a former officer of the Syrian Army. He is going to address you today on the 1948 war against the Zionists in Palestine and Syria's role in that war. You will be free to ask questions after he presents his lecture. Oh! One thing more, the gentleman next to him is a friend of his from the Syrian Embassy that he has brought along for moral backup. Please remember they are our guests and while our speaker has not requested any special treatment, I think I should remind you that Mr. Muhammad is the father of my future wife. So, please, if you wish to get a passing grade in my class-no hitting. I would not recommend it in any event as I know he can still hold his own with the most fit among us. Gentlemen, I introduce to you Mr. Fazzi Muhammad."

Fazzi got up and stood at the speakers desk and after arranging his notes, he looked out at the class and clearing his throat said, "Officers and students and my future son-in-law Yussef, I am happy to be able to address this class today because you are rather unusual and in many ways unique. Soon you will be graduating this wonderful school. My future son-in-law and your teacher is a former graduate of this school. If he is any example of the caliber of the graduates that will come out of this institution, then you will be among the few Americans who will be able to converse with the Arab people in their own language. However, as you will learn, just being able to talk to people is not enough. What is most important is that you understand not only the words you are speaking but also the people and their view of history. When you hear their view of history, it may astonish and shock you to find that it is vastly different from the history that you may have learned until now. Which is the right view and which view is wrong-is not the question here today. It is only important that you hear it and try to understand it. Perhaps in a few hundred years we will know which version was right. To the Arab people and Muslims, in general, the present day history of our people begins and ends with the so-called 'Palestine Question'. To us there never was any question then and there is no question today; it is clear that Palestine is ours, all of it, every speck of bloodied sand. Not just the east bank of the Jordan but the entire west bank, as well. It belongs to the Arab Nation. To paraphrase you Americans, that nation is “One nation, individual, under Allah” We will never accept a Zionist existence in our mist. This does not mean that we are anti-Jewish. But, make no mistake about it; we are anti-Zionist. To us, unlike to most of you, the two are not the same thing. We resent the fact that the Christian world has chosen our people and our lands to solve its anti-Jewish problem by fostering and allowing the occupation of part of our lands. Christian Anti-Jewish hatred is your problem not ours.

Note that I used the term anti-Jewish and not anti-Semitic. You see we Arabs are also Semites. As a result we cannot be anti-Semites. We are not even anti-Jewish, but we are anti-Zionist and anti-Israel. We had nothing to do with Europe's persecutions of the Jews and see no reason why we have to accept the responsibility for it." After this opening statement he