It's Not Easy Peasy Creating A Country

 

                  Squatters Shacks along the Willamette River , Portland, Oregon.  People sitting on land without paying for it:  1930

To have a country, land can't just fill up with squatters.  Otherwise, it that were true, there never would be a United States, or an Oregon.  What's a squatter?  Someone in our Oregon history, and I imagine in states as well.  

In the 1840s, Oregon Country was governed by an unregulated "Squatter Democracy". As the US and Britain contested the region, the foundational land laws were largely defined by squatters—settlers who simply occupied the land without legal title before preemption acts eventually allowed them to secure their claims.

      Bedouins in Palestine, Nomads with a permanent address: Deals had been made with the new Jewish government for the Bedouins of the south. Nomads are usually always on the move whereas squatters just sat there.  Bedouin refers to historically nomadic Arab tribes inhabiting the desert regions of the Arabian Peninsula, North Africa, the Levant, and Mesopotamia. Derived from the Arabic word badawī (meaning "desert-dweller"), the term represents a traditional, pastoralist way of life rather than a distinct ethnic group. 

The land of Palestine did fill up with many squatters who traveled back and forth, especially on camels.  Most were from Syria and later were called Syrian Palestinians, not being Bedouins.   Other Arabs came to the land in 1880 when they saw Jews coming in and building Tel Aviv, etc.  They were paid with money and that enticed even more Arabs to join the crews. At that time they had no inducement to have their own state.  They were all from other countries close by.   

Historical Shifts: there was  time when the Brits invited Arabs into the country and kept Jews out--and this was after the Jewish Homeland was decided upon.  

 For decades in Oregon, removing unauthorized occupants required a slow, civil lawsuit known as ejectment. The rules were tightened significantly with Oregon House Bill 3522, which allowed landlords and homeowners to use standard eviction procedures to remove unauthorized occupants quickly. Many informal, unauthorized occupations were handled privately by landowners or frontier settlers rather than through formal courts. Throughout Oregon’s history, the handling of squatters has varied: Pioneer Era: In the mid-1800s, early settlements like Portland were practically "squatter's paradises" fueled by massive land claims and the Donation Land Act. In the early days, disputes were often settled by force or informal claim associations. In coming back to Eretz Yisrael, Jews found Arab squatters, like like there were squatters in Oregon.  There were a few land-owners who had people working the land, squatters and such.  They land-owners were only too happy to be overpaid for the land they were being taxed for and could not make a living on, and so this money relieved them and they headed for Damascus and Paris for the good life.  They had money!!!

             Over 3,000 years ago of the 11th century BCE or 1050 BCE, King Saul of the tribe of Benjamin ruled Israel-his enemy were the Philistines

The history of Israel goes back almost 4,000 years.  The first organized governing power in those days were kings,, and Israel's first king was Saul.  King David was 2nd,who ruled by 1010 BCE and died in 970 BCE.  He had been Saul's armor-bearer at age 25, and was a good friend of his son, Jonathan-and after showing his military strengths during a war with the Philistines, became husband of Saul's daughter, Michal.  King Solomon, David's son, died in 920 BCE which caused a rift or division of the 12 statehoods they had created with the Northern 10 being swept away after their king Hoshea of Israel died in 721 BCE.  The 2 southern states, Judea and Benjamin lost their last King Zedekiah in 586 BCE.  They united sometime later, those who found each other again, and remained with or without permission from other ruling parties,, but had filled Jerusalem at the turn of the millennium.  By 70 CE, the Romans were ruling and burned the city down, remaking it into a Roman town.  Jews were starved to death or slaughtered, with many escaping while others were caught and used as slaves.  Romans stole all the gold and silver out of the

Temple, forcing slaves to carry all back to Rome as shown on the Arch of Titus.  Thanks, Titus for having this for proof of the history.  Jews were told that returning to Jerusalem meant death, and so they scattered to the ends of the earth, near and far, suffering mostly in the hands of strangers.  Since some wound up in Rome, as prisoners, it was a good place to remain--and some did.  Others went to what later became Germany.  Later yet, Poland and others were inviting them to their country because it was known they could help the kings with finances, trading, etc, they could add, subtract, read and write and most people couldn't.  Then the countries turned on them, jealous, whatnot....and it was 1920.  

