“A European tradition to accuse Jews” Cry the Jews!

Art of Resistance – A Comment on Günter Grass

By Gilad Atzmon

Outrage in Germany, Nobel Laureate Günter Grass has, once again told the truth about Israel being the greatest threat to world peace.

Günter Grass, Germany’s most famous living author and the 1999 recipient of the Nobel Prize in Literature, sparked outrage in Germany on Wednesday with the publication of a poem, “What must be said,” in which he sharply criticizes Israel’s offensive approach towards Iran.

Once again, it is the artist rather than the politician, who tells the truth as it is.  Once again it is the Artist rather than the academic who speaks out.

 ”Why did I wait until now at this advanced age and with the last bit of ink to say: The nuclear power Israel is endangering a world peace that is already fragile?” Wrote Grass.

In the poem, published by Germany’s Süddeutsche Zeitung newspaper and other European dailies on Wednesday, Grass also calls for an

“unhindered and permanent monitoring of Israel’s nuclear potential and Iran’s nuclear facility through an international entity that the government of both countries would approve.”

Israel and some German Jewish prominent voices were quick to react. The Israeli Embassy in Berlin issued a statement offering its own version of ‘What must be said.’

“What must be said is that it is a European tradition to accuse the Jews before the Passover festival of ritual murder,” the statements reads.

Pretty outrageous, don’t you think? In the open Israel together with its supportive Jewish lobbies (AIPAC, AJC)  are pushing for a new global conflict. Yet, shamelessly the embassy defies criticism tossing in the air the old blood libel. The appropriate timely question here is why Israel and AIPAC are pushing for a world war and a potential nuclear conflict just before Passover? Can they just wait for another Yom Kippur (atonement day)?

Watch this:

The Israeli Embassy continues,

“in the past, it was Christian children whose blood the Jews allegedly used to make their unleavened bread, but today it is the Iranian people that the Jewish state allegedly wants to annihilate.”

Isn’t it really the case? Every military expert suggests that Israeli pre-emptive attack on Iran could escalate into a nuclear conflict. If anything Grass tries like others, including your truly, to prevent Israel from celebrating its lethal symptoms once again.

The Israeli embassy noticed though that “Israel is the only state in the world whose right to exist is openly doubted.”

Correct, and so it should be. Israel is a racist, expansionist state, it doesn’t have room amongst nations.

The Central Council of Jews in Germany also called the poem an “aggressive pamphlet of agitation.” I wonder, is it really aggressive to try and restrain an aggressor?

The German newspaper Die Welt, which apparently obtained an advance copy of Grass’ poem, published a response by rabid Zionist Henryk Broder,  the country’s most prominent Jewish writer. “Grass always had a problem with Jews, but it has never articulated it as clearly as he has in this poem.”  Broder said  “Grass has always had a tendency toward megalomania, but this time he is completely nuts.” I would expect Germany’s  leading Jewish writer to come with something slightly more astute.

Border however may be correct when he notes that Grass is “haunted by guilt and shame and also driven by the desire to settle history, he is now attempting to disarm the ’cause of the recognizable threat.’”

Wednesday’s poem is not the first time Grass has come out with critical views of Israel. In a 2001 interview with SPIEGEL ONLINE, he offered his own solution for the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

“Israel doesn’t just need to clear out of the occupied areas,” he said at the time. “The appropriation of Palestinian territory and its Israeli settlements are also a criminal activity. That not only needs to be stopped — it also needs to be reversed. Otherwise there will be no peace.”

Broder contends that such a statement is “no less than a demand for Israel to not just cede Nablus and Hebron, but also Tel Aviv and Haifa. ” he continues, “Grass does not differentiated between the ‘occupied areas’ of 1948 and 1967.” Needless to say that from an ethical perspective Grass is correct-there is no difference between 1948 and 1967. The Jewish State located itself on historic Palestine on the expense of the Palestinian people. I guess that Grass understood already in 2001 that the Jews only State must be transformed into a ‘State of its Citizens’. Israel should embrace the true notion of peace, universalism and inclusiveness.  But I guess that we shouldn’t hold our breath for it is not going to happen soon.

Related articles

• Günter Grass Attacks Israel in New Poem (3quarksdaily.com)

Israelis Rush for Second Passports: Good Riddance!

“Perhaps as many as half of the Jews living in Israel will consider leaving Palestine in the next few years if political and social trends continue.”

Dr. Franklin Lamb

Perhaps historians or cultural anthropologists surveying the course of human events can identify for us a land, in addition to Palestine, where such a large percentage of a recently arrived colonial population prepared to exercise their right to depart, while many more, with actual millennial roots but victims of ethnic cleansing, prepared to exercise their right of Return.

One of the many ironies inherent in the 19^th century Zionist colonial enterprise in Palestine is the fact that this increasingly fraying project was billed for most of the 20th century as a haven in the Middle East for “returning” persecuted European Jews.  But today, in the 21^st century, it is Europe that is increasingly being viewed by a large number of the illegal occupiers of Palestinian land as the much desired haven for returning Middle Eastern Jews.

To paraphrase Jewish journalist Gideon Levy “If our forefathers dreamt of an Israeli passport to escape from Europe, there are many among us who are now dreaming of a second passport to escape to Europe.

Several studies in Israel and one conducted by AIPAC and another by the Jewish National  Fund in Germany show that perhaps as many as half of the Jews living in Israel will consider leaving Palestine in the next few years if current political and social trends continue.  A 2008 survey by the Jerusalem-based Menachem Begin Heritage Center found that 59% of Israelis had approached or intended to approach a foreign embassy to inquire about or apply for citizenship and a passport. Today it is estimated that the figure is approaching 70%.

The number of Israelis thinking of leaving Palestine is climbing rapidly according to researchers at Bar-Ilan University who conducted a study published recently in Eretz Acheret, (“A Different Place”)   an Israeli NGO that claims to promote cultural dialogue.  What the Bar-Ilan study found is that more than 100,000 Israelis already hold a German passport, and this figure increases by more than 7,000 every year along an accelerating trajectory. According to German officials, more than 70,000 such passports have been granted since 2000.

In addition to Germany, there are more than one million Israelis with other foreign passports at the ready in case life in Israel deteriorates.  One of the most appealing countries for Israelis contemplating emigration, as well as perhaps the most welcoming, is the United States. Currently more than 500,000 Israelis hold US passports with close to a quarter million pending applications.

During the recent meetings in Washington DC between Israeli Prime Minister Terrorist Netanyahu’s delegation and Israel’s US agents, assurances were reportedly given by AIPAC officials that if and when it becomes necessary, the US government will expeditiously issue American passports to any and all Israeli Jews seeking them.

 

Israeli Arabs need not apply.

AIPAC also represented to their Israeli interrogators that the US Congress could be trusted to approve funding for arriving Israeli Jews “to be allocated substantial cash resettlement grants to ease transition into their new country.”

Image via Wikipedia

Apart from the Israeli Jews who may be thinking of getting an “insurance passport” for a Diaspora land, there is a similar percentage of Jews worldwide who aren’t going to make aliyah. According to Jonathan Rynhold, a Bar Ilan professor specializing on U.S.-Israel relations, Jews may be safer in Teheran than Ashkelon these days—until Israel or the USA starts bombing Iran.

Interviews with some of those who either helped conduct the above noted studies or have knowledge of them, identify several factors that explain the Israeli rush for foreign passports, some rather surprising, given the ultra-nationalist Israeli culture.

 

The common denominator is unease and anxiety, both personal and national, with the second passport considered a kind of insurance policy “for the rainy days visible on the horizon,” as one researcher from Eretz Acheret explained.

Now, they know they can live in Russia as part of a community and they don’t need Israel.”

Other factors include:

The fact that two or three generations in Israel has not proven enough to implant roots where few if any existed before. For this reason Israel has produced a significant percentage of “re-immigration” — a return of immigrants or their descendants to their country of origin which Zionist propaganda to the contrary notwithstanding, is not Palestine.

Fear that religious fanatics from among the more than 600,000 settlers terrorists in the West Bank will create civil war and essentially annex pre-1967 Israel and turn Israel more toward an ultra-fascist state.

