Quotation: Bertrand Russell

"The tragedy of the people of Palestine is that their country was ‘given’ by a foreign power to another people for the creation of a new state.
The result was that many hundreds of thousands of innocent people were made permanently homeless. With every newconflict their numbers increased. How much longer is the world willing to endure this spectacle of wanton cruelty? It is abundantly clear that the refugees have every right to the homeland from which they were driven, and the denial of this right is at the heart of the continuing conflict.
No people anywhere in the world would accept being expelled en masse from their country; how can anyone require the people of Palestine to accept a punishment which nobody else would tolerate? A permanent just settlement of the refugees in their homeland is an essential ingredient of any genuine settlement in the Middle East."

Bertrand Russell

Speech in Cairo, 1970

(from "Wikiquotes" & "Can't See the Forest")

(picture of a palestinian child from "RightofReturn")

Quotation: Albert Einstein

"I should much rather see reasonable agreement with the Arabs on the basis of living together in peace than the creation of a Jewish State. Apart from practical considerations, my awareness of the essential nature of Judaism resists the idea of a Jewish State, with borders, an army and a measure of temporal power, no matter how modest. I am afraid of the inner damage Judaism will sustain" Albert Einstein (date, unknown)

As early as 1921, Einstein made his first trip to the US to raise funds for the establishment of Jewish settlements in Palestine. As such he was identified with Zionism; a label that does not precisely fit but that he didn't actively avoid. Nonetheless, he seperated himself from Zionist bigots and jingoists. In 1930, A. Einstein wrote:

"I can see future for Palestine only on the basis of peaceful cooperation between the two peoples who are at home [in Palestine]..."

He went on to support a Bi-National Arab and Jewish State.

(Picture by "JC Colman")

Quotation: Arthur Nelsen

"A community without dissent is a sad lifeless rump that enriches neither itself nor anyone else.

In many ways, communities can be defined by qualities of those they exclude."

Arthur Nelsen- Feb.12 2007

Independent Jewish Voices (IJV)

Nelsen was actually speaking about the British Jewish establishment who opposes voices of dissent, as he says, within British Jewish community with regard to Israel.

Nelsen's beautiful phrase would, I'm sure, also apply perfectly to my own muslim community, which too often rejects dissent and criticism. There is a voice of dissent groing throughout communities which seeks to reject the dictat of the extremists over the more secular but silent majority.

(picture by "Digitalgrace")