From: Gary Collett
To: heb_roots_chr@hebroots.org
Subject: Crash course on Arab / Israeli Conflict

CRASH COURSE ON ARAB / ISRAELI CONFLICT

The material following was written by an American Professor and worth
sharing...

HERE ARE THE BRIEF FACTS ON THE ISRAELI CONFLICT TODAY:

1. Nationhood and Jerusalem; Israel became a nation in 1312 B.C.E., two
thousand years before the rise of Islam.

2. Arab refugees in Israel began identifying themselves as part of a
Palestinian people in 1967, two decades after the establishment of the
modern State of Israel.

3. Since the Jewish conquest in 1272 B.C.E.,the Jews have had dominion over
the land for one thousand years with a continuous presence in the landfor
the past 3,300 years.

4. The only Arab dominion, since the conquest in 635 C.E.,lasted no more
than 22 years.

5. For over 3,300 years, Jerusalem has been the Jewish capital Jerusalem
hasnever been the capital of any Arab or Muslim entity. Even when the
Jordanians occupied Jerusalem, they never sought to make it their capital,
and Arab leaders did not come to visit.

6. Jerusalem is mentioned over 700 times in Tanach, the Jewish Holy
Scriptures. Jerusalem is not mentioned once in the Koran.

7. King David founded the city of Jerusalem. Mohammed never came to
Jerusalem.

8. Jews pray facing Jerusalem. Muslims pray with their backs toward
Jerusalem.

9. Arab and Jewish Refugees: In 1948 the Arab refugees were encouraged to
leave Israel by Arab leaders promising to purge the land of Jews.
Sixty-eight percent left without ever seeing an Israeli soldier.

10. Jewish refugees were forced to flee from Arab lands due to Arab
brutality, persecution and pogroms.

11. The number of Arab refugees who left Israel in 1948 is estimated to be
around 630,000. The number of Jewish refugees from Arab lands is estimatedto
be the same.

12. Arab refugees were INTENTIONALLY not absorbed or integrated into the
Arab lands to which they fled, despite the vast Arab territory. Out ofthe
100,000,000 refugees since World War II, theirs is the only refugee groupin
the world that has never been absorbed or integrated into their ownpeoples'
lands. Jewish refugees were completely absorbed into Israel, a country no
larger than the state of New Jersey.

13. The Arab - Israeli Conflict; The Arabs are represented by twenty
separate nations, not including the Palestinians. There is only one Jewish
nation. The Arab nations initiated all five wars and lost. Israeldefended
itself each time and won.

14. The P.L.O.'s Charter still calls for the destruction of the State of
Israel. Israel has given the Palestinians most of the West Bank land,
autonomy under the Palestinian Authority, and has supplied them with
weapons.

15. Under Jordanian rule, Jewish holy sites were desecrated and the Jews
were denied access to places of worship. Under Israeli rule, all Muslim and
Christian sites have been preserved and made accessible to people of all
faiths.

16. The U.N. Record on Israel and the Arabs of the 175 Security Council
resolutions passed before 1990, 97 were directed against Israel.

17. Of the 690 General Assembly resolutions voted on before 1990, 429were
directed against Israel.

18. The U.N was silent while 58 Jerusalem Synagogues were destroyed bythe
Jordanians.

19.The U.N. was silent while the Jordanians systematically desecrated the
ancient Jewish cemetery on the Mount of Olives.

20.The U.N.was silent while the Jordanians enforced an apartheid-like policy
of preventing Jews from visiting the Temple Mount and the Western Wall.

Jerusalem's role as "The Third Holiest Site in Islam" in mainstream Islamic
writings does not precede the 1930s. Jerusalem's current position was
created by the Grand Mufti Haj Amin al Husseini. In the days of the
"Prophet" Mohammed, who died in 632 of the Common Era, Jerusalem was a
Christian city within the Byzantine Empire. Jerusalem was captured by Khalif
Omar only in 638, six years after the Prophet Mohammed's death. Throughout
all this time there were only churches in Jerusalem, and a church stood on
the Temple Mount, called the Church of Saint Mary of Justinian, built in the
Byzantine architectural style.

The Mufti in the 1930s knew that nationalist slogans alone would not succeed
in uniting the masses against arriving Jewish refugees. He therefore turned
the struggle into a religious conflict. He addressed the masses clearly,
calling for a holy war. His battle cry was simple and comprehensive: "Down
with the Infidels!" From the time Herbert Samuel appointed him to the
position of Mufti, Haj Amin worked vigorously to raise Jerusalem's status as
an Islamic holy center. He renovated the mosques on the Temple Mount, while
conducting an unceasing campaign regarding the imminent Jewish "threat" to
Moslem holy sites.

