Saudi Arabia's Attitude Toward the Hamas-Israel War

 Nadene Goldfoot                                             

     Saudi Arabian Foreign Minister  Prince Faisal bin Farhan Al-Saud

 born 1 November 1974 in Frankfurt am Main) is a Saudi Arabian diplomat and politician and a member of the House of Saud is 49 years old.  

Foreign Minister of Saudi Arabia in Iran

A representative from Saudi Arabia was speaking to someone on PBS saying that the Saudis wanted a cease fire from Israel and can't understand why they don't go for it. (12/08/2023 | 57m 46s | Friday on the NewsHour, heavy airstrikes continue across Gaza as thousands of civilians crowd into ever-shrinking safe zones in the south. We speak to the foreign minister of Saudi Arabia about the war and wider diplomatic challenges in the Middle East.) 

                               Abdullah I, King of Transjordan

Saudi Arabia has not had to face any kind of enemy since World War 2 in which Abdullah under the leadership of the British,  led his horsemen against the Germans, helping to end the war.  In early 1917, Abdullah ambushed an Ottoman convoy in the desert, and captured £20,000 worth of gold coins that were intended to bribe the Bedouin into loyalty to the Sultan. In August 1917, Abdullah worked closely with the French Captain Muhammand Ould Ali Raho in sabotaging the Hejaz Railway. Abdullah's relations with the British Captain T. E. Lawrence were not good, and as a result, Lawrence spent most of his time in the Hejaz serving with Abdullah's brother, Faisal, who commanded the Arab Northern Army.

What the Saudis are pushing for is the two-state solution.  They can't see that having a state on their border who want to wipe them out completely, a declaration in their own constitution since 1967's meeting in Khartoum, Africa, is not commensurate to peace for the Israelis.  Unfortunately, the Saudis have passed this condition onto all the rest of the world leaders as well.  Israel is constantly being pressured to help develop the "Palestine" on their border.  Of course, it's already in 2 pieces;  Gaza, or what's left of Gaza, and the West Bank(Israel's former Judea/Samaria origin.  The civilian population of Gaza started off with Fatah terrorists-turned politicians and with their personality; quickly broke into a more violent-acting group;  Hamas who became the leading politicians by somehow winning in an election, and there we are.

 Yahya Sinwar born 1962 in the Khan Yunis refugee camp, when the Gaza Strip was under Egyptian rule, almost died recently at 61. 

Gaza Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar, whom Israeli leaders vow to assassinate, once had Israeli doctors save his life, but is now said to be hiding in tunnels.  This death was just announced, but was not accurate.  He had plotted October 7th for the past 2 years.  He was a man constantly getting even; revengeful; and causing his own demise.  

      Abbas of Fatah (PA) born November 15, 1935, is 88 years old.    

The leaders of the "Palestinian" Arabs two men who disagree and are constantly vying with each other for the powerful leadership of the two groups.  No one can say that this duo isn't trying to create 2 separate Muslim states;  West Bank and Gaza.  I believe the leader of Hamas was just killed in the war.  Even at that, Abbas, who refuses to let go the reins he holds, is old.  He won't last long.  

Notice that none of the surrounding Arab states have offered to donate land for Hamas for a state.  They don't want the problem in their country.  They share that same feeling today by not taking in any Hamas citizen refugees of the Hamas-Israel war. Nobody really wants a neighbor bent on your country's total death.  

Resource:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abdullah_I_of_Jordan

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

Roger Fisher, The Man Starting The Case For and the Case Against Israel

 Nadene Goldfoot                                           

Harvard lawyer Roger Drummon Fisher,(1922-2012 Illinois, lawyer), son of Walter Taylor Fisher (1892-1991 b:Chicago, lawyer)  and Katherine Drummon Fisher;  son of Walter Lowrie Fisher (1862-1935  lawyer)   in Wheeling, Ohio, West Virginia .  Three generations of lawyers. 

PBS had this program called  "The Advocates" on Sunday evenings.  The American Friends Service Committee, a Quaker group that had shown considerable bias against Israel, had offered this idea.  Roger Fisher(May 28, 1922-August 25, 2012)  was also a Harvard Law Professor but who supported the Arab side of the conflict with Israel.  He was all for the Palestinians.  Roger was the founder and executive producer of the program.  

