Who are the terrorists?

Introduction:

When one thinks of terrorism, the immediate image that comes to many American minds is that of angry Muslims spewing forth hatred in Arabic, usually against Israel and its supporters. Arabs and Muslims are vilified in Western culture because the media has made it that way. The dictionary definition of terrorism is:
“The unlawful use or threatened use of force or violence by a person or an organized group against people or property with the intention of intimidating or coercing societies or governments, often for ideological or political reasons.”

(http://education.yahoo.com/reference/dictionary/entry/terrorism)

If the Arabs are guilty of terrorism, then the Jews, or more particularly the Zionists, are at least equally as guilty. This paper will research the history of Jewish terrorism and provide insight into its present-day perpetrators.
EARLY ZIONIST TERRORIST GANGS.
Long before Israel became a state, the Palestinians clashed with their Jewish neighbors, even in areas where the Jews had lived for hundreds of years. Islam and Judaism both claimed the area of Jerusalem as their own holy site. With the Jewish praying at the western Wailing Wall and the Muslims at the Al Aqsa Mosque in close proximity, it was only a matter of time until the friction between the two populations became overwhelming. The Mufti stirred hatred towards the Jews, and instilled the idea that the Jews wanted to overtake the Mosque. The British would not confirm the Jews’ right to the western wall. As many as 6,000 Jews marched in the streets in 1928, further inflaming the Arabs, and lending credence to the Mufti’s speech. The Arabs began to riot, and since the Jews could not count on the British for support, a grassroots militia called Hanagah took up arms against the Arabs. (Jewish Agency for Israel, 2002.) This group became the first large scale Zionist terrorist group. It was an illegal organization that was not supported by the British and answered to no one. Haganah ran training camps much like those of Al-Qaeda, set up an illegal arms trade, and even produced its own weapons. The group often attacked Palestinian civilians as punishment for Arab attacks on Jewish settlers. They specialized in night missions and unconventional warfare, protecting illegal Jewish immigration and setting up illegal settlements in Palestine.
A group of members of Haganah apparently thought that Haganah’s goals were too peaceful. They broke off from the group and formed Irgun, the National Military Organization. Interestingly, Irgun’s leader, Abraham Tehomi, was thought by Haganah to be a fascist. Whereas, Haganah supposedly practiced restraint, Irgun’s philosophy was that the best defense against Palestinians was pre-emptive attack. They carried out one such attack on November 14, 1937, prompting the British to define possessing weapons and bombs, and terror and sabotage as capital crimes. Defiantly, Irgun continued its attacks, which absolutely fit the definition of terrorism. In July of 1938, an Irgun militant disguised as an Arab placed a package in the center of the Haifa Arab market. It exploded, killing 21 Arabs and injuring 50. In Jerusalem, the following week, an Irgun member exploded a mine in the Arab market at the end of prayer at the mosque, killing eight Arabs and injuring more than 30. (The History of Irgun Online.) These events are similar to the ones that plague Iraq today, and Irgun’s actions closely resemble those of Al Sadr’s militants.
Abraham Stern split from Irgun and formed his own organization in 1940. Unlike Irgun, Stern’s gang focused its energy on ridding Palestine of the British. Even after Stern’s assassination in 1942, his gang continued to implement his anti-British policy. In 1944, the Stern Gang killed British Minister Moyne in Cairo, and bombed British installations. (Friedman, 2000.)
Irgun and other Jewish terrorists formed the Unified Resistance Movement, in response to the continued refusal by the British to support the Zionist initiative. Irgun and the Stern Gang began to attack the British Royal Air Force, police stations, and armories. When the British discovered documents confirming the existence of the Unified Resistance Movement, Jewish terrorists (under the direction of Menachem Begin) eventually bombed the King David Hotel, killing 91 British, Arabs, and Jews. They began a campaign of kidnapping British officers in an attempt to exchange them for Jewish terrorists who had been arrested. In a bloody attack in 1945, the Stern Gang killed and wounded British soldiers from the Sixth Airborne Division. These British soldiers were shot at close range, and many of them were unarmed. (The History of Irgun.)
The Sixth Airborne Division became a favorite target of the Jewish terrorists. In 1946, a taxi full of terrorists opened fire on officers of the Sixth Airborne as they dined. In 1947, the Jewish terrorists blew up the Goldsmith Officers’ Club, killing 13 British officers, and wounding another 18. In order to regain some control, the British implemented martial law. During this period, a total of 68 terroristic acts committed by Jewish terrorists occurred. Two British officers (Paice and Martin) were kidnapped and hung. The area around their bodies, which were found hanging in the trees, was mined. One of the mines exploded, severely injuring another British officer. (Jew Watch.)
Eventually, Prime Minister Ben-Gurion rounded up Irgun and forcibly disarmed them. The Israeli military became the central focus, as the first war of independence began. For a while, Jewish terrorism left the spotlight, as the entire nation struggled for existence.
Religious Extremists in Israel.
Eventually, as Israel stabilized, the fight for a Jewish homeland became less important, and religion became more important. Religious zealots were no longer satisfied with the territory they had. They wanted to rid the Gaza strip and the West Bank of all Arab influence. Under the leadership of Rabbi Meir Kahane, a radical group of terrorists began a campaign of bombings and other events aimed at anyone supporting Israel’s disengagement from those Arab territories. Several groups identify with the Kahane movement, including the Kach party, the Jewish Front, the Jewish Legion, the Jewish Defense League, and the Jewish Defense Organization. Two of these organizations are based in the United States. (http://www.adl.org/terrorism/symbols/kahane_2.asp)
