A Jewish State Within a Muslim World--How's It Going?

Nadene Goldfoot                                                                

Israel was created as a Jewish state on May 14, 1948.  It is the only Jewish state in the world.  It was founded by Theodor Herzl's Zionists in 1897 who were trying to solve the problem of 2,000 years worth of discrimination against the stateless Jews originally from Israel and Judah and the biblical injunction of living in Canaan (Palestine) .

As of  2011 Israel was made up of:

75.4% Jews
16.9% Muslims
 2.1% Christians
 1.7% Druze
 4.0% Others

   2 Sabras, 16 and 18 , one immigrant, 16, kidnapped and murdered       

73% of the Jews in 2012 were born in Israel, called Sabras.  
2,000 BCE  Exodus of Israelites From Egypt: 600,000 
1948:  Jewish population was 650,000.  
1971: Jewish population was  2,636,600.  There are 6,000 synagoges, 387 officially apponted rabbis.  Dietary Laws are followed in the IDF, government and public institutions.  
2014: Jewish population is 6 million.  
                                                         

                                 Al Aqsa Mosque in Jerusalem

1971: Muslims counted 343,900 Arabs. Most Arab citizens of Israel are Muslim, particularly of the Sunni branch of Islam,  They are autonomous in religious matters.  Over 200 Muslim clergy is paid by the State of Israel.  Regular services are held in about 90 mosques.  The most important is the el-Aqsa mosque and the Dome of the Rock in Jerusalem.  since 1967, prayers have been broadcast by the national radio from the main mosques.  As of 1973, they cannot go to Mecca on their pilgrimage.  
2006,  1,413,500 people, about 20 percent of Israel’s population.
2014: Arabs count 1.7 million Muslims.  
                                                                   

Circassians ,  2014:  4,000 to 5,000 in Israel.
They are one of the Muslim groups in Israel.  They are a small group who were brought in by Sultan Abdel Hamid in the 19th century. They were in Caucasus and Russia.  They are not Arabs. They live in the villages of Kafr Kama and Rehaniya in the Galilee.  When I taught in Safed, which is in the Galilee, from 1981 to 1985, I had some Circassian boys in my 9th grade class in jr. high.  They came from Rehaniya which  is 9 miles north of Safed with 1,000 people.
From movies which included Circassian roles, they were the horsemen who worked to guard Jewish homes in the 1800's.

Some 1.5 million Circassians were killed in the Caucasian War of the mid-to-late 19th century, and another million — fully 90% of the population — were deported from their land in the Caucasus Mountains. Today, roughly 4,000 Circassians live in Israel, where they constitute the country’s only Sunni Muslim community that sends each of its sons to the military.
                                                                 

Druse are a sect unto themselves.  "Their ethnographical origins, no less than their ritual practices and religious beliefs, are shrouded in mystery. Appearing for the first time on the pages of history at Wādi-al-Taym near Mt. Hermon in anti-Lebanon, as professors of the divinity of the sixth Fāṭimite Caliph in Cairo (996-1020 A.D.), the Druzes have lived their semi-independent lives secluded in their mountain of Lebanon, unmindful of the progress of the world around them, and almost entirely forgotten by the outside world."  They are a minority group in Israel of 130,600, but are not included with Arabs. 

 "The Druze are Arabic-speaking citizens of Israel who serve in the Israel Defense Forces. Members of the community have attained top positions in Israeli politics and public service.Most Druze dissociate themselves from Arab nationalism.  I was lucky to have met a lady from this community who was a speaker for Israel.  She was most impressive and strongly in favor of Israel.  "The Druze (Arabic: درزي, derzī or durzī‎, plural دروز, durūz; Hebrew: דְּרוּזִים,druzim) are an esoteric monotheistic religious community found primarily in Syria, Lebanon, Israel, and Jordan. The religion incorporates elements of Ismailism, Gnosticism, Neoplatonism and other philosophies.  They only marry from among themselves.  Druze citizens are prominent in the Israel Defense Forces and in politics. The bond between Jewish and Druze soldiers is commonly known by the term "a covenant of blood" (Hebrew: ברית דמים, brit damim).  The Druze in Israel live in a handful of sectarian villages and several mixed-religion Arab localities, over the Golan heights, Upper and Lower Galilee and Mount Carmel,  They are drafted into the military and are proud of it.  Elements of Judaism and Christianity are in their religious practice.  
                                                                             