Alan Dershowitz (September 1, 1938)  was up against Roger Fisher  on a PBS Show in Los Angeles with a live audience in 1970 when he was a young Harvard Law professor. From 1964 to 2013, he taught at Harvard Law School, where he was appointed as the Felix Frankfurter Professor of Law in 1993.  He's an authority on the American Constitution.  

Palestinian refugees in 1967  Newly digitized archive photos from the UN agency UNRWA provide a visual insight into the lives of early Palestinian refugees. They were created in two main waves - from the Middle East war of 1948, and in 1967 when Israel occupied the West Bank, Gaza Strip and East Jerusalem

Dershowitz had his first visit of Israel before the show, visiting the Gaza Strip.  Dershowitz says he found himself sympathetic to the Arabs of the West Bank and Gaza and families of 1948 that were separated then and those also in 1967.  He was there for several weeks, but came back with pride for Israel and ready for the debate. He was Israel's lead lawyer in the court of public opinion.  

           Ten years later after PBS's The Advocates:  In my living room in Safed in 1980  sitting on a single bed waiting for my lift to arrive at the port with our furniture.  The only window has bars on it because we were on a first floor and terrorists could enter without them.  I made arrangements from eastern Oregon's Ontario where we lived for housing and a 10 month re-training program to teach English in Israel.  We even took our female German shepherd with us.  We gave up a beautiful home and had never visited Israel before, but I had done a lot of reading; so much so that I had to make aliyah.  

I didn't just visit Israel for a couple of weeks.  I lived there for over 5 years before returning to the states from September 1980 to November 23, 1985.  My first 10 months were at a school studying Hebrew 6 days a week, then teaching in a junior high our English language.  We saw as much as we could during those 5 years.  I gave blood and in return I would get blood if needed.  I learned to shoot an A1 rifle and work with Israelis who drove around, spotters of trouble.  My German shepherd who also immigrated with me was with me during these drives and the most favorite on these drives. I voted in an election.   I shopped in supermarkets, took walks, bought a car, wrote plays and then produced them, acting as well in them.  We had started "Yiddish Theater in English." and Safed was our home where we did all this.  I scratch my head trying to figure out how these Quakers came up with such a taste of Israel--and in 2 weeks.  

Fisher started the debate stating that the American Friends found blame enough for all in their visit.  He went on with "There are no devils and no angels in the Middle East. " Then Fisher stated that he had 4 things that Israel should be doing.   (I can tell right away that those viewing what they were taken to see had no military background to know what to look for.) 

They believed the US should urge Israel to use military leverage.  Here was what he then stated.  

1. Allow Palestinian refugees into the West Bank and Israel itself.  

2. Israel should withdraw its forces as part of package settlement.  

3. Israel should abandon the policy of escalatory retaliation-2 eyes for an eye.

4. Israel should sit down with indirect talks, not insisting that the 1st talks be face to face.  

Then he trusted President Nasser and King Hussein to be his key witnesses.  Nasser began with a straight-out lie, ignoring the 3 No's at Khartoum:   I take it Fisher used quotes from these men.  They wouldn't have been a part of this live show.  That means that Fisher is the one who did the research was ignoring the Khartoum decisions that the Arabs were not ignoring.  They were following it quite well with loud and emphatic No, No, No!.

Quaker activists' work in March 2019.  Quaker schools are fertile ground for BDS and have become ground zero when it comes to pro-BDS faculty and students. The Quaker tradition of even-handedness and political neutrality has long passed; by the late 1970s the American Friends Service Committee (AFSC) had effectively enshrined Palestinians as the “new Jews.” Support for Palestinian terror as “resistance” against Israel’s “structural violence” and against sanctions on Iran’s nuclear program is now customary.

In 2018, Israel revealed their list of 20 social justice groups from around the world it was henceforth banning from the country because of their support for the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement. A rabbi on their staff– the American Friends Service Committee (AFSC) was taken by surprise.  How can they attack Israel with the BDS yet had helped Jewish refugees after 1938?  It happens that today, BDS is as bad as bullets are.  

