limited "autonomy," Rabin and the weasel Peres hoped the Palestinians would show their appreciation by killing fewer Jews! As an added bonus, the "moderate" Arafat was given Israeli-made automatic weaponry for his "police force" so as to counter the "extremists." Unfortunately, Rabin and Peres forgot that "moderates" still kill Jews moderately. Thus they had taken Yasser Arafat, the most vile Jew-hater in the world, and made him their personal "friend!" Arafat returned the favor by making Rabin and Peres his personal whores. Stupid is too kind a word for people who think it possible to have a new era of peace with murderers! And so is Treason!

What a sight it was in Gaza and Jericho... Israeli flags ripped off their mountings and replaced by the red, black, green and white flag of "Palestine." There was Arafat and his fellow Nazi Muslims firing Israeli-made bullets (none rubber-coated) from Israeli-made machine guns into the "liberated" air with promises from Arafat to "Liberate ALL of Palestine!" Even Prime Minister Rabin, the initiator of this suicidal Oslo disaster, publicly stated that should the PLO ever use any of our weapons against Jews, Israel would take everything back and throw the PLO out of our country. Why has this not happened? Countless Jews have been murdered by weapons given to them by the Israeli government in the asinine assumption that they would be used to fight terror. The Jew-murderer himself, Yasser Arafat, was given the Nobel Peace Prize in the hope that it would inspire him to end his terrorism. It didn't work. He has always been a terrorist. He continues to murder innocent Jews. He will ALWAYS remain a terrorist.

The deal was to have a 20,000 man Palestinian "police force." Estimates now have it well over 60,000 and they're even receiving military training from "outside" experts. Additional guns and even anti-tankmissiles and anti-aircraft missiles are being smuggled in from Jordan, Egypt and via their new air and sea ports in Gaza. Small explosive factories are popping up inside West Bank Arab homes. The "policemen" are undergoing military training. Children are sent to FATAH military "summer camps," not to learn how to dance the hora or prepare felafels, but rather how to strap dynamite sticks onto their chests for Allah! Who can blame Arafat for murdering Jews after the Israeli government itself gave him money, guns, ammunition, training, and bases within Israel from which to launch attacks against Israelis? Did the Israeli government really think that Arafat would use these things to protect the Jewish People! Ahhhh, if only the Jews had a clever leader like Arafat!

In exchange for her "bold steps for peace," Israel has asked the United States for some financial assistance. This, of course, will be needed to build reinforced fences, trenches, by-pass roads, sophisticated electronic surveillance devices, bulletproof vehicles and bulletproof windows for civilian homes. If all THIS is for "peace," then why must Israel invest so much to defend herself from her "peace partners!" The money would be much better spent expelling the Arab citizens of Israel (the Enemy Within) along with the so-called Arab "PalestinEEEEEEnians" of Judea-Samaria and Gaza and relocating ALL of them somewhere else...like in Jordan, the Arab-Palestinian state in all but its name or perhaps next to Senator Hiliary Clinton's New York home where she might bake them all a cake!

Let Israel learn a most important lesson from this impossible Oslo "peace" deal. Whether they be from Judea-Samaria (West Bank), Gaza Strip on any of the 24 Arab nations in the Middle East, ALL ARABS seek the destruction of the Jewish State. The Palestinian Arabs would certainly prefer that they be handed a State on a silver platter (for "peace" of course) but would be just as willing to take it from Israel in a war as soon as they feel they are strong enough to do so. Right now, the ONLY reason Israel HAS a semblance of peace is because of its strong, well-trained Israeli Defense Forces and its nuclear stockpile. How comforting it is to know that the ONLY reason the Arabs are talking peace is because of Jewish nukes! Does that mean that as soon as the Arab world develops Muslim nukes it's "Let the war games begin?"

