BS”D
“Yet perhaps most galling of all to effendi (Arab landlords) leadership was the Jew who would settle the land. This was not the dhimmi Jew — cowering to survive, as in Arab lands — but a person who commanded equal treatment. The outrage which that insistence created, among those weaned on the tradition of Muslim supremacy, would infect the multi-ethnic Arabic-speaking Muslim workers of Palestine as well: for centuries Jews had been objects to oppress and despise.” (From Time Immemorial by Joan Peters, pg 172)
Fayyad Promises Rights for Jews in PA State
by Maayana Miskin
(IsraelNN.com) During an appearance Saturday in Aspen, Colorado, Palestinian Authority Prime Minister Salam Fayyad promised that Jews who choose to live in a future Palestinian Authority-led Arab state in Judea and Samaria will be granted equal rights. His statements stood in contrast to the PA’s current policies regarding Jewish residents of the region.
Fayyad’s statements were made as part of a question and answer session during the Aspen Ideas Festival. The event was covered by the Aspen Daily News.
“The kind of state that we want to have, that we aspire to have, is one that would definitely espouse high values of tolerance, co-existence, mutual respect and deference to all cultures, religions,” Fayyad said in response to a question about the possibility for a Jewish minority to remain among residents of a PA Arab state.
Jews who remain in Judea and Samaria if Israel withdraws “will enjoy these rights and certainly will not enjoy any less rights that Israeli Arabs enjoy now in the state of Israel,” he added.
The promise of equal rights came in response to a question from former CIA Director James Woolsey, who asked if Israeli Jews who chose to live in Judea and Samaria would be given the rights granted to Arab citizens of Israel. Among those rights are the right to vote, freedom of worship, free speech, “and most importantly, be able to go to sleep at night without worrying someone is going to kick down the door and kill them,” according to Woolsey.
Fayyad’s statements in favor of co-existence and equality sharply contradict current PA policy regarding Jews in Judea and Samaria. The PA considers all Jewish communities in the area to be illegal, and has demanded that all be dismantled and their residents removed from the region.
Fatah Forces Jews out of Jerusalem Home; Arabs Destroy It
by Tzvi Ben Gedalyahu
(IsraelNN.com) Arabs destroyed a Jewish home in the Sheikh Jarrah neighborhood in Jerusalem last week after forcing a Jewish contractor to leave. Both the Arabs and Jews claim that police were involved, but a police spokesman said he knows of no activity in the area.
The Bethlehem-based Maan news agency, which is closely affiliated with the Fatah-led Palestinian Authority, reported Wednesday morning that senior Fatah leaders prevented Jews from entering the home. The Fatah officials, in the presence of police, reportedly convinced the Jews to leave the property, allegedly owned by an Arab since the 1940s.
Aryeh King, whose Israel Land Fund is heavily involved in the Jewish presence in eastern Jerusalem, said that the incident actually took place two weeks ago and that the police evicted the Jews.
Avid Editor's Insights 