Dershowitz reminded Fisher that when Arabs speak to Arabs they say one thing, but while they speak to the West, they say another thing.  To his people, Hussein of Jordan said, "Kill the Jews wherever you find them.  Kill them with your hands, with your nails, with your teeth."  (That, coming from the more placid of Arab leaders-and it was quite brutal !)  Well, you know he wouldn't let the West know how he felt. 

We find that Palestinian Qassam rocket firings increase sharply on the day following the killing of Palestinians by Israel. In addition, we show that the probability of Palestinian killings of Israelis (although not the number of people killed) increases following the killing of Palestinians by Israel. Thus, it appears that Palestinian violence does contain an element of retaliation, and that Israeli military operations against Palestinians lead to escalation rather than incapacitation. Consistent with previous analyses, we confirm that Israeli aggression, too, contains an element of retaliation, in that Israel is more likely to kill Palestinians on days following killings of Israelis by Palestinians. Together, these findings suggest that, contrary to previous analyses that characterized Israeli violence alone as retaliatory, the dynamics of retaliation in the Second Intifada are bidirectional. From PNAS (Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America (often abbreviated PNAS or PNAS USA) is a peer-reviewed multidisciplinary scientific journal.

During the May 2021 conflict in Gaza, Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad fired over 4,300 rockets at Israeli civilians. In August 2022, Palestinian Islamic Jihad fired over 1,100 rockets at Israelis during the three-day escalation, according to the Israel Defense Forces.May 13, 2023

May 15, 2023, I published this:  After 5 days of fighting, Israel agreed to a truce with the Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ) early Sunday morning. In total, 1,139 rockets were fired into Israel and over 430 were intercepted. Most of the rest fell in open areas. The Iron Dome had a 95% success rate. The IDF struck 422 PIJ targets and eliminated at least 4 high ranking PIJ commanders. One Israeli woman and one Palestinian laborer were killed by the rocket fire. Over a dozen Israelis were injured. [Can you imagine the US agreeing to a truce with Al Qaida or ISIS?]

Intifada, also spelled intifadah, Arabic intifāḍah (“shaking off”), either of two popular uprisings of Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza Strip aimed at ending Israel's occupation of those territories and creating an independent Palestinian state.  However, when a meeting is scheduled, the Palestinians do not show up.                                

The First Intifada or First Palestinian Intifada, also known simply as the intifada or the intifadah, was a sustained series of protests and violent riots carried out by Palestinians in the Palestinian Territories and Israel. It was motivated by collective Palestinian frustration over Israel's military occupation of the West Bank and the Gaza Strip, as it approached a twenty-year mark, having begun after Israel's victory in the 1967 Arab–Israeli War. The uprising lasted from December 1987 until the Madrid Conference of 1991, though some date its conclusion to 1993, with the signing of the Oslo Accords.                          

The Second Intifada  was a major Palestinian uprising against Israel. The general triggers for the unrest are speculated to have been centred on the failure of the 2000 Camp David Summit, which was expected to reach a final agreement on the Israeli–Palestinian peace process in July 2000. Outbreaks of violence began in September 2000, after Ariel Sharon, then the Israeli opposition leader, made a provocative visit to the Al-Aqsa compound on the Temple Mount in Jerusalem; the visit itself was peaceful, but, as anticipated, sparked protests and riots that Israeli police had to put down with rubber bullets and tear gas.

The Third intifada?  Since the collapse of the second intifada—a large and sustained Palestinian uprising—in 2005, the Israeli-Palestinian conflict has smoldered. Hamas has launched miniature wars in the Gaza Strip, and Palestinian armed groups and individuals have carried out terrorist attacks in the West Bank, prompting a harsh Israeli military response. Palestinians have resisted in other ways, too—marching, protesting, and throwing rocks. Despite many violent flare-ups, however, both sides have avoided fighting that reaches the scope and scale of the second intifada, even though a negotiated settlement seems more distant than ever.                                    

Fisher specialized in negotiation and conflict management. He was the co-author (with William Ury) of the book Getting to Yes, about "interest-based" negotiation, as well as numerous other publications. After serving in World War II as a weather reconnaissance pilot, Fisher worked on the Marshall Plan in Paris under W. Averell Harriman. After finishing his law degree at Harvard, he worked with the Washington, DC, law firm of Covington & Burling, arguing several cases before the US Supreme Court and advising on several international disputes. He returned to Harvard Law School and became a professor there in 1958. 

