1. "'Why don't you have the Angel Gabriel build them a camp until we find a proper solution for them.'" Source: Joke courtesy of Muhammed Abu Samra, "Martyrdom in Modern Palestinian Society" (speech given in Toronto), October 6, 2002.

2. "…Jews and Arabs share at least one ancestor – having a 'common Middle Eastern origin,' as the study puts it." Source: "Jewish and Middle Eastern non-Jewish populations share a common pool of Y-chromosome biallelic haplotypes," Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, Volume 97, Issue 12, June 6, 2000, p. 10 of online version. Download this report at www.pnas.org.

3. "We said to the Israelites: 'Dwell in the land. When the promise of the hereafter comes to be fulfilled, We shall assemble you all together.'" Source: The Koran 17:104.

Note: See also Koran 5: 20-21, which states, "Bear in mind the words of Moses to his people. He said, 'Remember, my people, the favour which God has bestowed upon you. He has raised up prophets among you, made you kings, and given you that which He has given to no other nation. Enter, my people, the holy land which God has assigned for you. Do not turn back, and thus lose all.'" Here, Allah is urging the Jews to enter the Holy Land no matter who already dwells there. Their "crime" was to stay behind, thereby failing to submit to God.

4. "'Since 1948 we have been demanding the return of the refugees to their homes. But we ourselves are the ones who encouraged them to leave.’" Source: Khaled Al-Azm, The Memoirs of Khaled al-Azm, Vol. 1 (Beirut: Al Dar Al Muttahida Lil-Nashir, 1973), p. 386.

Note: Acknowledging war as the root of the refugee problem doesn’t mean you can’t be balanced or even sympathetic to the Palestinian cause. For proof, see Benny Morris, The Birth of the Palestinian Refugee Problem, 1947-49 (New York: Cambridge University Press, 1989).

5. "'If they did not 'disappear' it was because they had been gunned down in public or tortured and killed." Source: Kanan Makiya, "Can Tolerance be Born of Cruelty in the Arab World?" New Perspectives Quarterly, Winter 2002, p. 3 of online version. Read it at www.digitalnpq.org.

6. "They get by on odd jobs." Source: Paul Adams, "Tourists, investors shun Beirut despite facelift," Globe and Mail, March 27, 2002.

7. "Their cable was ignored." Source: Arieh L. Avneri, The Claim of Dispossession: Jewish Land Settlement and the Arabs 1878-1948 (New Brunswick, New Jersey: Transaction Books, 1984), p. 114.

Specifically, Avneri writes, "On March 31, 1911, some 150 Arab notables from Jerusalem, headed by Ragheb Nashashibi, sent a cable to the Turkish parliament protesting the land sales to Jews. Even moderate Arab leaders, such as the mayor of Jerusalem, Hussein el-Husseini, who thought that the Arabs had much to learn from the Jews, expressed their apprehension over the land sales: 'All this notwithstanding, we must keep a watchful eye on the Zionists for, if things continue the way they are now going, all our land will before long pass into their hands. Our fellah is poor and downtrodden, and a poor man is ready even to part with his land to keep body and soul together. For this reason the Government must pass a law against land sales to Jews, taking into account the conditions in the country.'"

8. "That year marks the height of the Ottoman Muslim genocide against Armenian Christians." Note: While Turkey officially denies that the Armenian genocide happened, even the most pro-Muslim Western reporter I can think of, Robert Fisk, doesn't deny it. See The Independent, August 5, 2000.

Ironically enough, however, Israel doesn't acknowledge the Armenian genocide in its social studies textbooks, for fear of upsetting its strongest regional ally, Turkey. Here's one Israeli policy that I have absolutely no problem criticizing. It's morally and historically wrong.

9. "… 'a number of Arabs have asked for [British] Government protection." Source: Palestine Royal Commission Report, Cmd 5479 (London, July 1937), p. 135.

10. "In 1939… Britain offered the Palestinians a plan for full statehood." Source and note: Sandra Mackey, Passion & Politics: The Turbulent World of the Arabs (New York: Plume, 1994), pp. 121-22. This book is an excellent, if overly sympathetic, account of Arab culture and not just history.

