Table of Contents
Preface
Apologists for Israel’s crimes against the Palestinians, including Israel’s ongoing genocide in Gaza, support their position by relying on ahistorical Zionist propaganda narratives, such as the following:
- The area was first called Palestine by the Roman Empire after destruction of the Jewish Temple in Jerusalem in the year 70 BCE and the Bar Kohkba revolt in 132 CE to humiliate the Jews by renaming the province of Judea after the Israelites’ Biblical enemies the Philistines.
- Palestinians are historically recent immigrants to the land.
- The land was uninhabited when the Zionist movement arose.
- There was never a place called Palestine until it was given that name after World War I when the British ruled the area under the League of Nations Mandate.
- The land that the Zionists declared for themselves as the Jewish state of Israel in 1948 legally belonged to the Jews.
- The Zionist leadership had legal authority for their declaration of the existence of the state of Israel on May 14, 1948.
- Palestinians are an invented people.
- There never was a Palestinian national movement until the mid-1960s when the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) was established.
- The Arab inhabitants of the land were never even called “Palestinians” until the 1960s.
The primary aim of such preposterous propaganda is to try to legitimize the means by which Israel came into existence, which was through the ethnic cleansing of most of Palestine’s Arab inhabitants from their homes and literally wiping over 500 Arab villages off the map.
The further aim of such ahistorical nonsense is to try to justify the continued systematic violation of Palestinians’ fundamental human rights that have occurred perpetually throughout the 75 years since the Jewish supremacist state came into existence.
The purpose of this article is to set the historical record straight as briefly as reasonably possible by reviewing the history of Palestine from ancient times through the Mandate era.
This comports factually with Tom Segev’s book “One Palestine, Complete” detailing the history of the British Mandate mainly from the Jewish perspective.
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Herodotus, the fifth century B.C. Greek historian NEVER mentions a PALESTINIAN/PHILISTINE people, only a REGION called PALESTINE. That’s because they had ceased to exist as a people, having been absorbed by successive waves of foreign conquest. He mentions EGYPTIANS, SYRIANS, SCYTHIANS, and PHOENICIANS, but NEVER the PALESTINIANS/PHILISTINES.
He treats it as a geographic region, not as a country or kingdom. Here is a complete list of his comments that include the territory called Palestine.
105. Thence they went on to invade Egypt; and when they were in Syria which is called PALESTINE, Psammetichos king of Egypt met them; and by gifts and entreaties he turned them from their purpose, so that they should not advance any further: and as they retreated, when they came to the city of Ascalon in Syria, most of the Scythians passed through without doing any damage, but a few of them who had stayed behind plundered the temple of Aphrodite Urania.
That this was so I conjectured myself not only because they are dark-skinned and have curly hair (this of itself amounts to nothing, for there are other races which are so), but also still more because the Colchians, Egyptians, and Ethiopians alone of all the races of men have practised circumcision from the first. The Phenicians and the Syrians[88] who dwell in PALESTINE confess themselves that they have learnt it from the Egyptians, and the Syrians[89] about the river Thermodon and the river Parthenios, and the Macronians, who are their neighbours, say that they have learnt it lately from the Colchians.
106. The pillars which Sesostris of Egypt set up in the various countries are for the most part no longer to be seen extant; but in Syria PALESTINE I myself saw them existing with the inscription upon them which I have mentioned and the emblem.
5. Now by this way only is there a known entrance to Egypt: for from
Phenicia to the borders of the city of Cadytis belongs to the Syrians[4] who are called of PALESTINE, and from Cadytis, which is a city I suppose not much less than Sardis, from this city the trading stations on the sea coast as far as the city of Ienysos belong to the king of Arabia, and then from Ienysos again the country belongs to the Syrians as far as the Serbonian lake, along the side of which Mount Casion extends towards the Sea.
91. From that division which begins with the city of Posideion, founded by Amphilochos the son of Amphiaraos on the borders of the Kilikians and the Syrians, and extends as far as Egypt, not including the territory of the
Arabians (for this was free from payment), the amount was three hundred and fifty talents; and in this division are the whole of Phenicia and Syria which is called PALESTINE and Cyprus: this is the fifth division.