The Moslem "claim" to Jerusalem is based on what is written in the Koran,
which although Jerusalem is not mentioned even once, nevertheless talks (in
Sura 17:1) of the "Furthest Mosque": "Glory be unto Allah who did take his
servant for a journey at night from the Sacred Mosque to the Furthest
Mosque." But is there any foundation to the Moslem argument that this
"Furthest Mosque" (Al-Masujidi al-Aksa) refers to what is today called the
Aksa Mosque in Jerusalem? The answer is, none whatsoever.

The Aksa Mosque was built 20 years after the Dome of the Rock, which was
built in 691-692 by Khalif Abd El Malik. The name "Omar Mosque" is therefore
a misnomer. In or around 711, or about 80 years after the Prophet Mohammed
died, Malik's son, Abd El-Wahd - who ruled from 705-715 - reconstructed the
destroyed Christian-Byzantine Church of St. Mary and converted it into a
mosque. He left the structure as it was, a typical Byzantine "basilica"
structure with a row of pillars on either side of the rectangular "ship" in
the center. All he added was an onion-like dome on top of the building to
make it look like a mosque. He then named it El-Aksa, so it would sound like
the one mentioned in the Koran.

Therefore it is historically clear that Prophet Mohammed could never have
had this mosque in mind when he compiled the Koran, since it did not exist
for another three generations after his death. Rather, as many scholars long
ago established, Mohammed intended the mosque in Medina as El Aksa, the
"Furthest Mosque." This is another instance where religious reproof and
instruction is being twisted for political gains. Source:

http://www.gamla.org.il/english/article/2001/jan/win2.htm

Food for thought...
Blessings, --Gary and Debra

(Dr. GR Collett)

*Hebraic Roots Learning Center
PO Box 11388, Jerusalem 91113, Israel

*Jerusalem Ministries International
USA Offices: PO Box 1667, Everett, Wa. 98201

*USA and Israeli non-profit organizations

************************************************************

From:Gary Collett
To: heb_roots_chr@hebroots.org
Subject: Jerusalem!

CRASH COURSE ON ARAB / ISRAELI CONFLICT (PART II)

Israel's fight for survival:

1. Pre-state: Arab attacks on existing Jewish communities --1921,
1929, 1936-9, 1947.

2. War of Independence (First Arab-Israeli War) 1948-9.

3. Fedeyeen attacks --1949-56

4. Sinai Campaign --1956

5. Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) formed and terrorist warbegins
against Israel 1964 (Three years before so-called "occupied territories" concept).

6. Six Day War --1967

7. War of Attrition at the Suez Canal -- 1969-70

8. Yom Kippur War -- 1973

9. International terrorism e.g. Entebbe -- 1976

10. Lebanese wars -- 1978

11. PLO/Hamas/Tanzim Terrorists -- 1987-to present

12. Iraqi SCUD Attacks -- 1991

Other than the Jewish people in the Biblical lands there has been no
other creation of a sovereign state and Jerusalem has not been the
sovereign capital of any empire since the time of King David.
Historical records show there has always been a Jewish presence in the
Land! The Land Covenant for the Jewish People is described in Genesis
17:7,8: "And I will establish My covenant between Me and you and your
descendants after you in their generations, for an everlasting
covenant, to be God to you and your descendants after you. Also I
give to you and your descendants after you the land in which you are a
stranger, all the land of Canaan, as an everlasting possession; and I
will be their God." The only requirement on which this "covenant" is
based is circumcision! And ironically enough it is on that very basis
that the Jewish People were identified throughout the centuries by
which they gained persecution!

For your consideration I am including a paper written by the Attorney
who came to help us on the main project we are involved with in
Israel.

Sovereignty to G-d?
Legal Analysis and Implications

The problem of Jerusalem and the Temple Mount is so complicated that
everyone is desperate and some are thinking to send this problem back
to its source, i.e. to G-d. Recently Bill Clinton, Osni Mubarak,
Abraham Burg, Ehud Olmert, Denis Ross proposed that sovereignty should
be given to G-d. Also did the late King Hussein.

For European statesmen any agreed compromise is acceptable as long as
their interests are not prejudiced and to confer sovereignty to G-d
serves their interest: all humans, being G-d's children, have a direct
lien to Jerusalem. Consequently, Jerusalem has not only become
international but supranational.

