# If Israel Kills Arafat, What Next? **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [September 14, 2003, 9:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-israel-kills-arafat-what-next/201619 "2003-09-14T21:31:00Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 6
**Author:** ![bbart4](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/51bf81/32.png) [@bbart4](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bbart4)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2003, 1:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-israel-kills-arafat-what-next/201619/101 "2003-09-18T13:02:06Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Boo Boo Foo \* > I truly believe that the only real, ever lasting peace will be when Israel merges into Palestine, and she changes her name back to Palestine but keeps her current democratic form of governement, but also, extends that government and electoral coverage to abosrb the Palestinian people. Isreal will most likely need to do this in a way similar to how West Germany absorbed East Germany in 1991. It certainly wasn’t cheap. I couldn’t agree more with you that in principle this seems to be the fairest and most ideal solution. One state, one nation for both peoples. However, I’m very pessimistic this would ever come to fruition and I do doubt this will ever happen in our generation. Israel, IMO, would view this as a threat to its identity as a Jewish state. With a total population of 8 million plus and only about 5 million Jews this isn’t going to happen. It would take several generations for the attitudes on both sides to change. Given the hatred present from both sides now, I just can’t see things will turn for the better. Going back to the OP, if Arafat is killed, I think it’s obvious things will spiral out of control with even more violence from both sides. After that the situation probaby will go back to ‘normal’. Which is to say, it will level back to the current level of violence. ---
**Author:** ![flonks](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/3ab097/32.png) [@flonks](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/flonks)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2003, 1:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-israel-kills-arafat-what-next/201619/102 "2003-09-18T13:33:28Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by bbart4 \* > \*\*Israel, IMO, would view this as a threat to its identity as a Jewish state. With a total population of 8 million plus and only about 5 million Jews this isn’t going to happen. > \*\* Oh, that problem will be “resolved” soon. The palestinian population is growing much faster than the jewish one. [http://archive.salon.com/news/feature/2001/12/19/demography/index\_np.html](http://archive.salon.com/news/feature/2001/12/19/demography/index_np.html) > [@](#): > > In 2020, Jews will be a distinct minority in “Greater Israel,” the land between the Jordan river and the Mediterranean Sea, encompassing both the internationally-recognized state of Israel and the occupied territories, comprising the West Bank and Gaza. According to recent predictions, Arabs will form 58 percent of the total population, up from 49.5 percent today. In Israel proper, Jews will remain a majority but their percentage will drop from 73 percent today to 68 percent in two decades. ---
**Author:** ![glee](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/b5a626/32.png) [@glee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/glee)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2003, 3:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-israel-kills-arafat-what-next/201619/103 "2003-09-18T15:56:29Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by FairDink \* > **glee** , > > > [@](#): > > > > Read what I have posted and if you still have any questions get back to me. > > Done! Thats twice now and… well… Sorry, still feel the same. Maybe you would like to this too. This time though, don’t jump at the first sentence which you think could have been constructed a little better. Read it aaaallllll the way through, nice and calmly. Actually Blake posted that sentence, not me. So maybe [b]you\*\* should read things all the way through, nice and calmly. > [@](#): > > _Originally posted by glee_ > It may be worth trying to educate you some more. > [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by FairDink \* > Thats my goal in life. It seems you may have reached your ‘limit’ (or so you seem to think). So go for it… Should be amusing. I haven’t reached my limit. But as a teacher I know there are some who will not listen to reasoned argument. > [@](#): > > _Originally posted by glee_ > I know that suicide bombers cause misery AND THEY ARE NOT F_CK_ING ‘ACCIDENTAL’, as you moronically suggest. > [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by FairDink \* > Here you go ‘picking out’ what you can react on. **You** posted it. :wally It is stupid and offensive. I call you on it. You say I’m ‘picking on’ you?! 😕 Grow up - take responsibility for your actions. > [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by FairDink \* > So you obviously think that **Israel went out of theire way to prepare a full scale military opperation to bomb a school just before the lunch-time bell!!!