FactsOfIsrael.com covers the basic facts on the State of Israel and the Middle East. This includes Maps, the History of the region, Statistics, and more. We also post articles related to the Victims of Palestinian Terrorism, Anti-Semitism, Jewish History, and also a bit of Humor, News and Opinions.

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Video: Ilan Ramon, first Israeli astronaut, and crew from space shuttle Columbia see Israel from space (02.08.2003)


MultimediaI have just received an amazing video that shows Ilan Ramon, the first Israeli astronaut, and the rest of the crew of the space shuttle Columbia, while they comment on seeing Israel... from space:




The State of Israel seen from Space


In the video, you can see astronaut and hero David Brown, while the space shuttle crew comments on their flight over Egypt, the Sinai Peninsula and Israel.

For more information on Ilan Ramon and the space shuttle Columbia please read:

NASA sends first Israeli astronaut into space

Israeli Astronaut takes with him into space
a small pencil drawing made by a
14-year-old killed in Auschwitz

Tragedy over Texas skies: seven astronauts killed
in explosion of space shuttle Columbia

Artist Barry Munden creates painting in
memory of Ilan Ramon and Peter Ginz


I copy the full video below - special thanks to Gary Fremont and his sister-in-law Donna for sending me a copy of the video.

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FBI looking for 5 Arab Muslim men (12.29.2002)


Palestinian TerrorismThe FBI is looking for the following 5 Arab Muslim men:





http://www.fbi.gov/terrorinfo/122002si.htm

The United States Government is seeking information regarding the whereabouts of the individuals shown above.

IF YOU HAVE ANY INFORMATION CONCERNING THESE PERSONS, PLEASE CONTACT YOUR LOCAL FBI OFFICE OR THE NEAREST AMERICAN EMBASSY OR CONSULATE.

ROBERT S. MUELLER, III
DIRECTOR
FEDERAL BUREAU OF INVESTIGATION
UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE
WASHINGTON, D.C. 20535
TELEPHONE: (202) 324-3000


Thanks to LGF for the link.

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BBC reporters continue to support Palestinian terrorism (08.13.2002)


OpinionThe Jerusalem Post (www.jpost.com) has posted more examples on how the English BBC reporters "are full-throated partisans in covering the Israeli-Palestinian crisis, acting as outright advocates of the Palestinian cause instead of neutral purveyers of information".

One striking gauge of the bias is the discrepancy in treatment of Palestinian versus Israeli spokesmen by BBC interviewers. Deep indulgence is routinely afforded Palestinian officials, while Israelis who defend the actions of their government are often verbally pounded in hostile, aggressive interviews. [...]

In particular, no reference was made to Shaath's recent baseless and incendiary charges that Israel had massacred 500 Palestinians in Jenin and had engaged in summary executions and the removal of corpses in refrigerated trucks. Coincidentally, only days before the BBC broadcast, the United Nations had issued a report definitively refuting Palestinian allegations that Israel committed a "massacre" in its April incursion into Jenin to uproot terror bases. [...]

In reply to Meir's statement that Israel treats "human life in a different way than the Palestinians are doing," an indignant Brodie demanded: "I'm sorry, what did you say? You say that you treat human life in a different way to the Palestinians?" Meir stood his ground answering: "Absolutely, absolutely. We don't send suicide bombers to put nails in the heads of teenagers This is what the Palestinians are doing." Unmoved, Brodie then assailed Israeli military efforts as counterproductive, declaring "there is no military solution."


I think the fact that reporters that work for the BBC tend to be European leftists makes them full supporters of the Palestinian cause. They ignore the historical context, the refusal of peace by Arafat and his thugs, the thousands of terrorist attacks and dozens of suicide bombers that have deliberately killed hundreds of unarmed Israeli civilians and continue in their blind hate of Israel. It also makes sense that such a message would be carried by the leftist NPR in the US (see "The deliberate killing of unarmed civilians is terrorism").

Thank God Europe is not a super power anymore and is irrelevant in the outcome of the Israeli/Arab wars.

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Arab government controlled media is racist and anti-Semitic (07.12.2002)


OpinionThe British Times (www.timesonline.co.uk) has published a great article on how Arab anti-Semitism is one of the root causes of the current conflict. This hate against Jews is also extended to hate against the West in general, and millions of Arabs/Muslims are brainwashed by the government controlled media.

