61 thoughts on “Settler Pogrom in Yasuf, Mosque Burned with Quran – Tikun Olam תיקון עולם إصلاح العالم
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  1. This hooliganism is given the name “price tag” by the Hilltop Youth who engage in it. I ask: how long with Israelis be willing to pay the price?

    Richard, I find this confusing. How do you figure that it is Israelis who are paying the price on the tag? It certainly doesn’t look that way to me.

  2. “But let’s put it this way: how many of these groups will be sending volunteers to rebuild that mosque and restock it with Muslim holy texts?”
    … without propping it up as a PR stunt in service of the old game of making colonization and oppression look “nice”?

  3. I was called to join a group to visit Kfar Yasuf. The group was a group of settlers from the Etzion Bloc region south of Jerusalem.

    Another group of Orthodox Rabbis (many from the Religious Kibbutz Movement) also organized a group.

    The Army wanted to stop them..but later allow (some of?) them to enter..

    http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3819180,00.html

    Actions like this are important..morally and educationally. Our people sorrowfully misses leadership that can serve as a compass of any sorts)

    1. What is important morally and educationally is to end the illegal colonization of all occupied territories (including the Golan Heights), bring all the illegal colonists – like you – back inside the green line, and withdraw completely from all the occupied territories so that the people who legally and morally belong there can have something like normal lives.

      The only compass you people need is one that leads you out of where you have no business being.

      1. Thank G~d that after living in Gush Etzion for 20 year the Palestinians finally started the process of putting me to the test.

        In the ’80’s i finally could seriously think about the real possibility of leaving my home or being a minority in Palestine.

        (Since then both Israel and the Palestinians have done a lot to wreck things up even worse)

        In the meantime i think that, at least for the real people who live in this area, not to totally subjugate their humanity to politics. It is best to try to lead human/humane lives that may actually help in the long run.
        For in the end..whether we go through a period of two states or a confederation of sorts..there will be cooperation between Peoples here.

        1. I see. So, for twenty years the only thing that kept you from doing the right thing was the Palestinians’ failure to properly “put you to the test”. And what, pray tell, has kept you from doing the right thing since then? Is it still the Palestinians who are failing, and not your own complete lack of a moral and ethical compass?

          You sure have a nifty set of justifications for continuing to play your part in the moral, ethical, and legal outrage of colonization.

          1. Is there any Zionist anywhere who doesn’t somehow rationalize the occupation and distort the reality of it to make it easier on their conscience? On this thread there has been talk of “minimizing” the torment of the occupied, and now Myron Joshua is talking about being “put to the test” by Palestinians and how both Palestinians and Israelis have “wrecked things up.” As though Myron and his neighbors have even one scintilla of a right to be living there.

            The depth of the denial is breathtaking. Illegal occupiers talking about “cooperation between two peoples” as though both stand on equal footing and it’s nothing but a little land dispute – incredible.

          2. I have no problem with readers taking Myron to task for living in the West Bank and for the past decisions he has made. But pls. keep in mind that if there are any allies to be found there Myron is one. If we want to convey a msg. to settlers and find ways to reach them, Myron is one who can help. I’m not defending anyone for being a settler or living there. I’m not saying anyone should treat him with kid gloves. But let’s recognize that there are moral gradations & at least Myron recognizes he lives in a morally compromised situation & is prepared to leave when and if the Israeli gov’t tells him to. He is also prepared to live under Palestinian sovereignty if it comes to that.

          3. I have some very basic questions to respond to and am not sure how to go about it..
            but i will start by saying that my decision to come to Gush Etzion in 1971 was not easy. Yes, i may have been infringing on Jordanian rights then. I do not believe that the fact the Gush Etzion was the site of Jewish settlement prior to 1948 (three different waves since the 20’s) give “legitimization” to unilaterally change borders..so even if the “border” with Jordan was never recognized (the arab world not recognizing Israel on the West side of the Green Line) I came knowing i would leave when the Arab world finally recognized Israel’s right to exist freely within the green line.

            Levi Eshkol himself did not allow the orphan children of the 1940’s kibbutz of Kfar Etzion to “return” until waiting two months to see if King Hussein would come to the negotiating table.

            Twenty years later..(paradoxicallly..maybe due to the unjustifiable settlement movement that expanded beyond anything the Labor party ever considered) Yasser Arafat made his historic announcement about recognizing Israel.

