The Jewish-Palestinian conflict is a dispute over land that according to secular history began following the Arab–Israeli War of 1948 (but many believe the dispute actually goes as far back as Abrahams’ two sons Isaac who was of the Jews and Ishmael who was of the Arabs). During this time the land was divided into three parts: the State of Israel, the West Bank, and the Gaza Strip. The land is approximately 10,000 square miles-about the size of the state of Maryland.
The Jewish claim to the land is based on the Biblical promise to Abraham and his descendants, the Jews’ long history of residing there as a nation, as well as their need for a haven from anti-Semitism. Palestinian Arabs’ claim to the land is based on their continuous residence in the country, although Palestine has no real history as an actual nation; they are actually an amalgam of various Arab peoples. The Palestinian government wants the land for political reasons. They also reject the notion that a Biblical-era kingdom constitutes the basis for a valid modern claim.
The term "Palestine" came from the name that the conquering Roman Empire gave the ancient Land of Israel in an attempt to obliterate and de-legitimize the Jewish presence in the Holy Land. The Roman Procurator in charge of the Judean-Israel territories was so angry at the Jews for revolting that he called for his historians and asked them who the worst enemies of the Jews were in their past history. The scribes said, ‘the Philistines." So, the Procurator declared that Land of Israel would from then on be called "Philistia" (further bastardized into "Palaistina") to dishonor the Jews and obliterate their history.
Middle-East Politics: A Brief History
During the early 20th Century the Arabs revolted against the Ottoman Empire; led by Husayn’s son Faysal and T. E. Lawrence (“Lawrence of Arabia” ), they were successful in defeating the Ottomans and Britain took control over much of this area during World War I.
After the war the Arabs were angered by Britain’s failure to fulfill its promise to create an independent Arab state, and many opposed British and French control as a violation of Arabs’ rights to self-determination. The situations were even more complicated because the British had promised to support the creation of a Jewish national home as well.
After World War II the rising tide of European Jewish immigration, land purchases and settlement in Israel generated increasing resistance by Palestinian peasants, journalists and political figures. They feared that the influx of Jews would lead eventually to the establishment of a Jewish state.
On November 29, 1947, the UN General Assembly voted to partition the land into two states, one Jewish and the other Arab. The UN partition plan divided the country so that each state would have a majority of its own population, although a few Jewish settlements would fall within the proposed Arab state while hundreds of thousands of Palestinian Arabs would become part of the proposed Jewish state. The territory designated for the Jewish state would be slightly larger than the Arab state (56 percent and 43 percent of Palestine, respectively, excluding Jerusalem), on the assumption that increasing numbers of Jews would immigrate there. According to the UN partition plan, the area of Jerusalem and Bethlehem was to become an international zone.
On May 15, 1948, the British evacuated the land, and Jewish leaders proclaimed the State of Israel. Neighboring Arab states (Egypt, Syria, Jordan and Iraq) then invaded Israel, claiming that they sought to “save” Palestine from the “Zionists”. During May and June 1948, when the fighting was most intense, the outcome of this first Arab-Israeli war was in doubt. But after arms shipments from Czechoslovakia reached Israel, its armed forces established superiority and conquered additional territories beyond the borders the UN partition plan had drawn up for the Jewish state.
As a consequence of the fighting in Israel, over 700,000 Palestinians became refugees. Many Palestinians have claimed that most were expelled in accordance with a Zionist plan to rid the country of its non-Jewish inhabitants. The official Israeli position holds that the refugees fled on orders from Arab political and military leaders as they had a lack of concern for their own people caught in the middle of the war. Although many Palestinians still live in refugee camps and slums, others have become economically successful. Palestinians now have the highest per capita rate of university graduates in the Arab world.
In the January 2006 elections for the Palestinian Legislative Council, the terrorist group Hamas won a majority of 77 out of 122 seats. Its victory over second-place Fatah party in the popular vote was a much narrower 44.45 to 41.43 percent. Hamas is a militant fundamentalist Islamic organization operating in the West Bank and Gaza. The name Hamas is an acronym for "Harakat Al-Muqawama Al-Islamia," or Islamic Resistance Movement in English.
