On June 17, 2010, political analyst and author Jeremy R. Hammond posted an article entitled "Top Ten Myths about the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict" in which he attempts to dispel the myths surrounding the Israeli-Palestinian conflict from a decisively Anti-Israel perspective. Since his article encompasses so many of the arguments and criticisms that are levied against Israel, it's the perfect piece in which to refute those allegations which are routinely used to demonize and delegtimize Israel. Feel free to share without my permission, just give proper credit.
#1 – Jews and Arabs have always been in conflict in the region.
Claim: Jews and Arabs have not always been in conflict until Zionism.
Arab and Jew relations
Jews and Arabs have always had a contemptuous relationship.While Jews and Arabs lived in relative peace at various times with Jews, peaceful coexistence meant subordination and degradation. Under Islamic law Jews held dhimmi status, meaning that they were a protected group but were required to pay a yearly poll tax, and accept limitations and distinctive markings that emphasize the dhimmi's inferiority to Muslims. Basically they were forced to pay protection money. Jews were generally looked upon with contempt by their Muslim neighbors which the Koran refers to as “apes and pigs” (Surah 5:60).
Even when there was peace it was a tenuous peace that could change in an instant. For example, the Damascus affair in 1840, occurred when a French monk and his servant disappeared in Damascus. Immediately following, a charge of ritual murder was brought against a large number of Jews in the city including children who were tortured. The consuls of England, France and Germany as well as Ottoman authorities, Christians, Muslims and Jews all played a great role in this affair. Following the Damascus affair, Pogroms spread through the Middle East and North Africa. A pogrom is a violent riot aimed at massacre or persecution of an ethnic or religious group, particularly one aimed at Jews. Pogroms occurred in: Aleppo (1850, 1875), Damascus (1840, 1848, 1890), Beirut (1862, 1874), Dayr al-Qamar (1847), Jerusalem (1847), Cairo (1844, 1890, 1901–02), Mansura (1877), Alexandria (1870, 1882, 1901–07), Port Said (1903, 1908), Damanhur (1871, 1873, 1877, 1891), Istanbul (1870, 1874), Buyukdere (1864), Kuzguncuk (1866), Eyub (1868), Edirne (1872), Izmir (1872, 1874). There was a massacre of Jews in Baghdad in 1828. There was another massacre in Barfurush in 1867. In 1839, in the eastern Persian city of Meshed, a mob burst into the Jewish Quarter, burned the synagogue, and destroyed the Torah scrolls. This is known as the Allahdad incident. It was only by forcible conversion that a massacre was averted. -(Persecution of Jews)
In 1929 Mobs attacked Jews in Jerusalem, Safed, Jaffa and Kfar Darom, a kibbutz in the Gaza Strip. The centuries-old Jewish community of Hebron was destroyed, and 67 Jews were slaughtered. British authorities reported incidents of rape, torture, beheadings of babies and mutilation. British High Commissioner John Chancellor wrote, “I do not think that history records many worse horrors in the last few hundred years.” In total, 135 Jews were killed, and 350 were maimed or wounded. Arab fears of a Zionist takeover of the land would not account for the savagery of these attacks.
The sudden uptick in conflict between the Jews and Arabs had less to do with Zionism and more to do with the defeat of the Ottoman Empire following World War 1. Jews had been a fairly well protected, if subservient, minority in the Ottoman Empire. Dhimmis means "the protected people", and while they were second class citizens they had the right to protection of life and property. Also, keep in mind there were no nation states during this time and thus no national aspirations or rivalries. These conditions rapidly changed following the defeat of the Ottoman Turks. And once the British Mandate expired on 1948 the Jews essentially had to fend for themselves.
Palestinian self-determination
To say that Zionists have rejected Palestinian self-determination is disingenuous and ignores the 1917 Balfour Declaration, the 1937 Peel Commission plan, the 1947 UN Partition, the Lausanne Conference of 1949, 1978 Camp David Accords, 1991 Madrid Conference, 1993 Oslo Accords, 1997 Hebron Agreement, 1998 Wye River Memorandum, 1999 Sharm el-Sheikh Memorandum, 2000 Camp David Summit, the December 23 Clinton Parameter plans, 2001 Taba Summit, 2003 Road map for peace, 2005 Agreement on Movement and Access (AMA), 2007 Annapolis Conference. All of which have been rejected or not fulfilled by the Palestinian leadership. Regardless, today Palestinians in Gaza and the West Bank are under self-rule.
Land allotted to the Jews
While Arabs were always the majority, the area the UN allotted for the Jewish state had a significant Jewish population. Over 70 percent of the land for the proposed Jewish portion was not privately owned, but was state land that belonged to the British Mandate. More importantly it was land that nobody wanted, such as arid wastelands or swamplands. By 1947 60% of the remaining land partitioned for the Jews was the Negev Desert. It was the Jews who were largely responsible for restoring the land and creating communities and villages where none existed before. In 1901 the Jewish National Fund was formed to help restore the land of Israel. Swamps were drained, deserts were irrigated, and trees were planted.
“They (Jews) paid high prices for the land, and in addition, they paid to certain occupants of those lands a considerable amount of money which they were not legally bound to pay.” —Hope Simpson Report, 1930"
“Of the total of 418,000 dunums (quarter-acres) acquired by Jews in Palestine [between 1878 and 1914], 58 percent was sold by non-Palestinian [Arab] absentee landlords and 36 percent by Palestinian absentee landlords, for a total of 94 percent.” —Palestinian-American historian Rashid Khalidi
“Arab claims that the Jews have obtained too large a proportion of good land cannot be maintained. Much of the land now carrying orange groves was sand dunes or swamps and uncultivated when it was bought.” —Peel Commission Report, 1937
Israeli- Palestinian Conflict Part 2
#1 – Jews and Arabs have always been in conflict in the region.
