Peace be upon you and May Allah's blessings be upon you all!
(As-Salāmu `Alaykum wa rahmatu l-lāhi wa barakātuh!)

PEACE with JUSTICE and FREEDOM is the only way to make this world a better place for all people to live in HARMONY and become more PROSPEROUS! PEACE in PALESTINE = PEACE in THE MIDDLE EAST and PEACE in THE MIDDLE EAST = PEACE in THE WORLD!!

Wednesday, October 31, 2012

Palestine’s Application for UN Membership



Palestine’s Application for UN Membership

On the 23rd of September, 2011, Mahmud Abbas, the President of the Executive Committee of the Palestinian Liberation Organization (PLO) sent the United Nations Secretary-General an application for Palestine’s full membership in the United Nations (UN). Indisputably, this was the application for membership that attracted the most significant attention in the history of the United Nations. Interest in the event is justified by the current special international status of Palestine and the legal and political implications that the response to the application might have on that status.

The right to self determination of the Palestinian people, like that of all peoples, is an inalienable right that is not up for negotiations.

The establishment of a sovereign and viable Palestinian is a debt owed by the international community to the Palestinian People that is long-overdue. This right has awaited implementation for nearly seven decades.

Palestinians are asking for international recognition of their State on the 1967 borders, including East Jerusalem, as stipulated in international resolutions. They also seek admission to the United Nations as a full member.

In UN General Assembly (UNGA) Resolution 181 II- the resolution that provided the legal basis for Israel’s admission to the UN - the General Assembly instructed that “sympathetic consideration” be given to our application for membership in the UN. Thus, international recognition of the State of Palestine and its admission to the UN as a full-member is consistent with and supports a resolution to the Palestinian-Israeli conflict.

Frequently Asked Questions:
WHY ARE PALESTINIANS SEEKING RECOGNITION AND UN ADMISSION?

 This is a natural, historical, and legal right for the Palestinian People. Statehood and its declaration is also a sovereign right of all nations, as stipulated in international law. Additionally, Palestinians’ right to self-determination has been repeatedly asserted by the UN. This includes UNGA resolutions 3236, 2649, and 65/455, which declared this right as “inalienable” and said that the Palestinian people have a right to a “sovereign and independent” state.

UNGA Resolution 2672 declared that respecting Palestinians’ inalienable rights is an indispensable element in the establishment of a just and lasting peace in the Middle East. Moreover, in its 2004 Advisory Opinion, the International Court of Justice made clear that impeding the Palestinian people’s exercise of its right to self-determination is illegal.

WHY SHOULD THE INTERNATIONAL COMMUNITY SUPPORT PALESTINE’S BID?

Recognition of the State of Palestine on the 1967 border is a sovereign decision of each state. Already 128 countries, including 9 of the ten most populous countries in the world recognize Palestine. Combined, these countries’ populations represent 75% of the world population. Additionally, recognition of the State of Palestine and support for its admission to the UN makes clear that Israel has no valid claim to any parts of the territory it occupied in 1967 and reaffirms that Israel’s colonization of Palestinian land is illegal.

This is in line with UN Security Council Resolution 242, which affirmed the inadmissibility of acquisition of territory by force. Recognition of Palestine is a nonviolent action that supports the enforcement of international law, one that reaffirms the international community’s commitment to the two-state solution. It is an investment in peace.

The Palestinian people’s right to self-determination is a jus cogens norm that must be respected by states. The ICJ also recognized this right as a right erga omnes, which makes its realization and protection the concern of all states. This was affirmed in subsequent UNGA resolutions. Moreover, the UN has repeatedly recognized that Palestinians enjoy the human rights outlined by relevant Covenants and Declarations, which make up the body of International Human Rights Law.

This includes the opportunity to “freely determine their political status and freely pursue their economic, social and cultural development", as provided by Common Article 1 of the International Covenants on Civil and Political Rights and on Economic and Social Rights.

WHO RECOGNIZED PALESTINE?

Already, 128 countries recognize the State of Palestine and this number is growing every day. Most of these recognitions came after the PLO’s National Council (PNC) declared the independence of Palestine in 1988. At the time, the PLO made clear that this declaration did not affect or alter the legitimate rights of Palestinian refugees wherever they may be, including to return and to reparations, the status of Occupied East Jerusalem, or any other national right.

Additionally, Palestine is already a full member in regional and international bodies. Palestine is a full member in the Arab League and its representation in this body is of all Palestinians. Palestine is also a full member of the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM), the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) and the Group of 77. In all these bodies, Palestine represents the rights and interests of the Palestinian people.

The UN is the world body representing the international community, in which the Palestinian people have been represented by their sole legitimate representative, the PLO, since 1974. There has never been a so-called division of representation of the Palestinian people in this world body. All segments of the Palestinian people – under occupation, in the refugee camps, and those living in exile are represented.
An affirmation of the already existing recognition of Palestine is in line with the PLO’s position and relevant UN resolutions.
 
DO PALESTINIANS PLAN TO DECLARE A STATE?

Palestinians have already declared independence. On 15 November 1988, the Palestine Liberation Organization’s National Council, the highest representative body of the organization, declared Palestinian independence. This declaration was historic because it signalled the PLO’s endorsement of the two-state solution formula for the conflict, including relevant UN resolutions. Subsequently, the UN acknowledged the 1988 declaration and approximately 100 countries recognized Palestine.

DOES PALESTINE FULFIL THE PREREQUISITES TO STATEHOOD?

The State of Palestine has met all prerequisites to statehood listed in the 1933 Montevideo Convention on the rights and duties of states. The permanent population of our land is the Palestinian people; its right to self-determination has been repeatedly recognized by the UN and by the International Court of Justice in 2004. Our territory is recognized as the lands framed by the 1967 border, though it is occupied by Israel. We have the capacity to enter into relations with other states and have embassies and missions in more than 100 countries.

The State of Palestine also fulfils the UN membership requirements of being a peace-loving nation, committed to the principles of the United Nations Charter, and able and willing to carry out charter obligations.
There are no other requirements for UN membership. In addition, a state can become a UN member even if it is under occupation.

IS PALESTINE READY FOR STATEHOOD?

Definitely. Two years ago, the Palestinian government announced a two-year state-building plan, which the international community endorsed and supported. This plan is now successfully completed. In April 2011, the World Bank, the International Monetary Fund, the European Union, and UN attested that Palestinian institutions are ready for statehood and agreed that the continued Israeli occupation is the sole remaining obstacle for Palestinian statehood. The IMF declared that Palestinians are able to perform as a “well-functioning state”. At the time, Palestinian Prime Minister Salam Fayad likened this recognition to a “birth certificate” of the Palestinian State.

WILL THIS STEP END THE ISRAELI OCCUPATION?

While UN admission and recognition will not physically remove Israeli forces from Occupied Palestinian Territory, Palestinians believe this is a crucial step that will contribute to the inevitable end of occupation and the realization of Palestinian rights. It will realign the political process and discourse with international law and lay to rest any questions on the issue of Palestinian statehood.

IS THIS MERELY A SYMBOLIC STEP?

No. International recognition and UN membership bring Palestinians closer to freedom by consecrating the two-state solution, which is the internationally-agreed formula for peace in the region. They strengthen the possibility of reaching a just and lasting peace based on the internationally endorsed terms of reference for resolving the conflict. They affirm respect for relevant UN resolutions, including Security Council Resolution 242.

This step is also consistent with the Arab Peace Initiative, which was also endorsed by the Organization of Islamic cooperation. The initiative promises recognition of Israel and normalized relations upon ending the occupation of Arab territories that began in 1967 and reaching an agreed upon solution to the issue of the right of return. By recognizing Palestine, the international community would be formalizing these terms of reference and protecting the two-state solution.

DOES THIS STEP AFFECT THE PLO’S STANDING AS THE SOLE REPRESENTATIVE OF THE PALESTINIAN PEOPLE?

