ISRAEL THIS & THAT

Revenge of unborn child

<NOBR>08/05/2004 16:44</NOBR>

Galina Skvortsova from Rostov region in Southern Russia has no children. Her prays to God to grant her a kid were not answered, and she blamed the abortion she had as 19-year-old girl, for her misfortunes. The doctors said that she had no health problems. Galina learned the cause of her infertility only when she was 55-years-old, and she had a routine examination at the gynecologist"s. Of course, she had already abandoned her hope to give a birth to a child, and visited the doctor because of some gynecological problems. Doctor Olga Kogan examined the patient with gisteroscope - the device having tiny video camera installed, and discovered that the lady"s womb contains child"s cannon-bone.   "I could not believe it", the doctor says.  "This can happen during illegal abortions, but in 99 percent of such cases the extraneous body causes inflammation. The cannon-bone is 2.5 centimeters in size, and this means that Galina had an abortion when she was pregnant for a long time, about 4 months. The unborn child conducted revenge in his own way - his bone pressed to womb"s side with its edges, and in this way the contraceptive like a spire was made. The doctor thought that the lady would faint after hearing about the cause of her infertility. However, Galina just sighed and said quietly, "I was destined to this".. Radmila Maiskaya

Israel Current News Update~December 16, 2005 =http://sc.groups.msn.com/them...Reageren  Aanbevelen  Bericht 2 in discussie Van: Is®aël777 Visit our website: www.bridgesforpeace.com    & nbsp;   &n bsp;   &nb sp;   &nbs p;    December 16, 2005     1) CAR BOMB ATTACK THWARTED 2) JERUSALEM AGAIN TAKES CENTER STAGE 3) SENIOR PA CHIEF SAYS: “NO JERUSALEM, NO PEACE” 4) HAMAS: ARMED STRUGGLE UNTIL DESTRUCTION OF ISRAEL 5) HAS TERROR IN ISRAEL CEASED? 6) HIZBULLAH ESTABLISHES HEADQUARTERS IN GAZA 7) THE STORY OF THE FRUITS 8) SEVENTY-THREE PERCENT RISE IN FIRST-TIME VISITORS TO ISRAEL 9) GOD'S GOT MAIL 10) ISRAEL’S INDUSTRIAL EXPORTS TO ARAB COUNTRIES UP SIGNIFICANTLY     1) CAR BOMB ATTACK THWARTED   Thursday evening, December 16, on my way home from work, traffic came to a virtual standstill. As we inched forward, ambulances with their sirens blaring flew by in the empty lanes, where on-coming traffic should have been. In the distance, I could see police lights and army vehicles. I did two things. I called my husband Tom to see if he knew what was going on, and I called upon God.   Our home is in Gilo, the most southern neighborhood in Jerusalem, just across the valley from the Palestinian areas of Bethlehem and Beit Jala. After living through nearly two years of intermittent shooting on my neighborhood and over four years of intifada (Arab uprising), my immediate thought was that a terrorist incident was underway. I was right, but I didn’t know the story until this morning when I picked up my paper.   As I sat in traffic, I interceded for those who might be involved–victims, police, security, and medical teams. When I finally arrived home, Tom told me that he heard a tremendous boom–he was sure it was an explosion. So, we both continued to pray for the people of Gush Etzion, a Jewish community surrounded by Arabs towns just to the south of Jerusalem.   When I read the story this morning, I thanked God for His faithfulness. Yes, there was a bomb. The Israel Defense Force (IDF) thwarted what could have been a catastrophic car bomb attack. Israeli forces discovered a car packed with explosives parked near Beit Jala, on the Jerusalem-Gush Etzion Tunnels Highway. Inside the car were gas canisters, a pi =http://sc.groups.msn.com/them...Reageren  Aanbevelen  Bericht 2 in discussie Van: Is®aël777 5) HAS TERROR IN ISRAEL CEASED?   In recent days, Israel has seen an upsurge in tourism. News of terror in Israel no longer dominates the front pages of world newspapers, and the talk is once again of elections and the possibilities of making peace. Even in Israel, where we normally hear every nuance of news affecting Israel, the press has been relatively quiet regarding attacks or attempted attacks.   It is easy to be swept in the euphoric allure of peace. Everyone in Israel, including me, would like to live in peace, tranquility, and prosperity. But, is it reality? Have the Muslim extremists really changed their ways? I wish I could say “yes.” But the facts do not support such a hypothesis. Consider the following.   Hamas, an organization that utilizes terror to achieve its goal of Palestinian nationalism, is poised to receive a large percentage of Palestinian votes in the January Palestinian Authority (PA) election. For example, in municipal elections in several major West Bank cities, held on December 15, the exit polls predict big victories for Hamas. In Nablus, Hamas was leading by 80% of the vote. In El-Bireh, Hamas was at 53% of the vote.   Almost every day, the western Negev, the area adjacent to the Gaza strip, from which all Jewish residents were removed earlier this year, has been on the receiving end of Kassam rockets. The areas to the north of the Gaza Strip have also been targeted, with missiles landing very near to heavily populated areas.   Today, December 16, an Israel Defenses Force (IDF) report of one week’s activity in the area of Northern Samaria came across my desk. What it shows is the vigilance and excellence of Israel’s security in thwarting attacks. It does not show lessening of desire or determination on the part of the Palestinians to attack Israeli targets. The list follows. Remember this is only one week, and only in one area of the country.   Friday, December 9, 2005: Two metal cans filled with explosives and fixed with duck tape were found in the possession of a 15-year-old Palestinian, who arrived at the Hawara crossing, south of Nablus, and was behaving in a suspicious manner. Sappers detonated the two explosive devices. The Palestinian youth told the forces he had intended to carry the explosive devices through to the other side of the crossing. A 15cm (6 inch) long knife was uncovered in the possession of a Palestinian, who arrived at the Hawara crossing. The knife was confiscated and the Palestinian was taken for questioning by security forces. Sunday, December 11, 2005:   Two attempts of weaponry smuggling thwarted: At a temporary roadblock, west of Jenin, Border Police forces arrested a wanted Palestinian and uncovered two pipe bombs in his vehicle. The man was arrested and taken for questioning by security forces. An ammunition belt for a light machine gun was uncovered in a Palestinian vehicle by Border Police at a roadblock southeast of Jenin. Monday, December 12, 2005:

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Abortion

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From: FLOWERINGGUMTREE   Risk of Psychiatric Hospitalization Rises After Abortion New Study Riles Abortion Defenders Springfield, Ill. - Is abortion a benign experience for women? Or can it cause or contribute to emotional problems, even severe ones? The American Psychological Association (APA), which has consistently lobbied in favor of abortion rights, has frequently insisted that abortion is a benign experience that predominately brings relief to most women. Some APA members, such as Nancy Adler and Brenda Major of the University of California, have even charged that those who say abortion can cause emotional problems are guilty of misleading the public. To support this view, Adler has argued that abortion is so common that if it did cause emotional problems, the nation's psychiatric wards would be filled with the evidence. Now, a new study published in the latest issue of the Canadian Medical Association Journal (CMAJ) shows that such evidence does exist. A review of the medical records of 56,741 California medicaid patients revealed that women who had abortions were 2.6 times more likely than delivering women to be hospitalized for psychiatric treatment in the first 90 days following abortion or delivery. Depressive psychosis was the most common diagnosis. Rates of psychiatric treatment remained significantly higher for at least four years. A previously published study by the same authors revealed that women who had abortions were also more likely to require subsequent outpatient mental health care. According to the CMAJ study's lead author, David Reardon, Ph.D., a common complaint among participants in post-abortion recovery programs is that when they raised the issue of their past abortions while seeking mental health care, their therapists dismissed abortion as irrelevant. "Therapists who fixate on the 'abortion is benign' theory, either out of ignorance or allegiance to defensive political views on abortion, are doing a great disservice to women who need understanding and support," said Reardon, who recently co- authored a book, Forbidden Grief: The Unspoken Pain of Abortion. "This study, based on objective medical records, validates the claims of tens of thousands of women in post-abortion recovery programs." In an effort to offer an opposing view, CMAJ editors invited psychologist Brenda Major, an advocate for the view that abortion is therapeutic, to submit a commentary on the study appearing in the same issue of the CMAJ. In her commentary, Major charged that the study's implication that abortion can cause psychiatric problems is misleading. She argued other factors, such as marital status or prior psychological problems, may offer better explanations for the fact that psychiatric problems are more common among aborting women. Reardon concedes that these other factors may also contribute to psychiatric illness but insists that abortion can both aggravate pre-existing problems and trigger new ones. He dismissed Major's commentary as a product of "the abortion distortion effect." Reardon particularly questioned Major's choice to omit from her comments any mention her own study recently published in the Archives of General Psychiatry. That study revealed that 1.4 percent of the women interviewed two years after their abortions suffered from post-traumatic stress disorder solely attributable to their abortions. Even such a low percentage, projected on the 1.3 million American women undergoing abortions each year, would result in 18,200 cases of PTSD each year, or over a half million cases since 1973. Including other types of negative reactions, Reardon said, could easily increase the overall complication rate by twenty times or more. This is the seventh study Reardon and his colleagues have published on abortion complications in the last eighteen months. Among the other studies, also published in major peer reviewed journals, one revealed that among women with an unintended first pregnancy, those who had abortions were at significantly higher risk of clinical depression an average of eight years later compared to similar women who carried their unintended first pregnancies to term. Higher rates of suicide and substance abuse among women who had abortions were also revealed in the other studies published by the research team More information and a link to the study is available at http://www.afterabortion.org/... CMAJ.html