Although Mier Kahane was assassinated in 1990, his legacy continues. The Kahane movement has been responsible for multiple terrorist attacks. In March, 2002, these extremists fashioned a time bomb and detonated it at a Palestinian school, injuring both students and teachers. They were responsible for the assassination of Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin. Additionally, these Jewish terrorists attacked Muslims at the Al-Ibrahimi Mosque in Hebron during Ramadan, killing 29 worshippers. (http://www.adl.org/terrorism/symbols/kahane_2.asp)
The Kahane Movement’s activities are not limited to the Middle East. In 1993, they held an Al Qaeda style training camp in the Catskill Mountains in New York, training attendees in the use of weapons, fitness, and urban warfare. A base, which they maintain in Brooklyn, New York, was raided in 2001. Additionally, a planned assassination attempt on the life of Lebanese congressman Darrell Issa was thwarted in January of 2001. Irv Rubin, the group’s leader, committed suicide while awaiting trial. (http://www.adl.org/terrorism/symbols/kahane_2.asp)
The Kahane Movement is still active. Kach party members threatened to assassinate Ariel Sharon when he agreed to pull out of illegal settlements. In May 2005, nine Jews were arrested for planning a missile attack on the Dome of the Rock and Al Aqsa Mosque. According to Israeli police, their purpose was to spark a war with the Arabs so that the world would turn against the Palestinians in their favor.
Other incidents linked to Jewish terrorists in America have occurred recently. A group of elderly Miami Jews was blamed for a drive by shooting in Gaza, and then for an attack on a bus in Gaza. That gunman was killed by an angry mob. (Gorin, J. 2004.)
In the 1980s, a group known as Terror against Terror, or TNT, under the leadership of Menachem Linvni, terrorized the Palestinian Arab population. They planted bombs in mosques, subjected Arabs to gang-style drive-by shootings, and attempted to kill three Palestinian mayors. Additionally, masked TNT gunmen entered an Islamic university in Hebron, wounding 36 Arabs and killing three. Carnage was narrowly averted when TNT attempted to blow up the Dome of the Rock and the al-Aqsa Mosque. The terrorists smuggled over twenty pounds of explosives and almost two dozen Israeli issue hand grenades into the area before they fled. (The Washington Report, 1998.)
The Occupation is terrorism.
It is not only illegal terrorist groups that commit terrorism against the Palestinian people. For over 40 years, the Israelis have illegally occupied territory designated as a home for the Palestinians. They continue to bulldoze Palestinian homes to make way for new Israeli settlements. The Jews have managed to segregate and isolate the Palestinians, depriving them of basic needs.
In 1998, Israel began to construct the Har Homa settlement, which essentially closed access from the Arab part of Jerusalem to the West Bank. Even though there were UN discussions concerning their legality, the Israelis continued to build. The number of Israeli settlers in the occupied Palestinian territories now exceeds 400,000. (www.endtheoccupation.org) The way that the Israelis have built their settlements serves as a means by which they control the transportation routes throughout the West Bank and Gaza. When the Palestinians anger the Israelis, the Israelis are able to stop shipments of food, medicine, and other basic staples from entering the Palestinian territories. In order to build their new settlements, the Jews must displace the Palestinians who live there. Under the guise that Palestinian terrorists are conducting illegal activities there, the Jews raze their houses and confiscate Palestinian homes, often killing residents in the process.
Once, an American on a peace mission got in their way. Rachel Corrie was a member of the International Solidarity Movement. The organization uses nonviolent means to protest illegal confiscation of Palestinian land. Corrie was standing in front of the home of a Palestinian physician in an attempt to prevent Israelis from bulldozing the structure. Witnesses and other internationals there with her said that Corrie was wearing a brightly colored jacket and waving to get the driver’s attention. He did not stop, and instead, ran over Rachel. The driver then put the bulldozer in reverse, backed up, and ran over Ms. Corrie again. Of course, the Israelis said that this was an accident. However, witness interviews show otherwise. Rachel Corrie’s was not an isolated incident. Many other incidences of the same sort have occurred. (USA Today, September, 2003.)
The Israeli government has long used terrorist tactics against the Palestinian people. During the war in Lebanon, Palestinians were forced into refugee camps as Israel drove them northward. When Israel invaded West Beirut, two of the Palestinian camps were attacked by the Phalange party of Lebanese Christians with the assistance of the Israeli army. The army lit flares to light the Phalangists’ way to Sabra and Shatila, the two Palestinian refugee camps on the outskirts of town. While Israeli solidiers stood guard, the Phalangists murdered between two and three thousand Palestinian men, women, and children. All of the refugees were unarmed. The bodies were often mutilated or sexually assaulted. The Israelis said they did not know what was going on inside the camps, but it would have been impossible for them not to hear the machine-gun fire and screams of the dying Palestinians. (Friedman, 1992.)
Conclusion:
It seems that although Israel would like for the world to believe that it is the innocent victim of terrorism, the facts reveal a much different picture. Israel, as much as the Palestinians, has continually used terror as a strategy designed to systematically remove Palestinian influence from the land they desire. They are motivated by religion, hatred, and prejudice. The Israeli Zionists will stop at nothing to rid the land of Arabs.
The media has created the idea that the Arabs are the only terrorists. It is true that Hamas and Hezbollah, al Qaeda, and other radical groups have used terror tactics. However, they are not guiltier than the Israelis. The problem is that much of Israel’s terror tactics are funded by American dollars. They bulldoze Palestinian homes with American equipment, and each year America sends billions of dollars to Israel. Therefore, America is guilty by association.
The problem is that the Zionists influence so much of the American political realm. However, if America ever wants peace in the Middle East, the country must stop sending aid to Israel. America should instead send the unmistakable message that it will not tolerate terrorism, whether it is perpetrated by Arabs, or by Israel.

