Part One

This is just to assist me in practicing for the GRE. I am open to any comments and if anyone has any stories with GRE words please Email them to me at grestudentblog@gmail and I'd be glad to post them.
These are words from the Manhatten GRE flash cards that I am not so familiar with. Please correct any mistakes in usage if possible, thanx.



This is a story which cannot be corroborated, verified, or substantiated in a form. That is not the goal, nor is it the point. It does not concern a cosmopolitan existence in New York or London; the urbane personalities that checker our literary cannon. Perhaps one can view this as a counterpoint, a foil, to the idealistic tendencies that frequent the pages of our past. It is the story of the crafty and the cunning. For those who are timid, those who fear they may turn craven encountering the realities of our time, here is the moment to turn back. We are at the point of no return.

It started with a leader who was anything but credulous, anything but naïve. He was headstrong and brave; a warrior par excellence.                        

The Zionist movement had reached a crescendo; the culmination of tears and sweat, of blood and dreams, had achieved the unachievable. Undaunted after years of efforts in vain, not discouraged by generations of persecution, they had risen from the hell of Auschwitz to the lofty heights of the Judean Hills. The efforts were not without fault, with many valiant Jewish militants having debased themselves by murdering civilians, their base instincts leading them to completely degrading and morally depraved behavior, the King David Hotel bombing case in point. Yet these were outliers, people far from representative of the natural Zionistic culture. Most participants were genteel and decorous; they obeyed the basic decorum expected from nationalistic movements. In fact, they chose not to deface the temple mount after their victory in 1967, a decision that may have come to haunt them in the present. Well, after the British left in mid May, 1948, there were only the Israelis and the Arab nations left to fight over the territory. The Israelis did not default on their responsibilities; they did not fail to act nor neglect their role. They fought long and hard, often suffering deleterious and unhealthy effects. Though their victory was not solely due to their courage, but more likely, a derivative of the Arab disorganization and foreign support, the Israelis emerged victorious. (To be honest, I don't think the fighters had much nourishment, due to lack of funds, but I am sure there was some tubes of desiccated potato or meat; really dried up food, whateverJ).

The first Prime Minister, Ben Gurion, was a bit of a didactic, loving to teach others the biblical history and geography of the land.  Following the din of war and battle, the loud confusing noises of war, the clamor of the debates in various governments, and the cacophony of Arab rhetoric, a calm serenity finally rested upon the land of Israel. For years following, many Zionist would have to attempt to disabuse the public about their misconceptions concerning Deir Yassin, to free them from the mistaken belief that massacres had occurred. However, even the discerning student of history stills struggles with what actually occurred there. The attempts to descry the events, to reveal what happened, are still ambiguous. In all, I feel it is a bit disingenuous to say that nothing at all was done wrong by the Irgun; that would not be sincere and genuine.