Non-believers are certainly uneasy with such a strange idea: how could
sovereignty belong to someone who does not exist. Pantheists must be
puzzled. For Polytheiststhe earthly conflicts are not solved but
transposed to a higher degree in heavens: thus the fight for
sovereignty over Jerusalem will continue between the various gods.

Jurists, accustomed to analyze legal questions "rationally", are at
loss; the attributes, legal personality and powers of the Almighty
have no relevant legal doctrine or precedent, except in monotheist
religions.

The concept of giving sovereignty over Jerusalem to G-d is from the
legal point of view very interesting and the result is astonishing:
G-d gave sovereignty back to humans.

The Almighty's sovereignty over Jerusalem should not raise
difficulties in International Law: International Law's scholars
sustain that "natural law" derived from divine law (Manual of the
Terminology of Public International Law (Peace) and International
Organizations by Dr. I. Paenson, Bruylant, 1983, p. 18).

Who can be sovereign according to International Law? English Jurist J.
Austin (1789-1859) states that a sovereign is: "a determinate
individual or body of individuals, owing no allegiance to any body
laying down the law i.e. a command which obliges to follow a rule of
conduct which is obeyed by determinate inferior beings, on pain of
sanctions". This earthly legal criteria does not seem to be entirely
applicable since G-d cannot be reduced to an individual or body of
individuals. But for the believers G-d is the real sovereign.

Which laws to apply? When the parties involved in the negotiation on
Jerusalem confer sovereignty to the Almighty they should take into
account that G-d's rules become thereby applicable. The Bible, the New
Testament and the Koran contain rules of conduct as well as sanctions
to be applied. The Creator being eternal, the laws given are
considered eternal. The Bible is very meticulous and certain laws
contained therein are difficult to comprehend while others are beyond
human understanding but the experience of scholars of Jewish Law since
3.500 years should be helpful to apply the applicable rules. G-d
ordered to appoint (human) judges to apply these laws. But should the
appointed judges in Jerusalem apply Jewish Law only? What about
Canonic Law or the Law according to the Koran? The only sources
available are the holy scriptures of the three religions.

Here are some excerpts from the Bible, the New Testament and the Koran
in chronological order: " For the love of Zion, I shall not keep
silent, for Jerusalem's sake I will not rest until her vindication go
forth as brightness and its liberation as a burning torch " (Isaiah
62: 1). "Break forth into joy, sing together you waste places of
Jerusalem for the Lord has comforted his people, he has redeemed
Jerusalem " (Isaiah 52: 9). "I shall gather you from all countries and
shall bring you back on your own land....I shall put within you my
spirit and I shall cause you to follow my statutes and keep my laws"
(Ezekiel 36: 23-27). (Emphasis added)

From these excerpts it clearly appears that Jewish Law, not limited
to Jerusalem, is applicable. According to the New Testament the Law of
Moses should also apply in Jerusalem: "Think not that I have come to
abolish the law or the prophets; I have come not to abolish them but
to fulfill them" (Matthew 5: 17). " For truly, I say it to you, till
heaven and earth will pass away, not an iota, not a dot will be erased
from the Law (of Moses), until all is accomplished" (Matthew 5: 18).
"Whoever then suppresses one of the least of these commandments and
teaches men so, shall be called least in the Kingdom of Heaven; but he
who does them and teaches them shall be called great in the Kingdom of
Heaven" (Matthew 5:19).

Most surprisingly the Koran give the "jurisdiction" to the Jews:
"We chose them (Children of Israel) on the basis of knowledge, above
the worlds; and gave them such signs as constituted an experience
manifest " (Koran - Surah 44, 32 - 33). "We bestowed upon the Children
of Israel the Book, the Jurisdiction and the Prophet hood; We provided
them with good things and gave them precedence over the worlds "
(Koran - Surah 45, 16). (Emphasis added)

In addition to the extent of G-d's delegation of power to the
"Children of Israel" does the Koran underline the boundary of the
Land? The answer is positive: "And We caused the people (Jews) who had
been oppressed to inherit the east and west of the (Holy) land on
which We had bestowed blessing; the good word of the Lord was
fulfilled upon the Children of Israel for their patience..." (Koran -
Surah 7, 137). " O, my people, enter the Holy land which Allah hath
written down as yours and turn not back, to your rearward so as to be
rendered losers "(Koran - Surah 5, 21) " There after We said to the
Children of Israel: "Dwell in the land, and when the promise of the
Hereafter comes, We shall bring you all in a brunch" " (Koran - Surah
17, 104) (emphasis added).

