"As long as young people feel they've got no hope but to blow themselves up we are never going to make progress."
-- Cherie Blair, Wife of the British Prime Minister

"The Palestinians are fighting with human suicide bombers, that's all they have. The Israelis . . . they've got one of the most powerful military machines in the world. The Palestinians have nothing."
-- Ted Turner, Founder of CNN

"I do not think that in his heart an Israeli would deny that, if your enemy has taken land that is rightfully yours and occupied it, then not just your enemy's army but his wife and son and daughter and servants and all who, under his protection, come to live and make their living on the stolen land, are aggressors. By their presence they aid and abet the occupation."
-- Matthew Parris, Saturday Times of London, June 22, 2002

"Terrorism in Israel really started with Begin and Shamir and later Sharon.""It's a very valid question as to why they see no similarities between themselves under the British and the Palestinians under their occupation."
-- Clovis Maksoud, the former Arab League ambassador to the United Nations

"David Ben-Gurion never moved against the Irgun and the Stern Gang until after the state was established and secured, which is definitely not true in the case of the Palestinian Authority. Essentially, the Israelis are asking the Palestinians to do something they themselves refused to do." ⁱ
-- Hussein Ibish, Communication director of the American Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee

These are the kind of quotes which led polemicist Andrew Sullivan to the conclusion that"there seems to me little doubt that Israel and, by implication, America is losing this battle of ideas." Indeed, more and more the argument is forwarded that the murder of innocents through suicide bombing is just another military strategy justified or at the very least expected if the circumstances are dire enough and if the power disparity is big enough. Nations whose land, even if not necessarily people, is under occupation are morally entitled to the most extreme remedies.ⁱⁱ So, there is nothing morally repugnant in blowing up babies of people you deem"occupiers" nor is it depraved for a mother to encourage her son to become a suicide bomber provided it is done for the sake of freeing the land. Indeed, there is something romantic, even admirable in the willingness of youngsters to sacrifice their lives to kill those who inhabit that land. In any case, who are Israelis to complain? Didn't the Yishuv (the Jewish community in Palestine) dabble in terrorism? Didn't its leaders look the other way before they got the state they wanted? The simple answer is no.

Ben Gurion's Moral Stance

During the darkest hours of Jewish history against the most callous of occupiers, the Zionist leadership headed by David Ben Gurion fought a no-holds-barred war with the revisionists. The revisionists refused to accommodate the repeated British efforts to diminish the size of the Jewish Homeland first by the creation of Jordan on the East Bank of the mandatory land and then with various plans to divide its West Bank. If Israel is a prosperous democracy with a first-rate army it is because its leadership knew enough to put people above land. It is also because David Ben Gurion knew that the right way to treat desperate people is to turn them into builders not murderers. He did not seek to stroke the feelings of revenge that the emaciated Holocaust survivors living in Displacement Camps (DPs) felt. Nor did he treat them as damaged victims. He simply promised them a new life. He said:"What has happened . . . we cannot repair . . . and it is our duty to make sure it never happens again. There will not be another Holocaust . . . only if we create a reality which will not let it happen.""Not only your children," he promised,"but we, whose heads are grayed with age, will yet live to see a Jewish State." He painted a picture of the Yishuv where"we have our own shops, our own factories, our own land, our own culture and our own rifles." He added that he would get them there even if it would be necessary to fight England to achieve it.ⁱⁱⁱ But before picking up the gun, he repeatedly compromised on land and the moment some land was offered he put down the gun. Guns are a necessary evil, shovels are the real thing and those who think otherwise are destroying the moral and physical fiber of their people.

Ben Gurion refused to choose between morality and real politics, action and passivity, and always opted for a third way. The Yishuv should develop a military capacity but it should be used in a moral fashion. Long before the Yishuv had any military capability to speak of, Ben Gurion developed the tradition of"self restraint," later known as"purity of arms." In a letter he co-wrote with Moshe Sharett following the 1936 period of Arab terror, he explained that Jews had abstained from reprisals not out of fear and weakness but"solely out of a deep moral persuasion." In April 1939, he was pleased to announce that 'during these past three years . . . except for a very small and irresponsible segment [of the Yishuv], we did not spill the blood of innocent Arabs, although in the psychological sense it might have been justified."^iv But psychology should never trump morality.

Menachem Begin Enters the Fray

The 1939 British White Paper which limited Jewish immigration to 75,000 and severely curtailed Jewish ability to purchase land in Palestine could not have come at a worse time. Ben Gurion announced that he would fight the British as if there were no Germans and the Germans as if there were no British. This meant that he would do anything he could, be it legal or illegal, to get out of Europe as many Jews as possible and at the same time urge his people to join the British army to fight the Nazis.

As the horrors of the Shoah began to emerge and the few survivors of the death camps were placed in new, more"humane," displacement camps, the rage and frustration of the Yishuv can hardly be imagined. Who knows how many Jews could have been saved had the British with their 1939 White Paper not closed off the gates of Palestine just at the moment the Jewish refugees needed it open the most. There was hardly a Yishuv member who had not lost family in the European Holocaust and many had relatives in the DP camps they were prevented from helping. The New York Times reported that"the spirit of the whole terrorist movement runs with extraordinary force in the youth organization." In other words, the"Jewish Street" wanted action. But the democratically-elected Yishuv leadership, the Executives of the Jewish Agency, knew better than to succumb.

Already, in September 1944, Moshe Sneh, head of the Haganah General Headquarters, and Eliyahu Golomb, one of the Haganah leaders, met the Irgun commander, Menachem Begin, and read him the riot act. The Irgun had proclaimed a revolt against the British rule and had attacked various government targets. Sneh did not mince words:"To expand your activities requires control of the souls and the property of the public. And it is we who control the public. We do not intend to renounce that control, because it is we who have received a mandate from the Jewish people... If you continue your activities, a clash will result." Begin retorted that the Yishuv would oust the movement which started a civil war. But Golomb refused to back down:"We demand that you cease immediately [your activity against the British]...We do not want a civil war... but we will be ready for that as well."

Begin agreed that the Executives had the right to represent the people, but he continued to insist that he had the right to determine policy:"We have no intention of seizing power in the Yishuv...We have no such ambitions... we think that Ben-Gurion is the man who can lead our youth into battle today. . . . We pray for the day when we can proclaim the end of the Irgun's task and disperse it. And the moment that you go out to war - we will all rally under a united leadership, in which you will constitute the decisive majority. But as long as you have not done this, we will conduct our battle."^v

The Death of Lord Moyne

On November 7, 1944 British Prime Minister Winston Churchill stood up in the House of Commons to announce the death of Lord Moyne"at the hands of foul assassins." Lord Moyne, one Walter Edward Guinness, was the British Resident Minister in the Middle East based in Cairo. Churchill added that Moyne's death meant that the Jews had lost a"well informed friend" who devoted himself to the solution of the Zionist question.^vi Some friend, some solution! In December 1941, Lord Moyne was responsible for telling the Turks to force a refugee ship named Struma back into the Black Sea after refusing to permit its passengers to enter Palestine even en route to Mauritius. Five miles beyond the coastline the ship sank, drowning 428 men, 269 women, and 70 children. Amongst them were a doctor and his wife who had escaped Ghetto Warsaw, and made their way to the Romanian town of Arad where my parents risked their lives to hide them and then to transport them to Constanza where they embarked on the doomed boat. Moyne's motivation can be discerned by his subsequent response to Joel Brand, Adolf Eichmann's emissary, who sought to explore the possibility of exchanging a million Hungarian Jews for trucks and other equipment."What would I do with a Million Jews?" Moyne asked. Eichmann, of course, knew precisely what to do. He sent them to burn in the Auschwitz crematorium. Amongst those going up in ashes were my aunt and her miraculous baby, the one born with a tooth in his mouth. Joel Brand joined the Stern Gang. The Stern Gang took credit for the execution and announced:

We accuse Lord Moyne and the government he represents, with murdering hundreds and thousands of our brethren; we accuse him of seizing our counry and looting our possessions... We were forced to do justice and to fight. ^vii

The assassination of Lord Moyne led Jewish leadership to decide that it was time to act. The Jewish Agency Executive convened and not only issued a fierce condemnation of the murder but called on the Yishuv to banish the evildoers from their midst. This was the official Histadrut announcement on the matter:

Jewish youth must fight terror and its perpetrators! [...] The perpetrators of terror, who call themselves the 'Irgun Zvai Le'umi' and 'Lohamei Herut Israel' are traitors! ... They must be removed from our classrooms, banished from our workshops! Their propaganda, whether written or spoken, must not be permitted... No refuge must be given to these malefactors in the homes of your parents, relatives and acquaintances! The incorrigible despoilers must be isolated and abandoned, until they are spewed out of the ranks of the Yishuv, until terror ceases and its organization is eradicated.

