[East Jerusalem, Nov. 8, 2006]
Dr. Ilan Pappe, is Israeli born and a graduate of Hebrew University and Oxford who is currently teaching at Haifa University. He is a well known revisionist or "post-Zionist" Israeli historian who has been both acclaimed and demonized. His most recent work is "A History of Modern Palestine: One Land, Two Peoples" which documents the expulsion of Palestinians as an orchestrated crime of ethnic cleansing.

He spoke at the Notre Dame Conference center in East Jerusalem to over 330 International ecumenical Christians during Sabeel's 6th International Conference: The Forgotten Faithful: AKA Palestinian Christians.

His topic was the "Dynamics of Forgetting" and because of the "fierce urgency of now" [-Rev. MLK, Jr.] the world is beginning to remember that once there was a Red House, which birthed a most diabolical plan.

Dr. Pappe stated that, "The Red House in Tel Aviv is gone now. It was a typical building in Tel Aviv that had all the characteristics of Mediterranean homes but with the local Palestinian architecture of the '20's. Today a USA Sheraton Hotel stands in its place. The Red House was the home of the Hagganah; a Jewish underground organization but before 1948 it was the home of a socialist movement, from which it received its name.

Haganah is Hebrew for "The Defense" and was a Jewish paramilitary organization formed in what was then the British Mandate for Palestine from 1920 to 1948. It began as a small group of "Jewish immigrants who guarded settlements for an annual fee. At no time did the group have more than 100 members until after the Arab riots of 1920 and 1921. The Jewish leadership in Palestine believed that the British, whom the League of Nations had given the Mandate of Palestine in 1920, had no desire to confront the Arabs about attacks on the Palestinian Jews, and thus created the Haganah to protect their farmers and settlements. The initial role of the Haganah was to guard the Jewish Kibbutzim and farms, and to warn the residents of and repel attacks by Palestinian Arabs.

"In the period between 1920 to 1929, the Haganah lacked a strong central authority or coordination. Haganah "units" were very localized and poorly armed: they consisted mainly of Jewish farmers who took turns guarding their farms or their kibbutzim. Following the Arab 1929 Hebron massacre that led to the ethnic cleansing by the British authorities of all Jews from the city of Hebron, the Haganah's role changed dramatically. It became a much larger organization encompassing nearly all the youth and adults in the Jewish settlements, as well as thousands of members from the cities. It also acquired foreign arms and began to develop workshops to create hand grenades and simple military equipment. It went from being an untrained militia to a capable army." -wikipedia

The British did not officially recognize the Haganah,but the British security forces cooperated with it by forming the Jewish Settlement Police, Jewish Auxiliary Forces and Special Night Squads. By 1931, the most right-wing elements of Haganah branched off and formed Irgun Tsva'i-Leumi (the National Military Organization), better known as "Irgun" (or by its Hebrew acronym, pronounced "HaEtsel"). They were discontented with the policy of restraint when faced with British and Arab pressure and "terrorists" in their own right. Irgun later split in 1940, and their off-shoot became known as the "Lehi" (Hebrew acronym of Lochamei Herut Israel, standing for Freedom Fighters of Israel, and also known by the British as the "Stern Gang" after its leader, Abraham Stern).

Because the British severely restricted Jewish immigration to Palestine, in 1939 the Haganah created the Palmach - the Haganah's strike force, which also organized illegal Jewish immigration of over 100,000 Jews to Palestine.

In 1944, in response to the assassination of Lord Moyne (the British Minister of State for the Middle East) by members of the Jewish Lehi underground, the Haganah worked with the British to round up, interrogate, and, in some cases, deport Irgun members. This action was called the Saison (or hunting season), and seriously demoralized the Irgun and reduced its activities.

The Saison could not stop the Irgun, Haganah and the Stern Group from working together. The three groups had different functions, which served to move the British out of Palestine, and to make Palestine a Jewish state rather than created a Jewish home in Palestine.

Menachem Begin, an Irgun commander, stated in a 1944 meeting: "In fact, there is a division of roles; One organisation advocates individual terrorism (the Lehi), the other conducts sporadic military operations (the Irgun) and there is a third organisation which prepares itself to throw its final weight in the decisive war."-wikipedia.

