CAMERA: Quantifying the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict’s Importance to Middle East Turmoil

Quantifying the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict’s Importance to Middle East Turmoil

Committee for Accuracy in Middle East Reporting and Analysis

April 7, 2017 by Steven Stotsky
http://www.camera.org/index.asp?x_context=2&x_outlet=118&x_article=3610

 

For decades, attention has been lavished on the Palestinians, bestowing upon this small segment of the Arab world an exaggerated importance. As a result, in media, academic and diplomatic circles, addressing Palestinian grievances was elevated to the status of the most urgent political and humanitarian cause in the Middle East.

At the United Nations, Muslim and European blocs apply a harsh and unfair double standard to the actions and policies of the Jewish state. In 2016, the Human Rights Council (HRC), over which some of the worst human rights abusers preside, passed 20 anti-Israel resolutions and only 6 against all other countries (UN Watch), even as mass atrocities –including the use of chemical weapons – continue unabated just north of Israel’s border, in Syria. This lopsided record in 2016 is typical for the HRC. Taking their cue from the Council’s agenda, compromised human rights watchdogs, like Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch, and numerous media and academics that cite reports produced by these groups, raise a clamor whenever Israel vigorously responds to cross-border attacks by terrorist organizations.

The upheavals that shook the Arab world from one end to the other starting in 2010 should have discredited the erroneous perception of the central role of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict in the region’s problems. Yet, for many observers, events of the past six years have not altered their priorities.

In 2013, U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry was determined to make restarting the Israeli-Palestinian peace process the signature achievement of his Middle East policy. In December 2016, after three years of fruitless effort, a frustrated Kerry and President Barack Obama, helped shepherd the United Nations Security Council into passing a resolution condemning Israeli settlements in the West Bank as illegal in what many saw as a parting shot at Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

Wildly distorted perceptions of the magnitude of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict prevail even among those who should know better, like foreign policy officials of the EU and its constituent states. Ron Dermer, Israel’s ambassador to the United States, in a speech to the Committee for Accuracy in Middle East Reporting in America (CAMERA) in April 2016, recounted his dismay to discover that some of his fellow European ambassadors believed the conflict to have cost millions of Palestinian lives, orders of magnitude greater than the actual toll which he estimated at 20,000.

Quantitative estimates of the human toll of other conflicts demonstrate that contrary to commonly held perceptions the Israeli-Palestinian conflict contributes minimally to violence afflicting the region. Despite persisting for 70 years, the conflict accounts for less than one percent of the estimated human toll due to wars in the Middle East/North Africa region over that time frame.

What’s more, Palestinian groups that coalesced under the umbrella organization of the Palestinian national movement, the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO), have been as inclined to ignite conflict with their Arab brethren as they have with Israel. This fact suggests that the proclivity toward violence and destabilization associated with Palestinian groups is not limited to its grievances with Israel.

The charts and associated tables below illustrate two important facts about the conflict:

1. The Israeli-Palestinian conflict is dwarfed by other conflicts in the region; and

2. Groups identified with the Palestinian national movement have destabilized societies wherever they have established a significant presence.

Map 1 graphically shows the numerous wars and upheavals, with estimated lives lost in the region stretching across North Africa, the Middle East and South Asia, that encompasses Arab and other Islamic states.

 

Map 1 graphically shows the numerous wars and upheavals, with estimated lives lost in the region stretching across North Africa, the Middle East and South Asia, that encompasses Arab and other Islamic states.

Map 1 graphically shows the numerous wars and upheavals, with estimated lives lost in the region stretching across North Africa, the Middle East and South Asia, that encompasses Arab and other Islamic states.

 

Diagram 1 depicts this same information in graphic form:

Diagram 1 depicts this same information in graphic form:

 

[JerusalemCats Comments: Where is the Grim Reaper when we need him. Israel needs to Carpet Bomb Hamas, Fatah and Hizbullah to even out the Chart. (Just an idea after the latest Terror Attack in Jerusalem.)]

Across North Africa, the Middle East (also including Iran and Afghanistan), more than five million have perished in wars since World War II. These wars reflect common features of sectarian animosity and dysfunctional political regimes that deny their own citizens basic human rights.

It is important to note that the comparatively limited toll of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict despite its long duration is not due to Palestinian forbearance; Palestinian political discourse is replete with incitement and inducements to committing acts of indiscriminate violence against Jews and calls to extirpate the Jewish state. Rather, it is due to the restraint shown by Israel in how it uses its resounding military superiority.

