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How dare these Israelis question that Arafat is not a man of peace.
Yeah Arafat is a man of peace. Read below
http://www.shopnetdaily.com/store/item.asp?ITEM_ID=377 French reporters came out with a video called The "Israel and the War of Images" is a French-produced video documentary that demonstrates, through exclusive footage of Palestinian leaders themselves -- including Yasser Arafat -- that their goal remains the eradication of the Jewish state. Go see what Arafat says in Arabic.
http://www.wnd.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=28777
TROUBLE IN THE HOLY LAND
Palestinians consider Oslo 'Trojan horse'
Leaders consistently speak of process as means to destroy Israel
August 29, 2002. WorldNetDaily.com
Claims by a top Israeli official that the Palestinian Authority plans to destroy Israel in stages through the Oslo Accords are supported by numerous statements in Arabic by Palestinian leaders, according to a regional press monitor.
Israeli Defense Forces Chief of Staff Moshe Ya'alon's assessment in an interview published this week in the Israeli newspaper Ha'aretz has caused a political stir. But Palestinian leaders such as Faisal Husseini, PA representative for Jerusalem affairs, have explicitly stated that the Oslo process, which began in 1993, is a Trojan horse designed to wipe Israel off the map.
"Had the U.S. and Israel realized, before Oslo, that all that was left of the Palestinian National movement and the Pan-Arab movement was a wooden horse called Arafat or the PLO, they would never have opened their fortified gates and let it inside their walls," Husseini said in an interview with the Egyptian publication Al-Arabi', June 24, 2001.
Husseini said that the Intifada "could have been much better, broader, and more significant had we made it clearer to ourselves that the Oslo agreement, or any other agreement, is just a temporary procedure, or just a step towards something bigger. . . ."
"We distinguish the strategic, long-term goals from the political-phased goals, which we are compelled to temporarily accept due to international pressure," Husseini said.
"[Palestine], according to the higher strategy, [is] 'from the river to the sea,'" he said referring to a common description of Israel. 'Palestine in its entirety is an Arab land, the land of the Arab nation."
In the Ha'aretz interview, Ya'alon was asked to clarify whether he believed the goal of Arafat is to liquidate Israel by stages.
"Of course," the Israel defense chief responded. "Not to reach an agreement and not to arrive at the end of their claims, in order to preserve the conflict and to let time run its course according to the phased theory."
United worldview
Palestinian Media Watch says its research demonstrates a clear and united worldview within the Palestinian leadership that defines Israel as a colony that stole the land of "Palestine" and thus has no right to exist.
In speeches, sermons, educational programs and school textbooks published by the PA, the Oslo process is called a "stage," a temporary agreement that is necessary "because of the current balance of power" in which Israel has a huge military advantage.
The "permanent status agreement" with Israel is viewed as "Hudna," an Islamic term meaning cease-fire.
In an interview on Palestinian television, Sept. 1, 2000, Israeli Arab Knesset Member Abd-Al Malek Dahamshe responded to a telephone call from a viewer who said: "Our problem with Israel is not a border problem, but one of existence."
Dahamshe responded: "We exaggerate when we say 'peace' . . . what we are [really] speaking about is 'Hudna.'"
In an interview with the official PA daily Al-Hayat Al-Jadida, April 14, 2000, Abdullah Al-Hourani, chairman of the Palestinian National Council Political Committee, responded to the question, "How do you read the future of the peace process?"
Al-Hourani said: "Whether they return to negotiations or not, and whether they fulfill the agreements or not, the political plan is a temporary agreement, and the conflict remains eternal, will not be locked, and the agreements being talked about are regarding the current balance of power. As to the struggle, it will continue. It may pause at times, but in the final analysis, Palestine is ours from the [Mediterranean] Sea to the [Jordan] River."
Oslo is just the first step in the destruction of Israel, Abd El Aziz Shahian, Palestinian Authority Minister of Supplies, said in an interview May 20, 2000, with Al Ayyam, an Arabic daily in the Palestinian territories.
"The Palestinian people accepted the Oslo agreements as a first step and not as a permanent settlement, based on the premise that the war and struggle in the land is more efficient than a struggle from a distant land," he said, referring to the Palestinian Liberation Organization's base in Tunisia prior to the Oslo process.
The Palestinian minister said his "people will continue the revolution until they achieve the goals of the '65 revolution," referring to the founding of the PLO and publication of the Palestinian charter that calls for the destruction of Israel through an armed struggle.
Salim Alo'adia Abu Salam, supervisor of political affairs for the PA, told Al-Hayat Al-Jadida, Jan. 20, 2000, that "when we picked up the gun in '65 and the modern Palestinian revolution began, it had a goal. This goal has not changed and it is the liberation of Palestine."
