-----Original Message-----
From: GY
Sent: Tuesday, October 21, 2003 10:56 AM
To: ysagamori
Subject: Palestine
My grandfather was born in Palestine, he traveled on a Palestine passport, spent Palestinian pounds and his family has lived in the land of Palestine for a thousand years. To even question if Palestine ever existed would be akin to asking if Paris ever existed, even if it never was an independent nation. Since when do we judge if a region existed by the standards of modern day nationhood. If this were the case, 90% of the nations today would not exist in your mind, or under your warped logic.
Go back to your Zionist 101 propaganda books and try to come up with a different approach to this question. By the way, when exactly did the "State of Israel" exist? The Jewish Kingdoms of the past lasted for no more than 500 years, while Palestinians (Muslim and Christians) controlled the region for 1,500 years. Caanan (Palestine) did not start, nor will it end, with Jewish domination.
G.Y.
PS - Your name is plastered all over the Zionist websites.
-------------------------------
Dear Mr. Y:
Thank you for your letter. This is the first time I received a letter from an Arab that would attempt to reason against my arguments, rather than simply curse me.
In response, I would venture a guess that your grandfather's passport, as well as his pounds, were issued by the authorities of Great Britain ? a country that was entrusted by the League of Nations with keeping the Jewish homeland for its rightful owners, and then blatantly betrayed that trust by establishing Arab kingdoms at its whim.
You know as well as I do that, regardless of all the different names people have applied to the geographical area in question, there has never been a nation called Palestine: not during the British Mandate, not prior to it, and not afterwards. So, what's your rationale for creating it now? Unless your argument is purely toponymical, Paris presents a very poor analogy; precisely because, to the best of my knowledge, the Parisians have never attempted to turn their city into an independent political entity.
Furthermore, if you carefully (and honestly) consider all possible outcomes of the ongoing Arab war against Israel, you will most probably agree with me that under no plausible scenario (Israel wins, Israel loses, or whatever else one can think of) a viable "Palestinian" state is realistically possible as the outcome. Even the worst (from my point of view) case scenario, in which Arafat's terrorist organization achieves its goal of wiping Israel off the map, is not going to result in a "Palestinian" state. If you need proof, please consider the sovereignty of Lebanon today.
And since the state of "Palestine" has never existed, the state of Israel, no matter how many times destroyed in the past, has an infinitely greater right to that land than an Arab terrorist organization created for the purpose of that state?s destruction.
Your attempt to connect Arabs to the ancient Philistines is misguided. Arabs in general, and those occupying Gaza, Judea and Samaria in particular, today, do not descend from the Philistines; just like modern-day Egyptians do not descend from those who built the pyramids thousands of years ago. This is a commonly accepted, scientifically established historical fact.
Having said that, I must agree with you that the lack of common ethnic identity among the so-called "Palestinians" cannot alone serve as a sufficient reason to deny them a right for self-determination. I have attempted to address this argument in an essay called "Genius and Evil" . If you have time and desire to continue this discussion, I would appreciate your opinion on that piece.
Finally, I have no reason to doubt that your family has lived in the area you call Palestine for a thousand years. A thousand years is a very respectable chunk of time. My family has lived there five times that long, but even that is not the point. If Arabs can use prolonged residence to support territorial claims, then, as the fair person you no doubt are, you should agree that Jews must have the same right. Would you be ready and willing to support similarly based Jewish territorial claims against Egypt? Iraq? Saudi Arabia? Lebanon? Jordan? Yemen? Ethiopia? Iran? All of Europe? Unless your only concern is the destruction of Israel, you must.
If however you are saying that a thousand-year-long history in the area entitles your family to remain there, I will agree with you wholeheartedly. Each one of us has a right to live whenever we choose ? as long as we do not engage, either directly or indirectly, in attempts to exterminate our neighbors.
With the most sincere regards, etc.
From: GY
Sent: Tuesday, October 21, 2003 10:56 AM
To: ysagamori
Subject: Palestine
My grandfather was born in Palestine, he traveled on a Palestine passport, spent Palestinian pounds and his family has lived in the land of Palestine for a thousand years. To even question if Palestine ever existed would be akin to asking if Paris ever existed, even if it never was an independent nation. Since when do we judge if a region existed by the standards of modern day nationhood. If this were the case, 90% of the nations today would not exist in your mind, or under your warped logic.
Go back to your Zionist 101 propaganda books and try to come up with a different approach to this question. By the way, when exactly did the "State of Israel" exist? The Jewish Kingdoms of the past lasted for no more than 500 years, while Palestinians (Muslim and Christians) controlled the region for 1,500 years. Caanan (Palestine) did not start, nor will it end, with Jewish domination.
G.Y.
PS - Your name is plastered all over the Zionist websites.
-------------------------------
Dear Mr. Y:
Thank you for your letter. This is the first time I received a letter from an Arab that would attempt to reason against my arguments, rather than simply curse me.
In response, I would venture a guess that your grandfather's passport, as well as his pounds, were issued by the authorities of Great Britain ? a country that was entrusted by the League of Nations with keeping the Jewish homeland for its rightful owners, and then blatantly betrayed that trust by establishing Arab kingdoms at its whim.
You know as well as I do that, regardless of all the different names people have applied to the geographical area in question, there has never been a nation called Palestine: not during the British Mandate, not prior to it, and not afterwards. So, what's your rationale for creating it now? Unless your argument is purely toponymical, Paris presents a very poor analogy; precisely because, to the best of my knowledge, the Parisians have never attempted to turn their city into an independent political entity.
Furthermore, if you carefully (and honestly) consider all possible outcomes of the ongoing Arab war against Israel, you will most probably agree with me that under no plausible scenario (Israel wins, Israel loses, or whatever else one can think of) a viable "Palestinian" state is realistically possible as the outcome. Even the worst (from my point of view) case scenario, in which Arafat's terrorist organization achieves its goal of wiping Israel off the map, is not going to result in a "Palestinian" state. If you need proof, please consider the sovereignty of Lebanon today.
And since the state of "Palestine" has never existed, the state of Israel, no matter how many times destroyed in the past, has an infinitely greater right to that land than an Arab terrorist organization created for the purpose of that state?s destruction.
Your attempt to connect Arabs to the ancient Philistines is misguided. Arabs in general, and those occupying Gaza, Judea and Samaria in particular, today, do not descend from the Philistines; just like modern-day Egyptians do not descend from those who built the pyramids thousands of years ago. This is a commonly accepted, scientifically established historical fact.
Having said that, I must agree with you that the lack of common ethnic identity among the so-called "Palestinians" cannot alone serve as a sufficient reason to deny them a right for self-determination. I have attempted to address this argument in an essay called "Genius and Evil" . If you have time and desire to continue this discussion, I would appreciate your opinion on that piece.
Finally, I have no reason to doubt that your family has lived in the area you call Palestine for a thousand years. A thousand years is a very respectable chunk of time. My family has lived there five times that long, but even that is not the point. If Arabs can use prolonged residence to support territorial claims, then, as the fair person you no doubt are, you should agree that Jews must have the same right. Would you be ready and willing to support similarly based Jewish territorial claims against Egypt? Iraq? Saudi Arabia? Lebanon? Jordan? Yemen? Ethiopia? Iran? All of Europe? Unless your only concern is the destruction of Israel, you must.
If however you are saying that a thousand-year-long history in the area entitles your family to remain there, I will agree with you wholeheartedly. Each one of us has a right to live whenever we choose ? as long as we do not engage, either directly or indirectly, in attempts to exterminate our neighbors.
With the most sincere regards, etc.