** No, **obviously** I don’t. But strangely you **do** think that’s my position (and that of the authors of the links I posted. So you believe the Middle East Times, the Palestine Monitor, The Los Angeles Times and CBC News, Canada all think that too? :eek: Perhaps you should write to them. :rolleyes: Alternatively you are guilty of a knee-jerk reaction and consider any criticism of Israel to be supporting terrorism. What these **news reports** , with quotes from independent people, show is that Israel made the terrible decision to fire into civilian areas (including schools) to kill terrorists. That doesn’t mean they are out to inflict maximum civilian casualties. But it does mean they killed innocent civilians, on the orders of Sharon. > [@](#): > > _Originally posted by glee_ > … simply because Sharon says so, Arafat is guilty of genocide. > [@](#): > > _Originally posted by FairDink_ > Actually, its more like first-hand experience. What is? > [@](#): > > _Originally posted by FairDink_ > Sharon does not brainwash his country. > “ohhh really?”, I hear you say. Well… Actually you can hear me say two things: - don’t put words in my mouth - what are you talking about? Who said ‘Sharon brainwashes his country’? Do you know what a strawman is? Sharon was elected on a narrow majority because he represents an ‘iron fist’ in dealing with the Palestinians. He does not have a successful record of negotiation, but instead a track record of violence. Sadly this appeals to part of the Israeli electorate. > [@](#): > > _Originally posted by glee_ > It is likely that an Israeli Prime Minister has been assassinated by another Israeli faction, which shows the terrible tension in the whole area. > [@](#): > > _Originally posted by FairDink_ > Well, I’m not going to ask you to prove this one, just put a little perspective on it. Did you not know about this? Do you still think that killing a leader solves such situations?! > [@](#): > > _Originally posted by FairDink_ > These things appear to happen in many places. There is no pre-requisite of ‘tension’ for it. But feel free to invent the ‘tension’ requirement to suit your argument. It seems to be your style. What are you trying to say? Leaders are assassinated without there being any tension? Do list your cites. Of course your style is to put stupid arguments into the mouths of others and say that news reports are biased. So for your education, some history of the Middle East conflict: "But when 73-year-old Yitzhak Rabin, the first Israeli Prime Minister to puff the peace pipe with the Palestinians, was gunned down Nov. 4… The shooter, as everyone knows by now, came from the far-right of Israel’s spectrum, the ultranationalists who see handing over an inch of the land primarily populated by Palestinians in the occupied and formerly occupied territories on the West Bank and in Gaza as literal treason." [http://www.conspire.com/rabin.html](http://www.conspire.com/rabin.html) “The peace initiative undertaken by Yitzhak Rabin was based on his correct understanding of three facts, and on Rabin’s unique ability to communicate those facts to the Israeli public. The first fact is that Israel cannot rule over millions of Palestinians who are unwilling to accept Israeli sovereignty. The second fact is that the world, and especially the United States, will not allow Israel to continue the occupation indefinitely, especially after the United States had invaded Iraq for its unlawful occupation of Kuwait. The third fact is that regardless of foreign policy, the settlement adventure is warping Israeli society, and transforming Zionism from a progressive movement of national rebirth into the standard bearer of reactionary religious zealotry.” [http://www.mideastweb.org/rabin2002.htm](http://www.mideastweb.org/rabin2002.htm) > [@](#): > > _Originally posted by FairDink_ > As for simply eliminating Arafat (as the OP is refering to), I do not feel this is a good short-to-medeium-term plan. But it sure is a damn good long-term one!!!😃 Ah yes, assassination is always funny. And your evidence that this ‘plan’ will work is? ---
**Author:** ![bbart4](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/51bf81/32.png) [@bbart4](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bbart4)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2003, 4:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-israel-kills-arafat-what-next/201619/104 "2003-09-18T16:08:37Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by flonks \* > \*\*Oh, that problem will be “resolved” soon. The palestinian population is growing much faster than the jewish one. > \*\* Exactly. A one state solution isn’t going to work for Israel as the larger proportion of the total population will shift toward the Palestinian. As such I don’t see Israel would even consider that option at all. IMO, being the entity in power, they’d rather keep the status quo (Israel plus ‘controlled’ occupied territories). I suppose another thread can be opened for discussions as to whether a one-state solution is better or worse than a two-state one. The first would seem fairer, the latter would seem more realistic. ---
**Author:** ![FairDink](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/ed8c4c/32.png) [@FairDink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FairDink)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2003, 2:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-israel-kills-arafat-what-next/201619/105 "2003-09-19T02:34:43Z")
> [@](#): > > I hope, when FairDink submits his proposals to “ALL fortune 50 companies”, he has a damn good team of sub-editors and proofreaders to try to work out what he’s on about, and rewrite them for him. Nice. > [@](#): > > Let him hire “Ari Fleischer”. I’ve lost count now of the number of times he’s started a sentence with “No, what the President really meant was…” Very nice. I didn’t know it was a pre-requisite to have English as your first language. Ahhh… Is that how you do it, glee?? You cut-and-paste other peoples posts, then insert what you want between the lines. Excellent, thanks for the lesson.:wally ---