Van: Aukina4Israel1

7. IDF Discover Terrorist Tunnel By By Tzvi Ben Gedalyahu The IDF discovered on Saturday a terrorist tunnel from Gaza; the PA knew about it, but took no action. A terrorist was killed and another was arrested after trying to attack Israel by land and sea. Soldiers carrying out construction work found the tunnel shaft and path leading to a garbage dump "behind which the terrorists had intended to enter the tunnel and infiltrate," IDF spokesmen explained. The tunnel from Beit Hanoun in the northern Gaza region was several yards deep, about 75 feet long, and would have allowed terrorists to strike nearby communities such as Kibbutz Erez and Moshav Netiv HaAsarah. The discovery of the tunnel "prevented a terrorist attack in Israel," said Gen. Yoav Galant, head of the IDF Southern Command. IDF sources several weeks ago predicted, "It only is a matter of time until the Arabs will succeed to dig tunnels into Israel. They have been working on them since the IDF withdrew from the Gaza area." Col. Moni Katz, a brigade commander, said that the Palestinian Authority (PA) passed along information to the IDF about the tunnel, but did nothing to stop the terrorists from continuing to construct it. He added, "I estimate that also in the future there will be more attempts to dig tunnels." Arab terrorists Saturday tried to attack Israel from the Gaza coast and throughout Judea and Samaria. A Navy boat spotted two swimmers carrying suspicious packages and equipped with diving gear, near the Gaza-Egypt border. After Navy officers tried to arrest them, terrorists on shore opened fire on the patrol boat, whose officers returned fire and killed one of the swimmers and injured the other. The packages sank. On land, soldiers directed artillery fire on sites in Gaza where terrorists tried to launch mortar shells toward the Negev. No injuries were reported. In Bethlehem, south of Jerusalem, the IDF arrested a 20-year-old terrorist who was planning to attack with explosive devices. On Friday, a 15-year-old was caught near the Hawara checkpoint near Shechem with improvised bombs.   Comment on this story

I\'m on a \"Merry Christmas\" mission and I\'m in full throttle. My little yellow VW Beetle has turned into a Christmas billboard with Merry Christmas written across the back window. Yes, I\'ve decided to trek off to work everyday on the public highways with a message that seems to offend people.

At stop lights, I even turn my music up a little louder, and to top it off, I sing along with it. Don\'t I know that stopping at a red light to roll my windows down only to share the joy of Christmas carols on public streets is a No-No? Don\'t I fear the Christmas Gestapo and those who would have me remove the written message from my car?

I\'m sorry folks, but the only person I\'m concerned about \"offending\" during this Christmas season is the Lord himself. LEAVE THAT MANGER ALONE! We\'ve allowed the Baby Jesus to be kicked out of His lowly manger, and those offended by Christmas are still not happy.

I refuse to let this happen. I\'m going to do my part to make sure \"Merry Christmas\" doesn\'t become extinct. Because like it or not, if the believers in Christmas don\'t take a stand now, it\'s gone forever.

Listen folks, the Christian community has been underestimated before; we will have to show ourselves again.

