I recently had to respond to a friend who asked for my response to a number of points, the nature of which suggested he had been regularly listening to the now ubiquitous, left-wing, pro-Hamas and pro-Palestinian propaganda. The email he sent me was a response to express his disbelief at one of my previous statements in an earlier thread, namely, that there are now people around the world who openly deny that the 7/Oct atrocities took place. Paragraphs quoting his original email are in bold italics:
Shalom brother,
Thank you for all the points you raised. I sincerely apologise that this email is so long, but I need to respond and correct a number of things you said which, I fear, are based on misinformation and propaganda. I’ve included links embedded in the text, to let you know what I base my opinions on.
I will start by saying that I oppose all violence and hatred, no matter who does it, and no matter who it is perpetrated against. The same goes for all Talmidis. My heart breaks when I hear of the deaths of innocent Palestinians, as much as it does at the news of my fellow Jews being killed. I am for peace, and I want to see a solution. Jews on the whole do not hate Arabs, but, sad to say, there will not be a solution as long as Palestinians continue to teach their children to hate Jews. They teach their children to enjoy killing, and to want to die as martyrs. Peace will remain unattainable as long as this mindset remains at the forefront of their culture.
Bad things have been done by both sides, I unreservedly admit that, I won’t ever hide it. My reaction to the sins of Israel is to condemn those sins and never excuse them. Israel is not perfect, but it is the only place where Jews can be free, where we can defend ourselves, and it is the only democratic state in the entire Middle East, where people of every religion have the opportunity to be themselves. At the same time, I do not ignore the sins of extremist Palestinians either. God says that to make excuses for people’s sins – anyone’s sins – is an abomination (Prov 17:15). I won’t do it for my own people the Jews, but I see plenty of people who do it for extremist, fundamentalist Palestinians such as Hamas.
When the State of Israel was founded, the surrounding Arab countries declared war on tiny Israel. The Arab armies told the Arabs in Israel to leave. Fundamentalist Arabs who had no desire to live with Jews, decided to leave, whereas those moderate Arabs, who had no problem with living side by side with Jews, chose to stay. The fundamentalists who left, who hated Jews, became Palestinians, and the moderate Arabs, who had no problems with Jews, became full, Israeli Arab citizens of Israel.
Israeli Arabs heeded Israel’s call in her declaration of Independence: “We appeal – in the very midst of the onslaught launched against us now for months – to the Arab inhabitants of the State of Israel to preserve peace, and to participate in the building up of the State, on the basis of full and equal citizenship, and due representation in all its provisional and permanent institutions.” The fundamentalist Arabs who had no desire to live peaecfully with Jews, rejected this call.
There is Pro-Hamas and pro-PLO propaganda, and then there is the truth. Over the decades, they have become professionally adept at twisting facts, and they sound very convincing to most people, even to some self-hating Jews. I support Truth, because I worship the God of Truth. I do not hide anything, even if it is uncomfortable to me.
Are there actually people that believe October 7th didn’t happen? Are there people that truly believe Hamas didn’t do that?
Yes, there are indeed people who believe that the atrocities on 7/Oct never happened. Only 24% of British Muslims acknowledge they happened, 37% say it was a hoax, and the rest declined to express an opinion – take a look at this article about the recent opinion poll among British Muslims: HJS Opinion poll
And this is a 3-hour debate with a British Muslim who believes it was all a hoax. Even the Palestinian President Abbas denied that the massacres took place. 7/Oct denial is also increasing in Muslim countries.
When Jews are abused and persecuted, very few people care; we are historically the one group of people everyone likes to hate, because they don’t like our values of freedom of thought, social justice, democracy and peace for all peoples – our values are too dangerous for totalitarian and authoritarian regimes (you only need to look at those countries which have persecuted Jews in the past).
When Jews try to fight back, they are automatically labelled as oppressors, under the logic that, ‘the less powerful people must be the victims, and the more powerful people must be the oppressors – and if they are Jews, they must be oppressors, regardless of what they do or don’t do’.
