i would love to see one jewish member of parlament in any arab country, OH NO...ACTUALY I would be happy to see A PARLAMENT in any arab country(based on one man one vote,true representation) but as always,,,,they keep weeping and playing the victim... if the intention was to murder them in 48,mr Barakeh certainly wouldnt have been alive today to be a Kneset member.or tell this bobe meise. Maybe mr Barakeh and his cohorts need to be shipped out to one of the many shining lights of democracy and human achievment,bordering Israel.

Israel belongs to the Jews.

This is a well-estabilshed historical fact. Arabs chose to leave on the request of their leaders. Now please stop your whining!

is your tragedy. You are not wanted anyway.

Israel is a country for all its citizens. If Arabs, Jews, Druze, Beduins dont want to be part of Israel and defend it, they should move out. Afterall, Israel was there FIRST. Just because it was occupied by so many invaders doesnt change the fact that Israel and Jews were there before the Arabs, but unlike Arab countries, Israel is a land for all its citizens. Enjoy the rights everyone gets in Israel or move back to Jordan Palestine or Saudi Gammorah or some other place where they would get fewer rights and possibilities.

A bit of a misnomer. "Israeli Arabs" have a better quality of life health education and democracy than any other muHAMedan society in any muslim state. Without OUR democracy they would have the same rights as all other muslims have in every state except Turkey- NONE! If the arabs are unhappy, there is alway the PA - M O V E!!

Israeli and Zionist terrorism.

Morons

Mr Muhamed Ali. I not you live in Christian Canada and not in an islamic supremecist racist state. Why not encourage Muslim immigration to Canada. You would certainly have my support. Quebec is the true future Palestinian state!

Get rid of them.Do not let them sit in the Knesset.Do not let them vote. Do not let them hold govt. jobs. Put a tax on all private enterprise that employs them instead of loyal citizens. Expel them from places of higher education. Let Israel become the horrible place for them that they think it is.

Very soon.

Such hyprocrisy, and crocodile tears. The UN voted in 1947 to create 2 states, one Jewish one Arab. The Arabs want to drive the Jews into the sea and they want the Arab inhabitants out of the way, but their plan goes wrong. The Jewish state survives. The Arab areas are annexed by Jordan and Egypt (no tears about that!!!) The Arabs which left are now stuck outside Israel, and can't return victoriously. The real tragedy for the Arabs (not the Jews) is: - that they rejected the 1947 UN plan, - that they left the country under orders of the Mufti and Arab countries in order to be out of the way when the Arab armies would drive the Jews into the sea - that the Arab designated areas were annexed by Egypt and Jordan. Come on, if you want to cry still, I'll give you a tissue!!!

Expel them? Why? Because a segment of the native-born population remembers that 350 villages were destroyed, that their brethren were expelled and turned into refugees. Would you also advocate expelling Jews who remember that they lost property in Europe or had to flee? Quite honestly, your one-sidedness is totally shocking. If you cannot cope with the history of the land where you live, then the only option open is to retreat into a revisionist fantasy world where history moved moved from 1947 to 1949 without noticing a few hundred thousand Palestinians disappearing in a puff of smoke.

Meir had it right. When the Arabs left their villages it was to allow the Arab armies the ablitiy to send the Jews into the sea. When the Jews won the War of Independence land that had originally been granted to Israel was annexed by Jordan and Egypt. Arabs were not forceably removed from Israel at any time. If they want the 'right of return' let them live in Egypt or Jordan. I can understand mourning the loss of a village. I can understand mourning the loss of a house. In times of war tragedies such as this happen. Allowing an Arab MK the right to mourn this loss shows the power of living in a free society. I'm not clear as to what 'revisinist history' Rustum refers. I can only guess that he believes Israel's creation somehow caused Arabs previously living under the British Mandate to disappear. He should look at what happened to the Mandate. How much of of that land actually became Israel? What happened to the Jewish villages and settlements on the other side of the new borders? What happend to Jewish holy places when they were not under Jewish control? If you are looking for revisionist history, look no further than the word Palestinian. It was created in 1967 by Yassir Arafat. Prior to that the people were Arabs. Interestingly enough these same 'Palestinians' were thrust out of the largest part of what was once Palestine, by their Arab brethern. The Hashamite Kingdom of Jordan did not like the Palestinians attempt at a coup. Thus Arafat lost them the only place to which they had any claim to a 'right of return.' Who cried out then?

Jews belong in Israel; Arabs belong in Arab countries. Expel Arab foreigners now!