The Jewish leadership went on to call on the Yishuv not only to cooperate with the British occupier but also vouched for its future treatment of the offenders. Evil is evil even if the perpetrator is a Jew:

The Jewish Agency proposes herewith that all persons who are acquainted with any of the terrorists, should immediately inform the police by word of mouth, in writing or by telephone and observe the injunction: 'And thou shalt root out the evil from thy midst'. Fathers who have sons in these organizations should, in the same fashion, inform the police and observe thereby the injunction: 'If a man have a stubborn and rebellious son, he must take him out to the elders and say to them: This our son is stubborn and rebellious, he will not obey our voice. And all the men of the city shall stone him with stones.' Particularly since the English do not intend to do the terrorists any harm. They will hold them for a year or two apart from other people until their surplus energy, which apparently results from overeating and from inactivity and sloth, has cooled down [...] It is time to act for the sake of the Jewish people and the homeland.

Begin's response demonstrated both his strategic acumen and his moral fiber. Indeed, the good will it generated saved his future political viability.

THERE WILL BE NO FRATERNAL WAR [...] It is with gloomy face that the loyal Jew asks himself and his neighbor: Are we to suffer this as well? Will a civil war break out in Eretz Israel? . . . Orators and leaders do not cease to speak of the internal strife. One of them has said that it has already begun; the second - even more loudmouthed - has profaned his lips with the hysterical cry: blood for blood, an eye for an eye! A third has labored and labored until he has finally devised a plan to save the Jewish people. And this is the plan: to expel from their homes, to expel from schools, to starve and to hand over our fighting youths to the British Police. 'It is them or us,' it declared, 'and all means are acceptable in order to liquidate them.' (From Ben-Gurion's speech at the Histadrut Conference). . . . - on our own behalf and on behalf of the Irgun Zvai Le'umi in Eretz Israel - to provide an answer. And this is our answer: you may stay calm, loyal Jews; there will be no fraternal strife in this country...

Victory In Europe and the Short-Lived HRM

In May 1945, victory in Europe was declared, and not long thereafter, Labor came to power. Zionists could not be more pleased. After all, the Labor party conference went on record in support of abandoning the White Paper policy. But the Foreign office quickly set the Laborites straight and on November 13, the new foreign minister Ernest Bevin announced that the policy of the White Paper with its strict immigration and land sale clauses would remain intact. This despite the growing plight of the survivors in the DP camps documented in August 1945, by the Dean of the Faculty of Law at the University of Pittsburgh, Earl Harrison. At President Truman's request, Harrison studied the issue of the survivors and reported that"anti-Semitism had already led, since the end of the hostilities in May 1945 to the murder of several hundred Jews who had been making their way to their former homes." Given the rise in such attacks and the overwhelming desire of the survivors to go to Palestine,"the only real solution of the problem lies in the evacuation of all the non-repatriatable Jews in Germany and Austria who wish it, to Palestine."^viii

Ben Gurion could not be more pleased with the report or disappointed with the British. Indeed, by the end of 1945, Ben Gurion concluded that the time for violence on behalf of survivors had come. He would increase the number of boats trying to break into Palestine and to increase their chances of success, the Yishuv forces would attack radar stations, lighthouses and the communication systems used by the freshly arrived 100,000 man British army. To prevent independent action by the terrorist groups, Ben Gurion established the joint Hebrew Resistance Movement (HRM). Its role was to coordinate operations. Final operation approval rested with the Haganah. The terrorists were delighted to see the"saison' replaced by the HRM.

The policy reached its peak of effectiveness on June 16-17 when the Jewish fighters succeeded in destroying 10 roads and rail bridges, thereby isolating the country from its neighbors. On the night of June 28 - a day known as Black Saturday - the British retaliated. Seventeen thousand British troops, backed by tanks and armor, totally blockaded the Yishuv and began a wide sweep against the HRM. Borders were closed, telephone service stopped, and a night curfew was imposed. There were armed searches in the kibbutzim. Kibbutz Yagur was especially damaged, and most of the Yishuv leadership was arrested. David Ben Gurion escaped capture only because he happened to be in Paris. So an alarmed Weizmann demanded an immediate halt of all anti-British violence and got his way after threatening to resign.

In the meantime, plans were about ready for an Irgun bombing of the British government and army headquarters located in the King David Hotel in Jerusalem. Given the new Jewish Agency policy, Sneh was supposed to cancel the operation. Whether he did so or not is in dispute. What he did do is flee abroad hoping to convince Ben Gurion to fight Weizmann's new moderate policy. Begin and the Irgun decided to go ahead with the operation. The Irgun bomb threats were either ignored or did not reach the right people, and almost 100 lives were lost in the bombing.

Jewish and world condemnation came fast and furious. The following day the Yishuv leaders expressed"their feelings of horror at the base and unparalleled act perpetrated today by a gang of criminals" and called upon the Jews in Palestine . . . to rise against the abominable outrage. In an interview with the French newspaper 'France Soir,' Ben-Gurion declared that the Irgun was"the enemy of the Jewish people." At the request of the Haganah, the Irgun issued a leaflet accepting sole responsibility for the operation. In its statement it neither celebrated nor justified the loss of life. It merely blamed the British for acting on the warnings:^ix

[...]

e. The telephone warnings were given at 12:10-12:15. And if it is true, as the British liars have announced, that the explosion occurred at 12:37, they still had 22 minutes at their disposal in order to evacuate the building of its residents and workers. Therefore responsibility for loss of life among civilians rests solely with them.

f. It is not true that the persons who delivered the warning spoke 'on behalf of the United Resistance' (as the press reported)... On this matter, we are refraining at present from making any further statement, but it is possible that - in the context of the savage and dastardly incitement - it will be necessary to issue such a statement at the appropriate time.

g. We mourn the Jewish victims; they too are the tragic victims of the tragic and noble Hebrew war of liberation [...]

Sneh's hopes that Ben Gurion would fight the new moderate policy were quickly dashed. On August 5, 1946, the Jewish Agency Executive in Paris decided to terminate the armed struggle against the British in Palestine. Sneh resigned. To Begin's chagrin, the era of HRM was over. He, of course, remained a hunted, if never captured, man. Hence, the Haganah focused on bringing in illegal immigrants and limited its armed struggle to the sabotaging of British naval vessels which were hunting down illegal immigrants.

The Good Shepherd Ben Gurion

Though Begin was never officially punished, Ben Gurion kept him on the fringe of Israeli politics. When he became Prime Minister, his motto for building coalitions was:"Without Herut (Begin's party) or the Communists (headed by Sneh!). He never wavered from that principle. It was the pre-Six Day War crisis period which unexpectedly saved Begin from political oblivion. The crisis exposed Prime Minister Eshkol's inadequacy as a war leader and eventually forced him to turn over the Defense portfolio to Moshe Dayan. As a fig leaf to cover his shame, he created a"national emergency government" which included Begin's party. Indeed, the legitimization of the Israeli right emerged as one of the more important unintended consequences of the Six Day War.

But Ben Gurion never forgot and never forgave. In 1970 he told Begin's biographer that Begin was"a romantic lawyer who was responsible for the assassination of innocent Jews, Arabs, and British."^x Ben Gurion abhorred terror. On December 18, 1946, in a closed meeting of the political committee of the Zionist Congress, Ben Gurion argued brilliantly against colleagues advocating terror. His words could not be more relevant today. He began by saying,"One thing is prohibited under any circumstances - murder. Murder - means spilling of innocent blood. Murder - No. I have to tell you that a soldier is a volunteer. I know what it means to be a soldier. The role of the soldier is to kill and be killed for a just cause. . . . But there is something else that is called murder. And there is not one of us who may permit it, and we may not give anyone permission to permit it, especially when it is done in our name."

He then delineated the practical meaning of the decision to fight terror:"We have to seriously think, not here and not in the Congressional assembly, because this means not only words and declarations . . . If Congress takes a stand against murder we will have to make sure that within our ranks there will no be one who would want to help with money, speech making or providing moral justification to murder in any shape or form...We are still based . . . on a moral principle. We may not undermine it.it..." President Bush could not have said it better.

