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Politics Sparks Religious Conflict in Jerusalem
Arabs revere it as the "Noble Sanctuary." Jews revere it as the "Temple Mount." Everyone worries about it -- or should worry about it -- as a potential flashpoint for renewed violence between Israelis and Palestinians.
It's actually not much more than a hill, but it's the highest point in the old city of Jerusalem. In biblical times, the Judeans built a sanctuary atop it to the god YHWH. The Romans destroyed that structure. When Muslims conquered Jerusalem centuries later they built two structures of their own on the hill -- the Dome of the Rock and the Al-Aqsa mosque -- which remains two of Islam's most sacred sites.
Right now, the most important fact to know about the hill is that major clashes occurred there this October between Palestinians and the Israeli police force. Though there were relatively few injuries, Israelis and Palestinians who support the peace process worry that more such incidents could kill off the already fragile chances for a negotiated peace. As Israel's most respected newspaper, Ha'aretz, recently editorialized, "the Temple Mount is behaving like an active, simmering volcano; the timing of its next major eruption is impossible to gauge."
Ha'aretz explained the source of the trouble to its mostly-Jewish readers this way: "There have been repeated rumors among Palestinians that Jewish extremists are planning on harming the holy site. No such attempt has been made." The Jewish Telegraphic Agency also reported that "the rumors have proven to be unfounded." The Washington Post agreed. Attributing the trouble to Muslim charges of "Israeli plots to damage them or let Jews pray in the compound," the Post added: "There was no evidence to support either claim." Period.
But the reality is rather more complex, as other news reports explained. According to The New York Times, "Israeli police chief, David Cohen, said the disturbances were precipitated by calls from right-wing Jewish activists and an Islamist group." More specifically, the widely-read Israeli website Ynetnews.com reported that, "according to police, there was ... a call on Jews by extreme-right elements to arrive at the compound."
That last point is the crux of the matter for Palestinian Muslims. Though there has been no overt attempt yet by Jews to harm the Muslim holy sites, there is a growing effort by Jewish extremists to stake some claim to what they call the Temple Mount.
More than a decade ago, a fringe right-wing group brought a cornerstone for a new Jewish temple to the Temple Mount. Though their movement has continued to grow, it is still quite small. But now there is a larger movement calling for Jews to pray and observe religious rituals on the Mount, with some seeing it as a step toward rebuilding the Jewish Temple. A "publicist for far-right organizations" told commentator Gershon Gorenberg that "hundreds of Jews have been visiting the site weekly, usually in organized groups."
In early October, just before the Jews' highest holy day, Yom Kippur, notices were posted announcing that Jews planned to visit the Temple Mount on the eve of the holiday. "The police knew about this," said Sheikh Azzam Al-Khatib, the head of the Waqf (the Muslim organization that supervises the holy sites). He warned the Israeli authorities not to open the Temple Mount to Jewish worshipers. When the police let a group of tourists into the compound, Muslims began hurling stones at them, apparently assuming that these were the Jewish worshippers making good on their promise to gain access to the site for religious observances.
At the same time, Israeli police were imposing restrictions on Muslims wanting to pray in Al-Aqsa mosque.
After the most recent disturbances, a gathering of right-wing Jews, led by what Ha'aretz called "top religious Zionist leaders," called for "Jewish ascent to the Temple Mount. It's hard to remember when was the last time Israel saw such a unity between its religious Zionist leaders." Five members of the Knesset and other conservative political leaders joined the gathering too.
Rabbi Yaakov Medan told the crowd to "keep coming to the Temple Mount. ... And I'm not talking about a few people here. I'm talking about hundreds and thousands. " Professor Hillel Weiss of Bar Ilan University demanded that the Jewish Temple "must be built now. The mosques do not have to be destroyed in order for us to do this." But many Muslims, including Hamas leader Khaled Meshaal, doubt the assurance that the mosques would remain.
Rabbi Yuval Sherlo says that the religious rightists demand "equality at the least" between Jews and Arabs on the sacred hill. "At the least"? Those are understandably frightening words for Palestinians, who have seen Israel encroach upon their land and their rights, more and more, for decades now.
Feeding their doubt is the latest call from the Rabbinical Council of Judea and Samaria for the Temple Mount to be permanently closed to Arabs. A statement by the council accused the Arabs of "turning the most holy place to the Jewish people into a base of terror and violence" -- a sharp reminder that, although the conflict is sparked by conflicting claims to a sacred site, and the immediate participants on both sides may well be moved by religious concerns, it would be a mistake to write it off as just a matter of religious fanaticism. It's mainly about politics.
There is nothing in Orthodox Judaism that necessarily mandates laying claim to any rights on the Temple Mount. On the contrary, Orthodox Jews have traditionally stayed away from the Mount, fearing that they would violate the purity laws that have governed the site since biblical times. Even now, many Orthodox rabbis are critical of the move to bring Jews back to the site for religious observances.
And it's no coincidence that so many of the rabbis who support the return to the Temple Mount are associated with the Jewish West Bank settlements. They see the Obama administration's call for stopping all settlement expansion and creating a Palestinian state as a direct threat to their whole enterprise. Laying claim to the Temple Mount is just one part of a much larger strategy to resist the changes they fear.
The connection between settlements and this Temple Mount movement is not lost on Palestinians. The movement is largely ignored by Israeli news sources, because most Israeli Jews consider it a fringe (many would say lunatic fringe) movement. But there was a time when the idea of putting Jewish settlements in the West Bank was also just a lunatic fringe idea. Had Palestinians organized powerfully to resist that idea before the first groundbreaking for the first settlement, the whole Israeli-Palestinian situation might be radically different -- perhaps radically better -- today.
From the Palestinian vantage point, stout resistance before the first concrete actions occur is simply common sense -- not necessarily for reasons of religious devotion, but because they can see how the Temple Mount has become, for some Jews, a prime symbol of nationalistic pride and self-assertion.
