The islamists have duped a good part of the world into believing one of the greatest hoaxes in history. To state that Jews are “stealing” Palestinian land only reinforces a maxim made prominent by the infamous Nazi propaganda minister, Joseph Goebbels: “If you tell a lie long enough, people will begin to believe it.”
Source
The source you provided (
americanthinker.com/2011/11/no_one_is_stealing_palestinian_land.html) is interpreting history to suit his own purposes. Let’s take a look at some of his misleading statements:
“From an historical standpoint, Jews have lived in the land of Israel for nearly 4,000 years.”
False: If you’re going by biblical records—which the writer does—then this omits the 400 years in slavery in Egypt.
*“During these periods of disbursement, there has always remained a constant Jewish presence in the land of Israel and in Jerusalem.”
*
Technically true, but after the Jewish Dispersion by the Romans, their numbers were extremely small, almost negligible. And by the way, Native Americans were here first, then we came. Should they now be in charge?
*“For those Jews forced into exile throughout the world, one theme has remained constant: the dream of returning to their homeland, Eretz Yisrael, to rebuild and restore her to the glory of old.” *
That’s nice, but just because they had dreams doesn’t mean they had a right to the land.
“As early as 1209 BCE, Merneptah, the son of Ramses II, following a great victory over Libyan and seafaring armies invading Egypt, made mention of Israel and the Jewish people.”
False: it makes reference to Israel, yes…but it doesn’t make reference to the Jewish people. Let’s not forget that the word “Jew” comes from the word “Judah,” as in tribe of Judah. Judah was but one of the twelve tribes. (Or eleven tribes, if you consider that the tribe of Benjamin was basically absorbed by the tribe of Judah). Wow, this author is really stretching the truth here!
“This engraved stone made reference to a revolt by Jews in Israel which Merneptah massively repressed. It is the earliest non-biblical reference to Jews as a socio-ethnic unity, powerful enough to be mentioned along with other major city-states that were also neutralized by Merneptah.”
Ha, ha, ha. No way. So the tribe of Judah alone revolted in Egypt? I suppose the other 11 tribes got popcorn and watched the battle! “In” Israel? Israel didn’t even exist yet. The Merneptah stone refers to Israel as a people, not a place. See
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Merneptah_Stele#.22Israel_is_laid_waste.22
The author then goes into how the northern kingdom got conquered by the Assyrians in the 8th century B.C.
True. There go 10 of the 12 tribes! Most were exiled, some remained, and some fled to the south. Those who remained intermixed with the Assyrians, and thereby became a mixed breed, the future reviled Samaritans. Samaritans didn’t even recognize the temple in Jerusalem, and even the Jews later didn’t even regard them as Jews.
That leaves the southern kingdom, Judah. These were the ones who preserved true Judaism. As we know, they were exiled by the Babylonians, and then returned after 50 years of exile in the 6th century. The kingdom was gone though, as they were overrun first by Persians, and then by the Greeks in the 4th century, then the Syrian Greeks (Seleucids). They finally gained independence from the Seleucids in the 2nd century B.C (about 165 BC) and they ruled themselves for almost 100 years. Then the Romans took over and effectively were in charge until the 7th century…that’s when the Muslims took over, and for the most part held on the Holy Land until the dissolution of the Ottoman Empire during WWI.
So let’s break this down: Israel, as a tribal confederation, lived in the land for 200 years during the time of Judges (side by side with other kingdoms like Moabites, Canaanites, Philistines, etc.) and then as a united kingdom Israel only existed for about 70 years, namely during the reigns of David and Solomon. After Solomon, the northern kingdom (Israel) lasted only about 200 years, and the southern kingdom for about 400. So after the Persians period (late 6th century)—apart from the Maccabean period for a century—Jews never ruled the Holy Land again until 1948: that’s effectively almost 2500 years of not being masters of their own land! The Romans held it for about 700 years, and the Arabs for some 1300 years.
And let’s not forget that according to the Bible, when Joshua entered into the land after the exodus, they find people were already there. Where are the modern-day Canaanites to make
their claims!?
The article is so slanted, and so misleading, it is laughable. It contains blatant falsehoods that cursory research would discredit. Not a solid source for the “indigenous Jew” case.
Here is another point of view on the same subject:
kinghussein.gov.jo/kabd_eng.html (please read it in its entirety if you plan on making points concerning it.)
P.S.: And even apart from the historical argument, the United Nations and the international community has deemed the settlements in the West Bank as
illegal. That’s stealing.