Terror boomerangs regardless of the perpetrators, Ben Gurion warned."The murder [that was done by the Arabs] in 1936 was first directed against the Jews...But eventually it became directed against the Arabs themselves. In the last period of the organized murder by the Mufti, 300 Jews were killed. According to our information - and we do not have all the information - 1,000 Arabs were killed by murderers sent by the Mufti. Do not say that this happened with the Arabs but will not happen with us. It must happen with us and it has already happened with us. With us it would be even worse than with them. In the case of the Arabs, the perpetrators were separate gangs organized by the Mufti. He had money and capabilities, but the Arab masses were helpless. . . . With Jews, it would be entirely different. It would be worse," he cautioned.

He called on those who provide moral justification for terror to cease and desist:"Groups which gave their blessing - at least that is the way I understood their speeches in the Congress - to murderous propaganda, must clarify their stands in this question. I want to tell them: We are Jews. When somebody tries to play chess - he knows how to play chess, and when they try to confuse Jews with certain formulas - they understand the formulas...What is at stake here is the moral basis of our movement and the physical existence of the Yishuv." Ben Gurion insisted that eschewing responsibility by pretending not to see was not a viable option for practical as well as moral reasons."We cannot tolerate the existence of organized groups wishing to conduct war in the name of the people in the manner, place and time of their choosing. That cannot be tolerated even without reference to the question of murder. That means that there must be strict national discipline. Discipline - is not a popular or comfortable word, especially for Jews, because of positive instincts. Jews - are free people who do not like boot camp type order. Our movement is one of the freest movements and it should stay so. However, when we go to war, there must be iron discipline even within the freest, most democratic and liberal nation," he stated.

Ben Gurion believed that terror is self-destructive, especially to the youth engaged in it."We may not permit within our ranks the demoralizing education of 'only thus,' only with the gun, as it undermines the foundation of our movement," he asserted. It is also wrong to underestimate the people's ability to combine building with self-defense:"As to the question, raised in the Congress at the end of the political debate by one of our best men:"How can we combine these things? - I must answer that we were forced to combine them in reality...I went to plow with a rifle on my shoulder in Segera." Indeed, the alternative would result in the emergence of a generation which would lack the ability to handle peace:"Imagine: A miracle would happen tomorrow and we would receive a state on both sides of the Jordan, and all the earthly kings would ship Jews to the Land of Israel, and there will no longer be a basis for terror. I know that a few hundred or a few thousand Jewish boys and girls would be the most miserable. They have no other interest in life except to shoot people. They have not been educated for anything else. They will have no meaning to their lives. As this was all their purpose, dream, pathos and song." Isn't this precisely what happened to Bin Laden and his men in Afganistan? Isn't this what may happen to the Palestinians?"If you tell the youth, especially the Eastern one, that the only thing to do is to shoot, it could no longer do anything else. It would be the worse exploitation of our brothers and sisters...who after 70 years of work in the land of Israel there are still poor neighborhoods to take their children, who do not have enough to eat, street children, and ...make into murderous bands with the help of the theory 'Only Thus!' (with a gun)."^xi

The man who had the honor of establishing a Jewish state deserved that honor. For he knew that no adversity could dilute an individual's, a nation's or a civilization's basic freedom, the freedom to respond. Indeed, nothing defines an individual, a nation or a civilization better than that response. Aristotle defined the good as the middle way. Ben Gurion defined the correct war strategy as neither Massada (suicide) nor Vichy (submission) and never underestimated the intelligence, resilience or persistence of his community, be it made up of Eastern Jews or Western Jews, Yishuv members or Holocaust survivors. Like the good shepherd after whom he was named, David Ben Gurion protected both their bodies and souls. In return, they called him"Hazaken" (the old man). One can only hope that the Palestinian elections would bring to the fore men of similar caliber. Their devastated society could surely use some.

ⁱVillage Voice, 12.21.01
ⁱⁱ In December 2000, when Arafat opted for a strategy of terror, the PA controlled 98% of the Palestinians living in the West Bank and Gaza.
ⁱⁱⁱ Tevet, 873-4
^iv Shabtai Teveth, Ben Gurion: The Burning Ground 1886-1948 (Boston; 1987), 550
^vwww.etzel.org.il/english/index/html
^viNew York Times, Nov. 8, 1944
^viiwww.etzel.org.il/english/index/html
^viiiMartin Gilbert, Israel: A History (New York: 1998), 123.
^ixwww.etzel.org.il/english/index.html
^xAmos Perlmutter, The Life and Times of Menachem Begin (New York: 1987), 161
^xiTowards the End of the Mandate, David Ben Gurion Papers edited by Meir Avizohar (Tel Aviv: 1993), 270

Steven Pasquantonio - 1/26/2009

One of the most blatant lies in this article is the representation of Lord Moyne. Lord Moyne was assassinated by the terrorist Jewish gang known as the Stern 5. They accused Lord Moyne of the deaths of Hungarian Jews. The accuser, Joel Brand, claimed to offer a trade of Hungarian Jews for supplies supposedly at the request of Eichman. The quote associated with Moyne "What would I do with a million Jews" has been used over and over again to imply guilt. However, Joel Brand never met or talked with Lord Moyne. How do we know this? When questioned, he could not identify Moyne and Moyne's own staff concluded he was never in the same room as Brand. To add insult to injury, the Israeli government in 1975 received the remains of the two assassins of Moyne and proceeded to give them a state funeral with full military honors while the British government protested. So, judge for yourself. What kind of country honors to two men who shot someone in the back in cold blood? You reap what you sow.

Clifford Webb - 3/28/2008

This article flies in the face of historical facts. It is a Zionist perception management piece of revisionist spin designed to obfuscate the reality of Israeli terror and its proponents and agents in the formation of modern Israel.

Robin A Davies - 2/26/2007

Some aspects of this essay leave a very bad taste in my mouth, namely it seems to me that the author is somehow justifying acts of terrorism perpetrated by Jewish radicals following WW2. If refusing the Hungarian refugees was just cause for the assassinations that followed, I suppose that the US should have been a target as well.
Please read on, and notice the countries that did finally help (although sadly, because of later Nazi occupation, many of these poor people were later to perish). Killing people to make a political statement is always wrong (in my opinion). I wish more people in the world shared my view, sadly, one which the author does not seem to share. I do understand why the essay writer is so bitter however, but please keep in mind that perhaps some Palestinians are consumed by the same rage. Please also note the comment by one of the survivors, Salo Blechner.

"Small boats, crowded with relatives, cry out to the passengers on the St. Louis, who are not allowed to disembark. Nearby, police boats called ''suicide guards'' stand watch. Lawyers negotiate unsuccessfully with officials to take in the 937 refugees.

Passenger Julius Hermanns, in a shipboard letter to his brother-in-law, writes about another passenger's suicide attempt and his own yearning to be free: ''It doesn't matter in which country. One clearly has to have nerves like a horse to be able to get through everything.''

After cruising by Miami Beach, rejected by U.S. and Cuban authorities, the St. Louis returned to Europe, where four countries -- Belgium, France, Netherlands and Britain -- agreed to take the refugees. When war swept the continent a few months later, almost half would eventually die in death camps and detention centers.

At the end of the exhibit, a hastily written postcard to his brother from Salo Blechner, who survived the Bergen-Belsen death camp, provides a postscript: ''I am alive. It is a miracle of God. The Allies rescued me.''

But many were not rescued, and the St. Louis episode left a legacy of bitterness among survivors whose relatives died. The exhibit may be a surprise to some Americans unaware of the U.S. role in turning back refugees desperate to flee Nazi Germany.

William Rolston - 6/15/2006

After reading about how wonderful and without fault the Jews in Palestine were/are and how nasty and vile everyone else is, I wonder what the author and other people on this board would say if some American guard in Abu Grahb (sp?) were sent a letter bomb that blew up his brother? Would it be the dreaded terrorism? What if it were some guard in Israel?

Because this is what happened to a countryman of mine, Roy Farran. His brother Rex was blown up by zionist freedom fighters so it couldn't be terrorism, heavens no!

Frankly, I've never really cared too much about the middle east. But when things come to a personal level like this,and I hear from Jewish leaders about how bad Terrorism is and there is no excuse I think about how hipocritical the whole thing is, I wash my hands of it and hope to see you all in hell.

Warmest Regards,

Sarah - 12/20/2003

ok how the hell can you say that??????? your a dumb ass!!! israelis attacking innosent palenstinians????? HELLO!?!?!? do you pay attention to the suicide bombers attacking innosent Jews?!?!?!?!??
How the hell can you say that Goldia Mier was a terrorist?!?! she was a damn fucking good at representing Israel. I think you need to do a little bit more research before you bring up bull shit.
YOU LEARN HISTORY BITCH, look at what Hitler did to the Jews and may i said INNOSENT JEWS!!!!! or are you one of thos mother fuckers who dont believe in the holocost!?!?! or just one of thos people who say, yea....i thnk that thos 6 million men, women and children were out to get everybody and TAKE OVER THE WORRRRRRRRRRRRRRRLD!?!?! i think you are very stupid and need to get a life.