On the Palestinian side, too, this seemingly religious issue is part of an essentially secular nationalistic conflict. Muslim leaders' calls to resist Jewish encroachment are being echoed by the secular authorities of the Palestinian Authority, all members of the avowedly secular Fatah party.
According to one report , PA prime Salam Fayyad has called the Jewish movement "a provocation planned in advance that was aimed at sabotaging the peace process and derailing President Obama's peace initiative."
The Ha'aretz editorial agreed that there are political motives at work: "The Israeli government views these events as just another competitive front between Israel and the Palestinians. [It] views strengthening the Jewish hold on the Temple Mount and its environs as a political and diplomatic objective." And that "is likely to foment a violent outburst which will ignite the entire Middle East."
As if to back up these charges of Jewish political motivation, Rabbi Medan told the right-wing Jewish gathering that he recently met with a "top defense official" and discussed the sparse presence of Jews in the Temple Mount. The defense official "spoke of the significance of Jews ascending the Temple Mount, and said that he already got us permits to ascend. ‘Where are you?,' he asked. He sees this as an existential struggle, and believes we must recruit more people."
On both sides, then, a powerful set of religious symbols and groups of sincerely (some would say fanatically) religious people are caught up in a larger conflict that is essentially between two competing secular nationalisms. As Gershon Gorenberg wrote, "when a fire begins at the Mount, it is always fueled by wider issues. Right now those issues include continued Palestinian disappointment with American diplomacy and Palestinian Authority President Mahmud Abbas's precipitous loss of public credibility."
It seems clear that both sides are focusing on this religious symbolism in response to the Obama administration's call for an end to settlement expansion and rapid movement toward a final-status, two-state agreement.
The sparks that have ignited October's clash, and could (here religious people may want to say "God forbid") set off much more serious conflict in the months ahead, were originally lit in the White House. Obama's words have raised and then dashed hopes among Palestinians, while they have raised fears that are as high as ever among right-wing Jewish Israelis.
"When diplomacy appears deadlocked, the chances of violence rise, and Jerusalem's most holy space is always available as a pretext," Gorenberg rightly observes. "If Netanyahu, Abbas and Obama are looking for a practical way to avoid a new blow-up in Jerusalem, they need to restore faith in peace negotiations as an alternative."
- Posted in
58 Comments so far
Show AllOnce again Chernus makes it appear that there is balance - that both sides have a case and that both are at fault. It is of course not the case. In international law the situation is clear. Israel acquired access to the Noble Sanctuary through an aggressive war which it precipitated in 1967. It should hand back that territory! Of course, we know that it is not going to happen but it does need to be stated.
It is also clear that a 2 state solution cannot happen. Netanyahu continues to allow the expansion of settelements in the West Bank which any viable 2 state solution would require to be handed back. Palestinians are increasingly being pressured to leave their homes in East Jerusalem. No - the only viable solution is a 1 state one with equal rights to all of its citizens.
The Dome of the Rock and the Al-Aqsa mosque like all of the open city of Jerusalem belongs to the Arabs not the Jews. See UNGA Resolution-181. I don't know if it's in the genes or the Tora but some people just can't seem to refrain from Biblical Cruelty and Averice. This is reaching the point of genocide now.
(BBC) - Israel is denying Palestinians access to even the basic minimum of clean, safe water, Amnesty International says.
In a report, the human rights group says Israeli water restrictions discriminate against Palestinians in the occupied West Bank.
It says that in Gaza, Israel's blockade has pushed the already ailing water and sewage system to "crisis point".
JERUSALEM, Oct 27 (Reuters) - Israeli authorities demolished two Palestinian homes near Arab East Jerusalem on Tuesday, ignoring international concern about the practice.
The Dome of the Rock and the Al-Aqsa mosque like all of the open city of Jerusalem belongs to the Arabs not the Jews. See UNGA Resolution-181..
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Washington belongs to Papua. See MY The Dome of the Rock and the Al-Aqsa mosque like all of the open city of Jerusalem belongs to the Arabs not the Jews. See UNGA Resolution-182.
I wander if Mr. Humbaba is ready to 50 states solution on occupied territories north of Rio Grande? What a hyppocritical mind set became whatever was called Left in the Western Civ. Disgusting collection of nay sayers.
There's a big difference: in 1946, taking land by force was defined as the worst of all world-class crimes: the Crime Against Peace. Everything changed at that point. What had been up until then 'merely' unethical now became an actual international *crime*, a *capital* crime, as the Nazi and Japanese leaderships learned the hard way.
The Zionist leadership along with Truman and some other western politicians should have been tried, convicted, and hanged for what they did to the innocent Palestinian people. That they escaped, and creatures like Idi Amin, Pinochet, Netanyahu et al. continue to escape, is a serious ethical blot on our claim to civilisation.
Chernus pussyfoots around several issues here. For one, he makes no mention of the Israeli archaelogical digs taking place under and around the Temple Mount, in desperate search for still non-existent proof that Solomon's temple did indeed stand there. These digs are one of the primary reasons for the Palestinans' concern. Along with this omission, he opens the piece by saying: "In biblical times, the Judeans built a sanctuary atop it to the god YHWH." No material evidence exists to date to prove that such a statement is anything other than a myth, though Chernus's language presents it as historical fact.
Second, Chernus conveniently neglects to mention Sharon's heavily armed visit to the Temple Mount in 2000, helping to spark the second Intifada, which exploded in full after the Israeli police fired on the crowd protesting this visit, killing seven or eight.
Third, Chernus plays down the ferocity with which Israeli Jewish fundamentalists have long been calling for the destruction of the Dome of the Rock and the rebuilding of the temple. He makes it seem as if this is a minor issue.
And just for a little context, the original U.N. document granting Israel statehood called for Jerusalem to remain a free city for all three religions, Judaism, Islam and Christianity. This remains, to this day, the only equitable solution to the question.
