By Erika Schwartz
Over the next several months I'll be writing regularly about various issues relating to Israel, her history and her importance to Jews throughout the world. I'll also try to provide enough information so you can help your own friends and families wade through the misinformation that seems too often permeate the media. Selecting the topic of my first column was easy . . . the history of Palestine. There has been so much misinformation thrown around that even most Jews today can no longer figure out who lived where, how they got there and who got there first. You need to know!
A Personal Note: Why am I doing this? Some of you, who regularly attend the Rabbi's Torah class, have witnessed my emotional, sometimes LOUD outbursts when I think I'm hearing misinformation about Israel or the Holocaust. The short answer is that I believe Jews around the world are safe only as long as Israel continues to exist.
I'm a Holocaust Survivor and believe with all my heart that millions of Jews would not have been slaughtered had Israel existed.
I don't have miles of column inches to list all of the examples of the worldwide apathy to what was widely known about the extermination of Europe's Jews. I urge you to do the research and learn about (1) the German liner St. Louis and its doomed cargo of Jewish refugees who were denied entrance to Cuba, the USA and Canada before the ship finally returned to Europe where most of the passengers perished in the Holocaust, (2) FDR's refusal to lift a finger to save Jews, including his refusal to order the bombing of the railroad tracks leading to Auschwitz or the gas chambers in Auschwitz in spite of the fact that American bombers were obliterating military targets just a few miles from the extermination camp. The list is long . . . look it up . . . and know that the world knew what was going on as early as January 1942.
So read on for the important information you need to know about the birth and continued struggle of the only country on the planet that would have done everything humanly possible to save the Jews of Europe.
For about 400 years prior to World War I Turkey's Ottoman Empire controlled a vast Arab empire. A portion of that empire is today's Lebanon, Syria and what was called Palestine.
During WWI Turkey supported Germany. When Germany was defeated, so was Turkey. The portion of the Ottoman Empire called Palestine (today's Jordan, Israel and West Bank) was mandated to Great Britain.
Because no part of Palestine had been a national homeland to any peoples since the Jews had claimed it as Israel 2,000 years before, the British considered allowing the creation of a Jewish National Homeland throughout all of the Palestinian territory. Jews had already begun mass immigration to the area in the 1880's.
In 1923, the British divided this territory into two districts. Jews were permitted only west of the Jordan river, the area deemed to become the Jewish Palestinian homeland. This area consisted of 25% of the original Palestinian territory. The remaining 75% was called Trans-Jordan and was to become the Arab Palestinian homeland.
The Arab population in the area west of the Jordan River was not happy. They wanted all of Palestine and began to launch murderous attacks on the Jewish Palestinians.
Although the British had themselves declared the area west of the Jordan River as a future Jewish homeland, they did nothing to help the Palestinian Jews. In fact, they were pretty much pro-Arab and turned their backs on the situation. The Jews had no choice but to form an organized defense. Thus was born the Hagana, the beginnings of the Israeli Defense Forces. There was also a Jewish underground called the Irgun led by Menachem Begin who later became Prime Minister of Israel.
The British finally gave up trying to "administer" the territory and turned it over to the United Nations.
The 1947 U.N. Resolution 181 partition plan was to whittle down the remaining 25% of Palestine even further (which was supposed to have been the Jewish homeland) by dividing it yet again into a Jewish Palestinian State and a SECOND Arab Palestinian State because Trans-Jordan refused to accept the Arabs who had stayed in the area west of the Jordan. They were, in essence, "homeless" not because the Jews wanted them out, but because no Arab country would allow them in.
The Jewish Palestinians accepted this. The Arab Palestinians did not. They still wanted ALL of Palestine.
On May 14, 1948 the "Palestinian Jews" declared their own State of Israel. The very next day, seven neighboring Arab armies (Egypt, Jordan, Syria, Lebanon, Saudi Arabia, Iraq and Yemen) invaded Israel.
Most of the Arabs remaining within the boundaries of Israel were encouraged by the invading Arab armies to leave in order to facilitate the slaughter of the Jews by the invading Arabs. They were promised to be given all the Jewish property after the victorious Arab armies won the war. These Arabs, who left when the one-day-old tiny Nation of Israel was attacked, became the seeds of the first wave of "Palestinian Arab refugees."
By the end of the 1948-49 Israeli War of Independence, the Jewish State was slightly larger than had been originally proposed by the UN resolution. What remained of the almost-created second Arab Palestinian State had been gobbled up by (1) Egypt, occupying the Gaza Strip and by (2) Trans-Jordan, occupying Judea-Samaria (the West Bank) and Jerusalem. In 1950 Trans-Jordan merged the West Bank territory into itself and renamed itself simply Jordan.
The Arabs of Palestine ended up with nearly 85% of the original territory of Palestine.
