Ma'alot - A Smart City

Our city of "Ma'alot-Tarshiha is a beautiful joint Jewish and Arab community of 27,000 people in northern Israel, located in the Western Galilee, about 600 meters (1,969 feet) above sea level. What is special about us is that our Municipality has become energy independent by the introduction of energy efficiency measures that have created economic benefits to the city budget.

In an article published online in the Jerusalem Post in 2013, the Municipality of Ma’alot announced to the world that it was instigating a new project, called “Going into the Light,” administered by the Israeli start-up Juganu Systems.

Juganu Systems won a grant from the chief scientist of Israel to install its innovative energy saving JLED luminaries and wireless management control system throughout the city's buildings and streets. In total, over 13,000 new and retrofit luminaries were installed replacing all of the old street lights. 

The implementation of this initial step has placed Ma’alot firmly on the national as well as international map as a future “Smart City”. We have not only reduced our “Carbon Footprint "but we have induced other towns and villages in our area to join us.

Today, Ma’alot is the first Israeli city to have entirely switched to LEDs. Now Ma'alot enjoys brighter lighting while saving about US$90,000 each year in electricity operating costs, as well by saving capital improvement and maintenance costs on all lighting elements.

According to independent testing performed by the IEC (Israel Electrical Corporation), "Ma’alot reduced energy consumption by 75% while delivering even more light throughout the city’s streets and buildings." 

At the time of the instigation of the program it was also announced that some of the money saved via the LED lighting program would be invested into a research team that would be used to analyze city wide data and recommend additional programs to implement and integrate to increase energy efficiency, learn how to better manage waste and to improve the infrastructure and water programs under the auspices of the Park Koren Industrial Management in Ma'alot. These steps are being done to complete the change for a better and “Smarter” Ma’alot as a energy independent city.

Through the success of our “Going into the Light Project” we have led the way for other municipalities to follow our example and install similar energy saving LED light programs. Two nearby communities have consulted with us and used our expertise to refitted their street lights thereby reducing the “Carbon Footprint” overall in our area. Our success and experience in our money saving LED program is gaining not only National recognition but recognition from other cities.

Economical and Energy Independent

In our research, we have seen on the Internet how other cities throughout the world like Ma’alot have gained economical and energy savings through leasing underutilized public spaces for photo-voltaic (PV) Solar Roof systems to produce renewable source of electricity.

In Ma’alot several Municipal buildings, mainly the city's schools and our Community Center, pictured on the left, have been leased to solar companies for solar collection.
Through the installation of the solar energy collection roofs, the municipality has realized economical and energy savings gained from leasing the underutilized public spaces for community solar farms.

We have recently instigated a program to lease underutilized parking areas to Solar Energy companies. This will benefit the community, by not just producing clean energy by harnessing the power of the sun, but the Municipality will gain income derived from the rent.
Additionally, by installing solar canopies over parking areas it will also contribute to the welfare of the residents. The installation of solar collection units over parking areas will provide shaded areas from the sun and protection from inclement winter weather for the residents and their vehicles.
Parking in a covered facility contributes substantially to increased vehicle fuel efficiency, because it saves; having to cool cars in the summer and heating cars in the winter during inclement weather. All of this will energy saving will mark Ma’alot as a “Smart City” and as a major contributor to the reduction of the “Carbon Footprint”.  

We have also taken strides in further reducing our “Carbon Footprint” and increase economic savings and energy reduction to the Municipality by instigating a “cogeneration program” for the reduction in city bio-mass in our waste management.

With a cogeneration furnace, the municipality can improve the efficiency in waste reduction, reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, promote economic growth, and maintain a robust energy infrastructure.

With CHP- Combined heat and power system we can reduce the cost of:

•          the Municipality's waste disposal: transportation and landfill fees.
•          the extensive fleet of vehicles: Maintenance and fuel
•          "turnaround" in waste disposal by eliminating bio waste on the premises,
•          Reduce CO2 emissions,
•          the environmental impact of waste on the municipality and the surrounding area.

By using a CHP /Cogeneration system we can produce electricity and heated water –which can be converted to heat in buildings, as well as syngas for further energy needs.

So why should Ma’alot take further steps to become a Smart city?

The term “Smart City” in of itself has become one of the biggest buzzwords around right now as more and more city leaders begin to realize the tremendous advantages in accepting the new technological advantages. A "Smart City" process is dynamic as cities exchange information and learn from one another.We should continue our stride into becoming a smart city because urban challenges are growing steadily and are more complex. 

We can see from worldwide statistics that the world is rapidly urbanizing and Cities face considerable challenges. However, we in Ma’alot-Tarshiha have shown that we can meet these challenges successfully and succeed.

Existing services, infrastructures and amenities are under pressure, due to their age, or simply as a result of growing demand. The existing infrastructures on which cities are so heavily dependent are overburdened.

Our knowledge and experience in Smart City technologies will help us to become more economically efficient as well as much more energy efficient.

As we have seen in several cities throughout the world: Barcelona in Spain, Delft in Holland, Winnipeg, Canada Boston, Massachusetts and Vienna Austria among many others. The definition of what a “Smart City” means is different for every city, depending on that specific city’s priorities and goals. These cities have embraced technological changes and programs to improve the city’s functions which in turn have improved the lives of the residents who actively participate in their city’s development.

It is said that the transforming into a smart city is a marathon, not a sprint. Without a well-structured strategic plan, you can’t prioritize nor make informed decisions nor can you track milestones or measure success.

The Smart City concept has brought the physical as well as the digital together. We have seen how Israel has become a “Start Up” nation as it is becoming more digitized daily.

Israeli accelerators are full of ‘Smart’ solutions which are being devised and developed in - healthcare, water management, energy supply and transport, for example. More and more of these Israeli designed technologies (apps) are becoming part of everyday life, and increasingly we live in an (IOT) Internet of Things network society, where (almost) everything is connected to (almost) everyone.

Clean and Efficient living

A smart city is all about efficiency and maximizing the quality of life, of and for its citizens, by utilizing the most appropriate resources to drive progress. Cities need to be prepared for future developments and city councils can achieve this by sharing civic responsibility with residents, companies and others through IOT apps that allow for the ready exchange of data, ideas as well as provide economical solutions for a brighter future.

Central to the theme of building a smart city is to improve the quality of life by using technology to improve the efficiency of services and meet residents’ needs. We can achieve this by integrating multiple Information and Communication Technology (ICT) solutions derived from the previously accumulated municipal data which will need to be analyzed for programming purposes.

ICT as in the City of Boston "CityScore" will allow city officials and departmental heads to interact in real time directly with their workforce and to manage city assets better. Through a ICT platform they will be able to monitor what is happening in the city, the city infrastructure and how to enable a better quality of life.

These new “SMART City” applications rely on a modern networking infrastructure platform that enables continuous connections with new classes of intelligent devices for improved decision making. Through the use of sensors integrated with real-time monitoring systems, data is collected from citizens and objects - then processed and analyzed. The information and knowledge gathered are keys to tackling inefficiency.

 Citizen Participation

Smart city "wannabees" need to create a Vision with Citizen Engagement activity like; kitchen table discussions at private homes, online discussion forums and workshops at community centers to communicate and engage citizens in a dialog about city projects.

In other Smart Cities, we have seen how Information and Communication Technology (ICT) is used to enhance quality, performance and interactivity of urban services, to reduce costs and resource consumption and to improve contact between citizens and government.