It doesn’t matter that there are hundreds of thousands of Muslims being killed in Syria, that Myanmar is expelling Muslims, or that China is actively persecuting and trying to wipe out the Muslim Uyghur culture; there are no demonstrations in support of these Muslims, because no Jews are involved. To me, that is hypocrisy.
Why don’t people demonstrate in support of the oppressed Kurds, or the Syrians bombed by Russians; why no demos for Tibetans, Rohingyas, Uyghurs, the heavily oppressed Christians of the Middle East & Pakistan? Because it’s not Jews doing the oppressing, so no one is interested. Hypocrisy.
What I’ve heard from the start, is that the Palestinian /Israeli conflict is very nuanced and complicated.
There is nothing nuanced or complicated about violence. Whoever commits murder and violence is wrong, no matter which side commits it. There is never any excuse for the rape and murder of children and babies, parading dead bodies of naked women to cheering crowds, selling captives, or terrorising innocent people. I don’t excuse Israelis who commit violence (because to do so would be a sin in the Israelite religion), but for the life of me, I cannot understand those who are perfectly willing to excuse it when it is committed by Palestinians, no one else.
I’ve vaguely become aware of the Balfour Letter, from which I’d been told that Colonial Britain stepped in and decided to give Israel their own land and state, at the cost of all the Arabs and Arab-Jews that had been living there for centuries.
This piece of propaganda is successful, because it assumes that no anti-Jewish pro-Palestinian has ever read the letter. Please read what it actually says – here’s a relevant excerpt:
“.. being clearly understood that nothing shall be done which may prejudice the civil and religious rights of existing non-Jewish communities in Palestine..”
Here’s the link so you can read the original letter for yourself – PLEASE read it: Balfour Letter
…. at the cost of all the Arabs and Arab-Jews that had been living there for centuries.
Untrue. Until the beginning of WW1, Jews fled persecution in Europe and other places, and fled to the Ottoman province of Palestine, within the Ottoman Empire. Back then, Jewish people had no intention of wiping out or removing the Arabs living there – there had been Jews living alongside Arabs in the Holy Land for centuries, and incoming Jews wanted to join them in creating a country where Jews could live safely alongside the Arabs living there. 19th century Jews never expressed any intention of ‘clearing land’ to create a Jewish state – in fact, early immigrants to the Province of Palestine deliberately chose to buy land that was not already inhabited by Arabs. Sadly, pro-Palestinian propaganda is successful at making people believe otherwise.
I’ve read that many Jews from Central Europe, wanting to flee the darkness of Hitler and the Anschluss (Nazi Territorial Aggression); of Ashkenazi and Sephardic background; were ‘deported’ or invited to move into what would become modern Israel.
No one was ‘deported’ to Palestine. Jews from Nazi Germany fleeing to Palestine were not ‘invited’ to Palestine – the British did everything they could to prevent Jews entering Palestine. The Arab authorities in the province of Palestine supported the Nazis, and the Mufti of Jerusalem told Hitler that he would help Hitler to liquidate the Jews if the Nazis took over the Holy Land.
When the State of Israel was created, all the Arab and Muslim countries around the world expelled all their Jewish populations. These were not ‘white’ Jewish colonisers. Physically, they are indistinguishable from Arabs. Please tell me, brother, where were these 800,000 Middle-Eastern Jews supposed to have gone? Neither the US nor Europe would accept them. And when did the compassionate act of accepting refugees become ‘an invitation’ to colonise the Land?
Between 1948 and 1970, between 800,000 to 900,000 Jews were expelled from Muslim-majority countries. There is a Memorial day in Israel to commemorate this catastrophe.
I’ve also read that in order to ‘clear the land’ for it to become a Jewish state, it involved the Nakba or ethnic cleansing of multiple thousands of native Palestinians; which i’m assuming were Arabs as well as Jews of Arab backgrounds that once again had been in the region for centuries.
