69 million page views

"From Time Immemorial" by Joan Peters

Reader comment on item: What Syrian Chemical Weapons Reveal about Obama

Submitted by Kitty Fane (United States), May 20, 2015 at 02:33

The above referenced book, published in 1984 completely bears out what Mr. Pipes claims in his excellent article, to wit, that at the time the first Zionists arrived in the area, in the 1880s and 1890s, Ottoman census data showed too few taxpayers in the district called Palestine to defray the administrative costs. The land was barren, consisting of swamps and boulders, not supporting any agriculture. Inhabitants were a few Bedouins who eaked out a living herding sheep. It was thanks to the arduous pioneering work of the early Zionists that the land became arable and capable of sustaining a larger population. As a consequence, Arabs from the neighboring countries, Egypt, Syria, Yemen, and others, started populating Palestine.

When Israel declared Statehood in 1948, these Arabs that had inmigrated only very recently, fled the country mostly at the urging of the Arabs who were invading Israel, not to be caught in the crossfire. Subsequently, the UN took it upon themselves to give a new definition to the term refugee, which meant for centuries someone expelled from his ancestral home to someone who had resided in Palestine since 1946 (two years). In addition, th emiillions of Jewish refugees who had been expelled truly from their ancestral homes in Arab countries from Morocco to Iraq were not included when the UN talked about refugees - only the Arabs were refugees.' I highly recommend this book to anyone seriously wishing to understand the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

Submitting....

Note: Opinions expressed in comments are those of the authors alone and not necessarily those of Daniel Pipes. Original writing only, please. Comments are screened and in some cases edited before posting. Reasoned disagreement is welcome but not comments that are scurrilous, off-topic, commercial, disparaging religions, or otherwise inappropriate. For complete regulations, see the "Guidelines for Reader Comments".

Submit a comment on this item

Reader comments (30) on this item

Title Commenter Date Thread
Timing of the Grape Harvest [173 words]M ToveyJul 13, 2015 14:58224177
We should support Assad and the Syrian Arab Army [364 words]
w/response from Daniel Pipes
CGJun 17, 2015 01:01223838
Wanting to live in one's homeland is not "hard core" [237 words]Michael SJul 14, 2015 03:14223838
War is Politics Where the Blood is Spent and not Saved [311 words]M. ToveyMay 29, 2015 13:47223592
Approach tenants with caution [1620 words]Michael SJul 4, 2015 12:36223592
Matthew 21:33-40 - Tenants Challenging the Master of the Vineyard [243 words]M. ToveyJul 8, 2015 14:32223592
Pink slip in the mail [518 words]Michael SJul 8, 2015 22:31223592
Who are the actual "observant" Jews? [771 words]Michael SJul 8, 2015 23:57223592
M. Tovey, KJV and Pauline Greek [86 words]UgriJul 9, 2015 13:32223592
Maybe I should learn Finnish! [45 words]Michael SJul 11, 2015 22:30223592
To Love The Eternal Father is to OBEY HIm - That is Being Observant [232 words]M ToveyJul 13, 2015 13:38223592
Israel is Not a Member [608 words]Michael SJul 13, 2015 18:33223592
Examining Pauline Greek For Its Simplicity [239 words]M ToveyJul 15, 2015 11:40223592
Human Sacrifice, Kapparot and the Temple [628 words]Michael SJul 16, 2015 10:56223592
Future Ten Nation Satrapies Not In Evidence Yet - But What Is? [137 words]M. ToveyJul 20, 2015 16:48223592
Observance of Tisha B'Av in the Midst of ME Tragedies [334 words]M ToveyJul 22, 2015 11:19223592
The Beast is well-defined [925 words]Michael SAug 1, 2015 14:24223592
Hizbullah-initiated attack on Israel unlikely at present [548 words]Michael SAug 1, 2015 22:16223592
1A thought [65 words]Peter HerzMay 25, 2015 00:08223505
1Can't have it both ways [170 words]MadMax84May 20, 2015 11:20223438
What Do You Really Think [3 words]
w/response from Daniel Pipes
Barry BlackMay 20, 2015 09:10223436
1Feckless U.N.? [53 words]Kent McDonaldMay 20, 2015 08:42223435
2"From Time Immemorial" by Joan Peters [242 words]Kitty FaneMay 20, 2015 02:33223432
1Red line! What red lines? [20 words]steven LMay 19, 2015 21:41223425
1Worried about this [12 words]DavidMay 19, 2015 19:46223424
1The president's apologists have noted that chlorine is not banned [127 words]
w/response from Daniel Pipes
David KoralMay 19, 2015 19:19223423
2the horrors [138 words]judithgMay 19, 2015 19:07223422
1The Republic of Oregon could easily defeat the US [113 words]Michael SMay 19, 2015 18:06223421
1Paper tiger and wishful thinking. [167 words]Mark KosminskasMay 19, 2015 17:34223420
1Syrian Chemical Weapons and Obama [16 words]Howard BrownMay 19, 2015 16:37223419

Follow Daniel Pipes

Facebook   Twitter   RSS   Join Mailing List

All materials by Daniel Pipes on this site: © 1968-2024 Daniel Pipes. daniel.pipes@gmail.com and @DanielPipes

Support Daniel Pipes' work with a tax-deductible donation to the Middle East Forum.Daniel J. Pipes

(The MEF is a publicly supported, nonprofit organization under section 501(c)3 of the Internal Revenue Code.

Contributions are tax deductible to the full extent allowed by law. Tax-ID 23-774-9796, approved Apr. 27, 1998.

For more information, view our IRS letter of determination.)