Now in the line stretching to Phenicia from the land of the Persians the land is broad and the space abundant, but after Phenicia this peninsula goes
by the shore of our Sea along PALESTINE, Syria, and Egypt, where it ends; and in it there are three nations only.
89. Of the triremes the number proved to be one thousand two hundred and seven, and these were they who furnished them:–the Phenicians, together with the Syrians[82] who dwell in PALESTINE furnished three
hundred; and they were equipped thus, that is to say, they had about
their heads leathern caps made very nearly in the Hellenic fashion,
and they wore corslets of linen, and had shields without rims and
javelins. These Phenicians dwelt in ancient time, as they themselves
report, upon the Erythraian Sea, and thence they passed over and dwell
in the country along the sea coast of Syria; and this part of Syria
and all as far as Egypt is called PALESTINE.
http://www.gutenberg.org/files/2707/2707-h/2707-h.htm
http://www.gutenberg.org/files/2456/2456-h/2456-h.htm
The Jewish historian Josephus in the first century clarifies that these “circumcised Syrians” were actually Jews.
“Nor indeed was Herodotus of Halicarnassus unacquainted with our nation: but mentions it after a way of his own; when he saith thus, in the second book16 concerning the Colchians. His words are these: “The only people who were circumcised in their privy members originally, were the Colchians, the Egyptians, and the Ethiopians. But the Phenicians, and those Syrians that are in Palestine, confess that they learned it from the Egyptians. And for those Syrians who live about the rivers Thermodon, and Parthenius, and their neighbours, the Macrones, they say they have lately learned it from the Colchians. For these are the only people that are circumcised among mankind: and appear to have done the very same thing with the Egyptians. But as for the Egyptians, and Ethiopians themselves, I am not able to say which of them received it from the other.”
This therefore is what Herodotus says, that “The Syrians that are in Palestine are circumcised.” But there are no inhabitants of Palestine that are circumcised excepting the Jews. And therefore it must be his knowledge of them that enabled him to speak so much concerning them.”
https://penelope.uchicago.edu/josephus/apion-1.html
http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus:abo:tlg,0016,001:2:104
Jerry, thank you for your comment. To address your points:
I didn’t say that he referred to a “Palestinian” people. I said he referred to “Palestine”, which you are confirming.
It isn’t clear to me what “people” you are claiming had “ceased to exist”, but the ancestral peoples from whom modern-day Palestinians are descended had certainly not ceased to exist! As I pointed out, Palestinians are descended from Canaanites.
I didn’t say he referred to “Palestine” as a country or kingdom.
The “Syrians” he referred to likely included Jews, and it may have been true during Josephus’s time that the only people inhabiting Palestine who were circumcised were Jews, but that is clearly not true for Herodotus’s time since he also refers to Phoenicians as practicing circumcision.
Here is from the source I was relying on for that part of the article (bold emphasis added):
https://edisciplinas.usp.br/pluginfile.php/7572850/mod_resource/content/1/Concept%20of%20Palestine%20%5BNur%20M%5D.pdf
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Classical Greek historians Herodotus and Thucydides (c. 460–c. 400 BCE), in contrast with the authors of the Old Testament, sought to separate muthos (myth; legend) from logos (reasoned argument) and histories of the gods from histories of humans. Their histories were also strongly ethnographic. Ethnography is also central to Herodotus’ account of ancient Palestine and its inhabitants. He refers to the Arabs in southern Palestine, Sinai and the incense trade route – the frankincense road of Antiquity which comprised a network of major ancient land and sea trading routes linking the Mediterranean world with eastern and southern sources of incense, spices and other luxury goods. Stretching from the Mediterranean ports of Palestine and Egypt through Arabia and beyond and involving the Nabataean Arabs (and Petra at its height at the beginning of the 2nd century AD), this incense land trade flourished for nearly a millennium between the 7th century BCE and the 2nd century AD. Herodotus also refers to the practice of male circumcision (originally polytheistic) in the region of Palestine from Phoenicia to Egypt – a practice, the ‘Syrians called Palestinians’ ‘confess that they learnt the custom of the Egyptians’ (Herodotus 1858, Book ii, Ch 104). Egypt had the oldest documented evidence for male circumcision dating back to 2345–2182 BCE (World Health Organisation 2007: 3). David Asheri (1925–2000) – Professor of Ancient History at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Dean of the Faculty of Humanities (1972–75) – in A Commentary on Herodotus, Books 1–4, writes:
“the ‘Syrians called Palestinians’, at the time of Herodotus were a mixture of Phoenicians, Philistines, Arabs, Egyptians, and perhaps also other peoples . . . Perhaps the circumcised ‘Syrians called Palestinians’ are the Arabs and Egyptians of the Sinai coast; at the time of Herodotus there were few Jews in the coastal area.” (2007: 402)
Herodotus, who travelled widely in Palestine and Syria and beyond the coastal region, does not mention Judea or refer to Jews.