            So, i although i think i took a principled stand since 1971, it was only after Oslo Agreements were signed when i saw cars with Palestinians flags waving from them accompanied by cried of victory did i finally feel a test..a challenge: that is to see that the Victory of Oslo is also mine even if it means that i might have to leave my home.

          4. Sorry, Richard, but once one realizes that one is taking part in something that is morally, ethically, and legally terribly wrong the very first step is to cease participating. How can he expect to have any real moral credibility as long as he continues to contribute to the very wrongs he insists he now opposes?

            If he wishes to continue to live in the Occupied Territories, then let him stop doing so as a privileged colonist. There are and have always been Jews, including Israeli Jews, who have lived in the Occupied Territories without exploiting the people and stealing their resources and without being part of the colonization/annexation project. Jews who have the courage to live outside of the illegal colonies are the ones who have the moral standing, not those who continue to be part of the problem even after supposedly seeing the light.

          5. Not sure whether you’re suggesting that he live in a Palestinian village or something different. How would a Jew live legitimately in the Territories under terms you would find acceptable?

          6. There are Jews, including Israeli Jews, living in Palestinian cities, towns, and villages for all kinds of legitimate reasons. They live in the OPT without being part of the problem. Amira Hass lives in Ramallah, and has done for years. Before that she lived in Gaza. In fact, by coincidence, Amira now lives in the same Ramallah apartment that an American Jewish friend of mine and his wife inhabited in for years. The neighbors humouorously refer to it as the “Jewish apartment” because only Jews have lived in it for more than a decade.

            A Jew can live legitimately in the OPT, as numerous Jews do and have done over the decades, not by enjoying the separate, privileged, subsidized status of a colonist in an illegally-build-and-maintained colony; having freedom of movement that the rightful inhabitants are denied as a result of his illegal presence there; participating in a separate economy; exploiting land and critical resources that rightfully belong to the legitimate inhabitants of the Territories while freely poluting the native inhabitants’ land, water, and air (including dumping his garbage and sewage on the land they are trying to live and farm on); being part of a system that inhibits the native economy and development while forcing the native inhabitants to contribute to the economy and development of the colonies and the colonizing power; being part of a system that denies children the right to education, that makes live increasingly untenable for all but the colonists themselves.

            A Jew can live legitimately in the Territories not by living or conduction himself like a member of a separate and superior class of human beings with superior rights, freedoms, privileges, and standard of living, but by living there as an equal; a neighbor who participates in the local economy, and is part of the society; a contributor to the well being of his neighbors and the society as a whole. There have always been Jews living in the Territories in this way, some like Amira Hass, living extraordinary lives, many quite, quite ordinary, and each at the very least not contributing to the problem.

            Myron is one who wounds with one hand while placing bandaids with the other. He wants to have his cake and eat the Palestinians’ cake too. I respect that he is committed – or at least prepared – to live as a legal resident in a liberated Palestine, and I do believe that he will conduct himself in a law-abiding way. So, if he is sincere in his convictions, what is stopping him from doing so now? Until he does, he is committed to remaining part of the problem moreso than part of the solution.

          7. Indeed, Shirin, indeed. One cannot lament the situation, as myron does, without reflecting upon how he contributed to it.

            I am still a bit infuriated by a message I received from a Zionist acquaintance who claims the settlers and the Palestinians have “competing claims to the same piece of land”, which is utter nonsense because international law says the settlers have no business in the West Bank. Always, it’s the willful disregard for the rule of law and for what is morally right, while giving legitimacy to theft and colonialism. This is not a land dispute – it is a matter of thievery, of imperialistic thinking and a bizarre mindset swollen with a sense of superiority and entitlement that fuels the Zionist enterprise.

          8. Amira Hass lives in Ramallah, and has done for years.

            Shirin, this is quite disingenuous of you & surprising since I usually find you pretty acute. Yes, Amira Hass lives in Ramallah. But I know of no other Jews who lives outside settlements in the W. Bank. If you know of any other than the single person you’ve mentioned, who is a sui generis individual, I’d like to hear about it.

            Your position is even more radical than that of Palestinians living in the Territories who are willing to live w. some settlements & settlers among them as long as they accept Palestinian citizenship & sovereignty. There are settlers like Froman who have already acceded to this proposition.

          9. Richard, I am a bit surprised that you are not aware that there have always been non-colonist Jews living in the WB, and disappointed that you were so eager to conclude that I am disingenuous based on so little evidence.

