Pakistan Christians demand right to visit Israel

[Steve781]

Why does Pakistan take the Arab side in the Arab-Israeli conflict when Arab countries have a roaring trade with India? I'm not trying to stir things up, I'm genuinely interested to know.

 

[Lord ZeN]

Why does Pakistan take the Arab side in the Arab-Israeli conflict when Arabs could care less about their conflict with India? I'm not trying to stir things up, I'm genuinely interested to know.

Pakistan views itself as the leader of Ummah ( Supra-national Muslim brotherhood ) and thinks that it's their responsibility to fight for the so called "Muslim cause".

 

[Taygibay]

so called "Muslim cause".

So called is proper here but maybe not as a jab at Pakistan … for in fact, Israel is not fighting Islam.
They're fighting just about anyone that does not accede/agree to their demands. I mean seriously,
they can't very well be fighting Arabs for as semites they're Arabs too! They can'T fight Muslims for
Jews lived in Muslim lands especially in the Middle_East and North Africa etc etc etc.

With all due respect, Israel is making a bad name for Jews by fighting, hum well, human rights mostly!
Until they revert to better sentiments, it's anyone's job to fight for the Palestinians, really.

Just saying' Tay.

 

[Lord ZeN]

So called is proper here but maybe not as a jab at Pakistan … for in fact, Israel is not fighting Islam.
They're fighting just about anyone that does not accede/agree to their demands. I mean seriously,
they can't very well be fighting Arabs for as semites they're Arabs too! They can'T fight Muslims for
Jews lived in Muslim lands especially in the Middle_East and North Africa etc etc etc.

With all due respect, Israel is making a bad name for Jews by fighting, hum well, human rights mostly!
Until they revert to better sentiments, it's anyone's job to fight for the Palestinians, really.

Just saying' Tay

May be true but you can't deny that Pakistan and Pakistanis in general ( not everyone though) has a really soft corner for Palestinians just because they are Arab Muslims.

 

[Psychic]

They may leave Pakistan forever. We cannot change our policies just because a minority demands as such. Pakistani law is supreme, not personal opinion of some Pakistani anti-Muslim Christians.

 

[Taygibay]

you can't deny that Pakistan and Pakistanis in general ( not everyone though) has a really soft corner for Palestinians just because they are Arab Muslims.

That's true in turn man but kind of weird in turn for the Arabs themselves could care less nowadays.
In that sense, it is honorable of Pakistan to carry the torch for their cousins in Gaza and Cisjordania.

Anyway, we digress, good day buddy, Tay.

 

[My-Analogous]

Pakistan Christians demand right to visit Israel
Protesters say they are being denied right to go on pilgrimage

God’s Peoples Fellowship of Pakistan activists protest outside the Pakistan Press Club on Sunday (Credit: ucanews.com)

A Pakistani Christian group called on their government Sunday to allow Christians to go on pilgrimage to religious sites in Israel.

There are no formal diplomatic ties between the two countries and Pakistan forbids its citizens from going to the Holy Land.

All Pakistani passports state, “This passport is valid for all countries of the world except Israel”.

Under Israeli law, Pakistan is a designated an enemy state and Israeli citizens may not visit there without a special permit issued by the Israeli Interior Ministry.

God’s Peoples Fellowship of Pakistan (GPFP), a Karachi-based Christian organization, which seeks diplomatic ties with Israel, staged a protest on Sunday outside the Karachi press club to demand the lifting of the travel ban on Christian Pakistanis to Israel.

“People of different religions particularly Sikhs of India come to Pakistan every year to perform their religious obligations despite the fact the two countries have fought three wars,” Ashraf P Butt, Secretary-General of the GPFP, said.

“Since Pakistan doesn’t recognize the state of Israel and does not maintain any diplomatic ties, the Christian community in Pakistan has been deprived of their legitimate religious rights,” he told ucanews.com.

“In light of the Bilateral Protocol Agreement signed between India and Pakistan in 1974, granting permission to visit religious shrines and sites, the GPFP also demands the same arrangements for Christians,” he said.

He criticized the Supreme Court for dismissing a GPFP petition seeking a lifting of the ban out of hand.

“We deem Bethlehem, Jerusalem, the holy city of King David, the Skull place where Jesus Christ was crucified, Nazareth, Galilee and other such places sacred,” Butt said.

Pervaiz Khan, a pastor, said Christians are only asking for the rights to visit holy places in Israel.

“When Muslims can freely go to Mecca and Medina for pilgrimage, why can’t we exercise our religious obligations guaranteed by the constitution of Pakistan,” he said.

Pakistan should asked Egypt to do the job for them and give Special permission to our brothers to visit Israel and can make agreement with Israel to treat our brothers exceptions and if Israel wouldn't allow then we can't help our brothers.

 

[Husnainshah]

I think it's about time we recognize Israel. Next we could trade with Israel.
Though I don't have any sympathies towards Palestinians or Arabs in general but for the sake of humanity- we could engage Israel on Palestine issue that way.

 

[KingMamba]

Yeah right .. What a double standard. You have one set of rules for Muslims and another set of rules for Christians. How would you feel if Canada bars everyone including Muslims from entering KSA by saying that it is an extremist country? And Jerusalem being the birth place of Jesus Christ is the holiest place for any Christian not some tourist destination.


Almost in every field from defense to agriculture.

Jerusalem is not the birthplace of Jesus Christ PBUH, that would be Bethelem. Jerusalem has one of their most sacred churches.

 

[Umair Nawaz]

Sorry cant be done, If they wish to do so then settle in their own christian world get their nationality then visit as much they want. End of story.

