Jews are preferred target for Islamic terror, study shows

[Gimel]

The year 2003 saw a slight decrease in the number of reported anti-Semitic incidents, but a significant rise in the "quality" of anti-Semitic attacks around the world.

Jewish communities around the world have become the preferred target for terrorist attacks by the global jihad organizations, according to research carried out by Israel's Forum for Countering Anti-Semitism, headed by Minister of Diaspora Affairs Natan Sharansky and Jewish Agency chair Sallai Meridor, which was presented Sunday.

Examples of this trend include the bombing in November of two Istanbul synagogues and the attack in Casablanca in May.

In addition, there has been a sharp increase in the number of warnings of attacks against Jews. All of this has prompted the Jewish communities to increase their security measures.

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"Anti-Semitism poses a serious, global threat to the Jewish people," Meridor said Sunday. "This is a strategic threat and the response to it must be strategic and global and a joint effort of the Jewish people and the state of Israel."

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http://www.haaretzdaily.com/hasen/spages/386768.html

A more convincing study than Avnery's opinion piece.

[CabalBuster]

1. Israel's occupation of Palestinian Land is the leading cause

Although I believe that anti-Semitism is wrong, I believe that Israel can do much to deflect anti-Semitism by ending the occupation and giving Palestinians a humane treatment. Hate breeds Hate. Anti-semitism is not an isolated fenomenom. It has very specific causes and there are many examples of Israel's injustices against the Palestinians that are known worldwide, except of course, in the United States. If Israel is treated in a more equal way and held accountable for its injustices, perhaps we can reverse the trend called "anti-Semitism" which I think should be called instead "anti-Zionism). I don't think people hate the Jewish religion. I think people think the rise of Zionism is a threat to Palestinians and other arabs in the region.

[Muddleoftheroad]

2. Of course many hate the Jewish religion

They hated it long before Israel is founded. Now, Israel just gives them a better excuse to get away with it.

[brainshrub]

6. Arabs weren't blowing up Jews until fairly recently.

Europeans have, historically speaking, done a lot more to persecute Jews than the Arabs ever have. Why don't we see regular European suicide attacks on Israel?

Muslims didn't have an issue with Jews until they started stealing land from fellow Arabs. Frankly, if the Zionists had started appropriating a chunk of Italy, we would probably see Christan terrorists today.

[GabysPoppy]

7. Did you really say this?

"Arabs weren't blowing up Jews until fairly recently."

[brainshrub]

10. Yes

How often did Muslim states run pogroms against Jews before 1920? How many Muslim states tortured Jews until they converted? How many Muslim states had ovens?

I'm not saying that Islam was a pure, open-minded 100% tolerant society, but they sure as heck weren't as vicious as the Christians!

As far as I can tell, the first cases of Arabs killing Jews over land in Israel happened in the 1920s. Prior to that, Jews & Arabs lived relatively peacefully for thousands of years.

Here's a neat little article on the history of terrorism against Israelis:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Terrorism_against_Israel

[Gimel]

18. Not stealing land

Even in 1920, Jews were not "stealing land". The settlements were on land purchased by the Jews through the Jewish Agency from the Ottoman Empire landlords or through transactions. The pogroms before the founding of the state of Israel were numerous. The Arabs opposed Jews returning to their homeland and waged a campaign against them. The forced the British to issue the White Papers which contradicted the Mandate and the Balfour Declaration.

Are they against the Jewish religion? Yes, absolutely. They opposed a Jewish State and religion on ideological grounds. This came from the leadership, not the Arabs individuals, who often were friendly with individual Jews who settled and offered work opportunities. Now they want work, but not the Jews.

[brainshrub]

20. Can't find pogroms in Israel

Even in 1920, Jews were not "stealing land". The settlements were on land purchased by the Jews through the Jewish Agency from the Ottoman Empire landlords or through transactions.

And if they had continued doing that, and then shared power with the local population instead of displacing them, there would be no problems today.

The pogroms before the founding of the state of Israel were numerous.

