If Americans Knew is dedicated to providing Americans with everything they need to know about Israel and Palestine.
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There is an old saying that
says: if the Palestinians put their guns down, there would be peace. If
the Israelis put their guns down, they would be slaughtered. 

Reporting has a cute way of
omitting facts and depicting a story in a manner that favors a
particular side. Be weary of the source. For example, yalda, your link
shows a stat on palestinian homes being bulldozed. It seems to fail to
mention why they are bulldozed. The PLO
and saddam Hussein began rewarding the families of suicide bombers with
cash payments of $10,000. To combat this motivation, Israelis policy
became to demolish their house. They gave the family time to leave, do
letter drops from thru air, send text messages and announcements over
loud speakers. Then they bulldoze it. Hardly seems so evil anymore does
it? Having no prisoners held by the palestinians, an interesting point.
This pays no mention to the young israeli border patrol soldier that was
kidnapped approx 8 years ago and was prisoner swapped for over 1000
palestinians, many who are convicted criminals- some even caught on TV
killing hostages with knives and celebrating the blood on their
hands.Just two of many examples. Israels PR team may not be great but
review the FACTS about their human rights philosophies and actions as
you will be pleasantly surprised.

 Hey Roy,  Honestly, Israel has the best PR campaign. The fact that you associate the humanitarian financial support to build homes as “reward for suicide bombing” is all the proof you need.  You must realize that the settlements have been expanding since the Palestinians have been locked in their camps decades ago.  This is not a new phenomenon.  These people have been displaced, murdered and terrorized by the Isareli Government and have NO control over their day to day lives.  Discounting their suffering and anger ‘senseless terrorism’ is upsetting. I beg you to watch these short videos to get a more exhaustive perspective of the conflict. http://www.sicklycat.com/2011/05/27/the-truth-about-the-israeli-palestinian-conflict-video/

JCB3, it’s important to
distinguish the difference between humanitarian support and direct
financial rewards for suicide bombers- 2 very different things.
Humanitarian aid has been cut off as the Government of Gaza is in fact
Hamas. Israel, the US and the global
community have refused to provide financial support to a terrorist
organization. Prior to Hamas taking power, Israel was providing
extensive direct financial aid and indirect aid see: http://www.mfa.gov.il/MFA/HumanitarianAid/Overview/.
Hamas is a recognized, self admitted terrorists group. Hamas refuses to
recognize the state of Israel, in fact, part of their mission statement
is to drive the Jews into the sea. Hamas refuses to even enter peace
negotiations with Israel.

 The “global community”? The
entire world with the exception of the United States recognizes the fact
that Israel is an apartheid state that is engaged in systematic ethnic
cleansing of the Palestinians. I don’t dispute the fact that Hamas is
a terrorist organization, but just because you call it the Israeli
Defense force and the CIA, doesn’t mean that they too aren’t terrorist
organizations! Great video John. I will watch it in its entirety later
this evening. I give Sickly Cat Mazagine props for their stance on an
issue that has gotten many in this country fired, black listed and
erroneously labeled as anti-semetic (yes, even those who are Jewish,
ex. Norman Finkelstein, Noam Chomsky, Charlie Sheen, Ted Koppel, Roseann
Barr) as a scare tactic to surpress the atrocities committed against
the Palestinians.

http://youtu.be/CEGuvuSe0q4

The topic of settlements is a
heated topic for all involved. The land that they are being built on is
Israeli land, within Israel since the 1967 war. {As a quick refresher,
the 1967 war was started by Israel’s Arab neighbors (Egypt, Syria, Jordan
and Lebanon) and they lost. So after provoking a war, then losing
strategic high grounds to Israel, they want it back.} The Palestinians
argument is that they hope that this land will one day be theres, either
through a 2 state solution or ‘driving the Jews into the sea’. To say
the Palestinians have been ‘displaced, murdered and terrorized by the
Israeli Government’ is an extreme stretch from the truth. Displaced; the
state of Israel was assigned to the Jews after the Holocaust of WW2 to
give the Jewish people a home. They were there prior and had been run
out several times. Palestinians were nomadic people with no borders,
cities or permanent established ‘country or territory’. They were simply
nomadic over the entire region. There was a time that Jews and
Palestinians lived peacefully together but it has been the poor
Palestinian leadership that has led that astray. People such as Yassa
Arafat, well known for corruption, pulling out of 2 state agreements and
blatant terrorism that have ruined this. Who has suffered the most? The
average Palestinian person on the street, that’s who. These leaders
have had no desire to a peaceful solution and hence keep pouring
kerosene on the fire to keep the conflict ablaze. Ultimately they have
no care about their own people, just a desire to line their own pockets
and maintain the conflict in the hope of one day having the entire
region to the Palestinian people. Murdered and Terrorized? Hmm.. it
seems to be quite the opposite. It is the Palestinians who have
continued with suicide bombers, hostage taking, attacks at Israeli
weddings, bar mitzvahs, hotels, bars, plane hijackings, and firing of
mortar rockets into civilian town centers. When the Israeli army
retaliates, they are labelled the aggressor. With all due respect,
please take a look at the FACTS and take in your news from more then
just pro-palestinan news sources. Plane and simple, their is absolutely
no excuse for the random terrorizing and killing of civilians. Visit the
region and understand what Israel has to live with on a daily basis and
you’ll come to understand more. Reading a few websites one sided
arguments provides a very biased opinion and one that is simple false.
The safest part of the entire situation is that due to a few bad apples
in leadership positions, everyone suffers. This who suffer the most are
the Palestinian people. The goal is to have peace and a state solution
with Jews and Palestinians living side by side. The only way this can
occur is for the Palestinian leadership to put their guns down.