No. The Palestinian bid for international recognition and UN admission does not affect the standing of the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) as the sole legitimate representative of the Palestinian People. Additionally, it does not impact the organization’s ability to advance the legal rights of the Palestinian People. Palestine’s recognition by the UN does not and cannot in itself alter the PLO’s internal laws.

Only the Palestinian people can legitimately determine how they will govern themselves. It is the choice of the Palestinian people and their leadership to maintain the PLO as their supreme governing body. They choose their destiny. Furthermore, the political structures of governance are determined freely by that people. This is The Palestinian people’s right and decision. That is why no initiative in the UN relating to the recognition of the Palestinian people’s right to self-determination and the State of Palestine can “terminate” the PLO.

It should be noted that Palestinians maintained and preserved the status and role of the PLO when their legislative body, the Palestine National Council, declared the independence of Palestine in 1988 and established the PLO as the provisional government of Palestine.

The PLO Charter and the 1988 Declaration of Independence of Palestine safeguard both Palestinian national rights and the PLO’s role as the representative of the Palestinian people, whether inside the Occupied Palestinian Territory (including the nearly 2 million registered refugees in the OPT itself between the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, and the Gaza Strip) or in the Diaspora.

Thus, though in 1988 and 1989, the PLO’s designation at the UN changed from “PLO” to “Palestine,” there was never any doubt that the PLO was the body that represents all Palestinians, wherever they may.

In addition, legislation of the Palestinian National Authority (PNA) makes clear that the PNA is a subsidiary administrative authority of the PLO and receives its mandate from the PLO. Hence, The PNA cannot supersede the PLO as a representative of the State of Palestine. It cannot dissolve or alter the PLO just as it also cannot assume roles and functions not granted to it by the PLO.

DOES PALESTINE’S UN BID UNDERMINE THE PALESTINIAN PEOPLE’S RIGHT OF RETURN?

Any claim that the UN initiative would in any way alter or abolish rights of refugees is unfounded. The right to self-determination, which is at the heart of Palestine’s UN bid, is one of the Palestinian people’s inalienable and national rights. Achieving one right does not cancel the other. The Palestinian right to return is an individual personal and collective right enshrined in numerous UN resolutions.

Equally, the right to independence and self-determination is a national sovereign and inalienable right also enshrined in UN resolutions and international law. The same applies to all Palestinian national and human rights. The refugee issue is a core issue, a final status issue, and a political issue that requires a just and comprehensive solution.

Recognition of the State of Palestine does not negate the rights, status or claims of the Palestine refugees. Additionally, recognition does not negate the requirement for a just and comprehensive solution to the refugee issue. It cannot. Reaching a just and durable solution based on international law and UN resolutions, particularly UN General Assembly Resolution 194 is a fundamental issue for the Palestinian people.

It is also a priority issue regionally, concerning the countries neighboring Palestine that have been hosting Palestinian refugees for over six decades, in particular Jordan, Lebanon and Syria.

Finally, it is important to remind that throughout the over six decades of Palestinian displacement and dispersion, the UN and the international community have repeatedly reaffirmed the inalienable rights of the Palestinian people including their right to self-determination and the right of Palestinian refugees to return and reparations. These rights are reaffirmed in over 14 annual resolutions that the UN General Assembly adopts with overwhelming majority.
 
DOES THIS STEP VIOLATE PREVIOUS SIGNED AGREEMENTS?

No. Recognizing the State of Palestine is consistent with the basis of the Declaration of Principles, including the principle of the two-state solution and relevant UN resolutions like 242 and 338. These terms of reference have been consistently undermined by Israel’s unilateral actions, including the continued illegal construction and expansion of Israeli settlements in the occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem.

IS THIS A UNILATERAL STEP?

On the contrary, going to the United Nations, which represents the voice of the world, is the ultimate expression of multilateralism. Palestine is asking the world to act collectively in the interest of peace.

In contrast, Israel has sought to change both the de jure and de facto status of the Occupied Palestinian Territory through illegal and unilateral actions, including the continued expansion of Israeli settlements and construction of the Wall. In fact, Since the Oslo Accords, the Israeli settler population in the Occupied Palestinian Territory has increased twofold; from 236,000 in 1993 to over 500,000 today. Israel’s annexation of occupied East Jerusalem and the No Man’s Land and closure of the Jordan Valley and Dead Sea are also unilateral measures which the international community considers illegal impediments to peace.

DOES RECOGNITION OF PALESTINE DELEGITIMIZE ISRAEL?

No. Many countries which have already recognized the State of Palestine, like the Russian Federation and the People’s Republic of China, maintain solid relations with Israel. Additionally, Palestinians recognized Israel in 1993. Regrettably, Israel has yet to reciprocate this recognition.

In contrast, there is international consensus that Israel’s belligerent policies of occupation are illegitimate. Palestinians also believe that Israel’s policies and practices for the past 44 years of its occupation constitute de facto annexation which is also illegal.

DO PALESTINIANS REJECT RETURNING TO NEGOTIATIONS?

Palestine believes that ending the conflict still requires the parties to reach a negotiated comprehensive peace agreement on all outstanding issues, including refugees, security, water, and others once there is a willing Israeli peace partner.

Negotiation is not a goal per se. However, it is the peaceful means that civilized nations, including Palestine employ to settle conflicts and disputes. Palestine has a principled commitment to reaching a final resolution of the conflict through peaceful means.
 
HOW LONG WILL THE APPLICATION PROCESS TAKE?

The United Nations General Assembly’s Sixty-sixth session began in September. As such, September marked the beginning of a process for Palestine’s admission as a full member of the UN. However, there is no time limit on the membership application process. In some cases, admission of members took a matter of days. In others, this process lasted much longer.
WHAT HAPPENS IF THE UN SECURITY COUNCIL REJECTS PALESTINE’S APPLICATION?

Palestine has many options, including repeating the application process as many times as necessary. This is in line with several precedents at the UN. In fact, many current UN members had to apply several times for UN membership before the Security Council finally approved their application. In some cases, like that of Japan, Ireland, Portugal, and Jordan, the applications of these states were repeatedly vetoed. (HSH)

keyword: Statehood
Source: Palestine Liberation Organization
Negotiations Office
, OCTOBER 2011|
http://www.nad-plo.org/etemplate.php?id=303 

Tuesday, October 30, 2012

WHO REALLY ARE THE GOD ‘S CHOSEN PEOPLE?

WHO REALLY ARE THE GOD ‘S CHOSEN PEOPLE?

by Syarif Hidayat

     Propagation or propaganda that Jews are the God’s “Chosen People” has encouraged, inspired or rather incited me to search for answers to these questions: Who really are the God ‘s chosen people? Are Jews the "Chosen People" of GOD? Are Christians the "Chosen People" of GOD? or Are Muslims the "Chosen People" of GOD? If none of them are, then who are? 

     Chosen people - Definition: Throughout history, various groups have considered themselves chosen by God for some purpose. Sometimes this chosenness is viewed as marking them as superior; other times it is viewed as giving this group a special responsibility or purpose. 

     Types of purposes: The sense of being a chosen people occurs in both religious and nonreligious contexts. The Communists, for instance, were atheist, but considered themselves chosen by fate to liberate the world proletariat. The Abolitionists, who were largely Christian, considered themselves chosen by God to bring freedom and equal rights to the slaves. The Nazis considered the Aryan race to be superior, and believed it was their mission to eliminate all races they considered "inferior." 

    Many religious and charitable organizations consider themselves to be chosen by God to care for the sick and the suffering. The sense of being a "chosen people" is therefore often associated with a particular ideological movement -- it is a sense of importance which drives people to further the ends of their ideology.

     However, it is important to distinguish between the self-importance of a movement and the truth of its message. Movements of all types consider themselves to be "chosen" in one way or another to change the course of history. Some movements may prove to be true, and some movements may prove to be false. The truth of their message and their confidence in their message are entirely separate questions.