In response to the Hamas victory, Israel began to withhold the tax revenue it collects on behalf of the PA. Because that revenue makes up over half the PA’s budget, these measures further weakened the already embattled Palestinian economy. More than 150,000 Palestinians in the West Bank are on the PA’s payroll and thousands of retirees also depend on PA pensions. Since 2006, the PA has frequently been unable to pay salaries on time or in full.
In June 2007, with backing from the United States, Fatah moved to carry out a coup to oust Hamas from the Gaza Strip. Hamas preempted the move and after a pitched battle established its sole control over the territory. Governance of the West Bank and the Gaza Strip has been divided between Fatah and Hamas since then.
In October 2014 Palestinian leaders declared a "day of rage," with thousands protesting in the occupied territories and the Old City of Jerusalem. After Friday prayers at the Al Aqsa mosque compound in Jerusalem, a few rock-throwing Palestinian youths hoisted a Palestinian flag on the compound; hundreds more hurled rocks at Israeli police near the Western Wall in Jerusalem and later stormed an Israeli police station, setting it afire. In the West Bank and Gaza, thousands of Palestinians protested, and several gun battles broke out between Israeli troops and Palestinian militias.
The Truth About Palestine
What have the Arabs, the richest people in the world, done with their “refugees” in more than 50 years? They have kept them in misery, on the dole of the world, and have taught their hopeless youth the “skills” of suicide missions and of slaughtering defenseless and unarmed men, women, and children. The Arab “refugees” who fled Israel left little wealth and little history, since most of them had not come to Israel until Jewish settlers opened economic opportunities in what had been a desolate country for centuries.
The very notion of a "Palestinian Arab nation" having ancient attachments to the Holy Land going back to time immemorial is one of the biggest hoaxes ever perpetrated upon the world. There is not, nor has there ever been, a distinct "Palestinian" culture or language. Further, there has never been a Palestinian state governed by Arab Palestinians in history.
Israel became a nation in 1312 B.C.E., two thousand years before the rise of Islam. Seven hundred and twenty-six years later in 586 B.C. these first ancient Jews in the Land of Israel (Judea) were overrun and its First Jewish Temple (on Jerusalem's Old City Temple Mount) was destroyed by Nebuchadnezzar, king of ancient Babylon. Many of the Jews were killed or expelled; however many were allowed to remain. These Jews along with their progeny and other Jews, who would resettle over the next 500 years, rebuilt the Nation of Israel and also a Second Temple upon the Temple Mount.
Then in 70 A.D., it the Roman Empire marched through ancient Israel and destroyed the Second Jewish Temple, slaughtering or driving out much of its Jewish population. Many Jews left on their own because conditions for life were made unbearable in many respects, yet thousands upon thousands stayed and rebelled for centuries in order to once again rebuild a Jewish nation.
Over the next 2,000 years the region was successively ruled by the Greeks, Maccabees, Romans, Byzantines, Arabs, Egyptians, Crusaders, Mamelukes and finally the Ottoman Turks who indifferently governed the backward, neglected territory from the 16th century until the British drove them out during World War I (1914-18 ).
Mark Twain, who visited the area in 1867 wrote about Israel in his book, "The Innocents Abroad", he described it as "a desolate country whose soil is rich enough, but is given over wholly to weeds... a silent mournful expanse.... a desolation.... we never saw a human being on the whole route.... hardly a tree or shrub anywhere. Even the olive tree and the cactus, those fast friends of a worthless soil, had almost deserted the country."
The Arabs of today control 24 nations, covering most of the Middle East, while Israel occupies only a 1/2 of 1 percent speck on this same map. But that's still too much land for the Arabs to spare. They want it all. As they shout out, "We will fight to our last drop of blood for every last grain of sand!" And that is ultimately what all the fighting is about today. That is why any peace treaty between Israel and the Arab world are ultimately meaningless.