Through the ICT program municipal manpower and vehicles can be diverted in real time to those places were their work is needed thereby saving money

A smart city integrates multiple Information and Communication Technology (ICT) solutions in a secure fashion to manage a city’s assets. The management is achieved through the assessment and compilation of previously accumulated data from a city’s assets. This includes all of its corresponding local departments that manage the main branches of municipal services in the fields of:

•         Waste Management Sanitation Department (both sewer and refuse),
•         Water Department,
•         City Streets Maintenance, Education Department -the public library, schools,
•         Health Department - food and restaurant inspection,
•         Emergency Services - fire department, police, ambulance,
•         Transportation
•          Information systems and other community services.

Smart city phone applications are developed with the goal of improving the management of the daily routine of urban necessities while allowing for real time responses to challenges. They also use the resource and involvement of the constituents in making the community better.

A smart city therefore is more prepared to respond to challenges than one with a simple ' transactional ' relationship with its citizens.  Cities need to substantially increase the efficiency in which they operate and use their resources. This can be achieved by the use of the "Smart Media" and its multiple platforms for involvement.

By exposing the archived city information through a policy of "open data" for; citizens, developers and businesses, cities can unleash innovation and efficiency as well as new entrepreneurial opportunities.

Since it isn’t cost-efficient or practical to do everything at once, it has been shown that cities should start with those greatest pain points for citizens, which is also a good way of getting their support and participation in finding the solution. Therefore, it is imperative for municipalities must search for what their constituents need, then implement new technologies to do it.

Surveys have consistently shown that the value of smart cities is how they impact citizens. This is why many cities are crowd-sourcing and floating ideas trough social media to learn on how to prioritize smart city strategy.

Conclusion:

Our goal is to implement "Smart City" solutions, with the objective of speeding up the transition to a low carbon, resource-efficient resilient city.

There are other detriments besides our geographical position and the impact of climate change for the Municipality of Ma’alot to overcome. Regretfully as we have experienced in the past our area is prone to adversity and to strife. These effects could cause an untenable situation that would force us to shift to an essentially sustainable form of urban development. For us it is not just a matter of environmental survival but survival as a whole.

If Americans Really Knew

I recently had an exchange on Facebook with a brainwashed and totally bamboozled "Pro-Palestinian" who snided with a friend regarding a video from Studio SoCal T.V about hate speech on campus at UCLA by Students Supporting Israel founder Liat Menna stating:

"We give Israel 10 million a day of my tax money. And more in trade, we don't have to criticize anyone else to criticize them."

My immediate retort to Darlie was: "You give us $10 million a day" Hmm I will check my bank account but I don't see it?" Regretfully I am not as sophisticated as Palestinian Authority leader Mahmoud Abbas in embezzling funds!

This totally bamboozled "Lover of Palestine" then continued her diatribe by siting the web site run by Alison Weir, a well known anti-Israel anti-Zionist activist. CAMERA, a pro-Israel advocacy group has argued; "That the positions and statements of Weir and If Americans Knew (IAK),  raise serious doubts about the ability of her organization to credibly comment on American media coverage of the Israeli-Arab conflict." Weir also serves as president of The Council for the National Interest ("CNI")  which is yet another questionable anti-Israel and highly anti-AIPAC group.

The Anti-Defamation League has described Weir as; “a prominent voice in the anti-Israel movement.” The Jewish Voice for Peace, a group who are not exactly too keen on Israel, did not accuse Weir of holding anti-Jewish beliefs, but they did accuse her of granting interviews to people it believed held highly anti-Jewish beliefs. The Jewish Voice for Peace, decried some of the websites that have re-posted Alison Weir's writings. Those "highly reliable" web sites of "Cabal" conspiracies of the "Illuminati" aka "Rothschild-Jewish control of the world" psychotic minds wreaking of, dare I use the term, "anti-Semitism" to denote anti-Jewish / Israel "Good Old Boys" of the old time anti-"Semite" (Nazi -KKK- Aryan Race) persuasion. Websites that use all the words, theories and beliefs of that prominent American white nationalist William Luther Pierce III.

These losers who had once been swept in to the corner gutter and nearly forgotten, gleefully jumped out into the lime light at the anti-Holocaust meeting in Tehran. Led by that "KKKnight in shinning armor" former Grand Wizard of the Knights of the Ku Klux Klan, David Dukes. These psychotic virulent Jew haters have been embraced by the "Lovers of Palestine" and together they have initiated a Billboard Campaign to discredit Israel and to force the end of US Aid to Israel with Alison Weir's blessing.

This theme of "Stop Aid to Israel" has taken many forms and this latest one is in the forefront of the postings by these sick hate filled psychos of the "Lovers Of Palestine". I countered her claim by referring her to my previous entry on the subject of US AID to Israel.

"Though aid to Israel has detractors as well as supporters, overall U.S. public support for Israel remains strong. According to a February 2015 Gallup poll that measured Americans’ sympathies toward the disputants in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, 62% said their sympathies lie with the Israelis and 16% said their sympathies lie with the Palestinians.
 According to a February 2015 Pew Research Center poll, “48% of respondents say that the level of U.S. support for Israel is about right; 29% say the U.S. is not supportive enough of Israel, while 18% say it is too supportive.”
 Neither of these surveys explicitly examined public opinion regarding U.S. aid to Israel." Congressional Research Service, U.S. Foreign Aid to Israel June 10, 2015.

Now in contrast to Foreign Aid to Palestine, it is quite a different story ALL together.

"The President of the Palestinian Authority (PA) Mahmoud Abbas is building a $13 million palace in Ramallah, according to the Palestinian Economic Council for Development and Reconstruction (PECDAR) which published an announcement of the massive construction project.

PA sources told Maan news that the palace was not a personal home for Abbas, but is to be used as a leadership headquarters and a facility to receive guests and world leaders."

Gaza residents still homeless

"Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza Strip receive one of the highest levels of unrecorded aid in the world."
Aid has been offered to the Palestinian National Authority (PNA) and other Palestinian Non-governmental organizations (PNGOs) by the international community, including International Non-governmental Organizations (INGOs) and the funds are largely unaccounted for.

According to certain analyses, Palestinians are the largest per capita recipients of international development assistance in the world (Lasensky [2004], 211, Lasensky-Grace [2006])."

According to a recent article in Britain’s Sunday Times, the European Court of Auditors (ECA), an EU organ set up in 1975 to audit the EU’s income and spending, who visited Jerusalem, Gaza and the West Bank, found that Europe had little control over €1.95 billion ($2.64 billion) spent in the West Bank and Gaza between 2008 and 2012, noting “significant shortcomings.” 

They also reported their inability to address “high-level risks” such as “corruption or funds not being used for their intended purpose.”

Also "Transparency International", a Berlin-based watchdog monitoring corporate and political corruption, claimed that the state of paralysis afflicting the Palestinian parliament since 2007 has “given the executive unlimited management over public funds.” Nepotism is also commonplace in the Palestinian public and private sectors, the organization claimed."

"Until his death in November 2004, former PA President Yasser Arafat controlled Palestinian finances and faced widespread criticism for his lack of transparency, corruption, and misuse of foreign aid. Some observers described Arafat’s use of the PA treasury as his “personal cash-box” and allege that almost half of the $7 billion provided to the PA since its creation in the early 1990's may have been diverted by Arafat to political patronage and kickbacks.

Although the extent of Arafat’s misuse of PA money was never fully known, Israeli leaders, Palestinian reformers, and others repeatedly accused Arafat and his inner circle of corruption; "...nevertheless, his total domination of Palestinian political life made him indispensable to those seeking his cooperation in achieving regional peace and many were forced to ignore such charges." David Samuels, “ In a Ruined Country,” Atlantic Monthly, September 2005.

During the past 20 years, the U.S. has invested $4.5 billion in promoting democracy among the Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza Strip and boosting the Israeli-Palestinian peace process.
What the naive Americans and Europeans do not know is that most some say as high as 90% of the $4.5 billion the Americans have invested in promoting Palestinian democracy went down the drain or ended up in secret Swiss bank accounts.

