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.

Random Fact:

Fact 260: "An opinion poll released by Palestinians in June 2002 showed that a majority of Palestinians (60%) believe the aim of their homicide/suicide bombings against Israeli women and children is to eliminate Israel and not just end Israeli occupation in the West Bank and Gaza Strip."

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Arafat's Promises (05.17.2002)


OpinionI think that by now very few people believe that Arafat, the chairman of the Palestinian Authority, will do anything to stop the Islamic Jihad, the Hamas, or other Palestinian terrorists from killing innocent Israeli civilians.

How could he stop the terrorist activites when he's also organizing them through his own terrorist groups (Tanzim, Al-Aqsa's martyrs brigrade, etc...)?

A couple of cartoons that appeared lately in the National Post and the Milwaukee Journal capture this sentiment:



Gary Clement
The National Post, May 10, 2002


Gary Markstein
The Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel, May 9, 2002


To learn more about Arafat's terrorist groups, click here

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Donate to Israel's army - One Day to Say Thanks (12.03.2002)


NewsAs I write this, I am listening to Rita, a famous Israeli singer, do her part on this year's "Shirotrom". The name "Shirotrom" is a combination of "Shir", or sing, and "Litrom", or to donate.



One Day to Say Thanks - Shirotrom 2002


It's basically a one day event with performances from Israel's most famous artists. During the day you can make donations to the IDF, the Israel Defense Forces, to help our brave Israeli soldiers.

Today's Shirotrom motto is "One day to say thanks".

The number to donate in Israel is *3399 from any phone. In the United States, please call 1-866-209-3761 - they accept credit cards (they'll answer in Hebrew, but they also speak English).

I just made my donation - please help our brave girls and boys who are risking their lives in fighting Palestinian terror. When you donate you are getting a lot for your money: Israel exists today because of our soldiers.

If you speak Hebrew, you can listen to the Shirotrom live on Galei Tzahal (Israel's Army Radio) at
http://glz.msn.co.il/. If you are an Israeli living in the US, there's also "The Israeli Network", or Israeli TV by satellite at www.theisraelinetwork.com - they are showing this year's Shirotrom live as well.

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Palestinian homicide/suicide bomber kills 2-year-old and 6 other Israeli unarmed civilians (06.19.2002)


Palestinian TerrorismThe Jerusalem Post (www.jpost.com) reports that a Palestinian homicide/suicide bomber blew himself near a bus stop in Jerusalem, killing a 2-year-old baby and 6 others, and wounding more than 40 unarmed Israeli civilians.

The Fatah's "Raed Karmi Branch" of the Aksa Martyrs Brigades took responsibility for the attack, in a telephone call to Abu Dhabi satellite TV, and Hizbullah's Al-Manar satellite TV, in Lebanon.

"Zionists, leave our land because we will not stop our operations as long as there is an occupation," said the statement.


The Fatah is an umbrella group of Palestinian organizations that report directly to Yasser Arafat. This is the second homicide/suicide bombing executed by one of Arafat's terrorist groups in the last 24 hours - the Palestinian Authority's condemnation of these murders is simply ridiculous.

I copy the full article below.

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Please help the victims of the earthquake and resulting tsunamis of East Africa and South Asia (12.31.2004)


NewsThis story has not much to do with Israel or Jewish History, but we must do what we can to help. If you can afford it, please click here to donate to the American Red Cross Disaster Relief. Your donation will be process through Amazon.com, a reliable online bookstore, who will forward 100% of your donation to the American Red Cross. Here's more info on the disaster:

At least 120,000 people have lost their lives in East Africa and South Asia in the aftermath of the earthquake and resulting tsunamis on December 26.

Thousands of people in Sri Lanka, India, Thailand, and Indonesia are still missing; many others have lost their homes and livelihoods. Sri Lanka and Indonesia suffered the highest number of deaths, but India, East Africa, Seychelles, Maldives, and Thailand were all affected by the tsunami waves, which reached as high as 20 feet.

Aid workers and volunteers are focused on stopping the spread of disease and delivering food and drinking water to survivors. The American Red Cross reports that emergency assessment and first-aid teams were on the ground quickly and are already working with local groups to support relief efforts.

Your financial donation will help provide medicine, clothing, food, and shelter for victims of the East Africa and South Asia earthquake and tsunami disaster. One hundred percent of your donation will go to the American Red Cross. Thanks in advance for your participation during this critical time. The American Red Cross name is used with its permission. For more information about the American Red Cross, please call 1‑800 HELP NOW or e-mail info@usa.redcross.org.