The map and diagram include the endemic violence of tribal-dominated states like Yemen, Sudan and Somalia that only attract world attention when these conflicts precipitate catastrophes, like widespread famine; similarly shown are the tyrannical minority-dominated regimes in Iraq and Syria which attracted limited attention until their repressive behavior precipitated sectarian wars that descended into orgies of indiscriminate violence and spawned millions of refugees.
Yet still, at the United Nations Human Rights Council nothing has changed, it is business as usual condemning Israel.

Even if one focuses only on the Palestinians, a frequently overlooked element has been the destabilizing impact of Palestinian “resistance” groups on other Arab countries. Map 2 and Diagram 2 graphically show the extent to which the aggressive activities of the PLO (and its affiliates) in host countries have provoked violent reactions that led to victimization of both the host country’s civilians as well as Palestinian civilians. Lebanon in the 1970s provides the most striking example. The PLO’s attempt to create a state-within-a-in-state in Lebanon and assert itself into Lebanese politics disrupted the precarious sectarian balance existing there and led to a civil war that claimed 60,000-100,000 lives, mostly civilians.

 

 

A history of Palestinian Strife in the Middle East

A history of Palestinian Strife in the Middle East

 

A history of Palestinian Strife in the Middle East - Chart

A history of Palestinian Strife in the Middle East – Chart

Among the Palestinian factions within the PLO itself there is sharp discord marked by violent purges and assassinations. As Map 3 shows, the various factions have received considerable support throughout the region.

 

Palestinian Terrorist Groups in the Middle East and North Africa

Palestinian Terrorist Groups in the Middle East and North Africa

 

Such contextual and quantitative information is crucial to impart to a public and especially to students, who have not been provided a thorough and unbiased history of the region. It also offers insight to those who have been misled as to the magnitude and importance of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict within the troubled Middle East.

 

