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Myth 1
Palestine was empty land before 1948 - “A land without a people for a
people without a land” – Israel Zangwill
This phrase became the potent rallying call for Zionist settlement in
Palestine. It was not until 1904 that Zangwill realised there was a
fundamental problem with the Zionist programme. In a speech given in
New York he explained:
“There is… a difficulty from which the Zionist dare not avert his eyes…
Palestine proper has already its inhabitants. The pashalik of Jerusalem
is already twice as thickly populated as the United States, having 52
souls to every square mile, and not 25 percent of them Jews” – Israel
Zangwill
Myth 2
Religious Jews believe that the Torah only allows return to Palestine by
divine intervention. Human attempts to re-establish Israel are
considered heretical and many orthodox rabbis openly condemned
Theodore Herzl and the entire concept of Zionism.
Myth 3
‘… For me, the Jewish question is neither a social nor a religious one…
it is a national question… Palestine is our unforgettable historical
homeland… the very name would be a powerful rallying cry for our
people.’
Myth 4
The Israelis claim that in 1948 the Palestinians left their homes of their
own accord and that the Arab leaders promoted this via radio
broadcasts.
An Irish journalist investigating this myth found that not a single appeal
or order was broadcast on radio from Arab leaders during that time.
However, evidence was found that Zionist stations broadcasted in
Arabic urging Palestinians to leave their homes. [The spectator, 12th
May 1961]
Myth 5
Myth 6
“We would send a tractor to plough some area where it wasn’t possible
to do anything, in the demilitarised area, and knew in advance that the
Syrians would start to shoot, if they didn’t shoot, we would tell the
tractor to advance further, until in the end the Syrians would get
annoyed and shoot. And then we would use artillery and later the air
force also, and that’s how it was”
- Moshe Dayan, Israeli Defence Minister during the 1967 war
- The New York Times, May 11th, 1997
Myth 7
Origin from modern Latin Semita via late Latin from Greek Shem, son
of Noah (as) in the Bible, from whom these people were traditionally
believed to be descended from.