http:\/\/edgar1981.blogspot.co.uk\/2014\/05\/countering-shrinking-palestine-maps-lie.html<\/a><\/h3>\nCountering the \u2018shrinking Palestine Maps\u2019 scam<\/h3>\n\u00a0One of the most pernicious and common scams propagated by anti-Israeli activists is the so-called \u2018shrinking maps\u2019 of Palestine (see bottom of this article). As with most anti-Israel propaganda (like \u201cIsraelis are baby-killers\u201d whereas in fact Israel does everything to avoid any civilian casualties while Palestinians specifically target young children; and \u201cIsrael is an apartheid state\u201d whereas Israel is the only country in the Middle East to provide full rights for all religious groups while the Palestinian Authority allows no Jews at all)\u00a0 the claims are a\u00a0 perfect inversion of reality. <\/p>\nIn 2010 I decided that\u00a0the best way to counter these maps was to show the following alternative<\/a>\u00a0(I could not find anything like this on the web so I developed it myself \u2013 there have been copies since). The map demonstrates\u00a0 the extent to which it is Israel that has been shrinking since 1973, in its desperate but increasingly futile hope to trade \u2018land for peace’:<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"http:\/\/3.bp.blogspot.com\/-VnMxWp2ChGk\/US4HUzKB86I\/AAAAAAAAABY\/f4TW1sRWRTM\/s1600\/expanding_israel.jpg\")
<\/span><\/a><\/div>\n\u00a0<\/span><\/a><\/div>\nNow compare that factual reality with the propaganda maps that lie (see also\u00a0Elder of Ziyon on this<\/a>):<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"http:\/\/1.bp.blogspot.com\/-oAt4Nmo6rWg\/US4Jnfur0EI\/AAAAAAAAAB0\/92VwEFIFAu0\/s1600\/map2.jpg\")
<\/span><\/a><\/div>\n\n- \u00a0First of all note that the\u00a0first\u00a0<\/b><\/i>map distinguishes \u201cJewish settlements\u201d and \u201cPalestinian Land\u201d whereas all the others simple compare \u201cIsraeli Land\u201d and \u201cPalestinian Land\u201d. Since there was no \u2018State of Palestine\u2019\u00a0 in 1947 there was no \u201cPalestinian Land\u201d. Instead they should have highlighted (for consistency) \u201cArab settlements\u201d which would actually have been much fewer and smaller than the \u201cJewish settlements\u201d. And of course\u00a0most\u00a0<\/b><\/i>of the land would be neither \u201cJewish settlements\u201d nor \u201cArab settlements\u201d because it was still barren (although much of it was actually legally owned by Jews who had bought it). If you used the logic of this propaganda map and applied to to the USA today you could show that there are just tiny pockets of \u201cAmerican colonialist settlements\u201d sprinkled amid the vast land which could be said to be \u201cNative American\u201d (UPDATE: see exactly such a map\u00a0here<\/a>\u00a0and at bottom of page)<\/li>\n
- These maps are based on the completely false premise that, prior to 1947 there was an Arab state of Palestine. In fact the Palestine that was promised to the Jews as part of the Balfour declaration was the British mandate territory that includes what later become the state of Jordan (my map above top left). There\u00a0was not \u2013 and never has been \u2013 an Arab state of Palestine<\/b><\/i>\u00a0even though, between 1948 and 1967 there was no \u2018occupied territories\u2019 of the West Bank or Gaza since these areas were then under the full control of Jordan and Egypt respectively. The Palestinian Arabs living there during that period never called for an independent state of their own.<\/li>\n
- Only the Jews of Palestine considered themselves Palestinian before 1948<\/b><\/i>. The Arabs \u2013 most of whom had come to Palestine from Egypt and Syria because of the economic opportunities opened up by the Jews \u2013 considered themselves to be Syrian.<\/li>\n
