In the News

November 5: Israel will not allow Yasser Arafat to be buried in Jerusalem, the justice minister said. The Palestinian Authority prime minister met with the heads of armed factions in the Gaza Strip in a bid to stem potential violence after Yasser Arafat dies. Two Palestinian children died in an explosion in the Gaza Strip. In his first post-re-election news conference, President Bush reiterated his commitment to Palestinian statehood. November 8: Tony Blair is expected to push for more U.S. involvement in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict when he meets President Bush. The killing of a Dutch filmmaker, allegedly by an Islamic extremist, sparked anti-Muslim incidents in the Netherlands. November 9: Yasser Arafat is in a deep coma, a top Palestinian official said. The Palestinian Authority wants to bury him at his West Bank headquarters. Settlers in the Gaza Strip will agree to evacuation under Ariel Sharon's withdrawal plan, an Israeli official said. A Palestinian suicide bombing at a Tel Aviv market this month was intended for the French Embassy, Israeli officials believe. The City Council of Somerville, Mass., considered a resolution to dump city holdings in Israel. Iran plans to mass-produce a missile capable of reaching Israel. November 10: Palestinians fired three Qassam rockets at the Gaza Jewish town of Nissanit this morning, One rocket hit a house in the community causing a pregnant woman and two children to suffer from shock.

Myths and Facts about Israel: Palestinian Statehood

MYTH: "The Palestinians have never been offered a state of their own." FACTS: The Palestinians have actually had numerous opportunities to create an independent state, but have repeatedly rejected the offers: (1) In 1937, the Peel Commission proposed the partition of Palestine and the creation of an Arab state. (2) In 1939, the British White Paper proposed the creation of an Arab state alone, but the Arabs rejected the plan. (3) In 1947, the UN would have created an even larger Arab state as part of its partition plan. (4) From 1948 to 1967, Israel did not control the West Bank. The Palestinians could have demanded an independent state from the Jordanians. (5) The 1979 Egypt-Israel peace negotiations offered the Palestinians autonomy, which would almost certainly have led to full independence. (6) The Oslo process that began in 1993 was leading toward the creation of a Palestinian state before the Palestinians violated their commitments and scuttled the agreements. (7) In 2000, Prime Minister Ehud Barak offered to create a Palestinian state, but Yasser Arafat rejected the deal. It has been suggested that the Palestinians have religious, historical, and practical reasons for opposing an agreement with Israel. Historians note "Arafat and his generation cannot give up the vision of the greater land of Israel for the Arabs. The Palestinians also believe that time is on their side. "They feel that demographics will defeat the Jews in one hundred or two hundred years, just like the Crusaders." The Palestinians also hope the Arabs will acquire nuclear weapons in the future that will allow them to defeat Israel.

"Barak made a proposal that was as forthcoming as anyone in the world could imagine, and Arafat turned it down. If you have a country that's a sliver and you can see three sides of it from a high hotel building, you've got to be careful what you give away and to whom you give it." — U.S. Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld (Yediot Aharonot, August 7, 2002) 

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