                                                        Karaite During Passover

Karaites Follow only the the literal law of the Bible, not rabbinic tradition and law.  10,000 population in 1973 living in or around Ramla, have 3 synagogues.                                                    

Samaritans: follow Torah (Pentateuch and Joshua).  230 live in Holon near Tel Aviv, 250 in Nablus.  
                                                                          

Baha'i 's number 5 million in the world, and main shrine is in Haifa.  It is a beautiful site that everyone notices.  Most Baha'is left in 1948, and there seems to be only a few hundred there to administrate the shrines and gardens.  Haifa 's spiritual and administrative center is here with another shrine in Akko.  They have gardens on Mount Carmel that are visited often.  Unity is their motto.  This monotheistic faith started in Iran in 1863 with a man who thought he was the next prophet, the Bab.  There they suffered from intense persecution.  They take in all religions. 

                                                                         

                                     Female Christian Arab IDF soldier

Christians make up 2.1% of the population and 80% of them are Palestinian Arabs, about 25,000.  The rest come mainly from the USA and Russia. There are 7,000 Maronites from Lebanon, 1,000 Assyrians and 1,000 Copts from Egypt.  The largest Christian community in Israel is that of the Greek Catholics, (Melkite), with 40% of the total Christian population.  

Resource: Facts About Israel, 1973, Division of Information, ministry for foreign affairs, Jerusalem
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Religion_in_Israel
 http://forward.com/articles/161187/circassians-are-israel-s-other-muslims/?p=all
Read more: http://forward.com/articles/161187/circassians-are-israel-s-other-muslims/?p=all#ixzz362vxUtPr
http://www.sacred-texts.com/asia/odpr/odpr05.htm
http://projectinterfaith.org/page/bahai
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bah%C3%A1'%C3%AD_Faith
http://www.ifcj.org/site/PageNavigator/sfi_about_culture_religion_bahai
http://www.haaretz.com/news/diplomacy-defense/.premium-1.573172
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christianity_in_Israel
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Demographics_of_Israel
http://bcrfj.revues.org/6412 good info on Circassians

How the English Language Plays Into Politics of Israel and Palestine--Do You Live in a settlement, hamlet, village, town or city?

Nadene Goldfoot                                                                 

The term "Judea and Samaria" was officially adopted by Israel in 1967

Notice that Judea and Samaria, the original names of our ancient Jewish empires, have been misnamed as West Bank, which started with Jordan, meaning west of the Jordan River.  The Emirate Transjordan was accepted by England in 1921 out of the legalized Jewish Homeland, a loss of 80% of the Jewish Homeland, a change in promised policy.  It was given to Abdullah, 2nd son of Hussein, sherif of Mecca,  who had supported Britain during WWI so he could be a king and have his own emirate.  It was renamed Jordan in 1946. In 1948 he took the Arab land of Palestine meant to belong to Jews for Israel.  This was original land that the Bible lists to become Israel.   Jordan helped themselves to the land which was designated as part of the Jewish Homeland when Israel was fighting for its life in the 1947-1949 War of Independence. Quotas were put on Jews' entrance even when allowed into Palestine. This kept the Jewish numbers down in Palestine.

The term "Judea and Samaria" was officially adopted by Israel in 1967 when the Israeli military government issued an order that stated, "the term “Judea and Samaria region” shall be identical in meaning for all purposes to the term “the West Bank Region”". However, the term was rarely used until 1977 when Menachem Begin, a proponent of extending Israel's sovereignty to the region, became Prime Minister.

