May 17 2010: Zachary Flicker

As a Jew living in the United States of America, I am unsettled by the horrors that have occurred in the Arab-Israeli Conflict over the past sixty-two years. Although the Jews may have been given part of the holy land originally because the United Nations feels sympathy towards victims of genocide, this does not mean that thousands more people need to die. This dispute over the lands of Israel has started wars, and terrorist cells. Even when the two sides could have shared the land, the Arabs felt like that was not good enough for them. However, neither side Arab nor Jew, is above reproach and blameless.
Being an American Jew it would be easy to criticize the Arabs who resort to terrorism; however, Israel has made bad choices along the way as well. The most recent example of this is Israel's creation of Jewish Communities and announcement of this when Joe Biden was in Israel attempting to improve Arab-Israeli relations. The building project of one thousand six hundred Jewish Suburbs in East Jerusalem Internationally accepted as Palestinian territory) set the talks between the two countries back an entire month.
The United States President, Barack Obama, has tried increasingly hard to solve the problems in the Middle East. This, and Russia’s involvement in moving the peace treaties along, goes to show that the current events in the Middle East are global issues. However, for the time being it seems that Israel and the surrounding Arab countries are trying to make amends, even though it is a hard road ahead.

1983: Ariel Sharon

We signed a cease-fire agreement with the PLO (Palestinian Liberation Organization) and up to eleven months after they continued to conduct terrorist operations. Two hundred and seventy terrorist attacks can be linked to them in which twenty-nine Israelis died and over three hundred were injured. We allowed all of this to happen without starting another war but when the Abu Nidal led group attempted to kill Shlomo Argov, our Ambassador to Great Britain, actions had to be taken. Our actions were even condoned by President Reagan who said, "We agree that Israel must not be subjected to violence from the north." As the Defense Minister of Israel, it is my obligation to my country to protect all of my citizens, and if that means we had to attack and enter Lebanon to destroy the PLO then it is my duty to do so. Terrorism cannot be accepted nor can it be allowed to receive what it wants. It is because of these values that Israel invaded Lebanon.

Our initial efforts were effective with the enemy's Surface to Air Missiles being destroyed early and many Air Force conflicts resulting in no Israeli losses and dozens of Syrian aircrafts destroyed. Further successes took place on gunships where supply lines were cut off to the PLO. The dropping of paratroopers behind Beirut to make sure no retreat efforts would be successful worked as planned. A few months ago, an agreement was reached and American, French, and Italian peacekeepers exiled 14,000 PLO combatants, and 6,500 Fatah members relocated to Jordan and other Arab nations.

Even though all of the assaults on the PLO were successful and we accomplished all we had wanted ,including creating the twenty five mile buffer in South Lebanon, nothing can excuse what happened on September 16 and 17 of 1982. The Sabra and Shatila Massacres, where approximately eight hundred people were killed, occurred because of Israeli ignorance. We should have been wary of the Lebanese Christian Phalangist militia, because Lebanese President Bashir Gemayel and 25 of his followers were killed in a bomb attack earlier that week. I take full responsibility for the monstrosities that took place those two nights in the refugee camps. Moreover, I officially resign from the Office of Defense Minister.

October 6 1972-October 24 1972: From the personal diary of Jacob Greenfeld

October 6 1972: How could they have attacked on the Day of Atonement, our holiest day of the year? By Syria from the North and Egypt from the South with the bulk of the IDF in reserves and few men on duty. When the Syrians attacked the Golan Heights they brought with them 1,400 tanks against our 180, and during Egypt's attack along the Suez Canal there were 800,00 Egyptians to our 437 men guarding the border. Due to their surprise attacks, on Yom Kippur, both were able to cross the cease-fire lines, Egypt crossing the Suez and Syria capturing Mt. Hermon, the primary intelligence-gathering center in all of Israel.