**Author:** ![Zenster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/cdc98d/32.png) [@Zenster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zenster)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2003, 7:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-israel-kills-arafat-what-next/201619/106 "2003-09-20T07:26:56Z")
Does anyone here honestly believe that Arafat had zero prior knowledge of the 50 ton arms shipment that originated on Kish Island in Iran and was later intercepted by Israel? ---
**Author:** ![Blake](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/a9a28c/32.png) [@Blake](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Blake)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2003, 7:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-israel-kills-arafat-what-next/201619/107 "2003-09-20T07:46:34Z")
Quick Litmus test in return Zenster. Do you really believe that Israeli deputy PM and foreign affairs minister Shimon Peres had zero prior knowledge of the series of bomb attacks against British and American targets in Egypt in 1954 now known under the banner of the Lavon affair? More of the same old same old Zenster, and you still haven’t answered my question. You seem to believe that corruption and terrorism on Arafat’s part is grounds for killng him without trial, while corruption and terrorism on the part of Peres can be ignored. That’s a pretty pathetic position. ---
**Author:** ![adaher](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/dec6dc/32.png) [@adaher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/adaher)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2003, 11:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-israel-kills-arafat-what-next/201619/108 "2003-09-20T11:48:49Z")
Whether or not Israel kills Arafat, there will be no peace as long as he is Palestinian leader. He has demonstrated time and again that he has no interest in peace. He will negotiate, but he sees negotiation as a means to gain a temporary advantage, not as a means to making peace with Israel. No question, Sharon is not much different. But one observation over the years is that Israel has tried both hawks and doves. They’ve tried making war and they’ve tried making peace. At no point have the Palestinians ever had anyone but Arafat, a hawk, in charge, and at no point have they ever even temporarily stopped terrorism. Israel has also called for peace with all of its neighbors and actually made peace with two. Other Arab nations have called for no peace, no negotations, not ever. And meanwhile they fund terrorist groups that think as they do. This puts Israel in an impossible situation where they have no choice but to fight until they either win or are defeated or both sides get sick of it. ---
**Author:** ![jjimm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba8739/32.png) [@jjimm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jjimm)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2003, 11:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-israel-kills-arafat-what-next/201619/109 "2003-09-20T11:53:30Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by adaher \* > **Other Arab nations have called for no peace, no negotations, not ever.** That’s bullshit. [Read this](http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/1844214.stm). And Sharon just ignored it. ---
**Author:** ![adaher](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/dec6dc/32.png) [@adaher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/adaher)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2003, 11:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-israel-kills-arafat-what-next/201619/110 "2003-09-20T11:55:42Z")
Iran, Iraq, Syria, and Libya did not accept the plan. As I said, there are still Arab states that refuse to negotiate. Although I expect Iraq isn’t a problem anymore.🙂 ---
**Author:** ![jjimm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba8739/32.png) [@jjimm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jjimm)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2003, 12:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-israel-kills-arafat-what-next/201619/111 "2003-09-20T12:02:36Z")
I didn’t parse your statement properly. Apols. ---
**Author:** ![FoamChomsky](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/8dc957/32.png) [@FoamChomsky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FoamChomsky)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2003, 12:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-israel-kills-arafat-what-next/201619/112 "2003-09-20T12:16:11Z")
The murder of Arafat seems pretty much a dead issue now, and thank god for it. Arafat, though in fact elected at one point by the Palestinian polity, is irrelevant. He can’t or won’t control Hamas, which is far more Islamist in orientation than he is. He can’t or won’t control Palestinian Islamic Jihad. And even from his own, Fatah and the al-Aqsa Martyrs, there have been terrorist acts by “rogue cells” that apparently were not particularly obedient to Arafat. Arafat must be made into an international pariah-- as one who not only condones terrorism while purporting to condemn it-- but who has stolen his people blind. I don’t know whether the figure is 3 billion or more or less, but I do know that the Palestinians are, per capita, the _most highly subsidized polity in the world_. This rather astonishing datum comes not from some Israeli right-wing journal but rather from _Die Welt_. (See, e.g., [http://www.iact.ca/views.php?name=Muravchik](http://www.iact.ca/views.php?name=Muravchik) He is 74 years old and should be left to fall on his own. As he will if he is suitably marginalized. Bush has the idea. The UN, of course, never will. ---