On April 4, 1977, President Anwar Sadat and his wife, Jehan, were welcomed to the White House by President and Mrs. Carter. Sadat was assassinated in 1981 by Islamic fundamentalists dissatisfied with Sadat concessions during the peace process. 

Throughout his career, Fisher made significant efforts to seek peace in the Middle East. Among these efforts included his involvement in Sadat's trip to Jerusalem and the Camp David summit that led to an Israeli–Egyptian peace treaty.In this latter case, he helped devise a process called the one-text, where a facilitator shuttled back and forth between the parties, refining a proposed document until it could not satisfy the parties interests more effectively at which point the parties either approve the document or agree to start from scratch. President Carter and Secretary of State Vance created 23 drafts in 13 days before they had a proposal to which both sides could say yes.

                                                 

Carter was not a president who stood up with Israel.  He wrote a book that shocked most of us:   Palestine:  Peace Not Apartheid.  He's very accusatory to Israel in it. Said of the book, "The general parameters of a long-term, two-state agreement are well known, the president writes. "There will be no substantive and permanent peace for any peoples in this troubled region as long as Israel is violating key UN resolutions, official American policy, and the international “road map” for peace by occupying Arab lands and oppressing the Palestinians. Except for mutually agreeable negotiated modifications, Israel’s official pre-1967 borders must be honored. As were all previous administrations since the founding of Israel, US government leaders must be in the forefront of achieving this long-delayed goal of a just agreement that both sides can honor."

Since the publication of former President Jimmy Carter's book, Palestine Peace Not Apartheid, the Carter Center has seen a wave of resignations. More than a dozen people have left in protest, saying the book puts too much blame on Israel. Carter could have been influenced by Fisher's outlook.

Biden’s release of frozen Iranian funds (6 billion) undermines US sanctions worldwide, by Eric Mandel-I just saw him speaking on JBS, interviewed by Shahar Azani.  

The downside is what  Dr. Eric Mandel, American, has noted;  in that most all Americans are not that interested in Israel and really don't understand what's happening. His example was that they didn't even know that Israel didn't have a constitution.   Dr. Eric Mandel is the founder and Director of MEPIN™, the Middle East Political and Information Network™. MEPIN is a private Middle East research analysis read by members of Congress, their foreign policy advisors, members of the Knesset, journalists, and organizational leaders. Dr. Mandel regularly briefs members of Congress and their staffs about the current geo-political situation in the Middle East, and meets with members of the Israeli leadership and their advisors. He is the Northeast Co-Chair of StandWithUs, an international organization dedicated to educating the public about Israel, while fighting the BDS movement (Boycott, Divest and Sanction) against Israel.

No, The case is FOR Israel.  Israel has the right to exist and to not be attacked, which it is constantly. Carter, former Sunday school teacher, and Fisher,  had pre-conceived ideas of Jews to start with, and were very misguided in their judgement if you ask me and (thank G-d), many others.   

Resource:

https://www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/pnas.1012115107

https://hls.harvard.edu/today/roger-fisher-1922-2012/

Book:  Defending Israel by Alan M. Dershowitz, p.14-24

Book:  Letters From Israel by Nadene Goldfoot

https://afsc.org/news/quakers-jews-and-israels-bds-blacklist

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roger_Fisher_(academic)#

https://www.npr.org/2007/01/26/7022490/a-key-critics-problem-with-jimmy-carters-book

https://www.jpost.com/opinion/quaker-activists-84222

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/First_Intifada

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Second_Intifada

https://www.foreignaffairs.com/israel/third-intifada-israeli-palestinian-conflict

Brigitte Gabriel Calls Rashid Khalidi on Translation of Sura From Quran On Beheading

Nadene Goldfoot                                                            

                                                          Professor  Rashid Khalidi

In 1982 I was in Safed, Israel during the Lebanon War.  In fact, I was in the Army Hospital in Haifa to find out about when pins would be removed from my elbow when I noticed that the hospital was almost empty.  They were getting ready for battle-injuries.  I wound up baking cakes to feed our IDF who would be reporting to their posts by walking or hitch-hiking.  My husband and I had made aliyah in 1980 and were in Israel as  immigrants  from Oregon.  My Jewish paternal grandfather was born in Telsiai, Lithuania and my grandmother from Suwalki, Poland/Lithuania.  I come from a Jewish family.