October 16 1972: Since my last entry, a lot has transpired in the war effort. I was posted in the North to defend and recapture the Golan Heights. The majority of the soldiers, including myself, believe that many of the IDF reserves were sent theres because of how outnumbered we were on the Northern front. This is what makes it so much more impressive that we recaptured the Golan Heights,except for Mt. Hermon, on the tenth. Then four days later, we pushed the Syrian forces back beyond the cease-fire line and stopped a troop transport heading to assist their soldiers. Finally, today my commanding officer told me that there was a counter offensive by us in the south. Although it was unsuccessful, the effort still managed to destroy two hundred Egyptian tanks. On the second attempt at the attack, we pushed the Egyptians back over the cease-fire line.

October 24 1972: With the EgyptianThird Army surrounded by our Southern troops, a cease-fire with Egypt came into place. On the same day, the group of soldiers I was with crossed the old cease-fire lines into Syrian territory, while Syria made no other advances. Today marks the end of the Yom Kippur War, and once again shows the strength of my people's perseverance in the face of antagonism. What we as Jews have learned from this war is since we are so close to so many enemies we must increase the size of our army and weaponry; not with the idea of attacking our neighbors but to defend the promised land.

June 11, 1967: David Cohen

What a wonderful week it has been; a true David and Goliath story. The Western powers deserve shame for not providing us help, as does Russia for helping the Arab nations. Within six days we, the IDF, have conquered the Sinai Peninsula, the Gaza strip, the West bank and the Golan heights. It is Nasser's own fault that he lost the Sinai Peninsula; it was a clear act of war to close off all of our trade routes through the Tiran. He even insulted our chief of staff, Yitzhak Rabin, by saying "Let him come, I'm waiting."

It took mere hours to destroy the Egyptian Air Force on the morning of June 5. Later that morning, strategic attacks were mounted on the Sinai Peninsula consisting of tanks and artillery. By day's end, Egypt's army had fallen apart as a fighting force. However, those reporting what was occurring spoke of Arab victories and Israeli defeats. Since King Hussein of Jordan received false information, Nasser was able to convince him that he should advance on Jerusalem. When Jordan began bombarding our positions in Jerusalem, we sent paratroopers, myself included, to surround the ancient temple mount and secure it. This was the greatest moment of my Jewish life, being able to fight for my country and my beliefs in such a way that we recaptured the Western Wall.

On day five of this short war a third front opened against Syria. Then, yesterday, we took the Golan Heights, crushing all hopes for the Arabs to clear us out of our land. It appears that this war is over and despite the incredible odds we have once again overcome the Arab invaders.This time we have expanded our land into Sinai, the Golan Heights and the West bank. This victory is surely the work of Adonai, and his love of the chosen people of Israel.

-Historical Note: On November 22, 1967, the UN Security Council adopted Resolution 242,?which demanded peace between Israel and the adjacent Arab countries. This resolution also stated that Israel would withdrawal from the Sinai Peninsula as an act of peace. However, Israel was still allowed to keep that land up until the West Bank, the Gaza Strip, as well as most of the Golan Heights,significantly increasing the size of the Jewish State.

May 3, 1949: Anonymous Egyptian Soldier

They call it a "War of Independence" or a "War for Liberation," but it actually is a catastrophe. The source of this catastrophe was the confusion and lack of coordination between we, the Arab nations. In the beginning we had notable successes, namely, Egypt's conquering of the Negev because of our superior aircraft, tanks, and armor. However, we foolishly accepted a cease fire giving Israel time to regroup and create the IDF (Israeli Defense Force), consisting of sixty thousand resistance trained soldiers from Irgun, Haganah, Palmah, and Lehi. Critically, the time also enabled Israel to save Jerusalem from starvation. Meanwhile, we wasted our time by not committing more troops and money to the war effort, as was made clear when we lost an arms shipment heading towards Syria to the IDF.

When the War resumed Israel marched toward my homeland conquering Gaza and entering the Sinai Peninsula. On January 7, 1949, Israel shot down six planes, two of which had men from my hometown. When the British sent three planes to investigate, only two returned. Because of these two incidents, the United States became involved and forced Israel to withdraw their forces from the area. On February 24, 1949, Egypt signed the first armistice with Israel. On April 3 1949, Jordan signed a similar armistice, touching on the same points. In between these two armistices Syria and Lebanon both signed armistices, while Iraq and Saudi Arabia have yet to do so. These treaties mark the despicable loss of the Arab forces in Israel's War of Independence. Israel ended up with 50% more territory than was allotted to them in the original partition of land. This was a war instigated by greedy Jews who wanted our land, and in doing so created 726,000 Arab refugees in a war of Jewish aggression.