I have donated $100, and currently over 132,476 people have already donated over 10 million dollars ($10,440,878.72). Please do what you can to help. To donate, point your browser to:

http://s1.amazon.com/paypage/PX3BEL97U9A4I/104-2560500-4275918


I copy below an amateur video that shows how strong the tsunami was.

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80% of Israeli fatalities are unarmed civilians, most Palestinian fatalities are armed violent men (08.10.2002)


Palestinian TerrorismThe International Policy Institute for Counter-Terrorism (www.ict.org.il) has published a statistical analysis of Palestinian and Israeli fatalities since Arafat and his thugs refused peace and started to murder unarmed Israeli civilians in October of 2000.

Here are some interesting facts:





* 80% of the Israeli fatalities were non-combattants, unarmed civilians.
* 30% of the Israeli fatalities were women.
* 2% of the Israeli fatalities were killed by Israeli actions, by mistake.
* 30% of the Israeli fatalities were non-combattants over the age of 39.





* 54% of the Palestinian fatalities were combattants, mostly armed men.
* 3% of the Palestinian fatalities were women.
* 14% of the Palestinian fatalities were killed by the Palestinians themselves, for "collaborating" with the enemy.
* 5% of the Palestinian fatalities victims were non-combattants over the age of 39.

Most media outlets will report something like this: "The latest clashes in the Middle East have claimed the lives of 1574 Palestinians and 599 Israelis".

This moral equivalency of mixing up armed Palestinian terrorists, whose goal is to murder unarmed civilians, with Israeli women and kids, whose crime is simply to breathe, is shocking.

I copy below the breakdown of Fatalities from 9/27/2000 through 8/6/2002. For a more detailed statistical analysis of the fatalities, see also "An Engineered Tragedy: Statistical Analysis of Fatalities".

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Palestinian and Israeli wife helped homicide/suicide bomber (05.30.2002)


NewsI just heard on Israeli radio (http://bet.iba.org.il) that an Israeli citizen helped a Palestinian homicide/suicide bomber in last week's terrorist attack on Rishon Le-Zion.

"The gag order over the arrest of Ibrahim Sarhana, a resident of the Dehaishe refugee camp and his wife Marina Pinsky, an Israeli citizen, on suspicion that they aided a suicide bomber to arrive in Rishon Letzion last week, has been lifted Thursday.

Pinsky, a Jewish citizen of Israel who had immigrated to Israel 11 years ago, confessed to the allegations as well."


Correction: Ha'aretz reports that contradictory to previous reports, the woman who aided the suicide bomber who carried out the suicide bombing in Rishon Letzion on May 22 is not Marina Pinsky - a Jewish Israeli - but rather Irena Polichuk, a non-Jew who arrived in Israel several years ago and worked as a prostitute.


Click here to see the report on the original homicide/suicide bombing, where two unarmed civilians were killed and over 50 wounded.

I copy the full article and the correction below.

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The 'War on Terror' is the 'War on Islamic Fascists' (05.18.2004)


OpinionThe National Review (www.nationalreview.com) has published a good article on the war against Islamic terrorism, written by Andrew C. McCarthy, a former chief assistant U.S. attorney who led the 1995 terrorism prosecution against Sheik Omar Abdel Rahman and eleven others after the bombings at the WTC in 1993:

Most significant of all, the "War on Terror" is our government's top rhetorical catch-phrase. It is the way we define for the American people and the world — especially the Islamic world — what we are doing, and what we are about. It is the way we explain the nature of the menace that we are striving to defeat.

But is it accurate? Does it make sense? More importantly, does it serve our purposes? Does it make victory more identifiable, and hence more attainable? I humbly suggest that it fails on all these scores. This, furthermore, is no mere matter of rhetoric or semantics. It is all about substance, and it goes to the very core of our struggle.

Terrorism is not an enemy. It is a method. It is the most sinister, brutal, inhumane method of our age. But it is nonetheless just that: a method. You cannot, and you do not, make war on a method. War is made on an identified — and identifiable — enemy.

In the here and now, that enemy is militant Islam — a very particular practice and interpretation of a very particular set of religious, political and social principles.

