Tuesday 7 June 2011

From The River To The Sea~Palestine

Have you ever wondered why there are still millions of Palestinians who, 63 years after the birth of Israel are languishing as refugees in poverty? Why are there still refugee camps within the Arab countries? Israel dismantled its camps in the 1950's and gave full citizenship to what are now Israeli Arabs, while in contrast the refugees in the surrounding Arab countries have been kept in limbo since 1948--stateless and without papers. In this disturbing film, by acclaimed director Pierre Rehov, you will follow along as he explores the issue with firsthand footage of the refugee camps and and in depth analysis by world experts as well as interviews with the Arab refugees themselves.

Revealed are the lies, corruption, propaganda and false hopes. Originally there were about  480,000 who left in 1948 on the advice of their Arab leaders, however, they now say that  number was 805,000 (sometimes higher). This original band of refugees has grown to whopping 6 million plus, living in refugee camps today, according to UNRWA (United Nations Relief & Works Agency) for Palestinian refugees. There is no mention of the almost one million Jews who were run out of Arab countries at the same time.

UNRWA is the only agency dedicated to helping refugees from a specific region or conflict. It has more than 22,000 employees in Gaza alone! UNRWA has 1 staff for every 10 Palestinian refugees, while UNHCR (United Nations High Commission for Refugees) for the rest of the world has 1 staff for every 4,000 refugees! It is to the benefit of UNRWA to perpetuate the appalling situation of the Palestinian Arabs. Of the more than 400 million dollars per year given to UNRWA about 50% goes to UNRWA employees! It is thought that even more funds flow into their coffers that are not accounted for.

In the early 1970's, Israel  tried to settle refugees in decent houses built in a Gaza neighborhood by the Israeli civil administration. The PLO and others ran a campaign to prevent the refugees from moving into these houses. From 1971--and for almost ten years--the UN  General Assembly condemned Israel every year for it's attempts to rehabilitate  Palestinian refugees. 

The facts are not pleasant! Please take the time to watch each of the four segments of this film. Go to Pierre Rehov's website and learn more. Listen to what the Arabs themselves are saying. Ask yourself, are you willing to be complicit in the genocide of an entire people in the hopes that this will finally satisfy the Arab world? That is what they are demanding...

From the River to the Sea~Part 1

From the River to the Sea~Part 2

From the River to the Sea~Part 3

From the River to the Sea~Part 4

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Israel, Jerusalem, Judaism, Zionism, Middle East, Aliyah, Conversion, and everything else that pops up