Arab leaders come to Washington and London and Geneva with formulas for peace, while at home they feed their populations with similar incitements. [...]

I was aware, as we all are, that the Palestinians hate the state of Israel. What has surprised me is the virulence of this new anti-Semitism throughout all the Muslim countries. It is frenzied, vociferous, paranoid, vicious and prolific, and is only incidentally connected to the Palestinian conflict. [...]

It IS anti-Semitic to vilify the state of Israel as a diabolical abstraction, reserving tolerance for the individual Jew but not the collective Jew; it IS anti-Semitic to invent malignant outrages; it is anti-Semitic consistently to condemn in Israel what you ignore or condone elsewhere; it is, above all, anti-Semitic to de-humanise Judaism and the Jewish people such as to incite and justify their extermination. That is what we have seen thousands and thousands of times over on a preposterous scale. [...]


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Palestinian terrorist murders elderly couple and 18-year-old woman (03.31.2006)


Palestinian TerrorismJTA.org reports that a Palestinian terrorist has murdered three Israelis:

Suicide bomber kills four

3/30/2006, Link



A suicide bomber disguised as an Orthodox Jew killed four people in the West Bank.



An elderly couple had picked up the man, who was hitchhiking. The bomber killed the couple and an 18-year-old woman Thursday night as their car approached Kedumim, a settlement in the northern West Bank.



The Palestinian Authority had released the bomber from jail weeks earlier, said Gideon Meir, an Israeli Foreign Ministry spokesman. “Not only are they doing nothing to counter terrorism, they are encouraging it,” Meir said.



P.A. President Mahmoud Abbas condemned the attack, carried out by the Al Aksa Brigade, a terrorist wing of Abbas’ Fatah party. Officials of Hamas, the P.A.’s new ruling party, said they would not arrest terrorists who plan and carry out attacks.


Doing a search on news.google.com on this terrorist attack only returned 10 results. I guess a murdering Palestinian bastard killing someone's grand-parents and an 18-year old girl is not news.

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Young Jewish woman becomes captain in the U.S. Army (08.08.2004)


NewsJews in Green (www.jewsingreen.com) reports on Catherine Lev, a young Jewish woman who was born in the Soviet Union, and after her family moved to the United States, she has joined the U.S. army and now serves as a captain in Iraq:



Captain Catherine Lev, a young Jewish woman orginally
from Russia who became a captain in the US army


Captain Lev was born in Moscow in 1976. While the Soviet Union was not the most welcoming environment for Jews at the time, she was able to have an active Jewish childhood.

"I was lucky enough to attend Hebrew school and Youth Zionist camp while over there. I also participated in the Bat Mitzvah twin program and corresponded with Bat Mitzvah girls from the US and Great Britain. Talk about Jewish solidarity in action."

Her family moved to the US in 1990 and she enlisted in the Army Reserve in 1995 with only a green card. Her first MOS was Medical Supply, but she soon reclassed to Civil Affairs. After completing Fordham University School of Law and passing the New York State Bar Exam she went on active duty in the JAG corps.

Capt. Lev’s present duty station is Baumholder, Germany. However, as a part of 1st Armored Division she deployed to Iraq from May to December 2003 where she provded legal assistance to soldiers in the Baghdad area.

"Many of my clients downrange were immigrants like myself. In an effort to complete their naturalization we encountered numerous obstacles. It was always my firm conviction that American citizenship is a privilege, but I believed GI’s in Iraq earned that privilege more than anyone. During the visit of the Secretary of the Army Les Brownlee I brought my clients’ plight to his attention (and got a coin out of it). Staring October 1 this year, our embassy in Baghdad will begin conducting naturalization ceremonies for soldiers."

As if that didn’t keep Captain Lev busy enough, she managed to work on a website between assisting clients. She affectionately calls it her “Baghdad Baby.” It is a Jewish feminist website in Russian (the first of its’ kind). You can see it at www.womenofvalor.net (if you speak Russian).


Amazing - here's a young woman who was born in Communist Russia and now helps the free World and the United States to liberate Iraq and get rid of Hussein, the mass murderer fascist.

Thaks for reader T.S. who sent me the link to http://www.jewsingreen.com, an excellent site that has more examples of Jews who are serving in the United States army and making all of us proud.

