#ottoman and british history of the holy land

[the-garbanzo-annex-jr]

[usssnarfblat]

Topical.

[girlactionfigure]

Me: I don’t deny your identity. I acknowledge Palestinians exist today.

Them: Jesus was a Palestinian, not a Jew!

Me: Well, no - he was a Jewish rabbi. He had a bris, kept Shabbat, kept kosher, & his “Last Supper” was a Passover Seder. Besides, nobody would be called “Palestinian” for ~1,900 years after #Jesus died.

Them: Jews are #Khazars with no history in Palestine!

Me: Well, no - millions of DNA samples have now scientifically proven that Ashkenazi Jews (like their Sephardi & Mizrahi brothers & sisters) originate from the Levant (Israel).

Ashkenazi Jews migrated to the Rhineland (western #Germany) between 800-900 CE. 

#Yiddish - the language spoken by #Ashkenazi Jews for a millennia - is a mixture of Jews’ original Hebrew & adopted #German.

Meanwhile, there is no evidence of any Khazar influence on Ashkenazi customs, language, or culture.

The #Khazar tale (claiming some or many Turkic Khazars converted to #Judaism), while interesting, is not supported by any archeological evidence, and can be considered nothing more than a story.

Besides, it’s unassailable that the Ashkenazim were living ~1,500 miles from the Khazars, which may as well have been on the moon in the Middle Ages.

Them: Palestinians are Canaanites, the original inhabitants of the Land!

Me: Well, no - there’s zero evidence the Palestinians are Canaanites. This theory followed other similarly false claims over the past several decades that the Palestinians descend from the Philistines (an ancient Aegean Greek “sea people”) and even the Jebusites - a people for whom there is no evidence outside of the Bible of their having ever existed (if they did, they have been gone for at least 3,000 years).

One thing is clear, all of these recent tall tales about Palestinians’ ancient roots in “Palestine” were created in an attempt to delegitimize the State of Israel & not as some academic attempt to find Palestinian roots.

The #Canaanites (who spoke a language similar to #Hebrew, not #Arabic) have been extinct for more than 3,000 years; and there are no #Canaanite influences in any modern Palestinian language, culture, cuisine, customs, or religion.

Furthermore, DNA studies now prove Canaanites are closest in descension to modern-day Armenians & Western Iranians - but, culturally, there has not been a “Canaanite” people in ~3,000 years.

Meanwhile, there is a practically infinite amount of archeological, biblical & non-biblical text, and architectural evidence proving beyond any doubt that Jews lived in the Land of Israel continuously for more than 3,200 years.

Arabs only started arriving in Eretz Israel in significant numbers during the Arab Imperial conquest out of the deserts of the Arabian Peninsula in the mid 7th century CE when the Land was still majority-occupied by ~350,000 Jews.

Arab conquerers #colonized the Land of Israel & subjugated the Jewish majority.

That’s right, the Arabs were the #colonizers - this is historical fact no matter how much that might make your head hurt.

Them: The Jews are foreigners who stole Palestinian land!

Me: Ok, now you’ve officially ticked me off by repeatedly denying MY identity - one that was OBVIOUS to everyone before the last ~55 years when KGB-inspired propaganda went into mass effect in an effort to delegitimize Israel.

Can’t say the same about your identity … even though I keep trying to offer to respect it!

The Arabs only ruled Eretz Israel after conquering it in the 7th century & until they were kicked out by the Seljuks ~400 years later. Never during that time, did they even attempt to establish an Arab or #Muslim state or capital anywhere in Eretz Israel (Jerusalem is never mentioned in the Koran, and while the city is holy to Sunni Muslims, it is not holy to Shia Muslims).

And during the time of Arab rule, there was obviously no state or country called “Palestine.”

Then, during the 400 years before the start of the British Mandate around 1920, the Land was a distant & severely neglected province of the Ottoman #Turkish Empire.

In fact, in the late 19th century, as Jews began moving back to their homeland in larger numbers, there were only ~200,000 people living there (mostly a sparse, nomadic population), and Jews were the majority in #Jerusalem.

Post-WWI, the League of Nations (the precursor to the UN) legally granted Britain a "sacred trust" called the Mandate for Palestine (a name given to the land by Roman Emperor Hadrian in 135 CE).

The Mandate for Palestine was the least controversial of the 15 post-WWI mandates because everyone KNEW Jews were from “Palestine.”

So the Mandate for Palestine, which included the legal requirement for Britain to aid in the establishment of a Jewish National Home, passed unanimously by the League of Nations.

Among other things, the unanimously passed & legally-binding Mandate recognized “the historical connection of the Jewish people with Palestine and to the grounds for reconstituting their national home in that country.”

Besides, before the Jews started returning to the Land in large numbers in the late 19th century, it had become almost entirely war-torn ruins, arid desert & malarial swamps.

But the returning Jews were determined to rebuild their homeland; and the evidence is undeniable that Jewish labor & the Western technology they brought along helped to make the desert bloom again.

The result of a new booming economy in the midst of mostly rural, undeveloped land is no surprise; and hundreds of thousands of Arabs from neighboring lands immigrated to Mandate Palestine in the early to mid 20th century.

In fact, once Arabs began to rebel against the Jews (with pogroms & full-blown barbaric massacres on a particularly wide scale in 1920, 1921, 1929, and in 1936-1939), they made extremely clear to the British that they resented the name “Palestine,” which they claimed (incorrectly) was a modern Zionist invention.

For example, at the British Peel Commission in 1937 (looking into Arab riots from the year before), local Arab leader Audi Bey Abdul-Hadi testified that “[t]here is no such country [as Palestine]! Palestine is a term the Zionists invented!”

Again, during the 1946 Anglo-American Committee of Inquiry that was set-up to make recommendations for the territory, Arab-American historian Philip Hitti testified, “There is no such thing as Palestine in [Arab] history, absolutely not.”

The Arab position was not particularly surprising, as "Palestine” is not an Arab word (Arabic does not even have a letter “P” or a sound for “P,” which is why you often hear Arabs today pronounce it with a “B” as “Balastine”).

The Arabs in the Land at that time mostly identified with their local clan & otherwise considered themselves “Arabs” of “Southern Syria.”

In fact, just about anyone who was called a “Palestinian” pre-1948 was a #Jew.

This is why nobody made any attempt to create a “Palestinian state” during the 19 years between 1948 and 1967 in which #Egypt occupied #Gaza & #Jordan occupied the “#WestBank.”

The hard truth - even though I’m still acknowledging a #Palestinian people exists today - is that an Arab “Palestinian” identity was created for the first time in any signifiant way at the height of the Cold War in the mid-1960s & at the behest of the #Soviet#KGB, which wanted to expand its influence in the region, undermine the only democracy in the Middle East, and which had been repeatedly embarrassed by Israeli victories over invading Soviet-backed & Soviet-armed Arab states.

So the KGB wrote the ridiculous “Palestine Liberation Organization” (PLO) charter & molded Yasser Arafat at what was known as “KGB U” in #Moscow to use #terror & #propaganda to destabilize Israel.

Over the decades since then, many Arabs in the Land have come to self-identify as “Palestinians.”

Even among Palestinians today, however, many still identify with their clan over a separate “Palestinian” nationality (e.g., the clans do not intermarry & many are constantly engaged in some degree of violent conflict).

And the 2 million+ Arabs citizens of the State of Israel (who have equal protection under the law & more rights & privileges than they would have in any Arab and/or Muslim country on Earth) almost exclusively identify as either #Israeli-#Arabs or as simply #Israelis - not as #Palestinians.

Them: #Jews … I mean #Zionists … are bad, ok? Just ask the UN.

Me: Right. Just ask the #UN 

Captain Allen

@CptAllenHistory

[matan4il]

To the Nonnie who asked me about the Druze and Bedouins in Israel, here's a recounting of the history of these two communities here.

The Druze in Israel

The Druze are members of an ethno-religion that split from Shiite-Isma'ili Islam in the 11th century in Egypt. For a while, people could join the Druze faith, but then that period was over, and since then, you can't convert to become a Druze. In order to maintain their ethno-religious group, they're not supposed to marry non-Druze. Most of the Druze originate and live in Syria, with small numbers in southern Lebanon and in northern Israel.

Most of the Druze who came to live in Israel, did so in the 16th and 17th centuries, when the Ma'an Druze rulers of Lebanon rebelled against the Ottoman (Turkish) Empire, and occupied northern Israel. Along the years, the Druze repeatedly attacked and stole from Israel's Jews. In the northern city of Safed, for example (one of the four holy Jewish cities, considered holy for ALWAYS having had Jewish presence, no matter what happened to Jews in Israel), notable Druze attacks against Jews happened in 1567, 1604, 1628, 1656 and 1838.