Roy I thought you may want to
see the way the “global community” is voting above. I don’t blame you
for your views. I think its very hard to get unbiased and uncensored
information from the US media that is dominated by 4 people. That being
said, I really do hope you can put religion aside and reflect on the
Israeli-Palestinian conflict from a pure humanitarian perspective. I
have no doubt that mothers from both sides just want to see a better
life for their children. That being said, I think it is everyone’s duty
to stand up for injustice and oppression regardless of who the victim
is…that is the only way we can become evolved human beings!

 Yalda, the video above is
correct and true. The Palestinian leadership were told in no uncertain
terms that the way towards peace is a 2 state solution and if they try
to circumvent that and appeal to the UN for full state membership they will
be a) Vetoed; b) Have aid cut off. They thought the US was bluffing and
tried the PR stunt, it backfired. It was a blatant political stunt. To
say the entire world sees Israel as an apartheid state is simply false.
Yes, there are reveal countries who do. Check the financial
relationship/ oil relationship to the Arab world or other motivating
factors to these very FEW countries and you will see their motivation
very simply. The ISraeli Defense Force has one of the highest, if not
the highest human rights standards and does everything within it’s power
to avoid civilian casualties. However, when Palestinians fire rockets
from within a heavily populated area and Israel kills them and there are
unfortunate civilian casualties, the focus becomes on those civilians,
not the fact that mortars are being fired out of schools, red cross
facilities etc. I’m not sure on the other persons you named but Charlie
Sheen is NOT anti-Semitic and has not been labelled as such. He
clarified his comments on using Chuck Lorrie’s Hebrew name and professed
his respect for the Jewish community including stating his agent and
many of his friends are Jewish. He did not pull a Mel Gibson:)

 Roy, Jews & Arabs lived
peacefully in Palestine before the occupation. When The US & UK
invaded and displaced the Arabs to give foreign Jews a home, both the
Arabs AND indigenous Jews were enraged.

 Roy, you should read Jimmy
Carter’s book “Palestine, Peace, Not Apartheid”. Great historical
synopsis and neutral reporting of the facts to include Jimmy Carter’s
role in the current state of affairs.

Jimmy is known to be completely biased and anti-Semitic even from his time in office.

 WOW. Jimmy anti-Semitic?!?!
Wow. I feel like people really devalue the legitimacy of the word
‘anti-Semitic’ when they use it to discredit those who hold different
opinions.

 Nazis were Anti-Semitic. Ahmadinejad might be considered Anti-Semitic… maybe. The term refers to those who hate Jews because of their religion or ethnicity.  Not those who oppose the Israeli government (or even the state of Israel) because of their policies.  BIG DIFFERENCE!

JCB3, unfortunately, that has
become the standard in this country! Anyone who speaks out against the
current state of Israel gets labeled as such. And if they happen to be
Jewish (ie. Ted Koppel, Rosanne Barr, Normal Finkelstein, Noam Chomsky,
Geraldo Rivera etc.) they get fired and labeled as self-haters. The
media in this country is so skewed to push the Neocon and Zionist Agenda
that it has fired many legitimate reporters on this issue i.e., Dan
Rather, Ted Koppel, Judge Napolitano, Keith Olbermann and Helen Thomas.
This is worse than the Mccarthy era and the “fear of communism”…

 no. Just a fact. Jimmy Carter
is completely anti Jewish and Israel in everything that he says and
does. He is not one to take Israel’s side on anything. So much so that
his credibility in world leadership circles has dropped significantly and
he no longer is involved in many, if any, organizations with high level
political credibility. Habitat for Humanity, though an excellent
organization in terms of it’s greater goals is hardly the high level
organization a from US president aspires to have as his current best
position. In fact, many f the facts in his book have been directly
called out and proven to be false, manipulated and even omitted. It was
his book and several speeches which again had miss-truths are what
destroyed his credibility. It appears that the sources you seek all
role on from each other and all share the same view point, hence your
views are skewed in that direction. I don’t mean that in a derogatory
manner at all. The issue arrises when one reads one source, others are
cited which share a similar stance and the views of the reader become
further reinforced by the additional sources. This exact problem makes
research on a topic through todays media difficult. It was Stephen Covey
who once said: “Seek first to understand, then to be understood.” I’d
recommend jumping on to several of the main Israeli newspaper websites
and understanding from the other side. They are very aggressive in their
criticism of Israeli government so you will begin to see how the other
side feels, their motivations, fears etc all with the balance and checks
of an un-muted media.