1 Figure is derived from research indicated in references to Map 2 and Table 2
2 http://blog.crisisgroup.org/europe-central-asia/2016/07/20/turkey-s-pkk-conflict-the-rising-toll/
3 http://www.lebanonrenaissance.org/assets/Uploads/Casualties-of-Wars-Presentation2.pdf
4 Calculated from a review of publically available information on losses in Lebanon from 1975-1990
5 https://www.wilsoncenter.org/article/algeria-bloody-past-and-fractious-factions
6 http://siteresources.worldbank.org/EXTCPR/Resources/407739-1267651559887/Violent_Conflict_Dataset_combined.pdf
7 http://bipartisanpolicy.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/default/files/Yemen%20Final%20Report.pdf
8 https://csis-prod.s3.amazonaws.com/s3fs-public/legacy_files/files/publication/150914_Trends_in_Iraqi_Violence_Casualties.pdf https://www.iraqbodycount.org/
9 http://watson.brown.edu/costsofwar/costs/human/civilians/iraqi
10 http://kurzman.unc.edu/death-tolls-of-the-iran-iraq-war/ ; http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/world/war/iran-iraq.htm
11 http://reporting.unhcr.org/node/16434 ; http://www.iamsyria.org/death-tolls.html ; http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/frontline/article/a-staggering-new-death-toll-for-syrias-war-470000/
12 https://news.brown.edu/articles/2016/08/costs-war ;
http://wilsonquarterly.com/quarterly/spring-2014-afghanistan/interactive-timeline-war-in-afghanistan/
13 Figures drawn from several sources, including:   https://www.worldwatchmonitor.org/3626084/4546542 ; National Geographic 10-14-2014 ; Sudan Tribune
References to Map 2 and Diagram 2:
1 Yezid Sayigh, Armed Struggle and the Search for State, numerous citations from book
2 Karsh, Palestine Betrayed, p. 118- Nov. 1947-April 1948 and p. 78- June 1967-1970
3 Richard Gabriel, Operation Peace for Galilee, p. 182- conflict totals , p. 121- Syrian fatalities, civilians in south Lebanon, p.165 civilians in north Lebanon.
4 Martin Gilbert, Atlas of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, p. 58- Israeli deaths 1951-55
5 Martin Gilbert, ibid, p. 114- 39 Jews killed outside of Israel by Palestinian terrorists, Oct. ’80-Oct. ’82
6 Ynet, March 9, 2017,citing “defense establishment” data, http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3687541,00.html
7 B’tselem, Oslo before and after, p. 9 : 1124 Palestinians, http://www.btselem.org/sites/default/files/oslo_befor_and_after.pdf
8 Israel Ministry of Foreign Affairs, http://www.mfa.gov.il/MFA/MFA-Archive/2000/Pages/Terrorism deaths in Israel – 1920-1999.aspx
9B’tselem Statistics, http://www.btselem.org/statistics/first_intifada_tables
10Israel Ministry of Foreign Affairs, List of fatalities, http://mfa.gov.il/MFA/ForeignPolicy/Terrorism/Palestinian/Pages/Victims of Palestinian Violence and Terrorism sinc.aspx
11 International Institute for Counter-terrorism (ICT), Anti-Israeli Terrorism, 2006: Data, Analysis and Trends , p. 62- table of figures from 2000-2006       Note: Israeli and Palestinian fatality figures for Second Intifada in the table above exclude Operation Defensive Shield
12 Ynet, “Operation Defensive Shield”, March 12, 2009, http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3685678,00.html
13 International Institute for Counter Terrorism: Casualties in Operation Cast Lead, https://www.ict.org.il/Portals/0/Articles/ICT_Cast_Lead_Casualties-A_Closer_Look.pdf
14ICT: Operation Protective Edge: A Detailed Summary of Events, https://www.ict.org.il/Article/1262/Operation-Protective-Edge-A-Detailed-Summary-of-Events
15BBC, 3135 Palestinian fatalities 9/29/00-1/15/05, Not counted were 114 suicide bombers, http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/3694350.stm, http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/3256858.stm
16Jaeger, Paserman, “Israel, the Palestinian factions and the cycle of violence”, http://www.djaeger.org/research/pubs/aer200605.pdf
17Washington Post, July 11, 2014, https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/worldviews/wp/2014/07/11/the-lopsided-death-tolls-in-israel-palestinian-conflicts/?utm_term=.01f8ea1ff3b6
18OCHA Special Focus, weekly reports, https://unispal.un.org/DPA/DPR/unispal.nsf/0/BE07C80CDA4579468525734800500272
19 OCHA, Figures for internal Palestinian violence and Israeli-Palestinian violence 2005-2008, http://www.ochaopt.org/documents/ocha_opt_humanitarian_monitor_table_2008_10_english.pdf
20El Najjar, The Gulf War: Overreaction and Excessiveness, http://www.gulfwar1991.com/Gulf War Complete/Chapter 10, Palestinians in Kuwait, Terror and Ethnic Cleansing, By Hassan A El-Najjar.htm
21 Al Jazeera, July 20, 2016, http://www.aljazeera.com/news/2016/07/palestinian-refugees-killed-syria-khan-eshieh-camp-160701160957338.html
22The New Arab, Oct. 22, 2016, https://www.alaraby.co.uk/english/news/2016/10/22/syria-another-yarmouk-feared-as-palestinian-death-toll-rises
23The New Arab, Lebanon’s Civil War: Separating Fact from Fiction, April 13, 2015, https://www.alaraby.co.uk/english/politics/2015/4/13/lebanons-civil-war-separating-fact-from-fiction,
http://www.lebanonrenaissance.org/assets/Uploads/Casualties-of-Wars-Presentation2.pdf
Figures for this report were compiled by CAMERA Senior Analyst Steven Stotsky. The graphics for the maps and diagrams were produced by Emily Regan.

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How to Deal With Hostage Takers: Soviet Lessons

By:Eugene Girin | September 02, 2014 https://www.chroniclesmagazine.org/how-to-deal-with-hostage-takers-soviet-lessons/

 

The recent videotaped beheadings of American journalists James Foley and Steven Sotloff by the bloodthirsty savages of ISIS bring to mind a story which took place in Lebanon almost 30 years ago. On September 30, 1985, a group of gunmen seized four Soviet diplomats and embassy workers (Arkady Katkov, Valery Myrikov, Oleg Spirin, and Nikolai Svirsky) in Beirut. During the kidnapping right outside the embassy, Katkov was wounded in the leg.

 

The abductors called themselves “The Khaled Al-Walid Force” and the “Islamic Liberation Organization”. According to SVR (Foreign Intelligence Service) Colonel Yuri Perfilyev, who at the time was the KGG rezident (station chief) in Lebanon, the kidnapping was orchestrated by infamous Hezbollah operative Imad “Hyena”Mugniyeh in response to an offensive by Syria-backed leftist militias in the Lebanese city of Tripoli. The Shiite radicals demanded that Moscow force Damascus to suspend the Tripoli offensive and close its embassy in Beirut. To demonstrate that they meant business, only two days after the kidnapping, Mugniyeh murdered the wounded Katkov by riddling him with machine gun bullets and left his body in a Beirut rubbish dump.