G.L. - 11/9/2003

ILL KEEP IT SHORT BEING ONE IM JEWISH AND PROUD OF THE JEWS WHO HAVE TAKE'N AN AGGRESIVE STAND ONE JEWISH TERRORISM IS REAL THE STERN GANG(R.I.P.) WOULD BE A GOOD EXAMPLE THERE ARE A FEW MORE OUT THERE.ISREAL WAS SECURED ON TERRORISM, ASK THE BRITISH,DEMOCRACY HA! JEWISH FASCIST STATE IS MORE LIKE IT HAIL ISREAL

Henry Andersen - 10/13/2003

Add: Phil Stoddard, former director of the Middle East Institute, cited a botched plot to kill Ali Hassan Salemeh, the mastermind of the 1972 Munich Olympics massacre. The 1974 attempt severely embarrassed Mossad when the Israeli hit team mistakenly assassinated a Moroccan waiter in Lillehammer, Norway.

Source: http://pagead2.googlesyndication.com/pagead/ads?client=ca-pub-2168890380291280&random=1066056043150&hl=en&format=300x250_as&output=html&url=http%3A//www.globalsecurity.org/intell/world/israel/mossad.htm

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Source: http://www.arabicnews.com/ansub/Daily/Day/971129/1997112917.htmlcom/ansub/Daily/Day/971129/1997112917.htmlcom/ansub/Daily/Day/971129/1997112917.htmlcom/ansub/Daily/Day/971129/1997112917.htmlcom/ansub/Daily/Day/971129/1997112917.htmlclient=ca-pub-6822617181882850&random=1066056281472&hl=en&format=120x600_as&output=html&url=http%3A//www.arabicnews.com/ansub/Daily/Day/971129/1997112917.html

End note:
1) I understand the suffering of the Israeli/Jewish people during the WW-II as well as previously but this does not give anyone the right to act the way towards people with other ethnical background such as Palestinians etc.

2) I am not pro terrorism from anyone but one should not "throw rocks if one lives in a glasshouse" such as many Israelis does today.

3) Forget the past and try to make a peaceful future.

mo - 10/3/2003

shame on u! get out of palestine!!!!1

a fellow HUMAN BEING - 9/11/2003

The very bases on which the state of Israel was formed is an act of zionism. This state was formed to provide a 'homeland' for Jewish people only. Is that not discrimination against every Non-Jew individual? The fact that only those individuals who follow the religion of Jewadism and NOT those who belong to any other religion or culture have the RIGHT to live on that specific piece of land. What about the rest of the people on earth? Especially those living on the border of this 'promised land'. It's all about looking at the truth of the matter, not trying to justify our personal point of view. This is just a very crucial point for every individual to PONDER upon. Where we go from there I leave it up to YOU!

Philomena Capa Bianca - 6/26/2003

ZIONIST "ISRAELI" ACTS OF TERRORISM 1939 -1974

"Woe to him that builds a town with blood and establishes a city by iniquity!" Habakkuk, 2:12


Terrorist Gangs
Soon after the end of World War II, there were three basic para-military Zionist organizations in Palestine, working against the Arab people, with the specific purpose of driving it out of Palestine. These were the Haganah, the Irgun Zvai Leumi and the Stern Gang.

Before the British Mandate, the Jewish settlers had formed a group of mounted armed watchmen called "Hashomar" and with the advent of the British Mandate, it became the Haganah (Defense). With a membership of 60,000 Zionist Jews, the Haganah had a field army of 16,000 trained men and a unit called the Palmach, which was a full-time force, numbering about 6000.

The Irgun Zvai Leumi included between 3000 and 5000 armed terrorists, and grew out of the Haganah and its Palmach branch in 1933. The Irgun was not ready to obey the Jewish Agency which sought to dilute the terror of the Haganah in order not to lose its respectability.

In 1939, one of Irgun's commanding officers, Abraham Stern, left the parent organization and formed the Stern Gang, numbering some 200 to 300 dangerous fanatics.

Zionist Terrorist Activities 1939 - 1947
1939 Haganah blew up the Iraqi oil pipeline near Haifa. Moshe Dayan was one of the participants in the act. This technique was used again in 1947 at least 4 times.
August 20, 1937 - June 29, 1939 During this period, Zionists carried out a series of attacks against Arab buses, resulting in the death of 24 persons and wounding 25 others.

We received this message from Margaret UK as a wetness of 1939 - Jerusalem Post Office, we publish it as we received.

[ 1939 - Jerusalem Post Office

From a sweet British Lady To Ibrahim Ebeid

I wonder why you left out the bombing of the Jerusalem Post Office in 1939. My father had an office in the building although he was out at the Jerusalem automatic exchange at the time. I still have several pictures he took of the damage. My memory tells me that one of the Arab Postal staff was killed but as I was only five at the time I may have muddled that with another incident. ]

November 25, 1940 S.S.Patria was blown up by Jewish terrorists in Haifa harbour, killing 268 illegal Jewish immigrants.

February 24, 1942 S.S. Struma exploded in the Black Sea, killing 769 illegal Jewish immigrants. Described by the Jewish Agency as an act of "mass-protest and mass-suicide."

November 6, 1944 Zionist terrorists of the Stern Gang assassinated the British Minister Resident in the Middle East, Lord Moyne, in Cairo.

July 22, 1946 Zionist terrorists blew up the King David Hotel in Jerusalem, which housed the central offices of the civilian administration of the government of Palestine, killing or injuring more than 200 persons. The Irgun officially claimed responsibility for the incident, but subsequent evidence indicated that both the Haganah and the Jewish Agency were involved.

October 1, 1946 The British Embassy in Rome was badly damaged by bomb explosions, for which Irgun claimed responsibility.

June 1947 Letters sent to British Cabinet Ministers were found to contain bombs.

September 3, 1947 A postal bomb addressed to the British War Office exploded in the post office sorting room in London, injuring 2 persons. It was attributed to Irgun or Stern Gangs. (The Sunday Times, Sept. 24, 1972, p.8)

December ll, 1947 Six Arabs were killed and 30 wounded when bombs were thrown from Jewish trucks at Arab buses in Haifa; 12 Arabs were killed and others injured in an attack by armed Zionists on an Arab coastal village near Haifa.

December 13,1947 Zionist terrorists, believed to be members of Irgun Zvai Leumi, killed 18 Arabs and wounded nearly 60 in Jerusalem, Jaffa and Lydda areas. In Jerusalem, bombs were thrown in an Arab market-place near the Damascus Gate; in Jaffa, bombs were thrown into an Arab cafe; in the Arab village of Al Abbasya, near Lydda, 12 Arabs were killed in an attack with mortars and automatic weapons.

December 19, 1947 Haganah terrorists attacked an Arab village near Safad, blowing up two houses, in the ruins of which were found the bodies of 10 Arabs, including 5 children. Haganah admitted responsibility for the attack.

December 29, 1947 Two British constables and 11 Arabs were killed and 32 Arabs injured, at the Damascus Gate in Jerusalem when Irgun members threw a bomb from a taxi.

December 30,1947 A mixed force of the Zionist Palmach and the "Carmel Brigade" attacked the village of Balad al Sheikh, killing more than 60 Arabs.

1947 -- 1948 Over 700,000 Palestinian Arabs were uprooted from their homes and land; since then, they have been denied the right to return or been given compensation for their property. After their expulsion, the "Israeli Forces" razed to the ground 385 Arab villages and towns out of a total of 475, and obliterated their remains.

January 1, 1948 Haganah terrorists attacked a village on the slopes of Mount Carmel; 17 Arabs were killed and 33wounded.

January 4, 1948 Haganah terrorists wearing British Army uniforms penetrated into the center of Jaffa and blew up the Serai (the old Turkish Government House) which was used as a headquarters of the Arab National Committee, killing more than 40 persons and wounding 98 others.

January 5, 1948 The Arab-owned Semiramis Hotel in Jerusalem was blown up, killing 20 persons, among them Viscount de Tapia, the Spanish Consul. Haganah admitted responsibility for this crime.

January 7, 1948 Seventeen Arabs were killed by a bomb at the Jaffa Gate in Jerusalem, 3 of them while trying to escape. Further casualties, including the murder of a British officer near Hebron, were reported from different parts of the country.

January 16, 1948 Zionists blew up three Arab buildings. In the first, 8 children between the ages of 18 months and 12 years, died.

