Music to my ears! Many thanks. Let me tell you how I came across Freerepublic. 'Fred Nerks' was 'selling ice to the eskimo' when he wrote three articles (somewhat tongue in cheek) for an Israeli site - yes, there are many folks in Israel who don't know anything about islamic history either - and a FReeper picked it up and reprinted the story!
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1008496/posts
The original, including links to other articles by 'Fred' can be found on:
http://www.israelnationalnews.com/article.php3?id=2873
placemark, and thanks to all for the research.
Good morning, Fred. Thanks for the links to your articles. I will print them out and read them over lunch (Pacific time).