 

Perfilyev then met up with Grand Ayatollah Muhammad Fadlallah, then spiritual leader of Lebanese Shiites and told him: “A great power cannot wait forever. From waiting and observing, it can proceed to serious action with unpredictable consequences”. Met with silence from Fadlallah, the KGB station chief spoke bluntly:

 

We aren’t only talking about people in Beirut. I’m talking about Tehran and Qom [Shiite holy city and the residence of Ayatollah Khomeini], which is not that far from Russia’s borders. Yes, Qom is very close to us and a mistake in the launch of a missile could always happen. A technical error, some kind of breakdown. They write about it all the time. And God or Allah forbid if this happens with a live, armed missile.

The visibly shaken Fadlallah responded after a moment of silence: “I think everything will turn out well”. Later, his closest advisor “Hassan” (Nasrallah?) told Yuri Perfilyev that no one dared to talk to the Grand Ayatollah in such a fashion.

 

But the ominous threat against one of the holy cities of Shiism was only one prong in the Soviet strategy. According to Benny Morris, who was Jerusalem Post’s diplomatic correspondent at that time and later became famous as a brilliant historian, in tandem with the threats, the Soviets took sharper action:

 

[T]he KGB kidnapped a man they knew to be a close relative of a prominent Hezbollah leader. They then castrated him and sent the severed organs to the Hezbollah official, before dispatching the unfortunate kinsman with a bullet in the brain.

 

In addition to presenting him with this grisly proof of their seriousness, the KGB    operatives also advised the Hezbollah leader that they knew the indentities of other close relatives of his, and that he could expect more such packages if the three Soviet diplomats were not freed immediately.

Soon thereafter, the surviving three hostages were dropped off by the Soviet embassy “from a late-model BMW that couldn’t drive away fast enough” and never again was a Soviet (diplomat or otherwise) kidnapped in Lebanon. As Benny Morris put it: “This is the way the Soviets operate. They do things – they don’t talk. And this is the language the Hezbollah understand.” Not only Hezbollah, but ISIS and every other Muslim terror group.

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Again, Is “Palestine” Really Part of Syria?

October 11, 2018 https://myrightword.blogspot.com/2018/10/again-is-palestine-really-part-of-syria.html

As Zachary J. Foster details in his 2011 Georgetown University MA thesis, “Arab Historiography in Mandatory Palestine, 1920–1948“, many Arab historians

 

considered Palestine a constitutive part of Syria. Bahri, for instance, writes that Haifa is among the “mother cities of Syria broadly and Palestine specifically.” In his brief biography of Abid Baha’ Abbas, the founder of the Bahai faith, Bahri also lists all of the countries or regions with Bahai populations: Iran, Japan, China, India, Egypt, Syria (Suriyya), Europe and America. Insofar as there were many Bahai in “Palestine,” it only makes sense that Palestine was assumed as part of Syria in Bahri’s laundry list, or else it would have been an embarrassing oversight to neglect Palestine. Barghouthi and Totah add that Palestine “remained part of Syria, and a natural border did not separate it (Palestine) from it(Syria), and was not distant from it racially or historically, and therefore historians have not singled it [Palestine] out with a distinct name but rather they have related to it [i.e. naming, in terms of] the peoples and tribes living in it.”

If you are worried that his sources are not solid, a footnote there reads:

 

On the proposals for a Syria (including Palestine) — Egypt union before the war, see Ayyad, Arab Nationalism,59; Lunts, “Shorishayha ve-Mekorotayha,” 34; Gooch and Temperley, British Documents, 824-5; During the war:Tamari, Am al-Jarad, 75-6; Blyth, “The Future of Palestine,” 85; And after the war: Mir’at al-Sharq, 23 December 1926. The proposals for a Palestine-Syria unification all come after the war and extend well into the late 1920s: see the resolution of the First Palestinian National Congress; responses in Palestine to the King-Crane Commission; petitions of the Muslim-Christian Associations; Resolution of the First Syrian National Congress in 1919, petitions produced by Nablusite notables, all of which opted for unity with Syria in the 1918-1920 period. On these proposals, See Porath, The Emergence, 81-2; Muslih,The Origins 131-154; Qasmiyya, “Suriyya wa al-Qadiyya al-Filastiniyya”; For more pro-Syrian unity rhetoric in the post 1920 period, see resolutions of the fifth Palestinian National Congress in 1922, cited in Kimmerling, “Process of Formation,” 80, n.62; Mir’at al-Sharq, 24 May 1925, 4 November 1926; Mansur, Tarikh Nasira, 120; Zionist report on the Third Palestinian National Conference, CZA,L4/768; Zionist report on Palestinian Activities in America. New York, 28 March 1922, CZA A185/56; ZionistReport on the Arab Movement, 1928, CZA, L9/349; For unity with the Hijaz, see Filastin, 10 September 1921; 14 March 1924; 19 June 1925