WWI had started in 1914, and Jews had been promised to have the land they were kept away from for all those years...The Jewish Homeland.  Then Britain was offered such a deal they couldn't resist and gave away 80% of it to an Arabian prince who, not being first in line in his own homeland, wanted land with people to rule over, Prince Abdullah.  The Jews, who had spent years since 2014 speaking and signing with heads of state, got the remaining 20%. And that's how Israel's birth development began once again.  They bought land.  They crossed all the T's and dotted all the i's and made it legal.  It went through all the channels of the United Nations of that day, the League of Nations besides the United Nations.  

Chaim Weizmann (1874-1952) , Israeli statesman, biochemist, and Zionist leader who served as president of the Zionist Organization and later as the first president of Israel had helped England win the war. In 1917, he brought about the Balfour Declaration.  He met with Emir Feisal; who agreed with him about Jews entering the land. Emir Feisal was the son of Sharif Hussein bin Ali of Mecca, the leader of the Arab Revolt. He was a military commander who later became the King of Syria and Iraq.  By 1920 Weizmann mobilized resources for constructive work in Palestine. By 1929 there were Arab riots in the streets scared by another Arab who wanted more power, Hajj Mohammed Amin el-Husseini (1893-1974), appointed mufti of Jerusalem and head of he Supreme Moslem Council, kind of over-powering Feisal.  Who chose him?  A Jewish man who was the only Jew in government then:  Sir Herbert Samuel.  He knew nothing about the Arabs, about the rioting going on against Jews.  

Jews have been on the defense ever since.  Was it worth coming over to the Middle East from Eastern Europe?  Yes, spiritually, culturally, it was the boost they needed to survive such hatred of them in the world.  Their candle, so to speak, WAS LIT with smelling the air, flowers,, orange blossoms, and knowing that this was where their ancestors lived and breathed and developed their morality.  And so this is the way we all feel upon making Aliyah to Israel today.   

  from  facebook's Randy King 7/11/26                                                                

NATO's TURKEY AGAINST KURDS, YAZIDS, CHRISTIANS and ISRAEL

 Nadene Goldfoot                                               

Turkey’s recent purchase of the S-400 caused outrage for its defiance of the NATO alliance. But this action was a part of a much broader pattern in President Erdogan’s foreign policy: one which has increasingly engaged in foreign aggression, proxy warfare, saber-rattling and ethnic cleansing. 

President Donald Trump is considering lifting sanctions and selling F-35 fighter jets to Turkey. This potential sale would reverse a previous ban and hinges on Turkey resolving security concerns regarding its Russian-made S-400 missile systems.The Opposition: The proposed deal faces heavy resistance from U.S. lawmakers and allied leaders, including Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who warn it could disrupt the balance of power in the Middle East.

The S-400 Triumf is an advanced, mobile, long-range surface-to-air missile (SAM) system developed by Russia. Designed to engage and destroy a wide spectrum of aerial threats—including stealth aircraft, drones, cruise missiles, and ballistic missiles—it serves as a key component of Russia’s integrated air defense,  The S-400 is considered one of the most formidable air defense systems in the world, often compared to the American Patriot system. Its export has occasionally caused significant geopolitical friction. For instance, Turkey’s purchase of the system led to U.S. sanctions and its removal from the F-35 fighter jet program, while countries like India and China have also deployed the system.

In addition to persecuting those Kurds who live within Turkey’s borders, Erdogan has attacked Kurdish targets in Syria and Iraq. Turkey’s devastating invasion of northern Syria has displaced roughly 600,000 people, and critically endangered already persecuted religious minorities such as Yazidis and Christians.and JEWS.  Turkey is also targeting the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF)—the United States’ most reliable partner in Syria and the coalition most responsible for the demise of ISIS."   

                   A Syrian Kurdish girl (Picture source: Daily Mail/Eric Lafforgue).

Syria’s Kurds—the country's largest non-Arab minority, numbering around 2 to 2.5 million—have seen their governance shift drastically. After losing vast portions of their former autonomous region, "Rojava," they are integrating into the centralized Syrian state. An agreement between the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) and the Damascus government established the following parameters: Military Integration: Three SDF brigades are being incorporated into the official Syrian army as whole units. Citizenship & Language: The deal promises to grant citizenship to tens of thousands of stateless Kurds, make Kurdish an official national language, and legally protect Kurdish civil and educational rights. Displacement Crisis: Following clashes and territorial losses to Turkish-backed and central government forces, thousands of displaced Kurds were forced into camps or are facing uncertainty returning to heavily damaged neighborhoods in places like Aleppo.

