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To understand the essence of the Arab/Israeli problem, first one has to be aware of some set of facts as they have happened since the end of WWII.
Most important of those is that the UN essentially created Israel by adopting a resolution in 1947, partitioning the land of Palestine so that both Jews and Palestinians could have where to live and form their own state.
The Jews accepted this piece of international law. On behave of the Palestinians, a number of Arab countries rejected it angrily and when the Jewish state was formally created, attacked Israel from every direction, threatening that the Jews will be slaughtered in a way comparable to the Mongolian massacres.
Here are some quotes, made by prominent Arab leaders over the years since WWII.
"This will be a war of extermination and a momentous massacre
which will be spoken of like the Mongolian massacres and the Crusades."
Arab League Secretary-General Azzam Pasha, the next day after Israel
proclaims independence, on the day 7 Arab states attack militarily and thus start the 1948 War against Israel. (Some trivia - AL Qaeda's No.2, Al Zawahiri happens to be a relative to Azzam Pasha)
“… the sons of Islam will cleanse the land of Palestine… there will be no peace on Israel’s
border because we demand vengeance, and vengeance is Israel’s death”
Egyptian President Gamel Abdel Nasser, 1955.
Comment: At the time Egypt was preparing to launch a war against Israel. Egypt had already become a totalitarian regime and client state of the Soviet Union. The main goal of Soviet policy in the region is to "stir the pot" and help Arab regimes destroy Israel as Israel demonstrated it would prefer to be part of the capitalist West, instead of a close ally to the Soviet Union, as Stalin hoped. It was the Soviet Union that was the main proponent of the creation of Israel in the UN. The US were pretty ambivalent at the time but Truman finally made up his mind to support Israel.
"The Arab nations should sacrifice up to 10 million of their 50 million
people, if necessary, to wipe out Israel ... Israel to the Arab world
is like a cancer to the human body, and the only way of remedy is to
uproot it, just like a cancer."
--Saud ibn Abdul Aziz, King of Saudi Arabia, Associated Press, Jan. 9, 1954
"I announce from here, on behalf of the United Arab Republic people, that this time we will exterminate Israel."
--President Gamal Abdel Nasser of Egypt, speech in Alexandria, July 26, 1959
"We shall never call for nor accept peace. We shall only accept war. We
have resolved to drench this land with your (Israel's) blood, to oust
you as aggressor, to throw you into the sea."
--Hafez Assad, then-Syrian Defense Minister, May 24, 1966, later a totalitarian dictator of Syria
"Our basic objective will be the destruction of Israel."
--President Gamal Abdel Nasser of Egypt, May 27, 1967, nine days before the start of the Six-Day War.
While Israel launches an attack on Egypt and Jordan, it's the Arab countries that had deployed land forces (tanks and troops) in aggressive positions. By striking first, Israel achieves unbelievable victory for a very, very short period of time, hence the name of the war.
"The existence of Israel is an error which must be rectified. This is
our opportunity to wipe out the ignominy which has been with us since
1948. Our goal is clear -- to wipe Israel off the map."
--President Abdel Rahman Aref of Iraq, May 31, 1967
"All countries should wage war against the Zionists, who are there to
destroy all human organizations and to destroy civilization and the
work which good people are trying to do."
--King Faisal of Saudi Arabia, in a speech in Uganda, Beirut Daily Star, Nov. 17, 1972
"The battle with Israel must be such that, after it, Israel will cease to exist."
--Libyan President Mohammar Qadaffi, al-Usbu al-Arrabi (Beirut) quoted by Algiers Radio, Nov. 12, 1973
"Yes, the existence of a separate Palestinian identity is there only
for tactical reasons. The establishment of a Palestinian state is a new
expedient to continue the fight against Zionism and for Arab unity."
--Zoheir Muhsin, head of the PLO Military Operations Department and member of the PLO Executive Council, 1977
Clarification: PLO was created by the Arab League, but it consists of far left, many of those - communist groups and parties. Individual members, militant and terrorist operatives, many of those were trained and financed by Soviet and Eastern European communist intelligence services, as well as Arab ones.
"There has been no change whatsoever in the fundamental strategy of the
PLO, which is based on the total liberation of Palestine and the
destruction of the occupying country. ... On no accounts will the
Palestinians accept part of Palestine and call it the Palestinian
state, while forfeiting the remaining areas which are called the State
of Israel."
--Rafiq Najshah, PLO representative in Saudi Arabia, Saudi Arabian News Agency, June 9, 1980
"The struggle with the Zionist enemy is not a struggle about Israel's
borders, but about Israel's existence. We will never agree to anything
less than the return of all our land and the establishment of the
independent state."
--Bassam Abu Sharif, a top Arafat aide and PLO spokesman, quoted by the Kuwait News Agency, May 31, 1986
"There are two different approaches in the Arab world: that Israel can
be overwhelmed militarily, or that a military victory is impossible.
The power struggle between Israel and the Arabs is a long-term
historical trial. Victory or defeat are for us questions of existence
or annihilation, the outcome of an irreconcilable hatred."
--Al-Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, July 11, 1986
"The establishment of an independent Palestinian state on the West Bank
and the Gaza Strip does not contradict our ultimate strategic aim,
which is the establishment of a democratic state in the entire
territory of Palestine, but rather is a step in that direction."
--Salah Khalaf (Abu Iyad) interview with Al-Safir, Lebanon, Jan. 25, 1988
"The armed struggle must continue, everywhere, against the Zionist
enemy and his allies. ... We have no alternative but to carry out armed
activity in order to vanquish the enemy and establish our state."
--Salim Zaanoun, Deputy PNC speaker and member of the Fatah Central Committee, in Al-Anba, Kuwait, Dec. 23, 1988
"We will enter Jerusalem victoriously and raise our flag on its walls.
... We will fight you (the Israelis) with stones, rifles, and 'El-Abed'
(the Iraqi missile)..."
--Yasser Arafat, reported by the Associated Press, March 29, 1990, months before at the start of the Gulf War
"In the name of Allah, we shall cause fire to devour half of Israel. ..."
--Iraqi News Agency, April 2, 1990
"We say to the brother and leader Saddam Hussein -- go forward with God's blessing."
--Yasser Arafat, the next day, Iraqi News Agency, April 3, 1990 , mothns before Iraq invades Kuwait.
“There is only one
possible solution to unrest in the Middle East, he said -- "namely, theannihilation and destruction of the Zionist state."
Iranian top ruler, Ali Khamenei before hundreds of thousands of Iranians in
his Dec. 31, 1999 prayer sermon at Tehran University
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The Case For Israel