I walked into a Wendy\'s Restaurant the other day and was rather exuberant with my \"Merry Christmas\" greeting to the manager. He didn\'t have much of a response and I said, \"Where\'s your Christmas spirit?\" He said, \"We\'re not allowed to use the words \"Merry Christmas\" when greeting customers. We can only say \"Happy Holiday.\"

This morning I grabbed a quick breakfast at a Whataburger Restaurant. I noticed there wasn\'t a single decoration in the store. I asked the manager why they weren\'t decorated for Christmas. He told me the corporate headquarters decided not to send any decorations to any of their stores, and he didn\'t know why.

After I heard about all the Macy\'s and Federated Stores taking down their Merry Christmas signs, the Target stores not allowing the Salvation Army to \"Ring the Christmas bells,\" and the many incidents of children, choirs, and bands not allowed to play or sing Christmas carols, I realized it was happening right here in my own little Texas town.

How can this be? Not Texas!

We do, however, have a store, Hobby Lobby, that plays nothing but Christmas carols during the season. On Christmas Day they run a full page ad in our local newspaper. That ad is not to promote the store, but uses the entire page to tell the story of Jesus\' birth. Now that\'s taking a stand. We need to thank them.

When I saw a news report the other evening of children being taught new words to a song we\'ve sung for years - \"We Wish You a Merry Christmas\" - I was saddened to hear \"We Wish You a Splendid Holiday.\"

I know now that it\'s just a matter of time that the \"Merry Christmas\" greetings will be gone. Look around your town. Notice the \"Holiday\" greetings and not \"Christmas.\" It\'s happening right before our very eyes.

Start singing the songs; go down the streets of America singing to your heart\'s content. Get some of those wash-off markers that these kids use to write on their car windows when they\'re rooting for their hometown football team. It\'s easy to do, and if a torrential rain washes it off, write it on there again.

We\'ve got to get this message out. \"Go Tell It On the Mountain . . . that Jesus Christ is Born.\" Sing it, speak it, be a billboard for our Lord.

The story of this \"Baby Jesus\" alone has brought about more goodwill at this time of year than any other day we celebrate. How can we sit back and allow Him to be snuffed out of our lives?

Is it Jesus, or is it His followers that the \"offended\" don\'t like? What kind of revulsion galvanizes one to campaign so vehemently against the mere mention of His name, the mere singing of a carol, or the mere visual of a sign that says \"Merry Christmas?\"

I can listen to my own boss at work use some of the vilest words and follow up with, \"Excuse my French.\" I may cringe inside at his damning of God\'s name, but I tolerate it. So if you don\'t like me wishing you a \"Merry Christmas,\" I\'ll say, \"Excuse my joy.\" You may cringe that I celebrate the birth of Jesus, but just tolerate it.

I cannot be concerned that \"Merry Christmas\" offends you. If I\'m not careful, the day will come when saying I\'m a Christian will offend you.

I\'m offended that you\'re offended. How about that?

When we get to a point that we can no longer take part in a tradition we hold dear, we have no choice; we either defend that tradition or we give it up to those who say NO. That\'s it . . . period. So, which will it be?

I\'m not giving up my \"Merry Christmas\" joy to anyone. If I know of someone that celebrates another holiday during this time of year, I will be glad to wish them whatever holiday they want. Just tell me what it is and I\'ll shout it to the world and wish you a grand celebration.

Just give me Christmas. To you merchants: Stop being so hypocritical and \"filling your tills\" on the back of Jesus! Who do you think is the symbol of giving at this time of year? It was the wise men bringing gifts to the newborn Christ-child.

You want your coffers full, but have ordered your employees to take down all the Merry Christmas signs. If that\'s the case, I\'ll buy gifts at a place that understands my joy.

If you\'re worried about offending someone, you just did. The most recent Newsweek survey shows that 82% of Americans believe that Jesus is the Son of God. So, in trying not to offend a few, you\'ve offended many.

It\'s okay to jump into the \"Merry Christmas\" spirit when it fills your cash register, but let\'s call it something else . . . and don\'t stop giving . . . and don\'t stop buying. . . we\'ll just change the name and you\'ll never know the difference.

I know the difference and I\'m feeling it greatly. It\'s hard not to be aware that townships across our country have actually banned the singing of Christmas carols because it might offend someone. And it\'s not just the religious songs; it\'s the secular ones too. No more \"Jingle Bells\" or \"Rudolph, the Red-Nosed Reindeer\" because they\'re associated with Christmas. Boy, aren\'t we getting sensitive?