When did this change, and the relationship between the Jewish and Druze residents of the Land of Israel become better? Well, in 1936-1939, as Muslim Arabs in Israel (inspired by their antisemitic leader Haj Amin al-Husseini) attacked the Jews and the British in what came to be known as "The Arab Revolt," they also attacked the Druze, who intended to remain neutral in the fight between the Arabs and Jews. There were some Druze who did join Arab forces attacking Jews. Probably the most prominent Arab militia the Druze joined was the one led by Yussuf Abu Durra. This man used the opportunity of the revolt to attack Arab and Druze villages, and the latter target made his Druze fighters abandon him, and even start fighting against his militia.

These Arab attacks on the Druze pushed both them and the Jews to forge an actual alliance. Here's the example of the Druze village of Isfiya. It's built on the ruins of an ancient Jewish village, and the name Isfiya is a mispronunciation of the village's original Hebrew name, Husifa. How do we know this original name? Archeological digs in there revealed an ancient Jewish synagogue, with this mosaic, which includes the Hebrew words "Shalom al Yisrael" (peace upon Israel), as well as the name "Husifa":

During The Arab Revolt, the village's leaders turned to the adjacent kibbutz Yagur. A Jewish underground movement called Hagana (Hebrew for 'defense,' because it was established 1920 to defend Israel's Jews from Arab attacks) had a group of fighters there, to defend the kibbutz. The Druze asked for the help of the Jews in defending their village from Arab attacks, and the Jews of Yagur agreed. They started collaborating, among other things the Druze provided the Jews with intel, and the Jews provided the Druze with weapons and ammunition. Isfiya's village council ended up incorporating the Jewish synagogue's mosaic into their emblem (this pic is from their Facebook page):

By the end of the revolt in 1939, most of the Druze were on the Jewish side, even if they weren't actively fighting. This opened the path for the same alliance to play a significant role in Israel's War of Independence from Nov 1947 to Jul 1949. There was one Druze unit that fought under Fawzi al-Qawuqji, an Arab commander from Lebanon, who led a militia in Israel during The Arab Revolt, collaborated with the Nazis during WWII, and then led the Arab Liberation Army during Israel's War of Independence War. BTW, this was the antisemitic emblem of the ALA:

Fawzi al-Qawuqji sent his Druze unit to attack the Jews at the Ramat Yochanan battle, on Apr 16, 1948 (meaning, this is during the first stage of the war, when most Arab armies had not yet invaded the Land of Israel. That starts in May 1948). The Druze were defeated, and after that, all of the Druze in Israel were on the Jewish side.

So the answer to what forged the alliance between the Jewish and Druze residents of Israel, is a combination of the Muslim Arabs' violence at the time, and the fact that Jews were no longer a defenseless minority, but got to defend themselves by fighting back. NEVER underestimate the importance of the right to self defense, and the truth is that the only place in the world where Jewish people have this right as Jews is the State of Israel.

When the State of Israel was established, there were 14,500 Druze living here. Today, they number about 150,000 and make up roughly 1.5% of the Israeli population. Back in 1949, Druze service in the Israeli army was strictly voluntary. At the request of Druze leaders in Israel, this was changed in 1956, but the service is mandatory for just the men (while for Israeli Jews, it's mandatory for both men and woman, and for Arabs and Bedouins, it's still voluntary). They're recognized as the most loyal and contributing non-Jewish minority in Israel, and many Druze have reached some of the highest positions of power here.

The Bedouins in Israel

The Bedouins are nomadic tribes, originally native to Arabia (and in fact, while non-nomadic Arabs refer to them as Bedouins, from the Arabic word for 'desert,' they refer to themselves as Arabs, sometimes even as the "real Arabs"). Over the centuries, their routes have continuously expanded, taking them from the deserts of Arabia, through Israel, Jordan and Syria, to northern Africa. A part of what they would often do for a living is connected with herding and commerce, another part is attacking local communities along their wandering routes for loot. Most Bedouins had converted to Islam, and the Islamic conquests coming out of Arabia in the 7th century, taking over the rest of the Middle East, have helped in that expansion of their wandering routes.

In the 19th century, the Ottoman Empire (the Turks) wanted the Bedouins to be more settled, so they would be easier to govern. At the same time, the Ottomans wanted to artificially increase the Muslim population in Israel. So under them, in addition to European converts to Islam (mostly Bosnians and Albanians) settling in Israel, the Ottomans also forced many Bedouins to abandon their nomadic lifestyle and settle in Israel, mostly in the south, in the Negev desert. Some Bedouins completely settled, while some opted for a semi-nomadic life (meaning they still move from where they're staying at least twice a year, but it's not constant wandering, and they move between designated spots, over a relatively small distance).

The exact number of Bedouins in Israel before the establishment of the state is unknown due to the semi-nomadic lifestyle some of them still went by, but estimates are around 110,000 people. During the Independence War, most of the Negev Bedouins fled to Gaza (which came to be occupied by Egypt until 1967). After the state was founded, some returned to Israel. The state established seven villages and a city for them, the only Bedouin city in the world, Rahat (and the biggest Arab city in Israel). Today, the Bedouins in Israel number over 300,000 people in the Negev, about 110,000 people in towns and villages in northern Israel, and over 32,000 living in other cities across the country. They are about 3.5% of Israel's population.

The Bedouins have a more complex relationship with the State of Israel, due to several issues. The state has been seeking solutions for these problems, with varying degrees of success.

One issue is land ownership. You'd think it wouldn't be, with many still being semi-nomadic, but a part of the problem is that more than once, they will simply decide that if they've wandered to a certain spot enough times, it's theirs. In certain cases, these spots are in military zones, which means they're endangering themselves and soldiers by settling there even part time, and the state repeatedly has to evacuate them from those places, including for their own safety. More than once, anti-Israelis will talk about Israel destroying an ancient Palestinian village, and in reality it's a recent Bedouin settlement, where there's no proper infrastructure for them, including for their kids (no water lines, no electricity), and it's in the middle of a dangerous fire zone.

Another issue is polygamy, which is customary among Bedouins, but legally forbidden in the State of Israel. So again, it creates friction between men who want to marry multiple wives, and the authorities.

One more thing is that the traditionally nomadic lifestyle of the Bedouins means they've never really had a history of belonging to specific states, and feeling it's a part of their identity. So they don't feel too obligated to the state and its rule. One example is that they run their own courts. The Ottomans tried to dismantle those, and force the Bedouins to adhere to a Sharia court that they opened in 1906, but when the British took over Israel in 1917 they dismantled it, and allowed the Bedouins to have their courts, out of a colonialist perception that they're too savage to be able to accept western laws. So the Bedouins to this day have issues accepting the authority of the state's courts.

Having said all this, there are also Bedouins who are very loyal to Israel, feeling like the state has drastically improved their life in comparison with how they were treated before (under the British, and before them the Ottomans), or that they have better living conditions than they would have had without the state. Here's one Israeli Bedouin woman, Sophia Khalifa Shramko, speaking about how Israel has bettered their lives:

Also, while most of the Negev Bedouins fled during Israel's War of Independence, there were a few Bedouins from the northern part that fought for the state, and to this day, the northern Bedouins are known as the more loyal faction from among Israeli Bedouins. The state built several permanent settlements for the northern Bedouins, and today they live across 24 communities.

As I mentioned, army service is voluntary for the Bedouins. Over time, it went from a very small number who did serve in Israel's War of Independence, through a big decline in the 1980's, but then since 2002 there's been a small, but steady rise in the number of Bedouins choosing to enlist. In 2003, the first Bedouin woman insisted on serving (she had to fight many in her own society who objected to this, mostly for religious reasons), she succeeded, and opened the path for other Bedouin women to serve as well. There's no official or expert explanation offered for this, but you want my guess? In 2001, Hamas started firing rockets at Israel, and the most targeted are was the Negev, so as Palestinian terrorists made it clear they have no qualms about killing Bedouins simply for being citizens of the Jewish state, my guess is more Bedouins who didn't identify with the state protecting them from Hamas, started to. I think following the Oct 7 massacre, in which at least 19 Bedouins were murdered by Hamas, at least 6 were kidnapped, and dozens are still considered missing, the Bedouins' identification with Israel is at an all time high. We've seen collaborations of Jews helping Bedouins, and Bedouins helping Jews, reaching an unprecedented peak.

