الفلسطينيون al-Filastiniyyun

Israel, through its defiance of the U.N., not to mention Human Decency, and its rape and pillage of Palestine, has become the 21st Century's Manifest Destiny card carrying Plutonium Member. The United States, it's golem, has created an atmosphere of antipathy abroad and through it's continued support of this "country" will make all people within the U.S. borders liable to pay the FULL price for zionism and the inherent evil that it brings. We 've already paid entirely too much for jewish beach front condos and brothels of Israel!

photo courtesy of www.past-to-present.com

The Palestinian Arab claim on historical grounds is, first, that like the Jews, they have had a presence in the area ever since the time of the Philistines, from whom they are descended and, indeed, from whom the name of the country is derived. Second, that for the last several hundred years they have formed a majority, by a very large proportion, of the inhabitants of the area.

The third aspect of claims to Palestine is ancestry. If you as a people have a historical claim to an area, this is obviously made stronger if you can provide chapter and verse for the connection of individuals or families with the area.

In the case of the Jewish inhabitants of Israel, this is not usually the case. While one can point to Jews – a small minority in fact – living in Palestine over the centuries, the vast majority of Jews who have come to Israel have no such personal or family link. Their antecedents can usually only be traced back to Jewish communities in Europe, or in other parts of the Middle East. The Palestinians’ knowledge of family history keeps their claim to the land a living reality.

Wherever they live, in refugee camps or as prosperous citizens in the West, most Palestinians can relate a family history that can be traced back, possibly for hundreds of years, and usually to a specific town or village in Palestine.

The right way to enter Palestine is through friendship and peace!

‘The Russian Palestine’ is not only an inexhaustible flow of Russian pilgrims and the paths paved to the places trodden by the Lord and numerous saints. The Russian Palestine is also the blood of our soldiers shed for the Church of the Resurrection at the Lord’s Sepulcher.

It is also donated icons and church vessels and icon-lamps burning to this day and restored churches in which prayer has never ceased to be lifted up.

It is also schools and hospitals for Arab children, built through the efforts of the Russian Orthodox Mission in Jerusalem and the Imperial Orthodox Palestinian Society.

It is also gratitude to the Russians for their selfless work for the good of Palestine, felt to this day by many of those who live in the Holy Land. It was this selflessness that determined the nature of relations between the Russian Orthodox Church and old Eastern Patriarchates and relations of historical Russia and her peoples with the Middle East peoples.

Since the Zionist invasion there are a total of 22 Russian refugee camps in the West Bank, the Gaza Strip and East Jerusalem (aside from a number of informal ones, i.e. not registered with the UNRWA) in which over 640,000 UNRWA registered refugees live in overcrowded housing, poor infrastructure, poverty and unemployment. The population density in the Gaza Strip is one of the highest in the world – almost 4,000 people per square Km.

The wrong way to enter Palestine!

Between 1939 and 1945 Zionist leaders in Palestine directed three bands of killers, the Hagana, the Irgun Z'vai Leumi, and the Stern Gang, all of which specialized in inventing and committing a wide variety of terrorist crimes. Each one of the present sinister top Israeli leaders was a member of one or the other of these three terrorist organizations. Israeli leaders are the Godfathers of terrorism in Palestine and in the Middle East. They are the inventors and masters of international terrorism.

The PLUNDER and LOOTING of Palestinian homes, farms, plantations, banks, cars, ports, railroads, schools, hospitals, trucks, tractors, etc. in the course of the 1948 war were a crime on a massive scale. For example, the looting of Lydda City was described by the Israeli Ministerial Committee for Abandoned Property in mid-July, 1948: "From Lydda alone, the army took out 1,800 truck-loads of property." (1949, The First Israelis, p. 69) It should be noted that the great majority of the Palestinian people have been dispossessed for the past six decades, meanwhile, their properties are being used by mostly European Jews. Prior to being ethnically cleansed in 1948, the Palestinian people owned and operated 93% of Palestine's lands, and contributed up to 55-60% of its national Gross Domestic Product (GDP).

