- 05 Jan 09, 01:14#86792To fully understand the matter, one has to go back thousands of years into history. Thousands of years BC, the first Israeli kingdoms are supposed to have been set up in the region and God promised the land to the Jews as their homeland.
1) Israel Is Not A Fulfillment Of Biblical Prophecy: The appellation “Israel” in the Bible primarily refers to the “faithful” who make up the “Church.”
The “Church” as described by St Paul in Chapter 9 of his Epistle To The Romans is made up of the “remnant” of the Jews and the “Gentiles” of the nations. Together, as St Paul writes in his Epistle To The Ephesians, are fused into being “one new man” known as “Christians.”
Plus, to say that god promised the land to them; which god? You see, I don't believe in gods. And most of the other people who also have a claim to this land have a different god.
Many people point to some mystical past and say 'that's how it was, and that's how it should be- it's their land and only our interference has changed this'.
But the reality is that between 1050 and 920 bc, the Hebrews managed to hold the land now referred to as Isreal from other people who also had a claim to it, and had 3 kings through this period, Saul, David and Soloman (who had 700 wives and sold his people down the river in his persuit of wealth).
Within 100 years of Solomans death there was not a remnant of the Hebrew state. So to base a prior claim to the land on 120 years of rule, 3000 years ago, when it was taken then from other tribes then, is ridiculous.
'Repatriation' started around the time of the Russian revolution. The first small settlements in Palestine started in 1870, but these were very small and numbered hundreds. (Jewish Orthodoxy started in 1820). Russian Jews were forced to leave Russia with approximately 2 million going to the US (hence Americas interest), and a few hundred thousand going to Palestine.
By the time of the partition, the Jews in Palestine numbered about 600,000, compared to 1,300,000 Palestinions, and the Jews owned about 6% of the land, yet the UN gave them 55% of the land, generally the more fertile areas, and sent the Palestinions off their own land.
In 1948, the Jews then invaded further lands, to take their holdings up to about 75%. Even though this was illegal, they have kept this land, and since, invaded further.
Jews have been continually persecuted in Europe, and it was only about 140 years ago that Hebrew started to be spoken again and Hebrew art was rediscovered. Poland was the only country where Jews had the same rights as everyone else.
Generally, European attitude to Jews was deplorable, and Europe has further felt the guilt of the holocaust and the pogromes, but to give someone elses land to Jews to compensate for these crimes and inaction to stop them is not correct.
America funds Israel with over $3 dollars a year of arms money, and the UN stands back and allows them to use these arms to commit genocide against the indigenous peoples of this area. By far, the vast amounts of the settlers are of European descent. They have NO CLAIM to this land.
How would you feel?
You'd do everything to get your land back. Everything and anything.