Palestinian state not end of the road
Yasser Arafat's deputy, Othman Abu Arbiah, has stated that the establishment of a Palestinian state with Jerusalem as its capital is a means toward eliminating Israel.
"At this stage we'll prevail in our struggle [toward] the goals of the stages [plan]," he said in an interview with Al-Hayat Al-Jadida, Nov. 25, 1999. "The goal of this stage is the establishment of the independent Palestinian state, with its capital in Jerusalem. When we achieve this, it will be a positive [step] and it will advance us to the next stage via other ways and means."
Abu Arbiah said "every Palestinian must know clearly and unequivocally that the independent Palestinian state, with Jerusalem as its capital is not the end of the road. The [rise of] the Palestinian state is a stage after which there will be another stage and that is the democratic state in all of Palestine [in place of Israel]."
Abu Arbiah is Arafat's aide for political guidance and national affairs and the director-general for national affairs, a senior position in the Palestinian national educational structure.
Imad Alfalugi, the PA minister of communication, told Al-Hayat Al-Jadida, Nov. 18, 1999, "Our people have hope for the future, that the occupation state [Israel] ceases to exist, and that it makes no difference [how great] its power and arrogance. . . .
"
Claim rooted in Islam
The preacher of the Al-Aqsa Mosque, Sheikh Yousuf Abu Sneina, declared, in a distinct religious context, the belief that all of Israel is "Palestine" forever.
"The Islamic land of Palestine is one and can not be divided. There is no difference between Haifa and Nablus, between Lod and Ramallah, between Jerusalem and Nazareth, between Gaza and Ashkelon," he said on Palestinian television, Sept. 8, 2000, referring to cities in Israel and PA territory. "The land of Palestine is Waqf land that belongs to Muslims throughout the world and no one has the right to act freely or the right to make concessions or to abandon her. Whoever does this betrays a [trust] and is nothing more than a loathsome criminal whose abode is in Hell!"
Sheikh Ikrima Sabri, PA-appointed mufti of Jerusalem and Palestine, said in a Jan. 11, 2001, television broadcast that emphasis on gaining Jerusalem should not be viewed as conceding other parts of Israel.
"We are discussing the current problems and when we speak about Jerusalem it doesn't mean that we have forgotten about Hebron or about Jaffa or about Acre," the sheikh said. "We are speaking about the current problems that have priority at a certain time. It doesn't mean that we have given up. . . . We have announced a number of times that from a religious point of view Palestine from the sea to the river is Islamic."
All agreements are temporary, said Dr. Ahmed Yousuf Abu Halbiah, a member of Palestinian Sharianic (Islamic law) Rulings Council and rector of advanced studies at the Islamic University, evoking Islam's founder in a July 28, 2000, message on Palestinian television.
"We the nation of Palestine, our fate from Allah is to be the vanguard in the war against the Jews until the resurrection of the dead, as the Prophet Muhammad said: The resurrection of the dead will not come until you do battle with the Jews and kill them. We the Palestinians, are the vanguard in this issue, in this battle, whether we want to or whether we refuse. All the agreements being made are temporary."
Dr. Muhammad Ibrahim Madi, a PA religious leader, said on Palestinian television, April 12, 2002: "We are positive that Allah will help us triumph. Our belief is firm that one day we will enter Jerusalem as conquerors, enter Jaffa as conquerors, Ramle and Lod. and all of Palestine, as conquerors. "If [Allah] asks [Arab leaders], on Judgment Day: 'The majority of Palestine was lost in '48, and what did you do? And the remainder was lost in '67, and now it is being vanquished again.' How shall we respond to our Lord?"
Madi said "Palestine shall be the burial grounds of the invaders just as it was for the Tartars, and the Crusaders and for modern colonialism. The Tradition relates to us that Allah's cherished one [Muhammad] said: 'The Jews will battle against you but you shall emerge masters over them.'"
Madi said on Palestinian television, Aug. 3, 2001:
"We will blow them up in Hadera, we will blow them up in Tel-Aviv and in Netanya. . . . We will fight against them and rule over them until the Jew will hide behind the trees and stones and the tree and stone will say: 'Muslim! Servant of Allah, there is a Jew behind me, kill him.' We will enter Jerusalem as conquerors, and Jaffa as conquerors, and Haifa as conquerors and Ashkelon as conquerors. . . ."
On June 8, 2001, Madi said:
"Who is responsible for the loss of Palestine, the good land that the passages of the dear Koran bless many times, and [for] deceitfully labeling it Israel? Who is responsible for the loss of Jerusalem. . . . The Prophet [Muhammad] soothes us with many Hadiths that Palestine shall return to its former days. . . . We must prepare a foothold, for the coming army of Allah, by divine predetermination. May it be Allah's will, this oppressing state shall pass, Israel shall pass. . . ."