Much ado has been going on over what is called "Israel's settlements."  Here, the Left is referring to the building of apartments or homes that are being built in Judea and Samaria, the ancient sites of Israel and Judah that Israel won back in the 1967 war.  It seems that only Israel cares about the fact that this land was deemed to be a part of the Jewish Homeland through the direction of the League of Nations in 1920, a decision due to the end of WWI and the Ottoman Empire losing their land to the Allies in this war.  On the other hand, the Arabs of the Middle East have never accepted this ruling and still think it belongs to not the Turks of the Ottoman Empire but to them exclusively, and the powers of the Western nations have allowed the world to condescend to this lie.  Today we see ISIS/ISIL taking the stand that Syria, Iraq, Jordan and Israel have wrongly been created by the League of Nations' decisions in creating states out of the empire.  Note that information in English will refer to Jewish cities as settlements and Arab cities as towns or cities.  This shows a strong bias.

The noun, settlements, denotes a temporary dwelling.  Nowhere should the term be used in talking about the Jewish communities in Israel or Judea and Samaria.  They are not created to be only temporary. In driving my car from Safed to Tel Aviv, I passed Bedouin tents along the side of the road.  Now that's temporary.  They have been nomads and many still are.  The misuse comes from the USA's western use of the term.  In 1862 the USA passed the Homestead Act in which the government gave away 160 acres to individuals free if they would settle on it and cultivate it for 5 years..

 The word was popular in talking about the settling of the western part of the United States in the 1800's when describing the whites' living spaces being attacked by the Indians.  It's been used to describe the housing developments created by the Jews who have returned to living in Israel.  Remember, the Jewish Homeland was created and sanctioned by not only the League of Nations after much haggling with the Balfour Declaration, but through the United Nations in 1948.  As far as world consensus of the time, Jews had won the right to have their own state once again after being a homeless people, a people with their own unique language of Hebrew, their own religion of Judaism, and had been victimized by pogroms, hatred, and finally, a holocaust of gigantic proportions that slaughtered 6 million of their people.  It is only today that 6 million Jews populate Israel, showing how big a number that is, and that number has been reduced by constant wars in the region.

The word, settlements,  has been used on purpose by Israel's opposition to keep people thinking that they are only temporary-recently having moved there, and will be easy to chase out, like the western American squatters were.  Squatters were people who just parked themselves on the land without buying it.  They had no permission to be there.  They would be chased out by those that had title to the land.  The Jews who have moved in Judea and Samaria have had the permission of the Israeli government.  The government under Begin even encouraged Israelis to move there after 1967.  Through the Oslo agreements, the land gained in 1967 by Israel was divided into 3 zones; one for Jewish settlement, one for Arab settlement and one for both.  This is referred to as the green zones.
                                                                           

                                       American Hamlet
A settlement, according to the Webster's Dictionary is: a place or region NEWLY settled; a small village,  A settler is one who settles in a new region.

A hamlet is a small village.  "A hamlet is a small settlement, too small to be considered a village. The name comes from the diminutive of a Germanic word for an enclosed piece of land or pasture. " It usually refers to a small settlement in a rural area, or a component of a larger settlement or municipality. Hamlets are typically unincorporated communities. Countries have their personal definition, such as France-During the 18th century, for rich or noble people, it was up-to-date to create their own hameau (hamlet) in their gardens. They were a group of some houses or farms with rustic appearance, but in fact very comfortable.  In Switzerland-A hamlet is always part of a larger municipality or may be shared between two municipalities. The difference between a hamlet and a village is that typically a hamlet lacks a compact core settlement and lacks a central building such as a church or inn. However, some hamlets (Kirchwiler) may have grown up as an unplanned settlement around a church  An unincorporated area In law, an unincorporated area is a region of land that is not governed by its own local municipal corporation, but rather is administered as part of larger administrative divisions, such as a township, parish, borough, county, city,canton, state, province or country. Occasionally, municipalities dissolve or disincorporate, which may happen if they become fiscally insolvent (broke-out of money) , and services become the responsibility of a higher administration (for example,Cabazon, California, disincorporated in 1972). In some countries, there are no unincorporated areas as all parts of the country are incorporated, such as in France or Brazil. 