            There have always been Jews living in the WB and East Jerusalem, as well as Gaza, working for NGO’s and aid organizations, as journalists, as teachers, as professors, as filmmakers, and so on. No doubt most make the choice at least in part for ideological reasons, at least that is the case with the Jews I have known who have lived there. Some have lived there for purely ideological reasons. , and some, including at least a couple of Israelis, are married to Palestinians.

            Most of the Jews who live or have lived in the OPT are ordinary people whose names probably would not be familiar. A few of them would probably be familiar to someone who keeps up with matters pertaining to the occupation, but not to many other people.

          10. Myron recognizes he lives in a morally compromised situation & is prepared to leave when and if the Israeli gov’t tells him to. He is also prepared to live under Palestinian sovereignty if it comes to that.

            So, despite the fact that he knows he lives in a “morally compromised” situation, he is prepared to leave only when – and IF – the Israeli government, and not his own conscience and sense of right and wrong, tells him to? And in the meantime he is quite all right with continuing to remain part of the problem.

            As I said, if one wants to right a wrong, the very first action one must take is to cease being part of the wrong. Myron appears to believe that he can just kind of sort of skip that first step. What, exactly, has he given up for the sake of stopping the monumental wrong of occupation and colonization?

          11. Myron is waiting to follow someone else’s lead. He is there because he wants to live there and will only leave if he has no choice. So much for fairness. He’ll go if he’s forced out and not a moment sooner.

          12. So much for fairness.

            So much for moral conviction. As long as you can convince yourself and enough others that you are really part of the solution without causing yourself the inconvenience of refusing to be part of the problem, why not?

      2. Well said, Shirin. The Israeli government, and the Israeli people, are responsible for this incident and for every other atrocity committed, or that will be committed, in the West Bank. They all looked the other way, disregarded international laws, knew damn well the settlements should not be there, but supported them both tacitly and blatantly. The hypocrisy, not to mention the usual cynicism, is just business as usual.

        Israel: get the hell out of the West Bank and East Jerusalem. Lift the siege on Gaza. Work with Fayyad in creating a Palestinian state. And stop this unholy occupation..

        1. Out of the Jewish Quarter of the Old City, out of the Wall? For how many years after the Israeli victory of 1967 are the Jordanians to be rewarded for their victory of 1948?

          The Palestinians will never make a real peace anyway. The next terror war has always begun from the line of the withdrawal. Since the first withdrawal from Tel Hai in 1921.

          1. The Palestinians will never make a real peace anyway

            Drone…drone…drone. Snooze…snooze…snooze. Will you wake me up when you say something original & interesting. This is Hasbara 101. Wasn’t convincing when it was first trotted out decades ago & isn’t any more convincing now.

            I should add that Palestinians have every right to believe the same precise thing: “The Israeli will never make a real peace anyway.”

          2. Palestinians also have the right to resist occupation. And they certainly do not have a monopoly on terrorism. In fact, Israel holds the prize for committing the greatest number of acts of terrorism and on the greatest scale.

            Netanyahu is the one who will never make a real peace. He is a curse on the world.

    2. Actions like these – and posts like yours – carry the odor of the colonial masters’ condescendence. Sorry to sound harsh, but that’s how it comes across.
      What would be needed would not be a supposedly generous offer to let Palestinians live subjugated and restricted lives but a strong statement towards their rights. Especially the right to have an equal say about the powers that control their lives – the basic principle of any democracy. In this case that means either a fully sovereign and viable Palestinian state* or incorporation with full citizenship into Israel. I don’t see these supposedly morally superior Rabbis as advocating either. How about you?

      *And just to make sure: That means that it will not be demilitarized, that it will contain the Jordan Valley, that it will have full control of its airspace, that it will have an inviolable, exterritorial link to Gaza, and a lot of other things.

      1. Every time I hear that Israel demands “concessions” from the Palestinians, I am going to remember these cowardly settlers.

      2. Your post is not harsh..but sharp and to the point and that is fine.

        I see you have the structure of *The* solution all mapped out..very simple. But, i think if you talk to Palestinians on the ground they may see other options and stress other things.

        I imagine by “a lot other things” you refer to the “right of return”. I hope you do because this issues, alongside any issues of existential importance (human fears, hopes and aspirations) should be on the table for people to deal with face to face.

        Politicians are good at drawing lines, making schemes..but, unlike agreements forged between states (such as Israeli agreements with Egypt, Jordan and perhaps Syria in the future) the Israeli/Palestinian issue is (and has been) more complex- due to ideologies, political manipulation, demographics and the history of the War of Independance/Naqba.

