National Georgraphic is a wonderful magazine when it come to photographing and sicussing nature. I would have also included, "Writing true historical documentaries," but not after reading your artcile on Bethehem. It is revisionist history, littered with glaring factual errors and filled with intentional fabrications that comprise the same anti-Jewish rhetoric and anti-Israel propaganda spewed out by the Arab media, Palestinian terror groups, and empty-headed Leftists. It is the most egregious collection of tripe ever to appear in your magazine, and I strongly suggest that you stick to Anthropology, Astronomy, and Paleontology and stay away from things for which you have no real understanding.
Here are my responses to their statements:
NG: The reason the wall exists here, according to the Israeli government, is to keep terrorists away from Jerusalem.
ME: The wall is only there to keep terrorists from entering into any part of Israel, not just Jerusalem. Bethlehem is a hotbed of terrorism. Yet, your use of the comment, "according to the Israeli government," and is to make readers think that the wall is there for other, nefarious reasons.
NG: After World War II, in the wake of the Holocaust, the United Nations voted to partition the region into two states—one Jewish, one Arab
ME: The decision to set aside land on for a Jewish homeland began in 1917 with the Balfour Declaration, which was followed up with others documents saying the same thing. Several partition plans had been issued for over 30 years before the 1948 UN plan -- most of which came from the League of Nations. As you may or may not know, The League became the UN who was mandated to enact and maintain the resolutions passed by the League. The UN did not. The 1948 partition planIt was NOT in response to the Holocaust. The land included what was ancient Israel established 3,000 years earlier. Terrorist attacks by Arabs on Jews had been going on for 50 years BEFORE 1948, that date when Israel declared her independence, and th Arab States declared their intention to "push the Jews into the Sea."
NG: Fighting between Arabs and Jews began even before Israel declared independence, in 1948, and the ensuing war resulted in about 750,000 Palestinians fleeing their native villages, many of them forced to do so by the Israeli army.
ME: Terrorist attacks by Arabs on Jews had been going on for 50 years before 1948, such as the Arab revolts of 1920-21, the Arab massacre of Jews in Hebron in 1929, and the Arab Revolts in 1935-46. The date when Israel declared her independence was followed a week later by an invasion of Arab armies intent on "pushing the Jews into the Sea." No more than 390,000 Palestinian Arabs left their homes in 1948, and the vast majority who left were URGED TO DO SO BY THEIR ARAB LEADERS. They were told that after the Arab armies ethnically cleanse Israel of Jews, that they could return and take what had belonged to the Israelis. Israel's leaders pleaded with the Palestinian Arabs to stay and become full citizens of israel, which many did. The smaller percentage of those who left in advance of the IDF did so in response to the IDFs call to get out of harm's way.
At the same time as when 350,000 Palestinian Arabs left Israel on their own accord, 850,000 Jews were expelled from neighboring Arab States and were subsequently absorbed by Israel. Conversely, the Arab states have done everything in their power to keep Palesitinan Arabs in refuge camps in order to use them as political pawns.
NG: He was born in what is now Israel but was then, during World War II, known as the British Mandate for Palestine
ME: It should read, "He was born in the historic land of Israel that is mistakenly called Palestine." After destroying the 2nd Temple in Jeruslam, and the last of the Jewish revolt, the Romans renamed Israel to "Syria-Palestina" after Israel's most hated enemy, the Phillistines. They also renamed Jerusalem to "Aelia Capitolina," butits rightful name was restored soon after the Roman Empire collapsed. The same should have been done to Israel. There has never been a country or nation known as "Palestine" and Palestinian Arabs are no difeent than any other Arabs.
NG: Many relocated to the West Bank of the Jordan River, administered by Jordan, or the Gaza Strip, governed by Egypt. These were the first Palestinian refugees.
ME: Jordan and Egypt illegally captured and annexed the West Bank and Gaza, respectively. Jordan occupied the West Bank for 19 years (where were the cries of "occupaton?" before both countries negotiated separate peace agreements with Isreal. FYI: When Jordan captured and occupied the West Bank, all Jews were expelled from jordan and not permitted to visit Jerusalem or any other part. Well before Israel became a state, the British carved out 75% of the land that was intended to be the Jewish Homeland and gave it to Jordan -- a country comprised of 75% Palestinian Arabs (or, in other words, the real Palestinian state.)
NG: When, in 1967, Israel defeated the military forces of Egypt, Jordan, Syria, Iraq, and Lebanon in six chaotic days and occupied, among other lands, the West Bank, a place many Israelis refer to by its biblical name, Judaea and Samaria. This initiated the settlement movement—Jews establishing homesites throughout the newly won territory.
ME: Wrong! The "settlement movement," is a part of the "Zionist movement," that began in the late 1890's. The number of Jews were establishing homesites in the West Bank could be counted in the hundreds, whereas there were hundreds of thousands of Arabs who also built there, many of which were really iillegal. Jews were never prohibited from building these settlements in the West Bank by an UN Resolution. Jews have lived continuously in Judea and Samaria for over 3,000 years, and the vast majority of Jewish settlements in the West Bank were in the exact, same places that Jews had lived before being expelled by Jordan. By the way, a significant proportion of Christians all over the world also refer to the West Bank by its Biblical names.
NG: Palestinian Muslims also revere this land as sacred, since Jesus is one of their prophets. Also Bethlehem and the surrounding West Bank, as well as the Gaza Strip and Jerusalem, are where they hope to establish a viable homeland.
ME: They did not revere any of these lands as sacred before 1967, nor did they ever have any movement to create a Palestinian homeland before 1967. These are the result of myths concocted by Yassir Arafat, who was the leader of the PLO terrorist group at the time, and perpetrated on the Palestinian Arabs. The vast majority of Palestinian Arabs who lived in Israel prior to 1948, had migrated there from other countries. Today, the vast majority of Palestinian Arabs (71%) would prefer to live in Israel rather than a state run by the PA or Hamas. What they did to Gaza after Israel pulled out is a testament to how far away they are from creating a "viable homeland."
NG: The United Nations, the European Union, and the International Court of Justice have declared the Israeli settlements illegal, a violation of the Geneva Convention that prohibits occupying powers from allowing its citizens to populate the territory it occupies.
ME: Totally false! Israel is not an "occupying force in a foreign country," which is what the Geneva convention requires. Israelis and Palestinian Arabs both live in what the UN calls, "disputed territories," even though the territory used to belong to israel. Disputed territories do not fall under the rules of the Geneva convention. Since neither the UN or the rest of the world did anything to prevent Jordan from "administering" these territories for 19 years, then, it is totally disingenous to say that Israel cannot do the same, especially since it gained control of them from Jordan as part of their peace agreement.
NG: The Israeli government, though, provides easy loans to those seeking houses in West Bank settlements.
ME: You fogot make it seem like only Jews can get easy loans when, in reality, Israel offers easy loans to both Jews and Arabs. There are 10 to 20 times more new Arab settlements in the West Bank than Jewish ones.
NG: Not one Palestinian who owned acreage was compensated.
ME: Yet another outright Palestinian lie. Palestinians were, indeed, compensated if they produced proof of ownership. Why didn't you talk about the land purchased for Jews with Jewish money that was stolen by the Palestinians? What about the tens of thousands of Jews who were evicted from the West Bank after Jordan captured it?
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