Quite simply, Foster considers the writing of a unique “Palestine history” to be

 

the projection of contemporary prerogatives on to the past.

Foster continues his review of the geography and history books written and published at the time and adds

 

in 1938 George Antonius uses the word Syria to describe the entire Bilad al-Sham region throughout his book. “Of the countries surrounding Egypt, Syria was the most important from a military point of view.” That is to say, it was still perfectly natural for him to write Syria to refer to places like Bir Sab’ and Ghazza. al-Nimr adds in 1938 that Nablus is located in the heart of Southern Syria (qalb Suriyya al-Janubiyya).

He continues

 

the tendency to consider Palestine a part of Syria that was suggested in Bahri, al-Barghouthi and Totah, Antonious and Canaan is consistent with the geographical studies of the period written by Arabs residing in both Palestine and Syria. In the first place, let us recall that discussions of Palestine are included in the classic histories of Syria written by Yusuf Dibbs and Jurji Yanni in late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. The first Jughrafiyat Filastin was published in 1921 and seems to have been destined for the Mandatory education system. The authors, Totah and Khuri, write that there is no natural border between Syria and Palestine…For Sabri Sharif Abd al-Hadi’s Jughrafiyat Suriyya wa Filastin al-Tabi‘iyya, publishedin 1923—six years after the British arrived in Jerusalem—there is no neat border between Syria and Palestine. In some cases, the plains and mountains of Palestine and Syria bleed into one another.

By the way, on this book, Foster observes

 

It is worth noting that Rashid Khalidi misinterprets this book, claiming that its importance lies in“the fact that all over Palestine, students were already learning that Palestine was a separate entity, a unit whose geography requires separate treatment [from Syria].” Khalidi, Palestinian Identity, 174. As we indicated above,however, this book suggests much the opposite: that there was great confusion over what was Palestine and what was Syria, and that Palestine was a region within Syria. We must be careful to go to the primary sources before accepting Khalidi’s interpretation of the evidence..

 

Foster pursues the subject further and as it is important, here is another longish excerpt from his academic study:

 

Palestine was inextricably tied to a larger territorial unit, Syria. In some cases it was a constitutive part of it and in other cases Palestine did not include Haifa, Acre, Tiberias, Tzfat, Nazareth, the Bisan valley and other areas. When we consider that,in the late Ottoman period, “Palestine” had no administrative status and “Palestinians” called themselves “Syrians,” this is not so surprising. The attempt by the British and French to transform much older conceptions of space and self, usually by resort to force of arms, did not happen overnight. I would suggest that the attempt to trace the “earliest manifestations” of the national or proto-national identity, as Khalidi, Gerber and Fishman have done, has inadvertently reified the naturalness and inevitableness of the development of nation-state borders, geographies and loyalties in the region, things that were simply not indigenous to the region and were brought to the region by the colonial use of force.Another implication of this section is that the various pro-Syrian unity positions taken by theArabs of Palestine from 1918-1920 were probably not as “fleeting” and “ephemeral” as everyone seems to believe. The decision of the First Palestinian National Congress to call Palestine“Southern Syria” in hopes of uniting with Faysal’s government in Syria, may itself have been an innovation, but in name rather than substance. The idea that Palestine was a part of Syria continues to be perfectly acceptable to Palestine’s Arabs in the 1920s and even as late as the 1930s and 1940s. We have examined city-loyalties, Arab and Islamic loyalties and the role of the regional epicenters.

As Foster concludes this chapter in his study

 

Today scholars want to know when a Palestinian identity first emerged, but they seem much less interested in determining what people themselves in the 1920s and 1930s actually cared about.

