A Palestinian State Is Fatal For Israel

 

Nadene Goldfoot                                            

US Senate endorses Palestinian statehood in spending plan

Massive omnibus spending package approved by Congress includes commitment to support two-state solution.

The American Senate has made the decision to continue to promote a Palestinian State.  They have kept to the same stand they took years ago and have not made any changes, though the so called Palestinians, Arabs who lived in the renamed Palestinia by the Romans,  along with the Jews, have been determined to destroy the state of Israel ever since its inception on May 14, 1948.  "When approving the budget, the US Senate decided to link the promotion of the Abraham Accords to the American administration's support for promoting partition of the land and establishment of a Palestinian state".                                  

Bar Kokhba fighting the Romans, holding Jerusalem for 3 years...

There has never been a state of Palestine. In 135 AD, the Greek "Syria Palaestina" was used in naming a new Roman province from the merger of Roman Syria and Roman Judaea after the Roman authorities crushed the Bar Kokhba Revolt of 3 years, shaming the Romans for not being able to re-occupy it quicker.  

 Arabs entered the Jewish-settled lands of Palestine following the Jews who were building cities after their entrance in 1880. There were some Arabs living in the occupied Ottoman Empire, and a few had even turned to farming, flabergasted by the taxes wanted by the Ottomans.  Most were only completely happy to sell their land at high unbelievable prices to the crazy Jews who valued the land so much.                                     

                 King David fighting the Ammonites who attacked from Transjordan.  David annexed their kingdom but they kept attacking, even attacking after the the Jews returned from Babylon.  Finally they were defeated by Judah the Maccabee in 163 BCE.  The Ammonites were worshipers of fertility gods, and its chief was called Milkom. David is still avidly remembered by the Jewish people.     

There had been an Israel, established by King Saul, then King David and then his son, King Solomon who died in 920 BCE, followed by many of his descendants. The nation divided into Israel and Judah, which was the largest tribe's home and ancestors of today's Jews.   Judah continued on till 70CE when the Romans, the fiercest army of the world at the time, occupied and then destroyed their statehood.  For the next 2,000 years, Jews everywhere have prayed and dreamed of the time that Judah/Israel would be restored to them and that they wouldn't have to be the 2nd class citizens of every country.    

There has always been Jews living in Palestine, living in centers unknown to the Romans who destroyed Jerusalem in 70 CE.  However, most Jews of Jerusalem and nearby centers were either killed or taken prisoner by the Romans, with many fleeing before the indefensible destruction of the city and Temple.  

Many of the descendants of Jews who had fled for their lives returned in 1880 because of anti-Semitism resulting in pogroms in eastern Europe, the last bastion of Jewish religion and culture along with attacks on Sephardis.   The Sephardic Jews also suffered from anti-Semitism  in areas they had fled to from the time of 1355 when 12,000 Jews were massacred by the mob in Toledo, Spain, to the Spanish Inquisition of 1492, to the expulsion of Jews from Sicily, Sardinia and Portugal, 1541 when the kingdom of Naples expelled their Jews.                               

These eastern European Jews who returned were from Russian centers with ancestors who were expelled in 1727 and 1747. By 1871 to 1921, Jews suffered from anti-Jewish pogroms in towns of Russia.   They tried to find places to live, and by 1882 to 1890, the 750,000 Jews living in Russia again were forced to re-settle in the "Pale of Settlement."  Jews remaining in Moscow and St. Petersburg were expelled in 1891. It wasn't until the end of the 1st world war that Jews were accepted as citizens like everyone else in certain countries, though the anti-Semitic attitudes continued to exist from the people.

The Palestinian Arabs had no intentions of ever holding their own state being they had come from none to begin with.  This has been a political ploy of the leaders of Arab neighbors who were just that much anti-Semitic since they all held the land as Muslims till the end of WWI when Turkey of the Ottoman Empire lost the battle along with Germany and so lost all their lands to the Allies (England, France, USA, etc.)  The Allies gave the English a 30 year contract called a Mandate to rule over Palestine, and then give the land to the Jews, who had pled their case in their League of Nations Court such as Zelinsky has done to countries asking for more help against Russia.

For the past 74 years, Palestinians have been attacking Israel and Israel has been holding them off.  Most of all the money the USA has granted Israel has gone into defensive warfare as the Palestinians have been given these same weapons from the Arab countries.  

Since 1967, when Israel won the largest war ever against the whole community of Arabs in their united attack, and Israel won this war in 6 days, an outright miracle, the Arabs have been stewing and plotting their revenge.  Even now, Iran is in the mix, ready with nuclear weapons for sure, the way the talks in Vienna are going, to wipe out Israel and become the leader of all the Arabs, kicking Saudi Arabia out of this position they have held.  

