(12.2001)
Israel has been losing the media war in regards to the Israeli-Arab conflict. This simple "Question and Answer" formatted document is meant to help people argue and debase Arab and Palestinian claims. If you have a specific question you wish researched and added to this FAQ, please email it to:
Hank Nussbacher (hank@interall.co.il)
Population analysis in Israel and "West Bank":
1967:
Jews in Israel 2,383,000 (63.68%)
Non-jews in Israel 392,000 (10.49%)
Arabs in Yehuda v'Shomron 585,900 (15.65%)
Arabs in Gaza Strip 380,800 (10.17%)
---------
Total 3,743,000
1967 projected totals for 1986 based on birthrate:
Jews in Israel 3,210,000 (56.57%)
Non-jews in Israel 738,000 (13.00%)
Arabs in Yehuda v'Shomron 1,033,000 (18.21%)
Arabs in Gaza Strip 692,800 (12.22%)
---------
Total 5,675,000
Actual populations in 1986:
Jews in Israel 3,517,200 (62.75%)
Non-jews in Israel 749,000 (13.36%)
Arabs in Yehuda v'Shomron 813,400 (14.51%)
Arabs in Gaza Strip 525,500 ( 9.38%)
---------
Total 5,605,100
One can see that statistical projections over a period of 20 years are never accurate.
For 1986-1987: out of the initial $200 million, less than $60 million had been made available. $30 million was supplied by Jordan, $25 million by UK, US and France and the rest by Saudi Arabia. UNRWA spent $75 million in the refugee camps. During that same period Israel made capital investments to Arab "West Bank"ers to the tune of $122 million (electricity, water, roads, sewage, schools, health, etc.)
So the actual scorecard is:
$122M Israel
$75M UNRWA
$30M Jordan
$25M France UK and US
$ 5M Saudi Arabia
The Israeli numbers do not include the $143 million it spent in the West Bank and the $66 million in the Gaza Strip for Civil Administration (land registry, legal system, salaries, etc.)
Source: 1987 Report: Demographic, economic, legal, social and political developments in the West Bank, Meron Benvenisti
In 1941 Germany invaded Russia with 2800 tanks and 800 planes. In 1973 Egypt and Syria hit Israel with 4500 tanks and 1000 planes. In 1943, Russia survived by retreating over 800 miles, Israel survived in 1973 by retreating 7-12 miles. If it wasn't for the Golan Hgts and Sinai, Israeli population centers would have been overrun.
The topography of the West Bank is most unique. It is best described with a diagram:
Israel West Bank Jordan
| .. |
| ..-- . |
| ..-- . |
| ..-- . |
| ..-- . |
.|..--- . |
....--- | . |
| . |
| ....|.
| |
The left side is the Western end, and slopes down to the Med sea. Most of all Israeli population is situated in that costal area. The elevation averages 0-100 meters above sea level. As you progress eastward (rightward on the map), you ascend the Shomron and Yehuda hills, which eventually reach an elevation of 900-1200 meters above sea level. When you reach the top, you have an *extremely* steep descent till you reach the Jordan valley which is mostly under sea level. The middle of the Jordan valley has the river Jordan as a natural division.
There are a total of 5 roads that lead up from the Jordan valley to the top of the Shomron hills (there are none in Yehuda other than the main road that ascends to Jerusalem). These 5 roads are generally, single lane roads. An Army controlling the summit would be able to hold off any attempt at climbing the roads until reinforcements came along.
If Israel was positioned outside the West Bank, and if Jordan were to allow the Iraq army to pass through their country, an army would be able to climb the Shomron roads and come within four miles of Kfar Saba. Kalkilye, located 4 miles from Kfar Saba, had a cannon called 'Long Tom' situated on the top plateau of the city in the pre-1967 days and regularly shelled Israeli cities in the costal plain.
In addition, flying time from Amman to Jerusalem by Mig21 is 4 minutes and from Damascus to Haifa it is 10 minutes. Israel currently has early warning radar sites situated on top of the Shomron and Yehuda hills. By giving up these areas, Israel would be giving up its "eyes" into Jordan and Syria. In matters of fighter plane scrambling, 3 minutes can mean the difference between victory or defeat.