11. "'They merely want to be left alone to sow and harvest; to marry and find the wherewithal in these troubled times to bring up their families.'" Source and note: December 10, 1938 report in the News Chronicle, quoted by Maurice Pearlman, Mufti of Jerusalem: The Story of Haj Amin el Husseini (London: V.Gollancz, 1947), p. 20.

This sentiment eerily echoes what a contemporary Palestinian farmer is quoted as saying about Arab terrorists: "They claim they are heroes. They brought us only destruction and made us homeless. They used our farms, our houses and our children to hide." See Paul Adams, "Protests a rare sign of support by Palestinians for a ceasefire," Globe and Mail, May 21, 2003.

12. "'Did he build a shelter or an asylum or a charity cistern from which poor tramps could drink?'" Source: Quoted by Maurice Pearlman, Mufti of Jerusalem, p. 29.

13. "… Haj Amin 'may well be descended from the best Roman stock.'" Source and note: Hitler quoted by Robert Wistrich, Hitler's Apocalypse: Jews and the Nazi Legacy (London: Weidenfeld & Nicolson, 1985), p. 164. I especially recommend the chapters, Swastika, Crescent and Star of David" and "Militant Islam and Arab Nationalism."

14. "When Israel honored such a Bosnian family in the 1960s at a ceremony in Jerusalem, they decided to stay and become Israeli citizens." Source: Sir Martin Gilbert (speech in Toronto), January 30, 2003.

15. "'This saves your honor. God is with you.'" Source: Haj Amin quoted by Maurice Pearlman, Mufti of Jerusalem, p. 51.

16. "… the proposed Palestinian state would have boasted an overwhelmingly Arab population; not so the Jewish state, which would have had only a thin majority of Jews." Source and note: This fact comes not from a Zionist source, but an anti-Zionist one – specifically, Walid Khalidi, "Revisiting the UNGA Partition Resolution," Journal of Palestine Studies, Issue 105, Autumn 1997, p. 11.

Writes Khalidi, "In terms of population, the proposed Palestinian state would have 818,000 Palestinians" and "less than 10,000 Jews." But "the Jewish state would have about 499,000 Jews and about 438,000 Palestinians…"

17. "… 'the Arab League… discouraged – at times even prevented – any active Palestinian participation in the political process.'" Source: Bernard Lewis, The Middle East: 2000 Years of History from the Rise of Christianity to the Present Day (Wiedenfeld & Nicolson, 1995), p. 365.

18. "'A vacuum had been created, to be filled by anyone ready to question the state and criticize governments in the name of Islam." Source: Gilles Kepel, Jihad: The Trail of Political Islam (Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 2002), p. 53.

19. "'Their great hope… has been that a return to strict Islam would provide the strength for a final victory over Zionism and Israel.'" Source: Gaber Asfour, "Osama bin Laden: Financier of Intolerant 'Desert' Islam," New Perspectives Quarterly, Winter 2002. Download at www.digitalnpq.org

20. "'Everything seems doomed to failure and corruption.'" Source: Muhammed Abu Samra, "Martyrdom in Modern Palestinian Society" (speech given in Toronto), October 6, 2002.

21. "'We take comfort, Mr. President, in designing excuses… may take yet another eternal struggle without opening a door of hope.'" Source and note: Al-Hayat Al-Jadida, September 2, 2002. Translated by Independent Media Review Analysis and checked against other translations.

It's interesting to note that Nabil Amr, a former newspaper editor himself, is now information minister in the cabinet of Palestinian Prime Minister Mahmoud Abbas.

22. "'[S]econd-generation Zionist propaganda… few people would have described the angry words of Blacks against Whites as a sign of Black racism." Source and note: Yousef Al-Yousef, "Israeli propaganda nominated for Oscar," www.arabia.com, March 21, 2002.

By the way, Yousef Al-Yousef is described in this review as "Chairman of the American Muslims for Global Peace and Justice – a Washington, DC-based American Muslim human rights advocacy group."

