Date: Sat, 28 Oct 2000 23:37:34 EDT
Subject: Fwd: Palestinian national identity



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<<  Hi all -- this is written by an Arab-American
 > > > journalist, Joseph Farah, who
 > > > seems to be the lead man in the Internet-based
 > > > conservative paper,
 > > > WorldNetDaily.  This article is pretty amazing,
 > > > given the author' s ethnic
 > > > background.  Unfortunately, there aren't enough
 > > > people out there who share
 > > > Mr. Farah's views.
 > > >
 > > >  Other articles of sorts can be found at
 > > > www.worldnetdaily.com.
 > > >
 > > >
 > > >           Myths of the Middle East
 > > >  ? 2000 WorldNetDaily.com
 > > >
 > > > I've been quiet since Israel erupted in fighting
 > > > spurred by disputes over the
 > > > Temple Mount. Until now, I haven't even bothered to
 > > > say, "See, I told you
 > > > so." But I can't resist any longer. I feel compelled
 > > > to remind you of the
 > > > column I wrote just a couple weeks before the latest
 > > > uprising. Yeah, folks, I
 > > > predicted it. That's OK. Hold your applause.  After
 > > > all, I wish I had been
 > > > wrong. More than 80 people have been killed since
 > > > the current fighting in and
 > > > around Jerusalem began. And for what?
 > > >
 > > > If you believe what you read in most news sources,
 > > > Palestinians want a
 > > > homeland and Muslims want control over sites they
 > > > consider holy. Simple,
 > > > right?  Well, as an Arab-American journalist who has
 > > > spent some time in the
 > > > Middle East dodging more than my share of rocks and
 > > > mortar shells, I've got
 > > > to tell you that these are just phony excuses for
 > > > the rioting, trouble-making
 > > > and land-grabbing.
 > > >
 > > > Isn't it interesting that prior to the 1967
 > > > Arab-Israeli war, there was no
 > > > serious movement for a Palestinian homeland?
 > > >
 > > > "Well, Farah," you might say, "that was before the
 > > > Israelis seized the West
 > > > Bank and Old Jerusalem." That's true. In the Six-Day
 > > > War, Israel captured
 > > > Judea, Samaria and East Jerusalem. But they didn't
 > > > capture these territories
 > > > from Yasser Arafat. They captured them from Jordan's
 > > > King Hussein. I can't
 > > > help but wonder why all these Palestinians suddenly
 > > > discovered their national
 > > > identity after Israel won the war.
 > > >
 > > > The truth is that Palestine is no more real than
 > > > Never-Never Land. The first
 > > > time the name was used was in 70 A.D. when the
 > > > Romans committed genocide
 > > > against the Jews, smashed the Temple and declared
 > > > the land of Israel would be
 > > > no more. From then on, the Romans promised, it would
 > > > be known as Palestine.
 > > > The name was derived from the Philistines, a
 > > > Goliathian people conquered by
 > > > the Jews centuries earlier. It was a way for the
 > > > Romans to add insult to
 > > > injury. They also tried to change the name of
 > > > Jerusalem to Aelia Capitolina,
 > > > but that had even less staying power.
 > > >
 > > > Palestine has never existed -- before or since -- as
 > > > an autonomous entity. It
 > > > was ruled alternately by Rome, by Islamic and
 > > > Christian crusaders, by the
 > > > Ottoman
 > > > Empire and, briefly, by the British after World War
 > > > I. The British agreed to
 > > > restore at least part of the land to the Jewish
 > > > people as their homeland.
 > > >
 > > > There is no language known as Palestinian. There is
 > > > no distinct Palestinian
 > > > culture. There has never been a land known as
 > > > Palestine governed by
 > > > Palestinians.
 > > > Palestinians are Arabs, indistinguishable from
 > > > Jordanians (another recent
 > > > invention), Syrians, Lebanese, Iraqis, etc.
 > > > Keep in mind that the Arabs control 99.9 percent of
 > > > the Middle East lands.
 > > > Israel represents one-tenth of 1 percent of the
 > > > landmass. But that's too much
 > > > for the Arabs. They want it all. And that is
 > > > ultimately what the fighting in
 > > > Israel is about today. Greed. Pride. Envy.
 > > > Covetousness. No matter how many
 > > > land concessions the Israelis make, it will never be
 > > > enough.
 > > >
 > > > What about Islam's holy sites? There are none in
 > > > Jerusalem.  Shocked? You
 > > > should be. I don't expect you will ever hear this
 > > > brutal truth from anyone
 > > > else in the
 > > > international media. It's just not politically
 > > > correct.
 > > >
 > > > I know what you're going to say: "Farah, the Al Aqsa
 > > > Mosque and the Dome of
 > > > the Rock in Jerusalem represent Islam's third most
 > > > holy sites." Not true. In
 > > > fact, the Koran says nothing about Jerusalem. It
 > > > mentions Mecca hundreds of
 > > > times. It
 > > > mentions Medina countless times. It never mentions
 > > > Jerusalem. With good
 > > > reason. There is no historical evidence to suggest
 > > > Mohammad ever visited
 > > > Jerusalem.
 > > >
 > > > So how did Jerusalem become the third holiest site
 > > > of Islam? Muslims today
 > > > cite a vague passage in the Koran, the seventeenth
 > > > Sura, entitled "The Night
 > > > Journey." It
 > > > relates that in a dream or a vision Mohammed was
 > > > carried by night "from the
 > > > sacred temple to the temple that is most remote,
 > > > whose precinct we have
 > > > blessed, that we might show him our signs. ..." In
 > > > the seventh century, some
 > > > Muslims identified the two temples mentioned in this
 > > > verse as being in Mecca
 > > > and Jerusalem.  And that's as close as Islam's
 > > > connection with Jerusalem gets
 > > > -- myth, fantasy, wishful thinking.  Meanwhile, Jews
 > > > can trace their roots in
 > > > Jerusalem back to the days of Abraham.
 > > >
 > > > The latest round of violence in Israel erupted when
 > > > Likud Party leader Ariel
 > > > Sharon tried to visit the Temple Mount, the
 > > > foundation of the Temple built by
 > > > Solomon.
 > > > It is the holiest site for Jews. Sharon and his
 > > > entourage were met with
 > > > stones and threats. I know what it's like. I've been
 > > > there. Can you imagine
 > > > what it is like for Jews
 > > > to be threatened, stoned and physically kept out of
 > > > the holiest site in
 > > > Judaism?
 > > >
 > > > So what's the solution to the Middle East mayhem?
 > > >
 > > > Well, frankly, I don't think there is a man-made
 > > > solution to the violence.
 > > > But, if there is one, it needs to begin with truth.
 > > > Pretending will only lead
 > > > to more chaos. Treating a 5,000-year-old birthright
 > > > backed by overwhelming
 > > > historical and archaeological evidence equally with
 > > > illegitimate claims,
 > > > wishes and wants gives diplomacy and
 > > > peacekeeping a bad name.
 > > >
 > > > A daily radio broadcast adaptation of Joseph Farah's
 > > >                   commentaries can be heard on
 > > > TalkNetDaily.
 > > >
 > > >
 > > > >>


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