Just how many in the world realize that the Palestinians do not have a functioning parliament or a free media under the PA in the West Bank or under Hamas in the Gaza Strip?

The Palestinian Authority lives outside the laws of politics, nature and economics as it and Hamas occupy a split territory with two feuding governments -- both dictatorships with all the arbitrariness and lack of accountability implied within. Their multiple armed fractions on occasion fight each other and often times murder Israelis. They have an educational system that teaches children to stab and murder. They teach their children, and the bamboozled of the world, that the Jews are usurpers of their land as they spread they denial of the historical connection of the Jews to the land, They venerate and wax on a civic culture that venerates suicide bombers and the mothers who seem to revel in their children's bloody demise; and an economy that produces nothing of export value.

And, of course, when was the last time Palestinians actually had presidential or parliamentary elections?

I ask; "Have any of the detractors of US Aid to Israel every carried out any REAL audit or an accounting of the money invested in projects in various Palestinian sectors?"

Palestinian economic analysts estimate that the PA has received a total of $25 billion in financial aid from the U.S. and other countries during the past two decades.

Leaked documents, such as that signed by Majdi al-Khaldi an adviser to Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, asked Bahrain's foreign minister for $4 million to fund a private neighborhood complex for Palestinian diplomats in Ramallah.

Another document by Nazmi Muhanna, general director of the Palestinian Crossing and Borders Authority, requested the government pay for his daughter's schooling.

There was also receipt for $50,000 given to Yaser Abbas, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas' son, who bought several apartments in a complex in a prestigious area of Ramallah.

One does not have to be an expert on Palestinian affairs to see that the billions of dollars have neither created democracy for the Palestinians nor boosted the Israeli-Palestinian peace process.

Tariq Dana in his article Corruption in Palestine: A Self-Enforcing System, states:

 "Corruption in Palestinian Authority (PA) institutions should not be perceived as merely a matter of administrative and financial wrongdoing committed by irresponsible individuals whose behavior is driven by greed and personal interests. The scandals that Palestinians hotly debate from time to time – such as embezzlement of public funds, misappropriation of resources, and nepotism – are an outcome of longstanding corruption embedded in the underlying power structure that governs the Palestinian political system and that were rooted in the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) prior to the Oslo process.""... much of Palestinian society is based on tribal/clan/family social relations, the PA has sought to accommodate large families in order to ensure their loyalty. When the PA established its Ministry of Local Government, it included a special department concerned with tribal/clan affairs. The Ministry recognizes mukhtars (head of tribes/clans) and authorizes them to speak on behalf of their families. Whereas tribalism had been marginalized by the rise of the national movement, during the 1990s the PA appointed some representatives of prominent families to ministerial posts based on tribal considerations. These ministries subsequently were largely staffed with the ministers’ relatives and friends. After the state-building reforms of recent years, there was less employment based on family considerations. Instead, however, some ministers have surrounded themselves with cronies."

Since the creation of the Palestinian Authority, which was born out of the 1993 Oslo Accords between Israel and the PLO, it has never been a democratic regime. On the contrary; what the Palestinians got from the start was a mini-dictatorship run by Yasser Arafat and his PLO and Fatah cronies. It was a corrupt regime, was directly funded and armed by the U.S., Europe and several other countries.

Mohammed Rashid who served as Arafat's financial advisor and was given a free hand to handle hundreds of millions of dollars that were poured on the Palestinian Authority and the PLO by US, EU and Arab donors embezzled millions. Rashid is now considered one of the wealthiest Palestinians anywhere and the Palestinian Authority officials have estimated his fortune at more than half a billion dollars. Rashid left the Palestinian territories almost immediately after his boss, Arafat, died in late 2004 and the Palestinian Authority did absolutely nothing to bring him to trial or return at least some of the missing funds.
It was not until Rashid appeared on a Saudi-owned TV station and threatened to expose corruption scandals in the Palestinian Authority leadership that they finally woke up and remembered that Rashid was suspected of embezzling hundreds of millions of dollars of Foreign Aid. The Anti-Corruption Commission of the PA in Ramallah announced that it issued an arrest warrant against the former Arafat adviser and asked Interpol for help in bringing him to trial.

Rashid, was not "just" a junior official in the Palestinian Authority, he was a trusted insider, someone who was very close to Arafat and probably the only official who knows where hundreds of millions of dollars ended up.
The Palestinian Authority's decision to issue an arrest warrant against him does not seem to worry Rashid, who this week demanded a probe into Abbas's personal fortune, which he estimated at more than $100 million.

Abbas and the Palestinian Authority on the other-hand are accusing Rashid with stealing hundreds of millions of dollars, while Rashid in return is accusing President Abbas of embezzling "a paltry" $100 million. Meanwhile this "tit for tat' exchange is happening at a time when international donors are continuing to channel more funds every month to the Palestinian Authority, often without holding its leaders accountable or demanding to know how the money is being spent.

Due to Rashid's testimony in the Televised interview Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza Strip were unable to view the website Donia al-Watan as The Palestinian Authority (PA) in Ramallah blocked access through the PA-controlled telecom company  because of the site’s reporting on the widespread corruption among the entourage of PA President Mahmoud Abbas.

Abbas issued the order to block the site without any due process, legal notice or opportunity for defense, a report published on the site stated. “We are surprised at these violations emanating from the president of the PA who appears to have forgotten that he was one of the biggest critics of the policies of the late Abu Ammar [Yasser Arafat]. The late former leader of the Palestinian Authority Yasser Arafat never signed off on such orders and did not shut down publications," said the website’s editor Abdallah al-Issa.

Al-Issa in a telephone interview from Gaza City with the Pro-Palestinian web site "Electronic Intifada" that his website had published dozens of stories about corruption since it was founded in 2003. When Arafat was in office, the site would receive complaints, he said, but no such action had ever been taken against them. Al-Issa criticized Arafat for failing to stem corruption, “but at least we could write about it.”

In an article entitled “The Ramallah Banana Republic,” al-Issa severely criticized the Abbas-led Authority for acting illegally in blocking his site, and called for solidarity from local and foreign journalists and international human rights organizations to pressure Abbas to reverse the decision to censor the website.

Since its 1994 founding under the Oslo Accords, the PA’s credibility has been hit by allegations of rampant corruption. In early 2006, the PA Attorney-General Ahmad al-Meghanni – the same official who ordered the censorship of Donia al-Watan – publicly reported that he was investigating no fewer than 52 cases of official corruption. These totaled hundreds of millions of dollars and involved numerous senior officials of the PA and affiliated companies.

Earlier this year, Rawhi Fattouh, a close ally of Abbas and former speaker of the Palestinian legislative council was caught smuggling thousands of cell phones into the Israeli-occupied West Bank from Jordan. However, none of these cases have ever resulted in convictions or the return of stolen public funds and foreign aid money to the Palestinian people.

A Palestinian opinion poll conducted in July 2012 found that 71 percent of respondents believed that corruption existed in PA institutions under the control of President Mahmoud Abbas. Some 57% of respondents said the same of Hamas-controlled institutions in the Gaza Strip. 

I ask; "So if the Palestinians themselves believe there is wide spread corruption then why is nothing being done?"

All of this shows clearly that the worlds blind "investments" in Palestinian democracy and peace with Israel has been a complete failure because of the refusal of the international community to hold Arafat, Abbas and Haniyeh accountable. It is the abject corruption within the Palestinian Leadership that a majority of Palestinians were are being driven into the open arms of Hamas.

