Dear Friends,
When Islamist U.S. Congresswoman Rashida Tlaib blotted out Israel on her Congressional map, and replaced Israel with imaginary “Palestine,” Tlaib suffered no consequences, and no loss of her committee assignments for her attempt to virtually extinguish the Jewish state – or for any of her other hateful actions, positions and lies.
However, when Jewish Democratic NY City Councilman Kalman Yeger recently truthfully stated that a State of “Palestine does not exist” and that “there is no state by that name,” New York City Mayor Bill DeBlasio wrongly demanded that Yeger apologize simply for telling the truth. Egregiously, Mayor DeBlasio also made an Anti-Jewish threat to remove Councilman Yeger from his Immigration Committee assignment – again, simply because Councilman Yeger told the truth. Why is Mayor DeBlasio supporting an Arab/Islamist lie and condemning a Jewish truth?
There has never been a state of “Palestine.” “Palestine” is a Roman name; not an Arab one. There were no Palestinian Kings or Queens. After the Roman conquest of what had been the centuries-long Jewish kingdoms, the Romans renamed the area “Palestina” in attempt to de-Judaize it. There was no “Palestinian state.” Moreover, “Palestinians” meant “Jews” up through the 1960s, when Arab propagandists and Arab terrorists groups usurped the name. Israel’s “Jerusalem Post” was previously called the Palestine Post. The Israel Philharmonic Orchestra was previously called the “Palestine Orchestra.” The Jewish characters in “Exodus” called themselves “Palestinians.” And so on.
Many Arab leaders and scholars have admitted that a distinct historical Palestinian nation never existed. For instance, in 1946, Arab-American historian and Princeton University Professor, Philip Hitti, testified against partition, saying: “There is no such thing as ‘Palestine’ in history, absolutely not . . . [It is but] a very small tiny spot . . . surrounded by a vast territory of Arab Muslim lands, beginning with Morocco, continuing through Tunis, Tripoli and Egypt, and going down to Arabia proper, then going up to Transjordan, Syria, Lebanon, and Iraq — one solid Arab-speaking bloc — 50,000,000 people.” (See “Touching A Nerve — Palestinian Origins,” by Andrea Levin, CAMERA, Dec. 22, 2011.)
In 1956, Ahmed Shukeiry, who later co-founded the PLO, told the UN General Assembly: “It is common knowledge that Palestine is nothing but Southern Syria.” And dramatically, in 2009, former MK Azmi Bishara, who fled Israel while being investigated for spying for Hezbollah, stated on television:
“Well, I don’t think there is a Palestinian Nation at all. I think there is an Arab Nation, I always thought so and I didn’t change my mind. I don’t think there is a Palestinian Nation, I think it’s a Colonial invention Palestinian Nation. When were there any Palestinians? Where did it come from? What I think — there is an Arab Nation. I never turned to be a Palestinian Nationalist, despite my decisive struggle against the Occupation. I think that until the end of the 19th century, Palestine was the South of Great Syria.”
Please call, email and/or tweet Mayor DeBlasio’s office to let him know that the mayor’s threats and demands are wrong and inappropriate.
Phone: 311 or 212-NEW-YORK outside NYC
Email webform: https://www1.nyc.gov/office-of-the-mayor/mayor-contact.page
Tweet: @NYCMayor
Please copy ZOA at [email protected] and please forward to us any response you receive. Many thanks!
Suggested message (or compose your own message):
Dear Mayor DeBlasio: Councilman Kalman Yeger is correct. You are wrong! There is no state of “Palestine” and there has never been one. It is outrageous for you to demand an apology from Councilman Yeger for simply telling the truth, and for you to threaten to remove Councilman Yeger’s committee assignment. I urge you to retract your outrageous demand and threat.
Sincerely,
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