Palestine is considered sacred to all three religions that trace their roots to (Prophet) Abraham; Judaism, Christianity and Islam. For the Jews, this is the place where the temple of (Prophet) Solomon stood, for the Christians this is the place where the Messiah, Jesus Christ was born, preached and was crucified. For the Muslims this is the place from where Prophet Mohammad ascended to heaven on the night of Mea’raj.
For centuries; the Jews, Christians and Muslims lived in peace in Palestine. Although there were instances of clashes in different times, it never led to confiscating each other’s properties or large-scale evictions. However, the rise of modern Zionism in Europe in the 19th century and the ‘Balfour Declaration of 1917’ announced by the British, changed the course of history forever. The Zionist justification of the biblical ‘promised land’ and the persecution of the Jews in Europe, especially Germany in the 1940s, turned the tide in their favor. The Zionists used two major justifications for occupying Palestine:
- The Biblical claim of Palestine belonging exclusively to the Jews
- The Persecution of the Jews in Europe
For the practicing Jews in Palestine as well as other parts of the world, Zionism was a political movement led by non-religious Jews who intended to occupy the land of Palestine in the name of religion. As for the Biblical claim, Jewish Rabbi Yisroel Dovid Weiss explains: “Zionism is only around 100 years old. It is the transformation from religion to nationalism, to materialism created by non-religious Jews who hated their religion. The reason why they use the name Israel, the Star of David, hijacking, stealing the identity of Judaism and the Jewish people is in order to gain a legitimacy for their existence that should lead people to say, ‘oh, it is God given to them’ and that they should use fear and intimidate people from speaking out against their actions because they will call those that do anti-Semitic; it couldn’t be anything further from the Truth.”
During one of his Tv appearances, British MP George Galloway was told that Israel (occupied Palestine) belongs to the Jews because ‘they were persecuted in Germany,’ to which he replied “The British gave the land of one people (Palestinians) to another people (Zionist Jews) to compensate for the fault of a third people (Nazi Germany).”
The Nakba
The Zionists; under the auspices of the British empire, orchestrated one the largest migrations in history, a large number of Jews escaping Nazi Germany were settled in Palestine leading to a sharp rise in Jewish population in the region. When the WWII ended, the UN General Assembly passed a resolution calling for the partition of Palestine between Arabs and Jews. This gave birth to ‘State of Israel’ on November 29, 1947. Subsequently, Israel emerged victorious in a war with neighboring Arab states and confiscated more land than the initial UN plan. The Palestinians called it ‘Al Naqba’ meaning ‘the Catastrophe’ as more than 750,000 Palestinians were displaced and rendered refugees. On the one hand, Palestinians were displaced and forced into refugee camps, and on the other hand Jewish migration to Israel was systematically encouraged and implemented.
Till today, Israel follows the policy of racial segregation, religious persecution, subjugation and harassment while continuing to deny Palestinian refugees their right to return home. Israeli settlement on Palestinian lands continues unabated, and so does the deliberate displacement of native Palestinians. Israel is an entity built on the Zionist ideology of ethno-religious supremacy, apartheid, occupation, settler colonialism and ethnic cleansing. Israeli government approves and encourages Jewish settlement in occupied Palestine on a daily basis. This is the blood-stained history that Israel and its lackeys do not want you to know. All that they want you to know is: “the Israelis are “KILLED” by Palestinians and the Palestinians merely “DIE” to Israeli attempts at “SELF-DEFENCE.” The “OCCUPIER” is called the “VICTIM” and the real “VICTIM” is called a “TERRORIST”.
Despite all the propaganda, disinformation and manipulation, the truth is easy to discern, Palestine belongs to the Palestinians. Israel cannot expect the Christians and the Muslims to give up their land because the Jewish scriptures (according to Zionists) asks them to do so, or because the Jews were persecuted in Europe.
Anthony Mathew Jacob is a political analyst specializing in the Middle East and Indian Subcontinent. His articles have appeared in Tehran Times, Press Tv, countercurrents.org and many other media outlets.
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