Ed Melik's rewrites history
Reader comment on item: Two Palestines, Anyone?
in response to reader comment: Two Palestines, Anyone?

Submitted by Infidel (Canada), Jun 24, 2007 at 15:05

With the title of Esquire, Ed Melik can now change the facts of history and completely distort the facts of today. In truth, Hamas attacked, killed and defeated members of Fatah in Gaza. But according to our reknowned Esquire, some known "whoever got the bigger and better guns to kill the trapped Hamas and the helpless and trapped population of Gaza".

Honorable Esquire goes on to say that "Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice will cluck regretfully about the violence unfolding in the Palestinian territories as if the chaos in Gaza has as little to do with her". What, pray tell, has Hamas attacking and killing Fatah got to do with Condoleezza Rice? Nothing, nothing at all but not according to our new historian Ed Melik. According to our new historian, "any honest assessment will not fail to recognize that the increasingly violent conflict between Hamas and Fatah is not only a by-product of Secretary Rice's economic siege of the Palestinians; it is the intended consequence of her savage war on the Palestinian people".

Since when has Ms. Rice initiated her savage war, and what in the world is her economic siege of the Palestinians, and what can she possibly have to do with the violence between two PEACEFUL factions of Islam, the Shiites and the Sunnis? We need to commend Ed Melik, Esquire for changing the facts of history with 3,898 words. And furthermore, we need to review the Honorable Melik's attitude regarding the Israelis. For your information Honorable Melik, let me give a little history about the Jews and Israel, which you will of course ignore because history can only be what you desire it to be.

Israel became a nation in the 14th century BCE. Two thousand years before the rise of Islam. Since 1272 BCE, the Jews have had dominion over the land for up to 1,000 years, with a continuous Jewish presence in the land for the past 3,300 years. The only Arab dominion since the Arab invasion and conquest in 635 CE lasted no more than 22 years.

In 1867, Mark Twain took a tour of Palestine. This is how he described that land: "A desolate country whose soil is rich enough but is given over wholly to weeds. A silent, mournful expanse. We never saw a human." In 1882, official Ottoman Turk census figures showed that, in the entire Land of Israel, there were only 141,000 Muslims, both Arab and non-Arab. A travel guide to Palestine and Syria was published in 1906 by Karl Baedeker; the book estimated the total population of Jerusalem at 60,000, of whom 7,000 were Muslims, 13,000 were Christians and 40,000 were Jews.

There is overwhelming historical and archeological evidence that Jews were living in the Land of Israel for thousands of years. Despite two exiles, one diaspora and persecution by colonial powers, there was constant presence of Jews in Israel. Over many centuries, Jews maintained a single language, religion and culture and never rescinded their claims to nationhood.

It is true that beginning in 1890 AD, many Jews began returning to Israel, but they never displaced anyone. In fact the Muslims followed them because Jews began settling in barren unpopulated Israel or land purchased from absent Arab land owners, and began creating industry, agriculture and economic opportunities. In 1917 the League of Nations decided to create a homeland for the Jews. This intention was confirmed by the Balfour Declaration in November 1917.

The land set aside by the League of Nations and transferred to the administration of Britain included the present land of Israel and the land now known as Jordan. The League of Nations and Britain did not confiscate land inhabited by Arabs and designate it for the Jews. Furthermore Britain mishandled their mandate and allocated the area of Jordan to the Arabs contrary to the intent of the League of Nations. Today, the Jews occupy less than 10% of the land that was originally set aside for them by the League of Nations.

Yet you believe that Israel is the major aggressor in spite of the fact that Israel was attacked by the Arabs in 1948, 1956, 1967 and 1973 and Muslim violence against the Jews continues to this day.

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