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Mybe some enterprising french team would create a video of sharon and netanyahu's little soirees wher thye get together over coffee and discuss how they will drive the arabs into jordan.
Given the recent spate of bin laden videos, we would be well advised to be careful where yet more video 'evidence' is concerned.
Meanwhile, here is a little memento to illustrate the caution we need when dealing with zionists. They are prepared to twist anything out of recognition so long as the finished product favors their cause:
Quoting Mark Twain out of context on Palestine eMail
To a Friend
Posted on MAY-23-2002
The quote below (from "The Innocent Abroad" by Mark Twain depicting his journey to Lebanon, Syria, and the Holy Land in 1867) has been widely circulated in Israeli text books and media outlets as facts about Palestine in the mid-19th century. As we will conclusively prove below, this quote has purposely taken out of context for the sole purpose of deceiving its readers into thinking that Palestine was empty, destitute, and barren desert, of course until Zionist Jews "made" its desert bloom. Mark Twain wrote:
"..... 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." (Mark Twain, p. 361-362)
Before analyzing what Mark Twain wrote, the following facts should be noted:
The arable land in Palestine is under 17% of the total land, click here to view Israel's profile at CIA's Worldfact Book.
Mark Twain's visit occurred during the middle of the hot Mediterranean summer.
Mark Twain visited the region soon after the hostilities between Christian and Muslims (mostly Druze) in Mount Lebanon and Damascus, where tens of thousands of Christian Arabs were massacred in 1861. This explains his apparent hostility and racist remarks against the Ottoman Turks and Arabs.
His visit to Palestine was brief by all accounts, which encompassed only the Biblical areas already cited in the Bible.
No statistical data whatsoever was provided by Mark Twain about Palestine's agriculture or demographic make up.
Mark Twain always compared the region to American cities and fertile lands, which is clearly unfair. Both are in separate world, environment, government, ... etc., which is similar to comparing impoverished Africa with eastern Europe these days.
It is not only that Mark Twain described Palestine as barren desert, he extended this description to Greece, Lebanon, and Syria. He stated:
"From Athens all through the islands of the Grecian Archipelago, we saw little but forbidden sea-walls and barren hills, sometimes surmounted by three or four graceful columns of some ancient temples, lonely and deserted---a fitting symbol of desolation that has come upon all Greece in these latter ages. We saw no plowed fields, very few villages, no trees or grass or vegetation of any kind, scarcely, and hardly ever an isolated house. Greece is a bleak, unsmiling desert, without agriculture, manufactures, or commerce, apparently." (Mark Twain, p. 203)
"Damascus is beautiful from the mountain. It is beautiful even to foreigners accustomed to luxuriant vegetation, and I can easily understand how unspeakably beautiful it must be to eyes that are only used to the God-forsaken barrenness and desolation of Syria. I should think a Syrian would go wild with ecstasy when such a picture bursts upon him for the first time." (Mark Twain, p. 262)
From the above quote, the reader may get the impression that Greece is empty since he stated: "We saw no plowed fields, very few villages, no trees or grass or vegetation of any kind," on the other hand, he contradict himself on the same page, he stated:
"The nation numbers only eight hundred thousand souls." (Mark Twain, p. 203)
By any standard, it is really surprising how Mark Twain described the St. Sophia Church (which was converted to a mosque by the Ottomans), one of the the architectural marvels of the old and the new world, he described the church as:
"I do not think much of the Mosque of St. Sophia. I suppose I lack appreciation. We will let it go at that. It is the rustiest old barn in heathendom. I believe all the interest that attaches to it comes from the fact that it was built for a Christian church and then turned into a mosque, without much alteration, by the Mohammedan conquerors of the land." (Mark Twain, p. 208)
Regarding the Muslim Ottomans, Greeks, and Armenians and their Capital, he had the following racist remarks:
"[In Constantinople,] Mosques are plenty, churches are plenty, graveyards are plenty, but moral and whisky are scarce. The Koran does not permit Mohammedans to drink. Their natural instinct do not permit them to be moral. They say the Sultan has eight hundred wives. This almost amount to bigamy. It makes our cheeks burn with shame to see such a thing permitted here in Turkey. We do not mind to see such thing in Salt Lake, however." (Mark Twain, p. 210-211)
"Greek, Turkish, and Armenian morals consist only in attending church regularly on the appointed Sabbath, and in breaking the ten commandments all the balance of the week. It comes natural to them to lie and cheat in the first place, and then they go on and improve on nature until they arrive at perfection." (Mark Twain, p. 212)