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Islamic Mass Murderers kill 20 in Synagogues bombings in Istanbul (11.15.2003)


Palestinian TerrorismThe Jerusalem Post (www.jpost.com) reports that racist Islamic mass murderers (probably from Al-Qaeda) have killed 20 and injured hundreds in two car bombings in front of synagogues in Istanbul, Turkey:

At least twenty people were killed and 260 wounded in near-simultaneous bombings of two Istanbul synagogues on Saturday morning.

Two cars exploded at about 9:30am at Nevei Shalom Synagogue, the city's largest, and at Beth Israel Synagogue in the affluent district of Shishli about 5 kilometers (3 miles) away. [...]

An Israeli visitor at the scene in Shishli told Army Radio that the explosion appeared to have affected the 2nd floor more than the first, and that many of the injured are women. Television footage showed a 1.5m crater near the synagogue. [...]

Prime Minister Ariel Sharon expressed "shock and outrage" at the attacks and sent Israel's condolences to the Turkish people. The Prime Minister also said he had full confidence in Turkey's ability to find those responsible for the attacks and bring them to justice. The Bush administration condemned the atack, saying that the US would stand by its allies in the war against terrorism.


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United Nations ignores the deliberate murder of Israeli children by Arafat's Palestinian terrorists (12.28.2002)


OpinionThe Globe and Mail (www.globeandmail.com) has a good article on how low the United Nations can get:

This year's General Assembly, which ended on Friday, marked a new low in United Nations bias against Jews and the Jewish state. The three resolutions passed in its final days are a disturbing commentary.

On Wednesday, the General Assembly adopted a resolution on Palestinian children. This brings the number of resolutions on the human rights of children to three: one on the rights of the child, one on the "girl child," and one on Palestinian children -- the only children in the world subject to the specific concern of a General Assembly resolution.

With its automatic majority on the Palestinian side of the Arab-Israeli conflict, the General Assembly is able to generate large numbers of resolutions critical only of Israel. The resolution focusing only on Palestinian children, however, is a historic first, and it increases the number of General Assembly resolutions directed annually at Israel to 20. Human-rights situations in the rest of the world drew only six country-specific resolutions this year. There were no resolutions on human rights in such countries as Syria, Saudi Arabia or China.

The draft version of the resolution on Palestinian children was adopted on Nov. 15 by the General Assembly's Third Committee (which deals with social, cultural and humanitarian affairs), in the same week that a Palestinian gunman broke into a home on an Israeli kibbutz and shot to death two children -- Noam, 4, and Matan, 5 -- while their mother, Revital Ohayon, tried to hide them under her body. The al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades, linked to Yasser Arafat's Fatah movement, claimed responsibility.

In the past two years, Palestinian terrorists have repeatedly targeted Israeli children. On April 27, gunmen broke into a home west of Hebron, found five-year-old Danielle Shefi hiding under her parents' bed and shot her in the head. On May 9, 2001, Israeli students Kobi Mandell, 13, and Yossi Ish-Ran, 14, were stoned to death and their bodies mutilated in a cave south of Jerusalem. Palestinian suicide bombers have directed attacks at places where children gather, such as buses, discos and pizza parlours.

More than 100 Israeli children have been murdered and 900 wounded or maimed in the past two years alone. The General Assembly resolution, however, neither expressed concern nor made any mention of Israeli children.


The UN makes me sick. I copy the full article below.

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Some American Muslims hate America and believe the US government organized the attacks of 9/11 (08.05.2002)


OpinionNewsmax (www.newsmax.com) has an article that describes how some American Muslims hate the United States and believe that the 9/11 attacks were organized by the US government.

In late June 2002, I was flying from New York to Toronto, and two gentlemen of much facial hair and full-dress Islamic attire were seated at the gate area ready to board. [...]

He answered with an annoyed confidence that suggested one of the crescents he was fated to bear was putting up with illiterate infidels who still don't know who staged 9-11.

"It was all arranged by the United States government," he said. "Your government needed 9-11 as an excuse to take Afghanistan," he said.


Although many many American Muslims are peaceful, some do fund and support terrorist organizations like the Hamas, Al-Qaeda and the Islamic Jihad. To learn more about Americans who support Jihad, click here.

