Suggested Answers to the Short Quiz

[johnkarls]

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Suggested Answers to the Short Quiz – REPRISE: A Marshall-Type Plan For Palestinians
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The Topic Proposal for our 15 Jan 2020 meeting was to study --

“Criminal Defamation of Israel (and Civil Defamation Liability). With an eye to a REPRISE of our 10/14/2009 Six-Degrees-Of-Separation E-mail Campaign to President Obama calling for “A Marshall-Type Plan” for the Palestinians which concluded with --

“What is necessary is a good education for the Palestinian children and training for the adults so that they can handle jobs that would go with economic development (construction, irrigation, manufacturing, etc.), following a careful assessment of the comparative strengths that Palestine would possess. The U.S. began providing Egypt and Israel with $6 billion/year of economic aid when they signed their 1979 Peace Agreement. It would seem a comparable amount would be a small price to pay to provide a real solution to a conflict that has festered for 60 years and, with nuclear arms soon to permeate the area, could soon produce a nuclear holocaust that might lead to ‘the twilight of the humans’!”

But this time, of course, to President Trump.
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Accordingly it is appropriate to review the Short Quiz for our 10/14/2009 meeting which follows immediately below and is labeled “Part I.”

In addition, the last clause of the 10/14/2009 E-mail Campaign (as quoted above – “a conflict that has festered for 60 years and, with nuclear arms soon to permeate the area, could soon produce a nuclear holocaust that might lead to ‘the twilight of the humans’!”) has become more urgent because The Iran Nuclear Agreement was negotiated in the 10-plus years since the 10/14/2009 E-mail Campaign.

Therefore, Part I (our Short Quiz from 10/14/2009) is supplemented by an update labeled “Part II.”

BTW, the Suggested Answers to Part I did NOT need updating except, as noted, Answer-22.


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Part I – 10/14/2009 Suggested Answers to the Short Quiz - American Policy Toward Israel
Originally posted by johnkarls - Sat Sep 26, 2009 6:15 am


Question 1

When did the Jewish Diaspora occur? What caused it?

Answer 1

The Second Jewish Revolt was brutally put down by the Romans 130-135 A.D. Not only were 580,000 Jews killed in battle, but 90% of the remaining Jewish population died from the illness and famine that followed. Thereafter, Jews were forbidden to live within 10 miles of Jerusalem and, upon pain of death, were only permitted to visit it once a year on the Ninth of Av. Virtually no Jews were left in Judea – they were scattered to the winds. And no Jews were allowed to live in Jerusalem again until the mid-600’s when the city was conquered by the Muslims.

Question 2

Following the expulsion of the Jews from Palestine by the Romans, how much longer did Palestine remain a part of the Roman Empire?

Answer 2

Palestine remained part of the Roman Empire until the fall of Rome in 476.

Question 3

Following the fall of Rome and the Western Roman Empire in 476, how much longer did Palestine remain a part of the Eastern Roman Empire (aka the Byzantine or Greek Empire governed from the Greek capital of Constantinople)?

Answer 3

Although the Eastern Roman Empire lasted a millennium after the fall of Rome (977 years to be precise), it was constantly being pushed back and truncated. It was evicted from Palestine and the Eastern Mediterranean in 632-655.

Question 4

After the Byzantine/Greek Empire (aka Eastern Roman Empire) was evicted from Palestine and the rest of the Eastern Mediterranean in 632-655 by the first three Caliphs in the initial expansion of Islam following the death of the Prophet Mohammed, how long was the new Arab Empire able to hold it?

