Faith Freedom International

diotima64 wrote:I do NOT like, how many of those cartoons make the moslems look like Stürmer-Juden, noses and all! NOT on! That is not, what I want to be associated with, in any shape or form!

At the beginning of the 20th century, there were practically no Arabs in the Holy Land. By contrast, the Jews, despite 2000 years of persecution and forced conversions by various conquerors, have always been the majority population there. When General Allenby, the commander of the British military forces, conquered Palestine in 1917/1918, only about 5000 Arabs resided there. Other Muslims in the area either came from Turkey under the Ottoman Empire, or were the descendents of Jews and Christians who were forcefully converted to Islam by the Muslim conquerors. None of these other Muslims were of Arab origin.

The local inhabitants did not call themselves "Palestinians". The concept of a "Palestinian" to describe the local residents had not yet been invented; neither was there ever in history a "Palestinian Arab" nation. None of today's Arabs have any ancestral relationship to the original Biblical Philistines who are now extinct. Even Arab historians have admitted Palestine never existed.

In 1937, the Arab leader Auni Bey Abdul Hadi told the Peel Commission: "There is no such country as Palestine. Palestine is a term the Zionists invented. Palestine is alien to us."

In 1946, Princeton's Arab professor of Middle East history, Philip Hitti, told the Anglo-American Committee of Inquiry: "It's common knowledge, there is no such thing as Palestine in history."

In March 1977, Zahir Muhsein, an executive member of the Palestinian Liberation Organization (PLO), said in an interview to the Dutch newspaper Trouw: "The 'Palestinian people' does not exist. The creation of a Palestinian state is only a means for continuing our struggle against the state of Israel."

Mark Twain - Samuel Clemens, the famous author of "Huckleberry Finn" and "Tom Sawyer", took a tour of the Holy Land in 1867. This is how he described that land: "A desolate country whose soil is rich enough but is given over wholly to weeds. A silent, mournful expanse. We never saw a human being on the whole route. There was hardly a tree or a shrub anywhere. Even the olive and the cactus, those fast friends of a worthless soil, had almost deserted the country."

In 1874, Reverend Samuel Manning wrote: "But where were the inhabitants? This fertile plain, which might support an immense population, is almost a solitude.... Day by day we were to learn afresh the lesson now forced upon us, that the denunciations of ancient prophecy have been fulfilled to the very letter -- `the land is left void and desolate and without inhabitants.'"

Here is a report that the Palestinian Royal Commission, created by the British, made. It quotes an account of the conditions on the coastal plain along the Mediterranean Sea in 1913: "The road leading from Gaza to the north was only a summer track, suitable for transport by camels or carts. No orange groves, orchards or vineyards were to be seen until one reached the [Jewish] Yabna village. Houses were mud. Schools did not exist. The western part toward the sea was almost a desert. The villages in this area were few and thinly populated. Many villages were deserted by their inhabitants."

If there is anyone who still believes that the "Palestinian" nation ever existed before 1948, would they please be kind enough to answer when was it founded and by whom? What was its form of government? What were its borders? Name at least one top "Palestinian" leader before Arafat? Which country ever recognized its existence and when? In which library or museum can we find any of its literature, coins, or historical artifacts?

The real problem facing those Arabs today is not the lack of a homeland. The historical root-cause of their problem and frustration is the fact that the countries they came from have not agreed to accept them back in. This is why so many of them live, up until today, in refugee camps, in neighboring Arab countries, lacking fundamental civil rights. In their frustration they feel that the only hope and choice they have is to try and steal a country. Many of the vehicles and the agricultural equipment in the Palestinian Authority have been stolen from their Israeli neighbors. For a while, Israel suffered the highest rate of automobile thefts in the world! Most of these stolen vehicles were later found in towns and villages of the Palestinian Authority. If stealing vehicles is so easy, why not try and steal the country too?

