There are good Arabs and bad Arabs, good Israelis and bad Israelis,
good Americans and bad Americans. This is not about race, nor even
religion.
This is about an oppressive culture into which beautiful little babies
are born, and slowly destroyed. Human beings are not simply animals,
but
are spiritual creatures with a soul, capable of choosing a high road
or
a low road. Each one of us, ultimately,
chooses the high or the low road -- that is, we rise above the madness
of our particular culture and discover our true identity and destiny,
or
else we identify with our insane culture and revel in it.
When U.S. servicemen put their lives on hold, left their loved ones
and
went into harms way to defend Saudi Arabia from the Iraqi army in the
early '90s, the Saudis thanked us by banning Bibles in their country.
Think about this.
During its war with Iraq, Ayatollah Khomeini sent 12-year-old Iranian
boys to the battlefront, having given each boy a cheap plastic key
to
wear around his neck. It was the key to heaven, the lad was told. If
he
died killing an infidel, he would be transported immediately to heaven.
If the conscripts were old enough to be interested in girls, they were
assured that
when they died killing an infidel -- namely, Christians or Jews --
they
would go straight to Heaven, where they would be given a harem of 50
virgins. Talk about motivation!
No wonder these people with their angry, fear-based, suppressed,
and
impoverished lives are so eager to drive a truck bomb into an American
embassy.
Just as in America, young people need to rise above the insane popular
culture of our day, so in the Arab world, these vast populations,
containing many good and decent people, would do well to rise above
the
culture and tradition that has oppressed them for thousands of years.
It
is an inheritance worthy of casting off, as all hatred is worthy of
casting off.
One more quote:
"Our relationship with Israel is in our mutual self-interest. But a
narrow calculation of interest is not the sole basis of the bond between
our nations. At its heart is a moral obligation on our part to do
whatever is necessary to defend and protect Israel." --President Ronald
Reagan, May 13, 1988.
_____________________
Here are some excerpts from a column written by Joseph
Farah, an
Arab-American journalist, for the WorldNetDaily.com:
If you believe what you read in most news sources, Palestinians want
a
homeland and Muslims want control over sites they consider holy. Simple,
right?
Well, as an Arab-American journalist who has spent some time in the
Middle East dodging more than my share of rocks and mortar shells,
I've
got to tell you that these are just phony excuses for the rioting,
trouble-making and land-grabbing. Isn't it interesting that prior to
the
1967 Arab-Israeli war, there was no serious movement for a Palestinian
homeland?
"Well, Farah," you might say, "that was before the Israelis seized the
West Bank and Old Jerusalem."
That's true. In the Six-Day War, Israel captured Judea, Samaria and
East
Jerusalem. But they didn't capture these territories from Yasser Arafat.
They captured them from Jordan's King Hussein. I can't help but wonder
why all these Palestinians suddenly discovered their national identity
after Israel won the war.
The truth is that Palestine is no more real than Never-Never Land. The
first time the name was used was in 70 A.D. when the Romans committed
genocide against the Jews, smashed the Temple and declared the land
of
Israel would be no more. From then on, the Romans promised, it would
be
known as Palestine. The name was derived from the Philistines, a
Goliathian people conquered by the Jews centuries earlier. It was a
way
for the Romans to add insult to injury. They also tried to change the
name of Jerusalem to Aelia Capitolina, but that had even less staying
power.
Palestine has never existed -- before or since -- as an autonomous
entity. It was ruled alternately by Rome, by Islamic and Christian
crusaders,by the Ottoman Empire and, briefly, by the British after
World
War I. The British agreed to restore at least part of the land to the
Jewish people as their homeland.
There is no language known as Palestinian. There is no distinct
Palestinian culture. There has never been a land known as Palestine
governed by Palestinians. Palestinians are Arabs, indistinguishable
from
Jordanians (another recent invention), Syrians, Lebanese, Iraqis, etc.
Keep in mind that the Arabs control 99.9 percent of the Middle East
lands. Israel represents one-tenth of one percent of the landmass.
But that's too much for the Arabs. They want it all. And that is
ultimately what the fighting in Israel is about today. Greed. Pride.
Envy. Covetousness. No matter how many land concessions the Israelis
make, it will never be enough. What about Islam's holy sites? There
are
none in Jerusalem.
Shocked? You should be. I don't expect you will ever hear this brutal
truth from anyone else in the international media. It's just not
politically correct.
I know what you're going to say: "Farah, the Al Aqsa Mosque and the
Dome
of the Rock in Jerusalem represent Islam's third most holy sites."
Not true. In fact, the Koran says nothing about Jerusalem. It mentions
Mecca hundreds of times. It mentions Medina countless times. It never
mentions Jerusalem. With good reason. There is no historical evidence
to
suggest Mohammad ever visited Jerusalem.
So how did Jerusalem become the third holiest site of Islam? Muslims
today cite a vague passage in the Koran, the seventeenth Sura, entitled
"The Night Journey." It relates that in a dream or a vision Mohammed
was
carried by night "from the sacred temple to the temple that is most
remote, whose precinct we have blessed, that we might show him our
signs. ..." In the seventh century, some Muslims identified the two
temples mentioned in this verse as being in Mecca and Jerusalem. And
that's as close as Islam's connection with Jerusalem gets -- myth,
fantasy, wishful thinking. Meanwhile, Jews can trace their roots in
Jerusalem back to the days of Abraham.
The latest round of violence in Israel erupted when Likud Party leader
Ariel Sharon tried to visit the Temple Mount, the foundation of the
Temple built by Solomon. It is the holiest site for Jews. Sharon and
his
entourage were met with stones and threats. I know what it's like.
I've
been there. Can you imagine what it is like for Jews to be threatened,
stoned and physically kept out of the holiest site in Judaism?
So what's the solution to the Middle East mayhem? Well, frankly, I don't
think there is a man-made solution to the violence. But, if there is
one, it needs to begin with truth. Pretending will only lead to more
chaos. Treating a 5,000-year-old birthright backed by overwhelming
historical and archaeological evidence equally with illegitimate claims,
wishes and wants gives diplomacy and peacekeeping a bad name.
_____________________
Consider this also, in most of the countries fighting today, it's
muslems against non-muslems. Open your eyes and let the light in.