23. "'After returning to Toronto, I learned that a Palestine solidarity group was sponsoring a South African academic to spread the word on North American campuses that Israel is an apartheid state." Note: The academic in question is Na'eem Jeenah, spokesperson for the Palestine Solidarity Committee of South Africa. On September 30, 2002, he gave a speech on "South Africa and Israel – The Practice of Apartheid."

24. "… a Jewish parliamentarian had recently tabled a bill to introduce secular marriages…" Note: The parliamentarian in question is Amnon Rubinstein.

25. "Would a Hebrew newspaper in an apartheid state run an article by an Arab-Israeli about why 'the Zionist adventure has been a total failure'?" Source: Anton Shamas, an Arab-Israeli writer, quoted by Yosef Lapid, "To my candid, envious friend," Jerusalem Post, June 13, 1995. The Hebrew language newspaper in which Shamas wrote is Ha'ir, a Tel Aviv local.

26. "… an anti-Israel letter supposedly penned by Nelson Mandela but proven to have been authored by an Arab living in Holland." Note: My research assistant has corresponded directly with the letter writer, Arjan El Fassed, who confirms the Al Quds "never retracted." Read the full story.

27. "'Israel is not South Africa…'" Source: Edward Said, "Israel-Palestine: a third way," Le Monde Diplomatique (English translation), September 1998, p. 6.

28. "'Why can't we fight harder for freedom of opinions in our own societies, a freedom, no one needs to be told, that scarcely exists?'" Source: Edward Said, Ibid., p. 7.

29. "At forums leading up to the United Nations World Conference Against Racism in Durban, South Africa, the Arab Lawyers Union circulated cartoons…" [Take a look at some of them.] I checked with non-Jewish friends who went to this conference, and several recall having seen these cartoons.

30. "Too many Arab Muslim intellectuals, journalists, and politicians tell their audiences that Jews are Nazis because they siphon the blood of non-Jewish children…" Source: For fully documented examples of this, visit www.memri.org and read Robert Wistrich, Muslim Anti-Semitism: A Clear and Present Danger (American Jewish Committee, 2002). In each of these sources, all examples are backed up and not merely asserted.

31. "No less a figure than the Syrian defense minister is publishing books and producing a movie to tag Jews as bloodsuckers." Note: The defense minister is Mustafa Tlass.

32. "To its proponents, Zionism represents the homecoming of a historically persecuted and demographically dwindling people." Note: Some people claim that Martin Luther King Jr. endorsed Zionism. There's no compelling proof to suggest he did. King's so-called "Letter to an Anti-Zionist Friend" seems to be a fabrication. It's often cited as part of This I Believe, a collection of King's writings. But the citations never come with page numbers, and that's because the Letter to an Anti-Zionist Friend" simply doesn't exist.

33. "But to its opponents, Zionism is racism." Note: According to the Middle East Media Research Institute, Ahmad Dabour, Secretary General of the Palestinian Information Ministry, wrote in the November 14, 2002 edition of Al-Hayat Al-Jadida that "if we do not present Zionism as it is – a nationalistic, racist European movement that emerged at the periphery of the old colonialism and imperialism, we will make ourselves easy prey…"

34. "There are black Jews – Falashas – who, under the Law of Return, were airlifted from Ethiopia to Israel." Source and note: David Matas, "Israel and the Palestinians: Myths and Realities" (Institute for International Affairs of B'Nai Brith Canada, 2001), p. 5.

Matas makes another interesting point: "The Basic Law of Germany allows anyone to become a citizen who is the descendent of a person who was a German citizen and was deprived of that citizenship on political, racial or religious grounds between January 30, 1933 and May 8, 1945. The person does not have to be a first generation descendant. This German law is itself informally called a Law of Return, yet no United Nations resolution has ever suggested that this German Law of Return is racist." (p. 6)

35. "'They're also thriving, notching much higher university attendance rates than the Arab Muslim citizens of Israel and enjoying better overall health than Jews themselves." Source: Amnon Rubinstein, A minority within a minority," Ha'aretz, October 7, 2002. Rubinstein quotes Dr. Alex Lowenthal, head of the Israeli Health Ministry's Public Health Service, as saying: "The Christian Arabs have the finest health indicators in Israel. Better than the Jews."

