State of Israel

Pro-Israel advocacy with news and views.

Wednesday, October 13, 2004

Godwin's Law

Many people have extended Godwin's Law to imply that the invoking of the Nazis as a debating tactic (in any argument not directly related to World War II or the Holocaust) automatically loses the argument, simply because these events were so horrible that any comparison to any event less serious than genocide or extinction is invalid and in poor taste.

Tuesday, October 12, 2004

Ralph Nader

An article from the Washington Post:

"The days when the chief Israeli puppeteer comes to the United States and meets with the puppet in the White House and then proceeds to Capitol Hill, where he meets with hundreds of other puppets, should be replaced."

"Bush also repeated the catch-phrase . . . 'committed to the security of Israel as a Jewish state,' which is repeated almost word-for-word again and again by Israel's sycophants and Capitol Hill puppets."


Which of the above quotations is lifted from the Web site of the white supremacist National Alliance and which was uttered this summer by independent presidential candidate Ralph Nader? It's a tough one. After all, both play on the age-old anti-Semitic stereotype of powerful Jews dominating politics and manipulating hapless non-Jewish puppets for their own ends.

I went to Nader's site to read his pathetic response and found this drivel:

Perhaps The Post could point to the US government's failure to oppose human rights violations of Palestinians, Israel's demolitions of thousands of homes of innocent Palestinians, Israel's repeated violation of UN resolutions, the deaths of innocent Palestinian civilians, assassinations of Palestinians, or the illegal occupation of Palestinian territory. Perhaps The Post could explain why a tiny country the size of New Jersey gets more foreign aid than the continent of Africa with its poverty, starvation, disease, and military conflict? Not just more?ten times more!

Nader will not back down on this issue. Visit our web site to see the discussion he is in with the Anti-Defamation League on this issue as well. Nader realizes he will take criticism for standing up to the extreme pro-Israel lobby but he sees it as critical to world peace, justice and human rights ? as well as critical to the people of Israel and Palestine. Indeed, if he is successful in making the special relationship" we have had with Israel for fifty years an issue ? a special relationship that has failed to result in a secure Israel, or peace in the Middle East ? doing so will make running for president (and all the hardship that has entailed) worth it.

Why foreign aid to our ally, democratic Israel? Where to begin?. Easy for you not to mention that with a land area 649 times bigger, a population 49 times bigger and despite the fact that many Arab countries have world's richest oil resources, most Arab countries do little to combat poverty, starvation, and disease in Africa. What islamofascist Arabs are good for is ethnic cleansing, Ralphie boy. Why don't you focus on Darfour? You must have missed Witnessing Genocide In Sudan.

It's all about the Palestinians isn't it Ralphie boy? Easy for you not to mention Palestinian homicide bombings killing innocent Israeli civilians, many of them children. Easy for you not to mention Qassam rockets killing toddlers, you self-righteous bastard.

What can Jews be thinking?

I am embarrassed as a Jew to report that a recently released poll conducted by the American Jewish Committee shows that 69% of American Jews are voting for John Kerry and only 24% for George Bush. What can Jews be thinking? What Jew who has his or her head screwed on straight, who understands that Israel's chief enemies in the Middle East were Saddam Hussein and Yassir Arafat, and that George Bush removed both of them, risking his presidency to do it, could vote for John Kerry? Think about it: the entire Jew-hating world, be it Arabs or Frenchmen -- joined by the entire terrorist world -- are rooting for John Kerry. Why are American Jews unable to grasp these obvious facts? David's Blog


This is exactly how I feel about it. If you call yourself a Jew, and have looked at the information presented here at State of Israel, what is your problem?

Israels' Security

Basic Facts You Should Know

The Palestinian refugee problem originated as a result of the 1948 Arab-Israeli war, when five Arab armies invaded the State of Israel just hours after it was established. During the ensuing war as many as 700,000 Palestinians fled their homes in the newly created state. Many of the Palestinians who fled did so voluntarily to avoid the ongoing war or at the urging of Arab leaders who promised that all who left would return after a quick Arab victory over the new Jewish state. In some cases, Palestinians were forced to flee by individuals or groups fighting for Israel.

