Short Quiz

[johnkarls]

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Editorial Comments:

Questions 2-21 of the 24 questions contained in the Short Quiz comprise a Quick Review since they are a condensation of the Short Quizzes for the last time we studied the Israel-Arab imbroglio two years ago for our 10/14/2009 meeting when our suggested books were “A Safe Haven: Harry S. Truman and the Founding of Israel” by Allis Radosh and Ronald Radosh (HarperCollins © 2009) and “Israel Is Real” by Rich Cohen (Farrar, Straus & Giroux © 2009). For the massive materials assembled for that meeting (12 Participant Comments and 13 Reference Materials) including the vastly-more-detailed quizzes, please see the sections of this bulletin board below for the 10/14/2009 meeting.

1. Who wrote the Forward for our book, Blood Brothers?

2. Who ruled/owned Palestine during the last 10 centuries?

3. Was Hitler correct that Germany had been “stabbed in the back” by “International Jewry” during World War I?

4. Was the 1960 Hollywood movie, Exodus (directed by Otto Preminger and starring Paul Newman, Eva Marie Saint, Peter Lawford, Lee J. Cobb, etc.) a historical fraud? Was the policy of the World War II victors (Britain, France, the Soviet Union and the U.S.) to continue permanently the imprisonment of concentration-camp survivors? (In other words, “old concentration camps, new management but with the gas turned off”?) How many years after the end of World War II did the last concentration camp close?

5. What was the 8/31/1947 Report of the UN Special Committee On Palestine (UNSCOP)?

6. Following UN Resolution 181 of 11/29/1947 dividing Palestine into a “Jewish State” and an “Arab State” based on the checker board of what individuals owned what land, as ascertained by the UNSCOP Report, what was the reaction of Egypt, Syria, Jordan, Iraq and Lebanon?

7. Following the invasion of Palestine by Egypt, Syria, Jordan, Iraq and Lebanon and their defeat, how many Jews were expelled from Egypt, Syria, Jordan, Iraq and Lebanon, and had to flee to the new state of Israel? How many Arabs were displaced from Israel?

8. Following the defeat of Egypt, Syria, Jordan, Iraq and Lebanon, what happened to the West Bank and Gaza? Did Jordan grant Jordanian citizenship to the Arabs living in the West Bank? Did Egypt grant Egyptian citizenship to Gazans?

9. When was “The Six-Day War”? What happened to the West Bank? to Gaza?

10. What was the Yom Kippur War?

11. In the Yom Kippur War why (according to Pulitzer-Prize winner Seymour Hersh in his book "The Samson Option") did Israel NOT follow its long-standing policy that if it ever reached the point that it had fewer than 24 hours to go until complete annihilation, it would launch all of its nuclear weapons (about a dozen at the time) which, interestingly, were trained on Russian cities rather than Arab capitals?

12. When did Egypt get the Sinai Peninsula back? Why wasn't the return of Gaza included?

13. When did Israel withdraw from Gaza, including the abandonment of all of the Jewish "settlements" in Gaza?

14. Despite Israel PR claims that the 2006 invasion of Southern Lebanon and the 2008 invasion of Gaza were unsuccessful, did both invasions in fact achieve their objective?

15. What happened to all the suicide bombers that used to dominate the world headlines by blowing up Israel restaurants, buses, etc.?

16. Why couldn't Yasir Arafat simply say "yes" to the Peace Plan he negotiated with Israel and President Clinton in 2000 which would have resulted in a Palestinian State?

17. Since ethnic-cleansing and forced migrations have been common throughout the 20th century (and even the 21st so far), why has there been so much trouble with the Israel-Palestinian imbroglio which did NOT involve ethnic-cleansing and only a small displacement of fewer than a million in each direction off-setting each other?

18. What are some of the major tragedies of ethnic cleansing and forced migrations that have occurred recently in Europe?

19. What are some of the major tragedies of ethnic cleansing and forced migrations that have occurred recently in Africa?

20. What is the Battle of Armageddon? Is it likely to occur in the near future, the way matters are being handled?

21. What is "The Right of Return"? Wouldn't it be cheaper for the United States to simply offer to buy each Palestinian’s "right of return" on condition s/he move out of the refugee camps and start a real life -- rather than spending so much of American attention and resources on a conflict that may otherwise continue for another 60 years -- IF NOT ENDED SOONER BY A NUCLEAR BATTLE OF ARMAGEDDON IN A WORLDWIDE "TWILIGHT OF THE HUMANS"?

22. Does Hamas recognize Israel’s “right to exist”? Does the Palestinian Authority (Yasir Arafat’s old Palestinian Liberation Organization) recognize Israel’s “right to exist”?

23. Was there ever a Peace Treaty at the end of the Korean War or is North Korea still technically at war with the U.S., et al.? Why did the term “peaceful co-existence” describing relations during The Cold War with the old Soviet Union and describing relations with North Korea since 1953 morph into simple “co-existence”?

24. Since NON-PEACEFUL co-existence with the Soviet Union during the 45 years of The Cold War and with North Korea for 68 years and counting is all that could be managed, why do we expect anything more of Israel whose "right to exist" is not even recognized by the Palestinians or, indeed, by any of the 22 members of the Arab League except Egypt and Jordan -- and which was (A) the target of 3 wars of annihilation, one of which was within 24 hours of succeeding, (B) the target of 2 infitadas or waves of suicide bombings that were finally brought to an end by the erection of The Wall, and (C) the target of incessant rocket attacks from, serially, The Golan Heights of Syria prior to the 1967 War, the Hezbollah-controlled area of Southern Lebanon following the Second Infitada and, since independence in 2005 to the present, from Gaza?