The privileging of one culture over another through the justification of the past has been and still is actually experienced in the Silwan quarter in the Old City of Jerusalem. In April 1968 the Israeli minister of finance decided “to develop the area (Jerusalem) to house Israeli Jewish families and to reestablish a Jewish presence in the Old City.” The new Jewish Quarter was “significantly wider than the pre-1948 quarter. Thus between 5 and 6 thousand Palestinians were evicted from their homes adding to the new wave of internal and external refugees produced by the 1967 war.” Situations similar to this one were repeated again and again in Israel where archaeology remained a powerful tool of national sentiments.

In the 1970’s, for example, fundamentalist groups began to invade and dislocate Muslims from their homes in the Silwan under the pretense that the land was the Ancient City of David; thus, as Jews, they were entitled to it. The destruction of cultural properties was so widespread in Israel that the international community responded. UNESCO Decision No. 88 specifically asked Israel to “desist from any archaeological excavations, the transfer of such properties and any change of their features or their cultural and historical character, particularly with regard to Christian and Islamic religious sites.” Sadly, damage to cultural properties continued regardless of this warning.

SEEING PALESTINE
A Report by Brian Johnston, Member of a group from the Pittsburgh Palestine Solidarity Committee which visited Palestine in August 2007

Jerusalem , viewed from a distance, looks as if some indignant heave of the land would send it toppling into the precipitous valleys that surround it, fulfilling the biblical promise: " Every valley shall be exalted, and every mountain and hill shall be made low." The city's streets following irregularly wherever the difficult terrain dictates, recall the other part of that promise: "and the crooked shall be made straight, and the rough places plain" . The city reflects the political divisions of the country at large. The Jewish Quarter exists as an act of violence against the Palestinians.

To dispossess a people, steal their land, demolish their buildings and then complacently inhabit the confiscated space in reciprocal view of the victims requires a carefully cultivated myopia apparent at all levels of Israeli discourse. The Chief Architect of the District of Jerusalem, Elinoar Barzacchi, after returning from Europe, enthused, “In Rome I lived in the Old City. In Paris I lived in Montmartre. Here, in the [Jewish] Quarter it looked to me like the most Jerusalemite thing there is, the most authentic, the most multicultural it can be.”

Eyal Weizmann comments, “ Rather than a multicultural city centre the Jewish Quarter might better be described as an artificial, ethnically homogenous, gated neighbourhood, whose construction was made possible by the forced displacement of its inhabitants.

It is a ‘biblical' theme park, sending out further tentacles of Jewish housing and enclaves and religious study centres into the Muslim Quarter to which it is connected above street level via protected and exclusive roof paths. The separation of this enclave from its surroundings is further enforced by the fact that all entrances and exits to the Jewish Quarter are guarded by border police, providing access, after body and bag scans, only to Jewish residents/settlers, tourists, and the Israeli army and police .

The “most Jerusalemite thing there is” is a space emptied of its native people. In the Palestinian section of Jerusalem , always under threat as more and more of its land is confiscated and its buildings seized or demolished, people go to work uncertain if their houses will still be standing when they return.

One reason the government gives to justify house demolitions is the lack of a building permit, that costs two thousand dollars and is almost impossible for Palestinians to obtain. As the householder is not permitted to add to his house on his own land he is forced to build illegally as his family grows.

Then the Caterpillar bulldozers arrive without notice and, even with a family inside the building, begin destruction. Often, only minutes are given for a family to be made homeless. In a further sadistic twist, the householder is then exorbitantly billed by the municipality for the cost of the demolition. 18,000 houses in Palestine have been demolished in this way since 1967.

We met with members of the Israel Committee Against House Demolitions who showed us sites of such demolished houses, mounds of rubble where once a whole family lived and its children played. ICAHD's goal is the Sisyphean task of rebuilding all demolished houses.

