Blogger: The Philistine

bs”d

I have received the dubious honor of having the blogger, “The Philistine” visit and leave comments, in one of my February 13, 2008 www.lekarev.org re-posts on Sderot entitled “Why They Stay.” The Philistine reacted with predictably dismissive hostility. I won’t bother with the entire post. Following are some excerpts from his post, and my responses.

The Philistine: I often find mindless rantings of zionist bloggers when I search for news on Palestine.

Elya: Describing opposing views with strings of insulting words like “mindless rantings of zionist bloggers” is a clue to the rest of us that the blogger in question is about to do what he has accused his ideological opponent of doing. You see, it’s all too easy to just write off another’s thinking as “mindless rantings” and to label them with their view of an epithet, in this case “Zionist”, rather than dealing with facts in dispute. Using these transparent tactics at discrediting one’s opponents only convinces those who already agree.

Consider the following bit of wisdom: “A man is entitled to his opinion. He is not entitled to be wrong in his facts.”

The Philistine further states: “A recent one was called “Why They Stay.” (here he links my post)

Elya: Thanks for the exposure. A more careful reading of the post in question shows that th piece being discussed on The Philistine’s blog is not mine, but a re-post from www.lekarev.org, which is not a blog. Write them and tell them how “mindless” they are.

The Philistine: It points to the people living is Sderot and says that while some residents have fled the area, the majority of them have stayed and gives reasons. Both of which are utter crap, your life is worth more than the mortgage (maybe being a non-jew this makes more sense to me?).

Elya: Uh-oh. The parenthetical statement is giving away your prejudices … your “anti-Judaism” which flies in the face of objectivity. (I would say “antisemitic” but then we’d probably have to enter the boring debate about who is a Semite, totally missing the point.) And if the entire community of Sderot had taken The Philistine’s smug advice and fled, would he then be calling them “Zionist cowards”? Then perhaps further bragging that no self-respecting Arab would do any less than stay and hold their ground? In fact, if one applies The Philistine’s logic universally, why do the people of Gaza not simply leave? After all, many proponents of the Arab cause claim these people are in continual mortal danger from the “Zionists”. I challenge him to visit Gaza and offer that as a solution to the difficulties plaguing the area.

This logic of reminds me of the story of a businessman at a meeting. He has severe body odor and everyone is gagging for air. When his poor grooming habits are pointed out, and he is told to make the necessary changes or he will be fired, he responds that everyone should just “get used to it”. No, he should take a shower and use deodorant.

The Philistine: But why do they stay, why do Israeli’s stay in an area while “fearing for their lives” when 60 years ago we had left under the same (but comparably worse) conditions?

Elya’s answer: Not all of of the Arabs in Israel left. Many stayed and found that the “Zionists” weren’t out to massacre anyone. Here’s the deal: The Jewish people merely recognize their right to self-defense. Anyone who challenges the Jewish people’s right to life will soon find out what a risk they involve themselves in by toying with such folly.

I’m confused by something The Philistine wrote next. How could the conditions be “the same (but comparably worse)”???

Now, I want to address the controversy surrounding the village of “Deir Yassin” during Israel’s War of Independence. The Philistine states that Deir Yassin had declared themselves to be neutral in 1948. Read about the so-called neutrality of Deir Yassin and the battle that ensued due to that declared neutrality in my post entitled “The Other Side of the Stories” under the category Anti-Semitism in the left sidebar. There are also some interesting links in my post entitled “Shtachim”, also under the Anti-Semitism category.

The Philistine then goes on to give the tired old propagandists rendition of events at Deir Yassin. My linked posts, which quote the book Aliyah give another side of the story. It’s up to the readers to decide who’s telling the truth and who bends the truth for political purposes.

Another reason Deir Yassin is cited so frequently by the Arab opponents to Israel’s existence is because there really isn’t much else to point to in Israel’s history. Contrast this to the many massacres perpetrated against the Jewish people by the Arab world. By all means, google the topic. I’m confident you’ll be shocked. Read more evidence of Arab anti-Judaism, antisemitism…whatever term you prefer…Arabs who hate Jews purely because they are Jewish. After that, consider reading about the Hevron Massacre of 1929. Alan Dershowitz in his book, A Case for Israel, has some interesting points on the subject at hand as well.