Turkey is illegally occupying a large portion of Northern Syria – specifically Kurdish-majority areas on its border. Since it began its occupation, the Turkish military has engaged in ethnic cleansing and fomenting religious extremism.  As a neighbor of Syria and host to the largest portion of Syrian refugees in the world, Turkey has been a stakeholder in Syrian affairs since the start of the civil war in 2011. While Erdogan initially supported efforts to overthrow Bashar Al Assad, his aims have since turned towards stopping suspected Kurdish political ambitions in the region. Since 2014, the Turkish military has been far more concerned with destroying Kurdish aspirations than defeating jihadist groups or tempering Assad’s destructive hold.

When ISIS conquered large swaths of Syrian territory, the Turkish military sat by idly on its side of the border as the former crushed nearly all Kurdish resistance. It was only when the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) managed to turn the tide against ISIS that Erdogan decided to turn its forces against the Kurds. As the SDF were fighting ISIS, it also had to fight off Turkish attacks from air and artillery – which proved extremely counterproductive to NATO’s fight against ISIS. These actions once again prove Turkey to be an unreliable NATO member, putting its own concerns about the Kurds before the interests of not only its NATO allies but of long-lasting peace in the region. Turkey’s occupation of northern Syria has lasted for two years now, and its showing no signs of ending any time soon. The longer Turkey’s involvement in Syria continues, the less likely it will become a functional or even unified state again.

The relationship between Turkey and the Jewish community is highly complex, marked by a sharp distinction between intense political hostility toward the State of Israel and the historical, yet increasingly vulnerable, status of Turkey's domestic Jewish minority. While Turkish leadership frequently frames its stance as strictly political opposition to Israeli government policies, international observers and local community members warn that this fierce rhetoric heavily spills over into domestic antisemitism

One More Time, Just Give them One More Time To Redeem Themselves

Nadene Goldfoor                                                

Here's a Thai ship Attacked by Iran missiles in the Strait of Hormuz on March 11, 2026 

What's been going on with US and the Strait of Hormuz since July 9, 2026?  

Tensions between the US and Iran violently escalated after a fragile 60-day ceasefire fell apart following the expiration of an earlier memorandum of understanding. This led to intense reciprocal strikes, the closure of the Strait of Hormuz, and widespread military engagements across the Gulf. 

Recent Timeline and Escalation

• July 9: Scheduled technical talks between the US and Iran were set to resume one  more time, addressing the unfreezing of Iranian assets and the status of the Strait. 
  
                    Iranian Revolutionary Guards (IRSGC)
• Weekend Escalation: The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) attacked the Cyprus-flagged commercial vessel GFS Galaxy. Iran claimed the ship was traveling on an "unauthorized route" and subsequently declared the Strait of Hormuz closed to all commercial traffic. 
•                                           
  
         Open despite Iran's declaration but exchange strikes with USA anyway and IRGC insists it's Closed !  
• US Response: In response to the attack on the container ship, the US military—under the direction of President Donald Trump—launched a major third wave of airstrikes targeting approximately 140 Iranian military sites. 
• Iranian Retaliation: Tehran lashed out by targeting US military facilities and bases across several neighboring nations, including Jordan, Iran fired multiple ballistic missiles targeting military facilities in Jordan, including the Prince Hassan Air Base, after the United States launched strikes on Iran. The US strikes followed an Iranian attack on a commercial vessel in the Strait of Hormuz.  Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) fired several ballistic missiles toward Jordan. Iran claims to have destroyed command-and-control centers and hangars housing MQ-9 drones.
• Qatar,Qatar's military said it intercepted incoming Iranian fire, with explosions heard in the neighboring United Arab Emirates. Three people, including a child, were wounded as a result of shrapnel from the interception of Iranian attacks, Qatar's Interior Ministry said, giving no further details on their condition.
•  Bahrain,  Missile alerts sounded in Bahrain, an island kingdom in the Persian Gulf home to the U.S. Navy's 5th Fleet.  AND---
• Kuwait.Kuwait has been hit by a series of Iranian missile and drone strikes as part of a major regional escalation. The barrages have targeted both civilian infrastructure—including severe damage and casualties at Kuwait International Airport—and multiple military installations housing U.S. and allied troops.
• UAE,  just 3 hours ago, — As of 9 April 2026, the UAE has intercepted and destroyed 537 ballistic missiles, 2,256 drone attacks and 26 cruise missiles fired from Iran using their THAAD.  
• Current Status: Iran's newly created Persian Gulf Strait Authority insisted there will be no passage for commercial ships until US military activity ceases. However, the US Central Command (CENTCOM) disputes this, asserting that despite Iran's declaration of closure, the strait remains an international waterway open to commercial vessels.
• One more time
  One more time
  One more time, we're gonna celebrate
  Oh yeah, alright, don't stop the dancing
•  How many times has Israel been hit by missiles directly from Iran?  
  