Centripetal pressures within Israeli society, especially among Russian immigrants who overwhelmingly reject Zionism. Since the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989, some one million Jews have come to Israel from the former Soviet Union, enlarging the country’s population by 25 percent and forming the largest concentration in the world of Russian Jews. But today, Russian Jews comprise the largest group emigrating from Israel and they have been returning in droves for reasons ranging from opposition to Zionism, discrimination, and broken promises regarding employment and “the good life” in Israel.

Approximately 200,000 or 22% of Russians coming to Israel since 1990 have so far returned to their country.  According to Rabbi Berel Larzar, who has been Russia’s chief Rabbi since 2000, “It’s absolutely extraordinary how many people are returning. When Jews left, there was no community, no Jewish life. People felt that being Jewish was an historical mistake that happened to their family. Now, they know they can live in Russia as part of a community and they don’t need Israel.”

No faith in or respect for Israeli leaders, most of whom are considered corrupt.

Feelings of anxiety and guilt that Zionism has hijacked Judaism and that traditional Jewish values are being corrupted.

The increasing difficulty of providing coherent answers to one’s children, as they become more educated and aware of their family history, and indeed honesty to oneself, on the question of why families from Europe and elsewhere are living on land and in homes stolen from others who obviously are local and did not come from some other place around the World.

The recent growing appreciation, for many Israelis, significantly abetted by the Internet and the continuing Palestinian resistance, of the compelling and challenging Palestinians’ narrative that totally undermines the Zionist clarion of the last century of “A Land without a People for a People without a Land.’

Fear mongering of the political leaders designed to keep citizens supporting the government’s policies ranging from the Iranian bomb, the countless ‘Terrorists” seemingly everywhere and planning another Holocaust, or various existential threats that keep families on edge and concluding that they don’t want to raise their children under such conditions.

Explaining that he was speaking as a private citizen and not as a member of Democrats Abroad Israel, New York native Hillel Schenker suggested that Jews who come to Israel “want to make sure that they have the possibility of an alternative to return whence they came.”  He added that the “insecurities involved in modern life, and an Israel not yet living at peace with any of its neighbors, have also produced a phenomenon of many Israelis seeking a European passport, based on their family roots, just in case.”

Gene Schulman, a Senior American-Jewish fellow at the Switzerland-based Overseas American Academy, put it even more drastically, emphasizing that all Jews are “scared to death of what is probably going to become of Israel even if the U.S. continues its support for it.”

Many observers of Israeli society agree that a major, if unexpected recent impetus for Jews to leave Palestine has been the past three months of the Arab Awakening that overturned Israel’s key pillars of regional support.

According to Layal,  a Palestinian student from Shatila Camp, who is preparing for the June 5^th “Naksa” march to the Blueline in South Lebanon:

“What the Zionist occupiers of Palestine saw from Tahir Square in Cairo to Maroun al Ras in South Lebanon has convinced many Israelis that the Arab and Palestinian resistance, while still in its nascence, will develop into a massive and largely peaceful ground swell, such that no amount of weapons or apartheid administration can insure a Zionist future in Palestine. They are right to seek alternative places to raise their families.”

Attention NaZionists: We Shall Liberate Our Lands

 

The Israeli thugs and NaZionists may have killed 14 of these brave young men. More are ready to die in order to liberate their lands. Watch closely you nation of thugs and terrorists: these Arab Syrian men are unarmed. We shall cross the border and we’re ready to die for our just cause and the liberation of our lands. And without weapons even. For wave after wave of Arabs will cross.. and you may kill as many as you like, in the end, we shall trample you to death.. and then we will dump what is left of your filthy bodies in the Mediterranean.

On second thought, why pollute the Mediterranean? Maybe we should just burn your remains so that you are erased from history!

 

Next Year in Jerusalem!

Next Year in Golan Heights!

 

Related articles

• The day Palestine was infected by a virus called Israel (attendingtheworld.wordpress.com)
• Congress applauds Netanyahu’s lies; seeking more of AIPAC’s support! (attendingtheworld.wordpress.com)

Congress applauds Netanyahu’s lies; seeking more of AIPAC’s support!

You may have read Netanyahu and the Lies about Jerusalem back a year ago.

The Nazi-Zionist is back… addressing a sleepy Congress (Israel’s puppets) and continuing with the charade.

Is Congress as ignorant as they appear? Are these the same people condemning Gaddafi and Assad and Saleh for oppressing their people yet applaud Netanyahu’s continued massacres of Palestinians?

“Israel will not return to the indefensible boundaries of 1967,” Netanyahu said, prompting a big standing ovation.

There you have it! The U.S. Congress blesses and approves terrorism and oppression!

Netanyahu said on Tuesday that Israelis were prepared to make “painful compromises” in a peace deal that would leave some or outlying Jewish settlements beyond the state’s agreed borders! The only painful compromises Israelis are willing to make are those directed at increased pain and sufferings they exert on Palestinians. 63 years of lies and continued annexations and aggressions and our ignorant congress continues kissing Israel’s ass…

It’s simple… these ignorant degenerate hypocrites are seeking AIPAC’s blessings and money. It’s re-election time. This is the usual “Kiss Israel’s Ass and Win.”

“The status of the settlements will be decided only in negotiations..”

Talk about hypocrisy and deception. First steal Palestinian lands, then build illegal Israeli settlements and finally negotiate… brilliant! So if I may, I will hijack your car, for example, steal and enjoy it and then offer you something back if you are willing to negotiate with me an agreement, whereby I keep the car and maybe hand you back the key-chain. Perfect.

Netanyahu’s at times belligerent tone is not likely to persuade countries considering how to vote at the UN on Palestinian statehood, particularly European governments. He said support for any such move would undermine not further the cause of peace. The Guardian

What does one expect from a NaZionist? Yet I’m still baffled by these subhuman elected morons in congress. Holding a Bible behind their backs, they bless the Devil himself!

Benjamin Netanyahu speech to Congress unlikely to do much for peace process. The Telegraph got it right.

The sleepy dwarfs in congress and their “hero” Netanyahu should learn something or two from the events and revolutions sweeping the Middle East and North Africa. Israel will face the same uprising. Arabs in general and Palestinians in particular are unafraid of tanks, guns and F-16′s. Half of the population is willing to die in peaceful protests to guarantee their children freedom and democracy.

And it’s coming soon.

The day Palestine was infected by a virus called Israel

The victims of Europe and the Holocaust decided that they want a state of their own, somewhere, anywhere in the world.

After considering many options (at the expense and with total disregard to whoever may have already lived in the selected lands), Palestine was chosen. Among the Jewish Zionist options were such countries as Argentina, Ghana and other countries.

The Zionist movement arose in late nineteenth-century Europe, influenced by the nationalist ferment sweeping that continent. Zionism acquired its particular focus from the “ancient Jewish longing” for the return to Zion and received a strong impetus from the increasingly intolerable conditions facing the large Jewish community in Tsarist Russia. The movement also developed at the time of major European territorial acquisitions in Asia and Africa, and benefited from the European powers’ competition for influence in the shrinking Ottoman Empire.

One result of this involvement with European expansionism, however, was that the leaders of the nascent nationalist movements in the Middle East viewed Zionism as an adjunct of European colonialism. Moreover, Zionist assertions of the contemporary relevance of the Jews’ historical ties to Palestine, coupled with their land purchases and immigration, alarmed the indigenous population of the Ottoman districts that comprised Palestine. The Jewish community (yishuv) rose from 6 percent of Palestine’s population in 1880 to 10 percent by 1914. Although the numbers were insignificant, the settlers were outspoken enough to arouse the opposition of Arab leaders and induce them to exert counter pressure on the Ottoman regime to prohibit Jewish immigration and land buying.

As early as 1891, a group of Muslim and Christian notables cabled Istanbul, urging the government to prohibit Jewish immigration and land purchase. The resulting edicts radically curtailed land purchases in the Sanjak (district) of JERUSALEM for the next decade. When a Zionist Congress resolution in 1905 called for increased colonization, the Ottoman regime suspended all land transfers to Jews in both the Sanjak of Jerusalem and the Wilayat (province) of Beirut.
After the coup d’etat by the Young Turks in 1908, the Palestinians used their representation in the central parliament and their access to newly opened local newspapers to press their claims and express their concerns. They were particularly vociferous in opposition to discussions that took place between the financially hard-pressed Ottoman regime and Zionist leaders in 1912-13, which would have let the world Zionist Organization purchase crown land (Jiftlik) in the Baysan Valley, along the Jordan River.