As far as the long list of Arab villages that The Philistine claims Israel destroyed, how about being fair? It’s one thing to cite a bunch of alleged Arab villages. Let’s see some sources (outside of The Philistine) that prove 1) that these villages existed and 2) that it is the fault of unfair Israeli aggression (vs. self defense) that they no longer exist. The title of a credible history book or two would be helpful. Or a link. Or something…

Professor Eugene Narrett has some proven historical facts for us all to chew on in regards to how the Land of Israel has truly been mismanaged by the “Powers That Be” since the beginning, primarily to the detriment of it’s rightful residents, the Jewish people. (G-d is the Owner, no one else.)

Second, what about all the destroyed Jewish homes, communities and confiscated personal wealth inflicted upon the Jewish people who’d lived in the Arab world for hundreds, and even thousands of years? What terrible crime did those of us who lived in the midst of our Arab neighbors commit? We suffered too. Terribly. Wars do that. But instead of asking for a hand-out, we picked ourselves up by the bootstraps and moved on, plucky people that we are.

Read a bit about those events here, here, here and here as well in many scholarly history books on the topic, such as anything written by Hayim Ben-Sasson, or Howard Sachar, to name just two outstanding examples. Most of the Jewish people similarly expelled from the Arab nations surrounding Israel, came with only the shirts on their backs.

Why are these people no longer refugees? Answer: Because Israel values her people. Rather than leaving them in their misery to be used as pawns in the conflict between herself and her Arab neighbors, she chose to integrate them into Israeli society.

How about the fact that the Arab people were squatters on land that had been stolen from the Jewish people 2000 years ago? The Jewish people have never relinquished the Land of Israel or Jerusalem in those 2000 years. Three times a day, for some 2000 years, we have prayed to return to our land. There is no statute of limitations on stolen nations.

There were some Arab immigrants, who mostly arrived at about the same time as some of the later Jewish immigrants. Then there’s also the uncomfortable (for Arabs) fact that the nation of Israel was re-born partially through the same political vehicle that created many of the Arab nations now warring against Israel. I don’t give total credit to the body politic known as the U.N. because I believe in a Sovereign Creator, HKB”H, Who is the true Power behind the re-birth of the Jewish nation.

Over 2000 years ago, the area was re-named “Palestine” by the Roman thieves, in order to further antagonize the fiesty Jews who refused to bend to Rome’s unjust and inhumane rule, which often demanded that the Jewish people choose between Torah observance and life. Read Benjamin Netanyahu’s book A Place Among the Nations for a knowledgeable exploration of the legal ramifications of what Rome inflicted on us, as well as subsequent events, leading up to this current conflict. Additionally, consider reading this interesting article, which discusses the legal claims the Jewish people have on Jerusalem.

Islam, which claims Israel as an integral part of their world, came into existence well after this theft of the Land of Israel, and dispersion of the Jewish people by the Romans. By the actions of the Arab world, they have now participated in the crime against the Jewish people. The Arabs in the Land of Israel should be grateful that under the circumstances forced upon the Jewish people, we continue to be generous enough to be willing to share that tiny corner of the Middle East.

The injuries the Arab people have suffered in this interminable conflict are largely self-inflicted by a religious fanaticism which refuses to acknowledge the presence of anything in the Middle East that is not Islamic. And even more than the wounds inflicted in the Arab-Israeli conflict, the Arab world will not stop suffering until they settle down and learn to live in peace with one another…that would be the murderous conflict between Sunni and Shiite. It seems advisable to me that the Arab world consider calming down, and settling into a life of peace, cooperation and prosperity alongside their peace loving Jewish neighbors.

Last point: “The Philistine” has chosen to tie the Arab people to Philistines? This is interesting to me. Read any history book on this, but for starters, Wikipedia may offer some insight. The Philistines are generally regarded to be a non-Arab sea faring people. Notwithstanding the Roman name Palestine for the region, the Philistines as a distinct people have disappeared off the face of the planet.

I used to be a Philistine

Jblog me