If we\'re not celebrating Christmas for the hope it gives with the birth of our Savior . . . there is no hope!

I noticed a few years ago that we changed the name of Abraham Lincoln\'s and George Washington\'s birthday so as to be all inclusive regarding the Presidents. Hark, if we should recognize anyone as exceptional. Now it\'s called Presidents\' Day.

Well, if we\'re going to be so all inclusive, next month I\'ll have to refer to Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Day as Civil Rights Leaders\' Day. We don\'t want to exclude great Americans like Rosa Parks or Cesar Chavez, do we? And to think that Jesse Jackson and Al Sharpton might be left out.

We might need to change Mother\'s Day, Father\'s Day, and Grandparents\' Day to All Parents\' Day. Just lump them all together.

It sounds ridiculous, doesn\'t it? So what\'s the difference?

My freedom to celebrate Christmas in the tradition of the Christian religion is as much my right as it is your right to be offended by it. So what are we going to do? Did anyone hear me . . . what are we going to do?

Do we defend a person\'s right to go forward with a time tested tradition (how about 2000 years?), or do we defend a person\'s right to end it all because they\'re offended? As long as we live in this great land and have the freedom to express ourselves and what we believe in, we will always offend someone.

If we try to make everything right for everyone, we won\'t have anything for anyone.

May you always have Christmas in your heart!

1. Expulsion Victims Injured in Kassam Rocket Attack

By Hillel Fendel The Kassam rockets that chased Israel and its residents out of Gaza are now pursuing those same residents in their new temporary homes. Three people were treated for shock after last night's attack.

Fifty-three families of the former northern Gaza communities of Nisanit and Elei Sinai are living in the temporary housing complex of Carmiya, located between Gaza and Ashkelon, and just two kilometers east of the region's main power plant. The government euphemistically calls it a "caravilla" community, while others refer to it as a refugee camp.

Palestinian terrorists in Gaza capped off a week of several rocket and mortar shell attacks with three Kassam rockets towards Carmiya late Saturday night. One of them passed just overhead and landed several dozen feet outside the camp, sending one woman and two children into a form of hysteria and shock.

The IDF Spokesman's Office informed Arutz-7 that the Kassams landed "just outside Carmiya." In addition, a mortar shell landed just to the south, in a field outside Netiv HaAsarah, damaging hothouses and an electric pole.

The IDF responded with artillery fire into Gaza.

The residents of Carmiya staged an angry demonstration this morning, protesting the fact that their government-imposed troubles have been compounded by the fact that their temporary home community has no shelters or reinforced buildings. The pre-fab homes are built to last for only three years.

In the meanwhile, the army continued to relax restrictions on Gaza Arabs, allowing another 2,000 workers to cross from Gaza into Israel. Another 1,000 merchants are also being permitted to cross, bringing the total to 2,000. Though Israel "disengaged" from Gaza in order to separate between Jews and Arabs, the current total of Gaza Arabs allowed to enter Israel daily thus now stands at 10,000.

The numbers of workers from Judea and Samaria were also raised this morning, bringing the total to 28,500.

Letter of Apology by Lt General Chuck Pitman, USMC, Retired.

From: Aukina4Israel1 (Original Message) Sent: 3/12/2005 4:22 PM
A Muslim In A Jewish Land
Guest Commentary By Tashbih Sayyed, Ph. D.
www.MichNews.com, Dec 1, 2005
Isralert.com source: Alert Isralert subscriber Rachel Neufeld


As I boarded EL AL flight LY 0008 for Tel Aviv on November 14, 2005 with my wife, Kiran, my mind was busy arranging and re-arranging the list of things I intended to accomplish. I wanted to use my first visit to Israel to feel the strength of the Jewish spirit that refuses to give in to evil forces despite thousand of years of anti-Semitism. It was not Israel's suicidal sacrifices that I wanted to investigate but the foundations of Israeli determination to live in peace.