Answer 4

The Arab Empire for more than a millennium was the center of culture and learning in the world (though an argument could be made for Chinese civilization rivalling it). Arabic numerals, the concept of zero, algebra, trigonometry, astronomy, etc., were all invented by the Arabs. Indeed, in making their Hajj’s to Mecca, they noticed that as they travelled across vast expanses of desert or ocean, the directions between three distant points comprising a triangle had, as the sum of its three angles, slightly MORE THAN 180 degrees!!! So in the 800’s they theorized that the earth was NOT flat and calculated correctly that if it was a sphere, then based on the size of the various triangles and the sum of their angles, the earth’s diameter was 8,000 miles and its circumference was 25,000 miles. At the same time, Arab doctors understood infections and put raw meat on stakes throughout each city to determine which took the longest to fester as the method for locating their hospitals. Arab medical texts were in standard use in Europe until the 1800’s. Indeed, Europe during the millennium of the Arab Empire (600-1600) was a very backward place and if an educated Arab “couldn’t hack it” in the Arab Empire, he could always become a court sage anywhere in Europe!!!

Nevertheless, the Arab Empire originally stretching from the Middle East through North Africa to Spain and Portugal, was constantly being pushed back FROM the Middle East toward the Atlantic. The Arab Empire was able to hold Palestine for only the first four of its ten centuries. Indeed, the Seljuk Turks who captured Palestine from the Arab Empire by the mid-1000’s, were the target of the First Crusade launched in 1095.

Question 5

Who were the Seljuk Turks sweeping in from Central Asia (Chinese Turkestan, aka Sinkiang Province, and Russian Turkestan which later fragmented into all of today’s "stans" (except Afghanistan which had always been independent and Pakistan which had been part of India)), and how long were the Seljuk Turks able to rule Palestine and the Eastern Mediterranean?

Answer 5

Like the Arabs they displaced, the Seljuk Turks (and, indeed, all of the Turks of Chinese Turkestan and Russian Turkestan) were Muslim. However, they were able to hold Palestine for little more than two centuries before being pushed out by the Ottoman Turks.

Question 6

Why did all of the Crusades occur “on the watch” of the Seljuk Turks?

Answer 6

There were no Crusades during the four-plus centuries that Palestine was part of the Arab Empire!!! The Crusades (1095-1291) all occurred in response to pleas for help from the Rulers of the Greek Empire (aka the Byzantine Empire and aka the Eastern Roman Empire) from the Greek capital of Constantinople (aka Byzantium). The pleas were issued because of military pressure as the Seljuk Turks, now based in Persia, were pushing the Greek Empire backwards. Indeed, the plea for the First Crusade was issued after the fall of Anatolia to the Seljuk Turks (Anatolia comprises much of modern-day Turkey, but Constantinople itself did not fall until 1453 and then to the Ottoman Turks). The plea for the First Crusade was issued by the Greek/Byzantine/Eastern-Roman Emperor Alexios I Komnenos to Roman Catholic Pope Urban II.

Since helping the Greeks/Byzantines against the Seljuk Turks of Persia in trying to hold Constantinople lacked “sex appeal,” most of the Crusades were “sold” on the basis of recapturing the Holy Land in general and Jerusalem in particular from the Seljuk Turks. From a military viewpoint, attacks anywhere against the Seljuk Turks would divert resources from their push against Constantinople and, in this respect, the Crusades in Palestine achieved that purpose.

Incidentally, American history textbooks have typically claimed, falsely, that the Crusades were provoked by, and aimed at eliminating, Arab rule in Palestine!!! And that Saladin, who always seemed to be the chief nemesis of the Europeans in many of the Crusades, was Arab!!! Not only were all of the Crusades aimed at the Seljuk Turks who had “gone native” in Persia, but Saladin was actually a Kurd who was born in Tikrit which was under Seljuk rule but, interestingly, became the ancestral home of Saddam Hussein in modern-day Iraq.

Question 7

Why did the Ottoman Turks sweeping in from Central Asia (Chinese Turkestan and Russian Turkestan) seem so different from the Seljuk Turks if they came from the same place and from the same ethnic people?

Answer 7

The “short answer” is that the Seljuk Turks “went native”!!!

