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Jewish World Review Oct. 18 , 2000 / 19 Tishrei 5761
Dispelling Middle
East myths
http://www.jewishworldreview.com --
IF YOU BELIEVE what you read in most news sources,
Palestinians want a homeland and Muslims want control
over sites they consider holy. Simple, right?
Well, as an Arab-American journalist who has spent some
time in the Middle East dodging more than my share of
rocks and mortar shells, I've got to tell you that these are
just phony excuses for the rioting, trouble-making and
land-grabbing.
Isn't it interesting that prior to the 1967 Arab-Israeli war,
there was no serious movement for a Palestinian
homeland?
"Well, Farah," you might say, "that was before the Israelis
seized the West Bank and Old Jerusalem."
That's true. In the Six-Day War, Israel captured Judea,
Samaria and East Jerusalem. But they didn't capture these
territories from Yasser Arafat. They captured them from
Jordan's King Hussein. I can't help but wonder why all
these Palestinians suddenly discovered their national
identity after Israel won the war.
The truth is that Palestine is no more real than
Never-Never Land. The first time the name was used was
in 70 C. E. when the Romans committed genocide against
the Jews, smashed the Temple and declared the land of
Israel would be no more. From then on, the Romans
promised, it would be known as Palestine. The name was
derived from the Philistines, a Goliathian people conquered
by the Jews centuries earlier. It was a way for the
Romans to add insult to injury. They also tried to change
the name of Jerusalem to Aelia Capitolina, but that had
even less staying power.
Palestine has never existed -- before or since -- as an
autonomous entity. It was ruled alternately by Rome, by
Islamic and Christian crusaders, by the Ottoman Empire
and, briefly, by the British after World War I. The British
agreed to restore at least part of the land to the Jewish
people as their homeland.
But that's too much for the Arabs. They want it all. And
that is ultimately what the fighting in Israel is about today.
Greed. Pride. Envy. Covetousness. No matter how many
land concessions the Israelis make, it will never be enough.
What about Islam's holy sites? There are none in
Jerusalem.
Shocked? You should be. I don't expect you will ever hear
this brutal truth from anyone else in the international
media. It's just not politically correct.
I know what you're going to say: "Farah, the Al Aqsa
Mosque and the Dome of the Rock in Jerusalem represent
Islam's third most holy sites."
Not true. In fact, the Koran says nothing about Jerusalem.
It mentions Mecca hundreds of times. It mentions Medina
countless times. It never mentions Jerusalem. With good
reason. There is no historical evidence to suggest
Mohammed ever visited Jerusalem.
So how did Jerusalem become the third holiest site of
Islam? Muslims today cite a vague passage in the Koran,
the seventeenth Sura, entitled "The Night Journey." It
relates that in a dream or a vision Mohammed was carried
by night "from the sacred temple to the temple that is most
remote, whose precinct we have blessed, that we might
show him our signs. ..." In the seventh century, some
Muslims identified the two temples mentioned in this verse
as being in Mecca and Jerusalem. And that's as close as
Islam's connection with Jerusalem gets -- myth, fantasy,
wishful thinking. Meanwhile, Jews can trace their roots in
Jerusalem back to the days of Abraham.
The latest round of violence in Israel erupted when Likud
Party leader Ariel Sharon tried to visit the Temple Mount,
the foundation of the Temple built by Solomon. It is the
holiest site for Jews. Sharon and his entourage were met
with stones and threats. I know what it's like. I've been
there. Can you imagine what it is like for Jews to be
threatened, stoned and physically kept out of the holiest
site in Judaism?
So what's the solution to the Middle East mayhem? Well,
frankly, I don't think there is a man-made solution to the
violence. But, if there is one, it needs to begin with truth.
Pretending will only lead to more chaos. Treating a
5,000-year-old birthright backed by overwhelming
historical and archaeological evidence equally with
illegitimate claims, wishes and wants gives diplomacy and
peacekeeping a bad
By Joseph Farah
There is no language known as Palestinian. There is no
distinct Palestinian culture. There has never been a land
known as Palestine governed by Palestinians. Palestinians
are Arabs, indistinguishable from Jordanians (another
recent invention), Syrians, Lebanese, Iraqis, etc. Keep in
mind that the Arabs control 99.9 percent of the Middle
East lands. Israel represents one-tenth of 1 percent of the
landmass.
Joseph Farah is editor and CEO of WorldNetDaily,
the "Internet's leading independent, general-interest newssite." Comment by clicking here.