    Chosen to receive a message: In Abrahamic monotheist religions it is believed that the God has revealed a message to a prophet or messenger. These religions, such as in Christianity, Islam, and Judaism, teach that their path is the only path to salvation. In other religions, like some forms of Christianity, Islam, and Judaism, Hinduism, Sikhism, Buddhism, Wicca, and Transcendentalism, it is believed that the followers of one's faith do not have an exclusive path to God. They hold that people of other faiths may also reach God in their own way.

    Views of being a chosen people are sometimes connected with ethnocentrism. The idea of a chosen people can be used to justify or create cultural imperialism, racism, and xenophobia. On the other hand, there is no necessary link between considering onesself chosen and considering onesself superior. Many consider their chosen status to be humbling, as it requires them to live to make greater sacrifices than others.

Are Jews the "Chosen People" of GOD?

Judaism answers: 
      The doctrine in Judaism that God chose the people of Israel from among the nations. The doctrine of the chosen people is closely related to the notion of Covenant, the contract between God and Israel.

      The concept originates with the Divine choice of Abraham and his descendants as recounted in Genesis. God's first communication with Abraham already hints at a unique relationship with God that has implications for the rest of mankind: "I will make of you a great nation ... and all the families of the earth shall bless themselves by you" (Gen. 12:2-3). God's covenant with Abraham is narrated in Genesis 17, and the contractual agreement in which the people of Israel agree to keep God's law (Ex. 19-24) is foreshadowed in God's musing: "Since Abraham is to become a great and populous nation, and all the nations of the earth are to bless themselves by him; for I have singled him out, that he may instruct his children and his posterity to keep the way of the Lord, by doing what is just and right" (Gen. 18:18-19).

     At Sinai, the entire people of Israel is invited to affirm the covenant and enter into a special relationship with God: "Now, therefore, if you will obey Me faithfully, and keep My covenant, you shall be My treasured possession among all peoples; for all the earth is Mine; but you shall be unto Me a kingdom of priests, and a holy nation ..." (Ex. 19:5-6).

     Israel, in agreeing to these terms (Ex. 19:7, 24:3, 7), reconfirms Abraham's covenant and renders it binding upon all future generations. Lest the people forget the experience, Moses, shortly before his death, reminds them: "For you are a people consecrated unto the Lord your God, and the Lord your God chose you from among all other peoples on earth to be His treasured possession" (Deut. 14:2).

     The doctrine of the chosen people is presumed throughout the Bible, although nowhere does it receive systematic elaboration. No clear reason is offered for Israel's election: on the contrary, "The Lord did not set His heart upon you or choose you because you were more numerous than other peoples---indeed, you were the fewest of all peoples---but it was because the Lord favored you ..." (Deut. 7:7-8). Here and in the above citations, the Bible reiterates the unique situation whereas although the Lord is God of all the nations, Israel is nevertheless singled out.

     God tells Moses to inform Pharaoh that the Jewish people is His first-born, not His only child (Ex. 4:22; see also Amos 9:7 and Mal. 2:10). Although the perception of a special relationship with God was at the very least a source of pride (Num. 17:6), the Bible does not spare its rebuke of the people of Israel for their transgressions, and informs them that, "I have known only you of all the peoples of the earth; therefore I will visit upon you all your iniquities" (Amos 3:2). Chosenness implied responsibilities towards the other nations (e.g., Gen. 12:3; Ex. 19:6; Deut. 4:6-7; Isa. 49:6), even suffering on their behalf (Isa. 52:13-53:12).

      Although the doctrine of Israel's election receives no direct expression in Maimonides' thirteen Principles of Faith, it has been suggested that its place in Jewish consciousness always maintained the centrality of an "unformulated dogma." The rabbis of the Talmud presumed a system of the most intimate relationship between God and the Jewish people, with R. Akiva (second cent. CE) going so far as to assert that the highly explicit love poetry of the Song of Songs was nothing less than a metaphor of the relationship between God and His people (Yad. 3:5; Tosef Sanh. 12:10).

Racial Nonsense, Spiritual Purity and Racism

     According to G. Neuburger  in his article: “The Difference Between Judaism and Zionism”, where the Torah tells about the creation of the first human being, the most prominent Jewish commentator, Rashi, explains that the earth from which Prophet Adam AS was formed was not taken from one spot but from various parts of the globe.

     Thus human dignity does not depend on the place of one's birth nor is it limited to one region. The greatness or worth of a person is not measured by his or her outward appearance. Jews believe that Adam was created in God's image and that he is the common ancestor of all mankind. At this stage in human history, there is no room for privileged people who can do with others as they please. Human life is sacred and human rights are not to be denied by those who would subvert them for "national security" or for any other reason.  

     To begin with, a few definitions: Who is a Jew? A Jew is anyone who has a Jewish mother or who converted to Judaism in conformity with Halacha, Jewish religious law. This definition alone excludes racism. Judaism does not seek converts, but those who do convert are accepted on a basis of equality. Let us see how far this goes. Some of the most eminent and respected rabbis were converts to Judaism.

     Jewish parents throughout the world bless their children every Sabbath and holiday eve, and they have done it in the same way for millennia. If the children are girls, the blessing is, "May God let you be like Sarah, Rebecca, Rachel and Leah." Not one of these matriarchs was born a Jewess; they were all converts to Judaism. If the children are boys, the blessing is, "May God let you be like Ephraim and Menashe."

     The mother of these two was an Egyptian woman who became Jewish and had married Joseph. Moses himself, the greatest Jew who ever lived, married a Midianite woman who became Jewish. Finally, the Tenach, the holy writings of the Jew, contains the book of Ruth. This woman was not only not Jewish by birth, but she came from the Moabites, traditional enemies of the Jewish people. This book describes Ruth's conversion to Judaism and is read annually on the holiday commemorating the giving of the Torah, the "Law," i.e. the Pentateuch. At its very end, the book of Ruth traces the ancestry of King David, the greatest king the Jews ever had, to Ruth, his great-grandmother.

     Apart from the Zionists, the only ones who consistently considered the Jews a race were the Nazis. And they only served to prove the stupidity and irrationality of racism. There was no way to prove racially whether a Mrs. Muller or a Mr. Meyer were Jews or Aryans (the Nazi term for non-Jewish Germans). The only way to decide whether a person was Jewish was to trace the religious affiliation of the parents or grandparents. So much for this racial nonsense.

     Racial pride has been the downfall of those Jews in the past who were blinded by their own narrow-minded chauvinism. This brings us to a second definition. Is there a Jewish people? If so, what is its mission? Let us make this completely clear: The Jewish nation was not born or reconstituted a generation ago by some Zionist politicians. The Jewish nation was born on Mount Sinai when the Jews by their response, "let us do and let us hear," adopted the Torah given to them by God for all future generations. `This day you become a people," though valid still today, was spoken thousands of years ago.

    According to Jewish tradition, there are seven Noachide laws which apply to all human beings. Then there are the Ten Commandments which form basic standard of morality and conduct for adherents of all monotheistic religions. In addition to these, there are 613 laws obligatory for Jews, and every Jew has to observe those which are applicable to him or  her according to Halacha. It is the carrying out of these mitzvoth, "commandments," which constitutes the essence of being Jewish, and therefore of the Jewish people and their covenant with God.
     
    In what way are the Jews a "chosen people"? Every Jewish man anywhere and at any time when called to the reading of the Torah says, "Who has chosen us from all the peoples and gave us His Torah." This is the way in which the Jews are chosen. The Jewish people are chosen not for domination over others, not for conquest or warfare, but to serve God and thus to serve mankind.

"And the hands are the hands of Esau," has been traditionally interpreted to mean that while "the voice is Jacob's," the hands- - symbolizing violence - are Esau's. Thus physical violence is not a tradition or a value of the Jews. The task for which the Jewish people were chosen is not to set an example of military superiority or technical achievements, but to seek perfection in moral behavior and spiritual purity.