36. "Its logo left no doubt what reputation the Holy Rock was supposed to summon, that of the Hard Rock Café." [See the photo.].

Arabs appear pretty enamored of using American logos, including those of Toys 'R' Us and Blockbuster Video. [See these knock-offs from Ramallah.]

37. "'It was crowded!'" Source: Thomas Friedman, The Lexus and the Olive Tree (New York: Farrar, Straus Giroux, 1999), p. 278.

38. "'Listen to a Muslim intellectual, mullah or politician… he will perjure himself to get financial assistance from his offspring by declaring his insolvency.'" Source: Irfan Husain, "When will we ever learn?" DAWN, December 21, 2002.

39. "More telling, Pepsi cans litter the path to the cave of Hirah, where Prophet Muhammad reportedly imbibed the words of God." Source: Farid Esack, On Being a Muslim: Finding a Religious Path in the World Today (Oxford: Oneworld Publications, 1999), p. 15.

40. "One pair of electric panties features an illuminated Tweety Bird who sings…" [View this clip.]

41. "… denounced Pokemon (the children's video game) as a Japanese word that translates into 'I am Jewish.'" Source: Hala Boncompagni, "Japanese pocket monster 'Pokemon' game fans passions in Jordan," Agence France Presse wire service, April 5, 2001.

Boncompangi reported that "after the fatwas, or religious edicts, issued in Saudi Arabia and Qatar to ban Pokemon, passions are also running high in Amman where the game has created tension within a Christian community while some Jordanians see it as an Israeli plot.

Father Emmanuel Estephan Banna of the Syriac Orthodox Christian community felt the sting several days ago when the first anonymous messages came over his facsimile machine.

The messages said that the word Pokemon and the names of the characters found in the game were Jewish words rooted in the ancient Syriac language and insulting to Islam,' the priest told AFP. 'They said the word Pokemon means 'I am Jewish' and that Pikachu (the game's main character) is a very bad and offensive description of Allah (God).'"

42. "… 'a Jewish plot aimed at forcing our children to forgo their faith and values and distract them form more important things such as scientific ambitions.'" Note: The same cleric, Sheikh Abdul Aziz bin Abdullah al-Sheikh, charged that most of the Pokemon trading cards "'figure six-pointed stars, a symbol of international Zionism and the state of Israel' as well as 'different-shaped crosses.'"

43. "'… the frustration and anger of a populace that has been given some wealth but no voice – locked in a gilded cage.'" Source: Fareed Zakaria, The Future of Freedom: Illiberal Democracy at Home and Abroad (New York: W.W. Norton, 2003), pp. 135-36.

44. "'… the United States will promote moderation and tolerance and human rights.'" Source: President George W. Bush (speech at the United States Military Academy, West Point, New York), June 1, 2002. Download at www.whitehouse.gov.

45. "His sentence of seven years with the possibility of hard labor is almost like a death certificate' for civil liberties in Egypt…" Source: Hisham Kassem in interview with "All Things Considered," National Public Radio, July 29, 2002.

46. "… it became obvious to him that 'those I had angered decided to act to eliminate Saad Eddin Ibrahim from Egypt's public life.'" Source: Saad Ibrahim (speech to Freedom House, Washington, DC), October 21, 2002.

47. "The hounded couple now lives in Holland, from the safety of which Abu Zeid is counter-suing the Egyptian justice minister." Note: For an excellent overview of Abu Zeid's case, see Mary Anne Weaver, "Revolution by Stealth," New Yorker, June 8, 1998.

48. "'Societies that restrict the space for citizens to participate and express dissent will eventually spawn a twisted, angry and lethal response.'" Source: Saad Ibrahim (speech to Freedom House, Washington, DC), October 21, 2002.