        I was a believer in the two state solution and still see it as a realistic option..even if on a human level, many Palestinians would like to see a one state solution (but not one that you suggest ..”full incorporation ..into Israel”.

        I doubt that a “large Israel’ is capable of fulfilling this dream. On the other hand, creative thinking about one civilian state that includes both peoples..no one subjugating the other might be worthy of discussion.

        Perhaps creative thinking (even if not “realistic” might effect the quality and shape (not boundaries but social shape) of the two state solution that will come about.

        1. “I see you have the structure of *The* solution all mapped out”
          Sort of. Any solution which still reduces Palestinians to either a) second-class, nonsovereign citizens or b) citizens of a second-class, nonsovereign state is not acceptable.

          It’s really very simple. Every Palestinian needs to have the same say about the governmental powers that control his life that every Israeli has. And, logically following from that, the Palestinian government must have the same amount sovereignty and basically the same political abilities that Israel has.
          Anything less is very much unacceptable to anybody who values democracy and individual rights, and yes: Unless you agree, your opinions aren’t either.

          By the way, don’t bother with that “some Palestinians might have different priorities” stuff. I have read my Brecht. “First comes a full stomach, then comes ethics”. I won’t let that fool me into thinking that ethics aren’t important.

          1. I guess we agree on just about everything. (That is why i can not believe that Israel, who has not proven itself ethically with its Arab/Palestinian citizen, can claim its ability to be democratic and to control the West Bank, etc)

            The Palestinian state should be on equal footing. There should be symmetry. This does put a certain burden on the Palestinian side as well.. Don’t you think?

            I also agree that it is very easy to be paternalistic and to fall into a moral blindness once we “give them some cake..and even bread.” But Palestinian priorities has to do with things beyond the stomach…and there are conflicting priorities that they too must work out.

          2. “The Palestinian state should be on equal footing. There should be symmetry. This does put a certain burden on the Palestinian side as well.. Don’t you think?”
            Um… no?
            In all politically relevant areas (and in all others I can think of), there is presently a vast asymmetry in favor of Israel. To rectify this, the Palestinians need to gain a lot of powers while Israelis at the same time will gain nothing – because they already have it.

            If my kid complained with good justification that his curfew is 10pm while his twin brother’s is 11pm, I couldn’t make the situation just by saying “okay, I’ll extend both your curfews by one hour.”

          3. I know Palestinians both living in the West Bank and elsewhere, and their priorities are all the same. Myron, your remark is more Zionist rhetoric.

            Politicians, by the way, have no interest in reaching a settlement; the status quo works quite well for them, just as the occasional violence does. They have had 61 years to make peace and haven’t managed to do it yet. Netanyahu is quite up front about his disinterest in anything but the continuation of the ethnic cleansing of the West Bank, and he’s showing good faith to the settlers by sending millions of dollars their way – rewarding bad behavior.

          4. mary, i fear your view of politicians may be right..but i don’t understand you point about Zionist rhetoric.

            The Two State solution is all about Zionist and Palestinian nationalism…which is not necessarily bad. Two Autonomous states for two people to fullfill their national aspirations.

            I know for a fact that this is not the only solution. Beyond, villages, etc that like to talk about one state (not Jewish or Zionistic (maybe Islamic:-) Seri Nusseibeh, for one has considered one Democratic state as an option.

            I do not talk about Isreal coopting the territories o about a realtionship that would preserve Palestinian dependency (economic, etc) which is not a good. thing.

  4. Will Mr. Silverstein personally participate in the rebuilding of the mosque?

    If not, I do not see why is criticism of others who do not personally participate should be taken seriously.

    1. If I was within a thousand miles of Yasuf I would be there. Alas, I have young children & an 18 hr or so flight to get there. So I won’t be there. But my heart & soul is with them. All the other organizations I criticized do have local representatives in Israel who could attend to this injustice if they wished.

      1. The point is not to rebuild the mosque. Muslims can pray anywhere. The idea is to do something, anything, to try to put a band-aid on the hatred that is a gaping wound in the West Bank.

        One of my Palestinian friends has hooked up with B’TSelem to help in whatever ways they can.

  5. Of course this should be condemned, and it has been, from Netanyahu downwards.

    But to compare the burning of books with the burning alive of a person wrapped in in the Torah (or any other method) is nothing but hate mongering

    1. Condemnation isn’t worth a damn. It’s vapid & meaningless coming from Israelis who really could care less & actually only express their condemnation because it makes them & Israel look so bad.