     The Zionists use the Jewish chosenese for propaganda purposes. Of all the crimes of political Zionism, the worst and most basic, and which explains all its other misdeeds, is that from its beginning Zionism has sought to separate the Jewish people from their God, to render the divine covenant null and void, and to substitute a "modern" statehood and fraudulent sovereignty for the lofty ideals of the Jewish people.

    One means of misleading many Jews and all too many non-Jews is the Zionist misuse of names and symbols sacred in Judaism. They use the holy name Israel for their Zionist state. They have named their land acquisition fund with a term that traditionally implies the reward for piety, good deeds, and charitable work. They have adopted as a state symbol the menorah (candlebrum). What hypocrisy, what perversion it is to have the Israeli army fight under an emblem, the meaning of which is explained in the Tenach (on the occasion of a previous return to the Holy Land) as, "not with armed force and not with power, but in My spirit says the Lord of Hosts."

     Jostein Gaarder in his article: “God's Chosen People,” says: We need to get used to the idea: The State of Israel, in its current form, is history. We don't believe in the notion of God's Chosen People. We laugh at this people's capriciousness and weep at its misdeeds. To act as God's Chosen People is not only stupid and arrogant, but a crime against humanity. We call it racism.

     We do not believe in divine promises as a justification for occupation and apartheid. We have left the Middle Ages behind. We laugh uneasily at those who still believe that the God of flora, fauna and the galaxies has selected one people in particular as his favorite and given it silly, stone tablets, burning bushes and a license to kill. We call baby killers "baby killers" and will never accept that people such as these have a divine or historic mandate excusing their outrages.

Are Christians the "Chosen People" of GOD?

Christianity answers:
    Supersessionism (or replacement theology) is the belief that Christian believers have replaced physical Israelites as God's Chosen People. 

     In this view, Israel's chosenness found its ultimate fulfillment through the message of Jesus; Jews who remain non-Christian are no longer considered to be chosen, since they reject Jesus as the Messiah and son of God. Christians who ascribe to supersessionism rely on Biblical references such as Galatians 3:28-29 to support their position that followers of Jesus, not Jews, are the chosen of God and heirs to God's promises to Abraham today: "There is neither Jew nor Greek, slave nor free, male nor female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus. If you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham's seed, and heirs according to the promise."

      The Jews had corrupted the Bible: Let us look at what GOD Almighty said to the Jews in the Bible: "`How can you say, "We [the Jews] are wise, for we have the law of the LORD," when actually the lying pen of the scribes has handled it falsely?' (From the NIV Bible, Jeremiah 8:8)"

     The Revised Standard Version makes it even clearer: "How can you say, 'We are wise, and the law of the LORD is with us'? But, behold, the false pen of the scribes has made it into a lie.  (From the RSV Bible, Jeremiah 8:8)"

      In either translation, we clearly see that the Jews had so much corrupted the Bible with their man-made cultural laws and fabrications, that they had turned the Bible into a lie!  See Also Deuteronomy 31:25-29 where Moses peace be upon him predicted the corruption/tampering of the Law (Bible) after his death. 

     The Book of Moses predicted that the Law (Bible) will get corrupted.  The Book of Jeremiah which came approximately 826 years after did indeed confirm this corruption.

      Roman Catholicism: Roman Catholicism has traditionally taught that all non-Christians would not be saved. Today many within the Roman Catholic Church teach that salvation is not ruled out for those who have not had the Gospel proclaimed to them, nor the possibility of asking to be baptized.

      Latter Day Saints: In Mormonism, the Latter Day Saints are viewed as a chosen people. In contrast to supersessionism, Latter Day Saints do not dispute the "chosen" status of the Jewish people. Indeed, some Latter Day Saints view themselves as chosen because they are Israelites, in one of two ways: (1) some European and Asian Latter Day Saints claim literally to have Israelite blood, usually from the lost tribe of Ephraim; (2) others claim that when they accept Mormonism, they become an adopted Israelite.

     Christian Identity groups: Christian Identity groups, based on a fusion of Nazi ideology of white supremacy and fundamentalist Christianity, have developed a theology which holds that God hates the Jews, and that only white Christians are God's chosen people. These groups are rejected as non-Christian by the great majority of mainstream Christian churches.

     As an example, The Covenant, the Sword, and the Arm of the Lord is a Christian Identity movement which preaches that "Jews of today are not God's chosen people, but are in fact an anti-Christ race, whose purpose is to destroy God's people and Christianity through its Talmudic teaching, forced inter-racial mixings, and perversions."

     An example of this type of thought is exhibited in the Christian writing, Phillipians 2:5-8: "Your attitude should be the same that Christ Jesus had. Though he was God, he did not demand and cling to his rights as God. He made himself nothing; he took the humble position of a slave and appeared in human form. And in human form he obediently humbled himself even further by dying a criminal's death on a cross.

     Also, some Christian denominations have considered themselves to be the "true" Christians, at some time or another, rejecting other believers as not belonging to God's chosen ones, also called the Elect. The Book of Revelation refers to 144,000 who will be chosen from the tribes of Israel as the Elect. They are mentioned three times:
- Revelation 7:3-8—"Do not harm the earth or the sea or the trees, until after we have sealed the servants of God on their foreheads. And I heard the number of the sealed, a hundred and forty-four thousand, sealed from every tribe of the sons of Israel."
- Revelation 14:1—"Then I looked, and behold, on Mount Zion stood the Lamb, and with him 144,000 who had his name and his Father's name written on their foreheads."

- Revelation 14:3-5—"And they were singing a new song before the throne and before the four living creatures and before the elders. No one could learn that song except the 144,000 who had been redeemed from the earth.

      For it is these who have not defiled themselves with women, for they are virgins. It is these who follow the Lamb wherever he goes. These have been redeemed from mankind as first fruits for God and the Lamb, and in their mouth no lie was found, for they are blameless." These numbers are variously interpreted in traditional Christianity. Some, taking the numbers in Revelation to be symbolic, believe it represents all of God's people throughout history in the heavenly Church.

     Others insist the number 144,000 is literal. Some believe that they are literal descendants of Jacob who will have a distinct role at the time of the end of the world, while others believe they are a special group of Christians symbolically referred to as Jews. Some Calvinists believe the number, though not necessarily literal, refers to a finite number of Christians who have been predestined to salvation. Still others take the Book of Revelation to refer to the times in which it was written, and not to any current or future era.

    Other Christians reject supersessionism and believe that members of other religions can also reach heaven. They cite verses such as Romans 2:6-11, "For God will render to each person according to his deeds: to those who by perseverance in doing good seek for glory and honor and immortality, eternal life; but to those who are selfishly ambitious and do not obey the truth, but obey unrighteousness, wrath and indignation.

     There will be tribulation and distress for every soul of man who does evil and honor and peace to everyone who does good. For there is no partiality with God.

Are Muslims the "Chosen People" of GOD?  

Islam answers:

    Are Muslims the "Chosen People" of GOD? If not, then who are?   

No race, color or gender are chosen by GOD (Allah) Almighty in Islam.  Everyone is evaluated by his or her Good Deeds.

     In the Name of Allah, the beneficent, the merciful.Allah Almighty said in the Noble Al Qur’an: “O mankind! We created you from a single (pair) of a male and a female, and made you into nations and tribes, that ye may know each other (not that ye may despise each other). Verily the most honored of you in the sight of Allah is (he who is) the most righteous of you. And Allah has full Knowledge and is well-acquainted (with all things).” (Al Qur’an, Surah Al-Hujarat, Verse:13)

      Muslims believe that the idea of "Chosen People" is a Jewish lie that was fabricated and inserted into the Bible to make the People of Israel be the Superior over all nations. “Ye People of the Book! Why do ye clothe Truth with falsehood and conceal the Truth while ye have knowledge?” (Al Qur’an SurahAl-i-Imran, Verse:71).