Abandoned mosque in the foreground, note the Israeli flag atop

Herod's Gate

Occupied Jerusalem

The European Ashkanazim Zionists turn history into ruins wherever they go, whatever they touch. They are not a part of Holy Land history therefore have no true regard for the sacred history.

Rachel's Tomb

Rachel's Tomb was always a part of Bethlehem city, and a pilgrimage place for people of the three monotheistic religions. Toady the tomb is becoming a military camp and open only for Jews. As planned by the Israeli government it is going to be annexed to Jerusalem. This de facto policy that the Israeli government is applying, costs the Palestinians a lot of their land, homes and heritage that they have conserved throughout history in addition to the damages in Bethlehem tourist industry and the Palestinian economy in general.

The parking to the entrance, the parking lot is also enclosed.

People say, and this is one of the most incredible ignorant clichés you get in the American media is they say "Why don't the Palestinians try passive resistance, why don't they try a Gandhi?”. Well these people need to be told that there was something called the First Intifada. In the First Intifada, the Palestinians overwhelmingly peacefully, in 1987, simply refused to cooperate with the occupation. They ripped up their identity cards and they sat down.

Yitzhak Rabin, now revered as a man of peace blah blah blah, gave the order and his words [to the Israeli Defense Force] were: "Break their bones". They went in and beat the shit out of them, so that's the reality.

After the failure of the First Intifada, a fairly peaceful resistance, there then began to be more violence.

olive harvesting in Palestine

Olive Planting Program - February 2010 A program for Civil International Solidarity with Palestinians Invitation to the Olive Planting Program February, 2010 Agricultural experts in the Holy Land estimate that over a million olive trees have been uprooted and destroyed by Israel since it was created in 1948. Almost half of these olive trees were uprooted since the start of the 2nd Intifada in 2000 (Palestinian uprising against the Israeli Military Occupation). Disrespecting its’ religious, cultural, natural, nutritious and economic value, the olive tree has been constantly targeted by the Israeli military occupation under the guise of security, the construction of the Wall on Palestinian lands, and the expansion of Israeli – Jewish only - colonies (settlements). The destruction of olive trees has had intentional and destructive results on the lives of many Palestinian farmers, land owners and the Palestinian population in general. For these reasons and many others, the Olive Tree Campaign was launched in 2001 as a positive response to systematic destruction by addressing the needs of effected farmers. Read more!

In recent decades, the Dead Sea has been rapidly shrinking because of diversion of incoming water from the Jordan River to the north. The southern end is fed by a canal maintained by the Dead Sea Works, a company that converts the sea's raw materials. From a depression of 395 m (1,296 ft) below sea level in 1970[22] it fell 22 m (72 ft) to 418 m (1,371 ft) below sea level in 2006, reaching a drop rate of 1 m (3 ft) per year. Although the Dead Sea may never entirely disappear,[citation needed] because evaporation slows down as surface area decreases and salinity increases, it is feared that the Sea's characteristics may substantially change.[citation needed]The dwindling water level of the dead sea

"Visit Palestine" says West Bank's growing alternative tourism industry

Hebron's Ibrahimi Mosque (seen in the background) is the burial site of Abraham, but with the Israeli occupation of the West Bank and militarized settler presence in Hebron, few tourists make it to see such important sites. (Mamoun Wazwaz/MaanImages)

Palestine should not have problems attracting tourists, with its rich blend of history, religious significance, local culture, as well as the varied and breathtaking scenery. But of course, the political context of the Israeli occupation means that the vast majority of tourists in the "Holy Land" only see Palestinians through the window of a tour bus, as they dash in and out of Bethlehem for a couple of hours.

The occupation, however, has also attracted a different kind of visitor, the "alternative tourist," who comes to the West Bank (including East Jerusalem), occupied by Israel along with the Gaza Strip since 1967, in order to better understand the conflict, and deliberately go "beyond" the standard pilgrimage or mainstream tourist trip to Israel. These kinds of tourists are much fewer in number, and are typically already sensitized to some degree to the Palestinian situation. Virtually no tourists, if any, go to the Gaza Strip, which has been under Israeli-imposed closure for several years.