      Since you don’t appear to have much of a literary imagination, I’ll point out that I thought of the midrash because of the image of the burning letters rising to heaven just as did the burning holy books in the mosque. You invoked the burning of Rabbi Hanania & you claimed I likened the two incidents on that count, which isn’t the case. But be my guest, go to town…Don’t let the truth stop you.

  6. What a bunch of tools you all are.

    Any factual proof that it was Jews that did this and that it’s not just another Pallywood Production?

    Uh..no.

    On the other hand, we know very well beyond a shadow of a doubt who burnt the synagogues in Gaza to the ground,who destroyed 28 historic Synagogues injerusalem during the Jordanian Arab occupation and who desecrated Rachel and Joseph’s tombs and the Cave of the Patriarchs, don’t we?

    For that matter, we know who is disinterring Christian bodies wholesale in Gaza too.

    Ever see the OIC, the PA or any other Arab/ Muslim group say anything about these little items, let alone try to investigate to see who did it as Israel is?

    Bunch of hypocrites. Rot in your hatred.

    1. Rot in your hatred.

      Apparently, the pro-settler right gets its knickers in a twist when its boys misbehave & the rest of us call them on it. As for rotting in hatred, who’s hating here? I’d say your hatred of us and of Muslims far outstrips any we can muster against settler pogromists.

      And just what is the proper response to such hooliganism? Praise? Love? Support? Is that what you feel for this act? I’d like one of these jerks to tell me clearly what they feel about what the Tapuach miscreants have done.

    2. Sorry Rob,

      I will not look for tit for tat reasoning..excuses, etc when it comes to our responsibility…

      it is this sort of reasoning (and sadly actions) that has brought us to do thing that are insensitive and at times downright evil.

      We and the Palestinians are up to the knees in it..and it does not make it easy for governments to function sanely or humanely..even when and if they want to.

      We have the obligation to use every crack in the wall to introduce humanity that might..just might, effect the future.

    3. “On the other hand, we know very well beyond a shadow of a doubt who burnt the synagogues in Gaza to the ground,who destroyed 28 historic Synagogues injerusalem during the Jordanian Arab occupation and who desecrated Rachel and Joseph’s tombs and the Cave of the Patriarchs, don’t we?”

      Yep. Jewish agents provocateurs, or maybe some Arabs whoe were blackmailed into it by the Mossad who held their families as hostage.
      I know that sounds like a crazy conspiracy theory, I know there is absolutely no supporting evidence, but hey: Even the most ridiculous and outlandish ideas have to accepted as valid until disproven, right?

  7. RE: “…how many of these groups will be sending volunteers to rebuild that mosque and restock it with Muslim holy texts? How many will be standing guard to prevent the next Jewish pogrom there?” – R.S.

    MY COMMENT: How many of them will push to eliminate the the favorable tax treatment afforded groups here in the U.S. who help fund the extremist settlers in Judea and Samaria?

    1. P.S. How many of them will push to prosecute Americans who have contributed to groups here in the U.S. who help fund the extremist settlers in Judea and Samaria and are consequently providing “material support to terrorists”?

      1. A very good question. But you see, it’s only terrorism when the US and Israel pass laws calling your organization “terrorist.” Which would sure be nice in this case; it would stop Netanyahu from rewarding these illegal squatters with millions of dollars in Israeli and American money.

        1. RE: it’s only terrorism when the US and Israel pass laws calling your organization “terrorist.” – Mary

          MY COMMENT: Actually, I believe in most instances the U.S. State Department makes that determination. Needless to say, it is a very political process that allows AIPAC and the rest of the ‘Likud lobby’ to exercise its considerable influence.

          1. That was what I meant. The US also persuades the European Union to also make the same determination. They call groups “terrorist organizations” so that they can pass resolutions authorizing economic sanctions against them, among other things. It is a vehicle for political manipulation, bestowing a kind of official pariah-hood to pressure the groups into political compliance.

  8. Yes, your referencing Capt. Renault is very apt, Richard. It’s the perfect metaphor for the Beeb-ster’s feigned outrage over this pogrom in Yasuf. What’s the line? (haven’t seen Casablanca in awhile), “I’m shocked, SHOCKED, that this is going on here…”

    Meanwhile, Netanyahu’s government is perpetrating, as we speak, gradual but systemic ethnic cleansing of the Arab Palestinian population of East Jerusalem. Give it a rest, Bibi, nobody believes you give a rat’s ass about what happened in Yasuf, except perhaps the servile American punditocracy. The only reason there’s even official Israeli outrage is that the visuals perhaps hit a little too hard and close to home, the burnt images do appear to be channeling Kristallnacht.