• Hamlet – a hamlet has a tiny population (<100) and very few (if any) services, and few buildings.

 A village is a settlement, usually larger than a hamlet.  and smaller than a town.  It is an incorporated minor municipality;  a unit of local government.  A village is a clustered human settlement or community, larger than a hamlet, Usually a village is a very small place, usually with only a few hundred people.

• Village – a village generally does not have many services, possibly only a small corner shop or post office. A village has a population of 100 to 1,000.

                                                                   

                                                     Sderot, on border with Gaza
A town is a village; a cluster or aggregation of houses recognized as a distinct place with a place-name; a hamlet; a compactly settled area as distinguished from surrounding rural territory;  a compactly settled area, usually larger than a village but smaller than a city.  a large densely populated urban area; a city; an English village having a periodic fair or market; a New England territorial and political unit usually containing both rural and unincorporated  urban areas under a single town government by a town meeting.  A town is a community of people ranging from a few hundred to several thousands, although it may be applied loosely even to huge metropolitan areas.  Usually a "town" is thought of as larger than a village but smaller than a "city."  The words city and village came into English from Latin via French.  Town and borough/burrow/burgh/bury/ are of native Germanic origin, from Old English burg, a fortified settlement, and tun, an enclosed piece of land."   A town is larger usually from 1000 to several thousand people.  

• Town – a town has a population of 1,000 to 20,000.
• Large town – a large town has a population of 20,000 to 100,000.

A city is a large or small town;  an inhabited place of greater size,  greater population or greater importance than a town or village.  It can be an incorporated British town usually of major size or importance having  the status of an episcopal see;  a large or important municipality in the US governed under a charter granted by the state; an incorporated municipal unit of the highest class in Canada; Many cities have city-managers.  They are officials employed by an elected council to direct the administration of a city government.  A city is an urban settlement with a particularly important status which differentiates it from a town.  In the USA, city is a legal term meaning an urban area with a degree of autonomy, ie, a township rather than meaning an entire large settlement/metropolitan area.  Outside the USA, city implies an entire settlement or metropolitan area.  There are notable exceptions; the term City of London.  In the UK, a city is a settlement with a charter (letters patent) from the crown.  In Britain, a town becomes a city when it contains a cathedral. A glaring example is Ely - a city of some 12,000 people,   A city is usually a big metropolis. ALTHOUGH, this rule does not always stand true here in the USA.

• City – a city would have abundant services, but not as many as a large city. The population of a city is over 100,000 people up to 300,000.
• Large city – a city with a large population and many services. The population is <1 million people but over 300,000 people.
• Metropolis – a large city and its suburbs consisting of multiple cities and towns. The population is usually one to three million.

There are numerous definitions of towns, villages, hamlets, cities and such. Based on what I have seen, it is based on population. However, how do you define a population area varies by local governments. (Jim-USA)).  

Here is a rough idea of what a good definition of each is: 

Hamlet - 1,000 - 9,999 
Village - 10,000 - 99,999 
Town - 100,000 - 999,999 
City - 1,000,000 - 9,999,000 
Metropolis - 10,000,000+ 

Once again, this is based on population in an area, not necessarily the legal boundaries of each. But since nobody is willing to put numbers to meanings, and is content to let things be ambiguous, this is as good of a definition as any. (this is a comment from Jim) 

Hamlet and village are words coming from England.  They were used in our early beginnings in the United States but have been replaced more often by the words, town.  and city.  After 238 years, The USA has grown.  Perhaps some communities in England haven't.  They have kept their charm and size.  In talking about our Wild American West, the words settlers and pioneers were used interchangeably.  Many terms used to describe settlements (e.g., village) have no legal definition, or may have contradictory legal definitions in different jurisdictions.  In Oregon, Ontario, which sits on the border between Idaho and Oregon had a population of about 8,000.  It was commonly referred to as a town, not a Hamlet.  Hamlets and villages had been dropped and replaced by towns.  Such towns as Vale, Oregon and Aloha, Oregon would fit a Hamlet description but are called towns.  