 

[Azad-Kashmiri]

And i expect you to know that all the holy Muslim mosques/places in Israel can't be compared to Mecca and Medina as it has the most religious significance for Muslims.

Please don't speak for my religion. You are ignorant! The banners don't ''look'' religious in nature, rather POLITICAL! And about our Masjid Al-Aqsa it is a cornerstone of our faith. All believers want to visit Masjid Al-Aqsa. This has NOTHING to do with Arabs.

40 Ahadith Concerning Masjid Al-Aqsa

Glorified (and Exalted) be He (Allah) Who took His slave (Muhammad SAW) for a journey by night from Al-Masjid-al-Haram (at Makkah) to the farthest mosque (in Jerusalem), the neighbourhood whereof We have blessed, in order that We might show him (Muhammad SAW) of Our Ayat (proofs, evidences, lessons, signs, etc.). Verily, He (Allah) is the All-Hearer, the All-Seer. (17:1)

Masjid Al-Aqsa is no ordinary Masjid; it forms the basis of our history and it is the cornerstone of mankind's foundation. The noble Prophet (saw) dedicated a great deal of his life in nurturing the Companions to appreciate the excellent qualities of Masjid Al-Aqsa and prepared them to embark on an expedition to liberate Jerusalem which at the time was in the hands of the mighty Roman empire.

Some of the reasons why Masjid Al-Aqsa should form an important aspect of a believer's dedication, where many pious individuals have given their wealth and lives, include the fact that Masjid Al-Aqsa is:

• the first Qiblah of the Muslims
• the station of Al-Isra and Al-Miraj (the miraculous journey of Mohammed saw)
• the second house of Allah built on earth
• the place where hundreds of Messengers of Allah are buried
• the place where many companions are buried
• a place where miracles were shown by Allah's will
• a place which Allah Himself calls a 'blessed place'
• referred to directly and indirectly, 70 times in the Holy Quran
• the place where Angels have descended with Allah's message
• the only place on earth where all the Messengers of Allah prayed at the same time led by the Mohammed (saw)
• the only Masjid mentioned by name in the Holy Quran a part from the Ka'bah

Masjid Al-Aqsa - The Second House of Allah on Earth

1, Abu Dharr (ra) reported that he asked the Prophet (saw), "O Messenger of Allah, which Masjid was built first on earth"? The Prophet (saw) replied, "The Sacred Masjid of Makkah". Abu Dharr (ra) again asked, "Which was next"? The Prophet (saw) said, "Masjid Al-Aqsa". Abu Dharr (ra) further asked, "How long was the period between the building of the two Masjids"? The Prophet (saw) said, "Forty years". Apart from these, offer your prayer anywhere when it is time to pray, although excellence is in praying in these Masjids". (Bukhari)

The Importance of Visiting Masjid Al-Aqsa

2, Abu Hurayrah (ra) relates that the Prophet (saw) said, "You should not undertake a special journey to visit any place other than the following three Masjids with the expectations of getting greater reward: the Sacred Masjid of Makkah (Ka'bah), this Masjid of mine (the Prophet's Masjid in Madinah), and Masjid Al-Aqsa (of Jerusalem)". In another narration the words are, "For three Masjids a special journey may be undertaken: The Sacred Masjid (Ka'bah), my Masjid and Masjid of Jerusalem (Al-Aqsa). (Muslim, Bukhari, Abu Dawud)

Greater Virtue of praying in Masjid Al-Aqsa

3, Abu Darda (ra) relates that the Prophet (saw) said, "A prayed in Makkah (Ka'bah) is worth 1000,000 times (reward), a prayer in my Masjid (Madinah) is worth 1,000 times and a prayer in Al-Aqsa Sanctuary is worth 500 times more reward than anywhere else". (Tabarani, Bayhaqi, Suyuti)

4, Anas Ibn Malik (ra) relates that the Prophet (saw) said, " The prayer of a person in his house is a single prayer; his prayer in the Masjid of his people has the reward of 27 prayers; his prayer in the Masjid in which the Friday prayer is observed has the reward of 500; his prayer in Masjid Al-Aqsa (i.e. Al-Aqsa Sanctuary) has a reward of 5,000 prayers; his prayer in my Masjid (the Prophet's Masjid in Madinah) has a reward of 50,000 prayers, and the prayer in the Sacred Masjid (Ka'bah) has the reward of 100,000 prayers". (Tirmidhi, Ibn Majah)

The Importance of Donating to Masjid Al-Aqsa
5, Abdullah Ibn Umar (ra) relates, I asked the Prophet (saw), "Apostle of Allah, tell us the legal injunction about (visiting) Bayt Al-Maqdis (Jerusalem)." The Apostle of Allah (saw) said, " Go and pray there. If you cannot visit it and pray there, then send some oil to be used in the lamps". (Bukhari)

6, Maymunah Bint Sa'd (ra) relates that she asked the Prophet (saw), "O Messenger of Allah, inform us about Bayt Al-Maqdis (Jerusalem)". He said, "Visit it for prayer ". She further asked, "If one of us cannot visit it, what should we do"? He said, "If you cannot go for prayer then send some oil to be used for its lamps, will be as if he has prayed in it". (Ahmad, Ibn Majah, Abu Dawud, Tabarani)

The Virtues of Wearing Ihram From Masjid Al-Aqsa
7, Umm Salamah (ra) relates that the Prophet (saw) said, "If anyone puts on Ihram for Hajj or Umrah from Masjid Al-Aqsa and then proceeds to the Sacred Masjid (Ka'bah), their past and future sins will be forgiven, or they will be entered into Paradise". (Abu Dawud)