"Everybody lies and cheats----everybody who is in business, at any rate. Even foreigners soon have to come down to the custom of the country, and they do not buy and sell long in Constantinople till they lie and cheat like a Greek. I say like a Greek, because Greeks are called the worst transgressors in this line." (Mark Twain, p. 212)
"....I never dislike a Chinaman as I do these Turks and Arabs, and, when Russia is ready to war with them again, I hope England and France will not find it good breeding or good judgment to interfere." (Mark Twain, p. 268)
Mark Twain accurately described the Ottoman tax collection and its impact in Syria, Lebanon, and Palestine, he stated:
"The Syrians are very poor, and yet they are ground down by a system of taxation that would drive any other nation frantic. Last year their taxes were heavy enough, in all conscience----but this year they have been increased by the addition of taxes that were forgiven them in times of famine in former years." (Mark Twain, p. 256-257)
As Mark Twain entered Nablus and Jaffa cities, he stated:
"The narrow canyon in which Nablous, or Shechem, is situated, in under high cultivation, and the soil is exceedingly black and fertile. It is well watered, and its affluent vegetation gains effect by contrast with the barren hills that tower on either side." (Mark Twain, p. 322)
"We came finally to the noble grove of orange trees in which the Oriental city of Jaffa lied buried." (Mark Twain, p. 360)
Conclusion
Mark Twain is a renowned American author whose contribution to American literature is immense. On the other hand, what he wrote is filled with dangerous stereotypes, emotions, and in many cases contradictions. So it is dangerous and misleading to quote him and make him an authority of the region solely based on the description of his trip. Israeli and Zionist propagandists are the best of spinning the facts to their advantage, and quoting Mark Twain out of context is classic in this matter.
http://www.palestineremembered.com/Acre/Articles/Story845.html
"[the indigenous population was akin to] the rocks of Judea, as obstacles that had to be cleared on a difficult path." (Expulsion Of The Palestinians, p. 17)
In 1913 the renowned Palestinian historian 'Aref al-'Aref wrote an article predicting the outcome of realizing Zionism:
"[land sale was enabling] the Zionists [to] gain mastery over our country, village by village, town by town; tomorrow the whole of Jerusalem will be sold and then Palestine in its entirety." (Righteous Victims, p. 64)
Sound familiar?
http://www.palestineremembered.com/Acre/Famous-Zionist-Quotes/Story707.html
"Were I an Arab, and Arab with nationalist political consciousness . . . I would rise up against an immigration liable in the future to hand the country and all of its [Palestinian] Arab inhabitants over to Jewish rule. What [Palestinian] Arab cannot do his math and understand what [Jewish] immigration at the rate of 60,000 a year means a Jewish state in all of Palestine." (Shabtai Teveth, p. 171-172)
In May 1944 (during a closed deliberation) Ben-Gurion continued to express without restrain his conviction that Arab transfer was inherent in the very conception of Zionism, he said:
"Zionism is a TRANSFER of the Jews. Regarding the TRANSFER of the [Palestinian] Arabs this is much easier than any other TRANSFER. There are Arab states in the vicinity . . . . and it is clear that if the [Palestinian] Arabs are removed [to these states] this will improve their condition and not the contrary." (Expulsion Of The Palestinians, p. 159)
(transfer = drive them into the sea)
http://www.palestineremembered.com/Acre/Famous-Zionist-Quotes/Story707.html
It's said the Palestinians have a fundamental human right to self-rule, even though they never controlled or governed this land. Over the past two years, we've seen what they have done with the semi-autonomy generously granted to them by Israel.
They've slaughtered grandmothers and toddlers, pregnant women and elderly rabbis. They've set off their nail-studded, rat poison-laced bombs in shopping malls, disco's, pizzeria's, cafe's and university cafeterias.
They've turned school buses into blazing infernos, invaded home and shot mothers and children in their beds. They've dragged 13-year-old boys to caves and stoned them to death.
Those who don't actually pull the triggers, detonate the bombs or do the stoning, celebrate the atrocities in the streets of Ramallah and Jenin, as they danced in those same streets when other Arabs crashed two planes into the World Trade Center. These sadists even built an exhibition celebrating the Sbarros massacre last August.
This is the trademark of pro-Israelis. They go into hysterics about crimes committed against them, but totally justify the far greater crimes committed by Israelis against Palestinians.
Israel has killed far more Palestinians and currently tortures Palestinians in large numbers daily. The late Yitzhak Rabin instituted a policy of breaking bones against Palestinians in the first intifada and in the last two years, Israelis have injured 26,000 Palestinians of which 10% (around 2500) were permanent maimings (loss of limbs, eyes, etc).