The gap between these two types of tourism is large, both in terms of scale and character, but finding a way to somehow bring them together could be crucial in increasing Palestinian tourism potential, a prospect that if done well, could bring important economic, social and political benefits.

Alternative tourism in the West Bank has definitely seen marked improvements and developments since it really began to get off the ground in the 1990s. The pioneers were the Alternative Tourism Group (ATG), based in Beit Sahour near Bethlehem, who in the aftermath of the first Palestinian intifada realized the positive potential for an infrastructure in Palestine to receive visiting foreigners looking to understand the local reality.

ATG is still going, and has been joined by other organizations pursuing variations on the theme. At least anecdotally, there has also been a gradual expansion of those drawn to the kinds of programs offered by Palestinian alternative tourism groups. Sarah Irving has had experience working with both ATG, and also the UK-based Olive Coop, and described the difference she sees now, compared to some years ago:

"Because ATG is now listed in Lonely Planet, they have flyers in Jerusalem, these kinds of things, they're starting to get people who are just hanging out, or backpacking. Just recently I took my dad on a day tour of Bethlehem and Hebron. In our group there was one person who had a pre-existing interest, but the other two knew nothing about the situation here -- including a Scottish guy who had just picked up some cheap flights to Israel, was even staying in West Jerusalem, and this was his attempt to find out more about where he'd come."

This seems to suggest that groups like ATG, if not quite making substantial inroads, are at least succeeding in attracting more than just the "usual suspects." Ayman Abu Zulof, marketing manager at ATG, who admits that the target is "to try and reach normal tourists," said that "it's interesting how things are developing." Abu Zulof believes that changes are afoot: "There is a demand from pilgrims, when they know about other possibilities -- when you talk to the grassroots, there's a demand." He cites as an example a recent inquiry he had from a private travel agency on behalf of a group of Catholic pilgrims from France.

But there are significant challenges which have both slowed the development of tourism in Palestine, and threaten to stymie efforts for the sector to realize more of its potential. One of the biggest problems is Palestine's image. For any destination this is of crucial importance, and Palestine has suffered from the one-dimensional impressions given by the Western media (encouraged by Israeli propaganda), of the occupied territories as an anarchic, dangerous, nest of terrorists.

When Khuloud Deibes, the Palestinian Authority's Minister for Tourism, assumed her post in April 2007 in the short-lived Palestinian "unity government," The Jerusalem Post noted that she would be responsible for tourism "in an entity that is not independent, has an ever-worsening image as a dangerous place to visit, and lacks territorial continuity or control over its borders." Indeed, Palestinian "sovereignty" is a fragmented facade, while the same physical obstacles that make everyday Palestinian life a humiliating misery, are also inconveniences that many mainstream tourists are unwilling to accept for even an afternoon.

The combination of a negative image, plus the physical barriers, means that most tourists stay within Israel's pre-1967 occupation boundaries or perhaps in a hotel in Jerusalem, and simply visit the Bethlehem area as one more item on a busy day's itinerary. Thus there is little money spent in the local hotels and restaurants, and the only chance that Palestinians have to benefit in any way from the visiting tourists is through selling expensive, heavily-commissioned gifts and souvenirs.

This is all in stark contrast to an Israeli tourism industry supported by an active and resourceful government ministry, a sector with substantial funds to invest in advertising campaigns, and with well-developed contacts with crucial markets such as Western churches. Israel receives an estimated 95 percent or more of "Holy Land" tourism, and Abu Zulof highlighted how many visitors' itineraries are shaped by Israeli political concerns:

"Why do most pilgrims go to Masada? It has no Christian significance at all -- but it is useful propaganda [for Israel]. Why do people not go to the mosque in Hebron, even though it is the burial site of Abraham? Because Israel does not want people to be scandalized by what they see there with the settlers and the occupation."