And then makes sure we are clear about the facts and how Arab historians today interpret them

 

while Khalidi is right to point to the existence of an incipient Palestine loyalty in the 1914-1923 period, he grossly over exaggerates both its importance for the people who felt it and its prevalence in the general population. The historical works would seem to support what Salim Tamari has described as a kind of “cultural nihilism” – the idea that Palestine was not particularly important or distinct apart from its Bilad al-Sham context, at least in the 1920s and also in the early 1930s…not a single book was written on the history of Palestine out of sheer passion and love for Palestine until the 1930s. As we stated previously, this is in complete contrast to the city histories – all of which seem to have been written out of the authors devotion and love for the home town. Continuing along to the 1930s, regional, Arab and Palestine histories remain roughly equal in number until 1936, at which point the conflict among the British, Zionists and Palestinians reached a breaking point with the outbreak of the General Strike in Palestine in the Spring of 1936, the first phase in a 3-year long revolt, today known as the “Great Arab Revolt.” Only then did interest in Palestine soar and come to dominate historical writing, alongside with Arab histories.

My take from this is that my outlook remains unchanged from when I first began blogging on this aspect: for Arabs, Palestine was a region, not a country. It was not a separate geopolitical entity except as part of Syria. Local patriotism was a result of the clash with Zionism which had a 3000-year history of a concrete conceptualization of what the Jewish homeland’s borders were and which the Arabs did not possess.

 

This is part of what I term “Palestinianism” which is the fabrication, caused by competitiveness with the challenge Zionism confronts the local Arabs, of a history, an identity and a geography.

 

And from The Invention of Palestine, Zachary J. Foster, A DISSERTATION
PRESENTED TO THE FACULTY OF PRINCETON UNIVERSITY IN CANDIDACY FOR THE DEGREE OF DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY RECOMMENDED FOR ACCEPTANCE
BY THE DEPARTMENT OF NEAR EASTERN STUDIES, November 2017, page 53-54:

_____________

And from The Invention of Palestine, Zachary J. Foster, A DISSERTATION PRESENTED TO THE FACULTY OF PRINCETON UNIVERSITY IN CANDIDACY FOR THE DEGREE OF DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY RECOMMENDED FOR ACCEPTANCE BY THE DEPARTMENT OF NEAR EASTERN STUDIES, November 2017, page 53-54:

_____________
P.S.  Some previous posts: Here; Here; Here; and an important one here.

How many times Muslims invaded Europe vs. Europeans invaded Muslim countries?


Bill Warner, PhD: Jihad vs Crusades

MUSLIM CRUSADES Started Four Centuries Before the Western Crusades

Posted by FactReal on February 12, 2010 https://factreal.wordpress.com/2010/02/12/muslim-crusades-started-four-centuries-before-the-western-crusades/

Islamic slave

Islamic slave

Islamics Launched their Crusades in 630 A.D.
Western Crusades started in 1095 A.D. to Stop Muslim Invasion

The Crusades were started by the Muslims in the year 630 A.D. when Muhammad invaded and conquered Mecca. Later on, Muslims invaded Syria, Iraq, Jerusalem, Iran, Egypt, Africa, Spain, Italy, France, etc. The Western Crusades started around 1095 to try to stop the Islamic aggressive invasions. Islamic Crusades continued even after the Western Crusades.Islam – Not a Religion of Peace
Islam has killed about 270 million people: 120 million Africans*, 60 million Christians, 80 million Hindus, 10 million Buddhists, etc.Forced conversions to Islam have been the norm, across three continents—Asia, Africa, and Europe—for over 13 centuries. Orders for conversion were decreed under all the early Islamic dynasties, under both Seljuk and Ottoman Turkish rule, and in Persia/Iran and the Indian subcontinent, etc.Islam has been at a continuous war against non-Muslims for almost 1400 years (since Muhammad.)