The Zionists did not try to quell Palestinian fears, since their concern was to encourage colonization from Europe and to minimize the obstacles in their path. The only effort to meet to discuss Palestinian and Zionist aspirations occurred in the spring of 1914. Its difficulties illustrated the incompatibility in the aims of both sides aspirations. The Palestinians wanted the Zionists to present them with a document that would state

• Zionists precise political ambitions,
• Zionists willingness to open their schools to Palestinians, and
• Zionists intentions of learning Arabic and integrating with the local population.

The Zionists rejected this proposal.

The proclamation of the BALFOUR DECLARATION on November 2, 1917, and the arrival of British troops in Palestine soon after, transformed the political situation. The declaration gave the Zionist movement its long-sought legal status. The qualification that: nothing shall be done which may prejudice the civil and religious rights of the existing non-Jewish communities in Palestine seemed a relatively insignificant obstacle to the Zionists, especially since it referred only to those communities’: civil and religious rights, not to political or national rights. The subsequent British occupation gave Britain the ability to carry out that pledge and provide the protection necessary for the Zionists to realize their aims.

Chaim Weizmann, president of the World Zionist Organization, placed maximalist demands before the Paris Peace Conference in February 1919. He stated that he expected 70,000 to 80,000 Jewish immigrants to arrive each year in Palestine. When they became the majority, they would form an independent government and Palestine and would become: “as Jewish as England is English”

Weizmann proposed that the boundaries should be the Mediterranean Sea on the west; Sidon, the Litani River, and Mount Hermon on the north; all of Transjordan west of the Hijaz railway on the east; and a line across Sinai from Aqaba to al-Arish on the south. He argued that:

“the boundaries above outlined are what we consider essential for the economic foundation of the country. Palestine must have its natural outlet to the sea and control of its rivers and their headwaters. The boundaries are sketched with the general economic needs and historic traditions of the country in mind.”

Quite an expansionist dream for a Russian Jew!

The irony is that all most Jews living in Israel today are Europeans. Those born in Palestine since 1948 cannot claim the land as theirs. They are Palestinians but of Jewish faith. Does the fact that, say, American Muslims who were born and raised in the USA, have any right to claim America as a “Muslim State?”

Thank You!

The map above (Palestine 1946), published as a United Nation Map number 93 (b) in 1950, clearly proves – when compared to present-day Israelis maps,  that the Nazi-like Zionist simply occupied, terrorized and continue to ethnic cleanse the land of Palestine.

The seven well equipped Arab armies who attempted to destroy the poorly armed and newly founded ‘Jewish State’!

he baseless myth, of how the Arab armies wanted to destroy the ‘Jewish State’, has been propagated in all sectors of the Israeli society, especially in its school system, military boot camps, and media. As it will be proven below, this myth was deemed necessary by most Zionists to legitimize their continued USURPATION of the Palestinian people’s political, civil, and economic rights.

Often when Israelis and Zionists are confronted with facts contrary to their liking, they counter by accusing the sources of fabrication or being part of the “anti-Semitic” Arab propaganda. To avoid such a “confusion”, we’ll directly quote two of the most prominent pro-Israeli historians, Martin Van Creveld (the renowned Israeli military strategist and historian) and Martin Gilbert, who wrote:

• “In the Event of invading [Arab] forces were limited to approximately 30,000 men. The strongest [consider this fact while reading the next quote] single contingent was the Jordanian one, already described. Next came Egyptians with 5,500 men, then the Iraqis with 4,500 who ….. were joined by perhaps 3,000 local irregulars. The total was thus around eight rather under strength brigades, some of them definitely of second-and even third-rate quality. To these must be added approximately 2,000 Lebanese (one brigade) and 6,000 Syrians (three brigades). Thus, even though the Arab countries [population] outnumbered the Yishuv by better then forty-to-one, in terms of military manpower available for combat in Palestine the two sides were fairly evenly matched. As time went on and both sides sent reinforcements the balance changed in the Jews’ favor; by October they had almost 90,000 men and women under arms, the Arabs only 68,000.” (The Sword And The Olive, p. 77-78)
  
• “Senior Hagana commanders met with committee [UN Special Committee On Palestine-UNSCOP] members in Jerusalem’s Talpiot quarter in similarly surreptitious circumstances to express confidence that Jewish forces, which they numbered at 90,000, including 35,000 reservists, could overcome any Arab assault should it come to war.” (Jerusalem Post)
  
• “Ben-Gurion made serious efforts, shortly before the United Nations vote on the Partition proposal, to seek the neutrality of King Abdullah of Transjordan, whose British trained and officered army, the Arab Legion, was the STRONGEST fighting force in the Middle East. The king had long been at loggerheads with Haj Amin al-Husseini, the Mufti of Jerusalem, for the moral leadership of the Arabs of the whole region. Abdullah’s secret interlocutor was to be Golda Meir:”‘ …… He [King Abudullah] soon made the heart of the matter clear: he would not join in any Arab attack on us. He would always remain our friend, he said, and like us, he wanted peace more than anything else. After all, we had a common foe, the Mufti of Jerusalem, Haj Amin al-Husseini.’”(Israel: A History, p.149-150)

• “As for Abdullah’s Arab Legion, it had fought better than any other Arab force. Yet on scarcely any occasion had the Arab Legion attempted to conquer territories allotted to the Jews by the partition plan, preferring to stay on the defensive.” (The Sword And The Olive, p. 95)
  
• “…. there was no common military headquarters, no attempts at coordinating the offenses of the Arab armies, and … not even a regular liaison service for sharing enemy intelligence.” (The Sword And The Olive, p. 83)
  
• “Perhaps the most important [of the Arab armies problems] was a crippled shortage of ammunition, owing to the international arms embargo …, in the case of the Iraqis and Egyptians, long lines of communications. For example, after February 25, 1948, the Arab Legion received no new ammunition for its 20mm guns. Some of the ammunition used by the Iraqi artillery was more than thirty years old; the Syrians had no ammunition for their heavy 155mm guns. Whereas Jewish stockpiles were growing all the times [especially the big arms shipment from Czechoslovakia in May 1948], the enemies were so depleted they stole ammunition shipments for each other. In addition, they were ill-coordinated, technically incompetent, slow, ponderous, badly led, and unable to cope with night operations that willy-nilly, constituted the IDF’s expertise.” (The Sword And The Olive, p. 95-96)
  
• Soon after the execution of Operation Dani in the first half of July 1948, Yigal Allon wrote a Palmach (Haganah’s strike force) report stating that the expulsion of Lydda‘s and Ramla‘s inhabitants had:
  

  “clogged the routes of the advance of the [Transjordan Arab] Legion and had foisted upon the Arab economy the problem of “maintaining another 45,000 souls . . . Moreover, the phenomenon of the flight of tens of thousands will no doubt cause demoralization in every Arab area [the refugees] reach . . . This victory will yet have great effect on other sectors.” (Israel: A History, p. 218 & Benny Morris, p. 211)

Although we disagree with the Arab armies’ statistics (30,000 men) that was presented by Mr. Creveld, the reader could conclude the following:

• The strongest Arab army to enter Palestine was in cahoots with the Israelis from the start. Based on H.M. King Abdullah‘s orders (who also commanded the Iraqi Army in addition to Transjordan’s), the strongest Arab armies did not even encroach on the areas allotted to the Jewish state by the 1947 UN GA Partition plan. On the contrary, the truth was the exact opposite, for example:
  
  1- Lydda, Ramla, and the Triangle Areas were handed over to the Israelis without a fight. Although Transjordan’s Army withdrew based on the orders of H.M. the King, the Iraqi Army (which was positioned few kilometers north in Ras al-’Ayn) was given explicit orders not to intervene (their motto in Arabic was: maku ‘Awamer). It should be noted that these areas used to be densely populated with Palestinians, were fertile, and were strategically located for both Arab and Israeli supply lines.
  