Before the Oct 7 attack, the overall number of Bedouins serving was still rather low. In 2021, it was a total of 1,500 people. All the same, Israel has built a special commemoration site for the Bedouin soldiers, including several monuments. Here's one (you can see the Arabic writing at the top if you click the pic):

Israel as the Jewish nation state

The State of Israel is the Jewish nation state. That's not different to other nation states. But I want to emphasize, being a Jewish state, doesn't mean it's a Jew only state. It never was, it was never meant to be, it never will be.

Yes, on the national level, it has Jewish characteristics. The official language is Hebrew, the state calendar follows the Hebrew one, it has Jewish symbols in the flag and state emblem. And Israel also has a law of return for Jews, so they would never have to fear persecution elsewhere ever again. It allowed the saving of Jews from Syria when the civil war started there in 2011, or more recently the war in Ukraine, it allowed Israel to support Jews fleeing rising antisemitism in places like France in the last few decades, and it allows Jews one place where they don't have to constantly adjust themselves to the dominant non-Jewish culture, where they don't have to live by a Christian or Muslim or Buddhist calendar, where they can speak, and consume culture, and create it in their own native language, where they don't have to consider whether they can find a synagogue or kosher food before they move to a certain town, where they get to walk down the same paths their ancestors did thousands of years ago, where they will never be told that Jewish boys wearing a kippah to school is prohibited, and so on.

Every single one of these elements can be found in at least one other country out there, and very much so in nation states. Britain is quite clearly a Christian country when the head of the state is also the head of the church, so is the US when Christmas is a national holiday, but Yom Kippur isn't. Germany is the nation state of the Germans, its language is German (not Turkish, as much as there is a big Turkish community there), the Bundestag, the German parliament building, has a writing dedicating it to "Dem Deutsche Volk" (the German people), and it has a law of return for people of German descent, returning from eastern European countries. In this sense, nothing about Israel as the Jewish nation state is out of the ordinary.

Israel can and should do everything in its power to make life here good for the non-Jewish communities. By law, they have the same civil rights as the Jews. At the same time, these communities actually have less obligations when it comes to army service. Are things perfect? No, and Israel should continue to work on it, always. Just like every country should continuously strive to be better for its minorities. But if the Jewish character of the State of Israel troubles you, ask yourself why are the Jews the only ones not allowed to have a nation state of their own? One place upon the earth, where they're not the minority, in case being a minority elsewhere is something that's become too difficult or too dangerous? Or if they simply want to go back to their roots, to their people and to their ancestral land?

Am Yisrael Chai!

(for all of my updates and ask replies regarding Israel, click here)

[eretzyisrael]

by Jake Wallis Simons

People often forget that Judaism is two millennia older than Islam and 1,500 years older than Christianity. Israel was the cradle of Jewish civilisation. At least a thousand years before the birth of Jesus Christ, Jerusalem’s most famous Jew, King David, made the city the capital of the Land of Israel. It has been home to greater or lesser numbers of Jews – the very word ‘Jew’ is a shortening of Judea, the ancient kingdom radiating from Jerusalem in the Iron Age – in Jerusalem ever since.

Culturally, Jews have always intertwined their identity with the land of Israel, particularly since they were exiled to Babylon around 598 BC, when their powerful yearning for return took hold. For millennia, Jews in the diaspora have prayed facing towards the Holy City, exclaimed ‘next year in Jerusalem’ at Passover, mourned the destruction of the Temple by breaking a glass at weddings, longed to be buried there, prayed at the remaining walls of the destroyed Temple, and visited on pilgrimage. Many throughout history have taken the step of uprooting their families and returning to their homeland. All these practices continue to this day.

A thread can be traced backwards through Jewish history that shows the ancient roots of the ideal of repatriation. Beginning in 1516, Palestine – as it had been renamed by the Romans – fell under Ottoman rule, which would last for more than 400 years. Less than 50 years after the conquest, Joseph Nasi, the Duke of Naxos, a Portuguese Jewish diplomat favoured by the Ottomans, attempted to return Jews to their homeland without regard for scriptural prophecies about awaiting the coming of the messiah. In a way, he was the first Zionist.

The fortunes of the Jews of the Holy Land rose and fell over the following centuries. In 1860, the British financier Sir Moses Montefiore, who believed in the divine providence of the British Empire and the Jewish return to Zion, founded the community of Mishkenot Shana’anim just outside the Old City of Jerusalem. Composed of red-brick alms houses and a windmill, it was the earliest forerunner of the future state (the windmill still stands today).

Modern Jewish migration to Palestine began in 1883 with an influx of 25,000 Jewish arrivals, many fleeing anti-Semitic mobs in Russia and inspired by a desire to return to their ancestral lands. Jews also came from as far afield as Persia and Yemen, grouping into their own neighbourhoods. Immigrants from Bukhara, Uzbekistan, including the Moussaieff family of jewellers who had cut diamonds for Genghis Khan, created the Bukharan Quarter (Shkhunat HaBucharim), with its distinctly Central Asian feel. Their imperative to return had been building for thousands of years.

Theodor Herzl in Basel, Switzerland, during the first Zionist Congress, 1897.

Writing in the Jewish Chronicle in 1896, Theodor Herzl, the father of modern Israel, laid out the concept of Zionism. ‘I am introducing no new idea’, he pointed out. ‘On the contrary, it is a very old one. It is a universal idea – and therein lies its power – old as the people, which never, even in the time of bitterest calamity, ceased to cherish it. This is the restoration of the Jewish State.’ He added: ‘It is remarkable that we Jews should have dreamt this kingly dream all through the long night of our history. Now day is dawning. We need only rub the sleep out of our eyes, stretch our limbs, and convert the dream into a reality

[evilwickedme]

Hey, next time we can ask you questions for free - you reblogged something about how people don't understand what Zionism is. I thought I did, but now I'm pretty sure I don't, and for obvious reasons I am having trouble finding reliabe information on it on the internet. What IS modern Zionism?

There were several rounds of foreign powers conquering and colonizing ancient Israel, causing several rounds of diaspora to match.

The history of the Jewish people goes back 3500+ years. Our creation myth, if you will, starts with Abraham, but our existence as a people starts with the story of exodus. Returning to the place where Abraham and his descendants made their home. That is where we start.

From then on, there has always been an Israelite, later Jewish, presence in our ancestral home. And yet so many of us were spread across the world. Over 2000 years ago we were settled in Italy and in Persia; some of us made it all the way to China and Ethiopia. We were no strangers to religious persecution - from Haman to the inquisition. Christians hated us, Muslims either tolerated us or persecuted us. And always we prayed, prayed to return to rebuilt Jerusalem.

In the 19th century, following the enlightenment, countries began to emancipate Jews. They lifted nearly every law that forced us to live apart, to look different. Many Jews took the opportunity to join western society, becoming indistinguishable from Christians. During this same time period was the rise of race science. The fear of Jews didn't go away. We were among them.

This is how racialized antisemitism was born. No longer could you stop being a Jew by converting to another religion; being Jewish was in your blood.

Frankly, Jews have always believed this to some degree. But this is what leads us, eventually, to the Holocaust.

It was already before this that we saw the signs. Racialized antisemitism was spreading throughout the world - not just in Europe, but in the US and MENA as well. Nationalist movements were popping up all over the place. It became clear that these nationalist movements excluded Jews. Thus was born Zionism: the natural result of thousands of years of yearning for our homeland, the natural result of antisemitism, the natural result of 3500 years of history.

Zionism initially wasn't necessarily about returning to Israel, strangely enough. But that aspect was rather quickly abandoned. As it was, throughout our history whenever there was a pogrom some groups of Jews would leave for Israel. Following the rise of racialized antisemitism, pogroms were happening throughout eastern Europe, and as Zionism spread, more and more Jews were doing aliyot - traveling in large groups to Israel. The Arab population - then still considered simply one part of the ottoman empire - did not approve, and several pogroms were committed against the local Jewish population, whether they were new arrivals or, like my own recent ancestors, had been living in Israel the entire time. And yet they kept coming.

Jumping ahead. What the Zionist dream would look like was not necessarily universally agreed on, but following the atrocities of the Holocaust and the world wide fall of the British empire an awkward decision of the holy land was proposed and agreed upon in the UN. It was understood that Zionism was not, as is presented now, racism. It was a move by an indigenous population to have self determination.

The Jews agreed to the plan. The Arab population did not. War broke out between Israel and every neighboring country, but Israel won. In 1948, a year after the UN resolution, Israel declared independence. 75 years later, we're still here.

In the 90s it looked like piece with the Palestinians would finally happen. Tragically, following terrorist actions from both Palestinians and Israelis, especially the assassination of itzhak rabin, the peace talks failed.

What is modern Zionism? That depends which Jew you ask. Some will say it's violent colonialism. Some will say it's racism. Some will say it's blind support for any action the Israeli government takes.