      The Bible, however, admits that it got corrupted by the Jews themselves, thus making their bogus claims get easily evaporated into the air. The Jews had corrupted the Bible: Let us look at what GOD Almighty said to the Jews in the Bible: "`How can you say, "We [the Jews] are wise, for we have the law of the LORD," when actually the lying pen of the scribes has handled it falsely?' (From the NIV Bible, Jeremiah 8:8)"

      Some Muslims believe Islam is Exclusive, and some do not. Muslims who believe that Muslims, Christians and Jews all serve the same God cite Quranic verses such as:
“Say, 'People of the Book! come to a proposition which is the same for us and you - that we should worship none but Allah and not associate any partners with Him and not take one another as lords besides Allah.' If they turn away, say, 'Bear witness that we are Muslims.' “(Al Qur’an Surah Al 'Imran, Verse:64)

     This day are (all) things good and pure made lawful unto you. The food of the People of the Book is lawful unto you and yours is lawful unto them. (Lawful unto you in marriage) are (not only) chaste women who are Believers, but chaste women among the People of the Book, revealed before your time, when ye give them their due dowers, and desire chastity, not lewdness, nor secret intrigues. If any one rejects faith, fruitless is his work, and in the Hereafter he will be in the ranks of those who have lost (all spiritual good). (Al Qur’an, Surah Al-Ma'ida, Verse:5)

     Among the people of the Book there are some who have iman in Allah and in what has been sent down to you and what was sent down to them, and who are humble before Allah. They do not sell Allah's Signs for a paltry price. Such people will have their reward with their Lord. And Allah is swift at reckoning. (Al Qur’an Surah Al 'Imran; Verse:199)

      Call to the way of your Lord with wisdom and fair admonition, and argue with them in the kindest way. Your Lord knows best who is misguided from His way. And He knows best who are guided. (Al Qur’an, Surat an-Nahl; Verse:125)

    ...You will find the people most affectionate to those who have iman are those who say, 'We are Christians.' That is because some of them are priests and monks and because they are not arrogant. (Al Qur’an, Surat al-Ma'ida, Verse:82)

      Only argue with the People of the Book in the kindest way - except in the case of those of them who do wrong - saying, 'We have iman in what has been sent down to us and what was sent down to you. Our God and your God are one and we submit to Him.'(Al Qur’an, Surat al-'Ankabut; Verse:46)

    ...There is a community among the People of the Book who are upright. They recite Allah's Signs throughout the night, and they prostrate. They have iman in Allah and the Last Day, and enjoin the right and forbid the wrong, and compete in doing good. They are among the salihun. You will not be denied the reward for any good thing you do. Allah knows those who have taqwa. (Al Qur’an, Surah Al 'Imran: Verse:113-115)

      Those with iman, those who are Jews, and the Christians and Sabaeans, all who have iman in Allah and the Last Day and act rightly, will have their reward with their Lord. They will feel no fear and will know no sorrow. (Al Qur’an, Surat al-Baqara; Verse:62)

       Muslims who believe Islam is in an adversarial relationship with Christianity and Judaism, cite other verses such as: “O you who believe! Do not take the Jews and the Christians for friends; they are friends of each other; and whoever amongst you takes them for a friend, then surely he is one of them; surely Allah does not guide the unjust people.” (Al Qur'an, Surah Al Maidah, Verse:51)

      “Ye People of the Book! Why do ye clothe Truth with falsehood and conceal the Truth while ye have knowledge?” (Al Qur’an, Surah Al-i-Imran, Verse:71)

      “Can ye, o ye men of Faith, entertain the hope that they will believe in you? Seeing that a party of them heard the Word of God and perverted it knowingly after they understood it.” (Al Qur’an, Surah Al Baqarah, Verse:75)

     Islamic views of chosenness: According to Islam, the leaders of both Judaism and Christianity deliberately altered the true word of God, and thus led all of their believers down a false path: “Ye People of the Book! 

Why do ye clothe Truth with falsehood and conceal the Truth while ye have knowledge?” (Al Qur’an SurahAl-i-Imran, Verse:71); Of the Jews there are those who displace words from their (right) places, and say: "We hear and we disobey"; and "Hear, may you not hear;" and "Ra'ina"; with a twist of their tongues and a slander to Faith. If only they had said; "We hear and we obey"; and "Do hear"; and "Do look at us": it would have been better for them, and more proper; but Allah hath cursed them for their Unbelief; and but few of them will believe.  (Al Qur’an, Surah An-Nisaa, Verse:46).

      Some parts of the Quran attribute differences between Muslims and non-Muslims to tahri fi-manawi, a "corruption of the meaning" of the words. In this view, the Jewish Bible and Christian New Testament are true, but the Jews and Christians misunderstood the meaning of their own Scriptures, and thus need Al Qur’an to clearly understand the will of God. Other parts of Al Qur’an teach that many Jews and Christians deliberately altered their scripture, and thus altered the word of God in order to deceive their co-religionists. This belief was developed further in medieval Islamic polemics, and is a mainstream belief in much of Islam today. This is known as the doctrine of tahrifi-lafzi, "the corruption of the text".

      According to Al Quran, Prophet Mohammed PBUH charges the Jewish people with "falsehood" (Surah 3:71), distortion (Surah 4:46), and of being "corrupters of Scripture."

     “Then woe to those who write the Book with their own hands and then say: "This is from God", to traffic with it for a miserable price! - Woe to them for what their hands do write, and for the gain they make thereby.” (Al Qur’an, Surah Al Baqarah, Verse:79)

     Based on Al Qur’an, Islamic supersessionism retroactively rewrites the role of Abraham, and presents Muslims as the only people chosen to carry the true word of God.  "Ibrahim was not a Jew nor yet a Christian; but he was true in Faith, and bowed his will to Allah's (which is Islam), and he joined not gods with Allah." (Al Qur’an, Surah Al-Imran, Verse 67). 

    “Forbidden to you (for food) are: dead meat, blood, the flesh of swine, and that on which hath been invoked the name of other than Allah; that which hath been killed by strangling, or by a violent blow, or by a headlong fall, or by being gored to death; that which hath been (partly) eaten by a wild animal; unless ye are able to slaughter it (in due form); that which is sacrificed on stone (altars); (forbidden) also is the division (of meat) by raffling with arrows: that is impiety. This day have those who reject Faith given up all hope of your religion: yet fear them not but fear Me. This day have I perfected your religion for you, completed My favour upon you, and have chosen for you Islam as your religion. But if any is forced by hunger, with no inclination to transgression, Allah is indeed Oft-Forgiving, Most Merciful.” (Al Qur’an, Surah Al-Maidah, Verse 3).

       Some people asked Allah's Apostle (Prophet Muhammad PBUH), "Whose Islam is the best? i.e. (Who is a very good Muslim)?" He replied, "One who avoids harming the Muslims with his tongue and hands." -Hadith narrated by Abu Musa, as related by Al-Bukhari.  

Who is the true Muslim? “A true Muslim is the one who does not defame or abuse others; but the truly righteous becomes a refuge for humankind, their lives and their properties.” -The Prophet Muhammad PBUH, as narrated by Abd'Allah bin Amr.

     Once the Prophet Muhammad PBUH was asked, "Who are the chosen people of God?" He replied, "The truthful and the pure-hearted." "O Prophet of Allah," they said, "truthful we understand, but who are the pure-hearted?" "Those who neither fall into sin, nor transgress, who neither deceive nor bear malice. Such are the pure of heart." - Hadith reported by Abd'Allah bin Amr .  