Masada is not the only example of the relationship between tourism, Zionist propaganda and Israeli expansionism. In the occupied East Jerusalem village of Silwan, Israel has announced plans to demolish dozens of Palestinian homes to make way for the City of David project, a Jewish-themed park that settlers market as offering the visitor an "exciting tour" and "breathtaking" views -- "the only place on earth where the only guidebook needed is the Bible itself."

The future of Palestinian tourism is partly dependent on factors out of the hands of those Palestinians working in the sector in either the Palestinian Authority or private agencies. But there are also things that Palestinians can be doing regardless of political developments.

Using the Internet for marketing and publicity is surely a tool that must be better exploited, since here is a realm where the Israelis cannot throw up obstacles and checkpoints. There are already well presented, smart websites, such as ABS Tourism's portal, http://www.visitpalestine.ps/, and also http://www.travelpalestine.ps/site/index.php. But more could be done, particularly in terms of developing advertising campaigns that target specific groups such as Christian pilgrimages, or young backpackers.

There is also a need to develop other places in Palestine apart from the Bethlehem area. Nablus and its environs, for example, boasts the likes of Sebastia and the Old City itself, but the tourist presence is nonexistent. The restrictions imposed by the Israeli occupation are a very real impediment, but so also is the absence of any real infrastructure. A local resident working in a travel agency told me that if tourists spent just one day in Nablus, it would make a huge difference to the city.

Hebron, Ramallah, Jericho -- all of these places offer a different atmosphere and features of historical and cultural interest, but are almost completely off the radar for the average tourist or pilgrim. There is also the need for more care to be taken with sites of archaeological and historical interest -- in some cases, there needs to be complete restoration. Solomon's Pool, in the Bethlehem area, could be a big attraction for the visitors already drawn to the area; but it lacks any facilities for visitors, and suffers from pollution and neglect.

As one recent article on the resilience of "religious tourism" in a time of economic depression put it, "virtually all tourism in Palestine is religious-based." This should be a cause for optimism for the Palestinian tourist industry, as there are increasing numbers of churches outside Palestine wishing to express solidarity with the Palestinians and do something practical to help. The demand for "ethical" pilgrimages is thus only likely to increase. Palestine is able to offer Christian tourists the chance to meet the "living stones" whose lineage in Palestine and religious tradition goes back centuries.

But there is an important caveat about mainstream tourism, according to George Rishmawi, coordinator at the Siraj Center in Beit Sahour. Rishmawi explained that across the world, mainstream tourists have "no interest in the locals," or local political context, and indeed, often bring "pollution and ignorance." What positive difference would "mainstream tourism" really make in Palestine, he asked. "Go to one of these big souvenir shops in Bethlehem -- most of the stuff is made in China," he added.

Deibes who still serves as tourism minister in the Western-recognized Ramallah government is on record as saying that she wants "to develop new opportunities consistent with global trends, including ecotourism, youth tourism, and health tourism." While this sounds admirable, ultimately it may be unrealistic to expect that a Palestinian Authority (PA) propped up by donor money and stricken by political tensions will be able or willing to invest money and resources into developing tourism.

Given the limitations of the PA's tourism ministry, there is a big role to be played by publicity, whether media appearances, word-of-mouth recommendations, or Internet-based campaigning. Rishmawi commented that after Australian television showed a documentary on a tourist initiative he helped run in 2000, there were around 20 group bookings as a result. Yet, as Ayman complained, you can still hear many local Palestinian guides and agencies saying that "We don't need to market the Holy Land, it markets itself."

Rishmawi has been involved with two initiatives in the last decade that brought tourists on walks through the West Bank -- the Nativity Trail from Nazareth to Bethlehem, and the new Abraham's Path Initiative whose route is intended to ultimately go from Cyprus to Hebron. "We will be able to attract more and more people based on how creative our programs are," he said, before optimistically adding: "I know there are many people who if they knew what they could do here, and that their presence would make a difference, they would do it."