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Palestinians march in support of Iraq and Saddam Hussein, burn US and Israeli flags (08.18.2002)


NewsThe Jerusalem Post (www.jpost.com) reports that the Fatah, Arafat's umbrella group of terrorist organizations, has organized a demonstration in support of Iraq and Saddam Hussein.

The demonstrators chanted anti-US and anti-Israel slogans, burned flags of both countries and fired shots in the air, while calling on Saddam to attack Tel Aviv.

Marching through Rafah refugee camp, the demonstrators waved Palestinian flags as well as posters of Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat and Hussein.

"We are marching to Iraq, giving millions of martyrs on the way," they chanted.


The Palestinian define their genocide bombers (who blow themselves up deliberately murdering unarmed civilians, including babies and children) by using the term "martyrs". In 1991, the Palestinians fully supported Iraq in the Gulf war and cheered from their roofs as Saddam Hussein bombarded Israeli civilian centers with Scud missiles (see the History page).

Yasser Arafat is the leader of Fatah, which includes the Al-Aksa "martyrs" brigrade, responsible for dozens of genocide bombings and thousands of other terrorist attacks against unarmed Israeli and American civilians (see the Palestine page for more details).

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Palestinian Homicide/Suicide bombers threaten us all (05.24.2002)


OpinionWith the latest Palestinian homicide/suicide bombings against unarmed Israeli civilians in Rishon-Le-Zion and Netanya, Thomas Friedman's article "Suicide bombers threaten us all" is more relevant than ever.

This New York Times' article destroys the myth that Palestinians that strapp bombs to their bodies, and murder unarmed civilians, do so out of "desperation".

It also point to the heart of the current conflict: a negative approach by the Arafat and his sympathizers to the whole process. They do not think in constructive terms such as what kind of an economy or educational system they wish to build, but concentrate on what can be destroyed in Israel and how to accelerate this destruction.

Finally the article points to the danger of supporting the Palestinians in their terrorist tactics:

"Let's be very clear: Palestinians have adopted suicide bombing as a strategic choice, not out of desperation. This threatens all civilization because if suicide bombing is allowed to work in Israel, then, like hijacking and airplane bombing, it will be copied and will eventually lead to a bomber strapped with a nuclear device threatening entire nations. That is why the whole world must see this Palestinian suicide strategy defeated."

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Arafat: terrorist, liar and not a partner for peace (07.06.2002)


OpinionThe Atlantic (www.theatlantic.com) has released a brief history of Yasser Arafat, the current chairman of the Palestinian Authority.

He [Arafat] and his army have brought disorder wherever they have settled. In 1969 they based themselves in Jordan, where they soon began terrorizing the local people, running extortion rackets against businesses, and undermining the Jordanian regime. Black September followed in 1970: Jordan's King Hussein launched a huge and bloody war against the Palestinians, killing thousands and leading to the expulsion of Arafat and his army. The same sort of thing happened in Lebanon a decade later, with Palestinian thugs looting banks and destroying the local government. The Syrians finally came in to restore order, in what became known as Black June. Arafat has somehow survived his many crises—battles with the Jordanians, the Syrians, the Egyptians, the Lebanese Christians, and, of course, the Israelis. And each time, instead of being held even partly responsible for the widespread suffering his actions have caused his people, he has been lionized as the figure who will someday bring deliverance from that suffering. This is a monumental political achievement.


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It's time to bomb Saddam (01.28.2003)


HumorUS President George Bush and Secretary of State Colin Powell made a little song in anticipation of what will happen to Saddam Hussein soon:



Time to bomb Saddam


Please remember that FactsOfIsrael.com is not affiliated with any government, company, or institution. This is simply a personal attempt to give information on Israel and the Middle East.

It's time to bomb Saddam.

See below for the full animation (435Kb, Flash format).

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After supporting the butcher from Baghdad, Palestinians surprised at Saddam's collapse (04.10.2003)


NewsThe Jerusalem Post (www.jpost.com) reports that Palestinians are once again surprised and shocked that the butcher from Baghdad has fallen:

There was shock and disbelief in the West Bank and Gaza Strip Wednesday as Palestinians gathered around TV sets to watch US Marines and Iraqi residents knock down a giant statute of Saddam Hussein in Tahrir Square in central Baghdad.