At the very same time, Rashid Khalidi, Muslim,  was in Lebanon. He has just agreed with his friend,  Obama,  in that IS is not Islam by reading a translation of the Quran over PBS.     Khalidi became politically active in Beirut, where he resided through the 1982 Lebanon War.  He was teaching at a Lebanese University, possibly AUB (American University of Beirut) .  New York City born in  1948, he is the son of a Saudi citizen who says he has Palestinian origins and was born in Jerusalem and was a worker for the UN.

Rashid's father was  Ismail Ragib Khalidi, who was born on 13 November 1916 –died  2 September 1968)  was a senior political affairs officer for the United Nations Department of Political Affairs.    He was the brother of Husayin al-Khalidi .  Husayn Fakhri al-Khalidi  1895–26 December 1966) was born in Jerusalem like his brother. He worked as medical doctor for the Department of Public Health in Aleppo, Syria.   Husayin al-Khalidi was mayor of Jerusalem from 1934 to 1937.   The  Khalidi father and uncle were born in Jerusalem, then still part of the Ottoman Empire.

 Though a Saudi citizen, the question arises as to why Ismail and Husayin  were born in Jerusalem.  Many Arabs had come into Palestine looking for work from the Jews.  His father could have been one of them.  It's rare that any Palestinian is accepted as a citizen of another Arab country, so I doubt if this happened and Ismail moved to Saudi Arabia and became a citizen.  More likely their parents came from Saudi Arabia to Palestine  looking for work and education.  

Ismail  Khalidi attended St. George's School, Jerusalem and the Arab College (Jerusalem) (1927-1936). In 1939, he received his B.A.in political science from the American University of Beirut. "   Israel became a state on May 14, 1948.  Khalidi also served as the Assistant Editor, Middle East Desk, United States Office of War Information from 1942–44 and the Secretary of the Institute of the Arab American Affairs, from 1945-48. He was a member of the UN for 19 years, joining originally as a radio announcer He died on 2 September 1968 at the age of 51 in Beirut, Lebanon

 Rashid's  mother was born in the USA of  Lebanese parents..  Khalidi attended the UN International school.   He serves as the  Edward Said   Professor of Modern Arab Studies at Columbia University.   Khalidi  is a strong Palestinian activist and blames America and Israel for all the Middle East problems which isn't surprising.   He's also a big time supporter and associate of  America's president, Barack Obama.  To be criticizing the USA and a friend of its president is certainly contrary.  I cannot say he is a Palestinian, though.  Being his father was in Jerusalem while working for the UN does not make his father a Palestinian. His father, Ismail Khalidi and his brother, Husayin al-Khalidi were Saudis.

Obama was heard on TV to say in a speech that IS is not Islamic.  Khalidi has been backing him up on this.  On a PBS segment Khalidi gave an explanation of Sura 47, verse 4 of the Quran where Khalidi says does not justify beheadings.  Khalidi and Obama are saying that IS is not following the Islamic law.
                                                                     

He has been called on this by Brigitte Gabriel, founder and president of Act for America.  She's one of the leading national security experts in the world on the rise of Islamic terrorism. 

"Brigitte Gabriel, Christian,  is an American journalist, author, social commentator and activist.  Gabriel says that Islam keeps countries backward, and that it teaches terrorism.  She should know, because she was born in Lebanon to Maronite Christian parents as Nour Saman on October 21, 1964.  .  .
                                                               
She was in Lebanon  at the same time that I was in Israel and Rashid was in Lebanon.  She was there before, during the Lebanese Civil War where Islamic militants launched an attack on the Lebanese military base near her family's house and destroyed it when Gabriel was 10 years old in 1974.  She suffered from being hit by shrapnel during this attack.  The family was forced to live underground in all that remained which turned out to be like an 8 by 10 foot  bomb shelter for 7 years.  All they had was a small kerosene heater, no sanitary supplies, no electricity or running water and little food.  She had to crawl in a ditch along the road to get spring water as she had to evade Muslim snipers.  So, in 1978, 2 years before I moved to Israel, her family was warned of an impending attack by the Islamic militias on all Christians.  