That is, frankly, bullshit. There are definitely Zionists who are violent, Zionists who are racist, Zionists who support the Israeli government. But there are also antizionists who are violent, who are antisemitic, who are blind supporters of Hamas. Claiming that that is representative of every Palestinian is ridiculous, as is so often parroted on this website. Practically every Israeli leftist who spent the last eight months protesting our government is a Zionist.

I will tell you what Zionism is to me. Zionism, to me, is the end of the Passover Seder, where we have, for 2000 years, called for the rebuilding of Jerusalem. It is praying at the western wall. It is Jewish existence in our homeland. It is self determination and land back for an indigenous population.

I am tired of apologizing for my existence. I am tired of saying "antizionism isn't antisemitism!!!" when so many antizionists refuse to unpack their antisemitism. I am tired of pretending Judaism wasn't always calling for our return to this homeland.

It is incredibly easy for outsiders to say that the only solution is a one state solution. But the truth is most Israelis *and* most Palestinians do not support it, because there is simply so much bad blood between us. Where did this cycle of violence begin? People who say 1948 do not understand how long the Jewish view of history is. The cycle of violence began during the first time Israel was conquered by a foreign power. The cycle of violence began when the Islamic empire colonized the entire middle east. The cycle of violence began during the rise of racialized antisemitism. The cycle of violence began when Jews illegally settled in Israel. The cycle of violence began when Arabs committed pogroms. The cycle of violence began when the war of independence broke out. The cycle of violence began when Israel conquered the west bank and Gaza strip in the six day war.

To me, the cycle of violence starts 3500 years ago, when the Israelites said, "we will not be slaves". To me, Zionism began when we spent 40 years in the desert, trying to reach what would be, for the next 3500 years, our home.

I cannot separate modern Zionism from that.

[idonthavealabel]

Before the british, the ottomans, who were Turkish, colonised, they’re not indigenous to the Levant so i don’t personally understand the overarching pro Palestine narrative that only wants to acknowledge everything after the Brits.

Jews are indigenous to the land, history and archaeology has proved this.

They returned back to the land they’re indigenous to when given an opportunity by the British. There shouldn’t be an issue with that, the only thing that should be up for debate is the way they handle things.

Palestinians are Arabs, Arabs are not indigenous to the Levant. They’re indigenous to the Arabian peninsula. Really think about how groups outside of the Arabian peninsula came to be recognised as Arab, present-day.

North Africans and levantines are “Arabised”, not Arab. During the Islamic conquests they were forced, by the sword,to convert to Islam and to forsake their ethnicity and culture and to adopt the Arab culture.

Every inch of the Middle East is unified by the Arab identity and Islam, because of Arab Islamic, colonisation. Arabs/muslims colonised the holy land from previous colonisers, they’re not an “indigenous” population.

Arabs, Arabic, nor Islam are native to any inch of the Levant.

This war is overwhelmingly religious.

Islam’s main objective is to proselytise and gain believers, a massive part of that is establishing land. Which they have done in many parts of the world, including the regions I’ve recently mentioned. Their intolerant attitudes towards those outside Islam are flagrant, throughout history and present. So, obviously when they colonised the land, they didn’t feel like sharing.

There’s a pro Palestine narrative that before the British, under Ottoman rule was peak, “Jews and Arabs are besties now”. This is a lie. They lived in a state of dhimmitude. Search “Maimonides dhimmi” “Jews dhimmi” and you’ll find more info.

There were hundreds of thousands of Jews scattered across the Middle East, If the attitudes towards Jews or any other ethnicity or religion were relatively peaceful, where are the thriving communities of non Arab Muslims, in the Middle East? Nowhere. Because Muslims are violent and intolerant and they believe they should be the only relevant ones.

I’m going to be very honest with you right now, aside from horrific deaths and the ways in which Israel stokes the war, this issues root is religion.

Muslims are pissed because they colonised the Middle East and North Africa, establishing their religion and unifying under the Arab culture, and this one piece of land that holds recent significance to them, is something they lost.

Israel speaks Hebrew, not Arabic. Israelis are overwhelmingly Jewish, not Arab. And Judaism is upheld, not Islam.

Due to their intolerance, they cannot digest the fact that Jews authored the bible, they’re the main characters in their book and all of the scriptures and prophets and the God of the bible has been made apparent to them *through* Jews. They are the beginning and end of the scriptures their Jewish forefathers wrote and that intrinsic part of history makes the entire Islamic existence look puny.

It’s kind of difficult to spread the narrative that Islam is the one true religion, that never needed any other legs to stand on when you’re staring a Jew in the face and the historical reality is staring right back at you, confidently.

[lihyot-am-chofshi-beartzeinu]

TRANSCRIPT: How can Anti-Zionism be the new antisemitism? Surely there’s no connection between them. Antisemitism is hatred of Jews as a people, a race, an ethnic group. Anti-Zionism is objection to a country, a nation, a state. What’s the connection between them?

Antisemitism is a virus that mutates, so that new antisemites can deny they are antisemites at all, because their hate is different from the old. In the Middle Ages Jews were hated for their religion. In the nineteenth and early twentieth century they were hated for their race. Today they are hated for their nation state, Israel.

What then is the connection between Jews as a people, Judaism as a religion, and Israel as a state? The connection between the Jewish people and Israel goes back long before the birth of either Christianity or Islam. Jews created a society there in the days of Joshua, a kingdom in the days of Saul, and a nation with Jerusalem as its capital in the days of King David: all this more than 3,000 years ago.

Jews are the only people who ever created a nation state there. At all other times in the past 3,000 years it was merely an administrative district in an empire whose centre was elsewhere: the Assyrian, Babylonian, Persian, Alexandrian, Roman and Byzantine empires, the Crusaders of the Holy Roman Empire, the various Muslim empires such as the Umayyads, Abbasids, Fatimids, Mamluks and Ottomans, and finally the British. Jews are the only people who have maintained a continuous presence in the land. They are its indigenous, original inhabitants.

The November 1947 United Nations vote to bring Israel into existence was a momentous reversal of imperialism. It gave back to the Jewish people the home taken from them by empire after empire. Israel was the only non-artificial creation in the Middle East after the collapse of the Ottoman Empire. The rest ­– among them Jordan, Syria, Iraq, Libya, Saudi Arabia and Yemen – were artificial creations that hadn’t been states before, which is why most of them still exist in a condition of ethnic, religious and tribal strife. Only Israel had previously existed as a nation state.

That’s the unbreakable connection between Israel and the Jewish people. The connection between Israel and Judaism is equally ancient and fundamental. It is more than just as Robert Frost said, “Home is the place where, when you have to go there, they have to take you in.” Read the Hebrew Bible and you’ll see immediately that it isn’t about the salvation of the soul. It’s about creating in the holy land a society based on the biblical ideas of justice, welfare, the sanctity of life – and caring for the stranger “because you know what it feels like to be a stranger.”

Judaism began with two journeys to the land, one by Abraham and Sarah, the other by the Israelites in the days of Moses. At least half of the 613 commandments of the Bible are only applicable to the land of Israel. And though in the centuries of exile and dispersion Jews lived in almost every land under the sun, Israel has remained a focus of their prayers and the only place where they have been able to do what every other nation takes for granted, construct their own society in the light of their own ideals.

Judaism differs from the other Abrahamic monotheisms, Christianity and Islam, in that it is the only one of the three that never created or sought to create an empire. It was the imperialism of the Roman emperor Hadrian that led him in the 2nd century to change the country’s name to Palestine, one of the first, but certainly not the last, deliberate falsifications of history by those who seek to deny the Jewish people’s right to their land.

There are 56 Islamic nations, and 159 in which Christians form the majority. There is and only ever has been one Jewish state, tiny and vulnerable though it is and always was. That is why Anti-Zionism, denying Jews the right to their one and only collective home by misrepresenting Judaism, is the new antisemitism, every bit as virulent and dangerous as the old.

From the Rabbi Sacks Legacy.

[ashleyhonrado]

Israel-Palestine Conflict

Do you agree with Brock Chisholm when he said, "No one wins a war". Yes, there are different levels of loss, but nobody wins.

The act of war, as many perceive it, occurs when two parties engage in hostile behavior that swiftly develops into a full-fledged conflict in which both parties devote all of their resources to completely destroying the other side in an effort to completely defeat the other. .  The violent and militaristic nature of war itself ensures that the spilling of blood and the loss of human life are inevitable. Just like what is happening now between Palestine and Israel, the Israel-Palestine conflict took the lives of so many innocent people. According to the most recent updates as of today, October 16, 2023, the Israel-Hamas War has resulted in over 1228 fatalities and over 3,000 injuries in Israel. In Gaza (Palestine), there have been around 1400 deaths and 8583 injuries so far in the Israel-Palestine conflict. Given how many people have died and been injured as a result of this fight, it is evident that no one in Israel or Palestine wins.