• Israel has been directly struck by Iranian missiles on dozens of occasions across multiple major escalations, including the historic April 2024 strikes and the intense twelve-day conflict in June 2025 where over 30 ballistic missiles successfully hit. Hundreds of total missiles have been fired during these exchanges.

Resource:

Update: 5:30pm:  UAE

Al Jazeera

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FGBhQbmPwH8&t=31s

 

Judah After Zedekiah in 586 BCE? Or Israel After Hoshea in 721 BCE?

 Nadene Goldfoot                                                       

We leave Judah and Israel, Our Israel divided into two. because of 2 distinct ways of continued living, which became their destruction.  Situated in a land bridge between the Babylonians and Egyptians, the two great powers of the day, Kings Jehoiakim (608-598 BCE) of Judah and Zedekiah (597-586 BCE) of Judah kept switching allegiance depending on which seemed the more powerful. Judah first favored Egypt, then Babylon, and then returned to Egypt. The Bible and the Babylonian Chronicles help us reconstruct the events that led to the Babylonian destruction of Jerusalem in 586 B.C.E.  

     JUDAH/JUDEA/JUDAEA/JEWS TO 70 CE

After Zedekiah's defeat in 586 BCE, the Kingdom of Judah was dissolved into a Babylonian province. King Nebuchadnezzar II of the Neo-Babylonian Empire appointed Gedaliah as governor over the remaining impoverished peasants. However, Gedaliah was assassinated just a few years later, triggering a flight of refugees back to Egypt.  

1. Gedaliah: Appointed by King Nebuchadnezzar to administer the remnant of the Jewish population left in the land. He ruled from Mizpah until his assassination around 582 BCE by Ishmael, a member of the royal family. 

2. Ishmael ben Nethaniah: Briefly usurped local control after assassinating Gedaliah, plunging the region into further chaos before fleeing to the Ammonites. 

3. Nebuchadnezzar II: The Babylonian King who conquered Jerusalem, burned Solomon's Temple, and initiated the Babylonian exile. He held supreme imperial authority over the territory of Judah. 

4. The Achaemenid Empire: Following the fall of the Babylonian empire, the region passed into Persian (Iran) control in 539 BCE under Cyrus the Great, who eventually allowed exiled Jews to return and govern themselves under Persian oversight. Cyrus was a good ruler, and today is the one ruler that both the youth of Iran and Israel share as a great leader. So, almost half of the Israelites who came to Canaan in the first place were living in the Jerusalem area when the Romans attacked Jerusalem in 70 CE.  

After Cyrus the Great, the Israelites (Jews) were primarily ruled by the Achaemenid Persian Empire. They functioned as an autonomous province (Yehud) under a succession of Persian kings before falling to Greek and Roman conquerors over the following centuries.

       GREEK AND ROMAN CONQUERORS

Judah was always the largest in population, coming into Canaan with 76,500 men.  Evidently the 2 census's taken by Moses were only counting the men, who would have to defend the group as they moved along to Canaan from Egypt.  Simeon only arrived with 22,200.  The sequential progression of empires and rulers over the Israelites includes:

• The Persian Period (539–332 BCE): The returned exiles were governed directly by the Persian royal court, notably Darius the Great (who oversaw the completion of the Second Temple), Xerxes I (the Ahasuerus of the Book of Esther), and Artaxerxes I (who authorized the rebuilding of Jerusalem's walls). Local leadership was often managed by Jewish high priests and appointed governors, such as Zerubbabel. 
• The Hellenistic Period (332–167 BCE): Following the conquests of Alexander the Great, the land of Israel fell under Greek rule. Upon Alexander's death, control of the region was contested by his generals, shifting between the Ptolemaic Kingdom (based in Egypt) and the Seleucid Empire (based in Syria). 
• The Hasmonean Dynasty (142–63 BCE): Led by the Maccabees, the Jewish people successfully revolted against Seleucid religious oppression, securing a period of Jewish self-rule and independence under the Hasmonean kings. 
• The Roman Period (63 BCE onwards): The Hasmonean kingdom was eventually annexed by the Roman Republic under Pompey the Great. The Romans ruled the area directly through governors and client kings, like Herod the Great, leading up to the First Jewish-Roman War and the destruction of the Temple. 
•         FATE of the 10 NORTHERN TRIBES