  2- When the Israeli Army attacked the Egyptian (south) and Syrian (northeast) armies in mid-October, 1948, the Iraqi and Jordanian armies were forbidden from opening a third front in the middle and south. The Iraqi Army was capable of splitting Israel in half if it was given the orders, and the Jordanian Army watched from the sidelines as the Israeli Army mauled the Egyptians in southern Hebron and Beersheba areas (Righteous Victims, p. 244). Note that the Iraqi Army was well positioned in the Tulkarm-Jinin areas (southeast of Haifa) which is only 12-14 kilometers from the Mediterranean, click here for a map illustration.
  
• The other strongest Arab armies, Egyptian and Iraqi, had long supply and communication lines away from their bases in their respective countries.
  
• Saudi Arabian and Sudanese armies contributed few thousand soldiers in the middle of the war to shore up the exhausted Egyptian army in southern Palestine.
  
• Under American and French pressure, the Lebanese Army was sidelined from the start, and it did not even cross the international borders. At the most, the Lebanese army provided a mediocre artillery cover to some ALA [Arab Liberation Army] volunteers at the beginning of the war. (Righteous Victims p. 233-234)
  
• When the Arab armies entered Palestine on May 15, 1948, close to 400,000 Palestinian refugees were already ethnically cleansed out of their homes, and they clogged the roads, burdened local economies, and demoralized the Arab populations and armies, as it was admitted by Yigal Allon. In other words, the Palestinian refugees were used as a weapon against Israel’s enemies.
  
• The Arab armies neither coordinated their military operational plans, nor shared military intelligence among themselves. In fact, it wasn’t until April 30, 1948 that the Arab armies’ chiefs of staff met for the first time to work out a plan for military intervention. It’s worth noting that this plan was later wrecked by H.M. King Abdullah, when he made last minute changes just before the entry of any Arab army into British Mandated Palestine. (Simha Flapan, p. 133 & Iron Wall, p. 35)
  
• According to a Jewish Agency assessment of the Arab intentions and capacities, submitted in March 1948, reported that the Arabs chiefs of staff had warned their government against an invasion of Palestine and any lengthy war because of the internal situation in most of the Arab countries. For example, revolt in Yemen kept the Saudis at bay and there was a mass riot in Iraq against the Anglo-Iraqi treaty, (Simha Flapan, p. 123-124)
  
• Yochai Sela of Tel-Aviv University, has provided the following breakdown for the number of Israelis killed during the 1948 war:

Fatality Category	Value	Percentage of Total
Civilians killed*	1,150	20.15%
Military killed	4,558	79.85%
Total	5,708	100%
Soldiers killed between Nov. 30, 1947 – May 15, 1948	1,345**	23.56%
Soldiers killed between May 15, 1948- March 10, 1949	3,213**	56.29%
Killed within the areas designated by the UN	1,581	27.70%
Killed outside the areas designated by the UN	2,759***	48.33%
Killed defending Jewish settlements	984	17.24%
Killed attacking Arab settlements	1,212	21.23%

Source: Simha Flapan, p. 198-199.
* Majority died in Jerusalem
** The number of Israelis killed while fighting the Arab Legion 1,367; the Palestinians, 1,092; the Egyptians, 910; the Syrians, 238; the Iraqis, 241; the Lebanese 129; Qawukji’ ALA, 336, the British 30.
*** Mostly soldiers, non-civilians.

• These statistics clearly show that the number of Israeli soldiers killed in offensive actions were well over 60% (2,759/4,558) of the total Israeli soldiers killed between November 30, 1947 and March 10, 1949. So from the Israeli prospective, the so called “War of Independence” was more offensive than defensive in nature.
  
• The Israelis maximally exploited the rivalry between H.M. the King Abdullah of Transjordan and al-Hajj Amin al-Husseini. For example, before the entry of any Arab armies to Palestine on May 15th, 1948, al-Hajj Amin (who resided at the time in Tyre-southern Lebanon) wanted to declare a provisional Palestinian government in the Galilee, with Safad being its capital. To preempt such a plan, H.M. the King pulled out Transjordan’s irregulars troops out of Safad on May 11th, 1948, which was the primary reason for its falling into Israeli hands few days later (Benny Morris, p. 105). Another good reason that enticed H.M. the King to collaborate with the Jewish Agency was the promise of future payments of $4 million a year for the next subsequent 5 years. (Simha Flapan, p. 138)
  
• Although there was an arms embargo on the warring parties in the Middle East, the embargo negatively affected the Arabs more than the Israelis. While the Arab armies were depleting their arms and ammunitions, the Israeli army was stockpiling weapons and ammunitions from a huge arms shipment from Czechoslovakia that arrived in early May, 1948.
  
• By October 1948, the Israeli army had 90,000 armed men, while the Arab armies had 68,000 armed men.
  
• It’s a fabricated myth that seven well equipped, organized, and coordinated Arab armies attempted to PUSH the poorly armed Jews into the sea, click here to read our rebuttal to this myth.

Ben-Gurion, the first Israeli Prime Minister, recognized that Palestinian nationalism created the very danger he was most afraid of. He knew that the victory in 1948 was achieved not because the Israeli Army was more heroic but because the Arab armies were corrupt and the Arab world was divided. He became obsessed with the fear that a charismatic leader would modernize Arab education, their economies, and unite all the Arab states. He wrote on November 11, 1948:

“The Arab people have been beaten by us. Will they forget it quickly? Seven hundred thousand people beat 30 million. Will they forget this offense? It can be assumed that they have a sense of honor. We will make peace efforts, but two sides are necessary for peace. Is there any security that they will not want to take revenge? Let us recognize the truth: we won not because we performed wonders, but because the Arab army is rotten. Must this rottenness persist forever? The situation in the world beckons towards revenge: there are two blocs; there is fear of world war. This tempts anyone with a grievance. We will always require a superior defensive capability.” (Simha Flapan, p. 238)

Finally, directly quoting the famous Israeli historian Avi Shlaim who stated in his famous Iron Wall book:

• “This popular-heroic-moralistic version of the 1948 war has been used extensively in Israeli propaganda and is still taught in Israeli schools. It is a prime example of the use of a nationalistic version of history in the process of nation building. In a very real sense history is the propaganda of the victors, and the history of the 1948 war is no exception.” (Iron Wall p. 34)

• “Despite all the political miscalculations and failures of those who planned the Sinai Campaign, it is their version that became firmly entrenched in the mind of the overwhelming majority of Israelis. The popular perception of the 1956 war in Israel is that it was a defensive war, a just war, a brilliantly executed war, and a war that achieved nearly all of its objectives. This version of the war was propagated not only by members of the Israeli defense establishment but by a host of sympathetic historians, journalists, and commentators. However deeply cherished, this version does not stand up to scrutiny in the light of the evidence now available. It is a striking example of the way in which history can be manipulated to serve nationalist ends. The official Israeli version of the 1956 war, like that of the 1948 war, is little more than the propaganda of the victor.” (Iron Wall, p. 185)

The Israeli virus that infected a region of 300,000,000 Arab Semites has no room for such foreign and Nazi-like criminals. It is time these “people” move back to their countries of origin (except the descendants of the original Jews who lived in Palestine prior to Zionism’s arrival) or face the erupting Arab revolutions sweeping the Arab world. There will be no mercy then.

Remember: the Jewish “good book” demands that its followers kill with NO MERCY! So, an Eye for an Eye!

And that’s probably  why the Jewish teachings and prophecies expect the demise of “Israel” in the near future!

Like father, like son; Syria’s Wahsh (assad) massacres his people

These so-called Arab leaders who believe they “own” the countries they rule, are earning their place in history alongside Hitler, Sharon, Gaddafi and Netanyahu.

When their tanks attack civilians… but dare not fire on Israeli Occupation forces..

When they accuse the seekers of reform and liberty as terrorists…

When they commit atrocities parallel to those of Israelis against palestinians…

It’s time for these regimes to be toppled and “burnt alive” at the stake! And that’s a little too merciful!

More than 400 people have been killed in Syria across several weeks as the government has cracked down on protesters seeking reform, a human rights group in the country said Tuesday.

Bashar Al-Wahsh (literally meaning The Beast, and is his real legal name) has confirmed the name and proved to be  just like his father: a murdering blood-thirsty degenerate oppressor, who drew criticism for repressing his own people, in particular for ordering the Hama massacre of 1982, which has been described as “the single deadliest act by any Arab government against its own people in the modern Middle East.”