To understand the present-day ongoing bloody conflict between Israel and Palestine, It is essential to comprehend the history of the region and the people connected to it in order to comprehend the current.

One of the most interesting aspects of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict is the fact that in 1850, neither Jews nor Arabs viewed themselves as members of an ethnically, culturally, linguistically homogeneous, territorially grounded nation in the modern sense of the word, and yet, within less than one hundred times, both peoples had developed such strong public ties to the same piece of land that they felt doomed to ever unmask the blood of their fellow heirs in a nonstop battle for supremacy.

The Ottoman Empire reigned over Arabs and Jews in the Holy Land until the end of World War I, when the UK, one of the war's winners, seized possession. During this time, Jewish immigration from Europe to what was then known as Mandatory Palestine surged dramatically, particularly in the 1930s due to Nazi persecution of Jews. Resistance to Jewish immigration and increasing Arab nationalism sparked an uprising in the late 1930s. In order to prevent Arab-Jewish violence, a British panel advocated splitting Palestine into two states, one Arab and one Jewish, in 1937. In 1947, the United Nations adopted a different partition proposal. Both measures were rejected by the Arabs, resulting in Israel's declaration of independence and the first Arab-Israeli war in 1948. During that time, more than 500,000 Arab refugees were created.

Several religious factors also pertinent to Islam and Judaism mandate the part of religion as the main factor in the conflict, specially including the saintship of holy spots and the climactic narratives of both persuasions, which are mischievous to any eventuality for lasting peace between the two sides. Extremely devout Zionists in Israel are getting more and more strict when it comes to any concessions made to the Arabs because they consider themselves as the defenders and definers of how the Jewish state should be. On the other hand, Islamist associations in Palestine and other corridor of the Islamic world promote the need to liberate the" holy" places and places of deification for religious purposes and spread violence andanti-Semitism against Israel and the Jewish people.

The issue was compounded by Israel's occupation of additional regions in 1967. Israel took control of the Sinai Peninsula in Egypt and the Golan Heights in Syria, establishing settlements there. Israel also overran Lebanon in 1978 and 1982, occupying the southern region of the country for a very long time. These conflicts and occupations exacerbated the political crises surrounding the Palestine issue and were tied to it. Even after Israel eventually left Egypt and Lebanon, the occupation of Palestine (and the Golan) persisted. Israel's construction of settlements and a vast border wall that encircled large portions of Palestinian territory have made it much harder to find a peaceful solution to the conflict.

Positive advances have been hard to come by in the current depressing Israeli-Palestinian environment. In contrast, the preliminary clearance for the development of the Gaza Marine gas reserves announced by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in June offered a rare sight of a potential win-win scenario. It might give the struggling Palestinian authority and the Palestinian people a much-needed boost. On the Israeli side, it enables the Netanyahu administration to assert that it is helping to improve living conditions in Gaza and might result in less U.S. criticism on problems like settlement development. In the grand scheme of things, this is yet another illustration of how energy is increasingly becoming a focus for potential win-win deals in the East Mediterranean.

In recent times, the US, the European Union, and other Western nations have unanimously denounced the assaults by Hamas against Israel. Israel's closest ally, the US, has provided the Jewish state with more than $260 billion in economic and military assistance over the years and has pledged to continue doing so. A carrier, other ships, and jets were also announced as being sent to the eastern Mediterranean. While, both China and Russia have declined to denounce Hamas and claim to be in constant communication with both sides of the crisis. Vladimir Putin, the president of Russia, has attributed the lack of Middle Eastern peace to US strategy. And on the other side, Iran, a major regional power, is a major ally of Hamas as well as of the Lebanese Hezbollah movement, another local adversary of Israel.

REFERENCES:

Meghna. “Who Supports Palestine and Who Supports Israel: Allies and Adversaries.” IIT Notable Alumni, 13 Oct. 2023, iitnotablealumni.com/who-supports-palestine-and-who-supports-israel-allies-and-adversaries.

The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica. “Six-Day War | Definition, Causes, History, Summary, Outcomes, and Facts.” Encyclopedia Britannica, 14 Jan. 2009, www.britannica.com/event/Six-Day-War.

Beyer, Lisa. “Israeli-Palestinian Conflict History: The Roots of the Israel-Hamas War.” Bloomberg.com, 16 Oct. 2023, www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2023-10-13/israeli-palestinian-conflict-history-the-roots-of-the-israel-hamas-war.

United States Institute of Peace. “Israel and the Palestinian Territories.” United States Institute of Peace, www.usip.org/regions/middle-east-and-north-africa/israel-and-palestinian-territories.

[thebusylilbee]

The historian Alexander Scholch emphasizes the European intervention in the Near East during the 19th century to illustrate how Zionism succeeded British, German, Russian, and French machinations to gain control of the Holy Land. While Britain’s 19th century policy was to prevent the fragmentation of the Ottoman empire, the European powers attempted to gain influence in Palestine through missionary work and the protection of religious minorities (a path the United States would follow in their stead). The Russians laid claim to protecting Orthodox Christians and the French, the Catholics, leaving the British and the Germans to “create their own protégés : Jews and Protestants.” Scholch demonstrates that the European powers understood the “restoration of the Jews” to Palestine as part of European colonization and reclamation efforts. Old and new ideas floated around Europe that the conversion and restoration of Jews to Palestine would precipitate the Second Coming and that a Christian or European Jewish Palestine would prevent European conflict over the Near East and serve as a strategic buffer against the Oriental world. Importantly, the Christian West mentally expropriated the Holy Land from its Arab inhabitants and Ottoman overlords, leading to proposals for the European conquest of Palestine. Within Britain itself, political calls for Jewish restoration to Palestine began in the 1840s, and over time the obsession with the conversion of Jews dissipated. Some Christian Zionists argued that a European Jewish Palestine would benefit the Ottoman empire, while others demanded a Jewish state under British protection to fulfill Biblical prophecy and protect British economic and strategic interests in the region. Toward the end of the 19th century, British elites began to consider seriously direct British control of Palestine. Even before the advent of political Zionism, Europeans presented arguments that Jewish colonization would undertake a civilizing mission that would benefit the Arab peasants, who would willingly sell their land and were “terribly ignorant, fanatic, and above all inveterate liars” according to Claude Reignier Condor, and liberate the Holy Land from the Muslim Turks. Furthermore, many European accounts proclaimed that the Holy Land was essentially empty, a myth that Zionists continued to propagate throughout the twentieth century and into the twenty-first. Some Zionists and their supporters have argued that Arabs migrated to Palestine after Jewish colonization supposedly made the land prosperous. To deal with the indigenous population, Europeans proposed expulsion, “Indian” reservations, or simple exploitation. Only a few European voices observed that the Arabs represented a large majority of the population in Palestine and had inherent rights to the land they inhabited.

MacDonald, Robert, ""A Land without a People for a People without a Land": Civilizing Mission and American Support for Zionism, 1880s-1929" (2012). History Ph.D. Dissertations. 24.

[rabbitcruiser]

Seward’s Day

Seward’s Day, which falls on the last Monday in March and takes place on March 25 this year, is named for then-Secretary of State William H. Seward, who was responsible for the purchase in the first place. This legal holiday (in Alaska) commemorates the day the Alaska Purchase treaty was signed. This day shouldn’t be confused with National Alaska Day, however, which marks the formal transfer of control of Alaska from Russia to the U.S.

HISTORY OF SEWARD’S DAY

A long long time ago — around the 18th century — Alaska was owned by the Russians. Then came the Crimean War. Fought for the rights of Christian minorities in the Holy Land (a part of the Ottoman Empire), Russia fought against the alliance of France, the Ottoman Empire, the United Kingdom, and Sardinia, and lost. Reeling from this, Russian Tsar Alexander II started exploring options to raise money for the country. He turned his gaze towards Alaska. Not only had the sea otter population vastly declined, but Alaska would also prove to be very difficult to defend in the event of a future war. Especially since the British forces were based out of neighboring Canada.

The Russians discussed this plan and were all for selling to the U.S. by 1857, in the hopes that their presence would deter the British from any attacks. Negotiations began; however, the American Civil War took precedence at this time and any plans for buying Alaska were put on hold. Following the Union win, Tsar Alexander asked for another round of negotiations. The U.S. Secretary of State William Seward negotiated with Russian Minister Eduard de Stoeckl. They agreed to a treaty on March 30, 1867, which was ratified by the U.S. Senate. At the time, they paid $7.2 million, or about two cents per acre.