The Seljuk Turks made Persia (modern-day Iran) their base and “went native” with Persian language, dress, culture, etc. Modern-day Iranians, like their Persian ancestors, are NOT Arab. Moreover, they speak Farsi and they are predominantly Shiite Muslim. So it is no wonder that when the second great wave of Turks sweeping in from Central Asia TWO-PLUS CENTURIES LATER and aimed initially at the Greek capital of Constantinople (head of the Greek Empire, aka the Byzantine or Eastern Roman Empire), which the Ottoman Turks captured in 1453, they would view the “gone native two-plus centuries ago” Turks in Persia as no different from the Persians with whom they “went native.”

Question 8

For how many centuries did the Ottoman Turks rule Palestine?

Answer 8

Six centuries – the longest period that anyone ruled Palestine after the Jewish Diaspora.

Question 9

Following the defeat of the Ottoman Turks by the British as part of World War I, how long did Britain rule Palestine (and the other Ottoman Turk areas of the Eastern Mediterranean such as Lebanon, Syria, etc.)?

Answer 9

Although the Brits did defeat the Ottoman Turks as part of World War I and the Brits were the only army fighting the Turks and, as a result, the Brits did occupy the Middle East all the way from their long-time pre-existing colony of Egypt all the way to Turkey itself, the League of Nations actually gave France “mandates” over Lebanon and Syria in 1923, so they were ruled by the Brits for only 5 years.

However, the heart of the question involves Palestine, which Britain ruled from the defeat of the Ottoman Turks in World War I until May 14, 1948 (British rule was confirmed by a League of Nations mandate in 1923).

Question 10

According to the 31 Aug 1947 Official Report of the United Nations Special Committee on Palestine, what was the break down of Palestine's population?

Answer 10

Per the UNSCOP Report (Para. 86), the British White Paper of 1939 restricted Jewish immigration for the next 5 years to a grand total of 75,000 and banned it altogether thereafter. Per the UNSCOP Report (Para. 12), the 1945 population of Palestine =

Moslems 1,076,783
Jews 608,225
Christians 145,063
Others 15,488
Total 1,845,559

and was estimated at 31 December 1946 to be –

Arabs 1,203,000
Jews 608,000
Others 35,000
Total 1,846,000

The 12/31/46 numbers show the effect of the British ban on Jewish immigration and, although UNSCOP estimated virtually no change during 1946, it allocated the “Christians” between “Arabs” and “Others.”

Question 11

Was the UNSCOP report the basis for United Nations Resolution 181 of 29 November 1947 dividing Palestine into a "Jewish State" and an "Arab State" based on who owned what?

Answer 11

Yes.

Question 12

What two things happened on 14 May 1948?

Answer 12

Britain’s League of Nations “mandate” to rule Palestine expired one year after the United Nations formed UNSCOP (as part of the UN decision to form UNSCOP), and Israel declared its nationhood.

Question 13

What was the reaction of Egypt, Syria, Jordan, Iraq and Lebanon?

Answer 13

They invaded Palestine in an attempt to crush the new Jewish state.

Question 14

Following the 1948 Arab-Israeli War (known in Israel as the War for Independence and in Arab countries as The Catastrophe), how many Jews were expelled from Egypt, Syria, Jordan, Iraq and Lebanon, and had to flee to Israel? How many Arabs were displaced from Israel?

Answer 14

567,000 Jews according to Encyclopaedia Britanicca. The number of Arabs displaced from the portion of Palestine that became Israel was comparable (after all, per the UNSCOM Report, the total number of Arabs living in Palestine including Gaza and the West Bank was only 1,203,000, including 126,000 Arab Christians).

Question 15

Following the 1948 war, what happened to the West Bank? to Gaza?

Answer 15

Although both had been part of Palestine, the West Bank was annexed by Jordan and Gaza was annexed by Egypt.

Question 16

What happened in 1956?