The intention of those who proposed to confer sovereignty to G-d, was
indeed to make sure that no earthly power exercise sovereignty
exclusively over Jerusalem. But giving the sovereignty over Jerusalem
to G-d, legally implies that Jewish Law must apply. Are Jews,
Christian and Muslim inhabitants of the Holy city ready for that?
_______________________
Michel A. CALVO - Attorney
Doctor in Law of International
Organizations and International
Economic Relations

Certainly this is all food for thought as the dividing lines are
drawing tighter! Blessings, --Gary

(Dr. GR Collett)

*Hebraic Roots Learning Center
PO Box 11388, Jerusalem 91113, Israel

*Jerusalem Ministries International
USA Offices: PO Box 1667, Everett, Wa. 98201

*USA and Israeli non-profit organizations

**************************************************************

From: James Trimm
To: heb_roots_chr@hebroots.org
Subject: Quran supports Jewish Israel and 3rd Temple

QURAN SUPPORTS JEWISH ISRAEL AND 3RD TEMPLE

THE FOLLOWING SHOULD NOT BE MISUNDERSTOOD AS AN
ENDORCEMENT OF THE QURAN:

Most people know that the Temple Mount in Jerusalem is Holy to both
Jews and Muslims. Many people have been led to believe that the
location is equally important to both religions. This is actually not
the case. The Temple Mount is the central holy location in Judaism.
The central holy location for Islam is the Ka'aba Shrine at Mecca. So
why is the Temple Mount in Jerusalem holy to Islam? This location is
deemed as holy in Islam because Mohamed is believed by Muslims to have
been transported there in a vision. This vision is recorded in Surah
17 of the Quran. However if most Muslim's REALLY studied the Quran
they would understand what Surah 17 actually teaches about the Temple
Mount in Jerusalem.

Ayeh 8 in Surah 17 (Bani Israil) is the Quran's prescription for the
Jewish return to the land of Israel and the building of the Third
Temple (given the first and 2nd Temples referred to in verses 1 to 7
of Surah 17) on the Temple Mount where al-Aqsa and Dome of the Rock
are.

The Quran claims that when Mohamed was taken to the Temple Mount in
Jerusalem, he saw a Third Temple actually standing there. He saw this
the Quran says in ayeh 1 becaus Allah was showing him his "signs." :

Glorified be He Who carried His servant [Mohamed] by night
from the Inviolable Temple [in Mecca]
to the far distant Temple [Jerusalem]
the neighbourhood whereof We have blessed,
that We might show him [Mohamed] Our signs!
Behold, He, only He, is the Hearer, the Seer.

Ayeh 5 speaks of the Babylonian captivity and the destruction of the
First Temple:

So when the time for the first of the two [Temples] came,
We roused against you slaves of Ours of great might
who ravaged (your) country,
and it was a threat performed.

Ayeh 6 speaks of the return from the Babylonian captivity and the
building of the Second Temple:

Then We gave you once again your turn against them,
and We aided you with wealth and children
and made you more in solidarity.

Ayeh 7 speaks of the destruction of the Second Temple:

(Saying): If you do good, you do good for your own souls,
and if you do evil, it is for them (likewise).
So when the time for the second (of the judgements) came
(We roused against you others of Our slaves) to ravage you,
and to enter the Temple even as they entered it the first time,
and to lay waste all that they conqured with an utter wasting.

Ayeh 8 then begins:

"It may be that your Lord will have mercy on you..."

hinting at a further return to the land and the building of a third
Temple, a Temple which the Quran says Mohamed saw as one of Allah's
signs on the Temple Mount in Jerusalem.

Then near the end of Surah 17 we read:

And We [Allah] said to the Children of Israel after him [Moses]:
Dwell in the land;
And when the promise of the hereafter comes to pass
We [Allah] shall bring you [Children of Israel] as a crowd
gathered out of various nations.
(Quran Surah 17:104)

Thus the Quran seems to say that the Jewish return to the land and the
building of the Third Temple SHOULD be seen by the Islamic world as a
prophetic sign of Allah's sovereign mercy upon the Children of Israel
and that Allah has promised the Children of Israel that they will be
regatered from the nations to dwell in the land! Moreover the Quran
teaches that the very reason this loaction is "blessed" is because the
building of a third Temple there will be a "sign" that Allah has had
mercy on the Children of Israel and gathered them out of various
nations to dwell in the land!

James Trimm

************************************************************