  There are 4 Israeli cities in Judea-Samaria with Ariel as capital.  There are 375,000 Israelis living there.  The cities are: Ariel, Betar Illit, Ma'ale Adumim and Modi'in Illit.  
                                                                      

1. Ariel was founded in 1978 and is in area C.  So its now 36 years old; more than a generation  of 25 years..  As of 2012 the census had 18,638 population. .  It's 26 miles east of Tel Aviv.  

2. Betar Illit  was founded in 1985  So it's now 29 years old,   and is 6.2 miles south of Jerusalem in Judea.  It's mayor is Meier Rubenstein.  As of the 2013 census had 45,710 population. 

3. Ma'ale Adumim was founded on September 21, 1975  as a Nahal outpost.  It gained city status in 1991.  So is 39 years old, over a generation.  It is 4.3 miles from Jerusalem.  As of the 2012 census, the population was 39,200.  It's mayor is Benny Kashriel.  

4.Modi'in Illit was founded in 1994 and as of 2012 had a population of 59,332.  First called Kiryat Sefer, it is an ultra orthodox community that lies between Jerusalem and Tel Aviv.  It is 2.3 miles from the Green Line and is north of Modi'in.  It's the largest of the 4 cities. 

"The green line is commonly referred to as the "pre-1967 borders", the "1967 borders" or the "1967 lines" by the American president Obama, Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas, Israeli prime minister Netanyahu and by the United Nations in informal texts and in the text of UN GA Resolutions." Areas A,B,and C denote who can live there.  C is for Jews.  Obama wants Israel to return to pre-1967 borders. That would be going back to 1948.  After all the aggressive wars that Israel had to defend itself from,  this is unacceptable and unrealistic.   While it is known that the USA has been arming and instructing people of the very nations who had attacked them, it's more important than ever to have secure borders.  

As of 2012:

1. Jerusalem:  780,517 population created by King David 1010 BCE-970 BCE  lost in 70 CE after 1070 years of being in Jewish hands as capital of Israel and then capital of Judah.  Unified capital of Israel-adding another 66 years, making 1,136 years of being a Jewish capital.  

2. Tel Aviv:     404,037 population, founded in 1909, 105 years old
3. Haifa           266,975 population, founded in 1st century CE.  2014 years old.  Modern Haifa began in 2nd half of 19th century (1850 CE) with returning Jewish  immigration working with Jewish population.  

The size that describes a city versus other titles is relative.  
1. Mexico City as of 2010 had 8.851 million people.  Now 9 million
2. New York City as of 2012 had 8.377 million people.  
Israel is a very very small state.  It has 8.7 million people.  The state is as populated as the world's well known cities.  It must be understood that it's towns and cities are scaled down to size.  
3. Portland, Oregon, USA founded on February 8, 1851 is 163 years old-population 609,456 (2013).  

A settlement by its very definition is a newly founded group of a few homes.  

It seems as if the world community would still like to refer to Tel Aviv as a new settlement out of their own prejudice.  Lets all drop the term and use the words that other groups of people use.  Settlements went by the wayside in the Wild West of North America.  Leave it there.  Remember that Jews were kept from entering Palestine from 1939 till 1945 by the British and their White Paper, who encouraged Arabs to enter during that period.  Britain was going against the mandate they were given.  