49. "'In a country that mandates that fully half the members of parliament must be either peasants or laborers, the current configuration is solidly titled toward a tiny elite.'" Source: Jon B. Alterman, Egypt: Stable but for How Long?" The Washington Quarterly, Volume 23, Number 4, Autumn 2000, p. 115.

50. "'… a crime punishable – we soon learned – under a law from the 1920s, never used to prosecute [an] Egyptian citizen before." Source: Saad Ibrahim (speech to Freedom House, Washington, DC), October 21, 2002. The preceding two quotes also come from this source.

51. "… a 'laughable' suggestion, clucked one Arab journalist, considering that the Egyptian government survives on foreign aid." Source: Rami Khouri, "Don't stifle a rare Arab voice of moderation," Globe and Mail, July 5, 2000.

52. "… one of Washington's most conservative publications encouraged Bush to exercise America's 'abundant leverage with Egypt' and secure clemency for Ibrahim." Source: Claudia Winkler, Egypt's Sakharov," Weekly Standard, July 31, 2002, p. 1 of online version. Download at www.weeklystandard.com.

53. "A hundred Arabs from around the world nonetheless followed Bush's lead and sent Mubarak their own letter to support Ibrahim." Note: To download this letter, visit www.memri.org, click on "Reform in the Arab Muslim World," and then go to "October 15, 2002: Liberal Arab Intellectuals Call on President Mubarak to Free Dr. Sa'ad Al-Deen Ibrahim."

54. "… Muslim women can't legally marry outside the faith." Source: I have received testimony from many women. For obvious reasons, they don't want to be identified.

55. "'The Arab states have fought no fewer than fifteen open or secret wars against one another since the 1930s…" Source: Amir Taheri, "The Arab Role," National Review Online, December 20, 2002.

56. "'… we have failed as a civil society by not confronting the historical, social and political demons within us…'" Source: Izzat Majeed quoted by Tom Friedman, "Breaking the Circle," New York Times, November 16, 2001. Friedman took the quote from what he calls "the popular Pakistani daily, The Nation."

57. "'You are free… Hindus will cease to be Hindus and Muslims will cease to be Muslims… in the political sense as citizens of the state." Source: Muhammad Ali Jinnah (in his first speech as Governor-General of Pakistan), August 11, 1947.

58. "Trusting me as that 'Muslim on TV,' he bemoaned how our people are killing each other… But Zia rejected his offer.'" Source: Ahmed, conversation in Toronto, September 13, 2002.

59. "…'important officials and concerned citizens'… part of a Hindu or Zionist conspiracy.'" Source: Akbar Ahmed and Lawrence Rosen, "Islam and Freedom of Thought," www.islamfortoday.com (archived), p. 2.

60. "Muslims today 'are the poorest, the most illiterate, the most unenlightened, the most deprived, and the weakest of all the human race.'" Source: Pervez Musharraf as quoted by www.bbc.co.uk, February 16, 2002.

61. "'… I even received a negative response to my suggestion that Muslim scholars such as historian Ibn Khaldun or mystic poet Mowlana Rumi be taught." Source: Akbar Ahmed, "Reforming the Madrassah," www.beliefnet.com (archived), p. 1.

62. "'What is most important to the history of the world? Some stirred-up Muslims or the liberation of Central Europe and the end of the Cold War?" Source: Zbigniew Brzezinski, Le Nouvel Observateur, January 15-21, 1998, p. 76.

63. "Eisenhower noted 'a campaign of hatred against us not by the governments but by the people' of the Arab world." Source: President Eisenhower as quoted by Noam Chomsky, "Drain the swamp and there will be no more mosquitoes," The Guardian, September 9, 2002, p. 1 of online version.

64. "'I think that's what we're talking about.'" Source: "Donahue," MSNBC, August 2, 2002.

65. "'The election system has no place in the Islamic creed' since Islam views the leader as a 'shepherd' who's responsible for his 'flock.'" Source: King Fahd as quoted by John Esposito, "A Response to 'The Place of Tolerance in Islam'," Boston Review, February/March 2002, p. 2 of online version.