Shall we carry this nightmare called "peace" a step further? Let's say that Arafat, Hamas, Hizbullah, Islamic Jihad, or one of the other Palestinian "Liberation" groups calls for massive armed assaults on Jewish towns and cities in some of the more heavily-populated Arab areas within Judea-Samaria/Gaza or perhaps even WITHIN Israel herself. So as not to be thought of as "Zionist sympathizers," Israel's Arab citizens would join in with their Palestinian brothers and sisters. In a scenario such as this, nuclear weapons have little value. But wait, the nightmare isn't over. While the Israeli Army mobilizes internally to meet all these attacks, Egypt, Syria, Jordan, Lebanon and maybe even Iraq launch a coordinated surprise attack upon Israel's borders to finally finish off Israel. Am I dreaming the impossible... or can you not imagine the unimaginable?

A two-state solution is just not feasible if they are squeezed in the the tiny sliver of land nestled between the River Jordan and the Mediterranean Sea. Two sovereign governments and their two armies, cheek to cheek, eyeball to eyeball and fist to fist all the while squabbling over a field here, a hilltop there and, all the while, continuous Arab terror against Israel. The experiment from 1993 until now called "Oslo" has proven one undeniable fact... a two-state solution [one Jewish and one Arab-Palestinian] west of the Jordan doesn't stand a chance!

This "Peace Process" between Israel and the "Palestinians" is all but dead except in the sick minds of Yossi Sarid, Yossi Beilin, Shimon Peres, Ehud Barak (at right) and the Peace Now crew?. Continuing it would be no different than continuing to eat poison pudding so as not to offend the U.S. host who helped baked it. The Jews of Israel cannot make peace by themselves. Judaism teaches "Shalom" ... Peace. Islam teaches "Jihad" ... Holy War Against All Non-Moslems. Thus it would seem that the only way for peace to have any chance of success would be to have the Arabs convert to Judaism!!!

O.K., so Israel Gave Peace a Chance. It was a good try. It is not working! She was dealt a bad hand and now it's time to fold. The culture of peace that was supposedly nurtured over the last decade was nothing more than a delusion. The only thing nurtured by the Arabs was hatred and incitement to kill Jews. So where does Israel go from here? Any normal country would take back Jericho, Hebron, Shekhem (Nablus), Umm el Fahm, West Jerusalem, the Galilee... and all the other Biblical Jewish towns from which the Arab enemy has removed its Jews.

If Israel does not remove ALL the Arabs, she is inviting further acts of violence and murder against its Jewish population. Some will call this "Racism." And indeed it WOULD be racism if the Arabs were removed simply because they were Arabs. Unfortunately the Arabs have been murdering Jews LONG before the Oslo Accords of '93 and even long before the creation of the Jewish State itself. So call it racism if you like but if Israel does not do what must be done, she won't be around to be called anything!

UPDATE:
If you feel like getting a preview on what sort of state a new Arab "Palestine" might be like, just listen to their lovely proposed national anthem:

My homeland
My homeland

The adoration and beauty and sublimity and grace

In your heights
In your heights

Life, survival, happiness and hope

In your love
In your love

Would I see you
Would I see you

Safe, blessed, victorious and honored
Safe, blessed, victorious and honored

Would I see you in your eminence

Reaching high prestige
Reaching high prestige

My homeland
My homeland

The youth will never get tired
Their goal is to get independence or die trying
Or die trying

We drink from death and for enemy we'll never be like slaves
Like slaves

We don't want
We don't want

Our eternal ignominy and our sombre life

We don't want but repeat

Our long standing
Our long standing

My homeland
My homeland

The sword and firefly are not speeches and conflicts are our symbols
Our symbols

Our glory and testament and duty of loyalty shake us
Shake us

Our greatness
Our greatness

A honorable purpose and waving flag
A honorable purpose and waving flag

Oh your felicity in your highness beating your enemies
Beating your enemies

My homeland
My homeland

Masada 2000

An Open Letter to Israel Prime Minister

Dear Prime Minister,

If Israel's best young men and women must die, at least let them die defending a proud Nation... not a Nation groveling at the feet of murderers. Re-ignite the spirit of King David rather than that of the defenseless ghetto Jew. Be merciless on the Arab enemy who feeds off the carcasses of dead Jews. There are NO "bridges for peace." They disappeared long ago... right after Hagar and Sarah realized there wasn't enough of Abraham to go around!