Answer 16

The Suez Canal was built in 1869 by France and Egypt, with Ottoman-ruled Egypt being forced by financial hard times to sell its 50% stake to the British in 1875. To protect their investment in the face of local unrest, France and Britain sent warships to Ottoman-ruled Egypt in 1882 and, when that show of force failed to quell the disturbance, Britain invaded and captured Egypt from the Ottomans and made it a British colony. On July 26, 1956, Egypt decided to nationalize the Suez Canal JUST 8 DAYS AFTER ACHIEVING FULL INDEPENDENCE FROM BRITAIN. In response, France and Britain invaded Egypt on October 29, 1956. Israel joined France and Britain because (1) Egypt had blockaded in 1953 the Straits of Tiran at the head of the Gulf of Aqaba leading to the Israeli port of Elath which, following the Egyptian seizure of Suez, meant Israel had no access to the Indian Ocean, and (2) under Egypt, Fadayeen terrorist camps flourished in Gaza.

President Eisenhower pulled out all the stops in calling a halt to the invasion for a variety of reasons including (1) his disgust in trying to condemn the Soviet Union crushing the 1956 Hungarian Revolution while France and Britain were engaged in a similar action in Egypt, and (2) Soviet threats to rain nuclear missiles on Britain, France and Israel. Although Britain and France vetoed resolutions in the U.N. Security Council, Eisenhower took the issue to the U.N. General Assembly which created the first U.N. Peace-Keeping Force. Eisenhower also threatened Britain and France economically to force submission (which was effective since neither had fully recovered from World War II).

Question 17

When was "The Six-Day War"? What happened to the West Bank? to Gaza?

Answer 17

The “Six-Day War” occurred in June 1967. Egypt had once again closed the Straits of Tiran to Israel and massed 1,000 tanks and 100,000 troops on its border with Israel, while Syria had been attacking Israel for quite some time with artillery and rockets from the Golan Heights. In response to the Egyptian military build up, Israel launched a preemptive attack against Egypt. Jordan and Syria quickly joined in the hostilities. Material support was provided by Iraq, Saudi Arabia, Sudan, Tunisia, Morocco and Algeria.

The hostilities lasted only six days (June 5-10) with Israel capturing not only the West Bank from Jordan and Gaza from Egypt, but also the Sinai Peninsula from Egypt and the Golan Heights from Syria.

Question 18

What was the Yom Kippur War?

Answer 18

Egypt launched a surprise attack against Israel on the Jewish Holy Day of Yom Kippur in 1973. Syria quickly joined in the hostilities.

Question 19

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?

Answer 19

By 1973, the United States had replaced France as Israel’s principal supplier of weapons and Henry Kissinger had instituted 12 months earlier in 1972 an embargo against re-supplying Israel with ammunition because he was disgusted with Israeli Foreign Minister Moshe Dayan’s imperious treatment of Arab diplomats.

Although the Egyptian invasion quickly stalled after the Egyptian troops crossed the Suez Canal into Sinai, Syrian tanks were rolling through Israel because Israeli defense forces were rationing their ammunition because it was in such short supply.

Israeli Prime Minister Golda Meir convened the Israeli Cabinet to make the formal decision to implement their long-standing policy to fire their nuclear missiles if the point was reached that Israel had fewer than 24 hours to go until complete annihilation. Seymour Hersh does not record who the Israeli Cabinet Minister was who suggested that before “pushing the button” they send a telex to Kissinger to give him a “heads up” on what “was going down” WITHIN A MATTER OF MINUTES. Luckily, Kissinger was on hand to receive the telex and immediately telexed back, according to Hersh: “Commence firing ‘as if there is no tomorrow’ – the re-supply planes will take off at dawn.”

The Israelis did stop rationing the ammunition, the American supply planes did take off at dawn, the Israeli-Syrian front stabilized, and Israel did not become the answer to a trivia question = what WAS Israel!!!

Israel “thanked its lucky stars” that it had followed Charles de Gaulle in declining the American nuclear umbrella and developing its own nuclear weapons. Thereafter, Israel adopted a policy of manufacturing its own weapons and ammunition insofar as possible.