- Despite the fact that 80% of mandate Palestine (not shown on the maps that lie) had already been granted to the Arabs exclusively to become the new state of Jordan, the Jews of Palestine accepted the UN partition plan of 1947. The surrounding Arab states did not accept it and launched a war of annihilation against the Jews (during and after which some 1 million Jews from Arab countries were forced to leave \u2013 most of them came to Israel).<\/li>\n
- The result of the war that was intended to murder every single Jew in Palestine was that the invading Arab armies were defeated and the Jews controlled slightly more territory overall than was part of the 1947 plan; however, they also lost some territory such as the Jewish quarter of East Jerusalem (including Judaism\u2019s holiest sites such as the Wailing Wall) and Gush Etzion that even the 1947 plan had not considered to be under Arab control.<\/li>\n
- The UN accepted the 1949 armistice line as defining the borders of Israel, while calling for East Jerusalem (now under Jordanian occupation) to be \u2018internationalised\u2019.<\/li>\n
- The Arab states refused to recognise the State of Israel and have continued to this day to try to destroy it. The Jordanians who occupied East Jerusalem in 1948 expelled every Jew and destroyed every synagogue in the old city. Not a single Jew was allowed to enter Judaism\u2019s holiest sites until 1967 when, after the Egyptians, Jordanians and Syrians launched another attempted war of annihilation, Israel regained control over the old city and other areas.<\/li>\n
- Israel offered to withdraw from all the newly gained territories in return for peace but the offer was rejected by the Arab countries. With the exception of Jewish East Jerusalem Israel has essentially made the same offer over and again ever since but it has always been rejected. Despite this, Israel has returned the whole of Gaza and most of the West Bank to Palestinian control. But the Arabs continue to demand the destruction of all of Israel.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
It is also important to show Israel in context with its Muslim neighbours:<\/p>\n
![\"\"](\"http:\/\/2.bp.blogspot.com\/-4Ro_idS2t4c\/US4HmgmCv1I\/AAAAAAAAABg\/Azeubs3abQA\/s1600\/israel_surrounded2.jpg\")
<\/span><\/a><\/div>\nUpdate 9 August 2014<\/b><\/i>: Applying the Palestinian maps scam to the USA:<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"http:\/\/4.bp.blogspot.com\/-ctoQLEsydwE\/U-Y8SRRiVxI\/AAAAAAAAA-k\/Mmc2KEwKB-4\/s1600\/usa_maps.jpg\")
<\/span><\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" \u0932\u0947\u0916\u0915 \u0915\u0947 \u0905\u0928\u0941\u0938\u093e\u0930 \u0907\u091c\u0930\u093e\u0907\u0932 \u0915\u0947 \u092a\u093e\u0938 \u0926\u0947\u0928\u0947 \u0915\u0947 \u0932\u093f\u090f \u0915\u094b\u0908 \u095b\u092e\u0940\u0928 \u0928\u0939\u0940\u0902 \u0939\u0948 …. more
In 2010 I decided that\u00a0the best way to counter these maps was to show the following alternative<\/a>\u00a0(I could not find anything like this on the web so I developed it myself \u2013 there have been copies since). The map demonstrates\u00a0 the extent to which it is Israel that has been shrinking since 1973, in its desperate but increasingly futile hope to trade \u2018land for peace’:<\/p>\n Now compare that factual reality with the propaganda maps that lie (see also\u00a0Elder of Ziyon on this<\/a>):<\/p>\n It is also important to show Israel in context with its Muslim neighbours:<\/p>\n Update 9 August 2014<\/b><\/i>: Applying the Palestinian maps scam to the USA:<\/p>\n \u0932\u0947\u0916\u0915 \u0915\u0947 \u0905\u0928\u0941\u0938\u093e\u0930 \u0907\u091c\u0930\u093e\u0907\u0932 \u0915\u0947 \u092a\u093e\u0938 \u0926\u0947\u0928\u0947 \u0915\u0947 \u0932\u093f\u090f \u0915\u094b\u0908 \u095b\u092e\u0940\u0928 \u0928\u0939\u0940\u0902 \u0939\u0948 …. more <\/span><\/a><\/div>\n<\/span><\/a><\/div>\n\n
<\/span><\/a><\/div>\n<\/span><\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"