Following is a list of the major Islamic invasions preceding the Western Crusades.
ISLAMIC CRUSADES
630 Muhammad conquers Mecca from his base in Medina.
632 Muhammad dies in Medina. Islam controls the Hijaz.
636 Muslims conquest of Syria, and the surrounding lands, all Christian – including Palestine and Iraq.
637 Muslim Crusaders conquer Iraq (some date it in 635 or 636).
638 Muslim Crusaders conquer and annex Jerusalem, taking it from the Byzantines.
638 – 650 Muslim Crusaders conquer Iran, except along Caspian Sea.
639 – 642 Muslim Crusaders conquer Egypt.
641 Muslim Crusaders control Syria and Palestine.
643 – 707 Muslim Crusaders conquer North Africa.
644 – 650 Muslim Crusaders conquer Cyprus, Tripoli in North Africa, and establish Islamic rule in Iran, Afghanistan, and Sind.
673 – 678 Arabs besiege Constantinople, capital of Byzantine Empire.
691 Dome of the Rock is completed in Jerusalem, only six decades after Muhammad’s death.
710 – 713 Muslim Crusaders conquer the lower Indus Valley.
711 – 713 Muslim Crusaders conquer Spain and impose the kingdom of Andalus. The Muslim conquest moves into Europe.
718 Conquest of Spain complete.
732 Muslim invasion of France is stopped at the Battle of Poitiers / Battle of Tours. The Franks, under their leader Charles Martel (the grandfather of Charlemagne), defeat the Muslims and turn them back out of France.
762 Foundation of Baghdad.
785 Foundation of the Great Mosque of Cordova.
789 Rise of Idrisid amirs (Muslim Crusaders) in Morocco; Christoforos, a Muslim who converted to Christianity, is executed.
800 Autonomous Aghlabid dynasty (Muslim Crusaders) in Tunisia
807 Caliph Harun al—Rashid orders the destruction of non-Muslim prayer houses & of the church of Mary Magdalene in Jerusalem.
809 Aghlabids (Muslim Crusaders) conquer Sardinia, Italy.
813 Christians in Palestine are attacked; many flee the country.
831 Muslim Crusaders capture Palermo, Italy; raids in Southern Italy.
837 – 901 Aghlabids (Muslim Crusaders) conquer Sicily, raid Corsica, Italy, France.
869 – 883 Revolt of black slaves in Iraq.
909 Rise of the Fatimid Caliphate in Tunisia; these Muslim Crusaders occupy Sicily, Sardinia.
928 – 969 Byzantine military revival, they retake old territories, such as Cyprus (964) and Tarsus (969).
937 The Church of the Resurrection (aka Church of Holy Sepulcher) is burned down by Muslims; more churches in Jerusalem are attacked.
960 Conversion of Qarakhanid Turks to Islam.
969 Fatimids (Muslim Crusaders) conquer Egypt and found Cairo.
973 Israel and southern Syria are again conquered by the Fatimids.
1003 First persecutions by al—Hakim; the Church of St. Mark in Fustat, Egypt, is destroyed.
1009 Destruction of the Church of the Resurrection by al—Hakim (see 937).
1012 Beginning of al—Hakim’s oppressive decrees against Jews and Christians.
1050 Creation of Almoravid (Muslim Crusaders) movement in Mauretania; Almoravids (aka Murabitun) are coalition of western Saharan Berbers; followers of Islam, focusing on the Quran, the hadith, and Maliki law.
1071 Battle of Manzikert, Seljuk Turks (Muslim Crusaders) defeat Byzantines and occupy much of Anatolia.
1071 Turks (Muslim Crusaders) invade Palestine.
1073 Conquest of Jerusalem by Turks (Muslim Crusaders).
1075 Seljuks (Muslim Crusaders) capture Nicea (Iznik) and make it their capital in Anatolia.
1076 Almoravids (Muslim Crusaders) (see 1050) conquer western Ghana.
1086 Almoravids (Muslim Crusaders) (see 1050) send help to Andalus, Battle of Zallaca.
1090 – 1091 Almoravids (Muslim Crusaders) occupy all of Andalus except Saragossa and Balearic Islands.
START OF WESTERN CRUSADES
Only after all of the Islamic aggressive invasions is when Western Christendom launches its first Crusades.
1094 Byzantine emperor Alexius Comnenus I asks western Christendom for help against Seljuk (Muslim Turks) invasions of his territory.
1095 Pope Urban II preaches first Crusade; they capture Jerusalem in 1099.
WHY ISLAMIC CONQUESTS?
Islamic scholarship divides the world in two:
1) The House of Islam (dar al-Islam): Nations submitted to Islamic rule.
2) The House of War (dar al-harb): Nations that have not submitted to Islam but must be submitted according to Islamic doctrine. Thus, Muslims (dar al-Islam) believe they must make war upon non-Muslims (dar al-harb) until all nations submit to the will of Allah and accept Sharia law.Islam’s message: Submit or Be Conquered.