In the meantime, we have these 10 other northern tribes left in the hands of Jeroboam (933-912 BCE) of a leading tribe of Ephraim, (32,500)  who had had the job of superintendent of forced labor who had been working on building the Temple.  That's why the states split away.  They had enough of the forced free labor.  Solomon, usually a most fair of judges, had been in a panic to get the job done before he died.  He was not a well man, who hid it well.  

The Division: Jeroboam, a former overseer under Solomon, returned from exile in Egypt to lead the revolt of the 10 tribes (Reuben, Simeon, Dan, Naphtali, Gad, Asher, Issachar, Zebulun, Ephraim, and Manasseh). 

Political & Religious Strategy: Fearing that his subjects would travel to Jerusalem (in the southern Kingdom of Judah) for religious festivals and eventually pledge loyalty to the Davidic dynasty, Jeroboam established rival cultic centers like the people they surrounded themselves with, Aram and Ammon. He set up golden calves in the cities of Bethel and Dan, declaring them also to be the gods of Israel, and appointed non-Levite priests. This was worse than saying oy vey!  Why did he go so far, a 180 degree turn-around???

Reign: His 22-year reign was marked by ongoing warfare with the southern kingdom of Judah. His dynasty ended shortly after his death when his son , King Nadab (913-911 BCE)  was assassinated in one report;  killed while fighting the Philistines in another who said that Baasha, his rival, murdered him; (I Kings 15-25)and Jeroboam's entire family line was wiped out. 

Archaeology: Excavations at Tel Dan have unearthed remains of the cultic shrines and high places that match the biblical accounts of Jeroboam's rule. 

Fate of the 10 Northern Tribes

• Continuous Idolatry & Instability: Following Jeroboam I, the Kingdom of Israel experienced severe political instability, frequent assassinations, and continued worship of foreign gods. 
• The Assyrian Conquest (722 BCE): The northern kingdom was ultimately conquered by the Neo-Assyrian Empire. The Assyrians implemented a forced deportation and resettlement policy, removing thousands of Israelites and scattering them across the Assyrian Empire (including modern-day Iraq and Syria).
• "Lost" Status: Because these northern tribes were dispersed and integrated into surrounding cultures over the centuries, the historical records of their independent existence ceased. They are popularly known as the Ten Lost Tribes of Israel.
•                    NORTH MEETS SOUTH-UNITE
• Southern Migration: Many refugees from the northern kingdom migrated south to Jerusalem to escape the Assyrian destruction. Therefore, remnants of the northern tribes likely survived and intermingled with the southern tribes of Judah and Benjamin, continuing their identity into the Second Temple period.  
• The Second Temple period (516 BCE to 70 CE) was a transformative era of Israelite history defined by the rebuilding of the Jerusalem Temple, profound religious development, and successive foreign conquests. It ended catastrophically when the Romans destroyed the Temple during the First Jewish-Roman War in 70 CE. 
• 
  Following the Roman destruction of the Second Temple in 70 CE, Jews faced massacres, enslavement, and displacement. Without a sacred center, Judaism transformed: sacrificial Temple rituals ended, and the surviving Pharisees shifted the faith to Second Temple period Torah study and communal prayer, cementing Rabbinic Judaism.
• After the Roman destruction of the Second Temple in 70 CE, the Jewish people adapted to survive the loss of their central holy site. They transitioned from a Temple-based, sacrificial religion to Rabbinic Judaism—focusing on Torah study, communal prayer, and synagogues—while many faced forced displacement from their homeland.
• Following the destruction of the Second Temple in 70 CE, the Romans did not completely expel the Jewish population, but heavily displaced them through slavery, execution, and regional bans. While many were sold into slavery and sent across the Empire, surviving communities remained in their ancestral lands, while others fled to established diaspora centers.
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