Question 20

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

Answer 20

The Egyptian-Israeli Peace Agreement was signed on March 26, 1979 following the Camp David Accords negotiated in 1978 under the auspices of President Carter. Egypt agreed to permit Israeli ships to use the Suez Canal and the Straits of Tiran, and became the first Arab country to recognize Israel’s “right to exist”!!! Israel returned to Egypt the Sinai Peninsula which flanks the eastern side of the Suez Canal and which contains Egypt’s perch on the Straits of Tiran. Israel and Egypt established diplomatic relations. And the United States “sealed the deal” by commencing substantial annual foreign aid to Egypt.

However, Israel did not return Gaza to Egypt because it was inhabited by Palestinians and had been part of Palestine before Egypt annexed it following the Arab-Israeli War of 1948.

Question 21

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

Answer 21

2005.

Question 22

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?

Answer 22

[Editorial Note: This is the original A-22 posted on 9/26/2009 – subsequently to that date, rockets have resumed raining on Israel, especially from Gaza.]

Yes. Despite bravado threats from Hezbollah, there have been virtually no artillery or rocket attacks from Southern Lebanon since 2006. And despite bravado threats from Hamas, there have been virtually no artillery or rocket attacks from Gaza since 2008. Both appear to have learned the lesson that attacks on Israel will provoke unimaginable devastation in return.

Question 23

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

Answer 23

Israel built a wall.

Question 24

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?

Answer 24

Yasir Arafat, in his Arabic speeches to his Palestinian followers, had always promised undying enmity toward Israel and promised to never rest until Israel “was thrown into the sea”!!! When he returned to Palestine following his agreement with Israel and President Clinton, he found that he hadn’t prepared his followers sufficiently to accept his Peace Plan and that he would be deposed. Accordingly, he reneged.

If there was ever anyone who deserved a Nobel Peace Prize more than President Clinton, I don’t know who it would be – and he didn’t even win one because Arafat reneged!!!

Question 25

Did the same unofficial group of Israel and Palestinian experts and former official negotiators that produced a 2003 report on a "two-state peace plan" based on the 2000 Clinton-Arafat-Israel Agreement on which Arafat reneged, produce a much more detailed 424-page blueprint based on the 2000 Agreement this past Tuesday? Did it, among other things, call for the division of Jerusalem, an underground highway between Gaza and the West Bank, and 100,000 Jewish settlers to move from the West Bank (in similar fashion to the way Jewish settlers were forced by the Israeli government to move from Gaza in 2005)?

Answer 25

Yes. Yes.


*****
And for extra credit, a few geo-political questions that relate to the Israel-Palestine imbroglio -

Question A

If 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?

Answer A

Because the Soviet Union used the existence of Israel throughout the “Cold War” to “stir the pot” in trying to undermine American influence in the Middle East. Following the end of the “Cold War” Iran has done exactly the same thing for exactly the same reason.

Question B

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

Answer B

The Serbian war against Kosovo (1998-1999) and the Serbian ethnic cleansing and genocide in Bosnia (1992-1995).

Question C

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

Answer C

Sudan-Darfur (2003–the present) and the Hutu-Tutsi genocide in Rwanda (1994).

Question D

What was the cause of the genocide in Sudan/Darfur?

Answer D

Suppression by the Sudanese central government.

Question E

What was the cause of the genocide of Rwanda’s Tutsis by its Hutus? Was there even a Tutsi tribe and a Hutu tribe, or was the distinction an invention of European colonial masters?

Answer E

The genocide was caused by hatred between the Tutsis and Hutus. The Tutsi-Hutu distinction was invented by Rwanda’s German colonial masters based on whether each native Rwandan had a broad nose and thick lips, or had features that were more European. Following the replacement of Germany by Belgium in the wake of World War I, the Belgium colonial masters made the distinction of paramount importance until Rwandan independence in 1962. By that time, the enmity between the Tutsis and the Hutus was unbridgeable. The 1994 genocide resulted in 1 million deaths, with half of those occurring in a mere 100 days.