The Blessed Land of Masjid Al-Aqsa
8, Zaid Ibn Thabit (ra) reports that the Prophet (saw) said, "How blessed is Al-Sham"! The Companions (ra) asked, "Why is that"? The Messenger (saw) replied, "I see the Angels of Allah spreading their wings over Al-Sham". Ibn Abbas (ra) added, "And the Prophets lived therein. There is not a single inch in Al-Quds (Jerusalem) where a Prophet has not prayed or an Angel not stood". (Tirmidhi, Ahmad)

9, The Prophet Mohammed (saw) said, "Allah has blessed what lies between Al-'Arish (in Egypt) and the Euphrates and has made Palestine particularly Holy". (Kanz Al-Umal)

Masjid Al-Aqsa - The First Qiblah (direction of prayer)
10, Abdullah Ibn Umar (ra) narrates, "We prayed along with the Prophet (saw) facing Al-Quds (Jerusalem) for 16 or 17 months. Then Allah ordered him saw) to turn his face towards the Ka'bah (in Makkah). (Bukhari)

11, Al-Bara (ra) added, "Before we changed our direction towards the Ka'bah in prayer, some Muslims had died or had been killed and we did not know what to say about them (regarding their prayers). Allah then revealed: And Allah would never make your faith (prayers) to be lost (i.e. the prayers of those Muslims facing Bayt Al-Maqdis were valid) {2:143} (Bukhari)

Masjid Al-Aqsa - The Station of Al-Isra and Al-Miraj
12, Abu Hurayrah (ra) narrates that the Prophet (saw) said, "On the night journey Allah's Apostle (saw) was taken on a night journey (Al-Isra and Al-Miraj), two cups, one containing wine and the other containing milk were presented to him (saw) at Al-Quds (Jerusalem). He looked at them and took the cup of milk. Angel Gabriel said, "Praise be to Allah, who guided you to Al-Fitrah (the right path); if you had taken (the cup of) wine, your Ummah would have gone astray". (Bukhari)

13, Regarding the statement of Allah in the Holy Quran, "And We granted the vision (ascension to the Heavens) which we made you see (as an actual eye witness) was only made as a trial for the people". (17:60) Ibn Abbas (ra) said, "The sights which Allah's Apostle was shown on the Night journey where he was taken to Bayt Al-Maqdis (i.e. Jerusalem) were actual sights, (not dreams). And the Cursed tree (mentioned) in the Quran is the tree of Zaqqum. (Bukhari)

14, Jabir Ibn Abdullah (ra) relates that the Prophet (saw) said, "When the people of Quraysh did not believe me (i.e. the story of his Miraculous Night Journey), I stood up in Al-Hijr and Allah displayed Bayt Al-Maqdis (Jerusalem in front of me, and I began describing it to them while I was looking at it". (Bukhari)

15, Abdullah Ibn Hawwala (ra) reports that the Prophet (saw) said, "I saw on the night of Al-Isra and Al-Miraj (the Night Journey) a white column resembling a pearl which the Angels were carrying . I asked them, "What are you carrying"? They said, "The Column of the Book, we have been ordered to place it in Al-Sham. Later in my sleep, I saw the Column of the Book being taken away from under my headrest. I began to fear lest Allah the Almighty had abandoned the people of the earth. My eyes followed the Column of the Book. It was a brilliant light in front of me. Then I saw it was placed in A;-Sham. (Tabarani)

16, Anas (ra) relates that the Prophet (saw) said, "I was brought the Buraq, a tall white beast, bigger than a donkey, smaller than a mule. It could place his hooves at the farthest boundary of his gaze. I mounted it until I arrived at Bayt Al-Maqdis. I tied it at the ring where the Prophets tied it before (i.e. Buraq Wall or the Western Wall). I entered Masjid Al-Aqsa Sanctuary and prayed 2 rak'ah there..." (Muslim)

Masjid Al-Aqsa - The Place for Major Events
17, Mujamma Ibn Al-Harith (ra) narrates that the Prophet (saw) said, "Ibn Maryam (Jesus) will kill Al-Dajjal (the Anti-Christ) at the door of Ludd (a town in Palestine)". (Ahmad, Tirmidhi)

18, The Messenger of Allah (saw) said regarding Al-Dajjal: "He will stay in the land forty days; he will enter every place on earth except the Ka'bah, the Prophet's Masjid, Al-Aqsa Sanctuary and Mount Sinai". (Ahmad)

19, Nahik Ibn Suraym Al-Sakuni (ra) relates that the Prophet (saw) said, "You will fight the pagans until the remnant of you fights on the river of Jordan, you to the east of it (present day Jordan) and they to the west of it (occupied Palestine)". (Ibn Hajar Al-Asqalani)

20, Maymunah Bint Sa'd (ra) reports that she asked the Prophet (saw), "O Messenger of Allah, give us a pronouncement about Al-Quds (Jerusalem)". The Prophet (saw) replied, "It is the land where they will be raised (Al-Hashr) and gathered (Al-Mahshar)". (Ahmad, Tabarani)

21, Muadh Ibn Jabal (ra) relates that the Prophet (saw) said, "The Flourishing state of Al-Quds (Jerusalem) (under the non-Muslims) will be taken when Yathrib is in ruins, the ruined state of Yathrib will be when the Great War comes, the outbreak of the Great War will be at the conquest of Constantinople and the conquest of Constantinople when Al-Dajjal (Anti-Christ) comes forth". He (the Prophet) struck his thigh with his hand and said, "This is as true as you are here or as you are sitting (meaning Muadh Ibn Jabal). (Abu Dawud)

22, Awf Ibn Malik (ra) reports that the Prophet (saw) said, "The rest of the world will be destroyed forty years before Al-Sham is". (Ibn Asakir)