Arabs left voluntarily! Fully documented in book, "From Time Immemorial" by Joan Peters: In 1948, Arabs were told to leave by Arab leaders while the invading Arab armies would "purge the land of Jews." The Jewish Haifa Workers' Council issued an appeal to the Arab residents of Haifa: "For years we have lived together in our city, Haifa...Do not fear: Do not destroy your homes with your own hands...do not bring upon yourself tragedy by unnecessary evacuation and self-imposed burdens...But in this city, yours and ours, Haifa, the gates are open for work, for life and for peace for you and your families..."

go check up on your history. the arabs were not expelled from israel, they were told to leave by other arab leaders. the UN offered a two state solution before the establishment of the State of Israel; the arabs rejected it. Arabs are not treated anywhere near to the way Jews were treated by arabs in arab lands before they were expelled. So here's an offer, how about Iran, Iraq, Saudi Arabia, Lebanon and Syria return confiscated, previously -owned Jewish land. Should the jews rape arab women the same way jewish women were raped by arabs in arabic countries??? Take your stories and propoganda elsewhere. NOWHERE in any other democracy would a member of parliament be allowed to march against their country and not stand trial for treason. these arab MK's should be exiled.

Actually, statistics show that that by 1948 Jewish ownership of assets in post-1948 Israel was 8%. That means, that post 1948, after the transfer of lands, villages, houses, assets, waqf properties, 92% of independent Israel was acquired by quasi-legal transfer. No one is talking about not returning the Palestinians what they did not own, only what they did own - which was the overwhelming majority of land and buildings in mandate Palestine. As for Jewish holy places that were not under Jewish control after 1948 - you need to consider what happened to the hundreds of Moslem sites of worship which were bulldozed into kibbutzim, or simply take a glance at Caesaria where the mosque is an alcohol-selling restaurant. The amount of destruction meted out by the years of JOrdanian rule was simply nothing compared to the eradication of a society, a way of life, a network of villages, cities and communities, which ceased to exist after the Yishuv became a government.

I seem to remember that in your own country, there were many people who were considered "traitors" who now run the country. It had something to do with a racist regime in power and the underdog's inherent right to struggle for his equality. As for Jewish property in Arab countries - perhaps when expatriates from those countries decide that they wish to return they will then institute proceedings for the return of their properties. However, it is rather a non-issue, since I don't believe many Israelis are gagging to return to Libya or Lebanon. Moreover, it is a very complicated issue - e.g. in Egypt which was tied up with "foreign-owned" property as most of the JEwish population did not take Egyptian nationality, so let's not generalise too much about how nasty "the Arabs" are, as it only suits your agenda and not reality. As for your call for "exiling Arab MKs", that is a facile solution and one which I believe was much used by the former Iron curtain countries where "freedom" was not the rule of the day. So, in short, you are suggesting that Israel should behave like a Stalinist/FAscist state and simply exile everyone that you don't like - from your safe sanctuary of the former racist state of SA.

Joan Peters "fully documented book" is hardly a paragon of objectivity! The corrolary of this is that her argument about the voluntary flight of the Arab residents suits your vision 100%. You completely ignore the campaigns of intimidation, the rumours of enormous bombs in the arsenal of the fledgling IDF and the acts of terrorism designed to encourage Palestinians to flee. History, or Zionist history, has judged very harshly those innocent citizens who feared for the safety of their children and parents and fled from the war zone. Many ardent Zionists believe whole-heartedly the pathetic legends about the Palestinians being promised rivers of blood - so similar to the "atrocity" legends spread by the Germans about the British and vice versa in the First World War - but I wonder whether Ms Rivera would condemn to a life of refugee status a Belgian family who fled the advancing GErmans in 1914 or is she only uncharitable towards the Arabs whom she hates so furiously.

Shock horror! The BBC has a photograph of Israeli children being brainwashed into loving automatic machine guns: http://newsimg.bbc.co.uk/media/images/41631000/jpg/_41631032_girl416_afp.jpg The photograph is shocking in that it shows pre-teenagers being encouraged to fall in love with weapons of death and destruction. And yet, as they are Israelis, it must be ok. Similar photographs of Palestinian children with rifles would be branded, by some of you readers, as inflammatory, unacceptable, and yet, I suspect you look at the photograph of Israeli children with guns and it brings a smile to your hearts.

Do you consider "cops and robbers" or an FBI tour that includes a shot being fired at the end also "brainwashing"? The fact is, Israeli children do not grow up to be shahids or even wanton killers of Arabs. Evidently, this "brainwashing" is most inadequte. As always, I congratulate America's Founding Fathers for their role in the Revolutionary War.

At the most there are just only a handful of pictures like that of Jewish children holding guns. In comparison, I have seen literally hundreds of pictures of Palestinian kids with guns,pipebombs and other deadly objects. I have also seen dozens of photos of "innocent" Arab children tcaught in the act throwing pipebombs,large rocks,and molotov cocktails at Israelis. I have heard and seen interviews on television where Arab children call Jews derogtory terms like pigs and say how they want to kill all Jews. I am not saying there is not hatred and prejudice amongst the Jewish children too,but it is far more prevelent and widespread among the Arab children mainly because they are taught that from the time they are very young by their parents,religious leaders, and schools.