Written by: Ilan Frydman

Some Facts About Israel

It's important information to know since we don't get fair and accurate reporting from the media and facts tend to get lost in the jumble of daily events.
Here are some conveniently overlooked facts in the current Middle East situation.
These were collected from sites on the Internet.

1.      Israel became a nation in 1312 B.C.E., two thousand years before the rise of Islam.

2.      Arab refugees in Israel began identifying themselves as part of a Palestinian people in 1967, two decades after the establishment of the modern State of Israel.

3.      Since the Jewish conquest in 1272 B.C.E. the Jews have had dominion over the land for one thousand years with a continuous presence in the land for the past 3,300 years.

4.      Arabs have only had control of Israel twice - from 634 until the Crusader invasion in June 1099, and from 1292 until the year 1517 when they were dispelled by the Turks in their conquest.

5.      For over 3,300 years, Jerusalem has been the Jewish capital. Jerusalem has never been the capital of any Arab or Muslim entity. Even when the Jordanians occupied Jerusalem, they never sought to make it their capital, and Arab leaders did not come to visit.

6.      Jerusalem is mentioned over 700 times in the Tanach. Jerusalem is not mentioned once in the Koran.

7.      King David founded the city of Jerusalem. Mohammed never came to Jerusalem.

8.      Jews pray facing Jerusalem. Muslims pray with their backs toward Jerusalem.

9.      Arab and Jewish Refugees - In 1948 the Arab refugees were encouraged to leave Israel by Arab leaders promising to purge the land of Jews. Sixty eight percent left without ever seeing an Israeli soldier.

10.  The Jewish refugees were forced to flee from Arab lands due to Arab brutality, persecution and pogroms.

11.  The number of Arab refugees who left Israel in 1948 is estimated to be around 630,000. The number of Jewish refugees from Arab lands is estimated to be the same.

12.  Arab refugees were INTENTIONALLY not absorbed or integrated into the Arab lands to which they fled, despite the vast Arab territory. Out of the 100,000,000 refugees since World War II, theirs is the only refugee group in the world that has never been absorbed or integrated into their own peoples' lands. Jewish refugees were completely absorbed into Israel, a country smaller than the state of New Jersey.

13.  The Arabs are represented by eight separate nations, not including the Palestinians. There is only one Jewish nation. The Arab nations initiated all five wars and lost. Israel defended itself each time and won.

14.  The P.L.O.'s Charter still calls for the destruction of the State of Israel. Israel has given the Palestinians most of the West Bank land, autonomy under the Palestinian Authority, and has supplied them with weapons.

15.  Under Jordanian and Palestinian rule, Jewish holy sites were desecrated and the Jews were denied access to places of worship. Under Israeli rule, all Muslim and Christian sites have been preserved and made accessible to people of all faiths.

16.  The U.N. Record on Israel and the Arabs - Of the 175 Security Council resolutions passed before 1990, 97 were directed against Israel.

17.  Of the 690 General Assembly resolutions voted on before 1990, 429 were directed against Israel.

18.  The U.N was silent while 58 Jerusalem Synagogues were destroyed by the Jordanians.

19.  The U.N. was silent while the Jordanians systematically desecrated the ancient Jewish cemetery on the Mount of Olives.

20.  The U.N. was silent while the Jordanians enforced an apartheid-like policy of preventing Jews from visiting the Temple Mount and the Western Wall.

21.  Regarding the Palestinian children that are killed - for each Palestinian CHILD that is killed due to attacking Israelis the Palestinian authority offers a few thousand dollars, and a bit less for just injuries, needles to say, the parents never get the money for sending out their children, the children are under no circumstances innocent, they attack Israeli people and the worst thing is something that is known about Palestinians, Hamas and Jihad is that they hide behind women and children and fire from there.

22.  Israel is not to blame for the current situation, Israel does one thing, and one thing only, and that is defend itself from enemies, there is a reason that the army is called the ISRAELI DEFNCE FORCE, and it is very simple - WE DO NOT PROVOKE OR START WARS, any country would do the same, if not worse.

23.  The Palestinian T.V and radio call for killing of Jews and AMERICANS, not to mention the demonstrations of "how to KILL a Jew who is PRAYING at the Western Wall (which by the way they do not claim is theirs).

24.  In 1948 the U.N offered to give the Israelis 50% of the land of Israel, and the Palestinians 50%, the Palestinians did not take the offer, if you notice, every time the Palestinians get an offer, they reject it, why? you ask. Because they think that they can get more, and it is true, when the Labor party is in power. Even then, they still send suicide bombers.

25.  When we (Israel) attack, we aim (and hit) at murderers and terrorists; they aim at innocent civilians (and soldiers).

26.  Arafat, IS NOT, under any circumstance a peace partner, Arafat is a terrorist, and admits it. One of the things he admitted to is the Munich slaughter: in the 72 Olympics in Munich, Arafat (and again - he admitted to this) sent "people", who went in to the Israeli team's rooms and MURDED them all, this is the "man" that we are supposed to make peace with, this is the "man" that walks around free, and this is the "man" that is the leader of the Palestinians.

27.  Arafat has NOT condemned the violence.