From 1949-67 when all of Judea-Samaria and Gaza were 100% under Arab control; no effort was ever made to create a second Palestinian State for the Arabs living there.
In May 1967, the Egyptian, Jordanian and Syrian armies mobilized along Israel's narrow and seemingly indefensible borders in preparation for a massive invasion to eliminate the State of Israel. Before they could strike, the Israelis executed a pre-emptive strike against Egypt. Within two hours the Egyptian Air Force ceased to exist.
Unaware that the Egyptians had no more air force, King Hussein of Jordan launched his attack from the West Bank into Israel's belly while Syrian troops prepared to descend down the Golan Heights into northern Israel.
After six days of air, sea and hand-to-hand ground warfare, Israel defeated all three Arab armies along three separate fronts, capturing the entire Sinai Desert from Egypt, the Syrian Golan Heights and the so-called West Bank (including East Jerusalem and its Old City) from Jordan. For the first time in 19 years, Jews had complete access to their 3,000 year old capital city of Jerusalem and the Western Wall. For the first time in 19 years, all religions had access to all of their holy sites.
Now, here's the stunner.
At the end of the 1967 war, the Arabs in the West Bank and Gaza were packed and ready to leave. The momentum was on Israel's side and she could have rid herself entirely of the "Palestinian problem" including the opportunity to demolish the Al-Aqsa Mosque on the Temple Mount. Amazingly, IDF General Moshe Dayan persuaded them to stay. His plan was to educate them, offer them modern medical treatment, and provide them with employment both in the West Bank, Gaza and inside Israel itself. He envisioned these Arabs living in peace with their Jewish neighbors and building bridges to the Arab world.
Kinda makes you wanna weep, doesn't it?
Now please read this over and over and over until you've memorized the factual history of that precious land we call Israel.
Why? Because there are those among us (fellow Jews who truly do love Israel) who get their information only from news sources with an anti-Israel agenda. I was recently asked by a (Jewish) client why Arabs had no rights in Israel . . . and wouldn't the world look more kindly on Israel if her Arab citizens had human rights. Well, guess what! Israeli Arabs have the exact same rights as do Israeli Jews, including the right to vote. There have been a total of 64 Israeli Arabs in the Knesset since the first elections in 1949. Currently, 16 Israeli Arabs serve in the Knesset.
Surprised? I hope so because perhaps now you'll fire up Google the next time you read or hear the anti-Israel rhetoric. Stay tuned . . . more to come.
Over the next several months I'll be writing regularly about various issues relating to Israel, her history and her importance to Jews throughout the world. I'll also try to provide enough information so you can help your own friends and families wade through the misinformation that seems too often permeate the media. Selecting the topic of my first column was easy . . . the history of Palestine. There has been so much misinformation thrown around that even most Jews today can no longer figure out who lived where, how they got there and who got there first. You need to know!
A Personal Note: Why am I doing this? Some of you, who regularly attend the Rabbi's Torah class, have witnessed my emotional, sometimes LOUD outbursts when I think I'm hearing misinformation about Israel or the Holocaust. The short answer is that I believe Jews around the world are safe only as long as Israel continues to exist.
I'm a Holocaust Survivor and believe with all my heart that millions of Jews would not have been slaughtered had Israel existed.
I don't have miles of column inches to list all of the examples of the worldwide apathy to what was widely known about the extermination of Europe's Jews. I urge you to do the research and learn about (1) the German liner St. Louis and its doomed cargo of Jewish refugees who were denied entrance to Cuba, the USA and Canada before the ship finally returned to Europe where most of the passengers perished in the Holocaust, (2) FDR's refusal to lift a finger to save Jews, including his refusal to order the bombing of the railroad tracks leading to Auschwitz or the gas chambers in Auschwitz in spite of the fact that American bombers were obliterating military targets just a few miles from the extermination camp. The list is long . . . look it up . . . and know that the world knew what was going on as early as January 1942.
So read on for the important information you need to know about the birth and continued struggle of the only country on the planet that would have done everything humanly possible to save the Jews of Europe.
For about 400 years prior to World War I Turkey's Ottoman Empire controlled a vast Arab empire. A portion of that empire is today's Lebanon, Syria and what was called Palestine.
During WWI Turkey supported Germany. When Germany was defeated, so was Turkey. The portion of the Ottoman Empire called Palestine (today's Jordan, Israel and West Bank) was mandated to Great Britain.
Because no part of Palestine had been a national homeland to any peoples since the Jews had claimed it as Israel 2,000 years before, the British considered allowing the creation of a Jewish National Homeland throughout all of the Palestinian territory. Jews had already begun mass immigration to the area in the 1880's.
In 1923, the British divided this territory into two districts. Jews were permitted only west of the Jordan river, the area deemed to become the Jewish Palestinian homeland. This area consisted of 25% of the original Palestinian territory. The remaining 75% was called Trans-Jordan and was to become the Arab Palestinian homeland.