It's such a ridiculous claim - that something that existed 3000 years ago should be restored, or should provide justification to a claim of present ownership. Where else does this happen?
If it was Thutmose III who expanded the Egyptian empire as far as (modern) Turkey, can Egypt lay claim to Palestine and Israel? More justification for that than there was for Israel's claim to the Sinai a few decades ago. Could the Persians (Iran) assert any residual claims from the time of Xerxes? The Syrians? The Greeks?
If I decide that it was my ancestors from Tripyllia who built Newgrange, on the Salisbury Plain in England, can I start a war, armed with daisy cutters and phosphorus, to reclaim that land? Can the Saxons, i.e., the current Germans lay claim to England because they owned it at one point? Can the French, recalling the Plantagenets? Can the Scandinavians reclaim France?
This question does not even address the uncertainty of a temple of Solomon, or even a Solomon's Nosherei existing in that location, at any point in history.
Taking into account that the ancient "Hebrews" started out as a nomadic tribe of herders that had trouble finding a place to settle, unwelcome or uncomfortable wherever they paused, there is no entitlement based on spurious historical reconstructions. (BTW - the bible is not history, no matter how much you want it to be.)
Except that thanks to the Europeans, now there really is a place called Israel. You could be a little more just and fair, especially since there are more Jews living outside of Israel than inside. You could make a country that wasn't stolen from the indigenous people who, in 3500 years, never left it but faithfully tended it all that time.
Before you bring out the "anti-semitic"-gun, Jews have the right to live anywhere on this planet where they're happy, same as anyone else. Same as anyone else, with no priority, no special considerations, no special entitlements based on specious historical claims. Same as everyone else.
The digging under the Moslem structures is nothing more than arrogant, brutal undermining. At some point, the structures will collapse, and then the property will be claimed more easily.
So much for all the peaceful accommodations by Fatah. Heheh, that's really working well.
Actually, you could say the Italians, by way of the Romans, have more of a claim to France than do the Scandinavians, having arrived there first. Or maybe it's the Irish, who, as the "purest" surviving Celts, are most closely related to the ancient Gauls who preceded the Romans there. In which case they, or the French, could lay claim to the northern third of Italy, called Cisalpine Gaul by the Romans, due to the Gallic population there before the Roman settlement.
See how silly it gets - that line of reasoning will never end - it can get dragged all the way back to Africa millions of years ago and still won't cure anything.
Do you know any Sneetches with stars on their bellies? How about Sneetches with no stars upon thars? Should be easy to find one. Sneetches like to live on beaches.
(Dr. Seuss)
I think that Herod's Temple (the last one before the Romans destroyed Jerusalem in 60 AD) is the one that Chernus is referring to. 60 AD is generally considered to be in "Biblical times"--unless you want to end Biblical Times with the Maccabees.
I take no issue with the rest of your submission.
Just an observation: Jerusalem today is an excellent example of what happens when you mix religion and politics. Note this well, rightwingers everywhere.
This occupying barbaric entity called “israel”, is not a theoretical being, nor does it operate in a vacuum; it’s neither an abstract concept nor a conjectural void.
It’s an entity run by PEOPLE
PEOPLE who make decisions,
PEOPLE who elect politicians,
PEOPLE who ALL serve in a barbaric army,
PEOPLE who foster racist beliefs, attitudes and actions,
PEOPLE who invaded others’ land, dispossessed them, and forcibly occupied it,
PEOPLE who imprison children and shoot babies' hearts,
PEOPLE who destroy world heritage,
PEOPLE who steal water, land, sea and sky,
PEOPLE who kill hope, life, beauty and smiles,
PEOPLE who build their colonies on the blood and ruins of another people.
It is an entity of PEOPLE, 94% of whom voted for the attack on Gaza.
It is an entity of PEOPLE, 71% of whom want U.S. to strike Iran.
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/860903.html
It is an entity of PEOPLE who violated ALL neighbouring countries.
It is an entity of PEOPLE who live on a STOLEN land for over six decades, with no signs of shame, remorse, awakening of conscience, or willingness to neither admit nor right the wrongs they’ve committed.
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Beautiful! Very sad but beautifully said.
if Jews could give up the idea of Us and Them, Us against Other, and standing together with Rachel Corrie, say to the Palestinians,"you are our brothers and our sisters" at that very moment all rationale for the state (which calls itself) Israel would cease to exist. The return of brothers and sisters to their home is natural. ---And at a deeper level, all humankind are brothers and sisters.....
of course what we get is this, (from counterpunch):...The latest of these statements was made by Dan Schueftan, a lecturer in Tel Aviv University in a special course for high ranking officials at political and security institutions, when he said: “The Arabs are the biggest failure in the history of the human race. There’s nothing under the sun that’s more screwed up than the Palestinians. And those who do not say so subject themselves to miserable political correctness (October 21, 2009).” ...'
.psycho-therapeutically, this is an attack made in order to compensate for guilt...in other words,what we are facing in the case of "israel" is mass psycho-pathology...
There’s nothing under the sun that’s more screwed up than the Palestinians.
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A Canadian-American psychiatrist and *very* smart man, the late Eric Berne MD (né Bernstein) exposed that kind of thing as a Nazi-type tactic.
I'm paraphrasing here:
'First you capture a member of the group you want people to hate. You put him in a cage without access to the means to keep himself fed, clean, and dignified. And when he's reduced to an incoherent, filthy wreck, you exhibit him to your people and say "See how subhuman these creatures are? They don't deserve to live!"'
dear guernica
The sad thing is that this kind of supremacy, racism and demonetization of Arabs and Palestinians do not come of a vacuum; neither does it stop there, against Arabs alone
Just have a look at some of the lunatic beliefs that they harbor, it reflects a racism so sordid that makes the Nazi racism dwarfs and shrivels in comparison. A racism that sends shivers down your spine, and awakens fears and terror; an ominous reminder of the gloomy dark-ages from which mankind had been distancing itself in past centuries.