In their propaganda, the Arabs who now call themselves "Palestinians" consistently demand that Israel and the world recognize their pre-1948 rights. That's about 54 years ago. Mysteriously, they are never willing to add another 54 years to their "historical" claims on the Holy Land. They know very well that doing so will send them back to where they came from - Jordan, Syria, Egypt, Lebanon, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, and Iraq. Years ago, during negotiations with the, so-called, Palestinians, someone in Israel proposed to revise a mention of their claim to pre-1948 rights and replace it with pre-1917. The "Palestinians" vehemently opposed. Now we know why.

In the portion of the plain between Mount Carmel and Jaffa one sees but rarely a village or other sights of human life. (...) A ride of half an hour more brought us to the ruins of the ancient city of Cæsarea, once a city of two hundred thousand inhabitants, and the Roman capital of Palestine, but now entirely deserted. As the sun was setting we gazed upon the desolate harbor, once filled with ships, and looked over the sea in vain for a single sail. In this once crowded mart, filled with the din of traffic, there was the silence of the desert. After our dinner we gathered in our tent as usual to talk over the incidents of the day, or the history of the locality. Yet it was sad, as I laid upon my couch at night, to listen to the moaning of the waves and to think of the desolation around us.

Since 1948 it is we who demanded the return of the refugees... while it is we who made them leave.... We brought disaster upon ... Arab refugees, by inviting them and bringing pressure to bear upon them to leave.... We have rendered them dispossessed.... We have accustomed them to begging.... We have participated in lowering their moral and social level.... Then we exploited them in executing crimes of murder, arson, and throwing bombs upon ... men, women and children-all this in the service of political purposes ....

You do not represent Palestine as much as we do. Never forget this one point: There is no such thing as a Palestinian people, there is no Palestinian entity, there is only Syria. You are an integral part of the Syrian people, Palestine is an integral part of Syria. Therefore it is we, the Syrian authorities, who are the true representatives of the Palestinian people.

Why is it that on June 4th 1967 I was a Jordanian and overnight I became a Palestinian? We did not particularly mind Jordanian rule. The teaching of the destruction of Israel was a definite part of the curriculum, but we considered ourselves Jordanian until the Jews returned to Jerusalem. Then all of the sudden we were Palestinians - they removed the star from the Jordanian flag and all at once we had a Palestinian flag. When I finally realized the lies and myths I was taught, it is my duty as a righteous person to speak out”.

American writer Jeffrey Goldberg states that when he asked Hamas hardliner Nizar Rayyan if he could envision a 50-year hudna (cease-fire) with Israel, Rayyan responded, "The only reason to have a hudna is to prepare yourself for the final battle. We don't need 50 years to prepare ourselves for the final battle with Israel. Israel is an impossibility. It is an offense against God." Steven Erlanger of the New York Times comments that Hamas excludes the possibility of permanent reconciliation with Israel. "Since the Prophet Muhammad made a temporary hudna, or truce, with the Jews about 1,400 years ago, Hamas allows the idea. But no one in Hamas says he would make a peace treaty with Israel or permanently give up any part of Palestine.". Mkhaimer Abusada, a political scientist at Al Azhar University writes that Hamas talks "of hudna, not of peace or reconciliation with Israel. They believe over time they will be strong enough to liberate all historic Palestine.

Hudna: Strictly speaking it designates a weapon break for tactical reasons. Origin and meaning of the “Hudna” are deeply rooted within the Muslim tradition: In the year 628AD, when it appeared that the troops of Muhammad were too weak the prophet closed a ten-year weapon break with the Quraysh. Two years later though it was broken unilaterely to strike the Quraysh and Muhammad entered in Mecca. Since that time the term “Hudna” designates a strategic cessation of hostilities, which has alone the sense of a force misalignment. A “Hudna” can be interrupted then, as soon as this force misalignment is smoothed finally and the way for a Muslim victory is foreseen.

In the absence of Islam, strife will be rife, oppression spreads, evil prevails and schisms and wars will break out. (...) There is no solution for the Palestinian question except through Jihad. Initiatives, proposals and international conferences are all a waste of time and vain endeavors. (...) Islam confers upon everyone his legitimate rights.