The land was not deliberately ‘cleared’ of Arabs. This is another piece of clever propaganda. Are you aware that 20% of Israel’s present population is Arab? That doesn’t sound like very successful ‘clearing’, does it! They still live on their own ancestral land, no one is trying to clear them. Are you aware that they are happy to live in Israel? Are you aware that they do not wish to live in a Palestinian state? Are you aware that they are not persecuted, disenfranchised, or blocked from any jobs or any kind of education? In Israel, Israeli Arabs are free to go anywhere they wish, and do any job they wish. Are you aware that there is no apartheid against Arabs in Israel? They enjoy more democratic freedoms in Israel than they would in any Arab country!
I’d also like you to watch the whole of this video (2 mins), which is a witness by an Israeli Arab Muslim from Nazareth, to the truly multi-cultural, multi-religious and democratic nature of the state of Israel. If he had lived in ‘free Palestine’, he would have been executed, since he is also gay.
His mother – also an Arab Muslim – describes how she is a proud Zionist. She describes what she has been through at the hands of Palestinian extremists.
And this is an Arab Christian who proudly serves in the Israeli army. There are Arab Muslims who serve too, because when rockets fired by Hamas land in Israel, they don’t discriminate between Jew and Arab, Muslim or Christian.
When the surrounding Arab countries invaded Israel in 1948, some Arabs stayed, and some Arabs chose to leave. Those who chose to stay became Israeli citizens, and those who chose to leave became refugees. The UN designated them and all their descendants as permanent refugees, and in the early 60s, the Palestinian identity was created as a political tool by Arafat and the Soviet Russians. They were no longer Levantine Arabs, they became Palestinians.
Why did some stay, and why did some leave? An Israeli Arab is a moderate Arab who does not have a problem living peacefully alongside Jews. A Palestinian is a fundamentalist Arab who does not want to live alongside Jews. When the war of independence was going on, the invading Arab armies told the Arabs living in certain areas to flee, because the Arab armies were planning to lay waste to the land; after that, they said, refugee Arabs could return. They never returned. Palestinians say all that is Zionist propaganda, but it’s true – because this is the story you hear from the Arabs who stayed.
The only separation is between Israeli-controlled territory and Palestinian-controlled territory. If you have a border between two countries, that is not apartheid. Are you old enough to remember apartheid in South Africa? That was real apartheid. Here is a Christian Arab explaining how Israel is NOT an apartheid state.
One of those things is ‘Zionism.’ As with the above things, I’m not that well versed in understanding this concept—other than to say I remember always hearing this term used in the Christian assemblies I attended when I was a Christian and a part of Evangelicalism.
Ask someone who hates Jews, and you will get a different definition to the one that Jews give. Zionism is basically the belief that Jews should have a state, a homeland, where we are free to live without persecution, and with the right to defend ourselves effectively. I am a Zionist, because that is what I believe.
It does not mean wiping out Arabs or ethnic cleansing, which is what you will hear from anti-Jewish pro-Palestinian propaganda. It does not mean taking rights away from people who are not Jewish. Israel is a state with Jews, Atheists, Muslims, Christians, Druze and Baháʼís. There are Muslims on the Israeli Supreme Court. Everyone is free to practise their religion and culture without hindrance or persecution – this is the Jewish way. In Muslim-majority countries, all non-Muslims would have their civil rights severely restricted, which is why they are happy to live in Israel – they don’t want to live in a Palestinian state, because all non-Muslims would have their rights restricted, or even be expelled (no one ever mentions how genocidal Hamas is).
there are those who speak of and use Zionism as a sort of ‘free pass’ to commit bad behavior or get away with things.
If such individuals abuse Zionism like that, they do not have my support, and they would not have the support of the majority of Jews. Pro-Palestinian propaganda makes people think that all Israelis are fascist racists, and that is nothing anywhere remotely like the truth. Racist and fascist Jews are in the minority in Israel – most Jews condemn their actions and beliefs. Racism is a sin, fascism is a sin.