Now that is a very disturbing, very discomfiting thing to say in 21st-century America. It is very judgmental. It sounds very insensitive. It is the very definition of politically incorrect. Saying it aloud will not get you invited to chat with Oprah. But it is a fact. And it is important both to say it and to understand it.


Read the whole thing, it's excellent. Found the article at the excellent LGF. I copy the full article below.

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Camp for Israeli families of victims of Palestinian terrorism (10.30.2002)


VictimsA few weeks ago, I posted a video that showed on how some Israeli children attended a summer camp for those who have lost a brother, sister, or parent murdered by a Palestinian terrorist.

The Christian Science Monitor (www.christiansciencemonitor.com) follows up with a good article on how the victims are coping with their losses:

They were neighbors. They were counselors in the same youth group. They even shared the same initials. And they were heading to a meeting for their volunteer work when they stopped off to get a slice of pizza in downtown Jerusalem. There, a year ago Aug. 9, a Palestinian suicide bomber blew himself up in a Sbarro restaurant, killing both of them and 13 others. [...]

We're left with a very big hole in our lives," says Arnold Roth, who was the father of seven until 15-year-old Malki – a pillar of a middle child and a classical flautist – was killed 14 months ago.

"In my family, no one wants to bring it up because it's liable to trigger responses that we don't want to deal with," he says as his intense, hazel-eyed daughter, Pesi, 10, slips into the chair next to him and wraps small fingers around his hand. "The loneliness of it is offset by talking to other families, because what we're hearing is [that] the same issues keep coming up again and again." [...]

Miriam Sarah [15], who sustained serious injuries in the Sbarro bombing that killed her sister Yochevet, dismisses her mother's worrying as pointless. "I just tell her that if I'm going out anyway, what good will fear do? It can happen anywhere."


I copy below the full article.

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Racist, anti-Semitic web site, tops Google search results on "Jews" (04.01.2004)


Anti-SemitismThe Jerusalem Post (www.jpost.com) reports that if you search for the term "Jew" on Google.com you'll get a racist site that calls for the murder of Jews:

What is a Jew? Those hoping to find out from a Google search are in for an unpleasant surprise. The first of 1.75 million entries that appear when you type "Jew" into the search engine is an anti-Semitic site.

This discovery by a New York real-estate developer, among others, has sparked a cyberspace showdown, and a bid to alter the situation by a small band of Internet experts.

While surfing the Web from his New York home, real-estate investor Steven Weinstock was shocked to find Jew Watch, filled with propaganda similar to that used by the Nazis. "At first I felt surprised, and then those feelings turned to shock," he said.

What upset him most is not that hatemongers might be publishing such lies, but that any person looking to find out about Judaism would be offered choices such as the "Jewish Controlled Press," "Jewish World Conspiracies," "Jewish Media Lies," and "Jewish Banking and Financial Manipulations." Under one of the categories, titled "Revisionists – 6,000,000 Jews DID NOT DIE," there are dozens of links to articles dedicated to Holocaust revisionism.


Google is not to blame for this - its algorithms are not racist and have not specifically chosen the above site on purpose. That said, I wonder what Google developers would think if someone typed in "American" and Google placed an Al-Qaeda site as the first returned result.

Weinstock has been working to get rid of the site. Last Saturday, he launched his own Web site, called Remove Jew Watch, containing a petition which received more than 3,000 signatures in its first 48 hours – 1,500 on Monday alone.


Let's help Mr. Weinstock: please sign the petition at www.removejewwatch.com, and if you have a website or blog, please link to removejewwatch.com as well.

I copy the full article below.

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San Jose Mercury News never mentions "Terrorism" when Israelis are murdered (08.28.2004)


Media BiasHonest Reporting (www.honestreporting.com) has conducted a "San Jose Mercury News Terror Study". Articles from the "San Jose Mercury News" (a newspaper based in the San Francisco Bay Area, in California) describing terrorist attacks from Al-Qaeda, the Palestinian Islamic Jihad and other Islamic mass murderers were analyzed from August 1, 2003 to December 31, 2003; a clear anti-Israel bias appeared:

[...] Focusing on just the most prominent parts of articles, we documented 108 headlines and 125 lead paragraphs that applied the terror label to specific acts of violence, aggressors, countermeasures, and legal aspects in China, India, Indonesia, Iraq, Russia, Turkey, the United States, and elsewhere [ed note: except Israel].