  9. Richard

    I read in disbelief at your sensationalism and trading in the truth. An arson attack by fundamentalists on a mosque categorised as a pogrom? Do you have any idea what a pogrom is?

    But of course the twisting of the truth and spin does not stop there with liberal helpings of Nazi analogies.

    Please for just one moment sit down, compose yourself, perhaps with a nice cup of chamomile tea and ask yourself: can this arson attack be genuinely compared to a pogrom and to a Nazi book-burning? Can it really?

    I fear I know your answer. I can hear the frothing at the mouth.

    Now turning to the attack itself. There are new reports in Israel that it occurred during the Sabbath. Fundamentalist religious settlers breaking the Sabbath? Mmmmmm really? Perhaps in the same vein as leftwing peace groups and Palestinians damaging olive groves and blaming it on Jews?

    Another inconvenient truth?

    Your wallowing in the language of loathing. Your total loss of perspective. Your emotional illiteracy.

    There is a reason that the word Jew in other countries can be used in the pejorative. You are the reason.

    Knavery of the highest order.

    1. An arson attack…categorised as a pogrom?

      Actually such violence has been called that by no less than the Israeli prime minister himself (Olmert at the time). I suggest if you have a problem w. the term you take it up w. him.

      can this arson attack be genuinely compared to a pogrom and to a Nazi book-burning? Can it really?

      Indeed it can & it has. But I’m not frothing. Quite clear-headed really though no chamomille tea.

      Are you forgetting that the pogromists themselves brought on the Nazi analogy by threatening the village saying: “You will all burn.” That is deliberate echoing of Nazi terminology.

      There are new reports in Israel that it occurred during the Sabbath

      Can you prove that? Around here we credit information that begins “There are reports that say…” with almost no credibility. Unless you can provide a real, credible source, then I’m afraid you’re out of luck around here.

      Can you also provide a single shred of evidence other than fr. yr pro settler media that anyone other than settlers destroy Palestinian olive groves?? No, of course you can’t. But it won’t stop you fr. attempting to peddle your lekach taoot (faulty merchandise).

      wallowing in the language of loathing.

      Do I loathe Jewish pogromists? Sure, & I’m proud of that. You on the other hand want to hear anything but the truth–that is that your good friends are filthy blackguards who attack holy places with impunity.

      There is a reason that the word Jew in other countries can be used in the pejorative. You are the reason.

      You’re despicable scum for saying that. The bad name of Jews the world over is owed to pond scum like these extremist settler hooligans. If you’re an enabler or fellow traveler you’re little better.

  10. There is no evidnce that Radical settlers did this. In fact, there is so far no evidence that settlers or even israelis or even Jews did this. Yet look at all the hatred you spew against Jews for the lashon harah that the philistines spread when a fire happened in their mosque! How can you call Loshon harah Tikun Olam?

    1. Really, who sent you here lady, if that is what you are? You’re the 5 or 6th radical settler troll to make the same stupid comment that is beyond laughable. Would you tell yr friends that if they want to troll, they should at least come up w. more original arguments than this.

  11. are you guys on drugs with all this colonial talk? Did you ever read a history book other than ones written by Arafats henchmen? There never was a palestinian state or people. Even read BAshara’s interviews.
    There were a few indigenous arabs living in a barren land when the zioist push began. The british brought in many arab workers about the same time. There has been a continous Jewish presence here for 1000’s of years.

    1. Ah, another disciple of the proven fraud Joan Peters, I see! Where IS Joan Peters, by the way? She seems to have disappeared some years ago, right about the time her “original research” was utterly discredited. Perhaps she crawled back under the slimy rock she had emerged from, and stayed there?

      Perhaps I should mention that I have in my library books by European travelers to Palestine that date back as far as the 1400’s (most are from the mid-to-late 19th century), and none of them describes a barren land with a few indigenous arabs (sic). In fact, there are descriptions, among other interesting things, of markets filled with a plentiful variety of locally-grown fruits and vegetables, and of wheat, oranges, and other agricultural products being loaded onto ships at the Haifa port for export to other countries.

      You guys really REALLY need new material.

      By the way, who is BAshara?

      1. Early maps of the land of Palestine show the area supporting many Arab villages.

        I’m so tired of that old saw, “there are no Palestinians and there was no Palestine.” It’s been disproved so many times that only the utter dunderheads of hasbaraland still parrot that rubbish.

        My question, too – who is BAshara?

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