**Author:** ![adaher](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/dec6dc/32.png) [@adaher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/adaher)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2003, 12:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-israel-kills-arafat-what-next/201619/113 "2003-09-20T12:19:19Z")
And besides, the Saudi peace plan has two major problems for Israel. 1. They absolutely will not withdraw from all 1967 lands, nor should they in exchange for mere promises. They need secure borders. The 1967 borders were not secure. 2. The right of return. Israel maintains that the 1948 war resulted in an “exchange of populations”. Roughly equal numbers of Jews and Arabs were displaced by the war. Israel settled its refugees, they believe with some justification that the Arabs should have resettled their refugees. Israel is not calling for the right of Jews to return to the homes stolen from them by the Arabs, the Arabs should drop their claims as well, although financial compensation for ALL refugees, Jewish and Arab, should be discussed. ---
**Author:** ![jjimm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba8739/32.png) [@jjimm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jjimm)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2003, 12:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-israel-kills-arafat-what-next/201619/114 "2003-09-20T12:27:32Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by adaher \* > **1) They absolutely will not withdraw from all 1967 lands, nor should they in exchange for mere promises. They need secure borders. The 1967 borders were not secure.** Well that’s the end of any chance for peace, then. Pretty much the entire problem (from The Israeli side) is that little doozy. Tell me, what threat do Jordan and Egypt pose these days? ---
**Author:** ![adaher](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/dec6dc/32.png) [@adaher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/adaher)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2003, 12:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-israel-kills-arafat-what-next/201619/115 "2003-09-20T12:33:00Z")
Jordan and Egypt aren’t a problem. Neither is most of the 1967 lands. The lands that Israel will want to keep are the Golan Heights and East Jerusalem. In the first case, they have strategic reasons for preferring to keep the Golan Heights rather than make peace with Syria. Having the Golan Heights means Syria can never defeat them. That’s a heck of a lot better than Syrian promises. In the second case, East Jerusalem Israel has a demographic case to keep it. East Jerusalem had a Jewish majority from at least 70 AD all the way up to 1948. It was the one place in all of Palestine that Jews could honestly say never left their possession as a community, a place they had never left. It is possible that some kind of “international city” agreement could be negotiated, but Israel will never give back East Jerusalem to the Arabs, and considering what the Arabs did while it was in their possession, they shouldn’t. The Arabs evicted all Jews and desecrated Jewish holy sites, and banned Jews from visiting them. ---
**Author:** ![MC\_Master\_of\_Ceremonies](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/bb73d2/32.png) [@MC\_Master\_of\_Ceremonies](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MC_Master_of_Ceremonies)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2003, 12:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-israel-kills-arafat-what-next/201619/116 "2003-09-20T12:52:52Z")
Adaher, East Jerusalem, didn’t have a Jewish majority from 70 AD to 1948, reading a history book will tell you that Jews weren’t allowed in the area during the periods of Crusader and Byzantine rule and when the Arabs first conquered it the Byzantine patriach still placed a limit on the number of Jewish families allowed to live in the area. Jerusalem acquired a Jewish majority sometime in the 19th century, though the walled city remained 3/4 Arab until 1948. ---
**Author:** ![glee](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/b5a626/32.png) [@glee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/glee)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2003, 3:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-israel-kills-arafat-what-next/201619/117 "2003-09-20T15:04:27Z")
I hope, when FairDink submits his proposals to “ALL fortune 50 companies”, he has a damn good team of sub-editors and proofreaders to try to work out what he’s on about, and rewrite them for him. > [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by FairDink \* > Nice. Let him hire “Ari Fleischer”. I’ve lost count now of the number of times he’s started a sentence with “No, what the President really meant was…” > [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by FairDink \* > Very nice. > > I didn’t know it was a pre-requisite to have English as your first language. > > Ahhh… Is that how you do it, glee?? You cut-and-paste other peoples posts, then insert what you want between the lines. > Excellent, thanks for the lesson.:wally Oh dear. I have already pointed out your accusing me of saying something that **Blake** posted. The first quote above is from **jjimm** , and the second from **Boo Boo Foo**. So maybe **you** should read things all the way through, nice and calmly. That is your real lesson (oh, and I accept your apology :wally ) Don’t forget to post your evidence that the plan to murder Arafat is a good long-term plan (and especially why you think it’s amusing :rolleyes: ). ---