Ben White is a freelance journalist and writer whose articles have appeared in the Guardian's 'Comment is free', The Electronic Intifada, the New Statesman, and many others. His book, Israeli Apartheid: A Beginner's Guide (Pluto Press), will be published this summer. He can be contacted at ben A T benwhite D O T org D O T uk.

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The Pillage of Lydda

Palestine's main airport lay just to the north of Lydda, and its main railway junction was Lydda itself. The main source of Jerusalem's water supply was at Ras al-Ayn, 15 kilometers north of Lydda.

It was 46 years ago when Israel turned its forces against the all-Palestinian towns of Lydda and Ramleh. On July 13, 1948, Israeli troops forcefully compelled the entire population of as many as 70,000 men, women and children to flee their homes. Systematic looting followed. Swarms of new Jewish immigrants flocked to Lydda and Rainleh, and within days these ancient towns were transformed from Palestinian to Jewish municipalities. Read more

لفلسطينيون

Gaza children are considered a blessing. Most families have lots of them and half the population is sixteen or under. As an example, abortion is practically unknown in Gaza; but in Israel it is a government provided utility. It is fair to say the Gazans practice a life culture; Israelis practice a death culture. Gazans co-exist side by side, race and religion, Muslim and Christian, church beside mosque. Their Children often go to the same school, Hamas and Muslim kids with Catholic, Orthodox, and a few Baptists, until Israel bombs the school with US weapons. A massive USA/Israeli propaganda campaign has the objective of convincing Christians that Muslims hate them.

The Freedom Theater

The main aim of this programme is to provide the children and youth of Jenin Refugee Camp with a safe space in which they are free to express themselves and in which they can develop the skills, self-knowledge and confidence which would empower them to challenge present realities and to reach out beyond the limits of their own community. Isolated from the world and subject to nightly incursions by the Israeli Army, these are growing up amidst a seemingly endless cycle of violence and oppression. Living with chronic fear, depression and often deeply traumatised, they are largely deprived of a normal childhood in which to play, experiment, and develop a healthy and meaningful sense of themselves and their surroundings.

Agriculture and Industries in Jaffa Agriculture in Jaffa. Jaffa was well known for its cash crops as citrus and Bananas. In 1945, Arabs planted 146,316 dunums with Citrus, while 66,403 dunums were planted by Jews. Industries in Jaffa: Jaffa was the most advanced city in Palestine in the development of its commercial, banking, fishing, and agriculture industries. Jaffa had many factories specializing in cigarette making, cement making, tile and roof tile production, iron casting, cotton processing plants, traditional handmade carpets, leather products, wood box industry for Jaffa orange, textile, presses and publications. It should also be noted that the majority of all publications and newspapers in Palestine were published in Jaffa. Since Israeli still maintains and enforces the "Law Of Absentees", all Jaffa's industries, farms, buses, cars, railroads, cattle, real states, ..etc. have been looted and became the property of the Jewish State. When such practices were conducted by the Germans and the Swiss, the Jews of the world demanded justice for their looted art works and properties. The question which begs itself :- Are the Palestinian Arabs entitled for compensation for their looted properties too? The Picture shows the boxing of Jaffa oranges in Jaffa City in the 1920's.

Sponser an olive tree

Renowned Palestinian hospitality, impeccable service, historic and religious sites brought millions of visitors to the Holy Land, and until 2000, no one could expect that flourishing Palestinian tourism would turn into ruins. With the Israeli occupation, regular bombings of historic and cultural sites and even hotels, Palestinian tourism industry as well as foreign investors have lost Nine hundred and fifty million dollars during 2000-2004. However, today Palestine tries to rehabilitate its image and reputation of one of the most hospitable countries in the world.