The Beast made no significant changes to the state of politics in Syria, as the Baath Party has stayed in control of the country and the reforms that he promised at the beginning of his rule never materialized.

In a country where Sunni Muslims make up the majority, the “Beast’s” regime is dominated by the Alawite minority, which make up about 12% of the population.

It’s time for democracy in the whole of the Middle East. Israel and Jordan, you’re next! The people have spoken!

The U.S. ignorant foreign policy

The United States is preparing new sanctions against members of al-Assad’s regime who are overseeing the violent crackdown, according to several senior U.S. officials with knowledge of the action. A new Treasury Department executive order targeting senior officials accused of human rights abuses would involve an asset freeze and travel ban, as well as prohibiting them from doing business in the United States.

“The Syrian people’s call for freedom of expression, association, peaceful assembly and the ability to freely choose their leaders must be heard,” Tommy Vietor, a spokesman for the U.S. National Security Council, said in a statement Monday.

The U.S. State Department also issued a statement Monday urging U.S. citizens to defer any travel to Syria.

CNN reported that the United States would welcome the prospect of the Syrian-Iranian alliance being broken, and with it their joint sponsorship of the Lebanese Shiite militia, Hezbollah. There might be the chance of movement toward peace with Israel (though surely not in the chaotic short term). “Peace with Israel?” What for? How does one make peace with terrorists supported by a superpower? Has the U.S. taken notice of the recent Egyptian poll in which over 54% are against the peace-treaty with Israel? When Arabs see their brothers and sisters being massacred and ethnically cleansed by the Israelis while the world looks the other way,  there will be no peace in the Middle East!

Meanwhile, the U.S. remains silent as Palestinians continue to be oppressed, humiliated and massacred by the Israeli Nazi-like (NaZionist) forces! Why wouldn’t the U.S. impose sanctions on this little country of Israeli terrorists? Then we wonder why they hate us!

Related Articles

• Gunfire persists after Bloody Syria raid (cbsnews.com)
• Condemnation for Syrian bloodshed, but U.S., UN and EU cautious on intervention (theglobeandmail.com)

The Jewish Lie about Joseph and Joseph’s Tomb

The recent incidents in the Arab Palestinian city of Nablus, where a a group of supposedly Ultra Orthodox Jews went to pray inside the Tomb of Prophet Joseph (when Jews don’t even consider Joseph a Prophet), is simply a joke. Maybe its the Jewish version of April’s fool!

Ultra-Orthodox Jews frequently defy a military ban on entering the shrine that is in Palestinian-controlled territory.

The incident came in the wake of Israeli forces’ Friday attack on a group of Palestinian and international activists protesting Tel Aviv’s separation barriers built on Palestinian land in the occupied West Bank.

At least 13 demonstrators were injured on Friday when Israeli soldiers attacked protesters in the town of Bil’in, near the West Bank city of Ramallah.

Elsewhere, three Palestinians were wounded in separate incidents after Israeli troops attacked the blockaded Gaza Strip on the same day, according to medical sources.

Israel has been regularly bombarding Gaza ever since its 22-day massacre on the impoverished enclave in December 2008 and January 2009, which killed more than 1,400 Palestinians — most of whom were women and children.

Jews and especially these terrorist-settlers will create any lie to justify the stealing of more Arab Palestinian lands.

The facts (and comparisons) are as follows:

• Joseph is represented as a “perfectly righteous man” the rabbinical literature! One opinion holds that the Holy Spirit dwelt in Joseph from his childhood until his death (Pirke R. El. 38).
• Judaism began after the revelations to Moses.
• 300 to 500 years separate Joseph and Moses

Therefore Joseph, his father Jacob and his father Isaac and his father Abraham could not have been Jews. Period.  See I will bless those who bless thee

For the Ultra-Orthodox to claim his shrine in Nablus as “their own,” or for that matter, Abraham’s tomb in Hebron as Jewish shrines, are despicable historic manipulations to serve a Zionist Nazi-like Jewish-supremacist agenda.

It is Palestinians who are the real descendants of Abraham, Jacob, Joseph, Moses and Jesus!  The real descendants of the inhabitants of the Kingdom of Judah are the Palestinians as Dr. Shlomo Sand explains in his best seller (When and How Was the Jewish People Invented):

“It is not taught in Israeli schools but most of the early Zionist leaders, including David Ben Gurion [Israel’s first prime minister], believed that the Palestinians were the descendants of the area’s original Jews. They believed the Jews had later converted to Islam.”

Meanwhile, the Nazi forces of Israel will use any excuse to massacre and kidnap more Palestinians. And Palestinians will retaliate and the cycle will continue until the Holy land is cleansed from the filth of Zionists!

The Quran and Joseph (Yusuf)

12:4 LO! Thus spoke Joseph unto his father: “O my father! Behold, I saw [in a dream] eleven stars, as well as the sun and the moon: I saw them prostrate themselves before me!”

12:5 [Jacob] replied: “O my dear son! Do not relate thy dream to thy brothers lest [out of envy] they devise an evil scheme against thee; verily, Satan is man’s open foe!

As in the Biblical account of Joseph’s story, the Qur’an shows that Jacob did not fail to understand the meaning of his son’s dream-vision of future greatness, with the eleven stars symbolizing his brothers, and the sun and the moon his parents. But whereas the Bible quotes the father as “rebuking” his son (Genesis xxxvii, 10) in the obvious assumption that the dream was an outcome of wishful thinking, the Qur’an makes it clear that Jacob – who was himself a prophet – at once realized its prophetic quality and its deeper implications.(Quran Ref: 12:5 )

12:6 For, [as thou hast been shown in thy dream,] even thus will thy Sustainer elect thee, and will impart unto thee some understanding of the inner meaning of happenings,  and will bestow the full measure of His blessings upon thee and upon the House of Jacob -even as, aforetime, He bestowed it in full measure upon thy forefathers Abraham and Isaac. Verily, thy Sustainer is all-knowing, wise!”

12:7 Indeed, in [the story of] Joseph and his brothers there are messages for all who search [after truth]

12:8 NOW [Joseph's brothers] spoke [thus to one another:] “Truly, Joseph and his brother [Benjamin] are dearer to our father than we, even though we are so many. Behold, our father is surely suffering from an aberration!”

12:9 [Said one of them:] “Slay Joseph, or else drive him away to some [faraway] land, so that your father’s regard may be for you alone: and after this is done, you will be [free to repent and to live once again as] righteous people!”

12:10 Another of them said: “Do not slay Joseph, but -rather – if you must do something – cast him into the dark depths of this well, [whence] some caravan may pick him up.”

12:11 [On this they agreed; and thereupon] they spoke [thus to their father]: “O our father! Wherefore wilt thou not trust us with Joseph, seeing that we are indeed his well-wishers?

12:12 Let him go out with us tomorrow, that he may enjoy himself and play: and, verily, we shall guard him well!”

12:13 [Jacob] answered: “Behold, it grieves me indeed [to think] that you might take him with you, for I dread lest the wolf devour him at a moment when you are heedless of him!”

12:14 Said they: “Surely, if the wolf were to devour him notwithstanding that we are so many-then, behold, we ought ourselves to perish!”

12:15 And so, when they went away with him, they decided to cast him into the dark depths of the well. And We revealed [this] unto him: “Thou wilt yet remind them of this their deed at a time when they shall not perceive [who thou art] !”

12:16 And at nightfall they came to their father, weeping,

12:17 [and] said: “O our father! Behold, we went off racing with one another, and left Joseph behind with our things; and thereupon the wolf devoured him! But [we know that] thou wouldst not believe us even though we speak the truth”

12:18 and they produced his tunic with false blood upon it. [But Jacob] exclaimed: “Nay, but it is your [own] minds that have made [so terrible] a happening seem a matter of little account to you! But [as for myself,] patience in adversity is most goodly [in the sight of God]; and it is to God [alone] that I pray to give me strength to bear the misfortune which you have described to me.”

12:19 AND THERE CAME a caravan;  and they sent forth their drawer of water, and he let down his bucket into the well – [and when he saw Joseph] he exclaimed: “Oh, what a lucky find, this boy!” And they hid him with a view to selling him: but God had full knowledge of all that they were doing.