23, The Messenger of Allah (saw) said regarding the inhabitants of the blessed land, "They and their wives, children and slaves (male and female) are in ribat (guardians, literally a fort) in the cause of Allah". (Tabarani)

24, Al-Nawwas Ibn Saman Alkalbi (ra) narrates that the Prophet (saw) said, "If Al-Dajjal comes forth while I am amongst you then I shall dispute with him on your behalf, but if he comes after I am not with you, a man must dispute on his own behalf, and Allah will take to protecting every Muslim. Those of you who live up to his time should recite over him the opening verses of Surah Kahf, for they are your protection from his trial". We asked, "How long will he remain on earth"? He (saw) replied, "Forty days, one like a year (1 day will be equivalent to 1 year), one like a month, one like a week and the rest of his days like yours"? We asked, "Will one day's prayer suffice us in the day which will be like a year"? He replied, "No, you must estimate of its extent. Then Isa (Jesus), son of Maryam (Virgin Mary) will descend at the white minaret to the east of Damascus. He will then catch Al-Dajjal up at the gates of Ludd and kill him". (Abu Dawud)

Masjid Al-Aqsa - The place of Mujahideen
25, Umamah Al-Bahili (ra) reports that the Prophet (saw) said, "A group of my Ummah will remain on truth, they will vanquish their enemy and those who disagree with them will not be able to harm them until Allah commands". "Where are these people"? The Companions (ra) asked. The Prophet (saw) said, "In and around Al-Quds (Jerusalem). (Ahmad)

26, Muawiyah Ibn Sufyan (ra) relates that the Prophet (saw) said, "There is a group among my followers who will continue to be openly on the truth. No one who opposes them can harm them until the coming of the Hour". The Companions (ra) asked, "Where will they be"? The Messenger of Allah said, "They will be in and around Bayt Al-Maqdis (i.e. Jerusalem)". (Ahmad)

27, Abu Hurayrah (ra) relates that the Prophet (saw) said, "A group of my Ummah will not cease to fight at the gates of Damascus and at the gates of Al-Quds (Jerusalem) and its surroundings. The betrayal or desertion of whoever deserts them will not harm them in the least. They will remain victorious, standing for the truth, until the Final Hour rises". (Tabarani)

Masjid Al-Aqsa - The Best Place of Residence
28, Abdullah Ibn Umar (ra) reports that the Prophet (saw) said, There will be migration upon migration. The best of the inhabitants of earth will reside where Prophet Ibrahim (Abraham) migrated (Jerusalem)". (Abu Dawud)

Masjid Al-Aqsa - The Desired Site of Musa (Moses)
29, Abu Hurayrah (ra) reports that the Prophet (saw) said, "The Angel of death was sent to Musa. When he came to Musa, Musa punched him on the eye. The Angel returned to Allah and said, "You sent me to a servant who does not want to die". Allah ordered the Angel, 'Return to him and tell him to put his hand on the back of an ox and for every hair that will come under it, he will be granted one year of life'. Musa asked, "O Lord! What will happen after that"? Allah replied, 'Then death'. Musa decided, let it be now'. Musa then requested Allah to let him die close to the Sacred Land (near Masjid Al-Aqsa) so much so that he would be at a distance of a stone's throw form it". Abu Hurayrah (ra) added, the Prophet (saw) then said, "If I were there, I would show you his grave below the red sand hill on the side of the road". (Bukhari)

Liberation of Masjid Al-Aqsa Prophesied
30, Awf Ibn Malik relates, "I went to the Prophet (saw) during the battle of Tabuk while he was sitting in a leather tent. He said, 'Awf, Count six signs, between now and the approach of the Hour (Qiyamah/Doomsday): my death, the conquest of Al-Quds (Jerusalem); a plague that will afflict you (and kill you in great numbers) as the plague that afflicts sheep; the increase of wealth to such an extent that even if one is given 100 hundred Dinars (Arabian currency), he will not be satisfied; then an affliction which no Arab house will escape; and then a truce between you and Banu Asfar (i.e. Byzantines) who will betray you and attack you under eighty flags. Under each flag will be twelve thousand soldiers". (Bukhari)

31, Shadad Ibn Aws (ra) reports that the Prophet (saw) said, "l-Sham will be conquered and Al-Quds (Jerusalem) will be conquered and you or your sons will be Imams there, if Allah will". (Tabarani)

The Preference of Masjid Al-Aqsa
32, Once the Prophet (saw) advised Abdullah Ibn Hawwala (ra) to join the army in al-Sham, over any other. However, the Prophet (saw), noticing Ibn Hawwala's indifference said, "Do you know what Allah says about Al-Sham? Allah said, 'Al-Sham you are the quintessence of My lands (safwati min biladi) and I shall inhabit you with the chosen ones among My servants'". (Tabarani)

33, Abdullah Ibn Amr (ra) reports that the Prophet (saw) repeated the following statement three times: "When the dissension takes place belief shall be in Al-Sham". One version of hadith states, "safety will be in Al-Sham". (Tabarani)

34, Abdullah Ibn Hawwala reports that the Prophet (saw) said, "At some point you will be (split into) standing armies: one army in Al-Sham, on in Yemen and one in Iraq". Abdullah Ibn Hawala asked he Prophet (saw), "Choose for me, Messenger of Allah in case I live to see that day". The Prophet (Saw) replied, "You must go to Al-Sham, for it is the chosen land of Allah in all His earth. He protects, by sending them there, the chosen ones among His servants. If you do not wish to go there, then go to Yemen. Allah has given me guarantee concerning Al-Sham and its people. (Abu Dawud, Ahmad)

