Text 19183, 137 rader
Skriven 2008-07-30 10:29:47 av Ward Dossche (2:292/854)
  Kommentar till text 19135 av Lee Lofaso (3:800/432.0)
Ärende: Re: Make work
=====================
Lee,
 
LL> >RB>Who attacked whom in 1947, when Palestine was partitioned by the UN
LL> >RB>and Israel declared independence?
 
LL> The Jews attacked the Arabs.  In fact, in every war between the
LL> Arabs and the Jews, it was the Jews who were the aggressor.
 
Mayb you are a relatively young person? Because if and when you're serious
about this, then we're witnessing one of the strongest cases of rewriting
history, or call it history denial, that we've ever seen here.
 
Here's an ultra brief history of Israel.
 
It is a common misconception that the Holocaust ended with the demise of the
3rd Reich.
 
On July 4th 1946 the Kielce Pogrom in Poland resulted in a massive wave of Jews
seeking to escape Europe towards Palestine after initially trying to recapture
their lost property. Contrary to popular belief, pogroms continued to take
place in Eastern Europe.
 
A lot of that immigration towards Palestine was illegal, thousands were
arrested by the British who controlled the area. Jewish underground forces
responded in July 1946 by bombing the British Military Headquarters in
Palestine at the King David Hotel.
 
On November 29, 1947 the UN General Assembly ratified a decision to create two
states, one Arab and one Jewish, with the city of Jerusalem to be under the
direct administration of the UN after a gradual handover by the Brits.
 
Unrestricted Jewish migration was allowed however Britain refused to implement
the resolution. The Brits did not want to damage their Arab relations (think
"oil") and withdrew.
 
Fighting between Palestinian-Arab and Jewish underground forces simultaneous
and spontaneous started even before the British were completely gone.
 
The Palestinian-Arab forces probably numbered around 10.000. By May 1948 the
number of Jewish fighters was around 30.000 and the Haganah was conducting
brigade-size military offensives. By mid-May Jewish fighters had thoroughly
beaten the Palestinian forces and their foreign auxiliaries.
 
On May 14, 1948 the creation of the State of Israel was declared in accordance
with the 1947 UN Partition Plan. Truman immediately recognized it followed a
mere few hours later by Stalin. Arab nations Egypt, TransJordan, Syria, Lebanon
and Iraq declared war on Israel. They charged that a quarter of a million Arabs
had fled Palestine due to 'Zionist aggression' (which historically holds some
truth) but failed to recognise that a similarly large number of Jewish farmers
had to flee Arab controlled territory due to Arab aggression. Saudi-Arabia and
Yemen also sent forces to participate in the invasion.
 
So, Lee, "who" started "what" and "who" was invading "who"?
 
In the north Jordanian forces commanded by British officers, refrained from
invading Israeli territory and satisfied themselves by occupying the West-Bank
and East Jerusalem. The Iraqis held an area adjacent to the present day
West-Bank but did little else. In the south Israeli forces managed to block the
invading Egyptian armies and an assault by Egyptians advancing on Jerusalem was
stopped as well.
 
A UN arms embargo for the region tried to stop the flow of weapons, but
Czechoslovakia (under Soviet rule) violated it. This was critical in allowing
Israel to acquire military hardware to match what invading Arab states were
trucking in.
 
In June, the UN declared a month-long truce. Large numbers of immigrants, many
of them World War II veterans and Holocaust survivors began arriving, and
joined the newly-created Israel Defense Forces. When after a month the fighting
resumed, Israel gained the upper hand.
 
In March 1949, after many months of battle, a permanent ceasefire went into
effect and Israel's interim borders, later known as the Green Line, were
established. Following the ceasefire, Britain recognized Israel. On May 11,
1949 it was admitted as a member of the United Nations.
 
According to UN figures, 711,000 Palestinians left Israeli-controlled territory
in 1948 and 1949. It concludes that this exodus was made by war, not by design.
 
At the end of the war, Egypt annexed the Gaza Strip and Transjordan annexed the
"West Bank" and eastern Jerusalem, including the Old City.
 
Surprisingly, and please carefully read this, the creation of an Arab
Palestinian state was NOT pursued by Egypt and Iraq, the two Arab nations that
seized territory west of the Jordan River following the end of the British
mandate. They rather gambled on extending their own borders ... who knows what
might lie below the sands.
 
The Palestinian refugees that left for neighbouring Arab countries were settled
in refugee camps and were denied full citizenship and rights by the host
countries which took them in. They became pariahs among their ethnic and
spiritual brethren.
 
Your statement that "The Jews attacked the Arabs" during their War of
Independance is historically proven incorrect.
 
Your other statement that "In fact, in every war between the Arabs and the
Jews, it was the Jews who were the aggressor" is also historically incorrect.
 
After the War of Independence, Israel became involved in 6 more wars in the
region:
 
* Sinai War (1956) which was initiated by Britain and France and which
  really was about the control of the Suez Canal after Egypt nationalized it
  following refusal by France and Britain to fund the Aswan dam (which the
  Soviets later did)
* 6 Day War (1967) was started by Egypt, Jordan and Syria who invaded
  Israel. Support was provided by Iraq, Saudi-Arabia, Kuwait and Algeria.
  Following the war the territory held by Israel expanded a lot ("The Purple
  Line") : The West Bank, Golan Heights and Sinai were occupied from Jordan,
  Syria and Egypt, respectively.
* War of Attrition (1970) started when Egyptian, Russian and PLO-forces
  invaded Sinai. At the end of that war nothing changed.
* Yom Kippur War (1973) started when a coalition of Arab forces led by Egypt
  and Syria invaded Israeli controlled territory.
* 1st Lebanon War (1982) was started by Israel after an assassination
  attempt of the Israeli ambassador in the UK and because of the continued
  terrorist attacks by Abu Nidal from Lebanon
* 2nd Lebanon war (2006) started after the abduction of 2 Israeli soldiers
  by Hezbollah. It ended after a UN brokered cease fire and formally was over
  after Israel lifted the naval blockade of Lebanon seaports.
 
Please be noted that the 2 invasion wars that Israel was credited with, were
not against its neighbours but against terrorist groups who could launch their
attacks unpunished from Lebanese territory.
 
Invasions, such as full scale military attacks with the goal of anihilating an
opposing country, were ALWAYS initiated by the ennemies of Israel.
 
Anything else you need to know about?
 
Take care,
 
Ward

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