 Roy, Nothing you’ve said can
be misconstrued at offensive. I appreciate the fact that you’re willing
to discuss this civilly… Seriously.

 It’s a little odd that you
would say Ahmadinejad is ‘maybe’ anti-sametic. His biggest goal is to
‘wipe the jews off the planet’. How else would you describe this?
Competitive? This is flat out anti-Semitic. It’s odd to think that Jews
somehow control things and that they
somehow have an advantage over others. Jews make up 2% of the US
population, hardly the dominant super power. Ask any Jew on the street
if he lives a life of advantage or disadvantage.The answer will always
be disadvantage. Due to generations of persecution, exile and
Holocausts, Jews maintain a strong sense of community and strive to
stamp out injustice based on race or religion. Hence the strength of
Jewish organizations in pursing anti-Semitic behaviors. It’s been seen
before, it starts out small and catches on like a snowball racing down a
mountain. As an example, Jews in France today do not openly wear their
Star of David Necklaces outside their shirts because they know the hate
crimes that come their way. In terms of reports, the media is known to
be one sided based on their financial backing. Anytime someone take a
hard anti-Semitic, opinionated stance, yes, the Jewish organizations
will speak up against them to have them stop such behavior.

 Ok, maybe I need to research
some of Ahmadinejad’s more extreme statements, because I know he wants
an end to the state of Israel, but I’ve never heard him say he wants to
wipe Jews off the face of the Earth. IF he has said that, then YES,
that would make him Anti-Semitic. And I never said that Jews don’t face
persecution, but when people like Jimmy Carter are labeled
Anti-Semitic, it trivializes the Jewish struggle. Sorry, it just does.

Jimmy Carter an
Anti-Semite…really? Let’s not bite the hand that fed you. But for
Jimmy Carter, the Camp David Accord would have never taken place, there
would be no peace between Israel and Egypt, who later became a US puppet
under Mobarak and the US wouldn’t
forever be indebted to hand over to Israel $8 Million dollars a day
instead of spending it on rectifying problems at home. And for Jimmy
Carter not having credibility in “world leadership circles” I again beg
to differ. Carter Foundation is a leading front on Humanitarian Efforts
throughout the world. And while yes, Jimmy Carter does consult with
Habitat for Humanity, he runs Carter Foundation!

 Is Israel perfect? Absolutely
not. There is a very strong self governance on human rights sending
soldiers, politicians and citizens to courts and prisons when they are
found guilty of abuse. It’s tragic that those outside Israel simply are
not informed or aware of these facts. Israel’s position is a precarious
one in that it has enemies on almost all of it’s borders and when it
defends itself, it is judged negatively. The death toll numbers are very
lopsided due to the value that Israel places on the life of it’s people
and especially Soldiers. Last year, i was in Israel when the prisoner
exchange occurred for Gilad Shalit. He was kidnapped on a border by
Hamas in 2006 and exchanged for 1300 Palestinian prisoners. Many
convicted terrorists. This is the value that Israel puts on life. In
fact, Israel has even traded hundreds of prisoners in exchange for a
single dead body of an Israeli soldier to never leave a man (or women)
behind. Unfortunately this value on life is never highlighted in
mainstream US media.

 As for Ahmadinejad, let me
state that I have nothing but contempt for his treatment of the Iranian
people and the oppression that that regime inflicts upon Iran. However,
to be clear, he never stated that he wanted to wipe Iran off the map.
That was an erroneous translation far too convenient and publicized by
the US media. What he did in fact say and clarified to Larry King was
that he doesn’t believe the state of Israel as it’s called belongs on
the map and he wanted to get rid of its government. I’m not going to
get into how Israel came into existence as I disagree with how it was
formed. Now that there are people living there, I think they should have
a state. There should be a 2 state solution which includes the
immediate cessation of the settlements. Netenyahu is to peace what
Ahmadinejad is to human rights!

 Yalda- yes in terms of praise
being deserved for his efforts to bring Egypt and Israel together. That
was a long time ago though. Mubarak was a puppet yes, for better or
worse, he held the Arab leadership role and helped maintain a level of
relative calm between Arab nations and the west. Yes, many human rights
atrocities did occur under his watch, another story though. The
$8million is a well positioned political argument. It’s not as if it is a
wire sent daily for $8million. It’s an aid package or a defense
contract with subsidies etc that is amortized to be $8million/ day by a
media source trying to prove a point.