***
Thank you for putting this all together, I have been looking for a comprehensive history I could share with friends who need enlightening.
I couldn’t find one, so I made it. ?
It’s not as thorough as Jeremy’s (at least as far as the early history), but the website If Americans Knew does a pretty good job of summarizing the history of the region: https://ifamericansknew.org/history/origin.html
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“Most of Palestine’s inhabitants were Muslim or Christian Arabs, with a Jewish minority. Starting in the 1840s, there was a considerable influx of Jewish immigrants from Central and Eastern Europe. The population in 1950 is estimated to have been around 350,000, with about 85% Muslim Arabs, 11% Christian Arabs, and 4% Jews. By the early 1870s, the Jewish population had grown to about 25,000.” I think “1950” should be “1850”.
Excellent article! A great contribution to more informed awareness regarding these important issues.
Thanks, Paul! Although, a quick correction already appended to the article, with thanks to a reader for pointing it out to me, in the quote you provide, “1950” is a typo and should have read “1850”.
thanks Jeremy, I keep sharing your work in the hope that people make an effort to be educated….an uphill battle as you know.
Tracy, thanks sincerely for sharing my work. Just as important as me producing informational content is my readers sharing it!
I understand the later part of the history from the end of the Ottoman Empire and the British Mandate, but I find the rest is very confusing.
With all the comings and goings and conflict in this region, where were the Palestinian people?
I’m not sure I understand your confusion. As DNA research, the Palestinian people were there all along.
Thank you for your article that provides badly needed perspective. However, you make some statements which are probably incorrect e.g. that the events relating to the Israelite exodus and the conquest of Canaan never happened and that “archaeological evidence contradicts key Biblical narratives”. Also, that today’s Palestinians are not the original inhabitants of the land.
David Rohl, Egyptologist, and Ancient Historian, in his seminal book of 588 pages “A Test of Time. The Bible -From Myth to History” presents facts that the Old Testament statements concerning Moses, Joshua, Saul, David, Solomon etc., are correct. In coming to this conclusion, he critically re-examined the Third Intermediate Period which he says is “artificially over-extended – much longer than the available archaeological and textual evidence would seem to allow”. He deconstructs the “popular” timelines used by archaeologists to date historical events by examining factors such as Egyptian co-regencies, parallel dynasties, and interregna. Accordingly, he locates the personalities mentioned above by their Egyptian not Hebrew names in the archaeological timeline. He presents 42 conclusions, supported by facts, to support his statements.
You make no mention of Abraham’s seeds originating from Ishmael, his son by Hagar (12 sons) and of Abraham’s Canaanite wife Keturah’s six sons (Gen 25). Also, Abraham’s son Isaac who fathered Esau (twin of Jacob) who had many sons by his Canaanite wives. All were heirs of the promise to Abraham (Gen 15.8). All Abraham’s sons and their descendants were born in the Promised Land i.e., in the territory (Shechem in what later is named Samaria) between the River of Egypt and the Great river Euphrates (Gen 15.18). Today, part of Syria, Iraq and Saudi Arabia are in this territory.