'If the Europeans are telling the truth in their claim that they have killed six million Jews in the Holocaust during the World War II - which seems they are right in their claim because they insist on it and arrest and imprison those who oppose it, why the Palestinian nation should pay for the crime. Why have they come to the very heart of the Islamic world and are committing crimes against the dear Palestine using their bombs, rockets, missiles and sanctions.' ... 'If you have committed the crimes so give a piece of your land somewhere in Europe or America and Canada or Alaska to them to set up their own state there.'-president of Iran

ההגנה Haganah 1947 - The European Invasion of Palestine

The Zionist Jews who founded Israel are not Semites, and their language (Yiddish) is not semitic. These Ashkenazi ("German") Jews -- as opposed to the Sephardic ("Spanish") Jews -- have no connection whatever to any of the aforementioned ancient peoples or languages.

The real meaning of the term anti-semitism, generally considered to mean enmity toward Jews, is in fact “enmity toward Shem,” in other words, hatred of the “Semitic” nations descended from the line of Shem. The semitic race is actually made up of Arabs, Jews and certain other ethnic groups of Middle Eastern origin.

Although the origin of the racist perspective in question is based on different races, the term is always heralded as meaning hatred of the Jews by atheist Zionists.

Destroying the priceless

Israel in occupied Palestine is diverting much water from the Dead Sea for irrigation, causing this sea to shrink. If the present trend continues, the sea will dry up in the not-too-distant future. A tenfold increase in population and standard of living has polluted the air. The deserts have bloomed but groundwater has become contaminated. Urban sprawl threatens to pave over much of the country's breathtaking landscape.

Much of the spectacular landscape of Palestine is so beautiful it takes your breath away.

Wadi Fuqin is one of the breathtaking places in the southern West Bank, where the hills of the central range open up to a rich landscape of vineyards and fruit trees and fields of vegetables in the wide valleys between hillsides. Farther north, the mountains and steep valleys and endless terraced olive groves form a serene landscape, dotted with small villages of white stone houses and tall minarets. In the east, the desert hills unfold in gentle, pastel-colored undulations. Israeli debris is increasingly scarring this landscape everywhere.

Israeli construction on a massive scale is changing the pastoral landscape of Palestine in striking ways, intruding on the Palestinian salon. Large settlements spill down hillsides, looking like crusader castles. (They are not particularly unattractive, if their identical concrete-block style happens to please you -- the red-tile roofs give them a Mediterranean flair -- but their massiveness and the regimentation of the large apartment blocs very noticeably change the character of the pastoral terrain.) Wide highways, meant to connect the settlements and avoid the need for Israelis to pass through or near Palestinian towns, and accessible only to those with Israeli license plates, make sweeping cuts in the land. Outside Jerusalem, where Israel is planning to link the huge settlement of Maale Adumim to the city, vast expanses of the steep hillsides and wadis that once made this a place of spectacular unspoiled beauty have been cleared of trees and rocks in preparation for building roads and housing -- a grim urbanization of a peaceful landscape.

Zionists have much to account for.

An Albanian, Apostal Kotani, wrote a book about Albania's Jews titled "The Hebrews in Albania During Centuries" that was published in Tirana, Albania, in 1996 wherein he cites case-histories and lists the names of some 98 Albanian Muslims and Christians who protected Jews during the Holocaust. As further evidence of legendary Albanian hospitality and religious tolerance, it may be interesting to note that the majority of the Albanian rescuers of Jews were Muslims. Muammar Gaddafi is absolutely right when he said at the UN "the Arabs have no enmity with the Jews, their cousins, and they live with them (Mizrahim) in peace. It is you who hate the Jews and the Commissioner, the Holocaust and their Oqemtem Ohrqtamohm and the Holocaust, genocide gas ovens in Europe. And the Arabs who have sheltered and protected Jews in the Roman days and expulsion from Andalusia and the days of Hitler's ovens and poison gas. You Trdtamohm and asked them to go to fight the Arabs. The Jews will need one day for the Arabs, but the Arabs will not Ihamohm protected them in the future as in the past."