Gadi Adelman
Yawm an-Nakbah translates from Arabic as “day of the catastrophe”.
May 14, 1948 was the declaration of the state of Israel. The declaration was made 8 hours before the end of the British Mandate of Palestine, which was due to end on May 15, 1948. The day after Israel declared its independence, five Arab armies -- Egypt, Syria, Transjordan, Lebanon, and Iraq -- invaded Israel.
We often hear about the 700,000 Arabs that fled their homes and villages knowing that war would break out between the newly created Israel and its so called neighbors, but rarely, if at all ever hear about the Arabs that chose not to leave.
The Arabs that stayed behind became Israeli citizens; they not only vote in Israeli elections, they even hold office in the Israeli Knesset, the Parliament. They have more opportunity and more importantly, more rights than they would have in any Arab country.
The Arab village of Abu Gosh in the Judean Hills is one of my personal favorites. It dates back to the earliest areas of human habitation in Israel.
The book “Near and Middle East, Part 1” By Moshe Sharon explains,
Abu Gosh is one of the most ancient locations in the country, with evidence of almost uninterrupted habitation since the Stone Age.
The history of Abu Gosh is truly amazing dating back to the birthplace of the prophet Jeremiah as noted by Wikipedia,
Archaeological excavations have revealed 3 neolithic settlement phases; the middle phase is dated to the 7th millennium BCE. Its old Arabic name of Qaryat al'Inab ("Grape Village") has led Abu Ghosh to be identified with the biblical site of Kiryat Ye'arim. Legio X Fretensis of the Roman army had a station house in Abu Ghosh until the end of the 3rd century. The village has also been associated with Anathoth, the birthplace of the prophet Jeremiah.
All its history aside, Abu Gosh has another interesting fact; these Israeli Muslim Arabs serve side by side with Jews in the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF). An article in Ynet news from September 2006 explains,
Commando Abu Gosh, is Israel's bona fide Home Front Command rescue team, its members are all Muslim Arabs, residents of the village of Abu Gosh in the Jerusalem Mountains. Its volunteers are proud to wear IDF uniforms and to salute their commanders.
While the eternal dispute over whether national service for Israeli Arabs should be legislated continues, at Abu Gosh they didn't wait for such laws to be passed.
Volunteering into the Abu Gosh commando was a decision taken collectively by villagers and it is backed by the head of the council, who is also personally involved in the company.
In the article, Arab company commander Hunni Jaber discusses why he wanted to join the IDF,
When asked what made Arab Israelis don an IDF uniform, company commander Hunni Jaber said that all his life he had felt he was an Israeli citizen and as such he felt a need to volunteer into the army. "Now I walk around with my head held high," he says. He added that the home front is involved in saving human lives regardless of religion and race.
"Our voluntary work is a prime example of Jewish and Arab coexistence and cooperation," he added.
"Now I walk around with my head held high", I point this out because as I write this, Arabs and Muslims elsewhere such as in Gaza, the West Bank and at the borders of Israel with Lebanon, Syria and Egypt are ducking their heads while attacking the IDF in honor of “Nakba” day.
Back in March I had written about those calling for a third Intifada (uprising) to start on May 15 and now it has begun.
Israeli Haaretz reports on the borders of Lebanon and Syria,
Two demonstrators were killed in the incident near Majdal Shams on the Syrian border and between 3 and 10 people were killed in Maroun a-Ras on the Lebanese border.
The IDF said that the incidents clearly bore Iran's fingerprints. The sources said more than 100 people had been wounded. The protests were held to mark Nakba Day, which mourns the creation of the State of Israel.
The Jerusalem Post reported on the West Bank and Gaza,
Palestinians report 55 wounded in Kalandiya, 45 hurt in Gaza as Nakba Day violence strikes in W. Bank, Jerusalem; scores arrested.
Hundreds of Palestinians were marching from Ramallah to the Kalandiya Crossing near Jerusalem to mark Nakba Day on Sunday, Army Radio reported.
The demonstrators threw stones at security forces who responded with tear gas and stun grenades.
Another news report not making news here in the western media is that of the first terrorist act that occurred at 9:35 am Israel time,
One person was killed and at least 16 others hurt when a truck plowed down a busy street in Tel Aviv on Sunday morning, crashing into a bus, several cars, a motorcycle and a number of pedestrians, in what security forces believe was a terrorist attack.