     God kindles the fire of love in the hearts of the chosen, so that their carnal selves are consumed. Once ignited the fire of longing never dies. That is the flame about which the Prophet Muhammad PBUH said, "When God wills the good of his servant, He kindles a light of faith in his heart." When they asked him what were the signs of that fire, he replied, "Deviation from the abode of vanity; progression toward the Eternal." - Abu Sa'id, "Rabi'a the Mystic" (HSH) 

Bibliotheque:
1. Encyclopedia of Judaism: Chosen People.
2. http://www.answers.com/topic/chosen-people
3. http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article14532.htm
4. http://www.wikinfo.org/index.php?title=Chosen_people&redirect=no
5. http://www.answering-christianity.com/chosen_people.htm
6. http://www.wordiq.com/definition/Chosen_people
7. http://www.newworldencyclopedia.org/entry/Chosen_People
8. “The Difference Between Judaism and Zionism” by G. Neuburger.
9. “God's Chosen People” by Jostein Gaarder
10. The Holy Qur'an Tafsir by Muhammad Khan and Yusuf Ali.

ZIONIST ISRAEL IS THE ROOT CAUSE OF THE MIDDLE EAST CONFLICT AND THE WORLD TERRORISM





ZIONIST ISRAEL IS THE ROOT CAUSE OF THE MIDDLE EAST CONFLICT AND THE WORLD TERRORISM

by Syarif Hidayat

God (Allah SWT) Appeared to Abraham (Ibrahim AS) and said: 'I am giving you this land.’ Paul wrote that the Holy Land was promised to Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and their descendants. These are the Palestinian Muslims, Christians, and Jews, who have been living in the land for thousands of years. The Bible never mentioned that God promised it solely to Jews.

Here Are 4 Reasons Why Zionist Israel is the root cause of the Middle East Conflict:

1) Israel Is Not A Fulfillment Of Biblical Prophecy:
The appellation “Israel” in the Bible primarily refers to the “faithful” who make up the “Church.” The “Church” as described by St Paul in Chapter 9 of his Epistle To The Romans is made up of the “remnant” of the Jews and the “Gentiles” of the nations. Together, as St Paul writes in his Epistle To The Ephesians, are fused into being “one new man” known as “Christians.”

2) The UN Partition Of *1947* Was Illegal:
The UN awarded the Jews 55% of the land of Palestine even though their current holdings totaled only about 6% and their population was only about 35% (608,000) of all the Palestinians (1,237,000). The plan also gave the most fertile lands to the Jews but the mountainous regions to the Arabs. In their War Of Aggression Of 1948 the Jews took additional Arab lands bringing their total holdings to about 75% of Palestine which they kept and never gave back. Even though this additional land was illegally gained in violation of the Hague Regulations (1907) and the UN Charter (1945) which both included the basic legal principle that it is illegal to acquire territory by force, these new boundaries soon became the “official” boundaries of the new State of Israel.

3) The State Of Israel Has Created Chaos From Its Inception:
  War crimes, International terrorism due to the illegal “rogue state of Israel,” political corruption by the Jewish Lobby, defamation of character to all critics of Israel, Jewish racist ideology, world wide instability due to Zionist hegemony, growing Western fascism, American debt & inflation for subsidizing Israel, are additional reasons why the Zionist Israel is the roots of the Middle East problem.

4) Peace with justice is not Israeli aim:
According to Israel Shahak, "The wish for peace, so often assumed as the Israeli aim, in fact is not a principle of Israeli policy, while the wish to extend Israeli domination and influence is." and "Israel is preparing for a war, nuclear if need be, for the sake of averting domestic change not to its liking, if it occurs in some or any Middle Eastern states... Israel clearly prepares itself to seek overtly a hegemony over the entire Middle East..., without hesitating to use for the purpose all means available, including nuclear ones."

The Israeli nuclear arsenal has profound implications for the future of peace in the Middle East, and indeed, for the entire planet. It is clear from Israel Shahak that Israel has no interest in peace except that which is dictated on its own terms, and has absolutely no intention of negotiating in good faith to curtail its nuclear program or discuss seriously a nuclear-free Middle East.

Israel has a nuclear knife to America's throat

However, Americans should consider carefully Israel's nuclear weapons and its threats to use them if the United States ever withdraws its full backing or if Israel's possession of its stolen lands is ever seriously endangered. Threats include retaliatory -- or even preemptive -- attacks on Muslim, Russian and even European targets.

Any attack on Russia, of course, would quickly bring massive retaliation against Israel's greatest ally -- the United States. No doubt this is a major reason U.S. political leaders approach Israel with fear and respect -- and rarely punish it for its violations of U.S. law, United Nations Resolutions, the Geneva Convention and a variety of other treaties. Israel has a nuclear knife to America's throat.

However, just as threatening to Americans, and the world, is Israel's aggressive stance towards using its own 200 to 500 nuclear weapons -- ones which it has never formally admitted exist. These weapons can be deployed by air, missile or submarine to almost any place on earth.

CRITICS OF ISRAEL MURDERED OR MALIGNED
 
CRITICISING ISRAEL is to put one’s life and reputation at risk. One of the examples is the intense maligning by Jews of two US academics, John Mearsheimer of the University of Chicago and Stephen Walt of Harvard University They are the authors of the best seller The Israel Lobby and US Foreign Policy which is highly critical of the powerful Jewish Lobby in the US.

In an interview of Mearsheimer & Walt by the BBC Here Walt told of the many personal attacks made against himself & Mearsheimer by the Jews: — “There have many personal attacks on us. For example, the Washington Post [owned by Jewish Meyer-Graham family - BN] had run four separate pieces on our book and three of the four were harshly negative and a couple of them raised the Anti-Semitism charge quite explicitly - and that’s just the Washington Post.”

Remember:—JEWISH TERRORISTS ASSASSINATED Count Bernadotte on September 17 1948. The day before Count Bernadotte was assassinated by the Jewish Stern Gang he submitted the following Report to the General Assembly of the UN entitled The Right of Repatriation:—“No settlement can be just if the right of Arab refugees to return to their homes from which they have been dislodged is not granted. An offence against the principles of elemental justice is made if these innocent victims are denied the right of return to their homes while Jewish immigrants flow into Palestine.” — The next day the Jews assassinated this truly ‘righteous Gentile!’

As a journalist I have visited Israel several times and I have met several Israeli Government officials and a few IDF officers. I also visited Hebrew University and I met some people there. From what I learnt there I would like to tell you that ZIONISM is different from JUDAISM: Zionism is followed by the majority of Israelis, while Judaism, it seems to me, is followed by the minority in Israel but majority outside Israel. The contemptible treatment of the Palestinians (Muslims and Christians) by the Israeli government is supported and approved of by most Israeli Jews but not by all Jews. There are some Jews who are totally opposed to Zionism and to Israel's policies in the occupied territories of the West Bank.

ZIONISM NOT DIFFERENT FROM NAZISM

Zionism is ... racist and it is Biblically inspired (rather than spiritually inspired). Being a fundamentalist political movement, Zionism is not categorically different from Nazism. Only when we understand Zionism in its nationalist and racist context will we begin to comprehend the depth of its atrocities, according to Gilad Atzmon.
Zionists are experts at propaganda, disinformation, denying facts and outright lying. 

Any criticism of Zionism or of Israel is labelled as "anti-semitism", where this is interpreted to mean "anti-Jewish". This is a slanderous falsehood. Criticism of Zionism is criticism of a particularly ugly political movement, not criticism of a religion or of the adherents of a religion. One may be critical of Zionism and of Zionists while at the same time being quite tolerant of, or well-disposed toward, or even an adherent of, the Jewish religion.

It is not war, but merciless killing of Palestinian civilians
Israeli attacks against Palestinians, I think, could not be considered as conventional war which usually is Army vs Army.

While in Palestine, it is the modern IDF troops equipped with modern weaponry including modern tanks, modern war planes and backed-up by more than enough Nuclear arsenal, biological and chemical weapons (bombs) as well as any other
 modern weaponry you can imagine of vs Palestinians equipped only with hand-held weapons, obsolete (ragtag) rockets and stones. 

