Insightful newsletter of Drishtikone: Issue #302 - The Anti-Jew Hatred and Arab-Israeli Wars
Why is Palestine-Israel battles going on? Why are Arabs always attacking Israel? Why do Muslims hate Jews with such vehemence? What is the origin of Arab-Israel wars? Lets look.
“I assess the power of a will by how much resistance, pain, torture it endures and knows how to turn to its advantage” ― Fredrich Nietzsche
Religion was a source of power. Always.
Belief, ideology, and the consequent hatred - whether logical or not - was enough to set entire populations against each other.
Unfortunately, even though three religions of the world - and there really are only three religions in the world (rest are native answers for seeking divine) - claim their inheritance from one source, the link of the subsequent two after Judaism is quite thin. The only thing common in the subsequent two is the passion for spreading their ideology - by sword or any means available - and extreme hatred for Jews. And, Pagans by design and Hindus (by default).
To understand the battle between Arab states - Palestine is backed by them (maybe not Saudi Arabia and UAE as of now) - and Israel one needs to understand their history. That gives a lot of insights into what is happening and why.
Abrahamic.. or not?
Three religions in the world are called Abrahamic. The only one which has direct relationship to Abraham is Judaism. Rest seem to have made it up via a stretched set of arguments.
For example, Muhammad was born into the Banu Hashim clan of the Quraysh tribe. Quraysh tribe was a powerful merchant tribe in Arabia that controlled Mecca and was the custodian of the local Pagan shrine Kaaba.
In fact, the original direction of the mosque in Medina where Muhammad worshipped was towards Jerusalem but was changed to Mecca’s direction later on.
Muhammad was expelled from Mecca and thereafter his followers fought 3 battles until they seized control of Kaaba and broke the idols of the Quraysh people.
Interestingly, Muhammad’s link to Abraham comes from the claim that the Quraysh people were descendants of Ishmael, one of the two sons of Abraham.
It is interesting, therefore, that the religion of the Quraysh tribe, which descended from Ishmael is precisely the religion that Muhammad decimated. So he may be genealogically linked to Ishmael, if this claim is true, but theologically, it does not seem to be so. Does it?
The Jewish tree comes from the second son Isaac.
Jews were the recipient of hatred from Christians as well because the latter had to sell their new ideology while the “original” one existed. So they used ‘martyrdom’ of Jesus and the claim of “Son of God” as well as of course - the new message as a strategy to upstage the Abrahamic/Jewish Torah.
The Islamic way was not much different. The Biblical hatred for Jews was a good recipe that was kept intact along with many things from the Old Testament while adding some new set of beliefs.
So, Hadith and Quran have verses in them that justify hatred for the Jews. The Muslim world’s hatred for the Jews dates back to that set of theology. Specifically this verse from the Hadiths.
The Day of Judgement will not come about until Muslims fight the Jews when the Jew will hide behind stones and trees. The stones and trees will say O Muslims, O Abdullah, there is a Jew behind me, come and kill him. Only the Gharkad tree, (the Boxthorn tree) would not do that because it is one of the trees of the Jews. (related by al-Bukhari and Muslim).Sahih Muslim, 41:6985, see also Sahih Muslim, 41:6981, Sahih Muslim, 41:6982, Sahih Muslim, 41:6983, Sahih Muslim, 41:6984, Sahih al-Bukhari, 4:56:791,(Sahih al-Bukhari, 4:52:177)
If you think this is some archaic belief and not something that would impact modern and present-day Muslims, then please listen to this exchange between a Muslim student from the University of California San Diego, and David Horowitz. The event was hosted by Young Americans for Freedom and DHFC. In this exchange, this lady unabashedly shares her hatred for Jews openly and see how easily she is bared by David Horowitz at a speech during "Israel Apartheid Week” at the University of California San Diego.
The Quran is equally relevant when it comes to perpetrating crimes and hatred against the Jews. For example, this verse.