Question F

Why do commentators frequently refer to Islam as the religion that always has "bloody borders"? How many of the major tragedies in Questions B-E involved Islam?

Answer F

Unlike the Roman Catholic Church (or the Mormon Church for that matter), Islam is NOT centralized (much like Christian protestantism, though some protestant sects are themselves centralized).

Accordingly, the proper interpretation of Islamic teaching is a matter for each Muslim cleric to proclaim and each Muslim cleric has the power to issue a “fatwā” making it the religious duty of his followers to implement the fatwā or religious order – such as Osama bin Laden’s fatwā to nuke 10 million Americans which was the subject of a book by the founding Dean of Harvard U’s Kennedy School of Government and which has been the greatest cause for concern by every Senate Foreign Relations Chair since Democrat Sam Nunn and including Democrat Joe Biden (indeed, during the Presidential-primary campaign at the beginning of the 2008 election cycle, Candidate Joe Biden wrote an OpEd Article in the 6/4/2007 issue of the Wall Street Journal (it is the third of four “Reference Materials” posted on our bulletin board for our 13 December 2007 meeting on the topic “Is War With Iran Inevitable?”) in which Biden explained that nuclear weapons have “DNA” that indicates their source and proposed massive nuclear retaliation against whatever nation state had permitted, whether or not intentionally, its nuclear material to be used by Al Qaeda to nuke American cities!!!).

As we have learned from our various studies of, or involving tangentially, Islam, the concept of Jihad or religious war is a central belief. But even more importantly, every Muslim believes in a Judgment Day on which s/he will be prosecuted by “avenging angels” – AND THAT EVERY MARTYR (TOGETHER WITH 70 RELATIVES) BY-PASSES THE JUDGMENT DAY!!! Is it any wonder that media pictures of the family of Muslim suicide bombers typically show the family rejoicing???

Both of the European genocides (Bosnia and Kosovo) involved Muslims, as does the Sudanese genocide on both sides (Sudanese Arab Muslims against Sudanese Black-African Muslims).

Question G

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

Answer G

Although “Armageddon” is actually named only once in The Bible, the Battle of Armageddon is the subject of many prophecies, both in the Jewish Bible (aka the Christian “Old Testament”) and in the Book of Revelation authored by St. John as he was nearing the end of his life in exile on the Island of Patmos in the Aegean Sea and imagining what the prophecies of the Jewish Bible might actually be like if and when they came to pass.

Armageddon is an actual plain in Israel that military experts believe would be an ideal battleground. Indeed, the area is served by Armageddon High School.

The various prophecies describe a war of unimaginable devastation and many scholars believe that they describe a nuclear holocaust.

Yes, the Battle of Armageddon is likely to occur in the near future – judging from the way Iran is proceeding to acquire nuclear weapons and Ayatollah Khamenei (the real ruler of Iran) proclaims at every opportunity his objective of destroying Israel which, by the way, has nuclear submarines and other ways of preserving its nuclear weapons from an Iranian “first strike” capability, and the way the Gulf State Six (Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, Qatar and Oman) have announced that they will themselves go nuclear the instant Iran goes nuclear.

Question H

What is “The Right of Return”? Wouldn’t it be cheaper for the United States to simply offer to make each Palestinian a millionaire by offering to buy her/his “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”?

Answer H

The “right of return” refers to Article 11 of United Nations General Assembly Resolution 194 passed on December 11, 1948 near the end of the Arab-Israel War, which states: The General Assembly “Resolves that the refugees wishing to return to their homes and live at peace with their neighbours should be permitted to do so at the earliest practicable date, and that compensation should be paid for the property of those choosing not to return and for loss of or damage to property which, under principles of international law or in equity, should be made good by the Governments or authorities responsible.”