The Arab enemy has chosen the terms of engagement. We want to live... they want us to die. That concept SHOULD be simple enough to grasp. The "Palestinians" are historical nobodies yet you have foolishly given them legitimacy. The world will not miss one single Arab "Palestinian." They have given the civilized world nothing but long lines at airport security checks. So why are you suddenly taking up their cause?

May I suggest that you take a walk through the Mt. Herzl Military Cemetery in Jerusalem where we took these photos. Look for the grave of that beloved Jewish soldier and try to convince his parents that the Arabs truly seek peace. And one more thing, Dear Prime minister, Wipe that silly smile off your face when you go there!

Why so many Jews have such an inexplicable urge to be loved by the world to the point of sacrificing themselves to minimize harm to enemy civilians or their olive trees?

It can only be called madness!

They twist normal self-preservation to show the world that they are better and DEADER than their enemies.

Unfortunately, by asking the Israel soldier not to sink to his enemy's level, he ends up sinking six feet BELOW his enemy's level! All in hopes of being admired by the world and his enemies.... posthumously, of course!

If there are still some Jews so riddled with some sort of ageless ghetto mentality wishing to lay down THEIR OWN lives so that their enemy's "civilians" might live, that's just fine with us.

And the sooner we Jews rid ourselves of these sick Jewish types, the better!

But when these same Jews happen to be the leaders of Israel or I.D.F. commanders, THEN Israel surely has a problem... And THAT problem is the running out of Jewish soldiers!

The Arabs are fighting Israel and now Israel must fight like a real army!

If Israel could in 1967 defeat the combined Egyptian, Jordanian and Syrian Armies in just six days, surely today's more powerful Israel Army could deal a death blow to the Palestinian Arabs in just six HOURS!

And THIS time, throw them out and KEEP THEM OUT!

No End in Sight...

While Israel continues to participate in one make-believe "Peace Process" after the other after the other after the other after the other...

Mothers water their sons' graves while cemetery workers will prepare new ones until the Israeli politicians finally
'Gets It."

This was written during the frightening prime ministership of Ehud Barak, during which he nearly gave away the 'whole store' for peace. Thank G-d Arafat once again saved Israel from herself by refusing his offer which may have been nearly 100% of his 'demands"... but not 100% of them! These words could just as easily have been written during the present Ariel Sharon prime ministership or ANY future one that thinks the Arabs will ever stop murdering Jews.

An Open Letter to Israel Prime Minister, Israel, Jews, IDF, Arabs, Palestine, Palestinians, Wars, Middle East Conflict, Middle East, News, Politics

"An Open Letter to Israel Prime Minister" Israel Jews IDF Arabs Palestine Palestinians Wars "Middle East Conflict" "Middle East" News Politics Military Analysis Arabic Government Educational Religion Warfare Commentary Protest





Masada 2000

Israel Security Fence - "The Wall of Shame"

Terrorism has been defined throughout the international community as a crime against humanity. As such, the state of Israel not only had the right but also the obligation to do everything in its power to lessen the impact and scope of terrorism on the citizens of Israel.

The security fence in an operational concept conceived by the Israeli Defense Establishment in order to reduce the numbers of terrorist attacks whether in the form of explosive-rigged vehicles or in the form of suicide bombers who enter into Israel with the intention of murdering innocent babies, children, women and men.

Hypocrisy:

Morocco - Sahara:
The great wall of Morocco known as "the security belt" is a defensive wall of 2720 kms (1690 mi) long. It serves to protect Morocco from hostile intentions of Polisario.

Pakistan - Afghanistan:
Pakistan built a 2400 kms (1490 mi)barrier to separate itself from Afghanistan.

India - Pakistan:
As well India built its 3300 kms (2050 mi) wall to separate itself from neighboring Pakistan.

South Korea - North Korea:
South Korea protects itself from North Korea with a barrier of 250 kms (154 mi).

Saudi Arabia - Yemen:
Saudi Arabia built 1770 kms (1100 mi) concrete wall with sophisticated electronic monitoring devices. The wall is intended to prevent Yemenite infiltration into the country. The barrier costs over 700 million dollars. Little matters the anger of local Yemenite tribes denouncing the reduction of Yemenite territory by 7 kms (4 mi).

(and Iraq)
As well Saudi Arabia erects a 900 kms (500 mi) ultra modern barrier on its border with Iraq.