Commentary by Tanwîr al-Miqbâs min Tafsîr Ibn ‘Abbâs on 4.46: (Some of those who are Jews) Malik Ibn al-Sayf and his friends (change words from their context) they change the traits and description of Muhammad after these were exposited upon in the Torah, and then come to Muhammad (and say: “We hear) your words, O Muhammad (and disobey) your command, when he is not around them; and we (hear thou) O Muhammad (as one who heareth not” and “Listen to us!” distorting with their tongues and slandering religion. If they had said: “We hear) your saying, O Muhammad (and we obey) your command; (hear you) hear from us, (and look at us” it had been better for them) than their insults and defamation, (and more upright) and more correct. (But Allah hath cursed them) punishes them by making them pay the capitation tax (for their disbelief) as a punishment for their disbelief, (so they believe not, save a few) among them who have accepted Islam such as 'Abdullah Ibn Salam and his friends. (Source)
Basically, the Jews who accept Islam and the word of Muhammad as the final word will be favored by Allah. Those who do not believe in Islam or Muhammad’s word will be cursed and made to pay a tax (Jiziya).
The Modern History of Israel
From 1881 to the 1930s many Jews descended upon the area where Israel is there from Eastern Europe and other middle eastern countries, to live in the land of their ancestors AND to escape persecution everywhere in those areas.
On May 15, 1947, the General Assembly of UN formed a committee – United Nations Special Committee on Palestine (UNSCOP) to prepare for consideration at the next regular session of the Assembly a report on the question of Palestine.
The Committee proposed in September 1947 a three-state solution – (i) an independent Arab State, (ii) an independent Jewish State, and (iii) the City of Jerusalem. The City of Jerusalem was to be under an International Trusteeship System.
The General Assembly passed a resolution in November to adopt and implement a Plan of Partition with the Economic Union. The Jewish Agency – representative of the Jews – accepted the plan. Arabs – Arab League and Arab Higher Committee – however, refused to accept the plan.
On December 1, Arab Higher Committee called out a 3-day strike and Arab goons started attacking the Jews in that area – killing, raping, and destroying their property. Jews were taken aback but recovered to strike back. Many Palestinians left the area.
Stung by the whole malafide and devious strategy and actions of Arabs and Palestinians, David Ben-Gurion, the head of the Jewish Agency, declared “the establishment of a Jewish state in Eretz-Israel, to be known as the State of Israel“.
The very next day, Muslim forces comprising of armies of 4 countries – Egypt, Syria, Transjordan, and Iraq – entered the area and attacked Jews in what is known as the 1948 Arab-Israeli War. Saudi Arabia also sent its army to fight under Egypt's direction.
The War raged for a year and at the end of it temporary border called the “Green Line” was drawn where Jordan won the areas now known as West Bank and East Jerusalem. Meanwhile, Egypt took control of the Gaza Strip.
From whatever they could salvage, the Israelis somehow, rationing food and clothing, eked out their living and moved on. During the years after that, many people – Holocaust survivors, etc – moved into Israel. These years also saw numerous fidayeen attacks by the Palestinians who came from the Gaza strip. Egypt even closed the Suez Canal to Israelis in the 1950s. Its only when the Israelis attacked the Sinai Peninsula, that UN gave them express rights for shipping in the Red Sea and the use of the Canal.
In 1964, continuing their antagonism, the Arab countries tried to divert the Jordan River water to deprive the Israelis of their water supply. Jordan river is central to at least 4 nations’ water needs - Jordan, Israel, Lebanon and Syria.
Israel relied on the water it received from the Jordan River. Figures range from 5-75% of the Jordan river’s water - depending on who gives you those figures. Israel’s project for this diversion was the National Water Carrier that was able to channel 11 billion cubic feet annually from Lake Tiberias to Rosh Haayin near Tel Aviv.
In 1967, the Egyptians initiated a blockade of the Red Sea against the Israelis and start mobilizing forces along with other Arab states.
Seeing this as the last straw, Israel prepared itself and launched a pre-emptive strike against Egypt, Jordan, Syria, and Iraq on June 5th, 1967.
The six-day war that was started by the Arab nations had one main mission from their side - “wage a Holy war (Jihad) to destroy Israel.” So the war and its objectives were based on religious motives.
BBC wrote that the war ended in a defeat for the Arab states who had decided to destroy the new state.
At the end of 1948, Israel's Arab neighbours had invaded to try to destroy the new state, and failed. The Egyptian army had been beaten, but a force surrounded in a piece of land known as the Falluja pocket refused to surrender. (Source: BBC)
Of course, when they lost the war, they started crying foul but their hatred continued unabated.
By the end of the Six-Day War, the Israelis had taken over the Sinai Peninsula, the Gaza Strip, the Golan Heights, East Jerusalem, and the West Bank of the Jordan.
In 1973, 6 years after that victory, the Arab states decided to attack again. This time, their intention and plan were kept very secret. So secret that even the Israeli intelligence had no idea about it.
