For years, I have been writing about the historical revision being taught in America today by Muslim professors and Muslim encyclopedia writers, many of whom are sponsored by Saudi Arabia.
Although there are variations, the most outrageous new story goes like this: An indigenous group of people, known as the Palestinians inhabited the Holy Land for the last 4,000 years. The Jews never possessed the land until the 20th century, where they came in swarms, kicked the poor Palestinians out of their homes and created the aggressive, occupying state of Israel.
THE TRUTH: There was never a people called the Palestinians. That very term “Palestine” was invented by the Romans a few decades after they destroyed Jerusalem and scattered most of the Jews around the world. Palestine was a Latinized version of the word Philistine, an ancient, but extinct, enemy of Israel at the time of Rome’s conquest. Emperor Hadrian changed the name of the land as an insult to the Jews. He wanted to rub it in their faces and pay them back for daring to revolt against Rome.
As a result of Muslim expansion, Arabs came into the land many years afterwards in the 600’s. Jews and Arabs were both living in the area when the British ruled the Middle East centuries later. At that time, the term Palestinian was used of Jews alone, and the Arabs called themselves Arabs. These Arabs who had inhabited the Holy Land, refused an offer of the United Nations to have a state of their own in 1948. Why? Because they resented a parallel offer of statehood to the Jews.
It was only after Yasir Arafat (an Egyptian) created the PLO, that the term Palestinian was used of Arabs in the Holy Land. In 1967 Israel defeated Jordan and several other countries that vowed to annihilate her, resulting in some new territories, including Jordan’s west bank, where many Arabs who had fled Israel in 1948 were now living under Jordanian occupation. The world did not manage to complain about Jordan’s 20 year custody of the refugees. In any event, when Israel took over, the Arabs who had fled Israel were renamed “Palestinians.”
Today, many Muslim “scholars” and tour guides claim that Jews have absolutely no historical claim to the land whatsoever. Indeed, there was never even a Jewish temple! On the sight of Mt. Moriah, where Jews claim the temple once stood, Muslims can proudly point instead to The Dome of The Rock, a beautiful building commemorating the launching pad of Mohammad’s flight into heaven.
Putting aside the fact that this revision contradicts all ancient history, it also bucks heads with the Koran itself! The Koran does not talk favorably of the Jews, but it does call them The People of the Book. “The Book” is the Bible. The Koran is calling the Bible the word of God. In addition to its message of salvation, the Bible is primarily a history of the people of Israel. Many re-tellings of this exact same history are found in the Koran.
It’s kind of frightening to see 1984 fulfilled. George Orwell predicted a time when history would be re-written. But a good firm cousin of history is archaeology, or “History in 3D,”as I like to call it ! Several walls of the Second Jewish temple (built originally under the supervision of Ezra after the Jews returned to Jerusalem from their Babylonian exile and fantastically expanded by King Herod a handful of years before the birth of Christ) are still standing in Jerusalem. It was quite an experience to both see and touch the Western Wall for myself. A good deal of this magnificent structure is now underground, but on a fascinating tunnel tour, I was privileged to witness the bottom of the wall. Back on top, the walls were enhanced over the years, first by Christian Crusaders, later by Muslim rulers. Each landlord used a specific kind of building block. Herod’s design was distinct from the others and I viewed the exact same building blocks on a different day at the Masada fortress, where Jews held off the Roman army for quite some time before the Romans finally breached their Alamo type sanctuary. I also walked around an ancient synagogue with Hebrew writing on the floor. Amazing, how the indigenous Palestinians managed to create a culture that mimicked Hebrew history in every way.
Was the truth of the matter news to me? No, because I have studied history and archaeology for years. Still, there is nothing quite like being there.
CONCLUSION: We should encourage today’s prospective Middle East Studies students to take a study mission to Israel before enrolling them in the universities. Better yet, just skip college altogether. The trip to Israel will be more than a hundred times cheaper. True, your sons and daughters will go without a diploma, but at least they’ll know how to think.
This is Bob Siegel, reporting from Israel, where the obvious seems quite obvious.
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