May 14, 1948: David Ben-Gurion

Today is the day I have been waiting for my entire life.Without question it is the greatest day in modern Jewish history and very possibly the most significant day in the history of our people. For today is the day that a Jewish state has finally been created; we are free from the British, and Israel is born!

Today's events confirm ancient longings and modern needs. A Jewish state is the culmination of the desires of the Jewish people and is essential to the future of the Jewish people. The oppression of Jews and the destruction of their faith has been all too common and recurring. For many years we have fought to make this land ours again, and finally our dream has come true. The Jewish people have a home, a place where any Jew, no matter their age or gender or status, is welcomed with open arms. And I, David Ben-Gurion, will serve as the first Prime Minister of our glorious nation, an honor that I never could have dreamed of.

But today is not without much tension. The outlook of the country in the next few months is grim. For the Arabs of Palestine believe that this land is theirs, and they are not willing to give it up. They have treated us with much hostility over the past years. Even though this was land that was given to us by the British, they are under the impression that it belongs to no one but them. There have been many attempted negotiations, but they would not agree to anything. Needless to say, the UN partition plan of last year angered them greatly, and brought them closer to the brink of war. I believe that our Declaration of Independence will push them over the edge. We are prepared for a war in the near future.

November 30, 1947: Haj Amin Al-Husseini

Yesterday was a terrible day for the Arabs of Palestine. For decades, we have been trying to protect our homeland, trying to get the Jews to leave our country. They started immigrating to Palestine decades ago, claiming that this was to be a Jewish state of Israel. But how can they call this their country? We Arabs have lived here for centuries. And yesterday, The UN decided to split Palestine on two, handing over more than half of our country to Jewish settlers. Yesterday will go down in history as the day that the Palestinians were robbed of their country, their homeland.
The first Jews started immigrating to Palestine in the early 1880s, fleeing from the pogroms of Russia, believing that they would be welcome here, because it was their promise land. There where then two more waves of immigration before and after World War One, because of anti-Semitic policies in Russia during the Russian revolution. There was another wave in the late 1920s because of anti-Jewish policies in Poland, and the fifth wave was because of Hitler’s rise to power. Over the course of a few decades, hundreds of thousands of Jews had left their home countries to seek freedom and religious acceptance here. They acted as if no one else lived in Palestine, and they alone were entitled to it.
Since then they have been gaining more and more influence, sending out a message that this should be their country. Finally the UN decided that they could just split the country in half, and everybody would be happy. But how is it fair that the 600,000 Jews were given half of the land of Palestine, and twice as many Arabs, were given the other half, while really all of this land should belong to the Arabs?
I understand that the Jewish people have been severely mistreated by the nations of Europe and been the victims of many injustices. But why is it that we are responsible for this? Our nation has had nothing to do with any of the horrible things that have been done to the Jews. I agree that they do deserve their own state, but they governments of Europe need to figure out how to create a country for them in Europe. They need to take responsibility for their actions.
So as the leader of the Arab League, I strongly denounce this partition. We as a country will not stand for this, and if nothing is changed, war is not out of the question. Something must be done about this, because the Arabs of Palestine will not have our country taken away from us. The Jews are not entitled to this land; we are.

