The phony Mideast debate
Exclusive: Joseph Farah clears up historical myths meant to cast Israel as Goliath
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Posted: July 09, 2010
1:00 am Eastern
By Joseph Farah
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Israel has lost its best friend and ally in the world – the United States of America.
There's no denying the fact that Barack Obama has dramatically shifted U.S. policy toward the Middle East in a way that favors the so-called "Palestinian" cause at the expense of the Jewish state.
Back in 1967, the world was stunned and amazed as the underdog state of Israel, surrounded by Arab armies, seemingly on the verge of annihilation, routed its enemies in six days. There was no talk of a "Palestinian state" in 1967. The Arab states were determined to destroy Israel and claim the territory for themselves. There had been no state of Palestine before – not in the entire history of the world.
But after that stunning military victory by Israel, a new strategy was developed by Yasser Arafat, with the support of the Arab countries, to change tactics and reframe the terms of the debate over the conflict.
Instead of a war of conquest by numerically superior Arab armies, Arafat, with the help of the Soviet Union, began a long campaign to redefine the struggle as one by indigenous people, the Palestinians, to liberate their land from foreign occupiers.
Never mind that Arafat himself was an Egyptian or that most of the so-called "Palestinians" had actually been citizens of Jordan or other Arab countries and had freely emigrated to Israel because of its economic boom over the previous decades, coinciding with Jewish immigration and ingenuity. The historical narrative had been successfully rewritten. And historical narratives are powerful propaganda devices.
Do you believe in miracles? Learn how Israel has persevered despite its many enemies, in the DVD chronicle: "Against All Odds: Israel Survives"
Today, billions of people all over the world actually believe that the "Palestinians" are just in their quest for a homeland they never knew, a homeland that never existed, a homeland that is as fictitious as their rewritten historical narrative.
Myths can be powerful. Myths can be difficult to overcome. Myths are what shape the Middle East debate and conflict today.
The talk of "justice" for Palestinians resonates in the ears of the world. Israel, once seen as David, has been successfully recast in the public's mind as a Goliath.
Obscured amid all the mythmaking has been the actual title deed to the land of Israel.
To whom does it actually belong?
Historically, there is no question about that.
The Jews were largely driven out of the land in the first century, dispersed throughout the whole world. But the Jews, unlike perhaps any other people in the history of the world, maintained their Jewish culture and identity – always longing for a return to their one and only homeland as promised by God in their holy Scriptures.
Once conquered, the land of Israel was neglected and remained largely uninhabited. A Jewish presence was always maintained there. At the beginning of the 20th century, this was still the case – with the majority of the population of Jerusalem and surrounding areas being Jewish.
The world watched in the 1930s and 1940s as Adolf Hitler began his extermination campaign against the Jews. The world prevented Jews from escaping to the U.S. and to the land now known as Israel. Half the world's Jewish population was killed.
Even after that horrific Holocaust, there was international resistance to the Jews returning to their one and only homeland, still largely unpopulated, untamed, undeveloped.
But, just as the prophet Isaiah foretold (Isaiah 66:8) in the Jewish Scriptures, the nation of Israel was, in 1948, reborn in a day.
This is not occupation, as the world suggests. This is a people defending their one and only homeland against the most vicious and unjustified attacks imaginable.
Is it any wonder Barack Obama would be on the wrong side of this conflict?
Let me suggest that being on the wrong side of this conflict is, definitionally, being on the wrong side of history and on the wrong side of God's plan for all humanity.
Exclusive: Joseph Farah clears up historical myths meant to cast Israel as Goliath
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Posted: July 09, 2010
1:00 am Eastern
By Joseph Farah
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Israel has lost its best friend and ally in the world – the United States of America.
There's no denying the fact that Barack Obama has dramatically shifted U.S. policy toward the Middle East in a way that favors the so-called "Palestinian" cause at the expense of the Jewish state.
Back in 1967, the world was stunned and amazed as the underdog state of Israel, surrounded by Arab armies, seemingly on the verge of annihilation, routed its enemies in six days. There was no talk of a "Palestinian state" in 1967. The Arab states were determined to destroy Israel and claim the territory for themselves. There had been no state of Palestine before – not in the entire history of the world.
But after that stunning military victory by Israel, a new strategy was developed by Yasser Arafat, with the support of the Arab countries, to change tactics and reframe the terms of the debate over the conflict.
Instead of a war of conquest by numerically superior Arab armies, Arafat, with the help of the Soviet Union, began a long campaign to redefine the struggle as one by indigenous people, the Palestinians, to liberate their land from foreign occupiers.
Never mind that Arafat himself was an Egyptian or that most of the so-called "Palestinians" had actually been citizens of Jordan or other Arab countries and had freely emigrated to Israel because of its economic boom over the previous decades, coinciding with Jewish immigration and ingenuity. The historical narrative had been successfully rewritten. And historical narratives are powerful propaganda devices.
Do you believe in miracles? Learn how Israel has persevered despite its many enemies, in the DVD chronicle: "Against All Odds: Israel Survives"
Today, billions of people all over the world actually believe that the "Palestinians" are just in their quest for a homeland they never knew, a homeland that never existed, a homeland that is as fictitious as their rewritten historical narrative.
Myths can be powerful. Myths can be difficult to overcome. Myths are what shape the Middle East debate and conflict today.
The talk of "justice" for Palestinians resonates in the ears of the world. Israel, once seen as David, has been successfully recast in the public's mind as a Goliath.
Obscured amid all the mythmaking has been the actual title deed to the land of Israel.
To whom does it actually belong?
Historically, there is no question about that.
The Jews were largely driven out of the land in the first century, dispersed throughout the whole world. But the Jews, unlike perhaps any other people in the history of the world, maintained their Jewish culture and identity – always longing for a return to their one and only homeland as promised by God in their holy Scriptures.
Once conquered, the land of Israel was neglected and remained largely uninhabited. A Jewish presence was always maintained there. At the beginning of the 20th century, this was still the case – with the majority of the population of Jerusalem and surrounding areas being Jewish.
The world watched in the 1930s and 1940s as Adolf Hitler began his extermination campaign against the Jews. The world prevented Jews from escaping to the U.S. and to the land now known as Israel. Half the world's Jewish population was killed.
Even after that horrific Holocaust, there was international resistance to the Jews returning to their one and only homeland, still largely unpopulated, untamed, undeveloped.
But, just as the prophet Isaiah foretold (Isaiah 66:8) in the Jewish Scriptures, the nation of Israel was, in 1948, reborn in a day.
This is not occupation, as the world suggests. This is a people defending their one and only homeland against the most vicious and unjustified attacks imaginable.
Is it any wonder Barack Obama would be on the wrong side of this conflict?
Let me suggest that being on the wrong side of this conflict is, definitionally, being on the wrong side of history and on the wrong side of God's plan for all humanity.
posted by shummer60 at Saturday, July 10, 2010
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