Some myths are too stupid to deal with. For example, Palestinians are descendants of Canaanites and were in Palestine long before Jews. Not dealing with it. I can only stand so much stupid. A valid question, however, is “What is the Jewish claim to the land of Israel?” I will try to be brief.
We base our claim on 4 premises: 1- God promised Israel to Abraham and his descendants thru Isaac. 2- The Jewish people settled and developed the land. 3- The UN granted political sovereignty (UN 181) to the Jewish people in 1948. It had defined borders, a govt, a capital, a currency, and an economy. 4- Today’s Israel includes territory captured in wars.
There is a common misconception that the Jews were exiled and magically returned after 2000 years in 1948 and were granted their own state. Actually, Israel became a nation about 1300 bce, 2000 years before Islam. Jews formed the first Constitutional Monarchy about 1000 bce with David as king. During the exile, Israel, re-named Palestine by the Romans, was inhabited by a mixed group of Bedouins including Greeks, Christians, Jews, Turks, and Syrians. No one identified themselves as “Palestinians.” In fact, during that time, the territory of Palestine was owned by Byzantines, Arabs, Crusaders, Mamlukes, and Ottoman Turks. There was never development, an identifiable culture, language, ethnicity, or central govt. The Ottomans lost possession in 1918 and the Brits controlled it until the UN partition in 1948. Prior to partition, the Arabs living there did not see themselves as having a separate identity. That was invented by Yasser Arafat around 1965. “We consider Palestine to be part of Syria.” “There is no such country as Palestine.” “There is no country of Palestine in the bible. Our country, for centuries was part of Syria.” Those are not my opinions. They are quotes from 20th century Arab leaders. Israel’s international “birth certificate” is validated by a biblical promise, uninterrupted Jewish presence since Joshua, the Balfour Declaration, recognition by the League of Nations and then the UN, the UN partition in’48, and admission in ’49 as a member, and since then, decades of a thriving society.
I have a question that has been ignored. Is Palestine a legitimate state? Hmmm. According to the US Dept of Justice, Hamas’ official designation is that of a “foreign terrorist organization” and has been since 2006. Hamas is the elected governing body. Therefore, Palestine is no more an official state than Hamas is an official govt. Until 1967, Gaza and the West Bank were controlled by Egypt and Jordan respectively. Israel won them in the Six Day War and gave them back.
Today, the UN recognizes Palestine as a “non-member observer state.” I guess that offers some kind of quasi-legitimacy. But to refer to Palestine as a legitimate state or Hamas as legitimate govt is done so out of complete ignorance or sheer activism. There were demonstrations in DC, NY, LA, and Ft Lauderdale yesterday intentionally entitled “victory in Palestine.” These were, of course, abhorrent and embarrassing, but also pro-terrorist. Newsflash…….ignorance and activism don’t create statehood.
I have more questions too……..Part 4
