Wars And Rumors of War: Setting The Record Straight

Wars And Rumors of War: Setting The Record Straight

Ray DiLorenzo

There is much disinformation, misinformation, and outright lies going around about the conflict in the Middle East—who took whose land, who the aggressor is, and why the hatred? Much of this ignorance comes from the universities and the media. A short history is warranted to set the record straight.

Land of the Philistines." This name was chosen by Rome as an insult, naming Israel after the old enemy of Israel—the Philistines

For those who are familiar with Scripture, it will be easier to understand. For those who do not understand or believe, it will be difficult at best. I will speak about Scripture because it is so central to what the Middle East crisis is all about. For lack of a legitimate reason for the Arabs' hatred, one can only turn to the Book of Genesis and Isaiah for an answer. It is a spiritual answer where all truth can be found.

It is no mystery that thousands of years ago, the Jewish people occupied a small region in the Middle East known as Canaan (remember Moses?), then named Israel, a land given to them by God Himself (1250 BC). I could add Judah to the list, but that would involve getting into a Jewish family argument...oy vey!

The land was taken away from the Jewish people by the Romans in 70 AD, during the Siege of Jerusalem. The Romans renamed Israel (or Judah) Palestine. Palestine, from the Greek Palaistinē from the Hebrew Pelesheth, "Philistia, land of the Philistines." This name was chosen by Rome as an insult, naming Israel after the old enemy of Israel—the Philistines.

Since the Jewish diaspora (dispersal), Israel, or Palestine, has been occupied by both Arabs and Jews. By the 19th century, less than 100,000 people lived in Israel (or Palestine), a third of them Jews. The land was desolate and abandoned for over 1,000 years. It was part of the Ottoman Empire, but that is about all you could say. Mark Twain visited the Holy Land in 1867. His comments: "A desolation is here that not even imagination can grace with the pomp of life and action." Another one: "I would not desire to live here. It is a hopeless, dreary, heartbroken land." On the approach to Jerusalem, “There was 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.”

But God said in his Holy Scriptures that the Israelites would return (Isaiah 11:11), that God would gather the children of Israel back to their homeland. 

The Ottoman Empire's hold on Palestine was weak. The peril of invasion was ever-present. Napoleon in 1799, Egyptian Muslims in 1832-1840, and the Russians during the Crimean War (1853–1856) had all repeatedly threatened to invade. By 1917, when the British took control of Jerusalem, the Ottoman Empire was all but gone. The Balfour Declaration, issued in 1917 by the British government, promised a homeland for the Jews. It guaranteed a Jewish homeland as well as the civil and religious rights of non-Jewish peoples. Israel has done so.

In 1947, UN Resolution 181 divided the land, making provision to offer the local Arabs their own state called Transjordan, about three times the size of what was to be Israel. The Arabs refused the plan and rejected the formation of a new state of Israel. They now demanded the whole region be given to them.

Finally, in 1948, Israel became a nation. The British are never in a rush to do anything. Many Arabs live in Israel today, are Israeli citizens, and hold important positions.

Understand, there was never a Palestinian nation—no Palestinian government, no Palestinian economy or currency, no Palestinian language—nothing. There weren't any Palestinian people unless you wanted to include the Jews as well as the nomadic Arabs. In all that time, the so-called Palestinian people never demanded a Palestinian state or self-rule. They had been ruled by the Romans, Byzantines, Muslims, Crusaders, the Ottomans, and then the British.

The new state of Israel took 0.2% (2 tenths of 1%) of the Middle East's land mass, as deserted and desolate as it was. When the Arab world invaded the newly created state, the Arab community was asked to stay and offered Israeli citizenship to help build a nation. Most refused. Instead, the Arab nations offered the Arab refugees refuge and proceeded to invade the newly created state of Israel.

No one ever thought the little nation of Israel was going to win any war with the Arab world. But they did.

When Israel won the war, the Arab nations refused to assimilate the Arab refugees into their countries and then began calling them 'Palestinians.' Israel refused to take them back, as they showed themselves to be enemies. Thus, in essence, the Arab world began using the 'Palestinians' as a political weapon, the useful idiots of the Arab world, a tool to show the world how 'inhumane' Israel is allowing these poor Arabs to wander aimlessly in the desert (my words, but you get the idea). Even now, Egypt has closed its borders, not wanting to take in any Palestinian Arabs. No other Arab country has raised their hands as well. Close brotherhood, huh?