Israel vs Hamas
The land area formerly called Palestine has a tumultuous history of conflict and being conquering in BC times. It’s also been known as the Land of Israel and the Holy Land.
In more modern A.D. times, that geographic area was controlled by the Ottoman Empire which called it Ottoman Syria. Prior to WWI many Jews left the area as its culture once again came under Arab/Moslem influence.
During WWI Britain issued the Balfour Declaration which favored a re-establishment of a home for the Jewish people. In 1920 the British assumed control under a mandate from the League of Nations. In 1947 a civil war between the Jews and Arabs engulfed the area with the Jews winning and declaring the State of Israel in 1948.
In 1947 the new United Nations recommended the establishment of two states, one Arab and one Jewish. The Arabs rejected that plan as nearby Arab countries invaded Israel against the Jews.
The Jews not only defeated the Arabs but expanded its territory beyond the UN plan. During that war, 700,000 Arabs (80% of the population) left while 850,00 Jews from the Arab countries emigrated to Israel. Jews also came from Europe – mostly after WWII.
After the civil war but before the 1967 Six Day War, Arabs who lived in the former Palestine were not allowed to return with many settling in the Egyptian controlled West Bank, which included the Gaza Strip. During that time period, the Palestine Liberation Organization was formed under the leadership of Yasser Arafat.
The 1967 Six Day War saw Egypt lose control of the West Bank to Israel. Since that time relations between Israel and Palestinians have been marked by repeated intrusions into Israel by West Bank militants/Jihadists, initially by the PLO.
In 1993 the UN sponsored Oslo Peace Accords between Israel and the PLO. The PLO established the Palestinian National Authority (PA) as an interim body to run parts of Gaza and the West Bank. In 2007 voters in Gaza elected Hamas over the PLO backed PA to run the Gaza Strip.
Since then Hamas has committed numerous acts of terrorism against civilians inside Israel culminating in the October 7, 2023, massacre of 1,400 Israeli civilians in southern Israel – most attending a music concert. Some 250 civilians were also taken hostage, including some 20 American citizens.
On October 27 Israel began sending its military into the Gaza Strip to eliminate Hamas and free the hostages.
Meanwhile to the north, another anti-Israeli terrorist body that controls Lebanon, called Hezbollah, has launched multiple missile attacks on Israel.
Both Hamas and Hezbollah receive support with finances and arms from Iran.
Israel’s most staunch supporter by a country has been, and is, the United States.
Going back to history again, in the 6th century a new monotheistic religion called Islam was founded by its prophet Muhammad, whose followers became known as Muslims. In 640 Arab-Muslim warriors conquered Palestine and formed a caliphate – a religious government headed by a Muslim cleric. Under those rules at the time, Arabs were considered at the top of the society, followed by converts to Islam, then non-Muslim free men with slaves at the bottom. Non-Muslims had to pay a special tax and be submissive to Muslims. Muslim men were allowed to marry non-Muslims, but women were not.
Beginning in 1095 Europe’s rulers sent and went on crusades to free Palestine and Jerusalem from the caliph. While there were short periods when the Christian crusaders won control, that didn’t last for long. Muslim rulers in turn began the persecution of Christians and Jews, including requiring the wearing of special, identifiable dress.
Early 20th century Palestine was down to a sliver of the geographic size it had been in previous years/centuries.
Looking at the situation today, Israel is a state, officially recognized by most of the world, initially by the US in 1948. It was officially recognized by the UN which received it as a member in 1949.
After the Six Day War in 1967, when Israel defeated Egypt which had controlled the Gaza Strip, Israel returned control of it to the Muslims living there. It thought it had formed the two-state solution to former Palestinians as recommended by the UN.
But we and the Jews in Israel know certain countries like Iran and its proxies in Gaza, Syria, Lebanon and Yemin carry an immense hatred of Jews – and America – and a goal to destroy both.
The chant “river to the sea” initially become popular under the Arafat PLO, meaning from the Jordan River to the sea – which is the land now recognized as the State of Israel. It simply means the annihilation of the Jews and destruction of Israel. in other words, genocide.
As of December 2020, 165 of the 193 members of the United Nations recognize Israel. 28 do not, including 15 members of the Arab League (Algeria, Comoros, Djibouti, Iraq, Kuwait, Lebanon, Libya, Mauritania, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Somalia, Syria, Tunisia, and Yemen). In 2020, The United Arab Emirates, Sudan, Morocco, and Bahrain joined Egypt and Jordan in establishing diplomatic relations.
Non-Arab countries not recognizing Israel include Belize, Bolivia, Cuba, North Korea, and Venezuela.
So, there in a nutshell is a summary of the history of the former Palestine.
Do you think any of the current pro-Hamas protesters in the US know that history and what they’re advocating?
I think not, because there is no Palestine anymore.
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Have a great and Prosperous week.
Hug somebody.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_Palestine
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/International_recognition_of_Israel
SPIDER Bites
This week’s trivia question: How many seams are there in an American football? The answer to last week’s question of the best-selling Christmas single of all time: White Christmas. Irving Berlin’ song, performed by Bing Crosby and released in 1942, is the best-selling single of all time with over 50 million copies sold. It is still a popular song sung by numerous performers at Christmastime.
The Florida State football team and fans are disappointed their 12-0 Seminoles were not chosen among the 4 teams to playoff for the National Championship. Can’t blame them.
The annual Army-Navy game yesterday saw the measure of effort and the height of sportsmanship all college teams should aspire to achieve. Competition means a winner and a loser. Its why teams play. Coaches, players, and fans can learn from both sides of the score.
The US attention span is limited. Remember the ill-advised, ill-fated Russia-Ukraine War?
Let’s agree on something about one of the basics of being American. There is no justification for anti-Semitism just like there’s no justification for discrimination based on race or gender. And the reverse is also true. There is no justification for hiring, promotion or appointment based on some subjective determination of fair representation of race or gender in any workforce the interest of “equity.”
The presidents of MIT, Harvard and U Penn (who resigned yesterday) testified before Congress last week, condoning pro-Hamas protests calling for the genocide of all the Jews of Israel. All three, and others, are now cowering from the backlash. To quote one of the testifying, ‘free speech’ presidents: “Words mean something.” Perhaps she should have chosen words that wouldn’t have said what she meant.
This administration with its politicized DOJ has been itching to charge somebody with so-called hate crimes. They should be charging college presidents with same when Jewish students need to seek safety/refuge from anti-Semitic, pro-Hamas protesters on their campuses.
Speaking of the DOJ, it brought the tax evasion charges in a CA federal court that still aren’t beyond the statute of limitations against Hunter Biden last week. The announcement came months after a Delaware federal judge rejected a no-jail-time plea deal for Biden.
Meteorologists are predicting a strong El Nino this year – the periodic warming of the eastern Pacific Ocean – which will affect our winter season. Prepare yourself for the climate change congregation to use it to strengthen their case. Oh, BTW the National Fire Center reported recently the fewest wildfires in 25 years.
The Jewish holiday of Hanukkah began last week.
Transgender females continue to pick up wins in cycling and other sports. The situation allowing them to compete against women remains unfair and outrageous.
For the past two years our southern border patrol has not been patrolling but processing immigrants. It set another record last week when 12,000 were processed into the country in one day.