The Israeli intelligence had a guesthouse on top of a hill overlooking the Mediterranean Sea. Small but very important Mossad ‘safehouse’. On September 25th, 1973, came a visitor with a warning of an impending war. His host was Golda Meir, the Israeli Prime Minister.
On the evening of September 25, 1973, the guesthouse had a very special visitor: His Majesty King Hussein of the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan, a country Israel was at war with, at least officially. The king had left Amman an hour before on a Royal Jordanian Air Force helicopter to travel to the shore of the Dead Sea, where he transferred to a helicopter of the Israeli Air Force to fly to the guesthouse. With him was his prime minister, Zaid Rifai, and his intelligence chief, General Fathi Abu Talib. It was not the king’s first visit. He had been secretly meeting with Israeli leaders for years, just like his grandfather King Abdullah had before his assassination. Already in 1973 he had met with Israeli officials in May and August. Both times he had warned that the status quo in the region was unsustainable, but he had not sounded any alarm. Hussein understood the value of clandestine diplomacy and was a master of it. (Source)
This conversation was also being listened to by some other Israelis.
In a back room of the guesthouse, a couple of other aides would listen in on the secret conversations remotely by ear phone from listening devices in the living room. Among the listeners was the chief of the Jordan desk in the Israel Defense Forces’ (IDF) Directorate of Military Intelligence (DMI) Lieutenant Colonel Zussia Keniezer, an expert on both His Majesty and the Hashemite Kingdom. (Source)
The warning was about the war that Egypt and Syria were going to impose on Israel. The King was coming from a Summit in Cairo and after a period of hostilities that Jordan faced from Egypt and Syria, they had made up. His warning was based on what had probably transpired in the Cairo summit.
Exactly what the king told Golda is still controversial. The earliest accounts of the meeting in Israeli newspapers—in 1993, 20 years after the meeting—claimed the king brought an explicit warning that Syria and Egypt were about to attack Israel, a warning that the prime minister failed to heed, leading to the surprise attack on Israel on October 6, 1973. The former head of the DMI, General Eli Zeira, claimed in 1993 when the story broke about the king’s trip that the prime minister had received a warning of war from “a very senior Arab personality,” which the papers identified as King Hussein. (Source)
On October 6th, 1973, the Arab states led by Egypt and Syria attacked Israel on the holiest day for Israel - Yom Kippur. It is called the Yom Kippur War (or Ramadan War or October War). The theater of war was primarily the Sinai and the Golan area. This land had been taken by Israel during the Six-Day War.
On October 6, 1973, Egypt and Syria attacked Israel’s forces in the Sinai Peninsula and the Golan Heights. Despite initial Israeli setbacks, Kissinger, now both Secretary of State and National Security Advisor, believed that Israel would win quickly. He feared that a rout of the Arabs could force the Soviets to intervene, raising their prestige in the Arab world and damaging détente. Thus, he proposed that the United States and the Soviet Union call for an end to the fighting and a return to the 1967 ceasefire lines. The Soviets, who were uneager to intervene on behalf of their clients, agreed, but the Egyptians rejected the ceasefire proposal. Wanting to avoid both an Arab defeat and military intervention, the Soviets then began to resupply Egypt and Syria with weapons. By October 9, following a failed IDF counter-attack against Egypt’s forces, the Israelis requested that America do the same for them. Not wanting to see Israel defeated, Nixon agreed, and American planes carrying weapons began arriving in Israel on October 14. (Source)
The Arabs had attacked Israel on the holiest day for the Jews when they are fasting. So when the Israeli army attacked back ferociously, guess what became an issue? How the Chief of Staff inspired his troops to fight them! The hypocrisy that you see in India today, has echoes in what had happened in Israel and with its army back then!
Israel faces the ire of the Arab and specifically the Muslim world since then. Since 1400 years actually.
So when you see what is happening in Israel vs Palestine today, always remember this map.
Do you see that small blue strip? That is Israel.
Rest - Turkey, Syria, Jordan, Lebanon, Iraq, Iran, Turkmenistan, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia Oman, Yemen, and UAE are Islamic nations.
Now, go back to the original mission of every war that the Arabs have fought against the Jews from Muhammad’s time onwards. What was the mission statement?
Destroy the Jews.
If Israel gave even an inch of power to the Arab states, what do you think would have happened?