There are many things that I wanted to talk about with Israelis, the foremost among them being their reluctance to do something about the bad press that continues to paint them as villains. Although I understand why the media, which reasonably covers most events accurately, chooses to ignore all rules of ethical journalism when it comes to Israel, I could not fathom Israel's reluctance to challenge the negative press effectively. Media bias against Israel reminded me of the Nazi era German press that was recruited by Hitler's Minister of Propaganda, Joseph Goebbels who picked up every hate-laden word against the Jews. Just like the German press who refused to print the truth about the gruesome atrocities in Europe's death camps - or claimed that it was all an exaggeration, the media today also ignores the Arab terrorism. I wanted to see if there was any truth in the media allegations that Israel was an apartheid state, undemocratic and discriminatory.

I knew that a true Jewish State could not be undemocratic since democratic concepts were always a part of Jewish thinking and derived directly from the Torah. For instance when in the Preamble to the Declaration of Independence, Jefferson wrote that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness, he was basically referring to Torah that said that all men are created in the image of God. I was confident that Israel cannot be racist or discriminatory since it is based on the idea of the covenant between God and the Israelites, in which both parties accepted upon themselves duties and obligations underlining the fact that power is established through the consent of both sides rather than through tyranny by the more powerful party.

My understanding of the Jewish State was confirmed when the entry form that I needed to fill before landing in Tel Aviv did not ask for my religion as is the law in Pakistan. Also, unlike Saudi Arabia, no one in Israeli immigration demanded from me any certificate of religion.

As the El Al approached the Promised Land, I continued to shuffle the list of charges made routinely against Israel by its enemies.

## Israelis live in a perpetual state of fear.
## Israel is undemocratic.
## Muslim Arab citizens of Israel do not have equal rights
## Israelis live in a perpetual state of fear:

From Tel Aviv to Tiberias, Jerusalem to Jezreel, and from Golan heights to the Gaza border, I could not find any evidence of fear. In fact the people felt so secure that none of the stores, gas stations, market places, or residences we went to, and where it was known that we were Muslims, deemed it necessary to either search or interrogate us. Especially when Kiran and I went to the Ben Yahuda Street in Jerusalem on a Friday evening, we found it bursting at its seams with people of all ages. The ground was shaking with music and young boys and girls were so busy having fun that they did not bother to even look around. Tourists were busy making deals and the whole crowd seemed to throb with the beat of the music.

I could not help but compare Israel's sense of security with the environment of insecurity that exists in Muslim countries. From Indonesia to Iran and from Afghanistan to Saudi Arabia, people are not sure of anything. In Pakistan's capital Islamabad, and the port city of Karachi, I was constantly advised not to make big purchases publicly for it encourages robbers to come after you. I did not hear news of any rape, honor killing or hold-up in Israel.


Israel is undemocratic:

As a Muslim I am much more sensitive to the absence of democratic freedoms in any society. And I do not believe that anyone but a committed anti-Semite will deny that Israel is not a democracy. Democracy in Israel is proportional and representative, but democratic coalitions, necessary in order to effect any decision making also have its problems.

The very first day in Caesarea introduced us to the Israeli democracy. The air was full of political debate and discussion. Ariel Sharon's decision to leave the Likud and form a new political party dominated the hotel halls and underlined the problems caused by the necessity of having democratic coalitions. "The object of a free and democratic Israeli society is to reach satisfactory compromise but often the conclusions are less than satisfactory - especially for the majority. It involves coalitions and unity which are also checks and balances on any potential abuse of minority rights. It is a better system than the American representative Republican system - which is really a representation of power and special interests. In the U.S. you get a democracy for the few. In Israel you have a democracy for everyone."

I tried very hard to find any Muslim state that has true democracy and where religious minorities are accorded equal democratic rights, but failed. The map of the Muslim world is too crowded with kings, despots, dictators, sham democrats and theocratic autocrats and the persecution of minorities is an essential part of Islamist social behavior. But here, protected by Israel's democratic principles, the Muslim Arab citizens of Israel are afforded all the rights and privileges of Israeli citizenship. When the first elections to the Knesset were held in February 1949, Israeli Arabs were given the right to vote and to be elected along with Israeli Jews. Today, Israel's Arab citizens are accorded full civil and political rights entitled to complete participation in Israeli society. They are active in Israeli social, political and civic life and enjoy representation in Israel's Parliament, Foreign Service and judicial system.

The Israeli faith in democracy also explains their refusal to respond to Islamist terrorism in violent ways. Despite my being aware of the human weaknesses which allow anger to subjugate the best of intentions, I could not find Israelis acting in vengeance against their Arab compatriots. My experience as a Muslim was also instrumental in expecting the worst in human behavior; Muslims under the influence of radical Islam have been unleashing their terror against non-Muslims even when the charges of anti-Muslim offenses were determined to be false.