July 22, 1946: David Ben-Gurion

Today, Irgun, one of the several main militant Zionist groups, took resistance too far. The bombing of the King David Hotel in Jerusalem was a horrible mistake, and puts a bad face on the resistance. The events that transpired today are an outrage and embarrassment to the Jews of Israel. 91 people were killed today, and 46 injured, most of them innocent citizens.
I have supported resistance against the British for years, as Israel should be a free state, not under the control of any other nation. The Labor Party, elected in 1945, promised that they would reverse the White Paper and support a Jewish state in Palestine. But since they have come into office, they have done quite the opposite. They redoubled their efforts to prevent Jewish immigration, and have not done anything to help us create a state of Israel. Because of these lies, I have supported the united militant organizations such as the Irgun and the Hanagah in helping Jews illegally immigrate to Palestine and using force to try to drive out the British. There have been many train bombings and bridge bombings that have hindered the British, and they have been with few civilian casualties. These attacks have sent a message to England: either help us, or leave our country now. But the hotel bombing today brought it too far.
Initially I agreed with Menachem Begin, the mastermind of the plan, that this bombing would be a good idea. I was under the impression that it would just embarrass the British military personnel stationed there. It was in response to the Black Sabbath, a day last month when 2,700 people were arrested throughout the country and sent to the Rafiah internment camp for suspected involvement in resistance. They organized a huge weapons search, which yielded hundreds of guns and thousands of bullets. So when I found out that Irgun and Hanagah were working together to plan a retaliation attempt. I thought that it would be a good opportunity to show the British that we are a force to be reckoned with. But when I found out the risks of killing dozens of innocent civilians, I told Begin to call it off, but he refused.
And so since then I have been dreading this day, and doing all I could to get Begin to understand the risks. But he was blinded by his hatred of the British, and nothing would stop him. And because of this, today will go down as the worst bombing in the history of the resistance. It makes the victim look like the attacker, the oppressed people look like the oppressors. The bombing was a horrible mistake, and I now believe that the Irgun is the enemy of the Jewish people, not the ally. I hope that we as a people can learn from our mistake and pursue more peaceful forms of resistance. I hope that nothing like the events of today ever happen again.

September 1st, 1939: Anonymous Immigrant

It started firing, and we all felt that our journey was at an end. We thought that in the best case scenario, we would be sent back to Romania. In the worst case we would be killed. But luckily for us, we ran aground in Tel Aviv. The boat was met by a crowd of hundreds of Jews welcoming us. Military officials fired on the refugees running from the boat, and my family barely made it through alive. We were able to run into the crowd and hide amongst the hundreds of Jews legally in Tel Aviv. A very kind family took us in and gave us a place to stay until we found a home, and that is where I am writing from now.

I am extremely grateful to be a part of the lucky few who made it tonight. I know that there will be many more of these boats coming, and I vow that I will do everything I can to protect my fellow Jews. This war will eventually be won, and I pray that our dream of creating a Jewish state here will come true. Someday, all Jews that need to escape persecution will be welcome here; welcome in the land of Israel.

August 29th, 1897: Theodor Hertzl

Today is a wonderful day for the Jewish people of the world. We must rejoice on this wonderful day, the first day of the First Zionist Congress. This day marks a great step forward in our goal of creating the Jewish nation of Israel. For so long I, Theodor Herzl, have pursued this moment; an assembly of 200 of our Jewish brothers from seventeen nations, all united for a single cause.

Our people have an ancient and intimate connection with the land of Israel. Our great prophet, Abraham, lived there nearly 4,000 years ago. He settled in the land then known as Canaan and founded our faith their. Our ancestors lived there for many millennia, and it is time that we take back the land that is rightfully ours! We will no longer have to endure the pogroms and hostilities of the nations of Europe. We shall no longer live as a hated minority, oppressed by other cultures. Israel shall be our home, a place where all Jews are welcome.

I provided the impetus for this congress a year ago when I published Der Judenstaat (The Jewish State). In it I presented the just cause and imperative of the Zionist agenda. My writing expressed the desires, hopes and needs of Jews everywhere and it became quite a sensation in the following months, being disseminated throughout Europe and translated into many languages. I was contacted by many Zionist organizations, and from there we began planning for the congress.

So we are here, discussing the needs and objectives of our people as a whole for us today, and the Jewish people for generations to come.The strength of our conviction and purpose is shown in our addressing the Uganda question. The government of Great Britain proposed that we make a Jewish state in Uganda, offering us 15,500 square kilometers of land. After much discussion, we decided to refuse their offer. We decided that the Jewish state must be Israel, for it is our home and native land. And I believe that these three days will bring us much closer to our goal. And I plan to have many more of these in the future. We shall meet once a year every year until our voices are heard. We will not be ignored any longer. Every year we shall become stronger, soon becoming a force that can no longer be overlooked! We shall not let up until we succeed in creating a Jewish state in our Holy Land. For I have said it once, and I shall say it again: it is a land without a people for a people without a land!