Because it is predicated on the assumption that we can’t be accepted, tolerated or dealt with if we are considered non-Arabs (he basically says as much). I say accept me as I am and who I am and I will do the same for you. I don’t need to classify you as a Jew in order to accept you or to hold friendly relations with you, or to refrain from doing violence against you.

Loren –excellent points. I’d love to invite you to take part in the Good Neighbors blog (http://gnblog.com) which is comprised of Israelis, Palestinians, Lebanese, Egyptians, Iranians, Jordanians and Syrians all seeking to increase tolerance and understanding in the region. We could use your voice over there!

Jordan. Jews living in the area that became Jordan were stripped of citizenship and of their property. In the constitution of Jordan, created in 1952 and still in effect, Jordan officially explicitly denies citizenship to all Jews, even those who lived there for generations. Its law provides that citizenship is open ‘to any person who was not Jewish’ and who meets certain other criteria. The laws in Jordan also states that no Jew is allowed to purchase or own property and the penalty for selling property to a Jew is death for the seller. Unlike non-Jews who marry Jordanians, Jews who marry a Jordanian cannot obtain citizenship, though they can obtain work permits to live there that must be renewed periodically, this last becoming allowed in the 1990s.

Syria. Following Syrian independence from France in 1946, attacks against Jews and their property increased, culminating in the pogroms of 1947, which left all shops and
synagogues in Aleppo in ruins. Thousands of Jews fled the country, and their homes and property were taken over by the local Muslims.

Egypt. In 1945, with the rise of Egyptian nationalism and the cultivation of anti-Western and anti-Jewish sentiment, riots erupted. In the violence, 10 Jews were killed, 350 injured, and a synagogue, a Jewish hospital, and an old-age home were burned down. The establishment of the State of Israel led to still further anti-Jewish feeling: Between June and November 1948, bombs set off in the Jewish Quarter killed more than 70 Jews and wounded nearly 200. 2,000 Jews were arrested and many had their property confiscated. Rioting over the next few months resulted in many more Jewish deaths. Between June and November 1948, bombs set off in the Jewish Quarter killed more than 70 Jews and wounded nearly 200 Jews. In 1956, the Egyptian government used the Sinai Campaign as a pretext for expelling almost 25,000 Egyptian Jews and confiscating their property. Approximately 1,000 more Jews were sent to prisons and detention camps. On November 23, 1956, a proclamation signed by the Minister of Religious Affairs, and read aloud in mosques throughout Egypt, declared that “all Jews are Zionists and enemies of the state,” and promised that they would be soon expelled. Thousands of Jews were ordered to leave the country. They were allowed to take only one suitcase and a small sum of cash, and forced to sign declarations “donating” their property to the Egyptian government. Foreign observers reported that members of Jewish families were taken hostage, apparently to insure that those forced to leave did not speak out against the Egyptian government. AP, (November 26 and 29th 1956); New York World Telegram).

I can give you information on Iraq, Iran and so forth if you like…