God promised the descendants of the prophet Abraham the 'Promised Land', why are Palestinians defying the Almighty's prophecy? Post Your Comment (7 comments)

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Posted on August 2, 2001

Destroy all of that land; beat down their pillars and break their statues

and waste all of their high places, cleansing the land and dwelling in it.

For I have given it to you for a possession.

Old Testament Numbers 34:52, 53

This argument contains many holes and deficiencies, we're really confused how to respond. It might be effective to answer the question by asking the set of questions below:

• Who is a Jew? This question happens to be the most divisive question in many Jewish Community around the world.
  
  
• Does being a Jew imply belonging to a race? Like the Indian, Arab, Turkish, ... etc. races.
  
• Can any person become a Jew? Are you aware that converting to Judaism is not as straight forward as converting to Islam, Christianity, or even Buddhism? The process of becoming Jewish is a bureaucratic process that requires extensive rabbinical supervision.
  
• If a billion people convert to Judaism, does the Right of Return law (the Israeli law that automatically grants Israeli citizenship solely based on someone's faith) apply to these new converts?
  
• Let's ask the above question the other way around, what if all Jews convert to other religions, are they still considered "Jews"? After all, if Hans Herzl, Theodor Herzl's son, was able to convert to Christianity, it's also possible for other Jews to follow his footsteps as well. (One Palestine Complete, p. 302)
  
  Since "God's Promise" was made to Abarahm's decedents, does this "Promise" trickle down to the Semitic Jews who already converted to other religions?,
  Does their conversion to Islam or Christianity forfeit the fact that they are descendents from Abraham? It should be noted that many famous Jewish tribes in Arabia, Yemen, Palestine, and Iraq had converted to Christianity and Islam.
  Based on their genetic make (D.N.A.), could they become Israeli citizens despite of their conversion?
  
  
• For the moment, let's assume that the Palestinian people undergo a mass conversion to Judaism, do you think that would put an end to the conflict? or
  Do you think the Israeli government would be forced to revise its definition of "WHO IS A JEW"?
  
• According to a Ha'aretz newspaper (a major Israeli newspaper) reported in March 2001 that half of the Russian Jews who immigrated to Israel in the 1990s belong to mothers who recently converted to Judaism,
  Do you still believe that these people are connected to "Eretz Yisrael" via the Biblical prophecy?
  Click here to view an article published by the " Jewish Agency" regarding this issue.
  
• Does the Israeli Right of Return law apply to the atheist Jews who inherited Judaism from their mothers? If your answer is yes, then
  Why the Right of Return law does not apply to Jews who converted to other religions?
  Are you aware that Jews who convert to other religions would not be able to gain automatic Israeli citizenship based on the Israeli Right of Return Law?
  
• Finally, the exact borders of the "Promised Land" have not been geographically defined. The Biblical "Promise", which "God had granted to Abraham's descendants", covered the areas between the Nile River in Egypt and the Euphrates River in Iraq,
  Does that imply that Israel's future borders eventually will span the borders of Jordan, Syria, Lebanon, Egypt, and Southern Turkey?
  Could that explain why Israel has neither a constitution nor a properly defined borders?
  In that regard, it is worth sharing the following encounter between Pinhas Rozen (Israel's first Justice Minister) and Ben-Gurion (Israel's 1st Prime Minister). Rozen demanded that Israel's Declaration of Independence should cite the country's borders. Ben-Gurion objected, and both exchanged the following:

  ROZEN: "There's the question of the borders, and it cannot be ignored."
  BEN-GURION: "Anything is possible. If we decide here that there's to be no mention of borders, then we won't mention them. Nothing is a priori [imperative]."
  ROZEN: "It's not a priori, but it is a legal issue."
  BEN-GURION: "The law is whatever people determine it to be." (1949, The First Israelis, p. xviii)

  If "Eretz Yisrael" would encompass these vast borders, does that imply the Biblical prophecy?
  Does that explain why Israel has invaded and occupied neighboring states?
  Since the "Promised Land" includes southern Lebanon, was invading and occupying Lebanon part of this prophecy?
  If the invasion of Lebanon was a fulfillment of this ancient Biblical prophecy, then was it a prophecy, or a negation of this prophecy, to withdraw from Lebanon?
  Click here to get an idea as to how the ancient "Biblical map" was central to the evolution of Zionism and to Israel's policies in the Middle East.