The Palestinian people in Gaza, in Judea and Shomron as well as in refugee camps have not seen any improvement in their living conditions because of this corruption. That is why they turned to Hamas, which promised them change, reform and an end to financial corruption and that is why we see this in the recent student elections at Bir Zeit University.

So unless Western donors demand that the PA use their money to bring democracy to its people and prepare them for peace, the prospects of reviving any peace process will remain zero.

Dayenu: The legendary story of the Jewish tribe of the “Mispuacha.”

Facebook asks me once more; “What's on my mind?”  The legendary story of the Jewish tribe of the “Mispuacha.”

Last night, the Passover Seder night the wife and I and three of our children were invited to the Seder meal in the home of our third son Natanel married to a wonderful young woman –Soli bat Marzianu of Jewish Sephardic Spanish Moroccan heritage, with their children, my grandchildren.

As I was sitting in the home of my son and his wife with my grandchildren, who were all born in the land of our ancestors, I contemplated the story from the Haggada of our journey to become;” emancipation from slavery,”  to wander for 40 years in the Sinai to be cleansed and reborn as proud Jews in our God given and “Promised Land”. I realized that our own family “tribal” history mirrors the story of our peoples exile and rebirth in our homeland, which is the true theme of Zionism.

As I sat waiting for the Seder meal to begin in their plain stark “no frills” apartment of the strict Orthodox Jews I could not miss noticing a painting of three Rabbis on the wall.

I looked at my son Natanel, the host of the Seder and I could not help seeing the image of my paternal grandfather Elisha ben Natanel and his father Natanel Ben Moshe HaLevi – known as Sanna also sitting as in the painting alongside him.

In my mind, I was thinking that this painting of the three Rabbis had inspired the thought of the story our people, our “Mispuacha” if you will “Our Tribe”.

As my family took turns reading from the Haggada I realized that my wife and I were the ones who were born in our long exile from these lands forced out by powers stronger then us. Just as in the lines of the famous poem “The Jewish Cemetery” at Newport by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow.:

” What persecution, merciless and blind, Drove o'er the sea - that desert desolate-

    These Ishmaels and Hagars of mankind?”

My wife and I are the generation of those whose parents had arrived in America had wandered in the “Diaspora,’ our “Expulsion” from the time of the Roman destruction of the last Jewish Kingdom in Eretz Yisrael until its recent rebirth, just as the generation that wandered in the desert.

In our long journey in exile from our “Homeland” we as a people have experienced all the measures that evil can manifest: enslavement, immense torture, abuse, isolation, imprisonment and death by all the cruelest means. Yet somehow our ancestors have managed to stubbornly cling and hold onto their faith in the one God of Israel as even in their dying breaths they called out “Shemah Yisrael”.

As Ryan Bellerose had so astutely stated we Jews – Israelis are; “a tribal indigenous people who have ancient beliefs that predate any other extant “religion”.”

So just as in the retelling of the three millennium old story of the exile and enslavement of our “Mispucha” in Egypt. People of today who viciously attack and condemn Israel should take heed and note that it took the terrible, horrifying and immense cruelty of the Holocaust, like that of the “Ten Plagues” described in our Passover Haggada, to pry open the empathy of the world to allow the remnants of our shattered people to return home.

And just like in the story of the Exodus told in the Haggada, the Arabs like Pharaoh “Hardened” their hearts against the people of Israel. They forced the British to renege on their promise and issue the cruel “White Paper” of 1939 that slammed shut the door of the Jewish promised Homeland so there would be no place of refugee for the Jews of Europe.

That their leader, the Grand Mufti, even wrote letters to the Nazis begging them to murder more Jews and to not make any deal that would allow the Jews a route to escape death by.

The world has forgotten that when World War II ended, the Arabs hardened their hearts even more. That those displaced Jews who did survive and wished to leave the European graveyards could not do so. They, the Arabs, did not heed the lesson of those who oppress and deny he who sits in Judgment and loves our people.

So when the Partition Plan was passed and Ben Gurion read out the Declaration of Independence, the Arab League, like the Armies of Pharaoh, massed against us and attacked us threatening to annihilate us and to throw the remnants to the sea.

Exodus 15:9 

“The enemy said: 'I will pursue, I will overtake, I will divide the spoil; my lust shall be satisfied upon them; I will draw my sword, my hand shall destroy them.'”

Exodus Chapter 14:

“ 23  And the Egyptians pursued, and went in after them into the midst of the sea, all Pharaoh's horses, his chariots, and his horsemen.

26 And the LORD said unto Moses: 'Stretch out thy hand over the sea that the waters may come back upon the Egyptians, upon their chariots, and upon their horsemen.

'27 And Moses stretched forth his hand over the sea, and the sea returned to its strength when the morning appeared; and the Egyptians fled against it; and the LORD overthrew the Egyptians in the midst of the sea. 

28 And the waters returned, and covered the chariots, and the horsemen, even all the host of Pharaoh that went in after them into the sea; there remained not so much as one of them.”

Therefore “The Lord” did favor once more upon “Israel” and sent the plague of the  “Nacba” on the modern “sons of Pharaoh” the Arabs of the “Mandated Areas” the “Pleshtim,” for they did not heed up unto the Lord God of Israel

Exodus 32: 13

He said, “… all of this land which I have spoken of will I give to your descendants and they shall inherit it forever.”

In the story of the Exodus we are also told just as I read now on Facebook, hear on TV and echoed in the quotations of Bernie Sanders and his minions. There are Jews in America who deny our land our home and wish to appease their neighbors over their people. Just like those who jeered and question the LORD and Moses.
Exodus Chapter 14:

“10 And when Pharaoh drew nigh, the children of Israel lifted up their eyes, and, behold, the Egyptians were marching after them; and they were sore afraid; and the children of Israel cried out unto the LORD.
11 And they said unto Moses: 'Because there were no graves in Egypt, hast thou taken us away to die in the wilderness? wherefore hast thou dealt thus with us, to bring us forth out of Egypt?
12 Is not this the word that we spoke unto thee in Egypt, saying: Let us alone, that we may serve the Egyptians? For it were better for us to serve the Egyptians, than that we should die in the wilderness.'

Exodus 16:3 

"and the children of Israel said unto them: 'Would that we had died by the hand of the LORD in the land of Egypt, when we sat by the flesh-pots, when we did eat bread to the full; for ye have brought us forth into this wilderness, to kill this whole assembly with hunger.'

When I awoke this morning and as I read through the postings I saw once more the beautiful and inspiring words of a Native “American” Facebook Friend Ryan Bellerose upon his visit with Jewish friends for a Seder.

Once more Ryan’s words of wisdom, encouragement and enlightenment to his Jewish and Israeli friends are truly beyond the title of a “Righteous Gentile.” He truly is much more than that. His words have spoken to me like the “Great Spirit” of his people truly speaks out to him.

Ryan is correct when he states that through the ages the Jewish people have known dark times, periods of intense hatred persecution, brutality and death.

To paraphrase Ryan; “Our indigenous Jewish tradition of the Passover Seder demonstrates clearly all of the things that indigenous people hold dear, our ties to our ancestors, our pull to our ancestral homelands and our history.”