Masjid Al-Aqsa - The Site of the Future Caliphate
35, Abdullah Ibn Hawwala Al-Azdi (ra) reported, the Prophet (saw) put his hand on my head and said, "Ibn Hawwala if you see that the Caliphate has taken abode in the Holy Land then the earthquakes and tribulations and great events are at hand. The last Hour on that day will be closer to people than my hand is to your head". (Ahmad, Abu Dawud)

36, Yunus Ibn Maysarah (r) relates that the Prophet (saw) said, "This matter (the Caliphate) will be after me in Madinah, then Al-Sham, then Al-Jazira, then Iraq, then in Madinah, then in AL-quds (Jerusalem). If it is in Al-Quds, its home country is there, and if any people expel it, it will not return there forever". (Ibn Asakir)

37, Al-Numan Ibn Bashir (ra) relates that the Prophet (saw) said, "Prophethood will last with you for as long as Allah wants it. Then Allah will end it if He wishes to end it. Then there will be the Rightly Guided Caliphs according to the method of Prophethood and things will be as Allah wishes them. Then Allah will end it if He wishes it. Then there will be a voracious kingdom and things will be as Allah wishes them. Then Allah will end it if He wishes. Then there will be Khilafah (Caliphate) according to the method of Prophethood. Thereafter the Prophet (saw) fell silent". (Ahmad)

38, Abd Al-Rahman Ibn Abi Umayrah (ra) relates that the Prophet (saw) said, "There will be an oath of allegiance according to guidance in Al-Quds (Jerusalem)". (Bukhari, Muslim)

Masjid Al-Aqsa - The Place Where Allah's Revelation Descended
39, Abu Umama (ra) reports that the Prophet (saw) said, "Prophethood descended upon me in three places: Makkah, Madinah and Al-Sham. Once it is brought out from any of them, it shall never return to it". (Abu Dawud) In another narration it states, "The Quran was revealed in three places - Makkah, Madinah and Al-Sham". (Tabarani) Ibn Kathir, the great scholar of Islam, said, "Al-Sham here means Bayt Al-Maqdis (Jerusalem). (Abu Dawud, Tabarani)

Masjid Al-Aqsa - Mentioned By Name In The Holy Quran
40, Aishah (ra) reports that the Prophet (saw) used to recite Surah Al-Isra every night in his prayer:
Glorified (and Exalted) be He (Allah) Who took His slave (Muhammad SAW) for a journey by night from Al-Masjid-al-Haram (at Makkah) to the farthest mosque (in Jerusalem), the neighbourhood whereof We have blessed, in order that We might show him (Muhammad SAW) of Our Ayat (proofs, evidences, lessons, signs, etc.). Verily, He is the All-Hearer, the All-Seer. (17:1)

Why does Pakistan take the Arab side in the Arab-Israeli conflict when Arab countries have a roaring trade with India? I'm not trying to stir things up, I'm genuinely interested to know.

Why does UK take the side of Zionists by default? We don't take sides with Arabs. I have given evidences with references from our religion about the importance of Masjid Al-Aqsa to us.

 

[Steve781]

Why does UK take the side of Zionists by default?

We certainly didn't in 1948, 1973 or 1982.

 

[Azad-Kashmiri]

We certainly didn't in 1948, 1973 or 1982.

Really, Steve!

The Balfour Declaration of 2 November 1917 was issued a year before the end of WWI. The declaration consisted of a letter from British Foreign Secretary Arthur James Balfour to Jewish community leader Baron Rothschild for transmission to the Zionist Federation of Great Britain and Ireland, reflecting the position of the British Cabinet about establishing a Jewish "national home" in Palestine. It was a very brief, non-specific policy statement:"His Majesty's government views with favour the establishment in Palestine of a national home for the Jewish people, and will use their best endeavors to facilitate the achievement of this object, it being clearly understood that nothing shall be done which may prejudice the civil and religious rights of existing non-Jewish communities in Palestine, or the rights and political status enjoyed by Jews in any other country."The conspicuous omission in this statement is any reference to the political rights of non-Jewish communities, which represented over 90% of the Palestinian population at that time.

Why was it written? Under the 1916 Sykes-Picot agreement between France and England regarding division of Ottoman territories for post-war administration upon their anticipated defeat, England would be assigned administration of Palestine. But meanwhile, the World Zionist Organization (WZO) had their eye on Palestine since the turn of the 20th century, and was both motivated and able to cut a deal when the opportunity arose. According to Col. T.E. Lawrence ("Lawrence of Arabia") who led Arab forces against the Ottomans in WWI upon British assurance that they would be granted their own countries under the British mandate should Britain prevail, the declaration was a quid pro quo to the WZO for "bringing America into the war" and financing the war effort when Britain was facing potential defeat under intensive German submarine attacks against incoming supply ships in early 1917. Thus Britain had promised the same land to two different allies, one already living there and one wanting to. Despite Palestine's overwhelmingly non-Jewish population, London Zionist movement leaders Chaim Weizmann and Nahum Sokolow had requested reconstitution of Palestine as “the Jewish national home" and were disappointed at this weaker statement. Their disappointment notwithstanding, this declaration is frequently cited as the original legal authority by Zionists and their supporters for their seizure of Palestine by force, but of course the language shown in red text is never mentioned.

To fulfill the Balfour pledge, the Zionist Organization of America immediately sprang into action. Louis Brandeis, America's first Jewish Supreme Court Justice, was a member of a secret elitist Zionist society called The Parushim, in which each initiate was sworn by oath to secrecy and support of the Zionist project as their highest allegiance. Harvard law professor and future Supreme Court Justice Felix Frankfurter was also a member. Brandeis was a close friend of Woodrow Wilson with presidential access that he no doubt used to support American entry into the war that could bring about the Zionist goal. Wealthy Jewish-American financier Bernard Baruch, also an ardent Zionist, has been credited with orchestrating a sudden proliferation of anti-German propaganda (now "huns" who butchered babies) and a breakneck U.S. industrial mobilization for war that saved the day for Britain.

