History Lesson:
What is the Jew's claim to the region know today as Israel, and where does Palestine fit into it?
Between 5300 and 3200 years ago, a large portion of the middle east was called Canaan. It was a region encompassing modern-day Israel, Lebanon, the Palestinian Territories, plus adjoining costal lands and parts of Jordan, Syria and northeastern Egypt.
Around the time 1400 BC Jews began arriving in Canaan. Famine in the Land of Canaan forced inhabitants to find food. Josef, the son of Jacob, had been sold by his brothers and ended up in Egypt, where, through a series of spectacular events, he becoming second in command to Pharoah. When his brothers came from Canaan for food, Joseph instructed them to bring their father and settle in Egypt. Jacob and his family moved to Egypt and their help was soon requested in building two cities for Pharoah, Pitom and Ramsees. Initially, they were paid for their services, but with the death of all of the 12 sons of Jacob the employment relationship slowly shifted into one of servitude. While the actual implementation of the slavery may have been gradual, the biblical record indicates that a new Pharaoh came to the throne who 'knew not Joseph' (or didn't want to know) and so enslaved the Israelites. After the Israelites escaped the slavery in Egypt they wandered the desert for 40 years. At the conclusion of this time, the Israelites (as described in the Bible) possessed Canaan by conquering the cities one by one. Two regions, Israel and Judah emerged from this victory. The Israelites remained in control of the northern region Israel until it was conquered by Assyria around the 8th century BC. The southern kingdom, Judah, fell to the Babylonians in the year 586 BCE, when the first Jewish Temple was destroyed. In 520 BCE Cyrus the Great allowed Jews to return to Judah and rebuild the Temple. The second temple was completed in 515 BCE. In 64 BCE, Jerusalem was conquered by the Roman general Pompey and the Jewish kingdom was made a client of Rome. In 70 AD the Second Temple was destroyed. In 73 AD the Roman Empire conquered Masada and ended the first Jewish-Roman War. In 132 AD, Emperor Hadrian changed the name of the province Judah to Syria Palaestina in order to break ties to the Jewish people. This is where the name Palestine originates.
The Jew's claim to Israel is what is called Zionism. Many people view it as a straight forward belief in the state of Israel as a Jewish homeland as delivered into their hands by God. It is anything but straight forward, and is defined differently for many Jews and non-Jews alike. It is NOT every Jew's opinion that Israel is the only homeland for the Jewish people and must be protected through whatever means necessary. Even in Melbourne today, there are Jewish communities (Skiff is one of them) that do not believe in Zionism but instead draw their national backgrounds from European Jewry.
The term "Palestinian People" was invented post 1948 when the Jewish people declared independence over Israel. It is a term used to describe the Arab population that lived in Israel. Yes, it is true that Israel used to be known as Palestine, but the label “Palestinian people” did not exist, just like there was no label for people that lived in Jordan or Syria or Egypt, or any of the other Islam governed countries in the Middle East.
If I haven't already made it clear, then here it is. It is not as black and white as
jews are gonna believe that this is their land and palestine doesn't exist likewise arabs are gonna believe that this is their land and the jews stole it
Not to belittle you, but that statement comes across as ignorant and insulting.
Just as there are diverse groups in all countries and religions, there are as well in Judaism, Islam, Israel and Palestine. There are a large portion of Jews that want to give land to the "Palestinian people", and likewise there are Palestinians that are happy with what they have and simply want the fighting and brutality to end.
Unfortunately a small group of Islamic extremists otherwise known as the terrorist organization Hamas do not believe in a peaceful ending to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. They have seized control of the free region Gaza (which was handed back to the Palestinian people in 2005 in the hopes that they would take control of their own land and straighten their situation out) and use it to launch missiles at Israel
on a daily basis. I personally can testify to this, as I have spent time in areas close to the border between Gaza and Israel and have had to take shelter in bomb shelters. The terrorist organization Hamas maximize on the media. No matter the event, and how insignificant it is, it will be sure to come up in the news as headlines in the effort to give Israel a bad name. Despite all this, Hamas give a bad name to the vastly large population of Muslim people that live in Gaza, of which want peace and nothing else.
Just as the Palestinian people get a bad name due to Hamas, Israel gets a bad name due to the small events that are taken out of context and blown up in the media.