When I first encountered such horrors; I was left in a state of shock and disbelief, and as I searched a little more, what I discovered and read, was swelling from bad to worse, leaving me physically sick, nauseated and in an utter state of disgust, shivering for days.
SOME QUOTES:
“There are two different and distinct entities: the human being, and the Jew who is part of G-d”
..
“We are a G-dly people, we have G-dly souls. Our place is in Heaven, in fact higher than Heaven because Heaven is also a created place, and we are a part of G-d”
…
“The world wants leadership and who are they going to look to for moral leadership if not the Jews?”
….
“We are to treat other Jews as Divine beings, because that’s what they are”
(quotes by Rabbi Manis Friedman)
*********************************************************************
Excerpts from:
“What Is the Cause of Antisemitism?”
Print: http://www.chabad.org/library/article_cdo/aid/2902/jewish/What-Is-the-Cause-of-Antisemitism.htm
Audio: http://www.chabad.org/multimedia/media_cdo/aid/300700/jewish/If-Youre-Chosen-Act-It.htm#
By Rabbi Manis Friedman, author and lecturer, dean of Bais Chanah Women's Institute of Jewish Studies.
Rabbi Friedman asks, then explains:
What Is a Jew?
"The essence of a Jew, that which makes him Jewish, is his soul, and his soul is not a creation. The soul of the Jew is an eternal, infinite part of the eternal, infinite G-d; the Jew is a piece of G-d. Whoever has this soul is Jewish."
"Jews are the presence of G-d on earth"
"When a poor person comes to a Jew and asks for something to eat, the Jew is actually lowering himself to give the poor person a meal…"
"When a Jew gives tzedakah, he's basically a Divine being accepting human obligations; he is basically humbling himself, lowering himself into the worldly human condition. When a non-Jew gives charity, he is basically a human being trying to elevate himself to something more Divine"
"So we can't say we're ordinary people like everyone else because they see that we're not like them, we're a Heavenly people"
"why is Israel always in the news? Why is Israel blamed for the problems in the Middle East? Because they know that Israel can and will be the answer. Nobody else"
"A Jew is a different kind of creature with a different soul"
"a Jew is a piece of G-d"
"we're going to stand up straight and say, "Yes, we're different, we're special, we're Jewish, we're created from G-d's thought. Yes, we are chosen and we therefore must live up to that title."
…
what you found is as much a distortion of something as naziism was a distortion of bach and beethoven. it is psycho-pathological madness.
the israelis and nationalist jews remind me of the dynamic of the serial killer who kills again and again to end the guilt caused by his last murder.
spiritually, the state-hiding-behind-the-name, -"israel", and the idea of what is a jew of rabbi friedman, are kinds of idols that destroy the hearts of those that worship them. things dark and monstrous...
Well said.
I wouldn't hesitate to bet a substantial sum of money that Friedman (I won't accord him the honorable title of 'rabbi') would get a major, custodial-care diagnosis from any competent clinical psychologist. He should be in a locked ward in a hospital because he's obviously a danger to other people.
As a Palestinian I assert:
There is no other solution for the restoration of peace and justice, than the reinstatement of Palestine, the return to pre 1948, and the return of ALL Palestinian refugees
There is no impartiality when dealing with murderer and victim
The thief has NO right to keep what he had stolen
The armed robber CANNOT demand to share the house he robbed by force
How could the world keep asking us to recognise the “rights” and “humanity” of a settler, who comes with his wife and children armed to his teeth, and at gun point evicts a Palestinian family, throws their entire belongings out, and moves in?
What kind of “humanity” is this?
And what “rights” does a thief and murderer has?
And most importantly, why is it that we are continuously been asked to feel compassion towards our tormenters who relentlessly murder and humiliate us, who attempt to annihilate us and our history and why, to what purpose, are we asked to feel their “humanity”, WHILE their knife still piercing deep in our hearts?
Finally, I cannot speak on behalf of all the Palestinians, but as for myself, I must admit, the recent Gaza events was the last straw that broke the camel’s back; before that, I used to think that there is hope, those PEOPLE would wake up to their “humanity” one day, and regret the evil that they’ve done, unfortunately, the more I see of them, the more I realise that this hope and dream was an illusion.
.
Dear Nahida, in principle I agree with everything you say. Unfortunately, material and historical reality and, more specifically, military reality, prevent your wishes from ever having much chance of coming true. As abhorrent as Zionist ideology may be, the young Israelis who were born there had no choice in the matter. Like it or not, they are Israeli. This is why the best solution to the problem would be the creation of a single, multiethnic country, with all the people living on the land that was once Palestine having equal democratic rights. The Israeli Jews who might not like this arrangement would be free to leave. Likewise the Palestinians. The rest could stay and live in peace, with the Palestinians benefiting from Jewish knowhow and prosperity, and the Jews benefiting from Arab culture, tradition, and hospitality. It is the Zionist idea of an exclusively "Jewish state" that must be defeated. I think the savagery the world recently witnessed in Gaza and Lebanon has made it clear that there is no other way. The Zionists must be stopped from exterminating the Palestinian Arabs, which appears to be the secret aim of the decades of stalling on the "peace process" and the continued settlement of the West Bank.
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Over the past few years, I have been reading and debating with many of those “soft” zionists in the so called “peace camps”, all I found is an extremely arrogant groups of people, who are incapable of recognising, admitting, or willing to rectify the crimes they’ve done.
They are only interested in “peace” to protect their interests and to further secure their grip hold on the stolen land.
Moreover, very recently, and by sheer accident, I stumbled across some honorific information that reveals the severity of decay of morality and lack of humanity amongst those RACIST zionists – whose ideological bigotry and chauvinism surpasses all other- that left me in a state of shock for days; crying, shaking, suffocating with palpitations and suffering from severe panic attacks.