But the movement had a close call. Early in 1917 the Ottoman Empire gave indications that it might withdraw from its alliance with Germany and Austria-Hungary and negotiate a separate peace treaty. This would have avoided Ottoman defeat and obviated the anticipated British mandate with its promised Jewish homeland. The State Dept. dispatched a delegation under ex-Ambassador Henry Morganthau to explore this with the Ottomans. Felix Frankfurter was a delegation member, who selected other Zionists to complete the delegation. The British sent Zionist leader Chaim Weizman representing Britain to meet with the delegation in Gibraltar. Unsurprisingly, Weizman and Frankfurter persuaded Morganthau to scrap the mission.

The Balfour Declaration language was incorporated into the League of Nations mandate assigning Britain to administer Palestine during transition to independent statehood. To fulfill this pledge during the mandate period between world wars, Britain permitted heavy Jewish immigration increasing the Jewish population from one-tenth to nearly one-third of Palestine, which precipitated strong Arab resistance culminating in the Arab revolt of 1936-1939. British suppression of this revolt and disarming of the Arabs left them vulnerable to the ethnic cleansing by Zionist terrorism that ensued following WWII.

 

[Steve781]

Really, Steve!

The Balfour Declaration of 2 November 1917 was issued a year before the end of WWI. The declaration consisted of a letter from British Foreign Secretary Arthur James Balfour to Jewish community leader Baron Rothschild for transmission to the Zionist Federation of Great Britain and Ireland, reflecting the position of the British Cabinet about establishing a Jewish "national home" in Palestine. It was a very brief, non-specific policy statement:"His Majesty's government views with favour the establishment in Palestine of a national home for the Jewish people, and will use their best endeavors to facilitate the achievement of this object, it being clearly understood that nothing shall be done which may prejudice the civil and religious rights of existing non-Jewish communities in Palestine, or the rights and political status enjoyed by Jews in any other country."The conspicuous omission in this statement is any reference to the political rights of non-Jewish communities, which represented over 90% of the Palestinian population at that time.

Why was it written? Under the 1916 Sykes-Picot agreement between France and England regarding division of Ottoman territories for post-war administration upon their anticipated defeat, England would be assigned administration of Palestine. But meanwhile, the World Zionist Organization (WZO) had their eye on Palestine since the turn of the 20th century, and was both motivated and able to cut a deal when the opportunity arose. According to Col. T.E. Lawrence ("Lawrence of Arabia") who led Arab forces against the Ottomans in WWI upon British assurance that they would be granted their own countries under the British mandate should Britain prevail, the declaration was a quid pro quo to the WZO for "bringing America into the war" and financing the war effort when Britain was facing potential defeat under intensive German submarine attacks against incoming supply ships in early 1917. Thus Britain had promised the same land to two different allies, one already living there and one wanting to. Despite Palestine's overwhelmingly non-Jewish population, London Zionist movement leaders Chaim Weizmann and Nahum Sokolow had requested reconstitution of Palestine as “the Jewish national home" and were disappointed at this weaker statement. Their disappointment notwithstanding, this declaration is frequently cited as the original legal authority by Zionists and their supporters for their seizure of Palestine by force, but of course the language shown in red text is never mentioned.

To fulfill the Balfour pledge, the Zionist Organization of America immediately sprang into action. Louis Brandeis, America's first Jewish Supreme Court Justice, was a member of a secret elitist Zionist society called The Parushim, in which each initiate was sworn by oath to secrecy and support of the Zionist project as their highest allegiance. Harvard law professor and future Supreme Court Justice Felix Frankfurter was also a member. Brandeis was a close friend of Woodrow Wilson with presidential access that he no doubt used to support American entry into the war that could bring about the Zionist goal. Wealthy Jewish-American financier Bernard Baruch, also an ardent Zionist, has been credited with orchestrating a sudden proliferation of anti-German propaganda (now "huns" who butchered babies) and a breakneck U.S. industrial mobilization for war that saved the day for Britain.

But the movement had a close call. Early in 1917 the Ottoman Empire gave indications that it might withdraw from its alliance with Germany and Austria-Hungary and negotiate a separate peace treaty. This would have avoided Ottoman defeat and obviated the anticipated British mandate with its promised Jewish homeland. The State Dept. dispatched a delegation under ex-Ambassador Henry Morganthau to explore this with the Ottomans. Felix Frankfurter was a delegation member, who selected other Zionists to complete the delegation. The British sent Zionist leader Chaim Weizman representing Britain to meet with the delegation in Gibraltar. Unsurprisingly, Weizman and Frankfurter persuaded Morganthau to scrap the mission.

The Balfour Declaration language was incorporated into the League of Nations mandate assigning Britain to administer Palestine during transition to independent statehood. To fulfill this pledge during the mandate period between world wars, Britain permitted heavy Jewish immigration increasing the Jewish population from one-tenth to nearly one-third of Palestine, which precipitated strong Arab resistance culminating in the Arab revolt of 1936-1939. British suppression of this revolt and disarming of the Arabs left them vulnerable to the ethnic cleansing by Zionist terrorism that ensued following WWII.