They called this place ‘Alaska,’ changing it from the Russian name, ‘Аляска’ (or ‘Alyaska’). Most Russian citizens went home, barring a few — traders and priests, mostly — who chose to remain. They would eventually leave Alaska too, as records indicate.

The reactions to this purchase were largely positive, with people believing the added possession would create a base to expand trade in Asia. Seward’s political opponents coined the phrase ‘Seward’s Folly’ or ‘Seward’s Icebox,’ referring to Alaska as ‘useless land’’ Alaska would remain sparsely populated until the Klondike Gold Rush of 1896 when the region came to be seen as a truly valuable addition to U.S. territory. Today, Alaska stands as the U.S.’s 49th largest territory and is a booming tourist spot.

SEWARD’S DAY TIMELINE

1741

The European Discovery Of Alaska

A Russian expedition led by Danish explorer Vitus Bering — and including German Zoologist and explorer George Steller — sights Alaska; the land is already inhabited and has been since around 10,000 B.C., as per historical records.

1867

Re-negotiations

Russia enters into re-negotiations with the U.S. to sell Alaska; they approached America with this plan before the Civil War too.

1867

The Treaty Is Signed

William Seward and Russian Minister Eduard de Stoeckl agree on a treaty for the purchase of Alaska, which is signed at 04:00 on March 30.

1867

The Transfer

Alaska's ownership transfers from Russia to the U.S.; the Russian flag is lowered and the U.S. flag takes its place as American soldiers parade in front of the governor's house.

1959

We Have A State

Originally called the 'Department of Alaska,' the name changes to 'District of Alaska' (1884), then the 'Alaska Territory' (1912), before being admitted as a state in the U.S.; it gains the name 'State of Alaska'.

SEWARD’S DAY FAQS

What is Seward's Day in Alaska?

The last Monday in March is celebrated as Seward’s Day and commemorates the signing of the Alaska Purchase Treaty.

Why is Alaska Day celebrated?

Alaska Day celebrates the formal transfer of the territory of Alaska from Russia to the U.S. This event took place on October 18, 1867.

Is there school on Seward's Day in Alaska?

Seward’s Day is a paid holiday, so all state employees, all state, county, and city government offices, along with most schools and libraries, will close. Private businesses can close at their own discretion.

HOW TO OBSERVE SEWARD’S DAY

Read up on William SewardOn this day named after this guy, we recommend doing a little light reading on who he was and how he came to be in politics. It’s bound to be a fascinating story.

Watch a special about AlaskaOn Seward's Day, multiple channels air history programs about different facets of this state. Put on your favorite one or find a special documentary you want to watch, and settle down for some fun, educational screen time.

Learn more about the transferDid you know more than 150 years on, some Russians still have second thoughts about the sale? Find out more facts like these by digging into documents and articles centering on Alaska's transfer.

5 FACTS YOU DIDN'T KNOW ABOUT JOHN SEWARD

He was an abolitionist: Seward was a dedicated opponent to slavery and was a prominent member of the Republican Party in its formative years.

A house with a secret: Seward's home in Auburn, New York, formed part of the Underground Railroad and was apparently a well-regarded stop; the kitchen was one of its most popular stops, quoted an 1891 article in the “Auburn Herald.”

The unseen fruits of his efforts: Seward did not live to see his efforts to purchase Alaska turn very profitable; he died in 1872 before his foresight was commemorated as a legal holiday.

His efforts led to many memorials: These are found in Alaska and all over the U.S. — Seward Park in Seattle, Washington, the City of Seward in Alaska, and a figure of Seward in Ketchikan, Alaska.

He was almost assassinated: He was one of the targets of the 1865 assassination that killed Lincoln; he sustained grievous injuries, which took a long time to heal.

WHY SEWARD’S DAY IS IMPORTANT

We love Alaska: There’s the land, the weather, even the moose. Who doesn't love this place?

It was the best bargain ever! Sure, it might not have seemed like it at the time to some people. However, Seward knew a good deal when he heard one.

It's all about tenacity: Russians exhibited this tendency by coming back to the U.S. with their deal, and Seward stayed steadfast during the purchase, despite the detractors. The purchase, and Alaska's sheer magnificence, show us determination (and patience) does, indeed, reap rewards and influence change.

Source

[patrimonioprincess1229]

The History Conflict of Israel and Palestine.

In the 17 centuries BC, the call of God, Abraham,Isaac and Jacob, came in Canaan that later on known as the Land of Israel. King Saul established the Israelite monarchy, which was later split into the Kingdom of Israel and Kingdom of Juda, but the Roman Empire in 63 BC gave the name of "Palestine to Judah. In the 636 the Arab conquest begins to spread in Israel. In 11th century,Christians in Europe launched several campain to bring back the Holy City back in the hands of Christian while from the 16th century, more and more Jewish were joining a movement of "Zionism" to create Jewish national state in the ancient homeland.

WW1 exploded in 1918 and ended with the collapse of the Ottoman Empire. Its land in the Middle East was carved by the British and French Empires. The region under the control of Britain was what it called the British mandate for Palestine. Tensions between the Jews and the Arabs who both claimed the land grew, which even led to acts of violence.

In 1947, the UN partitioned Palestine into two independent states: a Jewish state and an Arab state with the City of Jerusalem becoming an international zone with a special status. Less than one year after that, Israel declared itself an independent state. Right after the declaration, the 1948 Arab-Israeli War broke out and ended when a cease-fire agreement was reached in 1949, giving more than two-thirds of historic Palestine, including West Jerusalem, to Israel.

There came more wars and fighting in the following decades, namely the Six-Day War ending with the victory of Israel, the 1982 Israeli invasion of Lebanon kicking the Palestinian Liberation Organization out of Beirut, the First Intifada ending with the Oslo Accords, the Second Intifada ending with Israel's withdrawal from Gaza.

Then came the establishment of Hamas, a Sunni Islamist militant group founded in 1987, aiming to destroy the state of Israel and create an Islamic state. After the Battle of Gaza (a conflict between Hamas and Fatah), Hamas split from the Palestinian authority and gained power in the Gaza while the West Bank was separately controlled by the PLO.

Israel put Gaza under a suffocating blockade, leading to several bloody war: between Israel and Hamas, the military group in control of the Gaza Strip till today. Until now, the war between Israel and Palestine had always make away to start. The Palestinian Hamas, came attack in October 7 to claim back the Gaza strip and West back during the Nova Festival, it killed a lot of people especially foreigners who came visit in Rave, which is near at the border with Gaza. The Israel fight back as the war started in October 7, 2023 during the Nova Festival. And until now, the fight between Israel and Palestine still continued.

[chalamazed]

Am Yisrael Chai 🇮🇱

Not a fan of Netanyahu, however Hamas is a terrorist organization and needs to be dealt with. If Hamas truly cared for the Palestinian people, we wouldn’t be in the midst of a war right now. But their main objective is to kill Jews. This has been going on for decades, centuries, millennia.

Palestine was the name given to the area of land in the Middle East associated with the holy land. Jews have lived there for over 5700 years. It’s turbulent history encompasses thousands of years of fighting, oppression, exile, bloodshed. Arabs, Jews, Muslims, Christians, Romans, the Ottoman Empire, as well as the British empire have all staked claims to the land.

But Israel and her people have always existed there. As Judaea, Canaan, as Israel. And her people will fight for their right to defend her from terrorist attacks.

Your Jewish friends are feeling very threatened and unsafe right now. 1939 wasn’t that long ago. The world said Never Again.

Well, Never Again is Now! 🇮🇱

Peace for Israel, peace for the Palestinian people.

Yo Gentiles! Looks like I'm going to need to give some of you a crash course on what antisemitic language looks like, because I've been seeing entirely too much of it from some of you here on Tumblr.

A few things before we dive in, to give you some context:

1. I am a Jew.

2. I do NOT support the Israeli government, or its war crimes, or its occupation of Palestinian lands — I fucking despise the Israeli government, as do many Jews, and I support the Palestinian people. I support a free Palestine.

3. I do NOT owe you that opinion, and you should NOT go harassing random Jews online for their opinion on the Israeli government. I am choosing to share this information so that you know where I am coming from in this post.

4. I also do NOT support the murder of Jewish civilians, or a mass deportation or mass murder of Jews. Whatever we do, we need to avoid another mass extermination of Jewish people. And throughout history, mass killings of Jews tend to happen like clockwork every 70-100 years or so. And the Holocaust was about 80 years ago.