Technically, it applies to the descendants of the half-million Jewish refugees who fled to Israel, as well as the descendants of the half-million Palestinians who were displaced from Israel. Moreover, Israel has always rejected the “right of return” by Palestinians claiming that none of them are “wishing…to live at peace…” The 2000 Peace Agreement between Israel, President Clinton, and Yassir Arafat on which Arafat reneged provided that Palestinians would NOT have a right to return to what is now Israel.

And, yes, the United States (at least in the opinion of “yours truly”) should offer to make every Palestinian a millionaire by offering to buy her/his “right of return” on condition s/he move out of the refugee camps and start a real life – if for no other reason than “cost effectiveness”!!!


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Part II – Update for Post-10/14/2009 Developments (e.g., The Iran Nuclear Agreement, aka “The Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action” or “JCPOA”)


Question 1

Have both Egypt and “The Gulf-State Six” (the 6 members of the Gulf-State Cooperation Council – Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, The United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, Qatar and Oman) long-since announced that they will acquire nuclear weapons the moment that Iran does?

Answer 1

Yes.

Question 2

Could they become nuclear powers “overnight” by simply buying nuclear weapons? In other words, “does everything have its price”?

Answer 2

Presumably!!!

First, Pakistan has had nuclear weapons for more than two decades (estimates are that Pakistan currently has 70-90 nuclear weapons). And what safeguards are there against rogue troops from selling them???

[BTW, Abdul Qadeer Kahn, “the father of Pakistan’s nuclear bomb,” acknowledged on TV on 2/4/2004 that he had secretly provided Iran, North Korea, and Libya with all of the “know how” to build nuclear weapons – for which, as a long-time national hero, he was pardoned by Pakastani President Gen. Pervez Musharraf within a matter of days.]

[So it could easily be the Pakistani Government itself, rather than rogue troops, that sells the nukes to the Gulf State Six.]

Second, following the implosion of the old Soviet Union in 1989, there were quite a few nuclear weapons sold on the black market by starving Soviet troops – there had been 1,900 Soviet multiple-warhead nuclear missiles in Ukraine alone. Indeed, it has been widely reported that 132 suitcase-sized nuclear bombs (among other nuclear weapons) went missing from the old Soviet Union and that 84 of the 132 have never been located.

Third, PBS’ Nova Science Series aired a documentary on 3/9/1975 about the results of an experiment initiated by the documentary’s producer who had been curious about how easy it would be for “any reasonably-bright student” to design and construct a nuclear weapon.

So he had asked a friend on the M.I.T. faculty to put him in touch with a student. And the student was NOT even a physics major!!! [He was a chemistry major!!!]

In just 5 weeks, the student had designed a nuclear weapon from public-source information which experts opined would be fully functional.

The 3/9/1975 PBS Nova Program created such an uproar that very few viewers focused on the fact that the student had only designed a nuclear weapon, but had NOT constructed it.

This was probably due to the fact that the construction (vs. the design) is child’s play.

For example, a British Royal Commission reported in September 1976 in the wake of the 3/9/1975 Nova Program --

“The equipment required [to actually construct the nuclear weapon] would not be significantly more elaborate than that already used by criminal groups in the illicit manufacture of heroin.”

[The British Royal Commission was concerned at that time that nuclear weapons could be so easily designed and constructed by the Irish Republican Army.]

Question 3

Was the Iran Nuclear Agreement concluded 7/14/2015 in Vienna between Iran and the so-called “P5+1” (the 5 permanent members of the U.N. Security Council – China, France, Russia, UK and US – plus Germany)?

Answer 3

Yes.

Question 4

Did President Obama refuse to submit the Iran Nuclear Agreement to the U.S. Senate for ratification (the U.S. Constitution requires treaties to be ratified by only one house of Congress - the Senate by a 2/3 vote)?

Answer 4

Yes.

BTW, President Clinton VIOLATED THE U.S. CONSTITUTION in 1993 because he knew that the Democrat party (with labor union support) would block the ratification of NAFTA in the Senate, the only body with Constitutional jurisdiction over ratification.