Isaac tells his son Jacob to go to Paddan Aram (north of the Euphrates) to find a non-Canaanite wife (Gen 28.6). Jacob returns to Shechem in the Promised Land after about 40 years with his eleven sons. The 12th son Benjamin is born in Shechem. After about 14 years, the jealous brothers of Joseph sell him to the Ishmaelite Median traders (Gen 37) who then sell him to the Egyptians. We know how the 12 sons of Jacob (renamed Israel) are finally united then live in Egypt for 400 years. Finally, after exiting Egypt and 40 years in the desert, Joshua and the High Priest Eleazer, allocate the Israelite descendants, per tribe, defined areas in the still existing Promised Land of Abraham and tell them to occupy it (Num 34.51). This territory, in the Promised Land, as occupied by the descendants of Jacob’s sons (now identified as the 12 Israelite tribes), is but a fraction of that which was promised to Abraham (Jos 22). The point I am making is that when the descendants of Israel (Jacob) return to the Promised Land after more than 440 years after exiting it, they must surely have encountered at least some of their long-lost blood family who never left the Promised Land. I believe that a remnant of these must surely have to be the direct ancestors of some of today’s Palestinians.
For Netanyahu to claim that all the Promised Land is the inheritance of the Jews, is preposterous. If his statement had any merit, at the very best, today’s Jews could only claim the territory initially allocated to the Judahites by Joshua and Eleazer i.e. Judea. A careful reading of the Bible makes it clear that all Jews were Israelites, but not all Israelites were Jews. The latter i.e. Judahites and the Tribe of Benjamin of the Northern Kingdom dwelt in Judea. They (about 43 000 of the estimated 3 million who were exiled by Nebuchadnezzar) acquired the name “Jew” only after returning from the 70 year long exile to Babylon on the decree of Cyrus, the Persian. The ten tribes of the Southern Kingdom who occupied the remainder of the Joshua/Eleazer allocated “Promised Land” territory were exiled in 721 BC about 140 years before the Judahites (later Jews) exile in about 580 BC. The territory the 10 Tribes vacated was re- occupied by the Assyrian conquerors.
Kind Regards. I appreciate the effort you make in bringing Truth to the forefront.
Johann
Johann, you suggest that my statement that “archaeological evidence contradicts key Biblical narratives” is somehow incorrect, but then you appear to me to rely on what the Bible has to say about this as a basis for supporting your premise, which is the fallacy of begging the question.
Hi Jeremy.
I do not agree that I have falling foul of “the fallacy of begging the question”.
I am relying on David Rohl’s researched analysis and suggested correction (“New Chronology”, as Rohl’s conclusion is termed) of the commonly used historic timelines used by some archaeologists to date events. If Rohl’s “New Chronology” is correct, the Biblical record is correct. Rohl attests to this conclusion. I have read Rohl’s book and found no reason to refute any of his 42 conclusions.
As you have no doubt experienced, any statement that contradicts the status quo is almost certainly severely attacked by other “experts”. The credibility of the author/researcher is also attacked. See https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_Chronology_(Rohl)
There is a world-wide battle raging for “owning” the Truth. It becomes an issue of how we use “facts”. The problem is whose “facts”. Your facts?, My facts?, Our facts?, Their facts?, All the facts?. It behooves us then to determine as many “facts” as we can before drawing conclusions. Your coverage of the events in Gaza shows how “facts” are abused, concealed, manipulated and ignored.
For example, another source of “facts” can be found the 1942 book of Dr Immanuel Velikovsky “Ages in Chaos. Volume 1. From The Exodus To King Akhnaton” wherein he lists similar conclusions as those of Rohl i.e., the “popular” timeline used to date historic events is grossly inaccurate.
In 1949, Dr Robert Pfeiffer, an International authority on Biblical Studies, author of “Introduction to the Old Testament”, chairman of the Department of Semitic Languages and curator of the Semetic Museum at Harvard University, said of Velikovsky’s book “His conclusions are amazing, unheard of, revolutionary, sensational. If his findings are accepted by historians, all present histories for the period before Alexander the Great (who died in 323 B.C.) must be discarded and completely rewritten. If Dr Velikovsky is right, this volume is the greatest contribution to the investigation of ancient times ever written…..I would like my students to read it, being convinced that only of the discussion of opposite views may the truth, or an approximation thereto, be attained”. Pfeiffer had followed the international debate regarding Velikovsky’s conclusions since 1942.
