(Ynet News) Ben-Dror Yemini - "If the Jewish state becomes a fact, and this is realized by the Arab peoples, they will drive the Jews who live in their midst into the sea." This statement was made by Hassan al-Banna, the founder of the Muslim Brotherhood, about a month and a half after Israel's declaration of the independence. The Mufti of Jerusalem, Haj Amin al-Husseini, explained in his memoirs: "Our fundamental condition for cooperating with [Nazi] Germany was a free hand to eradicate every last Jew from Palestine and the Arab world." And the Arab League at the time also adopted two decisions, which materialized into a bill designed to seize the bank accounts of Jews and strip them of their possessions, which was subsequently put into practice among well-established and wealthy Jewish communities in Egypt, Libya, Syria and Iraq. Entire communities were destroyed. According to economist Sidney Zabludoff, assets abandoned by Arab refugees amount to $3.9 billion, as opposed to $6 billion in assets abandoned by Jewish refugees (in 2007 terms). There were huge waves of population transfers, beginning in 1912 and through to the years following World War II. Around 52 million people underwent the experience, including tens of millions in the period after the war. These population exchanges also saw hundreds of thousands of Jews expelled and dispossessed. We need to know that overplaying the Palestinian Nakba has actually become a factor that is holding back the chance for an agreement and understanding, and that recognizing the broad picture will make it clear to all that there's no turning back the clock.
2014-12-01 00:00:00Full ArticleBACK Visit the Daily Alert Archive