December 13, 1947 -- February 10, 1948 Seven incidents of bomb-tossing at innocent Arab civilians in cafes and markets, killing 138 and wounding 271 others, During this period, there were 9 attacks on Arab buses. Zionists mined passenger trains on at least 4 occasions, killing 93 persons and wounding 161 others.

February 15, 1948 Haganah terrorists attacked an Arab village near Safad, blew up several houses, killing 11 Arabs, including 4 children..

March 3, 1948 Heavy damage was done to the Arab-owned Salam building in Haifa (a 7 story block of apartments and shops) by Zionists who drove an army lorry ( truck) up to the building and escaped before the detonation of 400 Ib. of explosives; casualties numbered 11 Arabs and 3 Armenians killed and 23 injured. The Stern Gang claimed responsibility for the incident.

March 22, 1948 A housing block in Iraq Street in Haifa was blown up killing 17 and injuring 100 others. Four members of the Stern Gang drove two truck-loads of explosives into the street and abandoned the vehicles before the explosion.

March 31, 1948 The Cairo-Haifa Express was mined, for the second time in a month, by an electronically-detonated land mine near Benyamina, killing 40 persons and wounding 60 others.

April 9, 1948 A combined force of Irgun Zvai Leumi and the Stern Gang, supported by the Palmach forces, captured the Arab village of Deir Yassin and killed more than 200 unarmed civilians, including countless women and children.Older men and young women were captured and paraded in chains in the Jewish Quarter of Jerusalem; 20 of the hostages were then shot in the quarry of Gevaat Shaul.

April 16, 1948 Zionists attacked the former British army camp at Tel Litvinsky, killing 90 Arabs there.

April 19, 1948 Fourteen Arabs were killed in a house in Tiberias, which was blown up by Zionist terrorists.

May 3, 1948 A book bomb addressed to a British Army officer, who had been stationed in Palestine exploded, killing his brother, Rex Farran.

May11, 1948 A letter bomb addressed to Sir Evelyn Barker, former Commanding Officer in Palestine, was detected in the nick of time by his wife.

April 25, 1948 -- May 13, 1948 Wholesale looting of Jaffa was carried out following armed attacks by Irgun and Haganah terrorists. They stripped and carried away verything they could, destroying what they could not take with them.

B. ISRAELI TERRORIST ACTIVITIES 1948 -- 1974

September 17, 1948 Count Folke Bernadotte, UN Mediator in Palestine was assassinated by members of the Stern Gang in the "Israeli"- controlled sector of Jerusalem. Bernadotte's aide, Col. Serot, was also killed.

November 1948 The Arab villages of Iqrit and Birim were attacked and destroyed, killing and injuring countless unarmed Arabs, including women and children. All the Arabs were forcibly expelled from their homes and land.

February 1949 All the Arabs were forcibly expelled from their homes in the villases of Anan and Kafr Yasif by Haganah terrorists.

1950 Zionist agents threw bombs at a synagogue in Baghdad, Iraq, and other Jewish targets in order to pressure Jews into emigrating to Israel.

August 28, 1953 Armed Israelis attacked the UNRWA refugee camp at Bureij in the Gaza Strip. The "Israelis" threw grenades through the windows of the huts and gunned down the fleeing refugees, killing 30 and wounding 62 others.

October 14, 1953 The village of Qibiya was attacked by Israeli troops, killing 42 villagers.

July 1954 American and British consular and information offices in Cairo were sabotaged by Israeli agents operating under the "Israeli" Ministry of Defense.

April 4/5 1956 The "Israelis" shelled Gaza with 120 mm mortars, killing 56 Arab civilians and wounding 103 others.

January 11, 1952 -- September 25, 1956 Israelis carried out violent raids against Arab villages of Beit Jala, Falame, Rantis, Qibiya, Nahalin, Bani Suhaila, Rahwa, Gharandal, Wadi Fukin (in Palestine and Syria) and refugee camps at Bureij and Gaza in the Gaza Strip, killing 220 Arab civilians.

October 29, 1956 Forty-seven Arab inhabitants, including 7 children and 9 women were massacred by "Israeli" border guards in the village of Kufr Kassem. The guards arrived and announced that there would be a curfew as of 5 p.m. that very evening. Most of the men were working in the fields and did not know of the curfew. When they returned in the evening, they were summarily shot.

November 3, 1956 The town of Khan Yunis was occupied by "Israeli" forces. Two hundred and seventy five persons were killed.

November 12, 1956 One hundred and eleven civilians were killed by "Israeli" forces at Rafah refugee camp.

October 6, 1959 The Egypt-"Israel" Mixed Armistice Commission condemned "Israel" for expelling several hundred beduins of the Azazmah tribe from the Nagab.

November 13,1960 A large "Israeli" force, including tanks and armoured cars, attacked the village of Samu', destroying 125 houses, a school, a clinic; 15 houses were destroyed in another village, killing a total of 18 and wounding 54 others.

1959 -- 1963 "Israeli" armed forces attacked refugee camps at Rafah and villages at Nuqeib, Rafat and Shaikh Hussein in Syria and Palestine, killing 47 civilians.

June 12, 1967 Four hundred families were evicted from the Moroccan Quarter in Jerusalem, after three hours notice to evacuate their homes. Similar incidents took place at Qalqilya.

June 12, 1967 The villages of Beit Nuba, Yalu and Amwas were razed to the ground after the forced eviction of the population.

June/July 1967 During the June 1967 war, "Israeli" forces deliberately attacked UNEF Indian staff on 5 occasions, killing 11 and wounding 24. The UN Secretary-General reported that "Israeli" troops also mistreated UNEF officers and looted their property.

June/December l967 As a result of the June 1967 war, over 400,000 Palestinian Arabs living in Gaza and the West Bank and over 100,000 Palestinians and Syrians living in the Kuneitra area were up rooted from their homes and not allowed to return while the area was under "Israeli" occupation.

December 28, 1968 "Israeli" commando units transported by helicopter, attacked the Beirut civil airport and destroyed 13 civilian aircraft, causing damage of 22 million pounds sterling.

Sptember 4, 1967, September 29, 1967, July 8, 1968, Saptember 8, 1968, May 11, 1969 "Israeli" artillery shelled residential areas in Ismailia, Suez and Port Said. The Egyptian Government announced that 600 persons were killed and 1000 wounded in Ismailia since the June 1967 war.

February 12, 1970, "Isreali" planes bombed a factory near Abou Zaabal, Egypt, killing 70 civilian workers and injuring 98 others.

March 31,1970 "Israeli" planes bombed the city of Mansoura in the Nile Delta, killing 12 civilians and wounding 35 others.

April 8, 1970 "Israeli" planes bombed the Bahr el Baqar school in Sharkia province, 80 kilometres north of Cairo, killing 46 school children.

March 11, 1971 Thirty four families from the Gaza Strip were expelled to Abou Zuneima, in the Sinai Desert.

August 1, 1971 "Israeli" military occupation authorities in the Gaza Strip embarked on a house-demolition and terror campaign designed to force the 400,000 Palestinian refugees living in the Strip to move out.

April 28, 1972 An Israeli Piper plane flew over the Arab village of Akraba, spraying a chemical defoliant over the villagers' wheat crops. Previously, the Israeli Army had forcibly confiscated 100,000 dunums of arable land. In May, 1971 the villagers were asked to sell the remaining land. When they refused, their crops were thus destroyed.

July 8, 1972 Ghassan Kanafani, a Palestinian novelist and editor, was killed in Beirut when a bomb planted by "Israeli" agents exploded in his car. Also killed was his 16 year old niece.

July 18, 1972 Emile Khayyat, a Rif Bank employee in Beirut was seriously injured when a letter bomb sent by Zionist terrorist arm, the Mosad, exploded in his face.

July 19, 1972 In a similar incident, Dr. Anis Sayegh suffered serious injuries to his hands and eyes, in Beirut.

July 25, 1972 Bassam Abou Sharif, a young Palestinian writer in Beirut was seriously wounded when a book bomb exploded.

November 1967 -- September 1972 Over 1500 civilians were killed in "Israeli" attacks against Arab civilians in villages and refugee camps in Palestine, Jordan , Syria, Lebanon and Egypt.

March 1, 1972, March 9, 1972, September 8, 1972 "Israel" carried out attacks against civilian areas in Syria, such as Hamma and Maysaloun.

September 12, 1972 Three children died in a Lebanese hospital from wounds inflicted during the attack by "Israeli" aircraft on the Annahr Al Barid Palestinian refugee camp, bringing the total to 13 from this camp alone.

September 14, 1972 A Los Angeles accountant, Mohammed Shaath, was injured together with one of his children when a bomb planted by "Israeli" agents exploded in his home.