So I would like to quote here his latest wisdom and comment regarding our “Festival of Freedom”;

“You notice I am saying our, because all indigenous people hold these things in common. I think every indigenous person who cares about indigenous things should try to attend a Passover Seder. Honestly I think everyone should.
My people do not have a Seder, we are still in our "Diaspora" but I always find it strengthening to be around my Jewish family during holidays, seeing them being Jews, doing Jewish things is heartening to me, after all if they still do this stuff for three thousand years later, how hard is it for me to stay traditional when we are barely into year 150?
I watched as they didn’t even remotely follow the script, as they laughed and argued over minutiae, I saw them living up to their name as we argued about random passages. I told my friends that if I was actually gonna be Jewish I would probably be a Karaite lol (for those of you who get the joke, for those who don’t meh) I said I am the kind of person who will read something myself and figure it out.
I love this holiday, basically, they remember one of the most horrific times for their people but more importantly they celebrate their escape and they thank the creator profusely.
They have a prayer they say that I find incredibly strengthening its called the Dayenu, they say several things and then say " it would have been enough after each thing, it shows a humility and a gratitude that is rarely seen today in the modern world.....
Dayenu. it would have been enough.
I think I have a few things to add to it
If you had only ever shown me that there is hope
Dayenu
If you had only given me friends when I felt like nobody cared
Dayenu
If you had only put people in my life who keep me going
Dayenu
If you had only ever shown me that there is strength in being proud of my self and my people
Dayenu
If you had only given me strength of will to fight and the wisdom to listen
Dayenu
So when someone asks me why I do this stuff even when its a pain in my ass, even when I get death threats from people who hate Jews or stern emails from Jews that are upset with me about whatever they get upset about, I think from now on I am just gonna answer
Dayenu."

I would like to add:

It would be enough if Mark would not be such a Schmuck and not block the Jews,

Dayenu!

To not see such death and anti-Jewish hate as on the mass media of late,

Dayenu!

So to one and all of my friends on Facebook and especially Ryan I say, Hag Samach

Oy Bernie! What a putz!

“What is on my mind?” The Bernie Sanders 10,000 Dead quote.

I ask how is it possible that a person running for the Presidency of the United States can be so lacking of knowledge. I see by his inane statement that Bernie is like the majority of the world and has become totally duped by biased media.

Consider if you would that when Hamas or one of it's proxies in Gaza fires rockets or shoots mortars, from time to time indiscriminately against Israeli civilian residents. Every movement the IDF makes and every sortie conducted by the IAF in response to an uncalled for attack on Israeli civilians, is covered endlessly by massive media coverage from inside Gaza by well placed Pallywood “Palestinian Stringers” –local residents paid for new footage by the news media.

No foreign news correspondent or non-Israeli politician ever dares to mention that the biased footage comes from these pre placed “Palestinian Stringers” teams, under Hamas supervision, inside Gaza who rush to show the damage from Israel’s response. 

This cynical arrangement makes out the news image that ONLY Israel is the “villain” in the minds eye of the unknowing viewer. The footage of “collateral damage” many times of “Human Shields” together with the damning catch phrases used by news desk commentators of; the “disproportionate use of force” and “indiscriminate attacks”  brainwashes the duped and unknowing into condemning Israel outright for “aggression” and “over response”.

So when Israel retaliates for attacks on its civilians, massive protests by “Bamboozled pro-Palestinian Liberals” erupt and sweep through major cities around the world. The violent and utterly disgusting virulent anger revealed by these “duped Palestinian sympathizers” could only be justified if Israel were in fact actually slaughtering the thousands of Palestinian civilians as Bernie alludes to.

No news correspondent or politician ever dares to ask or think why the world media NEVER covers similar conflicts through out the world the same way and with the same misleading terminology, commentary or headlines as they use in reports against Israel.

No news correspondent or politician ever points out that the Palestinians / Hamas, who have received millions and millions of aid dollars to build badly needed housing, hospitals, schools and proper infrastructure for water supply, electricity and proper sewage systems to treat raw sewage never do so but instead either pocket the funds or at best assemble more weaponry. Why is there, God forbid!, NEVER any public outcry against the Palestinian "Leadership"?
Have you ever thought for a moment; "Why is it that Israel is consistently singled out for what is extensively the shortcomings of the Palestinians for the improvement of the housing, infrastructure and health of their own people!"
No one ever, ever questions or criticizes the Hamas leadership regarding the reason for the Israeli limitations on Gaza.
The fact that the Hamas leadership is so bent on acquiring weaponry and building tunnels and positions to launch attack on Israel that they willing to deprive their own citizenry from basic necessities. They are depriving their own people because they want to destroy Israel and to take back all that they lost in the Nacbah of 1948.  

No news correspondent or politician ever points out that the in deference to our enemies Israeli civilians have NOT been murdered in massive amounts because Israel builds bomb shelters, reinforces schools, kindergartens, Day Care Centers and defensive locations for the protection of our civilians, Jews and Arabs alike, from the indiscriminatory rockets and mortar rounds fired at our civilian population.

No news correspondent or politician wonders or queries the viewer audience why there is no arranged massive response of angry protesters like the herd of “Bamboozled pro-Palestinian Liberal sympathizers” taking to the streets to protest the savagery of the Islamic State. No matter how many thousands of Arabs are butchered in Syria, Iraq, and Libya there is just silence and empty thoroughfares.

When was the last time you saw a protest about any event that received the massive news coverage, let alone the anger that Israeli DEFENSIVE actions against a genocidal terrorist group does?

But of course this does not and will not happen.

Because of this "Bamboozling" through biased media reports naïve college students who wish to stand out and be recognized by their professors and peers in almost all the major universities in the west realize “It is ‘Chic’ to be anti-Israel.

 

To be considered for the status of being classified as a "progressive caring for humanity" and equal rights #Blacklivesmatter member of today’s “IN” society  one must be identified with BDS and the "Palestinian underdog".

Students on campuses today aspire for the status symbol of the Khaffiyeh and Palestinian flag as it was with Che Guevara, the Viet Cong flag and the Maoists in Bernie's days on campus. 

They memorize the Mantra and the “Battle Cries” if you will or slogans against the “Occupation” by “Apartheid” Israel who is carrying out “Genocide”. The battle against Israel and of course the Evils of Zionism, referred to by the use of the terms; “ZioNazi” or “Israhell” has replaced all the other political battles for many young men and women.

The situation is just as I have pointed out before in a previous Blog entry of mine regarding Yasser Arafat's "Negation Of Israel Plan" outlined in his infamous Zionism equals racism speech inverted much of the world's perception of the Middle East: transforming tiny Israel from its natural role of "David" against the massive Arab population and lands, to one of "Goliath" against the "stateless," "oppressed," and "occupied" "Palestinians.

During Yasser Arafat's visit to Hanoi in 1970, Arafat was particularly struck by Ho Chi Minh’s success in mobilizing left-wing sympathizers in Europe and the United States to the Vietnamese cause. Ho’s chief strategist, Võ Nguyên Giáp, a General in the Vietnam People's Army and a politician, made it clear to Arafat and his lieutenants that in order to succeed, they too needed to redefine the terms of their struggle. 

Giap’s counsel was simple but profound: the PLO needed to work in a way that concealed its real goals, permitted strategic deception, and give the appearance of moderation.

Arafat sent his adjutant, Khalil Ibrahim al-Wazir - Abu Jihad (later the leader of the PLO’s military operations), to North Vietnam to study the strategy and tactics of guerrilla warfare. Arafat was struck by Ho Chi Minh’s success with left-wing sympathizers in the United States and Europe.

Young college student activists on American campuses were enthusiastically following the North Vietnamese "line" in re-framing the Vietnam war from a Communist assault on the south to a struggle for national liberation.
“Progressive” activists on American campuses, enthusiastically following the line of North Vietnamese operatives, had succeeded in re-framing the Vietnam War from a Communist conquest of the South into a struggle for national liberation.

An insight into this North Vietnamese PR campaign, which provided the key to the Communist victory and a lesson for PLO operatives, was offered by Ho’s chief strategist, General Giap: “Stop talking about annihilating Israel and instead turn your terror war into a struggle for human rights. Then you will have the American people eating out of your hand.”