There is no question that some of present day Jews are definitely descendents of the prophet Isaac and the prophet Abraham. However, to claim that other people, inclusive of the Palestinian people, are not descendants of Isaac is ridiculous. Either through voluntary or involuntary conversion, the majority of the Semitic Jews had converted, over time, to other religions, such as Christianity and Islam. Results of a DNA study by geneticist Ariella Oppenheim (a famous Israeli geneticist) appears to match historical accounts that Arab Israelis and Palestinians, together as the one same population, represent modern "descendants of a core population that lived in the area since prehistoric times", albeit religiously first Christianized then largely Islamized, and all eventually culturally Arabized. Referring to those of the Muslim faith more specifically, it reaffirmed that Palestinian "Muslim Arabs are descended from Christians and Jews who lived in the southern Levant, a region that includes Israel, Sinai and part of Jordan." Geneticist Michael Hammer praised "the study for 'focusing in detail on the Jewish and Palestinian populations.'"

The core of Israel's future problems lies in its crippled democracy (since it empowers people based on their religion). In order for it to survive, Israel has to continuously redefine its definition of "who is a Jew." Its current definition of "who is a Jew" is fluid-since it has been written to suite its domestic political agenda. This racist and crippled "Jewish Democracy" won't last. So if you agree with Israel's current status, then enjoy it while it lasts. Any civilization that bases itself on exclusion, rather than inclusion, sooner or later will self-destruct.

Finally, let's assume that it's a true fact that God made such a "promise" to Abraham's descendants (regardless of whether these descendants were Jews, Arabs, or even of non-Semitic extraction), then it must have been a racist promise-since it was based on the genetic make up of Abraham's heirs. The question which begs to be asked is this:

Is it possible that, at one point in history, God made a racist promise?

• Jews of Khazaria, brief history and other resources
• Khazaria, A hidden & forbidden Jewish history exposed
• The Jews Are Not A Race! By Dr. Alfred M. Lilienthal
• Video: Zionism versus Judaism By Naturi Karata
• Zionist Quotes: Bible & Holocaust Exploitation
• NYTimes: Who Is a Jew? Court Ruling in Britain Raises Question
• Ha'aretz: An invention called 'the Jewish people'
• A Terrible Disease of the Mind
• Israel's welcome for Ethiopian Jews wears thin
• Zionist FAQ: Arabs fail to understand the unique and special connection Jews have for Eretz Yisrael
• LA Times: Criticize Israel? You're an Anti-Semite! by Rosa Brooks
• Electronic Intifada: Israel's surprising best seller contradicts founding ideology
• NYTimes: , Geneticists Report Finding Central Asian Link to Ashkenazi Levite
• Israel-Palestine right to return and the Bible by Fr. Labib Kobti
• The question of who is a Jew reignited in Israeli courts by Ha'aretz Daily
• Most of the immigrants to Israel don't want to convert by Ha'aretz Daily
• The lost Palestinian Jews

What is new?

-PalestineRemembered.com and its Nakba Oral History Project were featured on al-Jazeera Satellite TV.
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-Zionist FAQ now available in Hebrew שאלות שציונים שואלים, עכשיו בעברית
-Video: The Stephen Walt and John Mearsheimer report on the influence of the Israel Lobby on U.S. Foreign Policy
-The Nakba - an event that did not occur (although it had to occur) By Eitan Bronstein
-The Palestinian-Israeli conflict for beginners

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