A Letter to the Editor published in the Jerusalem Post of February 23 upset me sufficiently to rouse me from my preoccupation with all the medical procedures involved in the recovery from injuries sustained at the beginning of this month.
The following is the complete letter to the Jerusalem Post from a pro-Israel advocate:
"Plaint from a pro-Israel advocate."
"Sir, - I read with a knot in my stomach your report that the Knesset Finance Committee had approved a 'transfer of NIS96m to settlements' (February 17). As a committed pro-Israel activist I am frequently out there on the hustings, explaining to San Francisco Bay Area Jewish and mixed audiences that Israel continues to deserve our support and that we must remain focused on the real causes of regional conflict.
"Questions directed to Israel's settlements policy are very difficult to answer. What can one say to someone who inquires, 'That was a very nice presentation of the Zionist position, sir, but isn't all this settlement building just about a land grab from the Palestinians?' And there is no persuasive answer whatsoever to those who wonder why, particularly at a time of economic and social crisis, Israel makes settlement building a national priority.
"I will do my best to be a persuasive pro-Israel advocate, but moves like the recent Finance Committee vote make it very difficult."
"Michael A. Jacobs Sausalito, California"
My letter in answer thereto:
Sir, - "Plaint from a pro-Israel advocate" (Feb. 23, 2004) highlights an unfortunate attitude problem of some US Jews who try to be "persuasive pro-Israel advocates", without a comprehensive understanding of what true Zionism entails. It is impossible to be an effective pro-Israel advocate without understanding the history and causes of the regional conflict in the Middle East.
There never was such a thing as Palestinian people or a political entity called Palestine. Arafat's PLO (Palestine Liberation Organization) was founded in 1964, three years before Israel's 1967 defensive war, when Israel had to withstand the attack by five well-armed States - Egypt, Iraq, Syria, Lebanon and Jordan, with their large armies and arsenals. At the end of the Six Day War, the Biblical Heartland of Judea and Samaria was liberated by Israel from Jordan. Jordan occupied Judea and Samaria between 1948 and 1967. King Hussein of Jordan, during this illegal occupation, renamed Judea and Samaria the "West Bank", i.e. the west bank of the River Jordan.
Jordan, of course, is a country that, according to Winston S. Churchill, Winston Churchill's grandson, was "created" by his grandfather, who was Britain's Colonial Secretary in 1921.
Yes, there is an attempted land grab; not by the Jews, but by the Arabs, who have come to the Holy Land from surrounding Arab countries during the last hundred years for work opportunities and a less repressive life style. Since 1967, the Arabs have established almost twice as many settlements than the Jews in the liberated territory of Judea and Samaria! This land grab has been heavily funded by Saudi Arabia. Sadly enough, the world does not find the frantic Arab building activities in the Holy Land an obstacle to peace.
The Hebrew word mitnachalim has been mistranslated as "settlers". The correct translation is "inheritors". The Jewish People are the inheritors of the Land that the Almighty promised to their forefathers as an everlasting inheritance.
Ruth Matar, Women in Green
We live in extraordinary, fateful and dangerous times. What can each of us do to battle the dangerous onslaught of radical Islam on Judeo-Christian civilization and values?
To quote the American Civil War Battle Hymn: "Praise the Lord and Pass the Ammunition." Our best ammunition is to continually and vigorously spread the Truth, to counteract the Big Lie of the powerful Arab propaganda machine.
There is no Palestinian people, just a conglomeration of Arab countries who want to eradicate Israel, as they failed to do in 1948 and 1967. There never was a state called Palestine. King David reigned over the Kingdom of Judea, whose inhabitants were called Jews. Remind your government representatives and the media of these simple facts. Also, keep reminding them of the famous quotation from the Bible: "Those who curse Israel will be cursed and those who bless Israel will be blessed."
The following is the complete letter to the Jerusalem Post from a pro-Israel advocate:
"Plaint from a pro-Israel advocate."
"Sir, - I read with a knot in my stomach your report that the Knesset Finance Committee had approved a 'transfer of NIS96m to settlements' (February 17). As a committed pro-Israel activist I am frequently out there on the hustings, explaining to San Francisco Bay Area Jewish and mixed audiences that Israel continues to deserve our support and that we must remain focused on the real causes of regional conflict.
"Questions directed to Israel's settlements policy are very difficult to answer. What can one say to someone who inquires, 'That was a very nice presentation of the Zionist position, sir, but isn't all this settlement building just about a land grab from the Palestinians?' And there is no persuasive answer whatsoever to those who wonder why, particularly at a time of economic and social crisis, Israel makes settlement building a national priority.
"I will do my best to be a persuasive pro-Israel advocate, but moves like the recent Finance Committee vote make it very difficult."
"Michael A. Jacobs Sausalito, California"
My letter in answer thereto:
Sir, - "Plaint from a pro-Israel advocate" (Feb. 23, 2004) highlights an unfortunate attitude problem of some US Jews who try to be "persuasive pro-Israel advocates", without a comprehensive understanding of what true Zionism entails. It is impossible to be an effective pro-Israel advocate without understanding the history and causes of the regional conflict in the Middle East.
There never was such a thing as Palestinian people or a political entity called Palestine. Arafat's PLO (Palestine Liberation Organization) was founded in 1964, three years before Israel's 1967 defensive war, when Israel had to withstand the attack by five well-armed States - Egypt, Iraq, Syria, Lebanon and Jordan, with their large armies and arsenals. At the end of the Six Day War, the Biblical Heartland of Judea and Samaria was liberated by Israel from Jordan. Jordan occupied Judea and Samaria between 1948 and 1967. King Hussein of Jordan, during this illegal occupation, renamed Judea and Samaria the "West Bank", i.e. the west bank of the River Jordan.
Jordan, of course, is a country that, according to Winston S. Churchill, Winston Churchill's grandson, was "created" by his grandfather, who was Britain's Colonial Secretary in 1921.
Yes, there is an attempted land grab; not by the Jews, but by the Arabs, who have come to the Holy Land from surrounding Arab countries during the last hundred years for work opportunities and a less repressive life style. Since 1967, the Arabs have established almost twice as many settlements than the Jews in the liberated territory of Judea and Samaria! This land grab has been heavily funded by Saudi Arabia. Sadly enough, the world does not find the frantic Arab building activities in the Holy Land an obstacle to peace.
The Hebrew word mitnachalim has been mistranslated as "settlers". The correct translation is "inheritors". The Jewish People are the inheritors of the Land that the Almighty promised to their forefathers as an everlasting inheritance.
Ruth Matar, Women in Green
We live in extraordinary, fateful and dangerous times. What can each of us do to battle the dangerous onslaught of radical Islam on Judeo-Christian civilization and values?
To quote the American Civil War Battle Hymn: "Praise the Lord and Pass the Ammunition." Our best ammunition is to continually and vigorously spread the Truth, to counteract the Big Lie of the powerful Arab propaganda machine.
There is no Palestinian people, just a conglomeration of Arab countries who want to eradicate Israel, as they failed to do in 1948 and 1967. There never was a state called Palestine. King David reigned over the Kingdom of Judea, whose inhabitants were called Jews. Remind your government representatives and the media of these simple facts. Also, keep reminding them of the famous quotation from the Bible: "Those who curse Israel will be cursed and those who bless Israel will be blessed."