Follow Up

to His Post, My Post...

This is the best part of all. After I posted my response, the professor posted this!!!

"There you go Paige! This is what I expected of this session. Thanks."

So you see, there are those of us who do know the truth!!!

Out Of Focus

I am still at that point in life, rather latently, at which I am trying to decide what I want to be when I grow up. Today, my very good friend Glen read some of my writing - a journal post for one of my current classes. He believes that my true talent lies in expressing my thoughts through the written word. I love to write, but my problem is that I have no idea where to begin. I am a proverbial jack-of-all-trades. I know a little about a lot, but not a lot about one little thing. I've decided that my writing must be centered around something I enjoy, so I decided to write a list of those things:

chocolate
Chihuahuas
the Middle East
the Old West
painting
teaching
learning

How can I combine those things in order to come up with a viable topic? Let's see...

Middle Eastern Chihuahuas? That's weird.

Teaching horses how to paint? That's weirder.

I know: Going to the Old West to learn from a chihuahua how to paint using chocolate.

And better yet: Starting my own religion in which Middle Eastern horses worship Chihuahuas made out of chocolate.

So much for focus...

His post, My post.

This is the kind of attitude I have to battle on a daily basis in my classroom. Here is a post by one of my fellow students:

"I think exaggeration and misinterpretation plays a large role in the Arab-Israeli conflict, especially when it comes to international opinion. Presently, as with every other issue facing the world today, international news media has a tendency to spin the truth in order to accomplish their own goals or pursue their own agenda. With regard to the Arab-Israeli conflict, international public opinion is often based on which outlet the general public derives their information. For example Fox News has a reputation for being fairly unbiased. This is not the case with regard to the Arab-Israeli conflict, considering they have a tendency to make it appear that the Arabs are "saints" and the Israelis are "war mongers." I visit the Fox News website daily and whenever their is an event in that part of the world involving Israeli military action and Arab casualties it makes front page on their website. However when their is a bus bombing in Tel Aviv for example, it is often pushed to the back and/or most of the story in focused on Israeli military response.."

My post:
"I think that Fox News has a reputation for putting a right-wing spin on news. Visit Al-Jazeera, BBC, and other sites, and you will see an entirely different spin. I don't think that any American news station makes Arabs look like saints. In fact, I think our media tends to villify them. When, in viewing anything on an American media outlet, do you ever see the deplorable conditions in which Palestinians live, the persecution to which they are subjected, or the times that Jewish terrorists bomb their side of that abhorrent wall?"

Finished!

This painting is finished! My next series of paintings will veer away from the cowboy theme, more than likely. What should I paint next? Dog family portraits? I have enough dogs to do that. LOL

Work in Progress

I started this one last night, and decided that the rock formations in the foreground could use some texture. I textured them with a paper product that comes in a jar. It's kind of like prepared paper mache. I'll finish painting the canyon this evening.

What's in your Ipod?

The contents of my Ipod are a genuine reflection of what a strange combination I am. My mother says I'm crazy. My friends label me eccentric. My poor husband just rolls his eyes at my endless rants about the injustices of the world. My daughter stuck a sequin in the middle of her forehead today. Yes, she knows it's her "third eye". Anyway, I thought it might be interesting to list the contents of my Ipod and tag a few people to see what they are listening to this week. Here goes!

Dean Martin
Cheb Kahled
Amr Diab
Metallica
Don Edwards (a cowboy singer)
Red Hot Chili Peppers
The Quebe Sisters (another Western Swing group. They do a lot of '40s cowboy tunes.)
Cake
Frank Sinatra
Nightwish
Fairuz
Flaco Jimenez (a Tejano artist from San Antonio)
Dwight Yoakum
Buck Owens
Evanescense
Rage Against the Machine

So what's in your Ipod? Tag. You're it.