At the same time that he was getting advice from General Giap, Arafat was also being tutored by Muhammad Yazid, who had been minister of information in two Algerian wartime governments (1958-1962):

“Wipe out the argument that Israel is a small state whose existence is threatened by the Arab states, or the reduction of the Palestinian problem to a question of refugees; instead, present the Palestinian struggle as a struggle for liberation like the others. Wipe out the impression …that in the struggle between the Palestinians and the Zionists, the Zionist is the underdog. Now it is the Arab who is oppressed and victimized in his existence because he is not only facing the Zionists but also world imperialism.” 

This new approach has become wildly successful, especially with the moderate Left, which had generally supported the somewhat socialist state of Israel. At the 2001 UN Durban Conference on Racism, this approach was refined, focused and amplified. Now Israel was presented as not only denying Palestinians their rights, but as doing so out of an essential racism. The false analogy with South African apartheid was pushed and similar remedies were proposed: de-legitimization, boycotts, divestment, etc.

Thus in addition to the power of the anti-colonialist theme, the potent element of racism has been added in the aftermath of Ferguson as I pointed out in yet another blog.

Bernie Sander's recent Tweet regarding his intention to "apologize" shows once again the success of Arafat's "Grand Strategy". Since the incident in Ferguson Missouri the horror of America's own racist history had been coming to the surface — along with powerful feelings of guilt. It has not been difficult for Israel’s enemies to make anti-Zionism almost a religion on the Left, especially on college campuses.

And the first Jew who has a chance to be in the White House has chosen to swallow the “Big Lie” rather then acquiring the truth. Kumbayah Bernie!

The New Red Badge of Courage

I have not been commenting on Facebook for a while and as usual Facebook asks; "What's on my mind?".

Well after spending only a mere few minutes online I see that the tsunami of abject hatred of Jews is still there and my mind goes to to the famous quote by William Shakespeare from "The Merchant Of Venice Act III Scene I"

‎“He hath disgraced me, and‎
hindered me half a million; laughed at my losses,‎
mocked at my gains, scorned my nation, thwarted my
bargains, cooled my friends, heated mine
enemies; and what's his reason? I am a Jew. Hath
not a Jew eyes? hath not a Jew hands, organs,‎
dimensions, senses, affections, passions? fed with
the same food, hurt with the same weapons, subject
to the same diseases, healed by the same means,‎
warmed and cooled by the same winter and summer, as
a Christian is? If you prick us, do we not bleed?‎
if you tickle us, do we not laugh? if you poison
us, do we not die? and if you wrong us, shall we not
revenge? If we are like you in the rest, we will
resemble you in that.”  ‎


I have not been commenting "Publicly" on Facebook for a while do to the tsunami of abject and utterly vile hatred of Jews that led to me being blocked. Like Émile Zola,  I too have stated "J'accuse" and was blocked for a month for supposedly violating the Facebook "Community Standards".

Regretfully, no matter what we sane individuals do or say we are literally outnumbered and shouted and beaten down by those whose utter blind hatred and disgusting gutter filth of inane comments are so historically and factually incorrect that the mind boogles at the abject stupidity of illiteracy and ignorance.

This "Wave" of abject bile filled hatred is so utterly disgusting that good people are literally frightened into silence. And the viral hatred being posted is condoned and considered to not impose on the "Community Standards".

A Jew may not use the term "anti-Semitism" to refer to this filth because even this term is now contended by those who so vilely hate the "Jewish Usurpers" (Khazarim) who "ONLY" because of the Holocaust -which to many of them never occurred. Lead to the European displacement of the poor Arab population for the Jewish interlopers.
To the left we have a perfect example by a "Bizarro" conspiracy ignoranus by the name of David Ickes. He is really off the wall with his theories of the "Illuminati" aka Rothschilds = Jews. 
In this "Meme" by him which is being gleefully used and spread by pro-Palestinian Trolls he has grasped one of the newer anti-Israeli "Islamofascists" themes advanced by the Neo-Nazis William Luther Pierce III a prominent American white nationalist He was one of the most influential ideologues of the white nationalist movement for some 30 years before his death.And the other David Ernest Duke (born July 1, 1950) is an American White nationalist, writer, right-wing politician, and a former Grand Wizard of the Knights of the Ku Klux Klan.
This myth was to a large extent the invention of the 1976 book, The Thirteenth Tribe by Arthur Koestler, a writer better known for his lifelong battles against totalitarianism in all its forms. Koestler wrote his book largely in order to create interest and sympathy for Jews and Israel, believing the Khazar story would serve as a basis for respect and fascination with Jewish history. In reality, there is very little evidence of any type, from genetic markers to family and place names, that there is any significant Khazar “blood” among Western or Ashkenazi Jews.

Another "Loser"  of the “Jews-Not-Being-Jews” hoax is none other than Tel Aviv University history professor Shlomo Sand. Sand is best known for being an old hard-core Stalinist and Jewish self hater fanatic anti-Zionist and he has made no attempt to hide his desire to see his own country obliterated. He was active for a while in the 1960s and 1970s in a tiny Israeli Maoist splinter named "Matzpen".

The "Matzpen" group gained notoriety in the 1970's when Israeli Jewish and Arab members of the group went to Syria to be trained as terrorists. And were caught and later imprisoned.
Sand who writes primarily in French, has built much of his “academic” career by publishing diatribes against Zionism from the purity of pure Stalinistic communism.

In his book, "The Invention of the Jewish People"  Sand aligned himself with the pro-Palestinian anti-Zionists seeking to annihilate Israel by publishing his pseudo-history. In his "study" published by Verso Books, a publishing house set up by “New Left Review” specializing in communist and Bash-Israel books, he reprises the Neo-Nazi mythology about Israeli Jews being converted Khazar interlopers.
Israel Bartal, dean of the humanities faculty of the Hebrew University, wrote that Sand's claims about Zionist and contemporary Israeli historiography are baseless, calling the work "bizarre and incoherent," and that Sand's "…treatment of Jewish sources is embarrassing and humiliating."
According to Bartal, "No historian of the Jewish national movement has ever really believed that the origins of the Jews are ethnically and biologically 'pure'."
Bartal furthermore writes that Sand applies academically marginal positions to the entire body of Jewish historiography and, in doing so, "denies the existence of the central positions in Jewish historical scholarship.
That if submitted as a student paper I suspect it would be rejected as plagiarism of the contents of anti-Jewish web sites."
Sand, for example, does not mention the fact that, from the year 2000 onwards, a team of scholars from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem has labored on the production of a three-volume study on the true historical origins of the Jews of Russia. Sand's "Study" is no other then a deliberate work designed to discredit the Zionist theory and linkage of the Jews of Europe to Eretz Yisrael by negating the biological origins of the Jews in order to their homeland as pure fantasy.

Few realize that this Khazarian anti-Jewish theme was enthusiastically embraced and converted for use by the Palestinians as a replacement for their failed attempts to label themselves as predecessors to the Jews in Eretz-Yisrael as decedents of the Canaanites and as Philistines.

So when we hear of the narrative of the sad tales of woes of the self inflicted Nacba and the almost 70 year old story of the ONLY group of refugees in the world who have never been resettled and have their own United Nations organization that provides them with sustenance while the refugees of other conflicts receive hardly any attention.

Oh and of course only rarely any mention is ever given of the ethnic cleansing of the Jews nor the forced exile of more then 900,000 Jews of Arab lands.
To be a proud Jew and wish to return and live in the land of our ancestors the return to Zion as in Zionism has been corrupted by those who so jealously despise us that they call us "Zionazis". Even the name of our beloved country has been "crucified" as "Israhell".

To the world,and some anti-Zionist Jews, ALL the Jews of Israel are hate filled baby killers and "settlers". To them we are the "scapegoat" of the worlds hate.