References: Webster's 7th New Collegiate Dictionary
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hamlet_(place)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Unincorporated_area
https://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20070915103226AALZGhW
http://facstaff.gpc.edu/~wbroadwe/02%20The%20West.pdf
http://www.pinterest.com/pharissweb/wild-west-settlers-pioneers/
http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/settlers-race-to-claim-land
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Judea_and_Samaria_Area
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/State_of_Judea
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Israeli-occupied_territories
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Settlement_hierarchy
http://www.btselem.org/settlements/20100830_facts_on_the_settlement_of_ariel
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ariel_(city)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beitar_Illit
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ma'ale_Adumim
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/White_Paper_of_1939
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Green_Line_(Israel)

Continued: The Hamas Leadership of Palestine Terrorism Created a State Part II

Iron Dome Stopping a rocket

Hamas did not stop shooting at Israel after 2005

Nadene Goldfoot
2006:  1,722 rocket attacks,        55 mortar attacks = total attacks 1,777; 9 dead, 371 injured

2007:  1,276   "         "            1,531   "          "        =  "                  2,807, 10 "      578  "

2008:  2,048  "         "             1,668   "         "         =  "                  3,716, 15 "      611  "
                                                                         
                                                                       

Ashkelon, hit constantly along with Sderot

OPERATION CAST LEAD

About 1,400 dead, 5,000 wounded Palestinians

2009:   569 rocket attacks,        289 mortar attacks  = total attacks 858,     2 dead,  11 injured

2010:  150    "         "       ,         215   "         "          = total attacks 365,     5 dead, 35 injured

2011:  419   "         "                  261   "         "         = total attacks  680,     3 dead, 81 injured

2012: 2,256 "         "                    17  "         "          = total attacks 2,273,   6  "    ,284 injured

2013:     11             "                     6   "                    =   total terrorist attacks 14,   5 dead,   6 injured

2014:   135 rocket attacks           17    "                    =  total terrorist attacks 152, 10 dead, 6 injured

                                                                   

                                                                       

In March  2014 between the 12th and 14th, 60 rockets fell. This was before, during and after Purim.   

Today, June 27, 2014:  A total of 6 rockets were fired from the Gaza Strip, with the remaining 4 landing in open territory.
Update: 6/28: In center of Gaza were underground rocket launchers, Israel hit them, retaliation from Hamas of 5 to 6  rockets hitting Sderot, causing fire in industrial section.
Update: 6/30  Gaza has fired 15 rockets into Israel last night and this morning.
Update:7/12  Gaza has fired over 700 rockets in the past 5 days into Israel reaching the far corners: Jerusalem, Tel Aviv, etc. .     Calm will be met by calm from Israel has been ignored; too late for cease fire now; Israel intends to cripple their capability for many years to come  Enough!! Day-aynu !          

Resource: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Palestinian_rocket_attacks_on_Israel
http://www.johnstonsarchive.net/terrorism/terrisrael-11.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Palestinian_rocket_attacks_on_Israel,_2014
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Casualties_of_the_Gaza_War
http://www.globalresearch.ca/israel-s-operation-cast-lead-1-400-palestinians-deaths-5000-wounded/19524
http://www.timesofisrael.com/three-rockets-fired-at-israel-from-gaza-following-air-force-strike/
Update 6/28/14: http://www.haaretz.com/news/diplomacy-defense/1.601798
and http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4535501,00.html

The Hamas Leadership of Palestine-Terrorism Created a State Part I

Nadene Goldfoot                                                                

Terrorism is the name of the game.  In 1987 Hamas branched off of the PLO run by Yasser Arafat.  Hamas translates to the Islamic Resistance Movement.  They were founded as the major players in their terrorist war against Israel .

Ideology of Hamas

1. Muslim Brotherhood Islamists

2. Opposed PLO, won elections over PA (former PLO) in January 2006, forced PA out of Gaza

3. Motto: of Hamas Charter:   Israel will exist until Islam will obliterate it.  There is no solution for the Palestinian question except through Jihad-a holy war.  

In February 2006 Hamas broadcast the following message.  "My message to the loathed Jews is that there is no God but Allah.  We will chase you everywhere!  We are a nation that drinks blood, and we know that there is no blood better than the blood of Jews".  I'm forced to digress here because we Jews are adamant about blood.  We have no part of it.  We don't eat or drink blood.  That's part of our kosher law.  So this is repulsive to us that they would even consider doing such a thing.  "We will not leave you alone until we have quenched our thirst with your blood, and our children's thirst with your blood."  For a religious people who profess to have Moses as a prophet, they certainly don't follow one iota of his teachings, since he taught us not to consume any amount of blood.  For terrorists who hide behind women and children, they are such braggadociacs trying to frighten Jews. They do make me throw up with their Dracula talk.   