12:20 And they sold him for a paltry price – a mere few silver coins: thus low did they value him

12:21 And the man from Egypt who bought him said to his wife: “Make his stay [with us] honourable; he may well be of use to us, or we may adopt him as a son. And thus We gave unto Joseph a firm place on earth; and [We did this] so that We might impart unto him some understanding of the inner meaning of happenings. For, God always prevails in whatever be His purpose: but most people know it not.

12:22 And when he reached full manhood, We bestowed upon him the ability to judge [between right and wrong], as well as [innate] knowledge: for thus do We reward the doers of good.

12:23 And [it so happened that] she in whose house he was living [conceived a passion for him and] sought to make him yield himself unto her; and she bolted the doors and said, “Come thou unto me!” [But Joseph] answered: “May God preserve me! Behold, goodly has my master made my stay [in this house]! Verily, to no good end come they that do [such] wrong!”

12:24 And, indeed, she desired him, and he desired her; [and he would have succumbed] had he not seen [in this temptation] an evidence of his Sustainer’s truth: thus [We willed it to be] in order that We might avert from him all evil and all deeds of abomination -for, behold, he was truly one of Our servants.

The interpolated phrase “and he would have succumbed”, is implied in the above sentence. The moral significance of “virtue” consists in one’s inner victory over a wrongful desire, and not in the absence of such a desire.  The well-known saying of the Prophet, recorded, on the authority of Abu Hurayrah, by Bukhari and Muslim: “God, exalted be He, says: ‘If a servant of Mine [merely] desires to do a good deed, I shall count this [desire] as a good deed; and if he does it, I shall count it tenfold. And if he desires to commit a bad deed, but does not commit it, I shall count this as a good deed, seeing that he refrained from it only for My sake…”‘ -i.e., in consequence of a moral consideration (which, in the present instance, is described as “an evidence of God’s truth”).(Quran Ref: 12:24 )

12:25 And they both rushed to the door; and she [grasped and] rent his tunic from behind-and [lo!] they met her lord at the door! Said she: “What ought to be the punishment of one who had evil designs on [the virtue of] thy wife – [what] but imprisonment or a [yet more] grievous chastisement?”

12:26 [Joseph] exclaimed: “It was she who sought to make me yield myself unto her!” Now one of those present, a member of her own household, suggested this:If his tunic has been torn from the front, then she is telling the truth, and he is a liar;

Here, again, the Qur’anic narrative differs from the story as told in the Bible, since according to the latter (Genesis xxxix, 19-20), the husband immediately believed the false accusation and cast Joseph into prison; the episodes related in verses 26-34 of this surah do not appear in the Biblical account.(Quran Ref: 12:26 )

12:27 but if his tunic has been torn from behind, then she is lying, and he is speaking the truth.”

12:28 And when (her husband] saw that his tunic was torn from behind, he said: “Behold, this is [an instance] of your guile, O womankind! Verily, awesome is your guile!

12:29 [But,] Joseph, let this pass! And thou, [O wife,] ask forgiveness for thy sin-for, verily, thou hast been greatly at fault!”

According to almost all the commentators, the meaning is, “do not mention this to anyone”, the implication being that the husband was prepared to forgive and forget.

12:30 NOW the women of the city spoke [thus to one another]: “The wife of this nobleman is trying to induce her slave-boy to yield himself unto her! Her love for him has pierced her heart; verily, we see that she is undoubtedly suffering from an aberration!

12:31 Thereupon, when she heard of their malicious talk, she sent for them, and prepared for them a sumptuous repast, and handed each of them a knife and said [to Joseph]: “Come out and show thyself to them!” And when the women saw him, they were greatly amazed at his beauty, and [so flustered were they that] they cut their hands [with their knives], exclaiming, “God save us! This is no mortal man! This is nought but a noble angel!”

12:32 Said she: “This, then, is he about whom you have been blaming me! And, indeed, I did try to make him yield himself unto me, but he remained chaste. Now, however, if he does not do what I bid him, he shall most certainly be imprisoned, and shall most certainly find himself among the despised!

12:33 Said he: “O my Sustainer! Prison is more desirable to me than [compliance with] what these women invite me to: for, unless Thou turn away their guile from me, I might yet yield to their allure and become one of those who are unaware [of right and wrong].”

12:34 And his Sustainer responded to his prayer, and freed him from the threat of their guile: verily, He alone is all-hearing, all-knowing. -

12:35 For, presently it occurred to the nobleman and his household [even] after they had seen all the signs [of Joseph's innocence] – that they might as well imprison him for a time.

12:36 NOW two young men happened to go to prison at the same time as Joseph.One of them said: “Behold, I saw myself [in a dream] pressing wine.” And the other said: “Behold, I saw myself [in a dream] carrying bread on my head, and birds were eating thereof.” [And both entreated Joseph:] “Let us know the real meaning of this! Verily, we see that thou art one of those who know well [how to interpret dreams]

According to the Biblical account (not contradicted by the Qur’an), they were the King’s cup-bearer and baker, both of them imprisoned for unspecified offences.(Quran Ref: 12:36 )

12:37 [Joseph] answered: “Ere there comes unto you the meal which you are [daily] fed, I shall have informed you of the real meaning of your dreams, [so that you might know what is to come] before it comes unto you: for this is [part] of the knowledge which my Sustainer has imparted to me. “Behold, I have left behind me the ways of people who do not believe in God, and who persistently refuse to acknowledge the truth of the life to come;

Joseph wants to avail himself of this opportunity to guide his two fellow-prisoners towards the true faith; and so, while promising that he would explain their dreams presently, he asks them to listen first to a short discourse on the oneness of God.(Quran Ref: 12:37 )

12:38 and I follow the creed of my forefathers Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. It is not conceivable that we should [be allowed to] ascribe divinity to aught beside God: this is [an outcome] of God’s bounty unto us and unto all mankind -but most people are ungrateful.

12:39 “O my companions in imprisonment! Which is more reasonable: [belief in the existence of numerous divine] lords, each of them different from the other” – or [in] the One God, who holds absolute sway over all that exists?

12:40 “All that you worship instead of God is nothing but [empty] names which you have invented – you and your forefathers- [and] for which God has bestowed no warrant from on high. Judgment [as to what is right and what is wrong] rests with God alone-[and] He has ordained that you should worship nought but Him: this is the [one] ever-true faith; but most people know it not

12:41 “[And now,] O my companions in imprisonment, [I shall tell you the meaning of your dreams:] as for one of you two, he will [again] give his lord [the King] wine to drink; but as for the other, he will be crucified, and birds will eat off his head. [But whatever be your future,] the matter on which you have asked me to enlighten you has been decided [by God].”

12:42 And [thereupon Joseph] said unto the one of the two whom he considered saved: “Mention me unto thy lord [when thou art free]!” But Satan caused him to forget to mention [Joseph] to his lord, and so he remained in prison a few [more] years.

12:43 AND [one day] the King said: Behold, I saw [in a dream] seven fat cows being devoured by seven emaciated ones, and seven green ears [of wheat] next to [seven] others that were withered. O you nobles! Enlighten me about [the meaning of] my dream, if you are able to interpret dreams!”

12:44 They answered: ” [This is one of] the most involved and confusing of dreams, and we have no deep knowledge of the real meaning of dreams.”

12:45 At that, the one of the two [erstwhile prisoners] who had been saved, and [who suddenly] remembered [Joseph] after all that time, spoke [thus]: “It is I who can inform you of the real meaning of this [dream]; so let me go [in search of it].” 

12:46 [And he went to see Joseph in the prison and said to him:] “Joseph, O thou truthful one! Enlighten us about [the meaning of a dream in which] seven fat cows were being devoured by seven emaciated ones, and seven green ears [of wheat appeared] next to [seven] others that were withered – so that I may return [with thy explanation] unto the people [of the court, and] that they may come to know [what manner of man thou art]!”

12:47 [Joseph] replied: “You shall sow for seven years as usual; but let all [the grain] that you harvest remain [untouched] in its ear, excepting only a little, whereof you may eat:

12:48 for, after that [period of seven good years] there will come seven hard [years] which will devour all that you shall have laid up for them, excepting only a little of that which you shall have kept in store.