I thought that it requires a superhuman effort to ignore the atrocities meted out to you and remain free of vengeful emotions. In my experience of Muslim societies, minorities have never been allowed the benefit of the doubt. Hatred of non-Muslims and outbursts of violence against minority faiths among radical Islamists have remained a norm rather than an exception. As a non-Wahhabi Muslim I have personally faced their barbarism and have watched Christians, Hindus and other minorities being persecuted on false pretenses. I thought that if Wahhabis in Saudi Arabia can sentence a teacher to 40 months in jail and 750 lashes just for praising Jews, it will not be unreasonable on the part of Israelis to punish Palestinians for throwing stones at worshippers at the Western Wall and burning down the tomb of Joseph.

But even in this section, Israelis have proved the world wrong. Despite daily provocations, they have managed successfully not to descend to the same level of depravity as their Arab enemies. The world is used to daily violence that is unleashed against religious minorities in the Muslim world. Only a couple of days ago the Muslim faithful in Pakistan had broken through the walls of a Church, torching and tearing open its doors. They were reacting to a rumor that a Christian had desecrated their holy book, the Quran. They smashed the marble altar of the Holy Spirit Church and shattered its stained glass windows. They torched a Christian residence and the neighboring St. Anthony's Girls School. Within moments flames were licking the walls and black smoke filled the sky. For days the Wahhabi clerics kept on calling their Muslim followers to come out from their houses and defend their faith by unleashing a reign of terror against Christians.

I wondered if an Israeli may someday find it justified to copy what Wahhabis have been doing in Iraq and other places – abducting, murdering and beheading "infidels". Most recently, the body of a Hindu driver, Maniappan Raman Kutty, was found with his throat slashed in southern Afghanistan for no evident reason but his faith.

But there was nothing in history that could have substantiated my fears; Jews, despite being subjected to the most barbaric acts of terrorism have yet to react in vengeance against their perpetrators. And I concluded that my first visit to Israel will help me in untangling the knot of Israel's insistence on continuing to remain a target of Islamist terror.


Muslim Arab citizen of Israel do not have equal rights:

As our air-conditioned bus negotiated the mountainous curves of the road to the heart of Galilee, I could not miss the rising minarets identifying a number of Palestinian Arab towns dotting the hillsides. The imposing domes of mosques underlined the freedoms that are enjoyed by the Muslims in the Jewish State. Large Arab residences, wide spread construction activity and big cars underlined the prosperity and affluence of Palestinians living under the Star of David.

On my way from the city of David to the Royal Prima hotel in Jerusalem, I asked my Palestinian taxi driver how he feels about moving to the territories under Palestinian Authority. He said that he could never think of living outside Israel. His answer blasted the myth spread by anti-Semites that Israel's Arab citizens are not happy there.

Another Israeli Arab informed me that Arabs in Israel have equal voting rights. In fact, Israel is one of the few countries in the Middle East where Arab women can vote. In contrast to the non-Israeli Arab world, Arab women in Israel enjoy the same status as men. Muslim women have the right to vote and to be elected to public office. Muslim women, in fact are more liberated in Israel than in any Muslim country. Israeli law prohibits polygamy, child marriage, and the barbarity of female sexual mutilation.

Moreover, I found out that there are no incidences of honor killings in Israel. The status of Muslim women in Israel is far above that of any country in the region. Israeli health standards are by far the highest in the Middle East and Israeli health institutions are freely open to all Arabs, on the same basis as they are to Jews.

Arabic, like Hebrew, is an official language in Israel and underlines the tolerant nature of the Jewish State. All the street signs call out their names in Arabic alongside Hebrew. It is official policy of the Israeli government to foster the language, culture, and traditions of the Arab minority, in the educational system and in daily life. Israel's Arabic press is the most vibrant and independent of any country in the region. There are more than 20 Arabic periodicals. They publish what they please, subject only to the same military censorship as Jewish publications. There are daily TV and radio programs in Arabic. Arabic is taught in Jewish secondary schools. More than 350,000 Arab children attend Israeli schools. At the time of Israel's founding, there was one Arab high school in the country. Today, there are hundreds of Arab schools. Israeli universities are renowned centers of learning in the history and literature of the Arab Middle East.