That is not WAR (conventinal war or modern war, I don't know exactly what it is called). But it is more suitable to be called as a "hunt and kill" Palestinians adventure for IDF troops. These are totally terrorist, murderous and criminal actions. These Israeli actions are crimes against humanity!

Israel as a Terrorist State

What is the difference between State terrorism and individual terrorist acts? If we understand this difference we'll understand also the evilness of the US policies in the Middle East. – Liv Grinberg in his article: “Israel's State Terrorism.”  

When Yassir Arafat was put under siege in his offices and kept hostage by the Israeli occupation forces, he was constantly pressed into condemning terror and combatting terrorism. Israel's State terrorism is defined by US officials as "self-defense", while individual suicide bombers are called terrorists.

"Terrorism" is here taken to mean the practice of the deliberate inflicting (either directly or indirectly) of harm, injury, death and/or destruction upon a civilian target sufficient to cause horror, revulsion or despair among civilian populations and/or their political leaders, with the goal of causing those populations or political leaders to act in a way desired by the terrorists.

A terrorist state is a state which practices terrorism, even if it pretends (or rather, lies) to the world that it does not. It hardly needs to be pointed out that Israel is a terrorist state. Brutal repression of, and bloody attacks on, Palestinian civilians with the official Israeli aim of causing a change in the policies or actions of the Palestinian leadership is a clear case of terrorism.

Israel has been a terrorist state from its beginning, and has its foundations in terrorism. Three Israeli prime ministers were or are terrorists:
  • Menachim Begin took part in terrorist acts in the 1940s, including the attack on the King David Hotel which killed 91 people.
Begin ordered ... the destruction of the central British administrative offices in the King David Hotel. In 1946, Jewish terrorists agitating for their own state in British-occupied Palestine blew up Jerusalem's King David Hotel, killing 91. Two years later, an independent Israel was established. "There were a lot of innocent British women and children killed there," says Hanson. "But in the end, it worked; the British left."
  • Yitzhak Shamir was the operations commander, and later leader, of the Stern Gang, a terrorist group which was responsible for a string of political assassinations.
Shamir was a member of two militant Jewish underground organizations which ... were active in counter-terrorist acts against Arabs as well as sabotage against the British.

In post-war British-mandated Palestine the words Stern Gang equalled "terrorism" — assassinations, bombings, the full works.  ... Yitzhak Shamir had been the gang's operations commander.  ... By appointing Shamir Foreign Minister, Prime Minister Menachem Begin had selected the organiser of two famous assassinations: the killing of Lord Moyne, the British Minister representative in the Middle East, in 1944, and that of Count Folke Bernadotte, the UN's special Mediator on Palestine, in 1948.

During the fight for Jewish statehood, extremist military groups sometimes resorted to the use of terrorist tactics. One such instance occurred in 1948 when members of the Jewish underground organization LEHI (Fighters for the Freedom of Israel) killed UN Peace Mediator Count Folke Bernadotte to protest his diplomatic efforts to modify the Palestine partition plan.  ... Yitzhak Shamir reputedly played a role in planning the assassination; however, he was never tried and went on to become Prime Minister of Israel.
  • Ariel Sharon initiated the Sabra-Shatila massacre in which between 1000 and 3000 people (mostly Palestinians) were murdered, and now leads a terrorist campaign against all Palestinians living in the occupied territories of the West Bank.
As commander of the notorious Unit 101, Sharon led attacks on Palestinian villages in which women and children were killed.  The massacre in the West Bank village of Qibya, on October 14, 1953, was perhaps the most notorious. His troops blew up 45 houses and 69 Palestinian civilians — about half of them women and children — were killed.

No one has ever been tried for the massacre, but an official Israeli commission of inquiry found that Israel's defense minister at the time, Ariel Sharon, "bears personal responsibility" as well as "indirect responsibility." It was Sharon, after all, who had ordered the Israel Defense Forces to invade Beirut and surround the camps. ... Like Pinochet and other war criminals, Sharon and his Phalangist underlings should be brought to book; if they can successfully evade justice, then it will give heart to killers everywhere. — Marking a Massacre, The Nation

Sharon's preemptive logic undercuts all form of dialogue and negotiations. Its rule of thumb is violence, and then more violence, whether it manifests itself as a military attack or as an aggressive act of dispossession. So while it may seem that the bloody routine is in some way preordained, it is actually Sharon's preemptive zeal alongside Hamas' and Islamic Jihad's fundamentalism that has clouded the horizon and concealed, as Arendt might have said, the possibility for a better future. — Neve Gordon, Sharon's Preemptive Zeal, Counterpunch.

The Zionist leaders admit themselves that they are the wrong doers!

“If I were an Arab leader, I would never sign an agreement with Israel. It is normal; we have taken their country. It is true God promised it to us, but how could that interest them? Our God is not theirs. There has been Anti - Semitism, the Nazis, Hitler, Auschwitz, but was that their fault ? They see but one thing: we have come and we have stolen their country. Why would they accept that?” - David Ben-Gurion, founding father of Israel.

Moshe Dyan - 1969: "We came here to a country that was populated by Arabs and we are building here a Hebrew, a Jewish state; instead of the Arab villages, Jewish villages were established. You even do not know the names of those villages, and I do not blame you because these villages no longer exist. There is not a single Jewish settlement that was not established in the place of a former Arab Village."

"I don't mind if after the job is done you put me in front of a Nuremberg Trial and then jail me for life. Hang me if you want, as a war criminal. What you don't understand is that the dirty work of Zionism is not finished yet, far from it." - Former Prime Minister of Israel, Ariel Sharon, speaking to Amos Oz, editor of Davar, on Dec. 17, 1982.

Zionists attack on USS Liberty - an attempt to initiate World War III!!!

By 1948, under David Ben Gurion's direction, the Israeli government developed the Israeli Terrorist Cell, Unit 131. In the mid 1950s, the U.S. was friends with Gamal Abdel Nasser and Egypt. Ben Gurion, an avid Zionist and the Israel's first Prime Minister, envisioned an Egyptian terrorist attack against the U.S. in order to destroy that alliance.

However, that wasn't a probability, given the relationship between the two countries. So the Israeli government developed a pattern of using young Israelis who disguised themselves as terrorists of whichever country they were attempting to implicate. This concept would be applied during Operation Cyanide, involving the USS Liberty, in an attempt to initiate World War III.

 On June 3, 1967, the USS Liberty was trolling in international waters off the coast of the Gaza Strip where the ship was to engage in an "extended independent surveillance operation in the eastern Mediterranean." Deanna Spingola in her article: "We are not going to War over a Bunch of Dead Sailors" - The USS Liberty, a flubbed-up false flag,”says Israel launched a long-planned war against her Arab neighbors at 7:45 a.m. Sinai time on June 5, 1967.

 In 1982, Menachem Begin, then Israel's Prime Minister, admitted, "The Egyptian army concentrations in the Sinai approaches do not prove that Gamal Abdel Nasser was really about to attack us. We must be honest with ourselves. We decided to attack him." Mordechai Bentov, a member of Israel's coalition cabinet during the war, said, "All this story about the danger of extermination has been a complete invention and has been blown up a posteriori to justify the annexation of new Arab territories."

 Zionists atrocities against Arabs: The slaughter of Prisoners

 Israel had air supremacy immediately after their surprise attack on Egypt. Within hours, Israeli jets pummeled twenty-five air bases from Damascus, in Syria to Luxor. They used machine guns, mortar fire, tanks and air power in their assault against the Jordanian section of Jerusalem and the Jordan River's west bank. Israeli tanks and auxiliary personnel transporters assaulted the Sinai moving towards the Suez Canal. 

 They transformed the area into a "massive killing field" as Egyptian deaths, according to one Israeli general, amounted to between 7,000 to 10,000 people. His losses were only about 275 soldiers. Indian peacekeeper soldiers, flying the U.N. flag, were also attacked on their way to Gaza. Fourteen peacekeeper soldiers were killed in what one Indian officer called the "deliberate, cold-blooded killing of unarmed U.N. soldiers."   