They are articles and statements by Rabbis, imbued with a racism so sordid that makes the Nazi racism dwarfs and shrivels in comparison. A racism that sends shivers down your spine, and awakens fears and terror; an ominous reminder of the gloomy dark-ages from which mankind had been distancing itself in past centuries.
Furthermore, and undeniably, the world community should leave it to the victims to decide how to deal with those criminals in the future. Only the victims can investigate the fragile alleys of forgiveness or punishment. The victims should have the last say irrespective of what their judgment might be, they should not be vilified, indicted or moralized with, for they have suffered more than enough.
The emergence of forgiveness and reconciliation requires certain conditions:
1) Stopping the crime
2) admitting of guilt
3) asking for pardon
4) and rectifying the wrong
None of these conditions are ever considered as an option amongst that mighty sick racist society.
As for me, I have no authority to talk in the name of all Palestinians, but I can state with all honesty, I DO NOT wish the zionist murderers, those of whom were directly or indirectly involved in massacres, theft of land, subjugation and oppression, to remain in Palestine after its liberation from the occupier.
Except of course for the very few good people amongst them, as no soul should carry the liability of another- I do not wish the invader, occupier and criminal racists to stay in Palestine, the land that they incessantly raped, destroyed and disfigured, nor do I desire them to be my neighbours.
They have shown no respect, no appreciation, and no love to this land or to her people.
They do not deserve to live there.
But these are only my own feelings, and I know that the decision is not mine.
.
It seems to me that it would be poetic justice to put the 'settlers' and their fellow-travelers behind that wall they erected. Give them the tiny Bantustans without water, without roads, without the right to travel. Let them live there, if they can. And if not, they can try to emigrate (I myself would oppose those from the US being allowed to return--they should be stripped of citizenship).
"I do not wish the invader, occupier and criminal racists to stay in Palestine, the land that they incessantly raped, destroyed and disfigured, nor do I desire them to be my neighbours.
They have shown no respect, no appreciation, and no love to this land or to her people.
They do not deserve to live there.
But these are only my own feelings, and I know that the decision is not mine."
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No, you're not alone on that one. A lot of the people of conscience of the world feel exactly the same way you do. If anything, you echo our voices. Well said! I'd go a step further and say "the do not deserve to live. Period!"
What happened to the rights of indigenous peoples? I am constantly amazed at the shifting values and arguments depending on who is favored at the time.
Did this article stutter when it said "When Muslims conquered Jerusalem centuries later they built two structures of their own on the hill -"?
The point you're trying to make, Henry, is not clear. Please elaborate.
When the Muslims came the hill was being used as a trash dump by the residents of Jerusalem.
- no structures were torn down to make room for the two that were built.
I really am getting to dislike writers like Ira.
He cannot be honest and remain himself. The ancient Judeans are the present day Palestinians. The modern day Jews are frauds, they are not even Semitic people. The European Ashkenazi are the surviving remnants of the dispossesed Khazars who converted to Judaism six hundred years ago.
Modern Israelis have zero claim to ANY part of Palestine historically or by way of Hitler's massacre. For the definitive explanation of who these malevolent occupiers of Palestine are, read the work “When And How the Jewish People Was Invented” it is a very serious study written by Professor Shlomo Sand, an Israeli historian.
here is a link to more info
http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article20675.htm
Sophie Scholl-The Final Days
There you again with the same tired crack pot claim that conveniently omits the existence of the Mizrahim; the majority of whom were dispossessed of their property and possessions in their countries of prior residence in the Middle East before arriving in Isreal post-expulsion, all after 1948.
While it is a convenient propaganda talking point to rail against Ashkenazim "invaders" of Israel (one which dates back to Ottoman days), the demographic make-up of whom Israelis are has changed dramatically since then. In fact, these Israelis of Mizrahim extraction are major players in right wing Israeli politics, as their hatred of Arabs has an intensely personal nature due to their family histories.
As for your oft citing of Schlomo Sand, one Jewish crack pot's theories does not facts make.
Israeli hatred of Arabs is primarily the hatred of the colonizer for the colonized, who incarnate the oppressor's bad conscience, and only secondarily the result of the expulsion of the Mizrahim, who were rather minor in number and whose expulsion from Arab lands, while absolutely reprehensible in itself, was a form of collective reprisal for a long history of slaughter and misdeeds by the Zionist colonizers. Not to mention that a number of Israeli sources, including Uri Avnery, lend credence to the claim that some of the bombs that drove the Arab Jews from their lands were laid by Zionists themselves, for that very purpose.
But to return to the original point, the Israeli hatred of Arabs alluded to above is so keen, and so deep-rooted, above all because of the relentless propaganda and brainwashing to which all Israelis are subjected from birth, and if not born there, upon entry into that troubled society.
Sioux Rose
CLOVIS: I was thinking along similar lines. Your post is deeply insightful.
In my mind, the greatest proof of the FAILURE of all three patriarchal religions is the state (war/conquest/occupation) of "the Holy Land." IF the teachings of the various prophets had done the work of modifying the bestial aspect of human consciousness, then those who were most fervent in their devotion to "spiritual" ideology would be first to share, lay down their swords, and LEARN the tough business of getting along with those who differ in mores and cultural orientation.
I am currently reading "JFK & The Unspeakable." I remember my first visit to the island of Puerto Rico 30 years ago and how moved I was to see framed photos of JFK in humble rural homes. JFK and Carter were the last HUMAN BEINGS serving as president in the past 50 years. JFK valued life, and worked FOR peace, and was up against the same MIC that clammors for war on the slightest of provocation. The generals then ARE the generals now, the psychic equivalent of "one trick ponies." They LOOK for reasons to exercise their "first strike option." So fixated on this use of fire power are their twisted minds that they give NO thought to the consequences, indeed M.A.D (mutually assured destruction) remains the motto, spoken or otherwise.