So President Clinton INVENTED THE IDEA THAT THE CONSTITUTION WAS IRRELEVANT vis-à-vis treaty ratification and convinced Congress to implement it AS A LAW!!!

[It passed the Senate 11/20/1993 by a 61-38 vote, well short of the 2/3 Constitutional requirement, having passed the House 11/17/1993 by a 234-200 vote (Clinton signed it into law 12/8/1993).]

HOWEVER, with respect to The Iran Nuclear Agreement, President Obama did NOT EVEN bother with an up-or-down vote in either house because, as was widely reported, he knew it would be defeated in both houses.

And President Obama knew that immediately upon Iran and the P5+1 reaching agreement on 7/14/2015, the other members of the P5+1 would immediately begin ignoring all of the U.N. sanctions against Iran that had caused Iran to come to the bargaining table.

And that he (President Obama) would be presenting Congress and America with a fait accompli.

[It is true that before the Iran Nuclear Deal was reached 7/14/2015, the spineless Congress passed The Iran Nuclear Agreement Review Act of 2015 which merely required President Obama “to submit to Congress the agreement and all related documents, including specifics on verification and compliance” following which Congress would have a specified time period (the length of which depended on when the agreement/documents were presented to Congress) to pass a joint resolution preventing President Obama from waiving Congressionally-imposed sanctions against Iran, following which President Obama would have 12 days to veto the joint resolution, following which Congress would have 10 days to override the veto.]

[HOWEVER, President Obama NEVER provided “all related documents” to Congress and it appears that many related documents (including the notorious “side agreements”) have remained secret, at least from the American public.]

Question 5

Is one of the most important drawbacks of the Iran Nuclear Agreement that it guarantees Iran the right to nuclear weapons after 10 years?

Answer 5

Yes.

Question 6

Is another important drawback that it does NOT prevent Iran from developing immediately missiles capable of carrying nuclear warheads?

Answer 6

Yes.

Question 7

Is another important drawback that it does NOT require “anytime, anywhere” inspections?

Answer 7

Yes.

Question 8

Have large Iranian demonstrations since the Iran Nuclear Agreement continued to feature chants of “DEATH TO AMERICA” and “DEATH TO ISRAEL”?

Answer 8

Yes.

Question 9

Have Iranian missiles continued to be tested since the Iran Nuclear Agreement sporting “DEATH TO ISRAEL” painted on their sides?

Answer 9

Yes.

Question 10

Do apologists argue that Iran Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei (who has ruled Iran since 1989) will probably have departed the scene by the time Iran is guaranteed permission under the Iran Nuclear Agreement to become a nuclear power in another 6 years?

Answer 10

Yes.

Question 11

Since Ayatollah Khamenei is only 80 years old (born 4/19/1939), what makes apologists so confident that he will have departed the scene in another 6 years?

Answer 11

God only knows!!!

Question 12

Even if Ayatollah Khamenei has departed the scene within the next 6 years, what makes apologists so confident that his successor will be any different regarding nuclear issues – and regarding “DEATH TO AMERICA” and “DEATH TO ISRAEL”?

Answer 12

God only knows!!!

Question 13

After all, aren’t Ayatollah Khamenei’s policies regarding nuclear issues and regarding “DEATH TO AMERICA” and “DEATH TO ISRAEL” the same as his predecessor – Iran Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini who ruled Iran from 1979 until his death on 6/3/1989?

Answer 13

Yes.

Question 14

BTW, during the 1.5 remaining years of the Obama Administration following the Iran Nuclear Agreement of 7/13/2015, did President Obama and his Secretary of State, John Kerry, dare to remove the designation of Iran as “The Number One State Sponsor of Terrorism” – a judgment continuously required by Sec. 6(j) of the Export Administration Act, Sec. 40 of the Arms Export Control Act, and Sec. 620A of the Foreign Assistance Act?

Answer 14

No, they did NOT dare!!!