Of the Palestinians who left, one-third went to the West Bank, one-third to the Gaza Strip, and the remainder to Jordan, Syria, Lebanon and Syria. The Arab nations refused to absorb these Palestinians into their population and they were instead settled into refugee camps. Only Jordan's King Abdullah agreed to confer citizenship on the 200,000 Palestinian living in Jordan and the Jordan-controlled West Bank and East Jerusalem. In 1949, the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestinian Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) was created to oversee the economic integration of the refugees into these Arab countries. The Arab governments refused to consider integration, insisting that it would undermine the refugees' "right" to return to their home in Palestine. UNRWA continues to operate, providing relief, healthcare, education and vocational training to the refugee populations in Jordan, Syria, Lebanon, the West Bank and Gaza Strip.

During the 1967 Six Day War, another estimated 250,000 Palestinians fled the West Bank and Gaza Strip with the arrival of Israeli forces. Some of these were people who had left their homes in Israel in 1948. These individuals are considered by the international community to be displaced persons, not refugees.

A Jewish refugee problem was also created with the establishment of the State of Israel. From 1948-1951 as many as 800,000 Jews were expelled from their native Arab nations or forced to flee as a result of state-sponsored anti-Zionist violence. As many as 500,000 of these refugees fled to Israel from Iraq, Tunisia, Syria, Egypt, Yemen, Algeria, Libya and Morocco and were immediately and fully absorbed into the new nation.

Tallying the number of individuals considered Palestinian refugees today is a matter of debate. UNRWA, which registers Palestinian refugees, claims that refugees and their descendants (as of June 2000) number about 3.7 million, including those that left Israel in 1948, those that left the West Bank and Gaza Strip in 1967, those that were already abroad but were subsequently not allowed to return to Israel, and their descendents. Israel, however, believes this number is exaggerated, and that the true figure is approximately two million. Israel also strictly distinguishes "refugees" from "displaced persons" and from "expired permit Palestinians" who were abroad at the time the conflicts ensued and had not been allowed to return. The Palestinian Authority insists that the figure is closer to six million when taking into account those refugees who are not registered with UNRWA, or live outside of the area where UNRWA operates.

Palestinians' insistence that refugees must have a "right of return" to their former homes inside Israel, and that this "right" is founded in international law, is rejected by Israel. Israel denies that there is any foundation in international law for a Palestinian "right of return," and that the non-binding international resolutions on the issue call not for a "return" to Israel, but for a just resolution of the refugee problem. Israel also argues that a "return" is not viable for such a small state, given that the influx of millions of Palestinians into Israel would pose a threat to its national security and upset the country's demographic makeup. Finally, the "right of return" of Palestinian refugees was a rallying cry in the decades that the PLO did not recognize Israel's right to exist and actively sought to bring about Israel's downfall and replace it with a Palestinian state. In 1993, the PLO recognized Israel's right to exist and committed to a negotiating process to establish an independent Palestinian state alongside the State of Israel. Palestinian refugees should rightly be resettled in the Palestinian state, not in the State of Israel.

Israel says it is not responsible for the Palestinian refugee problem since it is the result of a war forced on Israel by invading Arab armies, but on humanitarian grounds has nevertheless agreed to be part of an international effort to resolve the situation. During negotiations with the Palestinians, Israel agreed that any Palestinian refugee who wished to do so could emigrate to the newly established state of Palestine. Israel would also cooperate in international efforts to resettle and compensate Palestinian refugees, and would consider individual cases of family unification.

Worthwhile Destinations

Jewish Refugees

Israpundit Tons of links

Yourish Female view.

Yuppies of Zion Another Female view.

Debka File Hard facts, deep coverage.

FrontPageMag

Daniel Pipes Met him in person.

Jewish World Review

PowerLine Blog

National Review Online