Destruction Quotes
14 Arab Armies in a coordinated attack on the 1 day old Israeli state, intended to massacre all the Israelis as demonstrated by this quote. Note that this kind of extermnination intent was advertised with pride. To everyone's surprised, the Jewish defenders not only beat back the viscious attacks but enlssarged their terroitory by capturing strategic sites from which the attacks had been launched. Many people credit to the Israely victory to the fact that they were litterally fighting for their lives. Defeat would have meant death for them and their families. The Arab armies, in contrast, were fighting for land that other Arabs claimed that should have been theirs. The willingness to stand and fight for this goal did not match the self preservation that motivated the Israelis--especially in the aftermath of the Holocaust killing 6 million Jews in WWII.
There are some who argue that the quotation was made earlier and was not meant as an incendary call for massacre of Israelis. It well may be that in his original thinking, he was predicting what would happen if the State of Israel was created, basing his thoughts on historical artrocieties of the past. And many think he was concerned about that possible outcome and was trying to avoid it. The import of the quotation was not necessaruly to hisltorically blame Assam for the point of view but to simply establish that there were many Arab voices calling for victories of history where there were massacres in the Middle East. And there were those who took Azzam's quotation and broadcasted it on Arab radio, calling for the very massacre that Assam may have been warning about. Note that this notion of Jewish massacre and extermination was also picked up 60 years later and called for by the President of Iran.
This declaration, drafted by Russell and Einstein two days before Einstein’s death was signed by a number of other prominent scientists.
This famous Jefferson quotation is often used by those who argue that Jefferson’s concept of freedom and liberty was inherently and necessarily connected to the concept of God despite his strong and passionate writings advocating the separation of church and state. Opponents of that point of view, argue that the Rights of British America was a political document written to enlist and increase public support for Jefferson’s notions of freedom and liberty. At the time, as today, most Americans were deists, and they argue that just because Jefferson appealed to the popular perception of the day to promote his ideas, does not mean that a supreme being was fundamental to Jefferson’s philosophy. It is probably the case however, that Jefferson, like other founders such as John Adams, and many modern people, had different views on this subject at different times in their lives and never were absolutely sure of the existence of or necessity of a supreme being.
