Nadene Goldfoot
Let's start with the bare facts. Jews are an indigenous people of Palestine. There's not another nation in on the face of this earth that has proof of being as old a people as they are from the same land they now live in. Jews being on the Land go back to Moses and Joshua entering Canaan. Moses died (Jewish date) in 1271 BCE just outside of Canaan, so Joshua led the Exodus to their Promised Land. That was a good 3,294 years ago. Their history is all vetted in the Torah (Old Testament), said to be 1st hand account by Moses himself. Their very first king was Saul, born before 1010 BCE when David, 2nd king, ruled. David ruled 3,033 years ago so Saul was about 3,060 years ago. The Romans drove them out in 70 when they burned down Jerusalem and the Temple, and said they'd kill any who returned.
This happened when many of the world's population were mutating from Neanderthals to Homo Sapiens, while those Jews had already been in existence a few thousand years already in Mesopotamia, reading and writing and debating, descendants of Abraham and had spent 400 years in Egypt -most of which in slavery already. This is why Jews were invited into other countries; Jews were literate people, they could read, write and were good in math; a treasure to have so that counties could trade and do business with other countries. Their own people were not at this level at all.
Jews are an ancient people who have not died out and disappeared like so many other tribes. They are vibrant and believe in life; living, and believe in rules as to how to do it best. They have a culture, a language, foods, and a history also vetted in many other Mesopotamian lands.
USA was a country in 1776; 247 years ago. England was a country, say-1066 when William the Conqueror came along with the Norman Conquest. That was 957 years ago. Their people are a mixture of Vikings and Normans, Saxons, etc. Classical French historiography usually regards Clovis I, king of the Franks ( r. 509–511), as the first king of France. Some Jews even lived in France before 70 CE, Charlemagne, the Holy Roman Emperor born in about 771, had a lot to do with the birth of countries or not. So did the Romans. So now all these countries are questioning Israel's right to survive?
On May 14, 1948, Israel announced their birth and had a population of about 600,000 Jews. That's the number, actually it was 601,730 that arrived with Joshua on the 40 year Exodus. They had lost 1,820 from the start of the 40 years. Israel by 1948 birthed itself after the Holocaust of losing 6 million people. This was something prophesized in the Bible-the gathering of Jews returning again to Jerusalem from all 4 corners of the Earth. It's been going on. We have people living in Israel, Judea and Samaria. We are the descendants of the Judeans; the Jews.
Herzl negotiated with him in 1902 , very impressed by Chaim Weizmann. As Foreign Secretary in 1917, he issued this Balfour Declaration. He remained outspokenly devoted to the Zionist ideal.
1. Balfour Declaration: On November 2, 1917, the British government issued this document of sympathy with Jewish Zionist aspirations, pledging support for the establishment in Palestine of a national home for the Jewish people. The Allied Governments were parties to the negotiations and approved the Declaration. So did some of the principal leaders of the Arab national movement like Emir Feisal who eventually was king of Iraq and Syria. The agreement concluded on January 3, 1919 between King Hussein's son, Emir Feisal, chief Arab delegate at the Paris Peace Conference, and Dr. Chaim Weizmann, on behalf of the World Zionist Organization. The Balfour Declaration was endorsed and Palestine recognized as a separate Jewish entity which the Arab States would maintain diplomatic relations, on condition--ah yes, on condition that Britain and France met Arab demands in other territories other than Palestine.
2. The Palestine Mandate: The British were given a 30 year mandate by the League of Nations on July 24, 1922 which followed the 1st World War. This incorporated the text of the Balfour Declaration about the Jewish Homeland, even recognizing the historical connection between the Jewish people and the Land and called upon Britain to facilitate the establishment of the national home.
The mandate covered the land on both sides of the Jordan River but as early as 1922, Britain divided the mandated territory establishing an Arab emirate in Trans Jordan, which deprived the Jews of any Rights in the Land east of the river. It was made forbidden to Jews to buy land or settle there.
British policy towards the establishment of a Jewish national home was highly ambivalent. At certain times, Jewish immigration to the Land was allowed. At others, it was severely restricted and land purchase was prevented if you were Jewish.
3. 1936-1938 British Proposal of Fixing Problem: Britain; proposed to repartition Palestine into an Arab and a Jewish State with a British enclave. The leadership of the Jewish community accepted it in principle. The Palestine Arab leadership rejected it.
An undisputed leader of the Palestine Arab community at that time was the Grand Mufti of Jerusalem, Haj Amin al-Husseini, who, during the 2nd World War, joined the Nazis and spent the war years in Berlin.
As Abba Eban said, "The Arabs never miss an opportunity to miss an opportunity."
They've since 1967 said, No, No, No when in Khartoum, Africa at a conference with other Arab countries.