Now, I think it's time for a Jewish history lesson, because I've been seeing way too many Nazi-related conspiracy theories going around. If you hear contradictions to the basic information that I am about to share (i.e., if you hear someone saying that the Jewish people are "a race that originated in Europe"), it is likely that you are hearing a white supremacist, anti-Jewish conspiracy theory.

So, here's the basics of Jewish history. Jews are indigenous to the Levant have been there for thousands of years. The Semitic people that Jews descended from have been in that area of the Levant since the Bronze Age. Jews as a distinct people have been there since the Iron Age. Before it was Palestine it was Judah, then Judea, and then Judaea, and that is literally where we are from. The word Jew means "a person from the Kingdom of Judah." The Romans renamed the area Syria-Palaestina (which they borrowed from the Greek name Palestina) in the 2nd century CE after destroying the Second Temple in Jerusalem and leading another campaign to try to eradicate the Jewish people (guess what, we're still here, motherfuckers).

And even after the Romans tried to annihilate us, even after they scattered many of us into European diaspora, many Jews came back, again and again over the ages, and there have nearly always been Jewish communities in the region throughout history.

And if you come for me or try to dispute any of this history with white supremacist bullshit, I am a Jew who has studied way more Jewish history than you. And as politely as possible, you can take your white supremacist conspiracy theories and fuck off into the sun.

Okay, with all that out of the way, let's get into it!

Gloves are coming off, because this is just a sampling of the Nazi dogwhistles I've been seeing here on Tumblr about the Jewish civilians who were tortured, murdered, and worse:

- If you say shit like, "The Jews got what they deserved"...

GUESS WHAT? You're talking like a white supremacist, and you need to fucking check yourself.

- And if, on the other hand, you say shit like, "The reports were probably overblown. I think those were paid actors. I don't think those Jews were murdered. No Jewish children were killed. No Jewish bodies were desecrated" blahblahblah...

GUESS WHAT? You get to sit with the Nazis at their table for lunch.

- If you tell Jews "go back to Europe where you came from"...

GUESS WHAT? Not only are you telling the descendants of Jewish refugees to go back to the Spanish Inquisition, the Russian pogroms, and the Nazi gas chambers, as I explained in this post, but you are also repeating a white supremacist conspiracy theory about the origins of European Jews.

Jews are a Semitic people from the Middle East. While there was some emigration to Europe during the late Roman Republic and the early days of the Roman Empire, the first mass migration of Jews to Europe was a forced migration. Gentiles from the Roman Empire dragged us there as captives after 70 CE, the year Rome destroyed the Second Temple.

- And if you're telling yourself that there are "good Jews" and "bad Jews," and those Jewish civilians were "bad Jews," so they deserved to be tortured and killed...

GUESS WHAT? You're spouting white supremacist ideology.

Antisemitism takes a long time to deprogram.

A lot of gentiles grow up with anti-Jewish ideology that they have never questioned.

And a lot of Christians are kept ignorant about Jewish history because preachers and priests fear it would make Christians question the many inaccuracies in the Bible.

But the first step in noticing antisemitic beliefs is to notice when you start singling people out *because* they are Jewish.

And I have been seeing some of you gleefully celebrating the murder of Jewish civilians *because* they are Jewish.

And that is antisemitism.

That is one step closer to the next generation of Jews getting shoved into the gas chambers. And there are only 16 million of us left in the entire world. We're 0.2% of the world's population. And we cannot afford another Holocaust.

And if your response to me saying that is, "Well, those Jews deserve it."

Guess what. You are making it easier for Nazis and white supremacists to spread hatred and commit acts of violence against Jewish people. And you will have to live with that blood on your conscience.

So...

If you are a gentile, and you see other gentiles repeating these kinds of white supremacist dogwhistles about Jewish people, here's how you can help:

1. MOST IMPORTANTLY: Help them direct their focus away from attacking random Jewish people online and towards helping Palestinians.

Actions that people can take right now are contributing to verified charities and relief organizations that help the people of Gaza. Some organizations that are verified by CharityNavigator.org and CharityWatch.org are:

Anera (92% rating on Charity Navigator)

Palestine Children's Relief Fund (97% rating on Charity Navigator)

Doctors Without Borders (98% on Charity Navigator)

2. Call that shit out. Tell people that they're being antisemitic, and explain that Jew-hatred is dangerous to Jewish people. Antisemitism gets Jews attacked and it gets Jews killed. In the US, many synagogues require round the clock security to protect against white supremacists who want to murder Jews. In Pittsburgh, my old home town, a group of Nazis from north of the city planned the murder of Jewish congregants at Tree of Life Synagogue, and so far only one of them (the gunman) has been arrested and convicted of the murders. The others are still at large.

3. Encourage people to condemn Netanyahu and the Israeli government. It is *essential* that we all collectively protest against the Israeli government and hold it accountable for its war crimes. AND explain them that it is antisemitic to celebrate someone's death *because* they're Jewish. ALSO, it is antisemitic to blame a random Jewish person for the actions of the Israeli government, and saying that Jews as a people are responsible for the war crimes of Netanyahu is also antisemitic.

4. Explain to people that they're not going to solve this conflict by posting antisemitic statements and memes online. All they will do is alienate the Jewish people in their lives and make those Jews feel scared and unsafe. And they will contribute to this current wave of antisemitism.

Antisemitic hatred doesn't help Palestinians. All it does is put Jewish people around the world in danger.

[eretzyisrael]

by Eunice G. Pollack and Stephen H. Norwood

Many Arabs stressed that even before "Zionist ... pretensions" threatened the "happy relationship" between Muslims and Jews, it had been disrupted by the imposition of European colonial rule.[13] They informed their Western audiences that Jews had "enjoyed all the privileges and rights of citizenship" before colonialism introduced an "artificial separation" between Muslim and Jew. A Moroccan political leader insisted that for this reason the Jews had "welcomed" the overthrow of colonial rule and the return of "Arabization" and the establishment of the independent Muslim nation.[14]

Contrary to the Arabs' contentions, however, it was the colonial powers that had extended citizenship (e.g., Algeria in 1870), equality or near-equality (e.g., the French Protectorate in Morocco, 1912–1956) to the Jews, liberating them at last from their status as subjugated, humiliated dhimmis, and ending the oppressive jizya, the tribute always exacted by the Muslims. Thus Jews had strongly endorsed the colonial presence, generally embracing modern European education and culture.[15] It was under British occupation (1882–1922) that Jews in Egypt felt safest. Notably, under Islamic rule, it was only the Ottoman Empire that, in an effort to secure European support—and modern weapons—issued an Imperial Edict (1856) that, in theory, extended equal rights to all its subjects. In practice, however, Ottoman governors (pashas) confined themselves to collecting taxes, while local rulers and the populace—for example, the Mamluks in Egypt—continued to persecute, pillage, and impose additional "heavy levies" on the Jews. Thus most Jews not only supported European colonial rule, but feared the independence movements, with the threat of return to their earlier subordinate "social, political and economic" positions.[16]

Islamic Myths about Jews' Inherent Traits

Arab commentators readily dismissed over two centuries of travelers' accounts and investigative reports that belied their claims about the conditions and contentment of Jews under Islamic rule. They simply turned to another hoary myth in order to protect their current fable. The Arabs discarded all the testimony that contradicted their narrative, explaining that it had been derived largely from Jews, whom the Qur'an characterized as congenitally deceitful, never to be trusted.[17]

At times, political and religious leaders conceded that the Jews in Muslim lands had been relentlessly subjugated, relying on another large cache of myths, drawn or extrapolated from the Qur'an, to sanctify their abasement of those they now identified as "the dogs of humanity." Indeed, from the earliest years of Islam, Muslims had understood that "their deadliest enemies were the Jews."[19] They were the only people cursed in the Qur'an, whom Allah had promised "degradation in this world and a mighty chastisement in the next world." Muslim theologians recognized that the Jews were "like germs of a malignant disease where one germ is sufficient to eliminate an entire nation." But, they taught, "the Holy Qur'an ... constitutes the microscope through which we can see the pests and poisons that reside in their minds and hearts." Thanks to Qur'anic lessons on how to subdue the Jews, the Muslims were "the only people on earth to tolerate them" in their midst.[20]

Citing the Qur'an, prominent Muslim educators portrayed the Jews as driven throughout their history to bring "blind sedition ... and intrigue in any land or community where they happened to live." Some suggested that this was likely "why the Israelites ... were so detested by all surrounding tribes."[21] Others explained that "the Jews themselves have not changed" because, "according to ... their false Torah," they "are required to stir war with their neighbors once they have the opportunity to do so." Some added that the Jews often preferred to deploy "conspiracies, plots, intrigues [and] sedition" because they were inherently "cowards and could not openly face their enemy."[22]

Not acknowledging a contradiction, many spokesmen insisted that "the Jews have always been criminal aggressors." Jews claim that they are victims, "subjected [throughout] their long history" to "oppression and persecution" "for no other reason than their being followers of Moses." In truth, "the hatred felt by various peoples ... for Jews was not due to their belief, but their ... unchangeable behavior, always based on exploitation, ingratitude and evil-doing in return for kindness." That is, the "criminal aggressors" only deceptively identify as innocent victims.[23] Educators taught that the Jews are "avaricious, ruthless, cruel, hypocritical and revengeful. These traits govern their lives." They point out that the Qur'an warned that, if permitted, the Jews would "become great tyrants." They conclude: "No good is expected of them unless they live under the aegis of Islam as loyal and obedient subjects." Then the Muslims "will treat them ... tolerantly." "Islamic tolerance is," after all, in complete contrast to "Jewish intolerance and cruelty."[24]

[igottatho]

You're full of shit.