Yes, in Europe!

I can't find many cases of Jewish persecution in Israel before the 1920s. I'm not saying it didn't happen, but when persecution happened it was very rare and against all non-muslims...not just Jews.

Are they against the Jewish religion? Yes, absolutely. They opposed a Jewish State and religion on ideological grounds.

I am not convinced that Arabs had anything against Jews or the Jewish religion per se. The local population was against the creation of a Zionist state that would import it's population from Europe & give preferential treatment to Jews. But who wouldn't be? (Which is exactly what happened.)

If a group of Nigerian Voo-Doo worshipers wanted to make an Animist state in my area and import the population from Africa, I would be opposed to it on ideological grounds. Not because I'm anti-black, but because I'm pro-Democracy.
Sure, there might be some problems at first...but as long as those animists respected their neighbors and didn't try to grab all the power for themselves, I'm sure we would all get along eventually.

[Resistance]

21. conscientious Zionists back in the day

opposed removing Palestinians from their land to make room for Israel.

[brainshrub]

22. Agreed.

And conscientious Israeli citizens, soldiers, Rabbis and intelectuals are opposing the occupation.

Every bad situation has it's heros.

[Gimel]

23. No, not really pogroms

There were attacks on Jewish settlements, however, that resembled pogroms in their intensity and unpredictability. For that reason, the settlements were surrounded by high walls, and a watch tower. Bands of Arabs rode around the areas attacking Jewish settlements.

Many attacks and deaths were prevented by these self-defense precautions.

[brainshrub]

24. And when did these attacks happen?

I'm no historian, but I'm fairly certain that pre-1920 there were very, very few attacks on Jews. I'm looking & I don't see anything yet.

I hypothesize that the Arab attacks post-1920 were not so much about anti-Semiteism. The regional Arabs opposed a group of outsiders who did not recognize the local authorities, and wanted to build a state that excluded them. That those outsiders happened to be Jewish was not important at the time... they would have opposed Mormons if that group had attempted to do what the Zionists did.

The first Jewish settlers must have looked like european imperial colonisers to the locals in the 1920s. I imagine that if an outside group came to the United States and attempted to set up a separate government, they might need high-walls and watchtowers to.

[Gimel]

25. It's not recent

After 1920 is not recent. The Palestinian-Nationalist movement has been identified as having begun in 1918.

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ISBN%3D0714641812/theamericanisraeA/002-4776430-1352842

In 1921, Winston Churchill tried to arrange a meeting between Palestinians and Zionists. On November 29, 1921, the two sides met with the Arabs insisting that the Balfour Declaration be abrogated.4

Weizmann led a group of Zionists that met with Syrian nationalist Riad al-Sulh in 1921. The Zionists agreed to support Arab nationalist aspirations and Sulh said he was willing to recognize the Jewish National Home. The talks resumed a year later and raised hopes for an agreement; in May 1923, however, Sulh’s efforts to convince Palestinian Arab leaders that Zionism was an accomplished fact were rejected.5

Over the next 25 years, Zionist leaders inside and outside Palestine would try repeatedly to negotiate with the Arabs. Similarly, Israeli leaders since 1948 have sought peace treaties with the Arab states, but Egypt and Jordan are the only nations that have signed them.
http://www.us-israel.org/jsource/History/prestate_peace.html

An account of the stockade system for settlements is found here:

http://www.us-israel.org/jsource/History/stockade1.html

The story of Jewish defense in Palestine is told here:

From the time the modern Jewish community in Palestine (the new yishuv) became an entity following the first and second aliyot (waves of immigration) — from 1870 until the outbreak of World War I in 1914 — every Jewish town, neighborhood, moshava (village), farm, moshav and kvutza (cooperative and collective settlements, respectively), faced the necessity of protecting itself. At the time, protection was necessary mainly against local Arab thieves, individuals and organized gangs.

http://www.us-israel.org/jsource/History/pail.html

[brainshrub]

26. We aren't talking about a paint-job

or a TV sitcom. We are talking about the history of Israel and land claims going back thousands of years... so yes, I would say in context of the I/P issue, the 1920s is fairly recent.