No peace with Israel;
No negotiations with Israel;
No recognition of Israel; and insistence on the rights of the "Palestinian People"-
and may I remind all that Jews were Palestinians too before 1948. Anyone living on the land, Arab or Jew were called Palestinians, especially on any legal work like passports, etc." in their own country. Today's Palestinians are not from a country with a president or king or anything like that. Their heritage comes from an assortment of Arabs from many sources and countries who were looking for work, and the Jews needed workers. They were rebuilding their ancient country into a modern country.
Do you wonder why Israel feels the Arabs are not interested in making peace with them? It's so obvious.
4. Buying The land on which Jewish towns and villages were settled was bought and paid for by the Jews, often times individually and a few times by donation money from Jews.
The Tzedakah (Charity) Box: Pushka Power: a little box or tin can sitting on a counter somewhere. Every day, a little spare change gets dropped in there, plus a few more coins just before Shabbat. When it's full, it goes to a good cause, whichever the family chooses, or to send to Palestine to buy land. Most Jews in the diaspora kept a little can, a pushka, with coins in it to buy the land.
Most Arabs were hurting under the Ottoman Empire and couldn't pay the taxes and weren't doing well as farming goes. They were only too happy to sell at very exhorbitant prices, but the Jews paid it since the land was so holy to them. So there are land records. More often, the Arabs need the records for proof of living on the land, and can take their case-if there is one-to the highest supreme court in Israel-now under it's own problems. Israel's laws are the hardest of all countries to follow as some of the laws are on the books and so ancient; ask any American lawyer who tried to work in Israel. There's Ottoman law, still in use; Israel law, etc.
The first Zionist pioneers in Palestine appealed to him for financing in the early 1880s to save them from financial collapse. He continued to support Palestinian colonization unostentatiously and gradually taking under his protection all the new settlements, which would have had to be liquidated had it not been for his aid. Altogether, he bought 125,000 acres in Palestine and is to be credited with the settlement of Galilee and Samaria. In 1900, he transferred the management of the colonies to ICA, and then from 1924, to PICA. In his last years, he cooperated with Chaim Weizmann and Nahum Sokolow and in 1929 at the time of terrible rioting became honorary president of the Jewish Agency. He's buried at Zikhron Yaaaov -reinterred, in 1954.
Jewish National Fund (קֶרֶן קַיֶּימֶת לְיִשְׂרָאֵל, Keren Kayemet LeYisrael; previously הפאנד הלאומי, Ha Fund HaLeumi) is a non-profit organization founded in 1901 to buy and develop land in Ottoman Syria (later Mandatory Palestine, subsequently Israel and the Palestinian territories) for Jewish settlement. By 2007, it owned 13% of the total land in Israel. Since its inception, the JNF says it has planted over 240 million trees in Israel. It has also built 180 dams and reservoirs, developed 250,000 acres (1,000 km2) of land and established more than 1,000 parks. And we've witnessed the Arabs purposely flying kites lit with fire in order to cause forest fires and fires on farms such as wheat fields. That doesn't cause love for the Arabs. Israel was attacked
5. Wars Fought to Keep the Land:
A. The War of Independence from 29 November 1947 to 1949: Arabs refused to accept its very existence, attacked 5 minutes after announcement of birth. First, units of Arab irregulars crossed into the country from Syria, Lebanon and Egypt to reinforce local Arabs in their attacks upon Jewish localities and in an attempt to block the main roads.
Then on May 14, 1948, day of birth, Israel was invaded by the regular armies of Egypt, Transjordan, Iraq, Syria and Lebanon and a Saudi-Arabian contingent. General of the Arab League, Azzam Pasha, said, "This will be a war of extermination and a momentous massacre which will be spoken of like the Mongolian massacres and Crusades."
B. the Sinai War from 29 October until 5 November 1956
C. The Six Day War from 5th to 11th June 1967
D. The War of Attrition from 1968 to 7-8 August 1970-never peaceful, with forays into Israel, engaging in acts of terrorism and sabotage. Clashes along frontier lines with Arab terrorist organizations (fidayun) who was supported by Arab governments.
E. Yom Kippur War, 6 October to 26 October 1973. Hit on Jewish holiest day of year, people in synagogues on a 25 hour fast...Israeli soldiers at their weakest.
Besides all out wars, there have been so many attacks that Israel has had to enter Gaza to stop them.
Despite it all: all the tsuris that has hit this teeny country, they have made a name for themselves giving the world some of their talent showing they are a people worth keeping.
Resource;
Facts About Israel, published by the Division of Information, Ministry for Foreign Affairs, Jerusalem. 1973.
The New Standard Jewish Encyclopedia
