Yochanan
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Member # 13
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Before you read this article, take a quick look at what ISRAEL is up against.
From Shoresh, publication of the International Fellowship of Christians and Jews:
As the Middle East conflict continues to capture world attention, many contradictory claims are being made about the land of Israel and its rightful owners. Yaser Arafat calls much, and sometimes all, of the Holy Land "occupied territory," meaning the Israelis are the occupiers of the land that he says belongs to the Palestinians. But what are the facts about the land that God swore to give to Abraham and his descendants forever (Genesis 12:6-7)?
Here are some things to consider:
1. Israel became a nation 2,000 years before the rise of Islam.
2. The Jews have had dominion over the land for 1,000 years, and a continuous presence in the land for the past 3,300 years.
3. Arab refugees in Israel only began identifying themselves as part of a Palestinian people in 1967, two decades after the establishment of the modern State of Israel in 1948.
4. Although Arabs claim Jerusalem as their "rightful" capital, the fact is that Jerusalem has been the Jewish captial for over 3,300 years. Jerusalem has never, in all of history, been the capital of any Arab or Muslim entity.
5. Jerusalem is mentioned over 700 times in the Tanakh, the Jewish Holy Scripture, but not even once in the Koran.
6. King David founded the city of Jerusalem. Mohammed never visited Jerusalem. Jews pray facing Jerusalem, while Muslims pray with their backs toward Jerusalem.
7. Militant Palestinians say they were forced out of their land by Israel. But the fact is that in 1948, Arab refugees were encouraged to leave Israel by Arab leaders. Sixty-eight percent of those refugees left without ever encountering an Israeli soldier or any force.
8. On the other hand, Jewish refugees were forced to flee from Arab lands due to Arab brutality, persecutions, and pogroms (which are organized massacres).
9. The number of Arab refugees who willingly left Israel in 1948 is estimated to be about 63,000; about the same number of Jewish refugees were forced from Arab lands.
10. Arab refugees were intentionally not absorbed or integrated into the Arab lands to which they fled, despite the vast Arab territory. Out of the 10,000,000 refugees since World War II, these Arabs represent the only refugee group in the world that has not been absorbed or integrated into their own peoples's lands.
The facts are clear. There are twenty-one Arab countries in the Middle East and only one Jewish state--and yet, Israel is the only democracy of these countries and the only one that allows citizens of all faiths to worship freely.
Twenty percent of Israel's citizens are not Jewish. Israel is smaller than the state of New Hampshire, and when established in 1948 it was less than one-sixth of what was then known as the "Arab world."
And yet today, under some peace proposals, Israel's withdrawal from the pre-1961 West Bank borders is demanded...leaving Israel just nine miles wide at its most vulnerable point.
Given these facts, it's little wonder that Israel often feels isolated in its struggle for existence. But she is not alone! Please continue to "pray for the peace of Jerusalem" as the Bible exhorts us to. ![[Prayer]](graemlins/prayer.gif)
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Give me understanding, and I shall keep thy law; yea, I shall observe it with [my] whole heart. (Ps. 119:34)
Sha'alu Shalom Yerushalayim
Pray for the Peace of Jerusalem
Posts: 61 | From: Rising Star, The Republic of Texas | Registered: Jun 2002
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