After the arabs failed to destroy Israel in its war of independence, they thought up a new way to weaken and conquer Israel. They threw out all the Jews from their lands, which were many, since Jews had lived there since the first exiles of over 2,500 years ago. They therefore created a refugee problem, thinking Israel would collapse under the burden of its immigrants. Of course, they didn't want the Jews in their lands anyhow, since the Jews possessed much wealth and expelling them would make the arabs wealthy. Furthermore, how could Jews live in the arab countries while the arabs' ultimate goal was [and is] to conquer and destroy Israel?

Thus the arabs expelled the Jews from their lands, rioting against them, pillaging their property and possesions, and killing many of them. And these Jews, most of them, arrived in Israel, without possesion, without homes, and without a sense of belonging. Most of them didn't speak Hebrew and the bulk of them came from a completely different background than the type of society they would find in Israel. And they came in big numbers. Thanks to them the population of Israel doubled. But that's a big growth in size, and it's hard for a country, as small as Israel was, to absorb so many people. Therefore the arabs thought the Jews would starve and their economy would collapse. The arabs thought they would ruin Israel, but instead they blessed her a thousand fold.

I thank the arabs for expelling the Jews from their lands. The truth is, modern Israel was built thanks to this sort of injustice. Had the Jews not had to flee from europe, Israel would not have been reborn, and had the Jews not been expelled from the arab lands, Israel would not have grown, and grown much stronger. It would have been terrible if the Jews remained in the arab lands while the arabs tried to destroy Israel. The Jews would have had to choose between Israel or their country of birth. It would have placed Jews against each other, making Israel much weaker and making its right to exist questionable even amongst its own people.

Recently, there have been arab riots in Israel, and of course, the arab nations were quick to condemn Israel. There was an article from salon.com on Oct. 5, 2000, from tehran, iran, titled, "iranians join mideast protests against Israel." It's your standard news article about arabs protesting against America and shouting "death to Israel," except that something about it is very different. It said, "iran's local Jewish leaders also joined the protesters in condemning Israeli actions. 'The brutalities committed by Israeli forces have nothing to do with the divine Jewish religion. They are fascists,' said the head of iran's Jewish society, Haroun Yashayaii, who was among the demonstrators." Perhaps the Jews of iran were afraid because any Jew who shows sympathy towards Israel is tried as a spy in iran, but this is the type of situation faced by Jews who remain in arab and islamic countries; they have to swear their loyalty to their enemies and betray their brothers, or else they'll be seen as rebels and will be treated as renegades.

Alternatively, in the time of Rome, when Israel was a roman province, and the Jews rebelled against the roman occupation, there were Jews that rebelled with them throughout the roman empire. There were many Jews scattered throughout the roman empire, and when the Jews rebelled in Israel, these Jews also rebelled in their places of residence, thus widening the rebellion into a full-fledged uprising. This encouraged other people to rebel as well, however, it also weakened the rebellion because the rebel forces were scattered throughout the lands. The romans quickly suppressed these minor Jewish uprisings and then moved their forces to Israel and decimated the Country. Which is to say, a small nation such as Israel doesn't stand a chance when it's divided and scattered across borders. Therefore the arabs did a great thing for Israel when they brought its people togethor; although Israel is still largely divided, as most of its people still live in exile.