Muhammad taught that the gates of Heaven were under the shadow of the swords, meaning that death for Allah’s sake assures entry into Paradise. The revulsion of the bloody sword of death is in juxtaposition to the blessedness of the gates of eternal joy. So, if a Muslim were to approach directly Paradise’s gate of eternal delight, then he must know that it is found under the shadows of the sharp, glistening swords of a martyr’s death in Allah’s Jihad against unbelievers. (...)

Martyrdom is the only assured path to Paradise. Other pathways don’t guarantee acceptance into the gardens of sensual delights. A person may do many kind deeds during his life, but he may only hope that his deeds will be sufficient to merit entry into heaven, but they don’t guarantee success like martyrdom in the Cause of Allah. The Qur’an notes that one who strives in Allah’s cause belongs to the highest rank, and they are assured salvation. Those who believe, and suffer exile and strive with might and main, in Allah's cause, with their goods and their persons, have the highest rank in the sight of Allah: they are the people who will achieve (salvation). al-Tawbah 9:20 (Yusuf Ali's).

The Sahih al-Bukhari states,
Narrated Abu Huraira: I heard Allah's Apostle saying, "The example of a Mujahid in Allah's Cause—and Allah knows better who really strives in His Cause—is like a person who fasts and prays continuously. Allah guarantees that He will admit the Mujahid in His Cause into Paradise if he is killed, otherwise He will return him to his home safely with rewards and war booty." Volume 4, Book 52, Number 46

On the other hand, the Qur’an teaches that a Muslim’s good deeds are put into a balance (scale) to be weighed against his evil deeds. They must await the final day of Judgment to learn the outcome of their encounter with Allah’s balance. Then those whose balance (of good deeds) is heavy,- they will attain salvation: But those whose balance is light, will be those who have lost their souls, in Hell will they abide. 23:102-102 (Yusuf Ali’s translation) Also, see Sura 101:6-8.

We shall set up scales of justice for the Day of Judgment, so that not a soul will be dealt with unjustly in the least, and if there be (no more than) the weight of a mustard seed, We will bring it (to account): and enough are We to take account. Sura 21:47

Hence, martyrdom makes sense from an Islamic fundamentalist’s perspective. They know that death is the common lot of humanity. It is inescapable. So, rather than desperately clinging to life, they view martyrdom as an ultimate expression of their submission to Allah and Allah’s cause. They sacrifice their lives, because they love Allah, Muhammad, and eternal Paradise more than a few additional years on earth. They believe that martyrdom is the highest expression of their faith in Islam.

Ayatollah Khomeini of Iran expressed it accurately when he said, "The purest joy in Islam is to kill and be killed for Allah."

They brandish their swords, intent upon murdering the enemies of Allah and dying while embracing the Apostle of Islam's pledge, "the gates of Paradise are under the shadows of the swords." Muhammad invoked Allah's name to encourage his followers to murder those who did not submit to his claims. Yet today, Western Muslims claim that Islam is a religion of peace and tolerance. This was not the Islam of Muhammad.

That gifted Arab essayist Adonis once wrote: “A society that places at the top of the pyramid of its national concerns a policy of an oppressive security, and makes it the custodian for the conduct of politics, is in the process of self-destruction. There is no such thing as security without a security that guarantees freedom and democracy. Any Arab regime that arrests a citizen on account of his thoughts or opinions is arresting not merely one citizen, but an entire country. And a government that sends a citizen to prison for his thoughts is actually incarcerating itself.”

The Arabs today are living in the prison of their past, and the key to the gate of that prison is lost. What’s needed is the destruction of the gate itself, so that they may get out and experience freedom. Therefore we must destroy the shackles of that imaginary history that causes us to indulge in claiming a spurious greatness. We need to learn the lessons of history. Sometimes, however, we deny these lessons in the name of religion; other times in the name of Arab nationalism. Such denials lead to the death of any attempt for progress. So as long as Arabs cling to their concept of history with all its deceptions (...), they will continue in their present state for ever.