White Paper of 1939 - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Uncovered: U.K. intel encouraged Arab armies to invade Israel in 1948 - Features - Israel News | Haaretz
When Thatcher Cut Off Israel's Weapons - The Daily Beast

 

[Azad-Kashmiri]

White Paper of 1939 - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Uncovered: U.K. intel encouraged Arab armies to invade Israel in 1948 - Features - Israel News | Haaretz
When Thatcher Cut Off Israel's Weapons - The Daily Beast

https://www.cfi.org.uk/downloads/britain-israel.pdf

British atrocities against Palestinian Arabs, 1936-39

By Matthew Hughes:

Punishment in the form of the destruction of Arab property across urban and rural areas of Palestine was central to British military repression after 1936, the countryside being badly hit although there were some egregious house demolitions in urban areas. Destruction and vandalism became a systematic, systemic part of British counter-insurgency operations during the revolt, and justified by the legal measures in force at the time. Alongside the destruction, soldiers looted properties, something not officially sanctioned; indeed officers often tried to stop the men pilfering. Alongside the blowing up of houses—often the most impressive ones in the village—and the smashing up of Arab villagers’ homes, there were ‘reprisals’ in the form of heavy collective fines, forced labour and punitive village occupations by government forces for which villagers bore the cost.

Abuses went unreported as the British heavily censored the Palestinian Arabic-language newspapers, while commanders such as Major-General Bernard Montgomery in northern Palestine banished newspaper reporters so that his men could carry on their work untroubled by the media.

During army searches, soldiers would surround a village—usually before dawn so that they could catch any suspects before they fled—the men and women then divided off, held apart from the houses, often in wired ‘cages’, while soldiers searched and often destroyed everything, burnt grain and poured olive oil over household food and effects.41 The men meanwhile were ‘screened’ by passing hooded or hidden Arab informers who would nod when a ‘suspect’ was found, or by British officials checking their papers against lists of suspects. If the army was not on a reprisal operation but was following up an intelligence lead and looking for a suspect or hidden weapons, any destruction was incidental to the searching of properties—troops also used primitive metal detectors on such operations. On such operations, however, brutality against villagers could occur as the army tried to extract from them intelligence on the whereabouts of hidden weapons caches or suspects, as happened at the village of Halhul in 1939. In some cases, the brutality would then extend to the vandalism of property as a means of gaining information. The level of destruction varied, the army using the excuse of weapons searches to justify any damage if there were complaints. Army engineers would also demolish houses or groups of houses.

The largest single act of destruction came on 16 June 1936 in the Arab city of Jaffa when the British blew up between 220 and 240 buildings,47 ostensibly to improve health and sanitation, cutting pathways through Jaffa's old city with 200–300 lbs gelignite charges48 that allowed military access and control. By this act—headlined in al-Difa‘ as ‘goodbye, goodbye, old Jaffa, the army has exploded you’—the British made homeless up to 6,000 Palestinians, most of whom were left destitute, having been told by air-dropped leaflet on the morning of 16 June to vacate their homes by 9 p.m. on the same day.49 Some families were left with nothing, not even a change of clothes.

In June 1936, Muslim religious leaders wrote to the High Commissioner detailing how police officers on operations ‘stamped’ on things, destroyed everything, ‘smashed doors, mirrors, tables, chairs wardrobes, glass, porcelain’ and ripped women's clothing and bed linen. Soldiers mixed in margarine and oil with foodstuffs, they trampled on ‘holy books’, and they destroyed wooden kitchen utensils, as well as glasses, clocks, smoking pipes and basins.59 In the same month, another protest complained about police and soldiers hitting innocent people, insulting their dignity, stealing items and destroying furniture, goods and provisions.60As one rebel recounted, servicemen,61Searched houses, each one by itself, in a way that was sabotaging on purpose, and they looted some of the assets of the houses, and burnt some other houses, and destroyed provisions/goods. After putting flour, wheat, rice, sugar and others together, they added all the olive oil or petrol they could find. And in every search operation they destroyed a number of houses of the village and damaged others. They also put signs on other houses to destroy them in the future if there are any incidents near the village, even if that incident is only cutting telephone wires.

A British doctor in Hebron during the revolt, Elliot Forster, recalled the effect of living under sustained British military occupation. Accustomed to local life, Forster worked in Hebron's St Luke's Hospital and held surgeries in outlying villages. He lived through periods of intense military operations as the army and police fought local guerrillas. The rule of law collapsed as troops ran amok, shooting Arabs at random simply because they were in what was, in effect, a ‘free-fire’ combat zone. While some officers tried to restrain the men, local Arabs moved about Hebron and the surrounding countryside in fear of their lives, not from rebel actions but because of the violence meted out by marauding troops and police. ‘Anyone who sees the army nowadays runs like a hare—I do myself!’ wrote Forster.79 In engagements with rebels, the army would shoot Arabs near the battle zone, even when these were old men and boys tending their flocks. Forster daily treated local people brought in to his hospital with gunshot wounds. Candid as to when he was treating a real rebel, most of the time he was tending gunshot wounds inflicted by trigger-happy British troops. He included a well-documented account of policemen executing in broad daylight in October 1938 an Arab suspect travelling in a police vehicle through the Manshiya district of Jaffa, an outrage witnessed by non-British European residents, and repeated examples of troops robbing Arabs of money, including young children who were relieved of their pocket money.

For the soldiers, their activities in Palestine were unremarkable, their job being ‘to bash anybody on the head who broke the law, and if he didn't want to be bashed on the head then he had to be shot. It may sound brutal but in fact it was a reasonably nice, simple objective and the soldiers understood it’.83Regimental histories and contemporary regimental journals did little to hide the reprisals, destruction and collective fines, recording how villages were ‘beaten up’, homes burnt and men detained in cages ‘on orders from above’ because of rebel activity nearby.84 While euphemisms would be used—‘the search was drastic enough to shake the villagers’85—regimental journals would cheerily and sportily describe the trashing of a village, as with the Essex Regiment at the ‘sack’ (obvious pun intended) of Sakhnin, 25–26 December 1937, with physical force that stopped short of outright torture or blatant wanton destruction—or these were not reported.