What makes a people hate another? How can they remain "righteous" in that which forms a wall in their psyches to "other"? I, too, believe it's misplaced guilt, a sense of dis-owning the very aspects of the self projected onto other, who serves as shadow and/or enemy.
The natural state of mankind is UNITY, the natural state of the individual is peace. When elites come along and turn one group on another, appoint their experts and write their "sacred" texts to justify these separate and unequal claims to status, the pie gets cut smaller and smaller and those at the bottom fight over crumbs. Although the historical record, the sins of group against group, are important (for the purpose of forgiveness and the potential use of "Councils on Truth and Reconciliation"), beliefs are equally potent forces that move otherwise thinking persons into unthinkable positions.
JFK understood the "wages of war" and chose other. Today's leaders think little of sacrificing thousands, upwards of a million, just to satisfy their ego and maintain an economic system that is to finance what the vulture is to nature. The Disaster Capitalism model practiced in too many places can only lead to its own promise: Disaster. It is far more cost-effective on EVERY level to deconstruct those philosophies that turn person against person. I believe this evolution is inevitable. How many will become martyred to its cause becomes the crucial variable. The darkest of ironies is on display that the uber: religious prove the least conscionable in their actions. Were they truly moved by the great principle of a Divine Spirit, barbarity would not be possible. Violence in the name of 'god' only lends homage to one deity, and it's name is Mars, the fiery god of war.
Hi Sioux, very thoughtful post. I'll try to reply in greater detail later. Gotta run. Namaste.
Very ?????? comment sioux Rose. When statements like " The natural state of mankind is unity, the natural state of the individual is peace" are spoken ,i am rendered mute, hence the ??????. If, [BIG if] people could experience only for a few seconds themselves as peace, not the absence of war, but all consuming stillness that pulls the air out of your lungs and fills them with the breath of compassion, all conflict and abuse of each other and our living and loving planet would cease in that moment.
Sioux Rose
Hello, SIRIOS: Natural state, as opposed to how the mortal is corrupted by the spectacle of war, which over the course of the past 4 millennia has indeed been celebrated, acted as the central cohesive force which held many societies together. Is it natural? Is it natural to hate other, or is that learned? Of course in times of scarcity, there are generally two possible responses: to share what little we have with our neighbors, or to slay them so we last a bit longer. You know enough about Spirit to recognize that when people work together and HONOR the spirit of Love (or peace), unexpected solutions often emerge. I believe that people like Edison were "tapped" by higher consciousness to act as vehicle for the next evolution in technology. We could well be due for a new increment, something as unprecedented in our context as was the power of "electrically lighting the night" in Edison's time.
It is so difficult to draw conclusions about the natural state of mankind or human nature due to the CONDITIONING that has focused on hierarchies, conquest, weapons making and utilization, competition, raw ego, and what I term homage to Mars. THAT consciousness has wounded humanity for centuries. Does a dark ego exist in each of us, of course; however it is also potentially mitigated by what some term "our better angels."
A day or so ago I spoke about the ancient Tarot and its upper 22 arcana cards, these depicting the stages everyman/everywoman must undergo to rise from their lower impulses to the highest possible state of at-onement. The journey is both timeless and contemporary, and each individual individualizes it according to his or her own "game" plan. We don't always move forward, sometimes we lose "ground," but given the scope of eternity, time as we know it is inconsequential. What moves me are the echoes of children's screams, the senseless victims of our nation's must-have war zones. And so I do what I can to present a case against Mars rules, or as Chris Hedges put it, "War is the force that gives our lives meaning." THIS diabolical construct must be deconstructed on a global level, along with actually dismantling our insane weapons systems. I believe that is the work of every spiritually conscious soul in whatever way (through song, dance, art, front line activism, writing, teaching, "yes men" type events, etc) they feel driven to express it. ALL our lives, and those of our children of ALL colors, are at stake.
Like Ann Frank, I believe people are basically good. Think of the training in Boot Camp that's used to dehumanize each would-be soldier so he can, like a robot, on command, disconnect from his conscience to kill other? Consider the phenomenal amount of $ directed at TV and Hollywood films that glorify violence, dressing it up under banners of good guys and police/detectives/007 to sanitize its true essence. I believe a tiny morsel of the Divine is placed in each individual, and we can refer to that as their soul or conscience or heart or higher mind. A small percentage, what society has come to think of as sociopaths or psychopaths manage to turn it off... lest these were the ones born with "faulty chips." Diabolical forces, those who have mastered tactics useful to a dominator society, are doing their utmost to normalize these trends. They use media to desensitize the population to torture, to spying on citizens, to identify with false ideals that grant cover to illegal acts of war: THE supreme crime against humanity, and plant their "experts" to sound logical and wise when their modus operandi is M.A.D.
This is a phase where the darkness and the light are fighting for possession of the collective soul of humanity. So long as I can, I will be a witness for the Light.
Sioux rose, i have a very bad habit of writing like i speak. My tendency is to make a statement to incite interest and then explain myself if there is a response. I am new to writing as you might have guessed. I keep forgetting that there is not likely to be an immediate response and then a chance for explanation from my side. That said, i truly love concise statements that point to the underlying truth. In this case,humans ARE peace at their base. Not the personality of humans, but that personalties are appearing inside of peace. This peace IS natural and we ARE it. To be rendered mute by your statement of unity and peace is the highest compliment. I believe we have arrived at a black and white [no grey areas] crossroads in the evolution of humans. Black and white meaning wake up or perish. We must identify with love and nature as who and what we are or become fertilizer for the truly deserving, plants and animals. I am not speaking about a mental identity with love but a complete shift off of the individual and on to it's source as peace. I do not think that even a substantial improvement in the way we treat each other and the planet will do. I believe we must wake up to our essence of peace completely and now.
Sioux rose, you speak a lot about the influence of Mars on planet earth. Are we approaching a time when this influence will diminish? If so, when might that occur and what will be the 'new' influence?