So, if you are against Israel in any of their wars or battles against the Arab states, remember you are also for genocide and extermination of Jews. Not too different from Hitler, isn’t it?
market corner: 10 quick bytes
After delays, IT companies give double hikes - Many IT companies are giving a second round of salary increases and promotions within months of the previous one - more
Khadi sales bounce back strongly in FY21 despite Covid after hitting a record low in the preceding year - more
40 million Indians to upgrade to 5G within a year of commercial launch: Ericsson - more
Pune ranks first, Delhi-NCR at the bottom among top 8 cities on health infra parameters: Report - more
Renewable Energy accounted for 64% of generation capacity addition in FY21: CEEW-CEF (Center for Energy Finance) market handbook - more
Indian Railways’ Western zone transports 8 million tonnes of goods from April 1 to May 10 - more
FMCG grew 9.4% in Jan-March 2021 led by staples, rural growth; however second quarter situation dynamic - more
Mid-sized engineering, procurement, construction firms to see 15% revenue growth this fiscal: Crisil - more
India focussed offshore funds, ETFs see $376 million outflow in March quarter - more
WHO says Covid-19 variant B.1.617 first found in India detected in 44 countries - more
nota bene
Ambitious Highway Targets: From 4,192 km of highways developed in 2020-21, the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) has set a target to build new highways with a combined length of 4,600 km in the current fiscal year. With available streams of funds including budgetary outlays and the funds being realized through the toll-operate-transfer (TOT) route, the NHAI is optimistic that it could achieve the target with EPC and HAM projects. (Source)
Ramadan Deaths: More than 200 blasts and 15 suicide attacks have rocked Afghanistan since the start of the Muslim holy month of Ramzan on April 13, the Ministry of Interior Affairs of Afghanistan said on Tuesday. Over 255 civilians have perished, and 500 others have been injured in the attacks that the Ministry has attributed to the Taliban. On Tuesday, Afghan President Ashraf Ghani expressed his gratitude to the security forces for preventing over 800 incidents of attacks, and in the process arresting more than 800 terrorists, who he said will be tried as per the law for carrying out terror activities. (Source)
Civil War in Israel: The ongoing conflict between Palestinian supporters and Israel has shaped into a war-like situation with many cities of Israel facing constant rocket attacks from the Gaza Strip. In a recent update, an intense riot has hit the central-Israel city of Lod, with three synagogues set on fire by the Israeli Arab Muslims. The rioters even attacked the local shops and parked cars setting them all ablaze. The Israeli government has now declared a state of emergency in the mixed Jewish-Arab city and has dispatched several Border Police companies to work to restore law and order. This is unthinkable. Synagogues are being burned. Hundreds of cars set alight. Hundreds of Arab thugs are roaming the streets… Civil war has erupted in Lod," Mayor of Lod Yair Revivo has said to media. (Source)
Hacked Pipeline & Gas Stations run Dry in US: More than 1,000 gas stations in the Southeast reported running out of fuel, primarily because of what analysts say is unwarranted panic-buying among drivers, as the shutdown of a major pipeline by a gang of hackers entered its fifth day Tuesday. (Source)
Israel's Iron Dome Defense system: Rockets streamed out of Gaza and Israel pounded the territory with airstrikes early Wednesday as the most severe outbreak of violence since the 2014 war took on many hallmarks of that devastating 50-day conflict, with no endgame in sight. Gaza's Hamas rulers and other militant groups have fired barrages of hundreds of rockets that at times have overwhelmed Israel's missile defenses, causing air raid sirens and explosions to echo across Tel Aviv, Israel's biggest metropolitan area, and other cities. (Source)
video corner: Crazy in the USA
America’s promise was that you could become what you wanted to become and live however you wanted. And that meant strange entertainment and crazy trends. Kurt Andersen, the host of Studio 360, discusses America’s history and where it is today.
Since a boat of religious fanatics with buckles on their hats hit the shores near Plymouth Rock and claimed that this was their utopia, America has always been a little bit crazy. It's this kind of wide-eyed "anything can happen if you believe" mentality that, at its best, can produce incredible art. But at its worst, it can be cruel and conspiratorial. We live in a country where people refuse to believe vaccination can help you and where a White House is spinning "alternative — but Kurt Andersen is here to say that this is nothing now. At the time of the Civil War, society had become split by two sides that refused to listen to each other. Back then, the political and social divide is stoked by a hyperbolic partisan media where anyone could publish whatever they wanted in a pamphlet without fact-checking. Sound familiar? (Source)
A very interesting commentary on religion and crazy ways in America.
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