Why is it so difficult for people to believe Jews when we tell the truth? In mediæval times, Christians firmly believed that Jews killed Christian boys and mixed their blood with dough, so that Jews could eat the blood of Christian boys at Passover. Christians believed this for a very long time, in spite of vigorous denials by the Jewish community. No one believed us back then when we told the truth, and no one believes us now when we try to tell the truth. ‘Cos we’re Jews, aren’t we, and we only know how to lie and do evil things.
Using the idea being ‘chosen’ seems (emphasis on seems) to allow Israel or rightly, Israel’s government and their behaviors, policies etc to get away with things that would be deemed distasteful or just plain wrong.
Jews who think that way are in the minority. I condemn without hesitation the actions of right-wing Jews, but to think that all Jews are as bad as each other is tarring all Jews with the same brush. What right-wing settlers do to Palestinians (that is, non-Israeli Arabs) is unconscionable and indefensible.
And anyone that would point out Israel’s perceived bad behaviors, would then be called ‘anti-semitic.’ Now this might seem extreme as it seems simple, however this last thing I’ve witnessed in the last few weeks from some of my acquaintances in Jewish circles (Jews and Proselytes as well as other Noahides).
I would agree, people need to learn not to class all anti-Israel criticism as ‘anti-semitic’. However, it needs to be said that if the only time people ever stand up and demonstrate for Muslims is when Israel is involved, then I would definitely question their motives.
Social Justice is a strong component of all Jewish sects and denominations. I myself have spoken out in online forums to support the Muslim Kurds, the Muslim Uyghurs and Rohingyas. As you know, I am originally from Sri Lanka, and I have written in forums to stop any backlash against Muslims in Sri Lanka after the bombings there by fundamentalist Muslims in 2019. I have been on demonstrations in support of other minorities – the Tibetans most notably, and I have also engaged in writing campaigns in support of the Yazidi people, who were being slaughtered by ISIS, and no one was lifting a finger to help them at the time.
So when I myself criticise fundamentalist Islam, I am not being ’Islamophobic’. Conversely, someone is only an anti-Semite if the only wrong they ever criticise in the world, is when it is being committed by Israel – never if it is committed by anyone else.
There have been more motions in the UN condemning Israel over the last 76 years, than there have been against any other single country that actually tortures, oppresses and commits genocide against their own citizens. Why is that?
If someone condemns Israel, and says nothing about much, MUCH worse atrocities committed around the world, then I would strongly question why they single out Israel alone for special attention. Any future historian looking at all the UN resolutions against Israel, would think that Israel was the most evil, cruel and destructive country in all of history.
My heart goes out to the INNOCENT civilian Palestinians, as well as the INNOCENT civilian Israelis….those who have nothing to do with this conflict, don’t want or like this conflict—they just want to get on with the business of living and making a passably good life for themselves and their families.
I agree with your sentiments. No innocent civilian should have to suffer in wartime. Simply as a human being, I am greatly saddened by the deaths of Palestinians. We should never forget that Hamas is to blame in all this – they started the war, not Israel.
I would add that Palestinian culture needs to change. Here is a sample of what Palestinians say on their own TV stations (they raise their children to want to die: Palestinian TV interviewees
As you can see in the interviews, they raise their children to hate Jews, and to want to kill Jews. A Palestinian Arab is an Arab who does not want to live alongside Jews. If that was not true, they would have stayed in Israel and created a country which was a home for both Jews and Arabs (which it actually is today). Hamas wants a Jew-free, Muslim-only state. They do not want a Two-State solution, they want a One-State solution, with all Jews gone. That’s what the chant, ‘From the River to the Sea’ means.
In a free Palestine, all LGBTQ+ people would be arrested and executed. In a free Palestine, all non-Muslims would have their rights restricted. In a free Palestine, women would become second-class citizens, and would not have the same job opportunities as they do in Israel. In a free Palestine, all political opposition would be banned. This is why Arabs in Israel do not want to live in a ‘free Palestine’.