Source: The Palestinian Labyrinth - A way out, Moshe Aumann, 1985
El Nagach (Shechem) - est. 1977
Beir Zeit - est. 1972
Bethlehem - est. 1973
Islamic College (Hebron) - est. 1971
Jerusalem University
- College of Scientists (Abu Dis) - est. 1982
- College of Social Welfare (El Bira) - est. 1979
- College of Religion (Beit Hanina) - est. 1978
By looking at the illiteracy rates and high school completion rate, one can see a vast improvement between 1970 and 1983, when Israel controlled Yehuda and Shomron:
- The percentage of illiterates among Arabs in Yehuda and Shomron:
- men: 1970 - 27.8%
1983 - 13.5%
- women: 1970 - 65.1%
1983 - 38.9%
- The percentage who finished high school among Arabs in Yehuda and
Shomron:
- men: 1970 - 1.4%
1983 - 12.4%
- women: 1970 - .5%
1983 - 5.3%
Source: West Bank Handbook, Meron Benvenisti, 1987
Name Est. Where from
-------- ----- -------------------------------------------------
Balata 1950 From 65 towns around Yafo, Ramla and Lod
Askar 1950 From 25 towns around Yafo and Haifa along with
Beduins from Beersheva
Al Fara 1949 From 61 towns around Haifa, Yafo and Beersheva
Tulkarem 1950 From 85 towns around Haifa and Yafo
The last refugee camp set up was Shuafat in 1965/1966.
What is interesting to note are some numbers as taken from an UNRWA census in 1984:
Balata 11,685 Askar 7,914 Kalendia 4,816 El Amaria 4,681 Shuafat 5,219 El Jilazun 4,791 Nur A'Shamps 4,374 Tulkarem 9,567 Jenin 8,085 Dehaisha 6,165
The total refugee camp population in 1984 was 183,000 in Gaza and 83,000 in Yehuda and Shomron; total 266,000. But suddenly, the UNRWA numbers jump to 494,000 refugees in camps as of 1995!
The total refugee population is as follows based on UNRWA numbers:
1950 | 1984 1984 living in | 1995 1995 living in
| camps | camps
------- | ------- -------------- | --------- --------------
Yehuda and Shomron 373,000 | 357,000 83,000 | 517,000 132,000
Gaza Strip 200,000 | 428,000 183,000 | 683,000 363,000
Jordan 92,500 | 800,000 248,000 | 1,288,000 238,000
Note how there has been a decrease in refugees living in Jordanian camps over the period 1984-1995 (based on UNRWA numbers) but in the West Bank we have seen a 60% increase and in Gaza a near doubling of the camp population within a period of just 11 years! Normal growth cannot explain this growth in numbers and most probably shows how inaccurate the census is in these areas.
Andre Gromyko(USSR), at the United Nations Organization, May 20, 1948
"We Arabs, especially the educated among us, look with the deepest sympathy on the Zionist movement...We will wish the Jews a most hearty welcome home."
The Emir Fayzal to Felix Frankfurter of the American Zionist delegation, Paris Peace Conference, 1919. Reprinted in "The Arab Israeli Conflict: Documents Vol III, pages 42-49, John Moore, editor.
This was said by Phillip Hitti, representative of the Institute of Arab American Affairs before the Anglo-American Committee of Inquiry (State Dept Building, Jan 11, 1946, hearing minutes, page 5). Arabs and the rest of the world associated the word Palestine with Jews and therefore did not want to be called Palestinians.
The Palestine Foundation Fund, The Palestine Workers' Fund, The American League for a Free Palestine, The Federated Appeal for Palestine Institutions, The Palestine Economic Corp., The United Palestine Appeal - all were Jewish organizations that existed in the 1920s and 1930s.
Source: The Palestinians - A Political Masquerade, Kahn & Murray, 1977
J.S. Pictet, in his "Commentary, IV Geneva Convention" (1958) states, "The prohibition of destruction of property situated in occupied territory is subject to an important reservation." He states that "imperative military requirements" can serve as the basis for said destruction.
Article 78 of the 4th Geneva Convention: "If the Occupying Power considers it necessary, for imperative reasons of security, to take safety measures concerning protected person, it may, at the most, subject them to assigned residence or to internment." Pictet states that Article 78 is different than all previous articles, in that it relates to people who have not been found guilty of any crime by the Occupying Power, but rather the Power has decided that the person is dangerous and therefore it is entitled to restrict their freedom of action.
What is "imperative military requirements? Meir Shamgar, Chief Justice of the Supreme Court in Israel, in "The Observance of International Law in the Administered Territories" (1971), writes,
Military requirements can be of two kinds: on the one hand, there is the necessity to destroy the physical base for military action when persons are discovered committing hostile military acts, and in this respect, a house from which a grenade is thrown is a military base, not different from a bunker in other parts of the world. The measure under discussion is of utmost deterrent importance, especially in a country where capital punishment is not used against terrorists who kill women and children.
Regulation 119(1) of the regulations that are in force in the Occupied Areas states as follows:
A Military Commander may by direct order the forfeiture to the Government... of any house, structure or land from which he has reason to believe that any firearm has been illegally discharged, or any bomb, grenade or explosive or incendiary article illegally thrown, detonated, exploded or otherwise discharged, or of any house, structure or land in any area, town, village, quarter or street the inhabitants or some of the inhabitants of which he is satisfied have committed or attempted to commit or abetted the commission or have been accessories after the fact to the commission of any offence against these Regulations involving violence or intimation or any Military Court offence; and when any house, structure or land is forfeited as aforesaid, the Military Commander may destroy the house or structure or anything in or on the house, the structure or the land.
