An Egyptian Arab’s Distorted View Of History.

Historical revisionism is a crime against honesty, integrity and children who grow up never knowing the truth.

Samer sent a letter to me (April 20, 2004) explaining some Egyptian/Israeli history. His letter only goes to prove how deluded even seemingly reasonable Arabs are, who blindly support the Arab anti-Israel position based upon a warped understanding of history.

It seems as if a majority of Arabs have no comprehension, that it is impossible to know where you are, and where you’re going, if you don’t know from where you’ve come.

An honest interpretation of history is critical to the future progress of humanity. Maybe that’s why the Arabs in the Middle East have a stagnated development while the rest of the world surges forward.

Here is a passage which I wrote some time ago which Samer was responding to:

“In Likud and Begin, the Arabs clearly understood that there would be severe consequences for their actions against Israel. Therefore; in this context, Peace making with Israel was far better for the Egyptians than the alternative.”

Samer Wrote:

I believe there was peace AFTER Egypt launched the 1973 War (not “Yom Kippur War”).

Israel decided very quickly that it had better make peace rather than face another thrashing at the hands of Egypt.

Israel did not win that war and Egypt was not so frightened by Israel that we thought “peace making was far better than the alternative.”

We were not afraid then and we are not afraid now regardless of the fact that people like you consider us Arabs as cowards and insects. Get over your yourselves and do away with the racism and maybe then there will be peace.

– END OF LETTER –

The following is an edited version of what I wrote to Samer in my response:

Samer: Thank you for writing to me. I appreciate your interest. I know that this is a cliché, but some of my very good friends are indeed Arabs.

Every year, for the last 16 years or more, a few of us get together during Passover for a “Passover Lunch”. Amongst us are several Arabs and several Jews. All of whom are close long-time friends.

My wife and I will probably be having supper with an Arab friend and his wife this week. I assure you, this is not about Arabs.

If you read the many articles I’ve written, I refer to Arabs as Middle Eastern Arabs. However; even at that, not all Middle Eastern Arabs are filled with hatred, misogyny and violence. The problem however, is that those who are “normal”, according to what is normal in a western democratic society seem to be invisible.

You’ve also put words into my mouth. I have NEVER EVER called Arabs insects. And never have I called Arabs (in general) cowards. It takes tremendous courage to send your children to blow themselves up in the commission of murder.

One of the biggest failings of the Arab mind-set is historical revisionism. After the Iraqis got trounced in the first Gulf War, Saddam claimed a huge victory because he was still standing. Remarkably, the Arab community bought this.

In 1973, the war which you mentioned as not being the Yom Kippur War, was nothing as you described it. It was indeed the Yom Kippur War waged by Syria and Egypt in a sneak attack. Jordan and Lebanon decided not to participate.

While it is very true that Israel was caught off-guard because of a horrible decision made by Golda Meir, and lost quite a few soldiers (about 3,000), and came very close to being overrun, it is equally true that the Arab armies screwed up as usual, and were not only turned back, but faced enormous losses.

Study world history, not the crap that is printed in Arab propaganda journals, and you’ll read about Egypt’s 3rd Army being out-flanked, out-manoeuvred and encircled by Ariel Sharon’s Tank Brigade after Sharon crossed the Suez canal in a manoeuvre that is studied by military tacticians world-wide.

It was only after the Egyptian government begged the USA to intervene, that Sharon’s Tank Brigade allowed the Egyptian 3rd Army to retreat to safety without their weapons.

You should also know that part of the deal that encouraged Anwar Sadat to accept a peace treaty with Israel was a promise from the Americans that Egypt would receive a guarantee of $2 Billion a year in US aid.

And if you truly believe that Israel (in your words) took a “thrashing at the hands of Egypt”. Why did Israel still command all of Gaza, and the Sinai with Egyptian oil wells, AFTER the Egyptians delivered the thrashing?

And what about the Syrians, who actually retook the Golan Heights in the 1973 Yom Kippur War at the moment of the sneak attack, only to lose the Golan again before the battles were over?

By the time the UN stopped the war, Israeli troops were no more than 50 miles from Damascus.

Here’s a current example of Arab revisionism. Actually, revisionism requires an actual event to have occurred in order for it to be revised. In this case, it’s creationism.

In today’s National Post (April 20, 2004), one of Canada’s two daily national newspapers, on the front page, there was an article describing how Moslem Arabs have claimed in a teaching book published by a US Islamic group titled: “Arab World Studies Notebook”, that Moslems came to this continent (North America) in 889, long before Columbus and the Europeans.

The publisher of this nonsense: “The Middle East Policy Council and Arab World Islamic Resources” publishes this kind of crap to “enlighten” North American teachers of grades 7-12 of Arab and Moslem history.

In the book, we are told that many of the Moslems from West Africa became chiefs of Indian Tribes, such as the Algonquin and the Iroquois Nations. And with them, they brought names like Abdul Rahim and Abdallah Ibn Malik.

Nice story. But it isn’t true.

The Indian Tribes are furious with this Arab created history. And when confronted with this lie, Audrey Shabbas, editor of the book and coauthor of the chapter making this claim, simply agreed to remove this piece of “history” and said: I bow to the knowledge of the Algonquin Nation”.

Good thing for North America that the Arab publishers backed down, otherwise, the Arab world might be calling Canada and the USA Palestine as well; which would pretty much have about the same legitimacy as Arab claims for what they presently call Palestine.

Except the Americans might not see it quite as benignly as the Israelis.

Historical revisionism is a crime against honesty, integrity and children who grow up never knowing the truth. Without knowing the truth about the past, history simply repeats itself. A perfect example is the Arab world.

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One Comment

  1. As usual Howard, you are so spot on with your commentary! Carl from Quebec, respectfully, SERIOUSLY! Are you living in the same world the rest of us are because I cannot fathom how you can truly believe what you wrote. Get out of your bubble and really find out what is really going on in the real world. The left wouldn’t know morality if it hit them in the head! As for Elizabeth Warren, really!? She doesn’t have snow ball’s chance in a very hot place of even making it through the primary.

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