Hi David.

In my response to your letter, I would like to touch on a few points youv'e raised, and by doing so, try to show you, how it is very possible, for you, and others like you, to come to the wrong conclusions as you have, based on facts, that as youv'e written to me, have been studied by you, (I assume in our school system), somewhere in the Untied Stares.

But unfortunately David, your facts are very wrong, and when you start to build your opinions based on false facts, is it no wonder that you'll reach the wrong conclusions.


Now, I would like to refer you directly to a statement you've made in your letter, and then I would like to analyze it, and hopefully show you where you were wrong.


You wrote: through history I've learned that the land was Palestine, but then divided up by the UN, and there was a major influx of Jewish people during WWII... which are major contributors to what we see going on today. (end of quotation)

Now David, let's examine your statement, and I'll show you where you're wrong.

You say: I've learnt that the land was Palestine.

Wrong David, the land was not Palestine, but rather, an area occupied by the British, who won it through war from the Turks (The Ottoman Empire) during WWI.

After they've taken it away from the Turks, the British received a mandate from what was then called the league of Nations, an organization that preceded the UN that was only formed after the end of WWII.

The British have ruled the area, which was called Palestine at the time, but was not a country, as you have misrepresented it, until 1948, when they left it.

During those years, in which the British governed the area, there were many conflicts between the Arabs, (back then they were not called Palestinians), and the Jewish population, and the British forces found themselves stuck in between the two camps, not always playing fair, and not always making either side happy, with both sides- the Jews on one, and the Arabs on the other, perceiving the British not to be even handed and give preferential treatment to the other side.

By 1947, the newly formed UN has sent a commission to investigate, and find a fair and just solution to this complex problem, of which the British had enough of, and really wanted out.

The commission, after spending time in the area, and looking carefully into the crises, came out with what is known as the Partition Plan, which I would of course urge you to Google, just to make sure I'm not making any of this up.

Neither side, neither the Jews, nor the Arabs, at that point in time had a country in those disputed areas, as you've wrongly stated, but guess what happened when the plan, (which by the way was a horrible one from a Jewish standpoint), became public.

Very simple, the Jews accepted it, and you guessed it, the entire Arab world rejected the plan.

Now, remember, this is 1947, not 2006.
Yes, some blood had been already spilled by that year, on both sides, but what's important to remember, is that the conflict as we now know it, would have never taken place, had the Arab countries agreed to that plan.


Another wrong statement youve made is that there was a substantial Jewish influx (your word) into those areas, during WWII. Wrong again, the influx as you put it, had only reached substantial numbers after the war was over, in 1945, and guess what the British did when they caught some of those refugees, some of whom, have survived the Holocaust, you guessed it, they put them back in camps, this time on the island of cypress.

So now, that we've established these basic facts, and I strongly urge you to double check them, let's now agree that this geographical area, which was then (up to 1948), called Palestine, was a disputed land, ruled by many occupiers for centuries.

Also, I would urge you to check the following statement I'm about to make, just to make sure, I didnt make it up.

And that is: the Jews, as people, and a nation, were in those areas long before the arrival of today's Arabs, or as they became known: The Palestinians.

Now, I still remember, you've strongly urged me, not to include God in this discussion, and Im going to oblige, but my friend, one thing I must do, and I urge you to do the same: look at the facts, not God, but facts on the ground.

So what do I mean by all this, you might be asking, simply, that through archeological digs, it has been established beyond any shadow of a doubt, that Jews, thousands of years ago (our second temple was destroyed by the Romans in 78 AD), have lived in those disputed areas, the same ones, that you've already decided belong to the Palestinians.

And just for the record, there has never been a time, in the last two thousand years, that the geographical area, we're now discussing was totally free of Jewish presence, despite the fact that the Jews have been brutally expelled from those lands by the Romans and others.

Again, I strongly urge you, or anyone else that might dispute my statements here, to check his facts.

I hope that by now, we can both agree, that these are disputed lands, a place that should be divided for the two people who share it.

But here again, if you'll check the facts, you'll see that it was always the Arab side, (the Arab countries), who have rejected any compromise with the Jewish population before the establishment of the State of Israel, and after.

In 1948, immediately after the UN had declared Israel to be a State, all the surrounding Arab countries attacked it, trying as hard as they could to destroy the new one-day-old country.

But the young Israeli army, comprised by many of the Holocaust survivors, prevailed, and a cease-fire was declared in 1949.

From 1948, to 1967, the Arab countries controlled both the West Bank (by Jordan) and the Gaza strip (By Egypt), except for a brief period during 1956, when Israel, which was continually attacked from Egyptian territory, invaded the Sinai Peninsula, only to be forced out by the United State.

But as I've just stated, the West Bank, was in all those years controlled by the Jordanians.

Now you might ask, did Jordan give those poor people a state, since she ruled them, no, they didn't. They kept most of them in horrible conditions instead, living as refugees, just as they do today, in a few Arab countries.


After the 1967 war, Golda Meir, who was then the Israeli Prime Minister, had made an offer to the Arab countries, that to many at that time seemed too good of an offer. She offered to give them back all the territories that Israel has just captured, if Israel would be allowed to keep a united Jerusalem in its control.

I think that by now, you can easily guess what the Arab countries have answered.

Their answer came to be known as the three no's answer.
They said no to her proposal, no, to any negotiations, and no to peace.

A very smart Israeli politician, by the name of Abba Eban, once made a very clever observation.

He said, and I quote: "The Arab countries, have never missed an opportunity to miss an opportunity."







And just that to make it perfectly clear, that war in 1967, was another war that was imposed on Israel.
Egypt's declared goals back in those days, were the total destruction of Israel.

In the early part of 1967, Egypt has demanded that the UN forces, serving as a buffer in the Gaza strip leave the area, which they did. Then, Egypt declared the Straits of Tiran, closed to all Israeli shipping, threatening to choke Israeli economy, and bring it to a standstill.

They then, started to mass, enormous amounts of armies in the Sinai Peninsula, and it became abundantly clear to Israel, that it was either going to war, or ceasing to exist as a country.

So, on June 5th 1967, Israel attacked Egypt, but through diplomatic channels, asked, and literally bagged Jordan to stay out of the war.
And just a reminder, at that point, Jordan was still in full control over the entire West Bank.

But guess what happened next, Jordan joined the war, and as a direct result, lost control over the West Bank to Israel.

King Hussein of Jordan, years later, had made a statement, that joining the war back in 1967, was his single biggest mistake.


Now, you might not believe me, but there's no one out there, who wants to reach peace, more then the Jews in Israel, but to this day, you can still hear the new Palestinian leadership, (Hamas) talking of not having Israel there, and as a matter of fact, the destruction of Israel, is part of their charter.

Yes I know, I might have bored you by now, but I think it is extremely important to set the record straight, on sound foundations, and then, and only then, when we've established the facts as such, can we go on, and thrive to reach a peaceful solution to this horrible conflict, that has claimed countless of innocent lives on both sides, for no good reason.

If, and when the Arabs, and with that I include the Palestinians, would truly accept Israel's right to exist there as an independent Jewish state, only then, would a just settlement to this conflict be reached.


God bless,

Avi

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