"Many Western Jews agree" you're going to be very heartbroken realizing that anti Zionist Jews are a loud minority. There's a reason why most Jewish institutions will never cut ties with Israel. This is our land; we got it back and you'll have to be a dumb cunt to think we are ever leaving it. You gentiles will have to RIP IT FROM OUR DEAD HANDS. Israeli history has been surviving despite all odds despite being cornered and despised by our neighbours. We are not going anywhere. You have no idea our love for Israel, our love for Zionism, you know nothing because you are a privileged outsider.

Additionally, most Jews will be considered Zionist because of the new definitions goyim have created...we believe that Israel has a right to exist and that dehumanizing Israelis is wrong and according to y'all, these are classic evil Zionist opinions which majority of us happen to have. Half of the world's Jewish population is there. A lot of us have connections to the land in so many ways. Our families are there.

Contrary to your antisemitic belief (Israelis are rich seriously? Anything with money and Jews is a trope cmon now) these are not rich people who can leave. If you knew anything at all, you'd know that a lot of Israeli Jews are Arab. They suffered greatly under Muslim rule and were forced one way or another to move to Israel. A Libyan Jew David Gerbi has constantly tried to return to his homeland but faces the threat of being lynched. He has sent people to help him out and those people were hurt because that's how powerful antisemitism is. You will cry upon realising the Arab world's support of Hitler :(

You keep repeating "It is not fault of Palestinians that their oppressors are Jewish". It is not the fault of Israelis that their oppressors happen to be Muslim. With your weird logic, Israeli Jews are justified in their Zionism because guess what. Christanity and Islam despite coming from Judaism actively oppresses Jews and has been oppressing us since forever. Fun fact a lot of Arab Jews (in and out of Israel) are more likely to be Zionist (hardcore Zionist btw) because of their experiences being oppressed by Arabs in their homelands (I say Arab Jews but it is rare to come across an "Arab Jew" who actually calls themselves that. They prefer the term mizrahi.) Fun fact when Israel was formed, mob violence exploded all over the Middle East where Arabs told Jews "go to Israel where you belong, we don't want you here". Now those same Arab Jews make up a large percentage of Israel, suddenly it's "get out of Palestine!!!!" ?

How come yall are always anonymous. It’s almost like you’re cowards or something.

If it’s not the fault of the Israelis that their attackers are Arabs, then why are the Palestinians collectively paying the price for other Arabic groups actions?

I don’t give a fuck of your love for the land, love it, live on it, etc, just stop pretending like you have a right to monopolize it, or oppress anyone else on it.

Yea I’m well aware that many American Christians are antisemitic. They get on TV and proselytize about the Holy Land and the coming of Jesus, and then talk the most disgusting shit about Jewish people comes out of their mouths. It’s akin to the hateful language I hear from Zionists.

Historically, there were pockets of mob violence, yea. That’s what happens in a power vacuum. So when Ottoman Empire fell, the British Mandate took over. Instead of being the competent middle man and treating Zionists equally with Arabs, British soldiers looked the other way for settler violence. Then when Britain left Mid-East, it gave weapons and money and training to all of those Zionists. Because it was useful for Antisemitic British people to send all of the Jewish people away from Europe. Particularly after the Shoah, when seeing any Jewish people afterwards made them so uncomfortable /s. As you may know, many of the Nazis didn’t just disappear, they got rolled into western society, because imperialism is always the same.

Again - live there. Do whatever you want, idgaf.

Stop acting like these little headless children in Gaza wanted to fucking kill you, so you killed them first. Any justification that Israel ever had (debatable tbh) is long gone, 200k people later, and hardly a hostage saved. Zionism is an evil ideology and has always been predicated on the antisemitic racism of Europe (and now US).

[brookstonalmanac]

Events 9.7 (before 1930)

70 – A Roman army under Titus occupies and plunders Jerusalem. 878 – Louis the Stammerer is crowned as king of West Francia by Pope John VIII. 1159 – Pope Alexander III is chosen. 1191 – Third Crusade: Battle of Arsuf: Richard I of England defeats Saladin at Arsuf. 1228 – Holy Roman Emperor Frederick II lands in Acre, Israel, and starts the Sixth Crusade, which results in a peaceful restoration of the Kingdom of Jerusalem. 1303 – Guillaume de Nogaret takes Pope Boniface VIII prisoner on behalf of Philip IV of France. 1571 – Thomas Howard, 4th Duke of Norfolk, is arrested for his role in the Ridolfi plot to assassinate Queen Elizabeth I of England and replace her with Mary, Queen of Scots. 1620 – The town of Kokkola (Swedish: Karleby) is founded by King Gustavus Adolphus of Sweden. 1630 – The city of Boston, Massachusetts, is founded in North America. 1652 – Around 15,000 Han farmers and militia rebel against Dutch rule on Taiwan. 1695 – Henry Every perpetrates one of the most profitable pirate raids in history with the capture of the Grand Mughal ship Ganj-i-Sawai. In response, Emperor Aurangzeb threatens to end all English trading in India. 1706 – War of the Spanish Succession: Siege of Turin ends, leading to the withdrawal of French forces from North Italy. 1764 – Election of Stanisław August Poniatowski as the last ruler of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth. 1776 – According to American colonial reports, Ezra Lee makes the world's first submarine attack in the Turtle, attempting to attach a time bomb to the hull of HMS Eagle in New York Harbor (no British records of this attack exist). 1812 – French invasion of Russia: The Battle of Borodino, the bloodiest battle of the Napoleonic Wars, is fought near Moscow and results in a French victory. 1818 – Carl III of Sweden–Norway is crowned king of Norway, in Trondheim. 1822 – Dom Pedro I declares Brazil independent from Portugal on the shores of the Ipiranga Brook in São Paulo. 1856 – The Saimaa Canal is inaugurated. 1857 – Mountain Meadows massacre: Mormon settlers slaughter most members of peaceful, emigrant wagon train. 1860 – Unification of Italy: Giuseppe Garibaldi enters Naples. 1863 – American Civil War: Union troops under Quincy A. Gillmore capture Fort Wagner in Morris Island after a seven-week siege. 1864 – American Civil War: Atlanta is evacuated on orders of Union General William Tecumseh Sherman. 1901 – The Boxer Rebellion in Qing dynasty (modern-day China) officially ends with the signing of the Boxer Protocol. 1903 – The Ottoman Empire launches a counter-offensive against the Strandzha Commune, which dissolves. 1906 – Alberto Santos-Dumont flies his 14-bis aircraft at Bagatelle, France successfully for the first time. 1907 – Cunard Line's RMS Lusitania sets sail on her maiden voyage from Liverpool, England, to New York City. 1909 – Eugène Lefebvre crashes a new French-built Wright biplane during a test flight at Juvisy, south of Paris, becoming the first aviator in the world to lose his life piloting a powered heavier-than-air craft. 1911 – French poet Guillaume Apollinaire is arrested and put in jail on suspicion of stealing the Mona Lisa from the Louvre museum. 1916 – US federal employees win the right to Workers' compensation by Federal Employers Liability Act (39 Stat. 742; 5 U.S.C. 751) 1920 – Two newly purchased Savoia flying boats crash in the Swiss Alps en route to Finland where they were to serve with the Finnish Air Force, killing both crews. 1921 – In Atlantic City, New Jersey, the first Miss America Pageant, a two-day event, is held. 1921 – The Legion of Mary, the largest apostolic organization of lay people in the Catholic Church, is founded in Dublin, Ireland. 1923 – The International Criminal Police Organization (INTERPOL) is formed. 1927 – The first fully electronic television system is achieved by Philo Farnsworth. 1929 – Steamer Kuru capsizes and sinks on Lake Näsijärvi near Tampere in Finland. One hundred thirty-six lives are lost.