12:49 And after that there will come a year in which the people will be delivered from all distress,and in which they will press [oil and wine as before].”

12:50 And [as soon as Joseph's interpretation. was conveyed to him,] the King said: “Bring him before me!” But when the [King's] messenger came unto him, [Joseph] said: “Go back to thy lord and ask him [first to find out the truth] about those women who cut their hands-for, behold, [until now it is] my Sustainer [alone who] has full knowledge of their guile!”

12:51 [Thereupon the King sent for those women; and when they came,] he asked: “What was it that you hoped to achieve when you sought to make Joseph yield himself unto you?”  The women answered: “God save us! We did not perceive the least evil [intention] on his part!” [And] the wife of Joseph’s former masterexclaimed: “Now has the truth come to light! It was I who sought to make him yield himself unto me – whereas he, behold, was indeed speaking the truth!”

12:52 [When Joseph learned what had happened, he said:  "I asked for] this, so that [my former master] might know that I did not betray him behind his back, and that God does not bless with His guidance the artful schemes of those who betray their trust.

12:53 And yet, I am not trying to absolve myself: for, verily, man’s inner self does incite [him] to evil, and saved are only they upon whom my Sustainer bestows His grace. Behold, my Sustainer is much forgiving, a dispenser of grace!”

12:54 And the King said: “Bring him unto me, so that I may attach him to my own person.” And when he had spoken with him, [the King] said: “Behold, [from] this day thou shalt be of high standing with us, invested with all trust!”

12:55 [Joseph] replied: “Place in my charge the store-houses of the land; behold, I shall be a good and knowing keeper.

By making this request, Joseph wanted to assure an efficient build-up of grain reserves during the coming years of plenty, knowing well that they would be followed by seven years of scarcity. It is obvious from the sequence that his request was granted, and that he was able to fulfil the task which he had set himself.(Quran Ref: 12:55 )

12:56 And thus We established Joseph securely in the land [of Egypt]: he had full mastery over it, [doing] whatever he willed. [Thus do] We cause Our grace to alight upon whomever We will; and We do not fail to requite the doers of good.

12:57 But in the eyes of those who have attained to faith and have always been conscious of Us, a reward in the life to come is a far greater good [than any reward in this world].

12:58 AND [after some years,] Joseph’s brothers came [to Egypt] and presented themselves before him: and he knew them [at once], whereas they did not recognize him.

Le., to buy wheat from the stores which Joseph had accumulated during the seven years of plenty: for all the countries in the vicinity of Egypt were by now affected by the famine which he had predicted, and Egypt alone had a surplus, the distribution of which he supervised personally (cf. Genesis x1i, 54-57).(Quran Ref: 12:58 )

12:59 And when he had provided them with their provisions, he said: “[When you come here next,] bring unto me that brother of yours from your father’s side. Do you not see that I have given [you] full measure and have been the best of hosts?

Lit., “a brother of yours from your father”-i.e., their half-brother Benjamin, who was Joseph’s full brother (their mother having been Rachel, Jacob’s favourite wife), whereas the other ten had different mothers. Benjamin, the youngest of Jacob’s children, had not accompanied his brothers on their first journey to Egypt, but they had presumably mentioned him in the course of their conversation with Joseph.(Quran Ref: 12:59 )

12:60 But if you do not bring him unto me, you shall never again receive a single measure [of grain] from me, nor shall you [be allowed to] come near me!”

12:61 They answered: “We shall try to persuade his father to part with him, and, verily, we shall do [our utmost]!”

12:62 And [Joseph] said to his servants: “Place their merchandise in their camel-packs, so that they may find it there when they come home, and hence be the more eager to return.

“Their Merchandise” I.e., the goods which they had bartered for wheat (Ibn Kathir): a very plausible explanation in view of the fact that barter was the most common form of trade in those ancient times.(Quran Ref: 12:62 )

12:63 And so, when they returned to their father, [Joseph's brothers] said: “O our father! All grain is [to be] withheld from us [in the future unless we bring Benjamin with us]: send, therefore, our brother with us, so that we may obtain our measure (of grain]; and, verily, we shall guard him well!”

12:64 [Jacob] replied: “Shall I trust you with him in the same wayas I trusted you with his brother (Joseph] aforetime? [Nay,] but God’s guardianship is better [than yours], for He is the most merciful of the merciful!”

12:65 Thereupon, when they opened their packs, they discovered that their merchandise had been returned to them; [and] they said: “O our father! What more could we desire? Here is our merchandise: it has been returned to us! [If thou send Benjamin with us,] we shall (again] be able to bring food for our family, and shall guard our brother [well], and receive in addition another camel-load of grain That [which we have brought the first time] was but a scanty measure.”

12:66 Said [Jacob]: “I will not send him with you until you give me a solemn pledge, before God, that you will indeed bring him back unto me, unless you yourselves be encompassed [by death]!” And when they had given him their solemn pledge, [Jacob] said: “God is witness to all that we say!”

12:67 And he added: “O my sons! Do not enter [the city all] by one gate, but enter by different gates. Yet [even so,] I can be of no avail whatever to you against [anything that may be willed by] God: judgment [as to what is to happen] rests with none but God. In Him have I placed my trust: for, all who have trust [in His existence] must place their trust in Him alone.”

12:68 But althoughthey entered [Joseph's city] in the way their father had bidden them, this proved of no avail whatever to them against [the plan of] God [His request] had served only to satisfy Jacob’s heartfelt desire [to protect them]: for, behold, thanks to what We had imparted unto him, he was indeed endowed with the knowledge [that God's will must always prevail ]; but most people know it not.

When Jacob gave his sons this advice, he followed only an instinctive, humanly-understandable urge, and did not really expect that any outward precaution would by itself help them: for, as he himself pointed out on parting, “judgment as to what is to happen rests with none but God”. This stress on man’s utter dependence on God – a fundamental tenet of Islam – explains why Jacob’s advice (which in itself is not relevant to the story) has been mentioned in the above Qur’anic narrative.(Quran Ref: 12:68 )

12:69 AND WHEN [the sons of Jacob] presented themselves before Joseph, he drew his brother [Benjamin] unto himself, saying [to him in secret]: “Behold, I am thy brother! So grieve thou not over their past doings!”

Thus, contrary to the Biblical account, Joseph is stated here to have disclosed his identity to Benjamin long before he revealed himself to his ten half-brothers. The words “their past doings” obviously refer to their treacherous behaviour towards himself which Joseph had now presumably disclosed to Benjamin.(Quran Ref: 12:69 )

12:70 And [later,] when he had provided them with their provisions, he placed the [King's] drinking-cup in his brother’s camel-pack. And [as they were leaving the city,] a herald called out: “O you people of the caravan! Verily, you are thieves!

This extremely plausible explanation contrasts sharply with the Biblical account of this incident (Genesis xliv), according to which the false accusation was part of an inexplicable “stratagem” devised by Joseph. If we discard-as we must-this part of the Biblical version, it is far more logical to assume that Joseph, who had been granted by the King full authority over all that belonged to the latter (see verse 56 above), had placed the royal cup as a present in the bag of his favourite brother; and that he did this secretly, without informing his servants, because he did not want anyone, least of all his ten half-brothers, to know his predilection for Benjamin.

12:71 Turning towards the herald and his companions, the brothers asked: “What is it that you miss?”

12:72 They answered: “We miss the King’s goblet; and he who produces it shall receive a camel-load [of grain as reward]!” And [the herald added:] “I pledge myself to this _ [promise]!”

12:73 Said [the brothers]: “By God! Well do you know that we have not come to commit deeds of corruption in this land, and that we have not been thieving!”

12:74 [The Egyptians] said: “But what shall be the requital of this [deed] if you are [proved to be] liars?”

12:75 [The brothers] replied: “Its requital? He in whose camel-pack [the cup] is found-he shall be [enslaved as] a requital thereof! Thus do we [ourselves] requite the doers of [such] wrong.