What persecution, merciless and blind,
Drove o'er the sea - that desert desolate--
‎    These Ishmaels and Hagars of mankind? ‎
They lived in narrow streets and lanes obscure,
‎    Ghetto and Judenstrass, in mirk and mire;
Taught in the school of patience to endure
‎    The life of anguish and the death of fire. ‎
All their lives long, with the unleavened bread
‎    And bitter herbs of exile and its fears,
The wasting famine of the heart they fed,
‎    And slaked its thirst with marah of their tears. ‎
"Anathema maranatha! was the cry"

It is time for them to look in the mirror and realize just how contorted and tortured their souls really are. For as history has shown us there really is one "most high" who does sit in judgement. Let them take heed of the fate of those who have cursed us.

I met a traveler from an antique land
Who said: Two vast and trunk-less legs of stone
Stand in the desert. Near them, on the sand,
Half sunk, a shattered visage lies, whose frown,
And wrinkled lip, and sneer of cold command,
Tell that its sculptor well those passions read
Which yet survive, stamped on these lifeless things,
The hand that mocked them, and the heart that fed;
And on the pedestal these words appear:
‎"My name is Ozymandias, king of kings:
Look on my works, ye Mighty, and despair!"
Nothing beside remains. Round the decay
Of that colossal wreck, boundless and bare
The lone and level sands stretch far away.‎

As in the "Thousand year Reich"  he will have the final word once more. Just wait and see.

Where is this country called "Palestine"?

Keep in mind that the Arabs control 99.9 percent of the Middle East lands. Israel represents one-tenth of one percent of the landmass. But that's too much for the Arabs. They want it all. And that is ultimately what the fighting in Israel is about today . . . No matter how many land concessions the Israelis make, it will never be enough. — from "Myths of the Middle East", Joseph Farah, Arab-American editor and journalist, WorldNetDaily, 11 October 2000

In a previous Blog entry of mine I laid out the historical facts regarding this supposed entity that never existed as an independent country known as "Palestine". Since the"Falestinians" and their admirers love to distort history and spread lies and disinformation, I will cite the historical facts once again for clarity.

Where does the name “Palestine” come from?

The name "Palestine" is derived from the biblical name for the Philistines who were called Philistim from the Hebrew term for invaders or (Hebrew: פלשת‎, Pleshet). According to Joshua 13:3 and the First book of Samuel 6:17, they arrived on the coastal area of, what is today southern Israel; Ashkelon, Ashdod, Ekron, Gath and the "Gaza Strip" around 1525 to 1500 BCE.

The origins of the Philistines are not clear and is the subject of considerable research and speculation in biblical archaeology. Some scholars have connected the Biblical Philistines with the Egyptian "Poleshet" inscriptions of "Sea Peoples" (see photo) found in 1873 in a mural found on the walls of a mortuary Temple from the time of the Pharaoh Ramesses III. This discovery of the mural has strengthen the view that the "Pleshtim / Philistim" and the Aegean "Pelasgians" are one in the same, the Philistines.

Archaeologists working on Philistine sites on the western coastal areas of Israel, and in the past in the "Gaza Strip", have shown that the Philistines were part of the Minoan- later the Mycenaean civilization, from the island of Thera (also called Santorini) in Greece.

The first actual written historical text reference is by Herodotus around 450 BCE in his "The Histories" Book 7. In his writings it clearly states that the "Palestinians" were descendant from invaders from the Mediterranean Sea. 

"The Phoenicians and the Syrians of Palestina, according to their own account, dwelt anciently upon the Erythraean Sea, but crossing thence, fixed themselves on the seacoast of Syria, where they still inhabit. This part of Syria, and the entire region extending from hence to Egypt, is known by the name of "Palestina"."

The origin of the term "Palestine"

The historical term "Palestine" actually refers to, a geographical and historical region in the Middle East. Historically the term "Palestine" has not, nor has it EVER been the name of a "entity" or sovereign country. 

In ancient times the Old Testament Bible  referred to a pentapolis in the Southern Levant, established by Philistines circa 1175 BC and existing in various forms until the Assyrian conquest in 8th century as "Philistia".
The ancient Greek and Romans referred to parts of the Levant during the Persian and Hellenic periods as Palaistinê or Palaestina. The coastal eparchy was called Paralia which some associate with (Palestine).
There was a Roman province (135-390 CE) (135-330 CE), of the Roman Empire following merger of renamed Iudaea with Roman Syria called Syria Palaestina or Roman Palestine.

From 390 to 636 CE there were three Byzantine provinces in the Levant:

• Palaestina Prima which comprised the area of the Galilee and northern Jordan Valley 
• Palaestina Secunda, which comprised the area of the shoreline and hills of the Southern Levant (Judea and Samaria)
• Palaestina Salutaris alias Palestina Tertia, which comprised the area of the Negev and Transjordan

In the period from 638 CE through the 10th century one of the military districts of the Umayyad and Abbasid Caliphate province of Bilad al-Sham (Syria) was called Jund Filastin.
During the period of the Ottoman Empire within the Levant divisions of the "Ottoman Syria" the area was divided into administrative divisions know as Sanjaks:
The Mutasarrifate of Jerusalem (1872-1917), was also known as the "Sanjak of Jerusalem", an Ottoman district commonly referred to as "Southern Syria" or "Palestine". The district encompassed Jerusalem, Gaza, Jaffa, Hebron, Bethlehem and Beersheba.

Faris Khoury who was thee representative of the Arab Higher Committee to the United Nations stated to the General Assembly in May 1947:

"What the British call Palestine was part of the Province of Syria [...] politically, the Arabs of the Mandated Area were not independent in the sense of forming a separate political entity."

The Mandate for "Palestine"

Mandatory Palestine (1920–1948), a geopolitical entity under British administration

"The Palestine Mandate was a League of Nations mandate for the territory that had formerly constituted the Ottoman Empire sanjaks of Nablus, Acre, the Southern part of the Vilayet of Syria, the Southern portion of the Beirut Vilayet, and the Mutasarrifate of Jerusalem, prior to the Armistice of Mudros." 

The Armistice of Mudros (Turkish: Mondros Mütarekesi), which was concluded on 30 October 1918, ended the hostilities, at noon the next day, in the Middle Eastern theater between the Ottoman Empire and the Allies of World War I.The armistice was followed by the occupation of Constantinople (Istanbul) and the subsequent partitioning of the Ottoman Empire.

The Treaty of Sèvres (10 August 1920) which was signed in the aftermath of WWI was never ratified by the Ottoman Parliament in Istanbul (the Ottoman Parliament was disbanded by the Allies on 11 April 1920 due to the overwhelming opposition of the Turkish MPs to the provisions discussed in Sèvres). It was later superseded by the Treaty of Lausanne (24 July 1923) following the Turkish victory at the Turkish War of Independence (1919–1922) which was conducted by the Grand National Assembly of Turkey in Ankara (established on 23 April 1920 by Mustafa Kemal Pasha and his followers, including his colleagues in the disbanded Ottoman military, and numerous former MPs of the closed Ottoman Parliament in Istanbul.)

Why was the Mandated area called “Palestine” if it was meant to be as stated in the Balfour Declaration: “…the national home for the Jewish people”? ‎ 

When the British received the mandate at the San Remo conference, after the utter defeat and breaking apart of the Ottoman Turkish Empire in 1922. The leading members of the British Foreign Office, who despised the "Jewish" Balfour Declaration, elected to call the land on both sides of the Jordan River, by the Roman term "Palestine". The Roman term of the Hated Enemy of the Jews was specifically employed to avoid the use of the name "Eretz Yisrael", which would indicate to the Arabs a "Pro-Zionist Jewish stance" and foil their colonial intentions.