Turkey (Cyprus):
Turkey claims part of the island of Cyprus and delimits that territory by a barrier of 300 kms. (187 mi)

Thailand - Malaysia:
Since 2007, Thailand erected a 75 kms (46 mi) barrier along its most accessible border with Malaysia. According to Bangkok, its purpose is to prevent southern troubled provinces Muslim terrorists from entering the northern part of the country.

Uzbekistan - Tajikistan:
Uzbekistan erected a closure of 1283 kms (797 mi) along its border with Tajikistan.

United Arab Emirates - Oman:
United Arab Emirates are in the process of building 410 kms (255 mi) barrier on their border with Oman.

Kuwait - Iraq:
Kuwait reinforces the exiting 215 kms (134 mi) structure along its border with Iraq.

United States - Mexico:
What about United States?
What about Obama and his speech in Cairo?
What about this land of liberty and the Mexican border?
The 3360 kms (2087 mi) length wall between United states and Mexico is being erected to protect the U.S from Mexicans who try to enter illegally the country in order to escape poverty and misery.

And what about Europe?
Always so ready to condemn certain others?

Spain - Ceuta and Melilla
Spain of Javier Solana and Moratinos erected an electrified barrier of 11 kms (7 mi) guarded continuously by soldiers at Melilla, as well at its border with Ceuta, The fence's long 11 (7 mi) kms and consists of parallel 3-metre (10-foot) fences topped with barbed wire, with regular watchposts and a road running between them to accommodate police patrols or ambulance service in case of need. Underground cables connect spotlights, noise and movement sensors, and video cameras to a central control booth; dozens of Guard ships and patrol boats check the coast, while 621 Guardia Civil’s officers and 548 police officers control the shore.

It serve to protect Spain from illegal Moroccan and sub Saharan workers who try to enter its territory to escape famine.

Ireland (Belfast)
There are also the famous "walls of Ireland", length of 0.5 kms (0.310 mi), where for over thirty years, Catholic and Protestants desire to be separated from each other. For this, roads have been cut in order to end the throwing of stones, Molotov cocktails, hand grenades and various other projectiles. Entire areas of Belfast have been disfigured, homes destroyed and residents ex-pulsed in total general international indifference.

BUT THE ONLY WALL CALLED "THE WALL OF SHAME" IS THE ONE BUILT BY THE STATE OF ISRAEL!!!

For Israel however the benefit of such wall is without question:
Between 2002 and 2008, the number of victims of suicide bomb attacks on its soil has fallen from 451 to 7. This fall of 98.5% (!!!) does not of course apply at Eilat, nor Dimona, nor along the Judean desert as these areas are not yet enclosed in the security barrier.

It is more legitimate to build a wall in order to protect oneself from immigrants living in poverty and misery than to do it in order to prevent the entering of TERRORIST, SUICIDE BOMBERS?

I let you, Mr. Obama, Mr. Solana, Mr. Moratinos and all your colleagues answer this question. It is quite rhetorical, I must admit.

Here is the complete list of all the barrier walls around the world:

Name: Baghdad Wall
Country: Adhamiya, Iraq
Type: Civil pacification
Year: (Under construction)
Length: 5 kms (3 mi)

Name: Belfast Peace Lines
Country: United Kingdom (Northern Ireland)
type: Civil pacification
Year: 1970s -early
Length: 0.500 kms (average) - (0.310 mi)

Name: Botswana/Zimbabwe
Country: Botswana and Zimbabwe
Type: Anti-illegal immigration
Year: 2003
Length: 500 kms (310 mi)

Name: Brunei/Limbang
Country: Brunei and Limbang
Type: Anti-illegal immigration
Year: 2005
Length: 20 kms (12 mi)

Name: Ceuta border fence
Country: Spain
Type: Anti-illegal immigration
Year: 2001
Length: 11 kms

Name: Melilla border fence
Country: Spain
Type: Anti-illegal immigration
Year: 1998
Length: 11 kms

Name: China/Hong Kong
Country: China
Type: Internal barrier
Year: 1960s -early
Length: 32 kms (20 mi)