The mark of a true man is to keep his word.  Saying or promising one thing and doing another is the mark of their agreements.  During the Oslo negotiations, Yasser Arafat, the PLO and the PA, had committed to disarming and dismantling terrorist groups.  Instead, they  practice to this very day::
1. Continue to arm terrorists- using tunnels, illegal enterprises, from ships,
2. Promote incitement -on civic programs, TV, schools, mosques
3. Give terrorists financial and ideological support for terrorist deeds

Hamas had been staying mostly in Gaza, but since the kidnapping of 3 Israeli teenagers of the past 11 days, they have been found by Israeli teams searching for them to be in Judea-Samaria.  Leaders have also been staying in Syria, Lebanon and Iran.    They have been closely tied to Syria, Iran and Lebanon.  Funding for them comes from groups in Saudi Arabia, the Gulf States, Western Europe, Hezbollah, and others.  They are listed as a terrorist organization by the US State Department.  That didn't stop the State Department and John Kerry to push for a 2 state solution and allow terrorists to govern a neighbor of Israel-with a provision that they will be watched.  The international Soccer Games are being watched also.  Watching is not preventing the goals of this group.

Terrorist Activities of shootings, bombings, rocket attacks, suicide missions

1. 2003-2004:  773 terrorist attacks

2. 1993-2000:  41 suicide bombings

3. 2000-2005:  58 suicide bombings

4. September 2000 -April 2004:  377 Israelis killed, 2,076 wounded (82% were civilians) 

5. 2005:  29 suicide bombers foiled and arrested

6. 2000-2005:  40% of all suicide bombers were Hamas

7. September 28, 2000-December 31, 2005:  25,770 terrorist attacks

   a. 147 suicide bombings....47% of all deaths

   b. 1,084 killed    

   c. 7,454 injured

Al Qaeda and Hezbollah operatives established cells in Gaza.  They  and Hamas compete and collaborate with each other.  Other Arab states offer terrorists safe havens.  Hamas leader Khaled Maashal lived in Damascus, Syria.  Hamas and Hezbollah signed an agreement in 2004 to increase attacks on Israel.  

Fatah was founded in 1959 by Yasser Arafat, with Mahmood Abbas, others.  Abbas has been Chairman since November 11, 2004;  President since January  15, 2005  

; took over PLO which started in 1964 in 1968 and remained the PLO's largest faction.  Since uniting with Hamas, they share the same charter and goals on it.

                                                                              

Al Aqsa Martyrs Brigade

Ideology of Fatah

1.  Secular Arab nationalist organization, 

2. Motto when PLO:  Armed struggle is the only way to liberate Palestine, the partition of Palestine in 1947 and the establishment of the state of Israel are entirely illegal, regardless of the passage of time.

3.1968:  Claims of Jews of historical or religious ties are incompatible with the facts of history-

4.  Revolutionary Nationalist Liberation Group

     a. 1973-Tanzim, military, operational wing with Marwan Barghouti-jailed with life terms

     b. 2000-Al Aqsa Martyrs Brigade after 2nd intifada

Terrorist Activities of Guerilla warfare, shootings, bombing, and rocket and suicide attacks.  

April 2001:  "We may lose or win, but our eyes will continue to aspire to the strategic goal, namely, to Palestine from the river to the sea (Israel).  Whatever we get now cannot make us forget this supreme truth."

Faisal Husseini, PLO Representative and PA minister in Jerusalem, born in Baghdad 1940.  He died on May 31, 2001 in Kuwait from a heart attack. He was a relative of Haj Mohammad Amin al-Husayni, the former Grand Mufti of Jerusalem who caused so much rioting against Jews.  . 