Her life was saved when the Israeli army invaded Lebanon in Operation Litani in 1982.  Her mother was seriously injured later and taken to an Israeli hospital.  She was amazed that Israelis showed such care and humanity for them which was the opposite of the propaganda she had heard about Jews when she was a little girl.  Israel's border with Lebanon had been protected by Major Hadad and his men, of the Christian Maronites.  Israel had a deal with him to take in his family if, G-d forbid, anything happened to him.  

Brigitte speaks Arabic, French, English and Hebrew.  She  reads Arabic being it was the language used in Lebanon and has studied the Quran.  She finds that this paragraph of Sura 47 verse 4 was not read entirely for the PBS audience and is not what most Qurans says.  She gives us the translation from the Quran published in Saudi Arabia:
                                                                          

"So, when you meet (in fight-Jihad in Allah's cause) those who disbelieve, smite (their) necks till when you have KILLED (emphasis added) and wounded many of them, then bind a bond firmly (on them, i.e.take them captives.).  Thereafter (is the time) either for generosity (i.e. free them without ransom), or ransom (according to what benefits Islam), until the war lays down its burden.  Thus (you are ordered by Allah to continue in carrying out Jihad against the disbelievers till they embrace Islam and are saved from the punishment in the Hell-fire or at least come under your protection.),  but if it had been Allah's will, He Himself could certainly have punished them (without you).  But (He lets you fight) in order to test some of you with others.  But those who are killed in the Way of Allah,  He will never let their deeds be lost."  

She notes that the word, KILLED is pretty important and is in this Quran in 47/4.  Khalidi evidently did not use this word in the reading which caught Brigitte's attention.  He's trying to downplay the proper translation as a defense for Islam's terroristic directions.   I note that the paragraph does not say you have to behead ALL of them or kill all of them in battle, but taking prisoners is allowed.  I don't believe IS has been doing this from the TV pictures of long lineups of Iraqi soldiers  killed.  But it certainly does allow for beheading and why not?  When the Quran was written, beheadings were the usual thing done by Islam.  

Khalidi has stated that there is a legal right under international law for Palestinians to resist Israeli "Occupation" of which is an untruth in itself.  Israel is not "occupying Gaza."  Israelis, according to international law, have a right to live in Judea and Samaria, and that is not "occupying."  

Khalidi gave a speech to the American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee and said that killing civilians is a war crime.  It's a violation of international law.  (This is exactly what Palestinian Hamas has been doing to Israel which is what caused Israel to finally go into Gaza a month ago).  However, Khalidi was not talking about Israel's woes.  He was using this reference to defend Palestinians.  The New York Sun editorial caught this and criticized him for it as he did not distinguish between Palestinian combatants and noncombatants and was implying that all Palestinians have this right to resist.  This turns out to be incorrect under international law.

.  Khalidi was an opposer of the Iraq War March 19, 2003 to May 1, 2003 was the beginning.   The U.S. completed its withdrawal of military personnel in December 2011, during the ninth year of the war.^] However, the insurgency is ongoing and continues to cause thousands of fatalities. Khalidi  has been telling Obama that we owe reparations to the Iraqi people.  Here we are fighting IS now from the sky over Iraq and Syria.  

What Brigitte may not have known is the tie Rashid Khalidi has to Jerusalem, causing him as an Arab to be highly motivated to defend the Palestinians and their behaviors since Netanyahu has said there's little difference between Hamas terrorists and IS.  I wonder if Obama knows of his family's  connections.  

 "In Brigitte's view, Palestinian nationalism has largely been replaced by "holy obligation" motivating adherents to commit "terrorist murder.   She states that the legitimization of Palestinian suicide attacks within Israel has now evolved to where, "Islamists believe that they may commit mass murder anywhere in the world to advance their holy cause." As a result, she believes the world now suffers "from a plague of Islamic terrorism... authored and perfected by the Palestinians."

With regard to the two-state solution, Gabriel states: "Forcing Israel to accept a two-state solution is not going to work unless the Palestinians first are forced to clean up their act and eliminate hatred from their schoolbooks, teach tolerance to their people, and preach acceptance of Israel and the Jews as a neighbor."  This has been my thoughts, exactly.  Thank you Brigitte.  

Resource:  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rashid_Khalidi

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brigitte_Gabriel
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2003_invasion_of_Iraq
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ismail_Khalidi