No, I am not saying that everything Israel does is 100% correct. Israel make their own mistakes
just like every other country in the world. But Israel
do pay far more for it through bad publicity in the media.
A perfect example is the recent Flotilla incident. I encourage you to do your own research on the situation, but a good site to start is
http://flotillafacts.com/Israel knew that there were six ships sailing to Gaza with the intent of delivering humanitarian aid. Because of the terrorist organization Hamas, Israel cannot allow
unchecked aid into Gaza for fear of weapons and materials entering that can put the lives of
both Israelis and Palestinians in danger. Before the six ships were anywhere near the blockade, they were contacted and Israel gave the ships the opportunity to dock in the civilian port of Ashdod (a city just north of Gaza) where
under the supervision of the aid workers the supplies would be checked and then delivered to Gaza. Five of the six ships agreed to dock in Ashdod. One of the ships refused and expressed intent to break through the blockade on Gaza. The remaining ship was warned that Israeli officials would board the ship. The IDF (Israeli Defence Force) was deployed to peacefully board the remaining flotilla and direct it to Ashdod. The soldiers went armed with paintball guns, and only had pistols with them in case of violence. As the IDF soldiers dropped down onto the deck, they were
immediately met with intense brutality from some of the passengers. There are videos showing large groups of passengers closing in on single Israeli soldiers and brutalizing them with metal rods. This was done
without provocation . There are videos showing passengers throwing Israeli soldiers overboard. No, not every passenger was fighting. In fact a large number stayed within the ship as they did not want to take part in the fighting and were true to their word when they called themselves "Peaceful aid workers". Suffice to say, the passengers that took part in any and all brutality were clearly not "Peaceful aid workers" and meant harm towards the IDF soldiers regardless of the honest peaceful-intent of the soldiers themselves.
Yes, it is a tragedy that nine people died.
Yes, Israel could have handled the situation differently, and with the potential for no loss of life.
And yes, Israel had every right to board the flotilla and use whatever means necessary to secure it.Here are a few points of Law to give you some background (it’s all taken from “The Commander’s Handbook on the Law Of Naval Operations” (US Department of Defense, 1 Jul 2007).
BLOCKADES ARE LEGAL
“The belligerent right of blockade is intended to prevent vessels and aircraft, regardless of their cargo, from crossing an established and publicized cordon separating the enemy from international waters and/or airspace.” (Section 7.7.1.)
ISRAEL CAN ENFORCE THE BLOCKADE IN INTERNATIONAL WATERS
“Attempted breach of blockade occurs from the time a vessel or aircraft leaves a port or airfield with the intention of evading the blockade, and for vessels exiting the blockaded area, continues until the voyage is completed.” (Section 7.7.4.)
IT DOESN’T MATTER THAT IT WAS SUPPOSED TO BE “HUMANITARIAN AID”
“Neutral vessels and aircraft engaged in the carriage of qualifying relief supplies for the civilian population and the sick and wounded should be authorized to pass through the blockade cordon, subject to the right of the blockading force to prescribe the technical arrangements, including search, under which passage is permitted.” (Section 7.7.3.)
ISRAEL HAS EVERY RIGHT TO BOARD AND EVEN CAPTURE THE BLOCKADE RUNNERS
“Neutral merchant vessels and civil aircraft are liable to capture by belligerent warships and military aircraft if engaged in any of the following activities:
- Resisting visit and search
- Carrying contraband
- Breaching or attempting to breach blockade
- Violating regulations established by a belligerent within the immediate area of naval operations…
Neutral vessels or aircraft attempting to resist proper capture lay themselves open to forcible measures by belligerent warships and military aircraft and assume all risk of resulting damage.” (Section 7.10)
You can now clearly see that although Israel was legally allowed to board the flotilla, and although every event that transpired leading up to the flotilla tragedy was done
by the book, Israel still managed to get the large majority of bad press due to incorrect media coverage.
In summary, the main message that I am trying to convey is that this recent event, and every other event in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict is never black and white. Large sweeping generalizing statements do no good for logical progressive discussion. I hope that next time the posters in this forum will do a little bit of research before making rash comments.
Criticize away...
Home
Help
Search
Login