Pfeiffer says it clearly ….”discussion of opposite views may the truth, or an approximation thereto, be attained”.
The battle to control the archaeological timelines continues unabated. Another example of this ongoing debate is reflected in Prof Barry Fell’s 1976 book “America B.C. Ancient Settlers in the New World”. He was a Harvard professor in Nutrition and later became the founder of the Epigraphic Society. Whilst examining the diets on site of ancient people, he presented archaeological facts that showed that the American sub-continent had been occupied by peoples from the Middle East from about 800 B.C. i.e. Druids in Vermont, Phoenicians in Iowa, etc. Fell discovered and deciphered Ogam, the writings of those people. The writings refer to well-known Old Testament characters. Fell’s discoveries were vociferously contested by the archaeologists of the time. One of the objections raised that as a nutritionist, he had no authority to write on archaeological issues!
Regards
Johann
Johann,
To clarify what I said, if you were relying on what the Bible says as a basis for your objection to my statement that “archaeological evidence contradicts key Biblical narratives”, then you would in fact be begging the question. I did say you “appear to me” to be doing so, which was of course an invitation for you to elaborate or clarify. Thank you for informing me of alternative views. But is Rohl simply trying to make evidence fit the Biblical narrative? Why should we accept his opinions as “probably” correct when they are so widely unaccepted? And are you arguing that there is evidence for, e.g., the Hebrew Exodus from Egypt or for a violent Hebrew conquest of Canaan? If not, my point remains.
Hi Jeremy
The “Begging the question fallacy” presupposes that my line of reasoning is fallacious because the assumption is not justified by any evidence. I have however supplied you with three thoroughly researched “evidences” (facts) that demonstrate that the currently accepted archaeological timelines on which historic events are based, are grossly incorrect. I can supply more “evidences” (facts) to support the research findings of Rohl, Velikovsky, Fell and others. The “evidence” (facts) therein can only be rejected after the source documents are studied and found to be wanting. Thus, I respectfully recommend that you read Rohl’s and Velikovsky’s books. One must always be very cautious not to fall victim to the logical fallacies of “Sunken Costs” and of “Appeal to Authority” e.g. you citing Israel Finkelstein and Ze’ev Herzog, both Israel Archaeologists, as authoritative sources for your information, whilst being aware of the existence of contrary but plausible information.
As I pointed out in my previous post, the academic/scientific debate rages around which of the opposing facts are correct. Your statement that Rohl’s conclusions are “so widely unaccepted” does not negate their accuracy and truthfulness. It merely confirms that the adherents of the “status quo” do not accept them. Which, as I said before, is not surprising. I am reminded of the famous quote by Arthur Schopenhauer “All truth passes through three stages. First, it is ridiculed. Second, it is violently opposed. Third, it is accepted as being self-evident”. As a researcher, expressing opinions in your articles that contest the mainstream interpretations, you will know this. The vexing principle of “I say, you say” is always present. For example, in history, the health professionals who stated that the dread diseases of Scurvy, Beriberi and Pellagra were the result of nutritional deficiencies and not germs, were vilified, mocked, disgraced and removed from their professional societies for making these statements. It took decades during which hundreds of thousands of people died, before mainstream medicine final accepted the nutritional thesis as the cause of the diseases.
The extant evidence does not support your statement that “But is Rohl simply trying to make evidence fit the Biblical narrative?”. In the introduction to his book, Rohl states that the stimulus to his research was checking the “facts” postulated in the book “The Third Intermediate Period in Egypt” by Prof Kenneth Kitchen, who Rohl described as “one of the most eminent Egyptologists of our time”. Rohl was doing what all good researchers should always do, namely systematically checking all the “facts” presented by Kitchen. Rohl states that during this laborious process spanning 20 years, he had identified “literally thousands of data pieces resembling a giant jigsaw” which, when assembled in detail, he found pieces which did not fit together. He mentions, by name, other Egyptologist researchers who had independently come to the same conclusion. In Rohl’s book “A Test of Time”, he presents the corrected timeline.