Aware of the constraints that a non-Wahhabi is faced with while performing religious rituals in Saudi Arabia, Kiran (my wife) could not hide her surprise at the freedoms and ease with which peoples of all religions and faiths were carrying out their religious obligations at the Church of the holy Sepulcher, Garden Tomb, Sea of Galilee, newly discovered Western Wall Tunnels, Western Wall, tomb of King David and all the other holy places we visited.

All religious communities in Israel enjoy the full protection of the State.
Israeli Arabs—Muslims, as well as many Christian denominations—are free to exercise their faiths, to observe their own weekly day of rest and holidays and to administer their own internal affairs. Some 80,000 Druze live in 22 villages in northern Israel. Their religion is not accessible to outsiders and Druze constitute a separate cultural, social and religious Arabic-speaking community. The Druze concept of taqiyya calls for complete loyalty by its adherents to the government of the country in which they reside. As such, among other things, the Druze serve in the Israel Defense Forces. Each religious community in Israel has its own religious councils and courts, and has full jurisdiction over religious affairs, including matters of personal status, such as marriage and divorce. The holy sites of all religions are administered by their own authorities and protected by the government.

A Hindu journalist who came to visit me talked about the openness that Jewish society represents. He told me that more than 20% of the Israeli population is non-Jewish of which approximately 1.2 million are Muslims, 140,000 are Christians and 100, 000 are Druze. Another non-Jewish Israeli told me that Christians and Druze are free to join even the defense forces of the Jewish State. Bedouins have served in paratroops units and other Arabs have volunteered for military duty.

The big houses owned by Arab Israelis and the amount of construction that was going on in the Arab towns exposed the falsity of propaganda that Israel discriminates against Israeli Arabs from buying lands. I found out that in the early part of the century, the Jewish National Fund was established by the World Zionist Congress to purchase land in Palestine for Jewish settlement. Of the total area of Israel, 92 percent belongs to the State and is managed by the Land Management Authority. It is not for sale to anyone, Jew or Arab..

The Arab Waqf owns land that is for the express use and benefit of Muslim Arabs. Government land can be leased by anyone, regardless of race, religion or sex. All Arab citizens of Israel are eligible to lease government land.

I asked three Israeli Arabs if they face discrimination in employment. They all said the same thing; normally there is no discrimination but whenever homicide bombers explode and murder Israelis, some Israelis feel uncomfortable dealing with them. But that uncomfortable feeling is also very temporary and does not stay for long.

My first visit to Israel has not only consolidated my belief that Israel is vital for the stability of the region but has also convinced me that the existence of Israel will one day convince the Muslims of the necessity of reformation in their theology as well as sociology.

A journey through the Israeli desert brought another important aspect of life to light; Prophets are not the only ones who can perform miracles – people who believe in themselves can also perform unbelievable acts. Acres and acres of sand dunes have been transformed into the best possible fertile land; Wheat, Cotton, Sunflowers, Chickpeas, Groundnuts (Peanuts), Mangoes, Avocados, Citrus, Papayas, bananas and any other fruit and vegetable that Israelis want to consume is grown within Israel. In fact, Israelis have proved beyond any doubt why God promised them this land – only they could keep it green.

The land is described repeatedly in the Torah as a good land and "a land flowing with milk and honey". This description may not seem to fit well with the desert images we see on the nightly news, but let's keep in mind that the land was repeatedly abused by conquerors that were determined to make the land uninhabitable for the Jews. In the few decades since the Jewish people regained control of the land, tremendous improvement in its agriculture has been witnessed. Israeli agriculture today has a very high yield. Agriculture in Israel is very effective, and is able to cover about 75% of domestic needs, despite the limited land available.

Looking at the development and transformation that the land has gone through because of the Jewish innovative spirit, hard labor and commitment to freedoms for all times to come, I am convinced that it is true that God created this earth but it is also a fact that only an Israel can keep this earth from dying.


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Copyright by Tashbih Sayyed, Ph. D. Reprinted with permission. (The writer is editor-in-chief of Pakistan Today and Muslim World Today, California-based weekly newspapers, president of Council for Democracy and Tolerance and adjunct fellow of Hudson Institute.) (This article appears in the December 2, 2005 edition of www.MuslimWorldToday.com.)