12:76 Thereupon [they were brought before Joseph to be searched; and] he began with the bags of his half-brothersbefore the bag of his brother [Benjamin]: and in the end he brought forth the drinking Cupsout of his brother’s bag. In this way did We contrive for Joseph [the attainment of his heart's desire]: under the King’s law, he would [otherwise] not have been able to detain his brother, had not God so willed. We do raise to [high] degrees [of knowledge] whomever We will – but above everyone who is endowed with knowledge there is One who knows all.

The meaning of this story is now clear: it is a further illustration of the basic doctrine that “judgment [as to what is to happen] rests with none but God” (verse 67 above). Joseph had wanted to keep Benjamin with himself, but under the law of Egypt he could not do this without the consent of his half-brothers, who were the legal guardians of their minor brother; and they -bound as they were by the solemn promise given to their father-would certainly not have agreed to Benjamin’s remaining behind. The only other alternative open to Joseph was to disclose his identity to them; but since he was not yet prepared td go so far, he was obliged to allow Benjamin to depart with his brothers. The accidental discovery of his gift, entirely unexpected by Joseph, changed everything: for now Benjamin appeared to be guilty of theft, and under the law of the land Joseph was entitled to claim him as his slave, and thus to keep him in his house. The words, “In this way did We contrive for Joseph [the attainment of his heart's desire]“, referring to the incident of the cup, indicate that its final outcome was neither planned nor even foreseen by Joseph.(Quran Ref: 12:76 )

12:77 [As soon as the cup came to light out of Benjamin's bag, the brothers] exclaimed: “If he has stolen-well, a brother of his used to steal afore-time !”Thereupon Joseph said to himself, without revealing his thought to them: “You are far worse in this respect, and God is fully aware of what you are saying.

12:78 They said: “O thou great one! Behold, he has a father, a very old man: detain, therefore, one of us in his stead. Verily, we see that thou art a doer of good!”

12:79 He answered: “May God preserve us from [the sin of] detaining any other than him with whom we have found our property-for then, behold, we would indeed be evildoers!”

12:80 And so, when they lost all hope of [moving] him, they withdrew to take counsel [among themselves]. The eldest of them said: “Do you not rememberthat your father has bound you by a solemn pledge before God – and how, before that, you had failed with regard to Joseph? Hence, I shall not depart from this land till my father gives me leave or God passes judgment in my favour:for He is the best of all judges.

12:81 [And as for you others,] return to your father and say: `O our father! Behold, thy son has stolen-but we [can] bear witness to no more than what has become known to us;and [although we gave you our pledge,] we could not guard against something that [lay hidden in the future and, hence,] was beyond the reach of our perception.

12:82 And ask thou in the town in which we were [at the time], and of the people of the caravan with whom we travelled hither, and [thou wilt find that] we, are indeed telling the truth!”‘

12:83 [AND WHEN they returned to their father and told him what had happened,] he exclaimed: “Nay, but it is your [own] minds that have made [so terrible] a happening seem a matter of little account to you! But [as for myself,] patience in adversity is most goodly; God may well bring them all [back] unto me:verily, He alone is all-knowing, truly wise!”

12:84 But he turned away from them and said: “O woe is me for Joseph!”-and his eyes became dimfrom the grief with which he was filled.

Lit., “white”: i.e., dim with the tears that filled them. Although Jacob was now deprived of three of his sons, his grief for Joseph was the most acute because he was the only one of the three of whom Jacob did not know whether he was dead or alive.(Quran Ref: 12:84 )

12:85 Said [his sons]: “By God! Thou wilt never cease to remember, Joseph till thou art broken in body and spirit or art dead!”

12:86 He answered: “It is only to God that I complain of my deep grief and my sorrow: for I know, from God, something that you do not know.

Namely, that “judgment as to what is to happen rests with none but God”, and that “all who have ‘trust [in His existence] must place their trust in Him alone” (verse 67): the twin ideas which underlie the whole of this surah, and which Jacob now seeks to impress upon his sons. In addition to this, his remembrance of Joseph’s prophetic dream (verse 4) and his own conviction at the time that his beloved son would be elected by God for His special grace (verse 6), fills Jacob with renewed hope that Joseph is still alive and this explains the directives which he gives his sons in the next sentence.(Quran Ref: 12:86 )

12:87 [Hence,] O my sons, go forth and try to obtain some tidings of Joseph and his brother; and do not lose hope of God’s life-giving mercy:verily, none but people who deny the truth can ever lose hope of God’s life-giving mercy.

12:88 [AND THE SONS of Jacob went back to Egypt and to Joseph;] and when they presented themselves before him, they said: “O thou great one! Hardship has visited us and our folk, and so we have brought but scanty merchandise;but give us a full measure [of grain], and be charitable to us: behold, God rewards those who give in charity!”

12:89 Replied he: “Do you remember what you did to Joseph and his brother when you were still unaware [of right and wrong]?”

By coupling his own name with that of Benjamin he possibly hinted at his brothers’ early envy and hatred of the two sons of Rachel (cf. verse 8 of this surah); alternatively, the mention of Benjamin may have been due to the readiness with which they accepted the “evidence” of the latter’s guilt (verse 77).(Quran Ref: 12:89 )

12:90 They exclaimed: “Why – is it indeed thou who art Joseph?” He answered: “I am Joseph, and this is my brother. God has indeed been gracious unto us. Verily, if one is conscious of Him and patient in adversity behold, God does not fail to requite the doers of good!”

12:91 [The brothers] said: “By God! Most certainly has God raised thee high above us, and we were indeed but sinners!”

12:92 Said he: “No reproach shall be uttered today against you. May God forgive you your sins: for He is the most merciful of the merciful!

12:93 [And now] go and take this tunic of mine and lay it over my father’s face, and he will recover his sight.And thereupon come [back] to me with all your family.”

12:94 AND AS SOON as the caravan [with which Jacob's sons were travelling] was on its way,their father said [to the people around him]: “Behold, were it not that you might consider me a dotard, [I would say that] I truly feel the breath of Joseph [in the air]!”

12:95 They answered: “By God! Thou art indeed still lost in thy old aberration!”

12:96 But when the bearer of good tidings came [with Joseph's tunic], he laid it over his face; and he regained his sight, [and] exclaimed: “Did I not tell you, `Verily, I know, from God, something that you do not know’?”

12:97 [His sons] answered: “O our father! Ask God to forgive us our sins, for, verily, we were sinners.”

12:98 He said: “I shall ask my Sustainer to forgive you: He alone is truly forgiving, a true dispenser of grace!”

12:99 AND WHEN they [all arrived in Egypt and] presented themselves before Joseph, he drew his parents unto himself,saying, “Enter Egypt! If God so wills, you shall be secure [from all evil]!”

According to the Biblical account – not contradicted by the Qur’an – Joseph’s mother Rachel had died while giving birth to Benjamin. We may, therefore, assume that the “mother” implied in the term “parents” was another of Jacob’s wives, who had brought up Joseph and Benjamin; this would be in consonance with the ancient Arabian custom of applying the designation “mother” to a foster-mother.(Quran Ref: 12:99 )

12:100 And he raised his parents to the highest place of honour [throne]; and they [all] fell down before Him, prostrating themselves in adoration. Thereupon [Joseph] said: “O my father! This is the real meaning of my dream of long ago, which my Sustainer has made come true.And He was indeed good to me when He freed me from the prison, and [when] He brought you [all unto me] from the desert after Satan had sown discord between me and my brothers. Verily, my Sustainer is unfathomable in [the way He brings about] whatever He wills:verily, He alone is all-knowing, truly wise!

The fulfilment of Joseph’s childhood dream consisted in the high dignity with which he was now invested and in the fact that his parents and his brothers had come from Canaan to Egypt for his sake: for “no reasonable person can expect that the fulfilment of a dream should be an exact replica of the dream itself”.(Quran Ref: 12:100 )

12:101 “O my Sustainer! Thou hast indeed bestowed upon me something of power,and hast imparted unto me some knowledge of the inner meaning of happenings.Originator of the heavens and the earth! Thou art near unto me in this world and in the life to come: let me die as one who has surrendered himself unto Thee, and make me one with the righteous!”

12:102 THIS ACCOUNT of something that was beyond the reach of thy perception We [now] reveal unto thee, [O Prophet Muhammad:] for thou wert not with Joseph’s brothers when they resolved upon what they were going to do and wove their schemes [against him].