Sioux Rose
SIRIOS: The I CHING teaches with remarkable insight into the nature of evil, via KUA # 43, that evil cannot ever BE successfully fought. Any attempt to wrestle with evil directly forces those who take this course to make use of evil's own tools and M.O. Since aggressive war, sacred unto Mars, is the supreme crime against mankind, in my view it qualifies as the very definition of evil.
The I ching thus recommends not feeding the evil, but turning one's attention away from fighting the negative, into instead DOING or NOURISHING what's positive. I see this as identical to Christ's teachings: "Cast thy net to the other side," and/or "Turn the Other Cheek." Metaphysical author Emmet Fox described the tactic as "building new mental equivalents."
The mental equivalent works this way: I remember in my college days that all the food was such a temptation that I had a tendency to put on weight. After a diet, my body would set to a sort of "thermostat." (I learned better balance over time.) Our minds do likewise. Oprah Winfrey, for all her expensive paid coaches, has trouble holding down her weight. She has not developed a "mental equivalent" of a body that's perfectly balanced. Persons who win lottery but all their lives struggled, generally go through their windfall and end up struggling again. According to Emmet Fox, they have not built a mental equivalent of prosperity.
My experience of astrological chart analysis is that ALL of us have weak spots that can be identified. Whether we are paying karma through these experiences, or whether we just have not mastered their specific challenges in former incarnations, I cannot say. They show up as our dominant "issues." Thus the best way to undo the influence of MARS in our world, the focus on ego, the individual, competition, macho shows of force, and worst of all... war, is to build the mental equivalent (on a grand collective scale) of the VALUE of Venus, his intended CO-EQUAL PARTNER. She is the guardian of peace and inspiration behind ALL forms of love-based ties.
That means societies, along with individuals, start to place more respect upon what nurtures, what nourishes, the art of caring. More $ goes to the arts, musical programs, architectural projects and renovations, the studies of peace and diplomacy, the power of marital unions based on true equality (as opposed to all the patriarchal cultural BS that grants to males, the father figure, the great HEAD of family status, religions likewise). The only way to diminish the influence of Mars over persons and societies is by paying more respect and investing more in its Divine counterpart...
So you're justifying the collective punishment Arab governments from North Africa & the Middle East (let's not forget Iran too) visited upon their own Jewish citizens (whom next to nothing to do with what was going on in Israel) as an understandable reaction to oppression? That is truly naive beyond compare. At what point did "Zionist colonizers" ever do harm to Libya (where Quaddafi expelled a community that had been there since 400 AD in 1970) as to remotely justify that country's Jews being persecuted, for example?
As for the claims of Uri Avnery, they fall into the territory of conspiracy theory that uses "blame the victims" as its' lever. The Mizrahim were convenient scape goats for incompetent governments who also used the Palestinians as a sop to distract their disenfranchised populace from their own rapacious misrule (and it is still going on to this day). Their total numbers were not minor, unless you consider seven figures to be such. In fact, the expulsion of the Mizrahim was a logical conclusion to a program of demonizing that population, where those regimes and their cronies profited quite nicely.
As for your characterization that a personal family experience of being persecuted and expelled for one's identity as propaganda, that is simply ridiculous.
It is all too easy to characterize the Israel-Palestinian conflict is simplistic cartoon terms of black and white good guys and bad guys: save that crap for the right wing nuts.
Whoa, Nate, you've got to read a bit more closely and rein in your kneejerk responses. I called the collective punishment and expulsion of the Arab Jews by their respective governments "reprehensible." How you can consider that a "justification" on my part is beyond me. And the rest of your post is equally scrambled. To cite one example, you say I characterize "a personal family experience of being persecuted and expelled for one's identity as propaganda," when I do nothing of the sort. I merely said, as have many hundreds of honest Israelis past and present, that the Israeli hatred of Arabs is predominantly the product of the state propaganda hammered into that country's citizens' brains from birth. Whether or not some present-day Israelis, or their forebears, experienced persecution at the hands of Arab governments is not in question. As for Gaddafi expelling Jews in 1970, this is news to me. I know he expelled all the Italians living there at the time, so it's possible there may have been some Jews in their number, or that Jews were part of his general anti-Western "cleansing" of the country upon taking power. In any case I do wonder where you're getting your information from. All the same, if there were Jews among them, they were far more likely Sephardic than Mizrahi. I suggest you brush up on your history. You might start by reading Israeli historians such as Ilan Pappe, Neve Gordon, and even the ur-Zionist, though brutally honest, Benny Morris. You might be surprised by what you read. It might even help you revise your opinion of what "victims" are being "blamed" for what.
bligh4
Well Clovis,
I can't speak for Nate, but I would say that your statement that the expelled Jews were "relatively few in number" and were expelled for Zionist crimes, ect el-was an indication that you WERE justifying the expulsions. The "reprehensible" part was more of a clearing of the throat before making your main point...
While Nate has a valid point, Gaddafi IS being treated a little unfairly. Of the 38.000 Jews in Libya at the end of World War II, only about 100 remained by 1969 when Gaddafi seized power. The other 98% had already fled, been expelled, or killed. Gaddafi did seize all Jewish property-paying with 15 year bonds, which he has since refused to honor. The last Libyan Jew died in 2002.
Of course, this is better than neighboring Algeria, home of 200,000 Jews in 1945. By 2000 the country had not a single Jew....
Well again the story is not quite as you portrayed it. To say that 200,000 Jews left Algeria is no doubt correct but one has to ask why they left. I do not doubt that some left because of ill-treatment in the aftermath of the Zionist persecutions of the Palestinian but it is also certainly true that Mossad was encouraging them to leave and even paying them. This is well-known.