September 16, 1972 "Israeli" armoured forces attacked southern Lebanon, pulling out after much destruction of houses and large-scale looting.

September 17, 1972 An "Israeli" tank deliberately drove over a taxi in southern Lebanon, crushing its 9 passengers into pulp.

January 3, 1970, May 22, 1970, February 27, 1972, September 8, 1972, September 17, 1972 "Israelis" attacked Arab villages and refugee camps in southern Lebanon.

October 4, 1972 Librairie Palestine, Paris, was damaged by a bomb. Responsibility was claimed by the Massada Movement for Action and Defense, a student organization.

October 16, 1972 Wael Zuaiter, a Palestinian scholar and artist, was gunned down by the Israeli Mossad at his apartment entrance in Rome.

October 25, 1972 Ahmad Wafi, a Palestinian intellectual, was seriously injured in Algiers by an "Israeli" letter bomb.

October 25, 1972 Mustafa Awad Zaid was blinded and paralyzed in Tripoli and two Libyan passersby were injured as he opened a letter bomb.

October 26, 1972 Two employees of the Import-Export Bank in Beirut were seriously wounded when a letter bomb exploded.

October 26, 1972 An Egyptian police officer who checked three suspicious- looking letters was injured when they exploded.

November 29, 1972 Omar Sufan, representative of Red Crescent in Stockholm lost his fingers when a letter bomb exploded.

November 29, 1972 Adnan Hammad, a Palestinian student leader, was seriously injured in Germany with a letter bomb.

November 29, 1972 Three employees in Tunis Post Office were seriously injured while sorting mail, as a letter bomb exploded.

November 30, 1972 Ahmed Awadallah, a Palestinian student leader in Copenhagen lost his arm when a Mosad-despatched letter bomb exploded.

July 1967 -- December 1972 "Israeli" armed forces, in acts of collective punishment and reprisal, blew up or bulldozed more than 10,000 homes of Arab civilians in Gaza and the West Bank.

December 8, 1972 Mahmoud Hamshari, a Palestinian leader and intellectual lost a leg and subsequently died, on January 8, when an electronically-detonated bomb installed by the "Israeli" Mosad, exploded in his house in Paris. Aharon Yariv (an ex "Israeli" Minister of Information) supervised the execution of the operation, as he was charged with Israeli special operations directed at the Palestinians.

January 25, 1973 Hussein Abul Kheir was killed in Cyprus when a bomb exploded in his hotel room.

February 21, 1973 The northernmost corner of Lebanon was invaded by air and sea-borne "Israeli" forces, causing the death of 40 Arab civilians.

February 22, 1973 A Libyan civilian airliner was shot down by Israeli fighter aircraft over Sinai, killing 106 passengers and crew.

April 6, 1973 Dr. Bassel Kubaissy, an Iraqi political science professor, was gunned down and killed in a Paris street by the "Israeli" special forces.

(Kamal Nasser, one of Palestine's foremost poets, was gunned down and killed in his home in Beirut on April 10, 1973 by the "Israeli" special forces and terror squads. )

April 10, 1973 Palestinian leaders Mohammed Yusuf Najjar, Mrs. Najjar, Kamal Adwan and Kamal Nasser were all gunned down and killed in their homes in Beirut, by the "Israeli" special forces and terror squads.

May 2, 1973 Mrs. Nada Yashruti, a Palestinian feminist leader and mother of two, was ambushed by three "Israeli" agents with machine-guns at the entrance to her apartment and killed.

June 29, 1973 Mohammed Boudaiah, an Algerian poet and friend of the Palestinians, was killed when an "Israeli"-installed bomb exploded in his car in Paris.

July 21, 1973 Ahmed Bouchiki was gunned down by "Israeli" agents in Oslo. The "Israelis" admitted responsibility for this crime, which was followed by a court case. In the proceedings, information was revealed linking the "Israeli" murderers to the killings of Zuaiter, Hamshari, and other Palestinian leaders and intellectuals murdered in Europe.

April 12, 1974 " Israeli" forces attacked Lebanese villages, killing 2 civilians, destroying 31 houses and kidnapping 13 people.

May 13, 1974 "Israeli" planes raided Lebanon, killing 4 civilians.

May 16, 1974 "Israeli" planes raided and bombarded refugee camps in Lebanon, killing 50 civilians and wounding 200, in the Nabatiyeh and Ein-el-Helweh refugee camps. The Nabatiyeh camp was totally obliterated.

May 19, 1974 "Israeli" naval units bombarded the Rashidiyeh refugee camp, killing 8 civilians.

May 22, 1974 "Israeli" planes bombed refugee camps in Lebanon, wounding 2 civilians and destroying countless houses.

June 20, 1974 "Israeli" planes bombed refugee camps in Lebanon, killing 10 civilians and injuring hundreds.

July 8, 19 74 "Israeli" naval units raided Tyre and Saida, sinking 21 fishing boats.

August 7, 1974 "Israeli" planes bombed southern Lebanese villages.

August 13, 1974 "Israeli" naval boats shelled refugee camps, killing 1 civilian and wounding 6.

August 25, 1974 "Israeli" forces shelled villages in southern Lebanon.

September 24, 1974 "Israeli" forces shelled villages in southern Lebanon.

June 11, 1967 -- June 1974 "Israeli" forces destroyed 19,000 Palestinian homes in the West Bank and Gaza, which is equivalent to 380 villages and towns, almost the same number destroyed earlier, in the period 1948-- 1950.

Rachel Neuwirth - 5/29/2003

These Jewish organization to defend the Jews in historical Palestine, such as Irgun, Lehi and Etsel would have never been created if the Arabs and British were not constantly assaulting the Jews, sadly. In my haste and as I am on edge witnessing the horrific/evil Arab World terrorism, hate and lies that is perpetrated on a daily bases and as we speak these days thatlast for almost a century, I left out the British atrocities against the Jews in my previous note.

In my dictionary truth is conformity to fact or actuality, a statement proven to be or accepted as true.
Sincerity; integrity, fidelity to an original or standard.
Reality; that which is considered to be the supreme reality and to have the ultimate meaning and value of existence.

That which many in the Arab World lack, these days, sadly. Can one change history or facts if one dose not like it?

Faoud Ajami writes, "What Arabs had said about themselves, the history they had written, and the truths they had transmitted to their progeny led down a blind alley."


In peace,

Rachel Neuwirth - 5/28/2003

Dear Mr. Raphael:

These Jewish organization, such as Irgun, Lehi and Etsel would have never been created if the Arabs and British were not constantly assaulting the Jews, sadly. In my haste and as I am on edge witnessing the horrific Arab World terrorism, hate and lies that is generated on a daily bases these days and for almost a century, I left the British atrocities against the Jews out. Thanks for your input. .

Also, regarding truths, in my dictionary it is conformity to fact or actuality, a statement proven to be or accepted as true.
Sincerity; integrity, fidelity to an original or standard.
Reality; that which is considered to be the supreme reality and to have the ultimate meaning and value of existence.

That which many in the Arab World lack. You can't change history or facts if you don't like it. Can you?

Faoud Ajami writes, "What Arabs had said about themselves, the history they had written, and the truths they had transmitted to their progeny led down a blind alley."

I wish I can hold the Arab world today to higher standards and never ever have to write these truths..

In peace,

Zeev Raphael - 4/5/2003

"... These organizations called Irgun, Etzel, Lehi et all are organization created as a result of the constant instigation of terror by the Arabs against the Jews. Plese, get your record straight as peace can come but it must begin with the truth."

Dear Rachel Neuwirth: Is this indeed altogether accurate? Was this 'Jewish terrorism' (I prefer to call it 'freedom fight'...) indeed solely directed against the Arabs? I seem to remember some actions directed against the British...

As a veteran and convinced Zionist I should also like to point out that there is more than ONE 'truth'. 'Truth' is not absolute, and it depends from your vantage point. One man's 'terrorist', is evidently the other man's'freedomfighter'.
This point was made very nicely by Arthur Koestler in his 1946 book "Thives in the Night".

I would be delighted to have your comments.

Zeev Raphael, Haifa

BD - 2/27/2003

Was this written by an educator? You need to either (A), write about history or (B), write opinion columns. And if you choose to do the former do not insult your readers with centuries, if at the very least post 1920's, crammed into swiss cheese-laden takes on the subject. The jews invented terrorism. They used it against arabs, and especially against the British.
What is G.Mason anyway?

Rachel Neuwirth - 2/7/2003

Mr. Moner. I regret to tell you that you are not familiar with the History of Palestine or the so called Arab Palestinians.

