Talk:Esther Cailingold

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[edit] Blatant Bias(?)

RE: "There are two distinct narratives relating to the 1948 battle for the Jewish Quarter. The Arab narrative[8] tells of a well-planned and executed military victory against a fanatical and determined foe." Surely you jest. 1,700 people, mostly civilians, remained in the Jewish quarter. Under the eyes of the British, Arab "irregulars" began a campaign of terror to eliminate them. Synagogues were blown up and old people, women and children were murdered indiscriminately. The UN, which had declared Jerusalem a "Corpus Seperatum" did nothing, because the British would let them do nothing.

The "fanatical and determined foe" consisted of a few Haganah men with practically no arms. The "well-planned and executed military victory" consisted of the British armed and officered Jordan legion completing the work of the terrorists, following which the Old City of Jerusalem was ethnically cleansed of its Jewish inhabitants. Combatants were made prisoners of war. The remainder - men, women and children were simply dumped behind the Israeli lines. These were people whose families had lived in Jerusalem for hundreds of years - the remnants of a much larger community that had lived there for hundreds of years until forced out by Arab pogroms. In modern terms, this would certainly be considered a war crime committed by a regular army. Of 59 synagogues in the old city, 58 were destroyed.

You might as well say that the destruction of the Warsaw ghettto was a "well-planned and executed military victory against a fanatical and determined foe."Mewnews (talk) 15:52, 22 December 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Response

Thank you for your comments. However, please read carefully what I have said. I have said that there are "two narratives" - this is a point of fact. I have not aligned myself in any way with the Arab narrative, other than to say that it exists and has "some truth". This is not an endorsement, it is merely the "neutral point of view" required in Wikipedia articles and indeed in any encyclopaedia. Within this constraint of neutrality I have tried to tell the story of a brave and dedicated young woman, and to provide sufficient references and links so that the broader picture can be learnt. Brianboulton (talk) 15:04, 23 December 2007 (UTC)