The Jews are descendants of Abraham’s son Isaac. The Arabs are descendants of Abraham’s son Ishmael. With Ishmael being the son of a slave woman and Isaac being the promised son who would inherit the blessings of Abraham. As a result of Ishmael’s mocking Isaac, Sarah talked Abraham into sending Hagar and Ishmael away. Likely, this caused even more contempt in Ishmael’s heart toward Isaac. An angel told Hagar that Ishmael would be the father of a great nation and, interestingly, that Ishmael would be “a wild donkey of a man; his hand will be against everyone and everyone’s hand against him, and he will live in hostility toward all his brothers”.
However, the ancient root of bitterness between Isaac and Ishmael does not explain all of the hostility between Jews and Arabs today. The religion of Islam, which a majority of Arabs follow, has made the hostility predicted of Ishmael more profound. The Qur’an contains somewhat contradictory instructions for Muslims regarding Jews. At one point it instructs Muslims to treat Jews as brothers and at another point commands Muslims to attack Jews who refuse to convert to Islam. The Qur’an also introduces a conflict as to which son of Abraham was truly the son of promise. The Hebrew Scriptures say it was Isaac. The Qur’an says it was Ishmael. The Qur’an teaches that it was Ishmael whom Abraham almost sacrificed to the Lord, not Isaac in contradiction to Genesis 22. This debate over who was the son of promise further contributes to today’s hostility.
Liberal Media Propaganda
The liberal media constantly blames Israel for attacking Universities and civilian as ‘military infrastructure’ even though it is to protect their nation from Hamas who has underground tunnels situated beneath these homes and universities so that they can attack the Jews. Hamas is not acting alone, they also receive aid from the UN.
Many famous people have taken to social media to express their opinions and state their positions, often causing controversy. Pro-Palestinians activists in Hollywood would like people to know that the US has provided nearly a billion dollars to Israel in military aid.
Singer Rihanna was one of the first celebrities who shared her view on the conflict. The pop star tweeted "#freePalestine" on July 16, resulting in controversy. Rihanna's tweet was shared at least 7,000 before the singer deleted it and replace it with: "Let's pray for peace and a swift end to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict! Is there any hope?"
Selena Gomez posted an image on Instagram which stated "It's About Humanity. Pray for Gaza." Along with the picture, Selena posted: "Please pray for those families and babies today. Please always remember what's important in life. It's not any of this. We are here to help, inspire and love. Be that change. #wearethenextgeneration." Her message also sparked controversy. One Direction's Zayn Malik also tweeted "#FreePalestine." His tweet was shared nearly 150,000 times in a few hours.
A number of mostly liberal Hollywood celebrities have come out in protest of the bombardment of the people of Gaza by Israeli air strikes and artillery. But Pro-Israel celebrities have also voiced support for the Jews, lambasting other stars in the same business for critiquing the state they support.
Speaking to a TMZ reporter who caught her at an airport, Rivers slammed U.S. media coverage of Israel’s attack on Gaza for being misleading. She said “BBC should be ashamed of themselves. And CNN should be ashamed of themselves.”
“If New Jersey were firing rockets into New York, we would wipe them out,” said Rivers. Asked about civilian casualties in Gaza, Rivers echoed Israeli army claims by saying, “don’t put your goddamn things in private homes! I’m sorry, don’t you dare put weapons stashes in private homes.”
She died just two months after calling President Obama gay and Michelle Obama a transsexual, causing many to believe that she was murdered. The cardiac arrest leading to her death happened as the comedian’s personal doctor began performing a biopsy on her vocal cords, a source close to the death investigation told CNN. A staff member at Manhattan’s Yorkville Endoscopy clinic told investigators that the doctor, Dr. Gwen Korovin, who took a selfie photo in the procedure room while Rivers was under anesthesia, the source said.
Whether or not one agrees with differing viewpoints, it is important to remember that what is shown on the mainstream news is not absolute fact nor is it giving the whole picture. It is necessary to look into things before forming an opinion. The Israel-Palestine conflict goes far deeper than the news lets on and “peace in the Middle East” is not something that will come easily.
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