There is also evidence that is some situations, though I do not have any explicitly about Libya or Algeria, Mossad precipitated the reaction of the local populace. I've already mentioned one such in Iraq in an earlier post. Here is another case in Egypt which appears to be relatively well documented.
http://www.aljazeerah.info/Opinion%20editorials/2003%20Opinion%20Editorials/October/16%20o/The%20Lavon%20Affair%20By%20David%20Hirst.htm
bligh4
Well, Grappler. I guess that would explain why EVERY SINGLE JEW has left both countries after a presence of two thousand years. Nope, don't buy it.
exactly! What changed the arab relationship with an integrated community thousands of years old?
---the zionist rats come out of their holes, baring their broken and bloody teeth---
While it is certainly true that several Arab governments visited collective punishment on their own Jewish citizens after 1948 it is of course not the whole story. Israel was, at the time doing its best to persuade those Jews to leave and go to Israel, which included paying them significant amounts of money. To say that they did not know what was going on in Israel is naive at best. There is also evidence that Israel precipitated some of the collective punishment - here's one piece:
http://www.indybay.org/newsitems/2002/10/01/1526411.php.
I do not necessarily believe this, but it is at least as believable as the propaganda put out by the Zionists which is all too often found with hindsight to be false - usually because of statements by the Zionists themselves.
When I read an Ira Chernus article I expect to find something with which I profoundly disagree, as would be indicated in the numerous negative comments about his articles that I have entered on these comment boards. In this case, I must say that Chernus has made a valuable contribution toward a progressive understanding of the Israeli/Palestinian conflict when he covers the truth behind the obfuscation of mainstream media that attributed Palestinian anxiety about Jewish intrusion on their saced sites as based on "false rumors." The reality basis of that anxiety is well laid out in the actual threats of Isaeli settlers who see such an extension of their agenda of intrusion on Palestinian daily life and religion.
Although a certified Obama-excuser in most of his writings, Chernus escapes the clutches of that attitude in this article. His reference toward the end of his piece to the role of the Nobel Prize Prize winner acting to produce further frustration among Palestinians is just a specification of the frustrations that Americans are experiencing with the many unfulfilled and even abandoned promises of the candidate and then the President. I am reminded sharply of the "recipe for violence" put down long years ago (in 1968) by Aaron Wildavsky in connection with trying to understand the racial violence in American cities. (You can google aaronwildavsky recipe for violence to get some references) The key ingredients of the recipe are to "promise a lot," "delivery a little," and have some matches to start the fire. Ironically then, the very "hope" in people around the world engendered by Obama's election provides one ingredient when, combined with a sluggish record (at best) of delivery, requires only the match to set off the conflagration. Another good reason that children should not be allowed to play with matches, especially in the Middle East.
I am so impressed by how capable and informed the posters are. I am tired of this Chernus using the site for his propaganda which ignores facts as some of the posts clearly show.
I also resent the argument that Obama's call for stopping the expansion of the settlement is a cause for the conflict. The Chernus is trying to say, "Don't tell Isreal to stop its expansion in Arab lands or you'll have more trouble!" it's a veiled threat form the Chernus.
The UN should get together and authorize the dropping a small nuke right on top of the mount.
If there ever was a peaceful use for nuclear weapons, this is it. I bet Solomon, in his wisdom, would agree.
The big 3 "YHWH" based religions have caused more death and destruction in their history than they are worth.
Let them fight over the radioactive hole.
"The only means of strengthening one's intellect is to make up one's mind about nothing, to let the mind be a thoroughfare for all thoughts." - John Keats
How much nobility and sanctuary can be maintained at the top of a hill, when the base of the hill is soaked in blood?
Thank you, there seems to be a one sided hatred, again to the Jew and Israel. Distorted Jewish history has been the bad habit of both Christians and Muslims. The Temple at the time of King David later became The Temple mount of Solomon. There was always a holy structure there long before the birth of Mohammed. The Islamic claim to the Mount came from a fantasy dream of Mohammed, flying over the temple mount on a winged white horse. Arriving at the temple mount a golden ladder descended from heaven and took him to the seven levels of heaven where he met Jesus,Jacob,Moses,etc, finally Abraham (bunch of Jews). So says the Koran. Wow better than Harry Potter story. Saladin built the Mosque on the temple mount to humiliate the Jews, and so they continue till today. What´s the next dream; that all people on Earth become Muslims or else, living in the shadow of the sword. So it is written in the Koran. There is your problem, dreaming of domination. The mount belongs to King Solomon house of King David founder of Jerusalem. Face the truth and go home! thank you peter. Don´t forget the Rabbi on the cross,is the center piece, for something He knew nothing about another dream this time by Saul-Paul.
Give us a break, Peter. There's more hatred in your sneering post--hatred of Muslims, in this case--than in any of the other posts you so decry. Your "Temple at the time of King David" is no less a fantasy than the Muslim myth you take such delight in poking fun at. That you take this stuff literally makes you no less a fundamentalist than the wild-eyed jihadis you see behind every lamppost. The problem today is that the fiercest believers in the Abrahamic faiths no longer know how to read their sacred texts. They take it all literally--Muslims, Jews, and Christians alike--and the esoteric, symbolic meaning flies miles over their heads. Go pick up your Hasbara check and leave the deeper stuff to those wiser than you.
"Thank you, there seems to be a one sided hatred, again to the Jew and Israel. Distorted Jewish history has been the bad habit of both Christians and Muslims."
----------------------
Aaaaaw! Poor Israelis! Everybody hates them. Why, nobody knows. It couldn't possibly be because it's a rogue nuclear power who leaches off American taxpayers and terrorizes everybody in site while claiming to be the victim. Now, if anybody is guilty of rewriting history, I'd look at Israel first. Now, there are archives full of history just the jewish way.
WHAT? it was Saladin who saved, protected and supported Jews, while the "christian" crusaders and their Church humiliated, tortured, and slaughtered them, in Europe as well as in Palestine...In the Muslim Berber culture in Spain, Christians Muslims and Jews lived together peacefully...