**Author:** ![Blake](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/a9a28c/32.png) [@Blake](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Blake)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2003, 10:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-israel-kills-arafat-what-next/201619/118 "2003-09-20T22:57:12Z")
> [@](#): > > But one observation over the years is that Israel has tried both hawks and doves. We should perhaps say that Israel has pretended to both hawks and doves. The true intentions are much more open to debate. ---
**Author:** ![FairDink](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/ed8c4c/32.png) [@FairDink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FairDink)\ **Post date:** [September 22, 2003, 6:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-israel-kills-arafat-what-next/201619/119 "2003-09-22T06:45:52Z")
> [@](#): > > _Originally posted by glee_ > Don’t forget to post your evidence that the plan to murder Arafat is a good long-term plan (and especially why you think it’s amusing ). Firstly (and calmly), Arafat isn’t helping the situation by ‘mass-producing’ a society with an attidude that places your ‘life’ as a potential weapon. > [@](#): > > “Of course Shahada is a good thing. We don’t want this world, we want the Afterlife. We benefit not from this life, but from the Afterlife… The children of Palestine have accepted the concept that this is Shahada, and that death by Shahada is very good. Every Palestinian child aged, say 12, says ’Oh Lord, I would like to become a Shahid.’” > > [http://www.pmw.org.il/new/ASK%20FOR%20DEATH.htm](http://www.pmw.org.il/new/ASK%20FOR%20DEATH.htm) … together with … > [@](#): > > “If we go back 1400 years in time, we find that history is repeating itself, worshipers of Allah. The Prophet Mohammed … was besieged by two powers, Persia in the east and Rome in the west. These represent the Soviet Union and America of today. Persia represents Russia in the east, and America stands for Rome in the west. Persia fell first in the east, just as Russia fell first in the east, and America will fall, may it be Allah’s will, just as Rome fell in the west. However [the fall of] Rome necessitated further challenges, closing of ranks and Muslim sacrifices. The battle with Rome, in which its power ceased, necessitated challenges and resistance from the Muslims, just as America today, her allies and proteges, the Zionists and others, necessitate further sacrifices from our side and closing ranks, oh Muslims, and we will be victorious … By closing ranks the prophet succeeded in overcoming Rome, the strongest state, which is equivalent to America today, without the fall of even one Muslim Shahid [Martyr] … The Prophet succeeded, through Muslim unity and arousing faith, in overcoming the America of then, just as we will defeat America, as long as it supports our enemy, as long as it adheres to its positions against our people, our issue and our holy places, and against our people and its leadership, as long as it adheres to these wicked positions. We will defeat her, may it be the will of Allah. We see America as the number one enemy, as long as it support our enemy. Aren’t we killed by American planes? Are our homes not being destroyed by American tanks? Are we not being bombed by American missiles…" > … > “Wafa Idris became the first woman suicide terrorist, when she murdered 1 Israeli and injured over 150 in Jerusalem on January 27, 2002. Her act of terrorism has been glorified by the PA continuously, including the naming of educational programs and summer camps after her.” > > [http://www.pmw.org.il/new/Latest%20bulletin.html#coffin](http://www.pmw.org.il/new/Latest%20bulletin.html#coffin) … are not steps towards peace. Secondly, placing Hamas members (and other known terrorists) into parliament and claiming, to other members, that the decission is final, is not a democracy, and is not a step towards peace. > [@](#): > > “But behind his apparent docility, Arafat is busy building a new Palestinian administration that will accommodate the Hamas, Jihad Islami and al Aqsa Brigades terrorist organizations and provide them all with ministerial posts.” > > [http://www.debka.com/index.php](http://www.debka.com/index.php) Thirdly, presuming he dies of old age, such an administration may serve his intentions long after he is gone. … And finaly, taking him to trial, while he is within his own borders, withought the express permision of his own government (himself), is against international law. As for my humour, if it insults you, **glee** , then I recomend you just ignore it. I never sugested that “the situation is amusing”. Although it seems I’m not the only one who is able to _ **ADD** _ some humour to _ **SOME** _ aspects of it. Even if my humour is not in ‘The Far Side’ league. 🙂 [http://www.villagephotos.com/usergallery-viewimage.asp?id\_=5107722](http://www.villagephotos.com/usergallery-viewimage.asp?id_=5107722) ---
**Author:** ![adaher](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/dec6dc/32.png) [@adaher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/adaher)\ **Post date:** [September 22, 2003, 7:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-israel-kills-arafat-what-next/201619/120 "2003-09-22T07:31:56Z")
Ah, MC, it appears you are correct, although it’s hard to say when Jews became a majority. The Ottomans took the first census in 1840 and Jews were a majority then, so it’s hard to say when they acquired that majority. But at least Jews had a claim to East Jerusalem going back to at least 1840. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-israel-kills-arafat-what-next/201619.md?page=5) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-israel-kills-arafat-what-next/201619.md?page=7)