Please, refer to this link for history as it is well documented. http://www.eretzyisroel.org/~jkatz/index.html

And Again, These organizations called Irgun, Etzel, Lehi et all are organization created as a result of the constant instigation of terror by the Arabs against the Jews. Plese, get your record straight as peace can come but it must begin with the truth.

How about reading this link as well http://www.ourjerusalem.com/opinion/story/opinion20021120.html

If you can give me answers to these questions in the 'Who are the Palestinians/Arabs' in the later link I would appreciate it. In short, was there ever a state called Palestine ruled by the so called Palestinians Arab?

Further, read this link for clarification to your misconstrued assertions and notions. http://www.gamla.org.il/english/article/2003/feb/g1.htm

Some guy - 12/27/2002

"It smells so bad as a "cut and paste" job"

Thanks for telling us how this essay smells maybe you would have a point if you could back your allegations with facts!

Rachel Neuwirth - 11/7/2002

Israel was and is the Jewish national home land. Israel took no one's land! 'Palestine' never an Arab land. http://www.cdn-friends-icej.ca/never_arab.html Those groups, the Irgun, hagana, Etzel etc. were established merely to defend the Jews in the face of constant premeditated killing against the Jews by the Arabs. All of the middle east was for 400 years the Ottoman empire until 1917 when the Ottomans defeted.

There was never in history such national so called Palestinians/Arab. Even if one would they came to being all they have proven to be is bunch of thugs/terrorist. From their inception in April 1964 the PLO/PA is a terrorist organization. The leopard does not change his spots.

Arab began to flock the holy land upon the Zionist movement in the late 1800 to seek work, better medical and quality of life. Most of the Arabs who reside in Plestine were nomads.

The Jews took no one's land if at all.

The Jews were the one who were called Palestinians prior to 1948.

The so called Palestinians/Arabs are a political movement set up by the Arab world with one goal in mind to destroy Israel. The Arab will never relinquish this quest. Make no bones about it.

Therefore all of the Arabia should be disband back to the Ottomans. The Arab leadership fail to lead their people in a democractical principals.

Israel holds a high regard to human right, dignity and integrity that which no other nation would have done in the face of the constant vicious malicious acts perpertrated and premiditated against the Jews as we speak.

Mr. Moner I am sorry to tell you that you are a victim of the Arab Wrold lying machine.

Jordan is Palestinian/Arab land eventhough it should also have been the Jewish national home land. 78% of Jordan is historical Palestine. The flag is the same. 80% of the people in Jordan are the so called Palestinians/Arabs. Queen Rania is the so called Palestinians/Arab.

Arabs were nomads tribe who were tought to dig the balck gold by the American and now stab her in her back.

Yes, Palestine was a deserted desert go read Mark Twain's book 'Inoccent Abroad' and see his description of the holy land in 1867 when he visited. "A desolate country whose soil is rich enough, but is given over wholly to weeds... a silent mournful expanse.... a desolation.... we never saw a human being on the whole route.... hardly a tree or shrub anywhere. Even the olive tree and the cactus, those fast friends of a worthless soil, had almost deserted the country."

For the brutal truth go to http://www.masada2000.org

Gus Moner - 10/27/2002

I regret to inform Ms. Neuwirth that the facts are what they are. Jewish Zionist settler occupiers of Palestine organised numerous terrorist organisations, amongst them 'Irgun Zvai Le'umi' and 'Lohamei Herut Israel' and Yishuv. This is admitted even in Israeli historical circles. Many prominent terrorists went on to become president or PM of Israel, Golda Meir, Mr. Beguin and Ben Gurion amongst them.

The plight of the Jewish in the world is no excuse to go settle someone else’s land without permission. That is called colonialism.

Yes, Israel was established (not re-established) as a Jewish State by UN resolution 181. Israel accepted that resolution, and ever since has chosen to violate all subsequent resolutions. The Arab world “received” all the land they were living on; they did not go and settle someone else’s land. If Jews want to be cherished and respected, they ought to apply those same principles and behaviour in their dealings with Palestinians.

The “deserted” desert that flourished is Palestinian arable land, not the Negev Desert, as your comment would have us believe. Go back to the land given and accepted in Resolution 181, accept the return of refugees to returned land and stop playing victim.

Paranoiac fear mongering is not conducive to peace. I personally do not expect to be conquered by militant Islam. If you want to talk about Arab terrorism and ignore Israeli terrorism in Palestine during the past 100 years you are a blind and deaf person. Or raised in the Israeli Madrasses, the Kibbutz.

Lasat time I looked, Israeli forces continue to attack innocent civilians in Palestine with sophisticated weaponry. Shame. Once you terrorised the British into abandoning the problem they created in Palestine by allowing Zionist immigration, (Ben Gurion bombing the King David Hotel included). Now, you declare a state and are suddenly good people, peaceful, the Arabs bad. It is too simplistic for me, madam, I am sorry. Israel has twice attacked Egypt. Is that conducive to being cherished and respected?

Forget not that Israel occupies plenty of Syrian and Palestinian land and has 200,000 people settled in Palestinian areas in violation of UN resolutions. So, you pick and choose the resolutions you’ll accept. That is United Nuts indeed.

My prescription: take a sedative and learn history.

Gus Moner - 10/27/2002

I wanted to respond to the unbalanced, propagandistic and distorted article written by Ms. Klinghoffer. However, after reading this comment I find I couldn't have put it better myself. Thank you.

Rachel Terry Neuwirth - 9/29/2002

There is a war in Israel/Palestine over a Century old. The 'Jewish Terrorism' as the Arab World's literary puts it is a lie.

The 'intellectual' Arab/militant Islam terrorists such as Hanan Ashrawi, Edward Said, et al who justify suicide/homicide killer's breeders, and who rewrite history and circumvent the facts and truth in order to fit their agenda, is as worse as committing the act itself.

One can never equated acts of war and self defense that the Jewish people had to withstand and endured with since the 19th century until today.

Israel was re-established as a Jewish State by a 2/3 majority in the 181UN resolution. Israel is fully recognized as sovereign State and should adhere to a home to the Jewish national. Therefore, the Arab world who received the lion share of the Ottoman Empire about 1,300,000 sq. mile should accept the Jewish home land on 12,500 sq. miles or so. Not just accept, but cherish and respect. Though, it is unfortunate that the Arab World does not realize that by doing so, Israel as The Jewish National home land can only be an asset to the whole ME. Just think of how this deserted desert flourished. A phenomena.

Instead the Arab world directed his energy towards destruction thus destroying themselves. Shame. Instead the Arab World launched their quest to conquer the world with Islamism. Instead, the Arab World/Militant Islam began a century old terrorism campaign at it most vicious and disgraceful manners and surly made their statement in 1972 Munich Olympic games. Islamism is going to conquer the world by hook or by crook. The Arabs chose to finance terrorism instead of improving the lives of their people and adhere to democracy in the modern world.

Since the time of its inception in 1946 the United Nation become the United Nuts, or I would go further to say the United Nazis. With Syria sitting on the Security commission? This is just ludicrous. Syria is the heart of terrorism.

If the Arab World did not do his utmost in the last century to heal the ills in their societies, to show dignity to the world, to human kind, they can't do it themselves. It behoove on the west to take lead. [NO TIME TO WASTE!]

Therefore, the Arabia must disband to the Ottoman Empire! The Arab World leadership fail to lead their people adhering to the principals of democracy.

Billions of Arab people are turning into beasts, Jihadeens, in the Madrassas of the Saudis, Libya, Syria, Iraq, Iran et al.

Rachel Terry Neuwirth - 9/29/2002

There is a war in Israel/Palestine over a Century old. The 'Jewish Terrorism' as the Arab World's literary puts it is a lie.

The 'intellectual' Arab/militant Islam terrorists such as Hanan Ashrawi, Edward Said, et al who justify suicide/homicide killer's breeders, and who rewrite history and circumvent the facts and truth in order to fit their agenda, is as worse as committing the act itself.

One can never equated acts of war and self defense that the Jewish people had to withstand and endured with since the 19th century until today.

Israel was re-established as a Jewish State by a 2/3 majority in the 181UN resolution. Israel is fully recognized as sovereign State and should adhere to a home to the Jewish national. Therefore, the Arab world who received the lion share of the Ottoman Empire about 1,300,000 sq. mile should accept the Jewish home land on 12,500 sq. miles or so. Not just accept, but cherish and respect. Though, it is unfortunate that the Arab World does not realize that by doing so, Israel as The Jewish National home land can only be an asset to the whole ME. Just think of how this deserted desert flourished. A phenomena.