A form of the word terror appeared in 13 headlines about specific attacks, and 10 headlines on planned or suspected attacks. The lead paragraph in 26 articles about specific attacks included the word "Terrorist" [T-word]. In 17 first-day stories the headline and/or lead paragraph identified the attack and/or those responsible as terrorist.

Notable examples include:

▪ An August 2 lead paragraph called a suicide bombing that killed at least 35 at a military hospital "Russia's deadliest terrorist attack this year."

▪ An August 8 headline determined that the civilian target of a car bomb attack of the Jordanian embassy in Baghdad "indicates terrorists at work." The lead sentence announced that the car bomb "has brought terrorism to the heart of Iraq's capital."

▪ A September 4 headline and lead sentence blamed suspected "Chechen terrorists" for a train bombing that killed four in southern Russia. [...]

During the same period there were many attacks against civilians in Israel, the West Bank, and Gaza, including:

▪ August 19: A suicide bomber killed 18 and injured over 100 in Jerusalem.
▪ September 9: Two suicide bombers, one near Rishon Letzion, the other in Jerusalem, killed at least 13.
▪ October 4: A suicide bomber killed at least 19 in Haifa.

No Mercury News headline identified any of these incidents as terrorism. An August 20 story, a peripheral piece focusing on media coverage, was the only first-day article that identified an attack against civilians in Israel as terrorist. Of 151 articles about Israelis and Palestinians, only one other lead paragraph contained terror terminology, and one other story labeled any specific anti-Israeli attack as terrorist.


No wonder so many leftists in the San Francisco Bay Area follow in the path of their European counterpart, hating Israel and wishing for its destruction.

The bias from the San Francisco Chronicle and San Jose Mercury News is clear. Don't let these unscrupulous story-tellers get away with such bias: stop buying the San Francisco Chronicle and San Jose Mercury News and let them know at subscription_support@sfgate.com or at letters@mercurynews.com.

I copy the full study below - it includes a lot more information and detailed headlines and stories that show the bias pouring out of the San Jose Mercury News.

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Israel's fight against Palestinian terrorism is working (06.10.2002)


NewsThe Jerusalem Post (www.jpost.com) reports that two Palestinians who were ready to murder unarmed Israeli civilians (including kids) in homicide/suicide operations were arrested yesterday by the IDF (Israel's army).

Two would-be Palestinian suicide bombers, the head of Islamic Jihad in Ramallah, and 30 Palestinians affiliated with Hamas, Tanzim, and Islamic Jihad were arrested by soldiers and border policemen operating inside Ramallah since early yesterday morning, the IDF reported.

Yesterday afternoon security forces also discovered two cars rigged with tens of kilograms of explosives ready to be used in a terrorist attack against Israeli targets. Inside the vehicles were found Israeli identity cards and Palestinian Authority documents.


Hamas and Islamic Jihad are two Palestinian terrorist groups whose only purpose is to destroy the State of Israel and create an Islamic Palestinian State instead. The Tanzim is one of Arafat's terrorist groups.

I copy the full article below.

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Security Fence will keep Palestinian Terrorists out (05.20.2002)


NewsFinally, it has been decided that a security fence will be built along Israel's borders with the West Bank (see the maps page for details)

This fence has been the subject of many discussions in Israel, and while some don't think it will stop the Palestinian homicide/suicide bombings completely, it will certainly help.

I think the strategy will be to stop as many Palestinian homicide/suicide bombers as you can while at the same time, you continue going after them inside the West Bank or Gaza. Don't let them build their infrastructure of terror, and make them realize that wishing for the destruction of Israel or the killing of unarmed civilians will lead them nowhere.

Give them only one option: to accept the State of Israel as a de-facto reality, and to decide to live in peace and stop the terrorist attacks. Then the Palestinians will be offered a State of their own, and I hope this time around they accept it.

"It has been decided to construct a continuous, 364-km. long fence, including around Jerusalem. The decision is accompanied by a timetable for implementation in the shortest possible time," Atar told reporters after the meeting.

"This is an electronic fence, the components of which have been prepared in accordance with the specifications prepared by the army. The important thing is that it will be a clear statement regarding ongoing security along the length of the fence," said Atar

I copy the full article below.

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US will veto any anti-Israeli UN resolution that does not mention Palestinian terrorism (07.27.2002)


NewsThe Jerusalem Post (www.jpost.com) reports that the US will veto any one-sided UN resolution against Israel that does not mention Palestinian terrorism.