Other reports put the injured number at 17 and witnesses heard the truck driver screaming,
Arik Levy told Israel Radio that when he went to go help the driver, he saw him continue to hit cars and street lights, and heard him saying "Allahu Akbar" and "death to Jews."
Hamas, the new partner with the Palestinian Authority was outspoken as well,
Hamas' leader in the Gaza Strip on Sunday affirmed the Islamist movement's hard-line principles in a speech to thousands of Muslim worshippers Sunday, as they commemorated the uprooting of Palestinians during the 1948 Independence Day War.
"Palestinians mark the occasion this year with great hope of bringing to an end the Zionist project in Palestine," Ismail Haniyeh, the prime minister of the Hamas government in Gaza, told about 10,000 people at a Gaza City mosque.
It’s not just in the Middle East this year, as explained in this flyer from the US Palestinian Community Network,
Around the world, march to Israeli Embassies and Consulates, in DC march to the White House, in NY march to the UN
From Istanbul to Athens Israeli embassies and consulates are seeing protests with people screaming anti-Israel slogans and Israeli flags being burned.
On Friday In Tahrir Square in Cairo, Egypt, tens of thousands gathered but not scream about Mubarak or their government, but to ask that the new government take a much stronger pro-Palestinian stand.
This is all prelude to what I have said is coming in September with the possible UN vote on Palestinian statehood.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu stated Sunday,
That the Nakba Day protests were not about the 1967 borders, but rather about “undermining the very existence of Israel.”
“It's important that we see the reality and know who and what we are dealing with.”
What we are dealing with is a rise in anti-Semitism worldwide. Mass uprisings throughout the Middle East and North Africa except for in the country of Israel.
The governments of Syria, Libya, Yemen and Iran, just to name a few, murdering their own people and where those uprisings have been successful at toppling the governments, the likes of the Muslim Brotherhood or Iran’s hands taking over.
What we are dealing with is not the “Arab Spring”, but rather the “Perfect Storm”. The upcoming flotilla to Gaza in June is being backed by countries such as Italy, France, Germany, Netherlands, Greece, Sweden, Ireland, Austria, Switzerland and Turkey.
The International Coalition of the Freedom Flotilla II met in Madrid, Spain in February to discuss the upcoming journey was attended by delegates from organizations in Algeria, Canada, Scotland, Spain, France, Greece, Holland, Ireland, Italy, Jordan, Kuwait, Malaysia, Norway, Sweden, Switzerland and Turkey.
The new 15-ship flotilla will be twice as big as last year's convoy and carry a total of 1,500 people, including activists from Europe, the Middle East, Southeast Asia, Latin America, Canada and the United States, to the coastal sliver.
Obama plans on renewing his “Muslim Outreach” program according to the Wall Street Journal,
President Barack Obama is preparing a fresh outreach to the Muslim world in coming days, senior U.S. officials say, one that will ask those in the Middle East and beyond to reject Islamic militancy in the wake of Osama bin Laden's death and embrace a new era of relations with the U.S.
Makes sense to me, reach out to the Muslim world some more because the U.S. killed Osama bin Laden, after all he was only responsible for the death of 3000 Americans. In the meantime, the world is turning their back and ganging up on Israel.
The saying is that “history repeats itself”, so why play political games? Just let Iran build a nuclear weapon, vote that Palestine should have statehood now that the PA and Hamas have made peace, keep helping oust leaders in the Middle East that have made peace with Israel, let the Muslim Brotherhood takeover in Egypt and elsewhere, ignore what is going on Syria as they arm the terrorists Hezbollah with the help of Iran, help the Flotilla go through the Israeli blockade.
It seems that this is what the world wants, to forget about Israel and once Israel is gone to see who will be next on the list.
If and when this happens I know where I will be, I’ll be standing side by side with Muslims from Abu Gosh, at least then I’ll know who truly is on my side.
FamilySecurityMatters.org Contributing Editor Gadi Adelman is a freelance writer and lecturer on the history of terrorism and counterterrorism. He grew up in Israel, studying terrorism and Islam for 35 years after surviving a terrorist bomb in Jerusalem in which 7 children were killed. Since returning to the U. S., Gadi teaches and lectures to law enforcement agencies as well as high schools and colleges. He can be heard every Thursday night at 8PM est. on his own radio show “AmericaAkbar” on Blog Talk Radio. He can be reached through his website gadiadelman.com.
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