I often wondered within myself if the events that occurred on October 7th, deeply heinous; were done because of something done UNDER THE RADAR, out of the sight of the global community? You know how there are microaggressions person A can do to person B, and they are things done out of the sight of the larger people/population; then person A decides to do something so grossly heinous in the open in response to all the ‘undercover’ aggressions done to them. (Hopefully you understood what I am trying to convey.) I wonder if this is what October 7th was.
I had to catch my breath when I read your words here. This is another sinister conspiracy theory which is part of Pro-Palestinian propaganda. “Israel was secretly doing evil things against Palestinians, so the murder and rape of innocent Israelis was justified.” Hatred against Israelis and Jews is justified, because we secretly do evil things against Muslims. It is common to make people think that when Jews are attacked, it’s their own fault. It’s easier to blame the victim when the victims are Jews.
What is not a conspiracy theory, is that the attack on 7/Oct was planned, financed and given the go-ahead by Iran. Iran is a regime which sows violence and discord all over the Middle East and beyond. Their proxies like Hamas, the Houthis and Hizbullah do their dirty work for them. The leader of Iran has revealed that it was part of a wider plan to expunge all American influence in the region, and have quietly admitted that they were behind 7/Oct.
There is a much bigger picture, which people are sadly unwilling to see. Iran wants to wipe out Israel, because they believe that all the problems in the world that Muslims are experiencing, are all caused by Jews. They firmly believe that if there were no more Jews, then there would be world peace. But the truth is that Iran would continue to cause trouble, even without the existence of Israel or the Jewish people.
I’m not sure if this will ever be resolved. I’ve heard so much about the land of the Palestinians…and I have some thoughts about that; that I will keep to myself.
When the Palestinians love life as we Jews do, and they love their children more than they hate Jews, then there will be peace. If Israeli Arabs can live peacefully side by side with Jews, why can’t Palestinian Arabs do the same? Israeli Arabs fear living in a Palestinian state.
It should also be remembered that Israel offered a two-state solution to the Palestinians many times, but every time it was rejected. In the early 2000’s, Ehud Barak even offered the entire West Bank and Gaza, back to the original borders, but the Palestinians rejected it. Why? They wanted the entirety of the Holy Land, and nothing less than that will ever be acceptable to them.
I have some questions I would really like to ask you, brother, if I may:
1. Do you think that Arab citizens of Israel have no freedom? Or less freedom than the Jewish citizens of Israel?
2. Before I told you, were you aware that there were Arabs living peacefully inside Israel? Were you aware that they are happy to live in Israel?
3. Do you think there would be peace in the Middle East if Israel did not exist, and there were no Jews?
4. Do you know why no Muslim Arab country wants to accept Palestinian refugees? If not, please watch this: ‘Why Arab countries will not accept Palestinian refugees’.
5. Do you think that Jews would be safe in a ‘free Palestine’?
6. Between the destruction of the Temple in 70 CE, and the creation of Israel in 1948, do you think that the Holy Land was completely free of all Jews?
7. Where do you think the Arabs of Palestine originally came from?
8. Was the Holy Land always inhabited by Palestinian Arabs?
9. What was the nationality of West Bank Arabs between 1948 and 1967?
10. Did they object to that nationality?
11. Islam only began in the 7th century CE, and the Holy Land was only conquered by Muslims in the 8th century. Who do you think were the majority religion in the Holy Land before Islam?
12. Who do you think were the majority ethnic group in the Holy Land before Islam?
13. Do you think that ‘Palestine’ was ever an independent, sovereign country, at any time before 1948?
14. If Palestine was an independent country, please name any of its national leaders before 1948 (presidents, prime ministers etc). What was its national anthem? What was its national flag? When did it become an independent country?
I hope you will take the time to read through what I have written, and be able to answer the questions I have posed, so that I can understand your position better.
blessings always, your brother
Shmuliq
(for anyone reading these questions about the Jewish and Arab populations of the Holy Land over the last 2000 years, and the true origins of the Palestinians, please read this blogpost).