In a major policy shift, the United States told the Security Council on Friday it will only consider Mideast resolutions that explicitly condemn Palestinian terrorism and call on both sides to seek a political solution to 22 months of bloodshed, according to a U.S. official. [...]

The council was meeting in closed session to discuss a resolution circulated by the Palestinians that condemns Israel and expresses sympathy for Palestinian victims. The proposal doesn't mention Israeli victims or Palestinians attacks such as one earlier Friday in which four people were killed when Palestinian gunmen opened fire on two Israeli cars.

The United States, which acts as Israel's protector in the Security Council, has used its powerful veto against similar resolutions in the past but never laid out conditions for consideration of resolutions.

According to the official, Negroponte told council members that future Mideast resolutions must include a condemnation of terrorism and explicit condemnation of the militant groups Hamas, Islamic Jihad and the Al Aksa Martyr's Brigade _ which is linked to Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat. Any resolution to be considered by the United States also would need to call on both parties to pursue a political, as opposed to a military, solution to the conflict.


This is great news - I particualrly like the fact that Fatah and the Al-Aksa brigades were mentioned. The Al-Aksa brigades are responsible for hundreds of terrorists attacks and suicide bombings and it directly reports to Yasser Arafat. It's time for European and American leftists to wake up and admit that Arafat and his thugs organize and support their terrorist organizations.

I copy the full article below.

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Israel's army enters Nablus to stop the Palestinian murderers from Hamas and Islamic Jihad (11.13.2002)


NewsIsrael Insider (www.israelinsider.com) reports that the Palestinian terrorists from the Hamas, Islamic Jihad and Arafat's Al-Aksa brigades will have to face the consequences for deliberately murdering women and children:



One of Israel's tanks in Nablus


Large contingents of IDF Paratroopers, Armored Corps and engineering units swept into Nablus early Wednesday morning as part of Israel's response to the deadly terror attack at Kibbutz Metzer on Sunday night, in which five Israelis were murdered. The army focused on the casbah market in the center of the northern West Bank city and on the nearby Balata refugee camp, where Hamas and Tanzim terrorists have resurrected their terror networks. [...]

Security officials described Nablus as a "hothouse for terrorists." The recent terror attacks at Emanuel, Ariel and Kfar Saba originated in Nablus-based terror cells. In addition, security forces recently thwarted the attempts of five suicide bombers to leave on their terror missions from the city.

Shortly after midnight Israeli troops took up forward positions around Nablus to prevent wanted terror suspects from attempting to escape. At about 2 a.m. the major IDF incursion began, with tanks, armored personnel carriers and bulldozers entering the city from a number of directions backed up by IAF helicopters. Palestinian sources reported as many as 100 tanks and armored personnel carriers entering the city.


I copy the full article below.

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Tragedy over Texas skies: seven astronauts killed in explosion of space shuttle Columbia (02.01.2003)


NewsCNN (www.cnn.com) reports that this morning, a tragedy has occurred over the skies of Texas:

HOUSTON, Texas (CNN) -- Seven astronauts were killed today when space shuttle Columbia broke up about 38 miles above Texas on its way to Kennedy Space Center in Florida.

President Bush said in a televised address to the nation Saturday the news had brought "great sadness to our country," but pledged, "Our journey into space will go on."

"These men and women assumed great risk in the service of all of humanity," Bush said. "In an age when space flight has come to seem almost routine, it is easy to overlook dangers. ... These astronauts knew the dangers and faced them willingly."

Bush said the nation grieved for their families.


I had posted two articles on Ilan Ramon, the first Israeli astronaut, who was part of Columbia's crew and was killed in today's tragedy - see:




NASA sends first Israeli astronaut into space





Israeli Astronaut takes with him into space a small

pencil drawing made by a 14-year-old

boy who was killed in Auschwitz



The Columbia crew included Kalpana Chawla, who immigrated from India in the 80's and became an astronaut in the 90's, Michael P. Anderson, one of the few African-American astronauts, and Ilan Ramon, the first Israeli astronaut.

Ilan Ramon's wife and four children were waiting for him in Florida, when they heard of the terrible news. For me, and for most Israelis, he will remain a hero, someone who brought us a bit of hope and light during these violent and dark times.

I must admit I rarely pray - but tonight my thoughts and prayers will be with Columbia's crew and their families.

I copy the rest of CNN's story below.

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