According to the Minutes of the Ninth Session of the League of Nations' Permanent Mandate Commission Lieutenant Colonel Sir George Stewart Symes (1882–1962)  explained;

"... that the country was described as 'Palestine' by Europeans and as 'Falestina' by the Arabs. The Hebrew name for the area was the designation 'Land of Israel', and the British Government grudgingly agreed to meet Jewish wishes by allowing the use of the initials which stood for that designation 'Land of Israel' in Hebrew characters following the word "Palestine" in all official documents and monies.

As a set-off to this, certain Arab politicians suggested that the country should be called "Southern Syria" in order to emphasize its close relation with another Arab State."

Henry McMahon had exchanged letters with Hussein bin Ali, Sharif of Mecca in 1915, in which he had promised to recognize the independence of the Arabs subject to certain exemptions:

The districts of Mersina and Alexandretta, and portions of Syria lying to the west of the districts of Damascus, Homs, Hama and Aleppo, cannot be said to be purely Arab, and must on that account be excepted from the proposed limits and boundaries.

McMahon's promises were seen by the Arabs as a formal agreement between them and the United Kingdom. On this understanding the Arabs established a military force under the command of Husayn bin Ali's son Faisal which fought, with inspiration from 'Lawrence of Arabia', against the Ottoman Empire during the Arab Revolt.

In January 1918 Commander David Hogarth, head of the Arab Bureau in Cairo, was dispatched to Jeddah to deliver a letter written by Sir Mark Sykes on behalf of the British Government to Hussein (now King of Hejaz). The message assured Hussein that:

The Entente Powers are determined that the Arab race shall be given full opportunity of once again forming a nation in the world. This can only be achieved by the Arabs themselves uniting, and Great Britain and her Allies will pursue a policy with this ultimate unity in view.

In respect to Palestine and in the light of the Balfour Declaration Hogarth continued by stating:

Since the Jewish opinion of the world is in favour of a return of Jews to Palestine and inasmuch as this opinion must remain a constant factor, and further as His Majesty's Government view with favour the realization of this aspiration, His Majesty's Government are determined that insofar as is compatible with the freedom of the existing population both economic and political, no obstacle should be put in the way of the realization of this ideal.

In conclusion:

Facts are facts, and it is dependent on how much honesty and integrity the speaker or writer shows to relaying the truth.

Nakba or The Palestinian Failure

Regarding the "Nakba (Catastrophe)".

I previously wrote in detail about the Nachbah or Nackba in an earlier Blog entry of mine. After seeing comments from readers and in Talkbacks, the one question never asked is why this fictional country Palestine was not created after the Partition vote in 1947.

It is a historically recorded fact that the "existing non-Jewish communities in Palestine" or as they called themselves the "Arabs of the Mandated areas" refused to accept the UNR181 ‎‎(The Partition Plan) in 1947 to create a “Palestinian State.”

 Instead they allowed the seven armies of the Arab League, who not only outnumbered the Israeli forces but had superior arms and funds, ‎to invade the League of Nations Mandated territory only to be humiliated in an overwhelmingly inglorious defeat at the hands of the fledgling Israeli army.

The question that begs to be asked is; "Why did  these "Arabs of the Mandated areas" allow themselves to be shunted aside and "invaded" by the Arab League?"

"Was there no "Palestinian Arab" shadow government and leadership like that of the "Jewish Zionists" to take control?"

The answer to this is a resounding "NO"! And they still do not!

So who were the “Palestinian Leaders”?

The "Arabs of the Mandated Area" were divide between two powerful extended family groups the Nashashibi and the al-Husayni clans who dominated Palestinian affairs during the British Mandate period, from 1920 until 1948.
Throughout the British mandate period, the Husayni and Nashashibi clans constantly competed for power. At the end of World War II, the Palestinian Arabs were divided and leaderless.

While the two families did not differ on their long-term goals (stopping the influx of European Jews and preserving the future Arab Palestinian state), they disagreed on the best way to achieve those goals. The al-Husayni family rejected the British mandate and Zionism as a whole, while the Nashashibis felt that the best approach was through political compromise.

Mohammad Amin al-Husayni was appointed Grand Mufti of Jerusalem by the British High Commissioner in 1921, a position he used to promote Islam while rallying a non-confessional Arab nationalism against Zionism. He was also President of the Supreme Muslim Council.
Haj Amin al-Husseini had been in exile since 1937 after evading an arrest warrant and spent the war years in occupied Europe. He actively collaborated with both Italy and with the Nazi leadership in Germany by making propagandistic radio broadcasts and by helping the Nazis recruit Bosnian Muslims for the Waffen-SS. On meeting Adolf Hitler he requested backing for Arab independence and support in opposing the establishment in Palestine of a Jewish national home. At the war's end he came under French protection, and then sought refuge in Cairo to avoid prosecution.

In June 1946, the Arab League imposed upon the Palestinians the Arab Higher Executive, renamed as "Arab Higher Committee" in 1947, with Amin al-Husayni (then living in Egypt) as its chairman and Jamal al-Husayni as vice-chairman.

On the left above is a copy of a leaflet, distributed by the Mufti High Command after the U.N partition resolution, which calls on the Arabs to attack and conquer all of Palestine, to ignite all of the Middle East and to curtail the U.N partition resolution.

In September of 1948 with the defeat of the Arab League armies and the failure of the Arabs of the Mandated Areas to found a state.  The Mufti participated in the creation of an All-Palestine Government within the Egyptian controled Gaza Strip. All-Palestine Government won limited recognition by Arab states but was eventually dissolved by Egyptian president Gamal Abdel Nasser in 1959.
After the creation of the Jewish State of Israel in the 1948 War. The Mufti's claims at leadership were shunned aside as he had been discredited in the defeat. In 1964 with the establishment of the PLO - Palestine Liberation Organization, he had lost all credibility and political influence. He died in July of 1974 in Beirut, Lebanon.
It has been a matter of historical dispute whether this highly controversial figure's fierce opposition to Zionism was grounded in nationalism or antisemitism or a combination of both.

Abd al-Qadir al-Husayni  was the nephew of Mohammad Amin al-Husayni, the Grand Mufti. Abd al-Qadir led the Jaysh al-Jihad al-Muqaddas or Holy War Army a force of Palestinian irregulars against the Haganah and other Jewish militias during the 1948 Arab-Israeli War.
Abd al-Qadir's  army consisted of a force of 5,000 to 10,000, both foreign fighters from Arab states, They conducted a blockade of Jerusalem by attacking the Jewish convoys that attempted to breach the closure and bring relief and supplies to the starving population in the city.
Abd al-Qadir was killed during the battle for control of Qastal Hill on the Tel Aviv-Jerusalem road, on 8 April 1948 and his death was a factor in the loss of morale among his forces.
Abd al-Qadir was the father of Faisal al-Husayni, born July 17th,1940 and died May 31st 2001. Faisal was the founder and leader of Arab Studies Society and he was considered to be a possible future leader of the Palestinian people. He also served as head of Fatah organization in the West Bank and Palestinian Authority Minister for Jerusalem Affairs from his headquarters,in the Orient House.

The Nashashibi family was considered to be politically moderate compared to the more militant views of the Husayni family. The Nashashibis favoured political, rather than violent, opposition to the British mandate and Zionism. They were also willing to compromise in some areas that many Palestinians were not. For example, the Nashashibi family favoured the partition proposed by Britain.

The bickering and diverse political views of these two partisan families largely created a rift of factionalism among Arabs of the Mandated areas that crippled them in fighting the "Zionists" and this is the story of why there is no "Palestinian" country.