 The Israelis had captured some Egyptians and held them in the town of El Arish. By June 8, the prisoners had become annoyances as the Israelis had no place to house them and insufficient forces to guard them and too few vehicles to move them to regular prison camps. 

 Consequently, the Israelis transformed the town into a “slaughterhouse” by methodically “butchering” their Egyptian prisoners. They lined up sixty unarmed Egyptians with their hands tied behind their backs and, with machine guns, slaughtered them in cold blood. Another group of thirty prisoners were killed nearby. 

 The Israelis directed some Bedouins to bury those victims. In another incident, the number of Egyptian prisoners killed totaled about 150, as witnessed by an Israeli journalist, Gabi Bron. Some prisoners were forced to dig graves for the dead and then they were shot. Aryeh Yitzhaki, an Israeli army historian, and other officers collected testimony from dozens of soldiers who admitted killing Egyptian prisoners. 

 According to Yitzhaki, Israeli soldiers murdered about 1,000 Egyptian prisoners in the Sinai, including about 400 in El Arish. Ariel Sharon was close to El Arish at the time of the incidents. Yitzhaki said that the Israeli leadership, Dayan, Rabin and others knew about the slaughter.

 The Liberty, close to El Arish at the time, and loaded with $10.2 million of sensitive equipment eavesdropped on Israel's Six-Day War with Egypt, then known as the United Arab Republic. The Israelis were aware by 10:55 the morning of June 8 that a clearly-marked U.S. ship was off the coast and unmistakably visible from El Arish. 

On that day, June 8, 1967, without any warning and apparently without reason, the Israeli Navy and Air Force attacked the ship with torpedoes, rockets, white phosphorous, cannons and armor-piercing bullets. The Israelis used napalm, a flammable liquid or jellied gasoline to turn the Liberty's deck into a 3,000-degree holocaustic firestorm. Thirty-four Americans were killed and 171 others were wounded, one of which died later from his wounds. Napalm is designed to kill and maim, generate panic and cause confusion. 

The first wave of attacks, comprised of as many as eight planes using heat-seeking missiles, destroyed the transformers (miraculously, all except one) which fed the aerial systems. This was a well-planned, premeditated strategy to prevent the USS Liberty from alerting the world of this murderous attack. The surveillance ship was no longer able to listen in to the war or send messages. 

If that was the objective of the attack, then the goal was met and the attack should have subsided.  However, the real objective was to slaughter the crew and send the ship to the bottom. Finally, the planes left only to be followed up by three surface craft which fired torpedoes. One hit below the water line and made a hole which measured 45 feet by 34 by 37. Amazingly, the ship didn't sink but listed eleven degrees. 
When the crew inflated the lifeboats, the torpedo boats even destroyed those boats. (Deanna Spingola has been a quilt designer and is the author of two books. She has traveled extensively teaching and lecturing on her unique methods.)

ZIONIST GAZA BLOCKADE: The Giant prison of 1.6 million Palestinians!
 
Here is a statement signed  by over 40 NGOs, humanitarian and UN organizations denouncing Israel’s blockade:
We, United Nations and non-governmental humanitarian organisations, express deepening concern over Israel’s continued blockade of the Gaza Strip which has now been in force for two years.
These indiscriminate sanctions are affecting the entire 1.5 million population of Gaza and ordinary women, children and the elderly are the first victims.

The amount of goods allowed into Gaza under the blockade is one quarter of the pre- blockade flow.  Eight out of every ten truckloads contains food but even that is restricted to a mere 18 food items.  Seedlings and calves are not allowed so Gaza’s farmers cannot make up the nutritional shortfall.  Even clothes and shoes, toys and school books are routinely prohibited.
Furthermore the suffocation of Gaza’s economy has led to unprecedented unemployment and poverty rates and almost total aid dependency. While Gazans are being kept alive through humanitarian aid, ordinary civilians have lost all quality of life as they fight to survive.
 
The consequences of Israel’s recent military operation remain widespread as early recovery materials have been prevented from entering Gaza. Thousands of people are living with holes in their walls, broken windows and no running water.

We call for free and uninhibited access for all humanitarian assistance in accordance with the international agreements and in accordance with universally recognised international human rights and humanitarian law standards. We also call for a return to normalized trade to enable the poverty and unemployment rates to decrease.
The blockade of the Gaza Strip is creating an atmosphere of deprivation in Gaza that can only deepen the sense of hopelessness and despair among people. The people of Gaza need to be shown an alternative of hope and dignity. Allowing human development and prosperity to take hold is an essential first step towards the establishment of lasting peace.

Operation “Cast Lead” Victims

Operation “Cast Lead”, Israel’s 22-day military offensive on the Gaza Strip which ended on 18 January 2009, killed more than 1,400 Palestinians, a majority of whom were civilians, and destroyed large areas of the Gaza Strip. Thirteen Israelis, including three civilians, were killed during the conflict.
Israeli forces killed civilians using precision weaponry, launched indiscriminate attacks which failed to distinguish legitimate military targets from civilians, and attacked civilian property and infrastructure, UN facilities, and medical facilities and personnel.

The Gaza War, known as Operation Cast Lead (מבצע עופרת יצוקה‎) in Israel and as the Gaza Massacre (مجزرة غزة‎) in Gaza, was a three-week bombing and invasion of the Gaza Strip by Israel, and several rocket attacks on south of Israel which started on December 27, 2008 with a surprise air strike from Israel. Israel's stated aim was to stop rocket fire into Israel and arms import into the Gaza strip. Israeli forces attacked police stations and other Hamas government buildings in the opening assault, striking in the densely populated cities of Gaza, Khan Younis and Rafah.

An Israeli ground invasion began on January 3. Infantry commanders were given an unprecedented level of access to coordinate with air, naval, artillery, intelligence, and combat engineering units during this second phase. 

Various new technologies and hardware were also introduced. On January 5, IDF forces began operating in the densely populated urban centers of Gaza. During the last week of the offensive (from 12 January), Israel mostly hit targets it had damaged previously and struck Palestinian rocket-launching units.The war ended on January 18, when Israel first declared a unilateral ceasefire, followed by Hamas' announcing a one-week ceasefire twelve hours later.Israel completed its withdrawal on January 21.
The conflict resulted in between 1,166 and 1,417 Palestinian and 13 Israeli deaths.

The Unmentionable Source of World Terrorism

      [Israel, the] creation, then guardian of the west's empire in the Middle East, the Zionist state remains the cause of more regional grievance and sheer terror than all the Muslim states combined. Read the melancholy Palestinian Monitor on the Internet; it chronicles the equivalent of Madrid's horror week after week, month after month, in occupied Palestine. No front pages in the West acknowledge this enduring bloodbath, let alone mourn its victims. Moreover, the Israeli army, a terrorist organization by any reasonable measure, is protected and rewarded in the west. - John Pilger: “The Unmentionable Source of Terrorism”  

     The terrorists of the 1940's were given full amnesty after establishing their nation, so instead of being brought to justice, they were able eventually to take power and keep all dissenters in line through terror and fear. The terrorists have become statesmen of the Jewish State. They have little moral ground to condemn modern Arab terrorists for doing what they themselves did in the 1940's and 1950's and have continued to do to the present day. — Zionism in Bible Prophecy: Part 6.

     And, of course, the U.S.A, the renowned World Preacher of Human Right and Democracy, continues to support the terrorist state of Israel by giving it tanks, planes, rocket launchers and financial support to the tune of three billion dollars a year (why?), with which Israel has built up the fourth-largest military machine in the world.  Israel's hegemony over the Middle East will continue, however, only as long as American money makes it possible. One day this money will no longer be forthcoming, for one reason or another. That will be Israel's Day of Reckoning. And none too soon either. (HSH)