From: bdm@cs.anu.edu.au (Brendan McKay)
Subject: Ed Shnekendorf wins award!
Reply-To: bdm@cs.anu.edu.au
Organization: Australian National University
Date: Wed, 16 Sep 1992 03:55:32 GMT

I am pleased to announce that the prestigious Mutlu Award for
Creative Citation Engineering has been awarded to Ed Shnekendorf
for the following masterly contribution:

>In article <BuBvq1.FGE@news.cso.uiuc.edu> Ed Shnekendorf wrote:
>
>Arabs who actually resided in what became Israel owned 3.3% of the land while
>Jews who actually resided in Israel owned 8.6% of the land.  16.5% percent
>was owned by absentee landlords.  Discounting rich Arab landlords who lived
>in other countries and weren't essentially Palestinian, of those who lived
>in the land, the majority owners were Jews.  Additionally, 70% of the land
>was owned by the Mandatory government.  Thus, when Israel became a state,
>that land was officially and legally transferred to the new Israeli gvt.
>
>              -Survey of Palestine, 1946, British Mandatory Gvt, p.247

Less able competitors would have just made something up, but not Ed!
Ed's contribution is a perfect example of the DIRTY (double indirect 
reference to yore) method of obfuscation.  For those readers not 
conversant with the art, DIRTY is conducted thus:  You find a source 
A that makes a reference to an "obscure" source B.  You then present
A's account of B as if you have consulted B yourself.  It is especially
important to not mention A, for three reasons: (1) you will look
more knowledgeable that you can consult B yourself; (2) you can present 
A's words in a slanted or ambiguous manner without anyone knowing;
(3) you needn't worry if A has a reputation for trashiness.

So, in Ed's case what is A?  Ed is too modest to tell us, but we can
now reveal the truth:

  MYTH  
  "Most of the area of Israel was Arab owned."

  FACT  
    According to British government statistics, prior to the establishment 
    of the state, 8.6 percent of the land area now known as Israel was 
    owned by Jews; 3.3 percent by Arabs who remained there; 16.5 percent 
    by Arabs who left the country.  More than 70 percent of the land was 
    owned by the government.  Under international law, ownership passed to 
    Israel in 1948.  The public lands included most of the Negev -- half of 
    Palestine's post-1922 total area. 
    (Survey of Palestine, 1946, British Mandate Government, p. 257)
 
  Source: Myths and Facts 198x, Near East Report (i.e., AIPACS), ca. page 10. 

Pretty amazing how a survey done in 1946 can contain information about
Arabs who left Palestine in 1948, eh?  Dashed clever, those Brits.

Let's have another look at Ed's contribution:

>Arabs who actually resided in what became Israel owned 3.3% of the land while

Very clever.  Many readers will think you are referring to Arabs 
whose residence prior to 1948 was in a place later in Israel, but you 
are actually referring to those who stayed in Israel after 1948.

>Jews who actually resided in Israel owned 8.6% of the land.  16.5% percent
>was owned by absentee landlords.  

Brilliant!  Arabs who fled or were forced out became "absentee landlords"!

>                                  Discounting rich Arab landlords who lived
>in other countries and weren't essentially Palestinian, 

Good, good, slip in a bit of elaboration the original is missing.
There will be many residents of refugee camps forever in your debt
at being promoted to "rich Arab landlords".

>                                                         of those who lived
>in the land, the majority owners were Jews.  Additionally, 70% of the land
>was owned by the Mandatory government.  Thus, when Israel became a state,
>that land was officially and legally transferred to the new Israeli gvt.
>
>              -Survey of Palestine, 1946, British Mandatory Gvt, p.247

OOPS!  You said p.257.  No matter, nobody is perfect.  Let's have a 
look at page 247.  Hm, yes, right, I see, .., looks like M&F has a 
bit of a problem.  The only number that could be argued from that page
and surrounding pages is the 70%.  Unfortunately, the numbers given 
there add up to only 57%.  (M&F has counted all the land subject to
untested ownership claims as Government land.  naughty!)

Well done, Ed!

Brendan.
(Thanks to the private correspondent who helped with this.)
Newsgroups: talk.politics.mideast