Claim: Jews and Arabs have not always been in conflict until Zionism.
Arab and Jew relations
Jews and Arabs have always had a contemptuous relationship.While Jews and Arabs lived in relative peace at various times with Jews, peaceful coexistence meant subordination and degradation. Under Islamic law Jews held dhimmi status, meaning that they were a protected group but were required to pay a yearly poll tax, and accept limitations and distinctive markings that emphasize the dhimmi's inferiority to Muslims. Basically they were forced to pay protection money. Jews were generally looked upon with contempt by their Muslim neighbors which the Koran refers to as “apes and pigs” (Surah 5:60).
Even when there was peace it was a tenuous peace that could change in an instant. For example, the Damascus affair in 1840, occurred when a French monk and his servant disappeared in Damascus. Immediately following, a charge of ritual murder was brought against a large number of Jews in the city including children who were tortured. The consuls of England, France and Germany as well as Ottoman authorities, Christians, Muslims and Jews all played a great role in this affair. Following the Damascus affair, Pogroms spread through the Middle East and North Africa. A pogrom is a violent riot aimed at massacre or persecution of an ethnic or religious group, particularly one aimed at Jews. Pogroms occurred in: Aleppo (1850, 1875), Damascus (1840, 1848, 1890), Beirut (1862, 1874), Dayr al-Qamar (1847), Jerusalem (1847), Cairo (1844, 1890, 1901–02), Mansura (1877), Alexandria (1870, 1882, 1901–07), Port Said (1903, 1908), Damanhur (1871, 1873, 1877, 1891), Istanbul (1870, 1874), Buyukdere (1864), Kuzguncuk (1866), Eyub (1868), Edirne (1872), Izmir (1872, 1874). There was a massacre of Jews in Baghdad in 1828. There was another massacre in Barfurush in 1867. In 1839, in the eastern Persian city of Meshed, a mob burst into the Jewish Quarter, burned the synagogue, and destroyed the Torah scrolls. This is known as the Allahdad incident. It was only by forcible conversion that a massacre was averted. -(Persecution of Jews)
In 1929 Mobs attacked Jews in Jerusalem, Safed, Jaffa and Kfar Darom, a kibbutz in the Gaza Strip. The centuries-old Jewish community of Hebron was destroyed, and 67 Jews were slaughtered. British authorities reported incidents of rape, torture, beheadings of babies and mutilation. British High Commissioner John Chancellor wrote, “I do not think that history records many worse horrors in the last few hundred years.” In total, 135 Jews were killed, and 350 were maimed or wounded. Arab fears of a Zionist takeover of the land would not account for the savagery of these attacks.
The sudden uptick in conflict between the Jews and Arabs had less to do with Zionism and more to do with the defeat of the Ottoman Empire following World War 1. Jews had been a fairly well protected, if subservient, minority in the Ottoman Empire. Dhimmis means "the protected people", and while they were second class citizens they had the right to protection of life and property. Also, keep in mind there were no nation states during this time and thus no national aspirations or rivalries. These conditions rapidly changed following the defeat of the Ottoman Turks. And once the British Mandate expired on 1948 the Jews essentially had to fend for themselves.
Palestinian self-determination
To say that Zionists have rejected Palestinian self-determination is disingenuous and ignores the 1917 Balfour Declaration, the 1937 Peel Commission plan, the 1947 UN Partition, the Lausanne Conference of 1949, 1978 Camp David Accords, 1991 Madrid Conference, 1993 Oslo Accords, 1997 Hebron Agreement, 1998 Wye River Memorandum, 1999 Sharm el-Sheikh Memorandum, 2000 Camp David Summit, the December 23 Clinton Parameter plans, 2001 Taba Summit, 2003 Road map for peace, 2005 Agreement on Movement and Access (AMA), 2007 Annapolis Conference. All of which have been rejected or not fulfilled by the Palestinian leadership. Regardless, today Palestinians in Gaza and the West Bank are under self-rule.
Land allotted to the Jews
While Arabs were always the majority, the area the UN allotted for the Jewish state had a significant Jewish population. Over 70 percent of the land for the proposed Jewish portion was not privately owned, but was state land that belonged to the British Mandate. More importantly it was land that nobody wanted, such as arid wastelands or swamplands. By 1947 60% of the remaining land partitioned for the Jews was the Negev Desert. It was the Jews who were largely responsible for restoring the land and creating communities and villages where none existed before. In 1901 the Jewish National Fund was formed to help restore the land of Israel. Swamps were drained, deserts were irrigated, and trees were planted.
“They (Jews) paid high prices for the land, and in addition, they paid to certain occupants of those lands a considerable amount of money which they were not legally bound to pay.” —Hope Simpson Report, 1930"
“Of the total of 418,000 dunums (quarter-acres) acquired by Jews in Palestine [between 1878 and 1914], 58 percent was sold by non-Palestinian [Arab] absentee landlords and 36 percent by Palestinian absentee landlords, for a total of 94 percent.” —Palestinian-American historian Rashid Khalidi
“Arab claims that the Jews have obtained too large a proportion of good land cannot be maintained. Much of the land now carrying orange groves was sand dunes or swamps and uncultivated when it was bought.” —Peel Commission Report, 1937
Israeli- Palestinian Conflict Part 2