Based on the research of Rohl, Velikovsky, Fell and a host of other Egyptology researchers, I am comfortable “for arguing that there is evidence for, e.g., the Hebrew Exodus from Egypt” (your words).
I do not agree “for a violent Hebrew conquest of Canaan?” (your words again). It never happened. The returning part of the Hebrews i.e. the 12 Tribes of Jacob, more than 440 years later, failed to drive the Canaanites and other nations out of the allocated portions of the “Promised Land” territory in Canaan, as determined by Joshua and Eleazer. The Israelites co-habited with the indigenous tribes, sometimes peacefully, sometimes at war, even worshipped their Gods from time to time, married them, sacrificed their children to the Gods of the indigenous tribes and allowed these tribes to rule over them for extended periods of time, sometimes spanning many decades. The Biblical records in Joshua, Judges and 1 Samuel tell this dismal tale e.g. Joshua 23,.7,13. Eventually, because of their disobedience the Israelites were evicted from the “Promised Land” just as Joshua said would happen. The Southern Kingdom was first to go, and the Northern Kingdom followed a short while later as you correctly point out.. The Israelites never ruled over all of the “Promised Land” in the manner that we, according to modern thinking, expect of kingdoms to do.
Kind regards
Johann
Johann,
No, this is wrong. In fact, I did not presuppose anything, as I have already explicitly clarified with my reiterative statement, “To clarify what I said, if you were relying on what the Bible says as a basis for your objection to my statement that “archaeological evidence contradicts key Biblical narratives”, then you would in fact be begging the question.”
No, actually, you haven’t. You have presented me with your opinion that accepted timelines are incorrect.
Of course not. By the same measure, your assertion that Rohl’s conclusions are correct does not validate their accuracy and truthfulness. This is my whole point.
You will note that this sentence of mine that you are quoting was a question and not a statement or a claim. It is a reasonable question.
If you agree that this never happened, or at least that there is no evidence that this event ever happened, then it appears to me that we have no fundamental disagreement. This was, after all, my point.
I am glad we have found this common ground.
I am again glad we have found this common ground.
Dear Jeremy, very comprehensive. a couple of years ago , I came across Prof Fransisco Gill- White who is nowadays on Substack. This is a 15 minute Video which according to Gill-White, what happened, similar start. Now , I am NOT a historian so I am not in a position of Proofing the documents but here it is. https://youtu.be/W9ReF4UUa4E?si=eB42HYDWv2gveGk0 Please don’t get me wrong, I for one, pray for everyone in The middle east. I’d be interested in your views again.
Hi Johnny,
I feel that my article above sufficiently addresses the claims made in the Zionist propaganda video.
let me say , I am NOT a Netanyahu fan… what he did to his own people during the Covid era & what he continues to do in Israel is reprehensible.
Indeed, the Israeli government utilizing its own population as subjects of that uncontrolled mass experiment was just another of its crimes against humanity.
Thank you Jeremy! I appreciate this abbreviated timeline. It is a good one to share with people. For those Christians who would stop at, “Archaeological evidence, however, does not support the Biblical story.”, and not continue reading, I say, you are missing out on actually deepening your Christian, Christ centered life for we are commanded to know God’s word, to strive to walk as Jesus, who is referred to as ‘the prince of peace’ and who commanded us to love our neighbor. This line, “Yahweh further promises to give the land of Canaan to Abraham and his descendants if they kept their promise to obey Him.”, to me, is one of the most important understandings that is missed among Christians who claim they must support Israel no matter what they do because ‘God promised Abraham the land and God keeps his promises’…….the key part they miss is the “if” part…..IF THEY kept their promise to obey Him! They did not! And this one, “…..how the Israelites repeatedly violated the Covenant with Yahweh despite God’s warnings that if they persisted in their sins, the land would vomit them out and they would perish among nations.” The Bible repeatedly warns that the promise is a two way street, a covenant between God and Israel, like a marriage, where both parties to the covenant have a promise to uphold. If one partner is adulterous there is no obligation of the other partner to uphold the covenant any longer.