According to Dr. Pappe, "On March 10, 1948, eleven men had a meeting in the Red House headed by Ben Gurion. The eleven decided to expel one million Palestinians from historical Palestine. No minutes were taken, but many memoirs were written about that fateful meeting. A systematic ethnic cleansing of Palestine began and within seven months the Zionists managed to expel one half of all the Palestinian people from their villages and towns.

"The New York Times followed Israeli troops and reported the truth of the expulsion and separation of men and women, and of the many massacres. The world was well informed in 1948, but a year later not a trace was reported in the USA press or books. It was as if nothing ever happened.

"From March to October 1948 the USA State Department stated what was happening was a CRIME against humanity and ethnic cleansing. When ever one ethnic group expels another group they should be treated as War Criminals and the victims should be allowed to return. This is never mentioned in the USA about Palestine.

"Israel is so successful in their ethnic cleansing because the world doesn't care! The ethnic cleansing continues via the apartheid policies of the Israeli government and because of the denial of the truth by the the USA media.

"To claim Israel is the only democracy in the Middle East is bullshit! The Six Day War of 1967 escalated the ethnic cleansing and today in Jerusalem every Palestinian who fails to pay taxes, or has a minor infraction will loose their citizenship.

"In 1948 the mechanism of denial and ethnic cleansing as an IDEOLOGY, not a policy but a formula began. When Zionism began in the 19th century it was meant to be a safe haven for Jews and to help redefine Judaism as a national movement, not just a religion. Nothing wrong with either of those goals!

"But by the late 19th Century it was decided the only way these goals could be achieved was by ridding the indigenous population and it became an evil ideology.

"Israeli Jewish life will never be simple, good, or worth living while this ideology of domination, exclusiveness and superiority is allowed to continue. The mind set today is that unless Israel is an exclusive Jewish State, Palestinians will continue to be obstacles. However, there has always been a small vocal minority challenging this.

"The only thing that can save Palestinians is for the world to say "ENOUGH is ENOUGH!" The way to challenge and change the ethnic cleansing is to pursue true democracy and the use of sanctions and divestment, for money talks."[end Dr. Pappe]

"America's $84.8 billion in aid to Israel from fiscal years 1949 through 1998, and the interest the U.S. paid to borrow this money, has cost U.S. taxpayers $134.8 billion, not adjusted for inflation. Or, put another way, the nearly $14,630 every one of 5.8 million Israelis received from the U.S. government by Oct. 31, 1997 has cost American taxpayers $23,240 per Israeli."[IfAmericansknew]

"The Israeli government and military receive $15,139,178.00 from the USA every day while NGO's working to feed and care for the poor in Palestine receive $232,290.00 from the USA per day." [Ibid]

In June 2005, I visited Rev. Naim Ateek at his Jerusalem Sabeel office. I had been reading the Sabeel Documents about the divestment issue especially in regards to Sabeel's position on morally responsible investment as a nonviolent response to the occupation. I commented then that is exactly the issue American Christians should be discussing and not the continuing debate over the mystery of love and marriage in regards to gays and lesbians and the ordination of the first HONEST gay Bishop Gene Robinson.

"The fierce urgency of now"[Rev. MLK, Jr.] should compel all USA citizens to seriously consider, debate and take action on where we lay down our money, what we invest in and how our government spends our hard earned tax dollars. To continue to support corporations that support occupation and fuel the fire of terrorism should be morally repugnant to any one of good will as those actions are not democratic. Rev. Ateek has been demonized as an anti-Semite because of his outspoken and firm stand for justice and only justice as the way to peace and security for all the people in the Holy Land.

Money talks and the USA should only support democracies that are true to that name, for a democracy quarantees, delivers and protects all people with equal human rights.

"In the long run, there is no justice without FREEDOM. There can be no human rights without LIBERTY. All who live in tyranny and hopelessness can know the United States will not ignore your oppression or excuse your oppressors. When you stand for liberty, we stand with you."-President George W. Bush, Second Inaugural Address

"The fierce urgency of now" should compel all USA citizens to demand President Bush honor that vow.

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