In The News

October 29: Yasser Arafat arrived for medical treatment at a hospital near Paris. November 1: Palestinian suicide bomber killed at least three people at a Tel Aviv market. Yasser Arafat, under medical treatment in France, condemned Monday's suicide bombing in Tel Aviv. November 2: Israeli forces demolished the home of a Palestinian suicide bomber who killed three people at a Tel Aviv market. The mother of the teenaged suicide bomber who killed three people in a Tel Aviv market Monday blasted the terrorists who recruited her son. November 3: Jewish support for President Bush in Tuesday's election was up only slightly from the 19 percent of the Jewish vote he scored in 2000, according to exit polls. The head of the U.N.'s nuclear agency will set up a forum next year to help build nuclear verification measures in the Middle East. November 4: Yasser Arafat was in a coma in a French hospital Thursday after his illness worsened. In his first post-re-election news conference, President Bush reiterated his commitment to Palestinian statehood. Ehud Barak announced that he was returning to Israeli politics. Holland's foreign minister called on the European Union to list Hezbollah as a terrorist organization. An Israeli soccer team earned its first victory in a prestigious European tournament.

Myths and Facts about Israel: Does Israeli West Bank Presence Incite Terrorism?

FACTS: (1) If Israel were to withdraw completely from the West Bank tomorrow it would not end terrorism. Radical Islamic groups such as Hamas and Islamic Jihad are opposed to the existence of a Jewish state anywhere in what they consider the Islamic heartland. These and other terrorist groups have never said they were prepared to live in peace with Israel if it were to withdraw anywhere short of the border of the Mediterranean Sea. (2) Long before 1967, when Israel captured the West Bank, Arabs used violence to try to first prevent the establishment of a Jewish state and then to destroy Israel. Anti-Jewish riots began in 1920 and were instigated repeatedly over the years of the British mandate in an effort to either drive out the Jews or convince the British to renege on the promise to create a Jewish homeland. These were the first "intifadas" and were characterized by the cold-blooded murder of innocents. (3) After Israel fended off the invading Arab nations in 1948, Egyptian President Gamal Nasser turned Palestinian terrorists against Israel and provoked the Six-Day War. In 1964, while Jordan controlled the West Bank, the Arab League created the Palestine Liberation Organization as a terrorist tool to fight against Israel. History has shown that Arab radicals are prepared to use terror to destroy Israel regardless of its borders.

Source: Myths & Facts Online -- A Guide to the Arab-Israeli Conflict by Mitchell G. Bard, http://www.JewishVirtualLibrary.org. 

Advocacy for Israel Committee Information

The Advocacy for Israel Committee was formed in September of 2001 to organize pro-Israeli activities and to rally support in the form of Hasbara. The A Team’s next meeting is Sunday December 12 at 9:45 am in the CBI Atrium. Please join us and make a difference for Israel! For more information, email A Team Chairmen Jay Epstein (jhe@tampabay.rr.com) or Sheldon Scheinert (Sheldo123@aol.com), or call the CBI office at 381-4900.

Speaking out for Israel so that "Never Again" shall Jewish silence lead to an indifferent world