It was common British army practice to make local Arabs ride with military convoys to prevent mine attacks. Often, soldiers carried them or tied them to the bonnets of lorries, or put the hostages on small flatbeds on the front of trains, all to prevent mining or sniping attacks. ‘The naughty boys who we had in the cages in these camps’ were put in vehicles in front of the convoy for the ‘deterrent effect’, as one British officer put it.89 The army told the Arabs that they would shoot any of them who tried to run away.90 On the lorries, some soldiers would brake hard at the end of a journey and then casually drive over the Arab who had tumbled from the bonnet, killing or maiming him, as Arthur Lane, a Manchester Regiment private candidly recalled:91… when you'd finished your duty you would come away nothing had happened no bombs or anything and the driver would switch his wheel back and to make the truck waver and the poor wog on the front would roll off into the deck. Well if he was lucky he'd get away with a broken leg but if he was unlucky the truck behind coming up behind would hit him. But nobody bothered to pick up the bits they were left. You know we were there we were the masters we were the bosses and whatever we did was right …. Well you know you don't want him anymore. He's fulfilled his job. And that's when Bill Usher [the commanding officer] said that it had to stop because before long they'd be running out of bloody rebels to sit on the bonnet.

British accounts also detail soldiers bayoneting innocent Arabs and Arab fighters in battle being machine gunned en masse by men from the Royal Ulster and West Kent regiments as they came out to surrender near Jenin. ‘At one time the Ulsters and West Kents caught about 60 of them [Arab guerrillas] in a valley and as they walked out with their arms up mowed them down with machine guns. I inspected them afterwards and most of them were boys between 16 and 20 from Syria …. No news of course is given to the newspapers, so what you read in the papers is just enough to allay public uneasiness in England.'

Up to fifteen men died in Halhul, mostly elderly Palestinians (the youngest victim was thirty-five, the oldest seventy-five) who died after being left out in the sun for several days in a caged enclosure with insufficient water. Halhul villagers also claim that soldiers shot a local man at a well during the same operation—in fact, it seems that soldiers beat the victim and then left him to drown in the well.

"Before or after destroying the village [of Al Bassa,], almost certainly the latter, RUR soldiers with some attached Royal Engineers collected approximately fifty men from al-Bassa and blew some of them up in a contrived explosion under a bus. Harry Arrigonie, a British Palestine policeman at al-Bassa at the time, recalled what happened in his memoirs, with the British ‘herding’ about twenty men from al-Bassa ‘onto a bus. Villagers who panicked and tried to escape were shot. The driver of the bus was forced to drive along the road, over a land mine buried by the soldiers. This second mine was much more powerful than the first [i.e., the rebels’ mine] and it completely destroyed the bus, scattering the maimed and mutilated bodies of the men on board everywhere. The villagers were then forced to dig a pit, collect the bodies, and throw them unceremoniously into it."

A letter in Arabic of 8 September 1938 giving the Palestinian side of events extends the atrocity to include premeditated torture. The letter dates the rebel mine explosion to 10.30 p.m. hours on 6 September, following which, on the morning of 7 September, soldiers came to al-Bassa. They shot four people in the streets, in cafes and in the homes of the village, after which the soldiers searched and looted the village, before gathering and beating inhabitants with sticks and rifle butts. The British then took one hundred villagers to a nearby military base—Camp Number One—where the British commander selected four men (the letter lists their names) who were tortured in front of the rest of the group. The four men were undressed and made to kneel barefoot on cacti and thorns, specially prepared for the occasion. Eight soldiers then told off the four men and two per Arab detainee set about beating them ‘without pity’ in front of the group. Pieces of flesh ‘flew from their bodies’ and the victims fainted, after which an army doctor came and checked their pulses. The army then took the group of villagers to another base—Camp Number Two—while soldiers destroyed the village of al-Bassa. All of this happened on the morning of 7 September, with the army withdrawing at 1 p.m. on the same day.
The article goes into much more detail and gives many more examples.

The British destroyed other villages as well - Kaukab Abu al-Hija, for one. Yet it is extraordinarily difficult to find details on these events.

Yet even after the author goes to great lengths to detail these horror stories, he concludes this way:
Britain lost control of Palestine in the late 1930s during the Arab revolt. Faced with similar disturbances, other imperial powers responded much more harshly than the British did in Palestine, as even a cursory glance at other twentieth-century counter-insurgency campaigns shows, whether it is the Spanish in the Rif mountains, the Germans in Africa before the Great War and during the Second World War, the Japanese in China, the Italians in Libya, the French in Algeria, the Americans in Vietnam, the Portuguese in Africa or the Soviets in Afghanistan. These actions included systemic, boundless violence, large-scale massacres of civilians and POWs, forced starvation, overt racism, gross torture, sexual violence and rape, the removal of legal process, the use of chemical and biological weapons against civilians, ethnic cleansing, extermination camps and genocide. This does not excuse British abuses in Palestine but it provides some comparative context. Put simply, in Palestine the British were often brutal but they rarely committed atrocities. Indeed, by moderating its violence, Britain was probably more effective as an imperial power. Perhaps this is the best that can be said for the British ‘way’ in repressing the Arab insurgency in Palestine: it was, relatively speaking, humane and restrained—the awfulness was less awful—when compared to the methods used by other colonial and neo-colonial powers operating in similar circumstances, an achievement, of sorts.