Source: "The Rule of Law in the Areas Administered by Israel", Israel National Section of the International Commission of Jurists, 1981
Source: Third International Conference WOJAC, Proceedings (Oct 26, 1987); Congressional Record, Jan 27, 1988, Volume 134, No. 3.
The Geneva Convention, Article 49, paragraph 6 states:
The Occupying Power shall not deport or transfer parts of its own population into the territory it occupies.
To find "...the sort of solitude to make one dreary...Come to Galilee for that...these unpeopled deserts, these rusty mounds of barrenness, that never, never, never do shake the glare from their harsh outlines, and fade and faint into vague perspective, that melancholy ruin of Capernaum: this stupid village of Tiberias, slumbering under its six funeral palms."
"Palestine sits in sackcloth and ashes...desolate and unlovey...it is dreamland."
From Mark Twain's trip to the Holy Land in 1867.
Source: "The Innocents Abroad", Mark Twain, London 1881
1947 name 2001 name ---------------- ------------------ Beisan Beit Shaen Sheik Munis Ramat Aviv Zarnuka Rehovot Yibna Yavne Isdud Ashdod Ma'gdal Ashkelon Bir-a-Saba Beersheva Bit Ilpa Kibbutz Beit Alfa Kfar Zoboba Kibbutz Givat Oz Kfar el-MaSadiya Kibbutz Gan Shumel Hirvat Balkiya Kibbutz Gash Abu Shusha Kibbutz Mishmar HaEmek350 out of 450 Arab towns and villages were destroyed in 1948 and were replaced with places like those listed above.
Source: Carta's Atlas of Israel, The First Years 1948-1961, Carta, 1978, Jerusalem
The first time the area which is today named Israel was given the name Palestine was in 135 AD after the Roman conquest of Judea. This was immediately after the Romans crushed the revolt led by Simon Bar Kochba in 135 AD. The Romans renamed the land Syria-Palesitina in an attempt to cancel the Jewish claim to the land. They proceeded to destroy Jerusalem and rename it Aelia Capitolina. But we can still find as late as the 4th century, the Christian author, Epiphanius referring to "Palestine, that is, Judea." Previous to 123 AD (a turning point in Jewish history), there is about 2000 years of Jewish presence and history in the area today termed Israel. Here is a brief history, leaving out thousands of names and places. Pick up any history book that covers this period and this region:
2000-1225 BC - The period of Abraham
1120-1180 BC - Moses, the exodus from Egypt, the crossing of the
Red Sea
1180-1100 BC - The assault on Jericho
1080-1030 BC - Samson, Samuel, Shaul
1030-1013 BC - David, battle of Gilboa
1013-1006 BC - David proclaimed king at Hebron, David captures
Jerusalem
1006-980 BC - The wars of David (Arameans, Moab, Edom)
980-933 BC - The death of David, Solomon, the 1st Temple
933-875 BC - War between Israel and Judah, Omri founds the 3rd
dynasty of Israel
987-851 BC - The era of Samaria
854-746 BC - Ahab, the Assyrian advance, the end of the Omri
dynasty
746-720 BC - Amos at Bet-el, Shallum, Menachem, Pekahiah - kings
of Israel, Ahaz king of Judea, deportation of
Israelite population to Assyria
720-692 BC - The fall of Samaria, the capture of Ashdod
692-609 BC - Beginning of decline of Assyrian power, the fall of
Ninveh, death of Josiah.
608-586 BC - The end of the kingdom of Judea, the destruction of
Jerusalem, the flight to Egypt by Jews
586-538 BC - Babylonian exile
538-432 BC - The restoration of the 1st Temple, Nehemiah builds
the walls
424-187 BC - Greek rule
187-142 BC - Hellenism, rededication of the Temple, Judah the
Maccabbee
142-37 BC - Simon, Syrian invasion repulsed, Samaritan temple
razed, rise of the Pharisees, Sadducees, Pompey,
Caesar, Herod named by Romans to be king of Jews
37-4 BC - Herod the Great
4BC-67 AD - Jesus, Pontius Pilate, Agrippa confirmed by Claudius,
Josephus in the Galilee
68-135 AD - Titus, destruction of Jerusalem and the Temple, the
capture of Masada, Hadrian, the Jewish uprising led
by Bar Kochba, the renaming of Judea to
Syria-Palestina by Rome
Only in 632 AD did the Moslem Arabs invade Syria-Palestina and by 640 AD the area was part of the Moslem empire. This reign lasted 450 years, with first the Omayyads, then the Abbasid dynasty and finally by the Fatimids.
More detailed descriptions of the people killed can be found at the MidEastWar.Org site.
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