Hamas War

Thursday, December 6, 2012

Jewish Right to the Land of Israel, Historic Perspective

Yesterday, while eating lunch out in Jerusalem with a friend, I got a call from a foreign journalist who wanted to visit/interview me in Shiloh.  The only way we could fit that into our busy schedules ended up for her to drive me home as the sun was setting.  By the time we made it to Shiloh, it was already dark. 

A good part of the interview was on the road, and she took notes when rush hour traffic had us stopped.  I didn't mind that the photographer couldn't make it, since I wasn't dressed for the occasion and my house, when we finally arrived there, was a total disaster.

The journalist will have to come back during daylight to see these details.

Even though there wasn't much light when we got to Shiloh, I considered it very important to show her the area of Tel Shiloh.  I was surprised that she had no idea of the Biblical significance of my hometown, nor of the historic perspective of the entire controversy surrounding Jewish Rights to the Land of Israel.

Though I certainly wouldn't call myself a "Biblical scholar," I've been studying the Bible, the Jewish one of course, for a number of years.  Combining this with living in Shiloh, I feel extremely connected to the past, our ancient past.  Our past, the documented and scientifically proven Jewish connection to the Land of Israel is constantly on my mind.  I can't ignore it and think that the Israeli Government is making a mistake by not using this connection more in explaining why we're here and why no other people have a right to establish a state here.

There is absolutely no doubt in my mind that the Europeans or British who invented the modern "palestinian nation/people" did it for one reason only.  That reason was to shove us out of our historic homeland.  This invention of theirs was to contravene the Balfour Declaration which stated that a Jewish State was to be established in Mandated Palestine.

Over the decades since that illegal plan was hatched, the so-called Palestinians have progressed to the point that they are considered a "state" by many and use all sorts of legal methods to attempt to stop the growth of Jewish Life here and destroy us as best they can. Hat tip: IMRA
RAMALLAH, December 5, 2012 (WAFA) – The Palestinian leadership decided Tuesday to complain about Israel’s settlement activities in the occupied Territory to the United Nations Security Council, according to a statement issued following a meeting in Ramallah.
It said it wants the Security Council to issue a binding decision that would force Israel to stop all forms of settlement activities.
The world applauds, because they invented them just for that reason.  That's their game plan.

AFP Photo / Stan Honda

The United Nations and this so-called "Palestine" are just the more recent in a long list of enemies who have tried to destroy us and like the others, G-d willing, we'll have the last laugh.


I kept wondering if I had "lost her" when talking about the thousands of years of history and connections we've had to this Land we still claim.  I reminded her that Christianity and Islam were invented long after Judaism.  There's such an irony in the way scholars treat Jewish History.  While the Political Science Department of Columbia University isn't among Israel's "fans," its Library has a treasure trove of proof for those who want to see how old the Jewish People is.
Kempner GallerySeptember 12, 2012-January 25, 2013
The Rare Book and Manuscript Library presents a major exhibition of Hebraica and Judaica manuscripts from throughout the Columbia Libraries. This exhibit, the first of its kind at Columbia, features materials from the 10th to the 20th century, and spans the globe from India to the Caribbean. Languages include Hebrew, Aramaic, Spanish, Portuguese, Dutch, Ladino, Judeo-German, Judeo-Arabic, and Judeo-Tatar. Materials in
the exhibit are drawn from the Rare Book and Manuscript Library's Western Manuscripts Collection, the David Eugene Smith Collection, the George Arthur Plimpton Collection, and the "X" Manuscript Collection, as well as from the Avery Library's Prints and Drawings Collection and the Burke Library's Manuscript Collection.

The truth is that the Jewish People never abandoned the Land of Israel. There has always been a Jewish presence in our ancient cities.  I have neighbors whose families lived in Jerusalem, Gaza, Hebron and Shechem (aka Nablus.)  And I have neighbors who are descended from Jewish families forced to convert to Catholicism during the Spanish Inquisition.  Today they are Jews living in the Land of Israel.

Today we Jews follow the same Torah, speak the same Hebrew and observe the same mitzvot, commandments and rituals which G-d gave us thousands and thousands of years ago.  We have no peers among the modern nations.  No other country, religion or people was around when we first were and are a nation-religion-people today.  We Jews are all that  a nation, religion and people combined into one, and not other group of people are like us.  That's the truth; documented history proves it.

2 comments:

Elisandra said...

Yeah, the idea that so many people in the world these days have no clue about history at all is very disturbing. The Jews were there when all the world conquering nations came through, and the Jews are still there now. That so many have been convinced that the Arabs come from Judea is absurd. They come from Arabia. Duh. And were just one of many groups trying to conquer the world, and in the Middle Ages, which is recently, compared to most of the other groups that came through.

Why the world has decided that of all the groups that conquered the Holy Land, that the Arabs of all people should be the ones to permanently keep it, it makes no sense whatsoever. They weren't the oldest conquerers, they weren't the newest conquerers. They were just somewhere near the end of the middle. What makes them so special?

And that the same people idealizing alternative sexual lifestyles are the ones in favor of the Muslims conquering the world, makes no sense, since after the Jews, it's the people with the alternate sexual lifestyles that will be the first ones killed.

Batya said...

Elisandra, thanks for commenting. I guess it's just latent antisemitism behind it all, nu?