1. 2003-2004:  214 terrorist attacks

2. 2000-2005:  33 suicide bombings

3. January 27, 2002-1st female suicide bomber

4. 2002-2005:  5 female suicide bombers dispatched

5. 2005:  47 suicide bombers foiled and arrested

Fatah has several militias, including Force-17, midway into the 2nd Intifada.  Fatah militias started coordinating with radical Islamist terrorist groups for joint terrorist attacks.  3rd Intifada declared June 2014.  The PA has officially celebrated suicide bombers as heroic martyrs and authorized public incitement in the media, schools and mosques to attack Israel and Israelis.  Many PA security officials doubled as terrorist operatives.  In January 2006, PA Prime Minister Mahmoud Abbas announced he would continue the PA policy of paying suicide bombers' families with annual stipends.  In the same month, Hamas won the majority vote and took over the reigns of governing Gaza.  

Abbas tried to have a return of all Palestinians in the peace process.  "In July 2012, Abbas accused former U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice of fabricating a conversation between them and denied that such a conversation took place. The specific quote he denied was, "I can’t tell four million Palestinians that only five thousand of them can go home," regarding the issue of Palestinian refugees. Abbas further said, "I’m not calling her a liar... I am saying that we never had that conversation." In response, Rice denied that she fabricated it, as her chief of staff Georgia Godfrey wrote, "Dr. Rice stands by her account of the conversation and what she wrote in her book."  Such a return, when Israel already as 1.7 million Arab citizens and 6 million Jews, would drown out the Jews in  short time. The population size in itself is a weapon against Israel.  

Did the 1st intifada start because Prime Minister Shaon visited the al-Aqsa Mosque?  Not according to Imad Falouji the PA Communications Minister on March 3, 2001. He said it was planned in advance ever since President Arafat's return from Camp David negotiations, where he turned the table upside down on President Clinton.  Former president Jimmy Carter came under fire in 2007 for titling his book on Middle East peace Palestine: Peace or Apartheid John Kerry threatened Israel in 2014 that it would be an Apartheid state if they didn't go for the 2 state solution immediately.   " Since January 2013, the Fatah-controlled Palestinian Authority rebranded itself as the State of Palestine in official documents, after the United Nations voted to recognize Palestine as a non-member UN observer state ."  

 RAMALLAH, WEST BANK – Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas said Saturday, April 27, 2014:  the new unity government he is set to head with the backing of Hamas would reject violence and recognize Israel and existing agreements.   Israel said it would not negotiate with a government backed by Hamas, the armed Islamist movement ruling the Gaza Strip, which is pledged to the destruction of the Jewish state and has always rejected peace talks. As of today, the 3 kidnapped Israeli teens are still missing.  So are the 2 kidnappers just named.  The UN bashes Israel's searching for the teens, minimizes the act of kidnapping.  This is the green light for more to come.  They are punishing  the victims, Israel.  Par for the course with this noble body of world peace- makers.  

Netanyahu has endorsed Palestine but with conditions.  The Palestinian state would have to be demilitarized, with international guarantees that it remain so; it would have to cede control of its airspace to Israel; and it could be created only if the Palestinians recognize Israel as the Jewish homeland.   In his 40-minute address, Netanyahu rejected the idea of resettling any Palestinian refugees inside Israel and insisted that Jerusalem would remain under the full control of Israel instead of becoming a joint capital -- issues that the Palestinians say should be negotiated.   Judea Samaria, (won back by Israel after it was illegally taken by Transjordan)  in the 1967 Arab-Israeli war, is home to nearly 300,000 Jewish settlers.   Abbas has said over and over that Palestine is to be Judenrein-devoid of all Jews.  

Resource: Magazine: Israel 101 by StandWithUs, pp24-25

 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Faisal_Husseini

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mahmoud_Abbas

http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2014/04/27/exclusive-kerry-warns-israel-could-become-an-apartheid-state.html

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Palestinian_National_Authority

http://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2014/04/27/world/politics-diplomacy-world/palestinian-unity-government-will-reject-violence-recognize-israel-abbas/

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/06/14/AR2009061400741.html