"I'm stunned and appalled. I can't understand what is happening," said Rustum Abu Ghazalah, a 30-year-old shopkeeper in the center of Ramallah.

He and grim-faced fellow shopkeepers zapped from one Arab TV station to another with the hope of discovering that what they were hearing and watching was nothing more than a US-produced Hollywood film.

"This can't be true," grumbled Abu Ghazaleh. "Where are the suicide bombers? Where are the Fedayeen of Saddam? Where are the heroic Republican Guards?"

Saddam Hussein has given over 15 million dollars to the families of homicide bombers making the butcher from Baghdad very popular among the Palestinian Islamic Jihad, Hamas and Arafat's murderers from the Al-Aksa brigades. [...]

Since the beginning of the war, many Palestinians have been staging daily demonstrations in support of Saddam. The protests have often turned into anti-American and anti-British rallies where Palestinians burned effigies of US President George W. Bush and British Prime Minister Tony Blair.

At least two Palestinian groups, Fatah and Islamic Jihad, announced that they had dispatched suicide bombers to Iraq to join in the fight against the US and British troops. Hundreds of Palestinian volunteers from Lebanon, Syria and the West Bank and Gaza Strip are reported to have arrived in Iraq to participate in the fighting.


Just like they did in 1991, these delusional Palestinians fully supported the Iraqi dictator, and now they simply can't understand how the American coalition forces have crushed the Baghdad butcher.

Unfortunately, just like in 1991, Palestinians will probably not have to face the consequences of their mistakes. After the war in Iraq is over, the British will try to make amends with the UN, France and other Arab countries by sacrificing Israel's security through a so called "roadmap" to peace.

After refusing peace and murdering hundreds of Israeli women and children, Yasser Arafat and the Palestinians will be offered an independent Palestinian State. I just hope the U.S. will not forget how Palestinians burned American flags and effigies of president Bush (remember the Palestinians celebrating the death of 3,000 Americans after 9/11?).

As an Israeli, I can say that if this Palestinian State comes attached with terror and an existential threat to my family, my friends and my country, this roadmap will go nowhere. If on the other hand, the Palestinians dissolve the Islamic Jihad and Hamas, give up their dream of destroying Israel and committing genocide against her Jewish citizens, we might get somewhere.

But I doubt it.

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Florida Professor is charged with being the head of the Palestinian Islamic Jihad in the US (02.25.2003)


Palestinian TerrorismFox news (www.foxnews.com) reports that Sami Al-Arian, a former professor at the University of South Florida, has been charged with being the head of the Palestinian Islamic Jihad in the U.S.:

A Florida professor and seven other men were charged Thursday with operating a global terrorist organization that the federal government says is responsible for the deaths of 100 people in and around Israel.

University of South Florida computer engineering professor Sami Al-Arian is the North American leader of Palestinian Islamic Jihad, Attorney General John Ashcroft said in announcing the federal indictment.

The Palestinian Islamic Jihad is a U.S. government-designated foreign terrorist organization committed to homicide bombings and violent jihad activities, Ashcroft said Thursday.

"Palestinian Islamic Jihad is one of the most violent terrorist organizations in the world," he said. [...]

"Our message to them and others like them is clear," Ashcroft said. "We make no distinction to those who carry out terror attacks and those who finance and manage [them]."

The indictment says the group's purpose is to destroy Israel and end all U.S. and Western influence in the region and that it rejected peaceful solutions to the Palestinian quest for a homeland in the Middle East and embraced "the Jihad solution and the martyrdom style as the only choice for liberation."

The group's manifesto calls the United States "the Great Satan America."


The Palestinian Islamic Jihad is responsible for the deliberate murder of hundreds of women and children. It's a fascist, intolerant and racist group, whose only goal is to destroy Israel and the U.S. and to kill as many people as possible. Click here for a list of Palestinian homicide bombings since October 2000, when the Palestinians rejected peace and turned (again) to violence and terrorism

Back in August 2002, we reported on this Palestinian professor, whose brother-in-law, Mazen al-Najjar, has been deported for supporting terrorism (click here to read more on "Palestinian U.S. professor screams "Death to Israel!"). What a family.

Also, please click here for Stephen Emerson's book "American Jihad: The Terrorists living among us". Mr. Emerson also mentions the Palestinian professor in his book.

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