Name: China/Macau
Country: China
type: Internal barrier
Year: 1870
Length: 0.340 km (0.211 mi)

Name: China/North Korea
Country: China and North Korea
Type: Anti-illegal immigration
Year: (Under construction)
Length: 1,416 kms (879 mi)

Name: Egypt-Gaza barrier
Country: Egypt
Type: Anti-terrorism and anti-illegal immigration
Year: 1979, + subterranean barrier (under construction)
Length: 3.071 kms (2 mi)

Name: Sharm el-Sheikh
Country: Egypt
type: Anti-terrorism
Year: 2005
Length: 20 kms (12 mi)

Name: Malaysia-Thailand border
Country: Thailand and Malaysia
Type: Anti-terrorism
Year: Proposed
Length: 650 kms (403 mi)

Name: Indo-Bangladeshi barrier
Country: India
Type: Anti-illegal immigration and Anti-Terrorism
Year: Under construction
Length: 3,268 kms (2041 mi)

Name: Indo-Burma barrier
Country: India
type: Anti-Drug smuggling and Anti-Terrorism
Year: Under construction
Length: 1,624 kms (1009 mi)

Name: Indian Kashmir barrier
Country: India
Type: Anti-terrorism (disputed territory)
Year: 2004
Length: 550 kms (341 mi)

Name: Iran-Pakistan barrier
Country: Iran and Pakistan
Type: Anti-drug smuggling
Year: Under construction
Length: 700 kms (434 mi)

Name: Israeli West Bank barrier
Country: Israel - West Bank
Type: Anti-terrorism (disputed territory)
Year: Under construction
Length: 650 kms (403 mi)

Name: Kazakh-Uzbekistan barrier
Country: Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan
Type: Anti-drug smuggling
Year: 2006
Length: 45 kms (28 mi)

Name: Korean Wall
Country: North Korea and South Korea
Type: Conflict zone
Year: 1953
Length: 248 kms (154 mi)

Name: Kruger National Park
Country: South Africa and Mozambique
Type: Anti-illegal immigration
Year: 1975
Length: 120 kms (74 mi)

Name: Kuwait-Iraq barrier
Country: Kuwait and Iraq
Type: Conflict zone
Year: 1991
Length: 193 kms (120 mi)

Name: Pakistan-Afghanistan barrier
Country: Pakistan
Type: Anti-terrorism
Year: Proposed
Length: 2,400 kms (1491 mi)

Name: Russia - Chechnya barrier
Country: Chechnya (Russia)
Type: Anti-terrorism (disputed territory)
Year: Proposed
Length: 700 (435 mi)

name: Saudi-Yemen barrier
Country: Saudi Arabia and Yemen
type: Anti-illegal immigration
Year: 2004
Length: 1770 kms (1100 mi)

Name: Turkmen - Uzbekistan barrier
Country: Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan
Type: Anti-illegal immigration
Year: 2001
Length: 1,700 kms (1056 mi)

Name: United Arab Emirates-Oman barrier
Country: United Arab Emirates and Oman
Type: Anti-illegal immigration
Year: Under construction
Length: 410 kms (254 mi)

name: United Nations Buffer Zone in Cyprus
Country: Cyprus and Northern Cyprus
Type: Conflict zone
Year: 1974
Length: 300 kms (186 mi)

Name: United States–Mexico barrier
Country: United States
Type: Anti-illegal immigration and drug smuggling
Year: Under construction
Length: 3,360 (2087 mi)

Name: Uzbek-Afghanistan barrier
Country: Uzbekistan and Afghanistan
Type: Anti-illegal immigration
Year: 2001
Length: 209 kms (130 mi)

Name: Uzbek - Kyrgyzstan (Tajikistan) barrier
Country: Uzbekistan and Kyrgyzstan
Type: Conflict zone
Year: 1999
Length: 1283 kms (797 mi)

Name: Via Anelli Wall
Country: Padua, Italy
Type: Internal barrier
Year: 2006
Length: 0.085 kms (0.05 mi)

Name: Western Sahara, Berm of
Country: Morocco
Type: Conflict zone (disputed territory)
Year: 1987
Length: 2720 kms (1690 mi)





You Might Also Like:
Israel's Security Fence