All your links simply make my point that, from the Arab perspective, the Zionists were European interlopers who wanted to create a state & displace the locals. Those Arabs wouldn't have behaved any differently if they were Norwegian Lutherans who were trying to do the same.

Remember that the forts on the American frontier also had walls & watchtowers. Were the Native Americans anti-White or anti-Democracy? Of course not; They were anti-imperialism.
In the end, the Americans were able to wipe the locals out. In my opinion, the Israelis will eventually succeed in doing the same thing unless something happens that interrupts U.S. support for Israel.
In the meantime, don't pretend that the I/P conflict is being driven by hatred of Jews...it's being driven by the alienation that the creation of a "Jewish State" that refuses to recognize the dignity of it's non-Jewish population & neighbors.

[Gimel]

27. In isolated areas

There is Jewish property that goes back thousands of years. In Safed for instance, in Tiberius and Jerusalem, there are graves of Jews more than 2000 years old. However, you are talking about Jewish immigrants taking land, and that is in what you call recent times, and that is you say, when Arab aggression started.

Although I don't call 1882, the date of the first Jewish immigration to Israel from Russia, recent as it is more than 120 years ago. If you agree that we are talking about a time frame from say 1890 to 2004, I would agree that Arab attacks did not occur before then.

In fact they were in response to Jews who wished to reclaim their homeland. That violence is continued today by the terrorist organizations such as Hamas, Islamic Jihad, PFLP, Al Aqsa Martyrs Brigade, Tanzim militias who want the total destruction of Israel and the murder of all Jews.

[beanball]

8. Hate

if you want a friend,be a friend.

[Muddleoftheroad]

9. Not necessarily

That is an over-simplification. Sometimes your enemies only respect strength and have no interest in friendship.

[Jack Rabbit]

5. That's not quite right

Hate is something that can exist in a vacuum. We all have primal fears and when those fears are projected on a group of people, the result is hate.

Groups who are apart from the mainstream culture, such as Jews in Europe and in Arab countries and Afro-Americans in the US, have always been susceptible to this kind of projected fear. Unfortunately, that will always be the case. The effects can be alleviated though education, but the phenomenon will never be completely wiped out.

Consequently, if anti-Semites didn't have the I/P conflict to use as a pretext for hating Jews, they would use something else. If they didn't have anything else, they'd make it up.

[Lurking Dem]

11. Anti-Semitism has very spcific causes?

All anti-Semitism is anti-Zionism?

Wow.

[Lurking Dem]

19. CabalBuster?

Lovely handle by the way. :eyes:

Please clarify your statements. (See post #11)

[kalian]

3. Gee...doesn't take a study to figure out that the Palestinians are...

the preferred target of Israelis tanks, bulldozers and laser guided
munitions. :eyes:

[JohnLocke]

4. In other news, grass is green and the sky is blue...

More at 11.

[JasonDeter]

12. If we had a real leader in the WH the war on terror would be over.

If not over it would be well on the way to completion. In fact I think the bush*ies are making America a nation of cowards. We had the offensive in the beginning and bush* and his cabal let likes of bin laden walk and now innocent human beings are dying all over the world. bush* has so much blood on his hands. I long for a leader who will make al queda, hamas and hezbolla and other anti Israeli and anti American and anti Democratic groups non-existant!! bush* is a miserable failure.

[Forkboy]

13. It will never be over

that's the whole point of the damn thing.

[kalian]

16. In the immortal words of Cpl Hicks....from the movie Aliens....

"We nuke the site from orbit...just to be sure..."

[drdon326]

14. Tell me something I don't know.

the attacks arent anti-semitic, no,no,no....they just dont
like jews.

[Forkboy]

15. Just like a lot of people seem to not like Arabs

it's a funny ole world....

[Lurking Dem]

17. But apparently

there are very specific reasons for hating Jews which makes it okey dokey.

[forgethell]

28. Well, Duh! n/t