Instead the Arab world directed his energy towards destruction thus destroying themselves. Shame. Instead the Arab World launched their quest to conquer the world with Islamism. Instead, the Arab World/Militant Islam began a century old terrorism campaign at it most vicious and disgraceful manners and surly made their statement in 1972 Munich Olympic games. Islamism is going to conquer the world by hook or by crook. The Arabs chose to finance terrorism instead of improving the lives of their people and adhere to democracy in the modern world.

Since the time of its inception in 1946 the United Nation become the United Nuts, or I would go further to say the United Nazis. With Syria sitting on the Security commission? This is just ludicrous. Syria is the heart of terrorism.

If the Arab World did not do his utmost in the last century to heal the ills in their societies, to show dignity to the world, to human kind, they can't do it themselves. It behoove on the west to take lead. [NO TIME TO WASTE!]

Therefore, the Arabia must disband to the Ottoman Empire! The Arab World leadership fail to lead their people adhering to the principals of democracy.

Billions of Arab people are turning into beasts, Jihadeens, in the Madrassas of the Saudis, Libya, Syria, Iraq, Iran et al.

de teodoru - 8/26/2002

It would be a travesty to circulate this articles as FORCED HASBARA on college and high school students. It smells so bad as a "cut and paste" job-- at the very least-- that, given the rebelious nature of students, they will be motivated by it to hit the Jew-hating and Holocaust-denial web sites to find confirmation for the claim that such trashy constructs prove the fraudulence of hate and Holocaust.

Therefore, instead of understanding the Holocaust and how it could easily repeat, we are debating the obvious vile criminality of Hitlerism, much as we had been debating that of Stalinism. In these times of high-tech weapons wherein victim can so easily become perpetrator and back again, we cannot afford re-debating the episodes of mass-murder in our recent history, as if we were in a philosophical discourse with Lord Russell about whether a tree has really fallen in the forest if there's no one around to have seen it.

de teodoru - 8/26/2002

Prof. Klinghoffer is a noted historian, whose intellect, critical judgement and argumenting powers I had several chances to see fully exhibited-- they make most men fell a sexist sence of inferiority.

But this article was not written, it seems to me, by Klinghoffer the scholar, but rather by Klinghoffer the "hasbaraist"(eg. Zionist propagandist). When one is capable of very good stuff, as she has so often proven to be, and puts out something such as this historic "documentation" of Ben Gurion's emphasis on morality, one's readers must try and look and the article itself and the arguments within, rather than engage in an endless war of counter arguments, "dynamite quotes," and unmentioned academic tomes.

Such an examination exposes two things, in my view: violation of the most basis rules of scholarly presentation and, therefore, suggests an assumption that she is either preaching to the choir or just *snowing* the "dumb goyim," who are already racked with so much guilt over the fate imposed by the Christian World on the Jews as to totally inhibit their critical judgement. That we should all feel collective guilt for what our Western society did to Jews, culminating in the Holocaust, is, in my view, beyond dispute. But that such guilt should make us so dumb as to swallow such "hasbara," makes a psychiatric assumption that I can with certainly affirm is an unwarranted assumption.

Klinghoffer's polemic truncates history and repeatedly resorts to "proving" he case on the basis that the perpetrators say so. She then explains away acts of terror and violence against Arabs and the British EXACTLY as Arafat's role is expalined away today. In fact, if one looks carefully and compares: HER CASE FOR THE MORAL PRIORITY OF BEN GURION IS ***EXACTLY*** THE SAME AS THAT PUT FORWARD TODAY TO EXONERATE THE MORALITY OF ARAFAT!

For a clear reading, in my view, of how much disdain this most able historian has for the intellectual capacity and critical judgement of us "dumb goyim," one need not go beyond the text. Therein is all one needs to make the case. It follows then, that if we are to be labeld "antisemites" by the Kosher McCarthyite, Abraham Foxman, and the ADL for questioning such catechism, what will become of the devotion we all swore to "meaningful dialogue" back in the 60s when we were all students advocating serious debate?

test - 7/14/2002

testing 1, 2, 3 testing 3, 4, 5

P. Mann - 7/11/2002

The article makes it clear that homeland seeking Jews in Israel and the USA not only disavowed terrorists and their acts, but immediately delivered-up Jews in their midst who acted as terrorists. Not the wink wink condeming of terrorists of the PLO -- while funding & recruiting & educating them.

Before Oslo, B'nai B'rith, the largest Jewish organization in the world, denied speaking rights to only two groups: the PLO and the JDL (Jewish Defense League) -- thugs are thugs. Although the thuggery of the latter pales in comparison to the buckets of blood of the former.

Regading the article display, I too don't understand the format/font style, but the points are clear: Jewish organized militia who (a) were struggling for a homeland and (b) had legitmate greviences against Arabs and British officials and goverment and (c) committed terrorist acts, were denounced, removed, delivered and shunned officially and unofficially. It took Begin/Irgun another 30 years (and a discredited government) to win national office. And what did he do - he give back the land for peace. And that was the price: oil independence and a 2-3 day invasion buffer!

An excellent book serving as a model on how to move from (civil) war to peace - while rejecting the terrorist option - is "April 1865, the Month That Saved America." Read it and then compare PLO schools and curriculum with what Israel promoted under Oslo. I remember when, immediately after the signing, some settler zealot went around Hebron tacking up notices saying "Arabs are pigs" and the like -- it got her thrown in jail for months, in a country of remarkable free speech!

Follow the money or follow the curricula -- they both show you the agenda.

Pierre S. Troublion - 7/11/2002

CORRECTION:

The first sentence of my earlier comment, "Stick with Ben Gurion" was somehow edited out in transmission. (This seems to be a general problem with the comment feature).

It read:

Chris Murphy asks: "Is it really the role of an historian to propagandise a particular version of the past?"

Pierre S. Troublion - 7/11/2002

Chris Murphy asks: "Is it really the role of an historian to propagandise a particular version of the past ?"

Of course not. Take a quick look at the by-line. Although Judith Klinghoffer's first name is omitted, it is clear that she is not a professional historian. Why we have to have so much of her propaganda so often on this website remains a mystery, however.

One sentence of Ben Gurion is worth more than many paragraphs of Klinghoffer, even if finding those nuggets of wisdom within these confused and warped surroundings involves a lot of extra scrolling due the weird jumbo print being used now on this website.

PST

E. Semerdjian - 7/11/2002

I was surprised that the author was able to reconcile the King David Hotel bombing as an internal miscommunication among Jewish terrorist groups. The King David Hotel bombing has never been covered as benign in any of the history books I ever read. Furthermore, overlooking the massacre of Dier Yassin, also at the hands of Menachem Begin is more than an oversight. The Dier Yassin massacre in 1948 in which 250 Palestinian villagers were massacred, many were shoved down the village well afterward is also an interesting oversight. Those who really know their history might remember yet another massacre at Kfar Qassim, but I think I have already made my point. The end result is that there was no moral high ground for Jewish terrorists as there is no morality in any terrorism. Trying to justify Jewish terrorism in the mandate period is only appologizing in the same way as those who appologize for suicide bombers today.

V.P. Zickafoose - 7/11/2002

Tom Segev's book on the British Mandate in Palestine could shed some light on the above. Highly recommended for starters.

Chris Murphy - 7/10/2002

Sadly for her, Judith Klinghoffer at least seems more like an apologist for Israel's current policies and actions than an objective analyst of the history of early Israel.

Not being a student of Middle East history, I am not in a position to debate the evidence she presents in her article. However, as an historian, I, like many others, will always be suspicious of what is evidently a one-sided analysis -- especially where quotes have been enlarged so as to SHOUT at the reader.

Does Ms Klinghoffer really expect her readers to believe what she asserts? I have no doubt that she is a passionate believer in the fundamental goodness of the Israeli state, but is it really the role of an historian to propagandise a particular version of the past?

We are all capable of selectively quoting tracts that support one's hypothesis, and of ignoring the arguments against it. Needless to say that, in years to come, some equally one-eyed "analysts" may also quote Yasser Arafat's current disengenuous pleadings for Palestinian terrorists to stop the suicide bombings as evidence that he, too, was a peacemaker.

Furthermore, historical analysis should not simply be about the weight of evidence. Even the first-year student realises that the past is flooded with the sophistry of victors. It is the duty of professional historians, therefore, to seek to balance this against the likelihood that the truth lies somewhere between what is recorded and what is not.

Judith Kinghoffer seems incapable of doing so, and she does her cause no favours by presenting, in such an obviously blatant fashion, her own blinkered version of history.

Chris Murphy
Queensland, Australia

riane eisler - 7/10/2002

I hope your article can be circulated to schools and universities, as well as to the peace and other organizations who today justify Palestinian terrorism.