Furthermore, the belief of Christians that the Jews must return to the land as unbelievers, rebuild the temple so they can desecrate it with sacrifices, so that Jesus can then return to sit on his throne in the temple and THEN Jews will turn to Christ, is not what has been understood by the majority of Christians and Jews since the crucifixion until the last couple hundred years. It was once widely understood that if Jews were to return to the promised land they would return in BELIEF, not as unbelievers. I appreciate this paragraph in your writing…..”Zionism was rejected by many Jews who had assimilated into other European cultures, and many Orthodox Jews opposed it because they viewed the secular political movement as heretical, an attempt by men to reestablish Israel in defiance of God, without awaiting the Messiah whom they believed would end their exile from the Land of Israel (Eretz Israel), which was God’s punishment for having violated His Covenant with them.” The modern day ‘Israel’ is a man made attempt in defiance of God!
I do not claim to be a Christian for many reasons, including what Christianity is known for in atrocities committed throughout it’s history and now supporting this beyond horrifying latest murdering of thousands upon thousands of innocent human beings in the name of ‘God keeps His promises’! I do say, I am a lover of Jesus Christ, the anointed one. In his teachings in the New Testament he absolutely narrows down what is required of his followers…… to love him, love God and love our neighbors, for in our loving we represent God’s truth. And, you see, loving Jesus is loving our neighbor and God at the same time for Jesus represents humanity and God all in one. That is all that is required of us because, after all, what else do we really know. Anything we put above that, for any reason whatsoever, is not of God (love and truth) but of Satan (hate and lies). That’s the best way I can put it with my inadequate human words.
Finally, for those, especially Christians, who would like to understand the scriptures that are being mis-interpreted and used to support Zionism’s role in the last 100-200 years of history in the land of Palestine please check out the videos below. I hope you do! They are a good start, easy to watch and may give you a perspective you haven’t been afforded before. Thank you!
What is the Relationship Between Israel and the Church?
https://youtu.be/i25HZK4vsfs?si=MOSWoG9kwV5raK3m
Not All Israel is Israel | David Alley | Peace Christian Church
https://youtu.be/q9TKgZmfbPM?si=am4ZVTr5wdXBUHeM
The True Israel | David Alley | Peace Christian Church
https://youtu.be/NATiN51vnlk?si=LxehsHh4mVo67kLD
Hi Tracy. I really appreciate your comments. We share this perspective. I also am not a Christian but do consider myself a student of Yeshua’s teachings.
The Jew’s return to Israel prophesied in the Bible two thousand five hundred years ago was fullfilled in the 20th century!
Isaiah 11:11-14 NIV
“11 In that day the Lord will reach out his hand a second time to reclaim the surviving remnant of his people from Assyria (northern Syria and Turkey), from Lower Egypt, from Upper Egypt, from Cush (Ethiopia), from Elam (Iran), from Babylonia (Iraq), from Hamath (Syria), and from the islands of the Mediterranean.
12 He will raise a banner for the nations and gather the exiles of Israel; he will assemble the scattered people of Judah (southern Hebrew tribes) from the four quarters of the earth.
13 Ephraim’s (northern Hebrew tribes) jealousy will vanish, and Judah’s ENEMIES will be destroyed; Ephraim will not be jealous of Judah, nor Judah hostile toward Ephraim.
14 They will swoop down on the slopes of Philistia (Gaza) to the west; together they will plunder the people to the east (Palestinian Arabs). They will subdue Edom (southern Jordan) and the Ammonites (Jordanians in the West Bank) will be SUBJECT TO THEM.”
And this one.
Isaiah 43:5-6,21
“Do not be afraid, for I am with you; I will bring your children from the east and gather you from the west. I will say to the north, Give them up!’ and to the south, Do not hold them back.’ Bring my sons from afar and my daughters from the ends of the earth.”
And this one too.