SOURCES / RELATED
List of Islamic Attacks on America
Timeline of Islamic Crusades and Imperialism
Islamic Crusades
Muslim Crusades
Islam and Jihad 101
Video: Muslim Persecution of Christians
Islamic Jihad: Legacy of Forced Conversion, Imperialism, and Slavery
History of Jihad
Islam, Slavery and Rape
Islam’s Long History of Forced Conversions
Islamic doctrine
A Concise History of the Crusades by Thomas F. Madden (Critical Issues in History)
(Rowman and Littlefield, 2005)
The Politically Incorrect Guide to Islam (and the Crusades) by Robert Spencer
(Regnery Publishing, Inc., 2005)
Another Mohammed Cartoon conflagration
2006: The year of perpetual outrage
Mohammed Cartoons redux: Make no apology for defending Western values; Update: Obama bows again
Jihadi attack on Danish cartoonist

* Black slaves were castrated by Muslims as they were believed to have uncontrollable sexual appetites. While most slaves bound for the Americas were brought for agricultural purposes, slaves bound for Arab countries were used for sex and the military. Twice as many women as men were enslaved by Muslims. But most of the children born to these women were killed. The death toll from 1400 years of the Arab slave trade is estimated to be between 112 and 140 million.

Twenty Questions about Islam Answered

[JerusalemCats Comments:]

Israel needs to Carpet Bomb Hamas, Fatah and Hizbullah

This is what needs to be done to terrorist and their supporters!

look how there is little or no damage next door!

لحظة قصف منزل عائلة نوفل بصاروخ تحذيري يتبعه صاروخا F16 | The moment of bombing the house of Nofal family, missile warning followed a rocket fired by a F16

Below are examples of Carpet Bombing during World War II

If The US and England could and still can do it throughout the world, why not Israel? What about TOTAL VICTORY!

WWII London school children in the midst of an air raid drill

WWII London school children in the midst of an air raid drill

Bombing of Cologne in World War II By http://www.anicursor.com/colpicwar.html credited Courtesy of Kevin "The Rocketeer" via flickr-Website., Public Domain, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?curid=4579919

Bombing of Cologne in World War II
By http://www.anicursor.com/colpicwar.html credited Courtesy of Kevin “The Rocketeer” via flickr-Website., Public Domain, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?curid=4579919

Children of an eastern suburb of London, who have been made homeless by the random bombs of the Nazi night raiders, waiting outside the wreckage of what was their home. September 1940. New Times Paris Bureau Collection. (USIA)<br /> Exact Date Shot Unknown<br /> NARA FILE #: 306-NT-3163V<br /> WAR & CONFLICT BOOK #: 1009

Children of an eastern suburb of London, who have been made homeless by the random bombs of the Nazi night raiders, waiting outside the wreckage of what was their home. September 1940. New Times Paris Bureau Collection. (USIA)
Exact Date Shot Unknown
NARA FILE #: 306-NT-3163V
WAR & CONFLICT BOOK #: 1009

 

This is what we in Israel have to deal with daily! However even with all the problems living in Israel is Great if you are Jewish!


15 Seconds in Sderot, Israel

An Open Letter to Critics of Israel

Rachel’s Tomb near Bethlehem (Photo: The Friends of Rachel’s Tomb)

Rachel’s Tomb near Bethlehem (Photo: The Friends of Rachel’s Tomb)

Egged Bus

Egged Bus

 

Kotel, Western Wall, Jerusalem, Shavuot

Kotel, Western Wall, Jerusalem, Shavuot

The world’s vision of Jerusalem from 1949 to 1967 was a place dominated by Christianity in terms of reverence, by Muslims in regards to prominence, and lastly by Jews, whose holiest spot was not even acknowledged and their basic human rights to live and worship were ignored. Yom Yerushalayim – Jerusalem Day Flag Dance Jerusalem Day is a day to mark the upending of that dynamic, at least in part.

The world’s vision of Jerusalem from 1949 to 1967 was a place dominated by Christianity in terms of reverence, by Muslims in regards to prominence, and lastly by Jews, whose holiest spot was not even acknowledged and their basic human rights to live and worship were ignored.
Yom Yerushalayim – Jerusalem Day Flag Dance
Jerusalem Day is a day to mark the upending of that dynamic, at least in part.

Emuna, Tzadikim and Torah are the only thing that can protect us.

Emuna, Tzadikim and Torah are the only thing that can protect us.

 

the mobile protection unit torah inside

the mobile protection unit torah inside

 

Mahane Yehuda shuk

Mahane Yehuda shuk

Jerusalem Light Rail on Jaffa Street

Jerusalem Light Rail on Jaffa Street

 

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