The Arab population in the area west of the Jordan River was not happy. They wanted all of Palestine and began to launch murderous attacks on the Jewish Palestinians.
Although the British had themselves declared the area west of the Jordan River as a future Jewish homeland, they did nothing to help the Palestinian Jews. In fact, they were pretty much pro-Arab and turned their backs on the situation. The Jews had no choice but to form an organized defense. Thus was born the Hagana, the beginnings of the Israeli Defense Forces. There was also a Jewish underground called the Irgun led by Menachem Begin who later became Prime Minister of Israel.
The British finally gave up trying to "administer" the territory and turned it over to the United Nations.
The 1947 U.N. Resolution 181 partition plan was to whittle down the remaining 25% of Palestine even further (which was supposed to have been the Jewish homeland) by dividing it yet again into a Jewish Palestinian State and a SECOND Arab Palestinian State because Trans-Jordan refused to accept the Arabs who had stayed in the area west of the Jordan. They were, in essence, "homeless" not because the Jews wanted them out, but because no Arab country would allow them in.
The Jewish Palestinians accepted this. The Arab Palestinians did not. They still wanted ALL of Palestine.
On May 14, 1948 the "Palestinian Jews" declared their own State of Israel. The very next day, seven neighboring Arab armies (Egypt, Jordan, Syria, Lebanon, Saudi Arabia, Iraq and Yemen) invaded Israel.
Most of the Arabs remaining within the boundaries of Israel were encouraged by the invading Arab armies to leave in order to facilitate the slaughter of the Jews by the invading Arabs. They were promised to be given all the Jewish property after the victorious Arab armies won the war. These Arabs, who left when the one-day-old tiny Nation of Israel was attacked, became the seeds of the first wave of "Palestinian Arab refugees."
By the end of the 1948-49 Israeli War of Independence, the Jewish State was slightly larger than had been originally proposed by the UN resolution. What remained of the almost-created second Arab Palestinian State had been gobbled up by (1) Egypt, occupying the Gaza Strip and by (2) Trans-Jordan, occupying Judea-Samaria (the West Bank) and Jerusalem. In 1950 Trans-Jordan merged the West Bank territory into itself and renamed itself simply Jordan.
The Arabs of Palestine ended up with nearly 85% of the original territory of Palestine.
From 1949-67 when all of Judea-Samaria and Gaza were 100% under Arab control; no effort was ever made to create a second Palestinian State for the Arabs living there.
In May 1967, the Egyptian, Jordanian and Syrian armies mobilized along Israel's narrow and seemingly indefensible borders in preparation for a massive invasion to eliminate the State of Israel. Before they could strike, the Israelis executed a pre-emptive strike against Egypt. Within two hours the Egyptian Air Force ceased to exist.
Unaware that the Egyptians had no more air force, King Hussein of Jordan launched his attack from the West Bank into Israel's belly while Syrian troops prepared to descend down the Golan Heights into northern Israel.
After six days of air, sea and hand-to-hand ground warfare, Israel defeated all three Arab armies along three separate fronts, capturing the entire Sinai Desert from Egypt, the Syrian Golan Heights and the so-called West Bank (including East Jerusalem and its Old City) from Jordan. For the first time in 19 years, Jews had complete access to their 3,000 year old capital city of Jerusalem and the Western Wall. For the first time in 19 years, all religions had access to all of their holy sites.
Now, here's the stunner.
At the end of the 1967 war, the Arabs in the West Bank and Gaza were packed and ready to leave. The momentum was on Israel's side and she could have rid herself entirely of the "Palestinian problem" including the opportunity to demolish the Al-Aqsa Mosque on the Temple Mount. Amazingly, IDF General Moshe Dayan persuaded them to stay. His plan was to educate them, offer them modern medical treatment, and provide them with employment both in the West Bank, Gaza and inside Israel itself. He envisioned these Arabs living in peace with their Jewish neighbors and building bridges to the Arab world.
Kinda makes you wanna weep, doesn't it?
Now please read this over and over and over until you've memorized the factual history of that precious land we call Israel.
Why? Because there are those among us (fellow Jews who truly do love Israel) who get their information only from news sources with an anti-Israel agenda. I was recently asked by a (Jewish) client why Arabs had no rights in Israel . . . and wouldn't the world look more kindly on Israel if her Arab citizens had human rights. Well, guess what! Israeli Arabs have the exact same rights as do Israeli Jews, including the right to vote. There have been a total of 64 Israeli Arabs in the Knesset since the first elections in 1949. Currently, 16 Israeli Arabs serve in the Knesset.
Surprised? I hope so because perhaps now you'll fire up Google the next time you read or hear the anti-Israel rhetoric. Stay tuned . . . more to come.