Ezekiel 36:11; 24 KJV
“And I will multiply upon you man and beast; and they shall increase and bring fruit: and I will settle you after your old estates, and will do better [unto you] than at your beginnings: and ye shall know that I [am] the LORD…. For I will take you from among the heathen, and gather you out of all countries, and will bring you into your own land.”
These events actually occurred between the late nineteenth and mid twentieth century. Jews began their return to Israel after 2,000 years of exile during the first Aliyah beginning in 1882 when 25,000 to 35,000 returned to their homeland.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/First_Aliyah
Immigration grew and by 1948, 600,000 mostly European (Ashkenazi) Jews were living in their ancient homeland, a territory erroneously called Palestine that was administered by the British.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zionism
War followed. Attacked by five neighboring Arab nations, the Jews fought back and established their fledgling state.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/1948_Arab%E2%80%93Israeli_War
Then attitudes toward the so called “Arab Jews” who had lived in the Muslim countries of North Africa and the Middle East for centuries, some even thousands of years, began to change. Muslim intolerance grew immensely after the Arab defeat in 1948. Jews faced persecution, they lost their jobs, some faced violence, riots broke out. Many lost their property and possessions as they fled.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jewish_exodus_from_Arab_and_Muslim_countries
And just as spoken in Isaiah, most of these Middle Eastern and North African Jews from Egypt, Libya, Iraq, Yemen, and Syria settled in Israel and united with their European brothers, doubling the Jewish population and made them the overwhelming majority instead of the Arabs.
In 1967 Arab armies invaded Israel, but once again just as Isaiah predicted, the now united Jews were victorious in Gaza (Philistia) and the WEST BANK which was then part of Jordan (the Ammonites) and is still SUBJECT TO THEM to this day.
And for those that claim this regathering hasn’t taken place yet. The fact that 99% of the Jews from North Africa and the Middle East were ethnically cleansed by the Arabs after 1948 means there are no more Jews left to fulfill this prophecy. That it has in fact already occurred!
References.
*Judah were the southern Hebrew tribes living in what is often referred to as Judea.
**Ephraim is associated with the ten northern Hebrew tribes usually referred to as Samaria.
https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/proxy/AggF5MruyUALLwocJ9QjbVxfMg_gJsl9V93JzmerW9OziUHvdsx3s1njALM3fYNKPDmFvLSWvNoXnnZnIobTOjxXfGr95M99xBlz0loA2Tg2SPSpAoG1M6VRrK8Esc8i2GcahYzrRPz_
Jerry,
I remind you that Zionism was a secular political movement, viewed by many orthodox Jews as heretical, a movement of men acting in defiance of Yahweh to establish a state of Israel on their own without awaiting the prophesied Messiah.
I address your opinion that the land was called Palestine “erroneously” in the article. It hardly seems “erroneous” given that the name “Palestine” derives from the name for the territory going back to antiquity.
This is incorrect. The Zionists were already on the offensive, engaged in what Israeli historian Benny Morris describes as their “war of conquest”, before the military intervention by neighboring Arab states. By the time Arab states sent forces into Palestine, 250,000 Palestinians had already been ethnically cleansed, a number that reached ~750,000 by the time armistice agreements were made. Israel was established through the ethnic cleansing of most of the Arab population from their homes in Palestine.
This is also incorrect. The 1967 war was started by Israel on the morning of June 5 with a surprise attack on Egypt that crippled its air force while most of its planes were still on the ground.
The topic of the above article is about the pre-Israel history of Palestine, so please keep any additional comments specific to pre-1948. This is not the place for discussions about the 1967 war, etc.
Thanks for this very informative article Jeremy. Have you read the secret of the exodus by Roger and Messod Sabbah? It confirms what you say, that there are no. Archeological evidence of the Hebrew presence in Egypt during 400 years ans slaves and this despite the fact the ancient Egyptian civilisation is one of the most documented ancient history, thanks to huge amounts of hieroglyphs that are available. He also claims that hebrews were actually Egyptians. Roger wrote other interesting books documenting the incredible similarities between Hebrew and Egyptian cult and and culture.
I have never read that book, but thanks for informing me about it and sharing your thoughts.