But even the Arabs have been altering their position over these past 74 years, and in this last year, have been a part of the new Abraham Accords, where some have made peace with Israel.  They have accepted valid facts and figures, and the fact that both have had to realize is that we are very long distant cousins since the days of Abraham, who were all involved in G-d's promise that the descendants were to live in the Middle East, and that included the    descendants of Jacob as well, who were the Jews. 

Can't the Americans realize that the Palestinians, who not involved in the Abraham Accords, are not ready to do anything but destroy Israel? They had divided interests and had split into Fatah and Hamas, an active terrorist group. Arafat was president (1996–2004) of the Palestinian Authority (PA), chairman (1969–2004) of the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO), and leader of Fatah, the largest of the constituent PLO groups. In 1993 he led the PLO to a peace agreement with the Israeli government. Arafat and Yitzhak Rabin and Shimon Peres of Israel were jointly awarded the Nobel Prize for Peace in 1994.  

Israel, years ago, gave Gaza to the Palestinians, lock, stock an barrel.  They kicked out their own people and they even left all their businesses for them, the buildings, everything.  With Obama's insistence, they were allowed to vote for a leader, and never having had the luxury of the vote before, allowed themselves to be taken in by the biggest terrorist group. 

 President Mahmoud Abbas agreed to stay on until the next election, but he is recognized as president only in the West Bank and not by Hamas in Gaza. 

Ismail Haniya has been reelected again by Hamas.  He has controlled the group's political activities in Gaza, the Israeli-occupied West Bank and the diaspora largely from outside Gaza, splitting his time between Turkey and Qatar for the past two years [Aziz Taher/Reuters]   Ismail and Mahmoud have rarely agreed on anything, so the two groups are different entities.  I'm asking, how can there ever be a Palestine nation in the first place with their proposed land not united?  Is there to be a Palestine and a Falesatine?  They both live separately and have been for the past 74 years, each with their own leader.  

Israel has been in the same position that Ukraine finds themselves in with an invasion, though Israel was invaded by Palestinians 5 minutes after they had become a state! Israel  had no army, navy, marines, just a people accepting the Jewish survivors of the Holocaust, some still wearing their ragged clothing from there who had to pick up a gun and help this population to survive.  The Palestinian Arabs haven't stopped attacking since then.  

Left to right: Faisal of Saudi Arabia, Nasser of Egypt, Sallal of Yemen, Sabah of Kuwait and Arif of Iraq

What would a Palestine State gain from their present position?  Doesn't the USA realize that since 1967, the Palestinians swore to the 3 No's?   No peace with Israel, no recognition of Israel, no negotiations with Israel.  I don't see this changing after a Palestinian State is created by 2 leaders in 2 different states. Shouldn't the Palestinians tear this up before a state is even spoken about?                        

             Naftali Bennett: Israel’s new Prime Minister

Israel is a united Democratic state made up of people of Judaism at 80% and of Islam at 20%. Among the global Jewish population, the number of Jews in Israel is close to 6.9 million (compared to 6.8 million in 5781), while about 8.3 million live outside Israel (including around 6 million in the United States). 

Their Jews hold varied positions from the extreme left to the extreme right.  With the 7 million people, there must be 7 million positions, but the majority ARE UNITED IN NOT WANTING TO SEE A PALESTINE NEXT DOOR.  In fact, they'd love to see the present attacks end.  You, USA, are asking them to accept their continual enemies become neighbors as another state.  That's like trading Canada for Russia and and Mexico for China.  How'd you like that?  

If I could have my way, every Senator would be required to read the book, From Time Immemorial by Joan Peters, then have a lecture on it and discussion groups.  I feel they've voted on something they know nothing about; going with the flow of the strongest tide.  Israel has to hold the line and not be bent into going along with the impossible.  Stiff-necked has been our description.  Let it be so in not accepting killers to become a state.  

 If anything happens like it has with Ukraine, they will be responsible.  

Resource:

https://www.israelnationalnews.com/news/323870

https://www.israelam.com/?gclid=Cj0KCQjwuMuRBhCJARIsAHXdnqMy9q_122Ocrz2gAGq8CNKVKzEw1RLzb-Uhft2hpEPrCQ2TcPz3E6UaAoHDEALw_wcB

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1967_Arab_League_summit#:~:text=The%201967%20Arab%20League%20summit,Israel%2C%20no%20negotiations%20with%20Israel.

https://www.jewishagency.org/jewish-population-5782/#:~:text=Among%20the%20global%20Jewish%20population,million%20in%20the%20United%20States).

From Time Immemorial by Joan Peters

Philistines Meet Israelites

 Nadene Goldfoot                                                 

        Asia Minor in Biblical Days Where Philistines Came From                                       

                       Philistine portrait 

                           

                             

Abraham and his son, Isaac, came into contact with the Philistines.  They were a Mediterranean people, apparently originating from Asia Minor and Greek localities.  They reached Eretz Yisrael in various waves.  Abraham was born in the 2nd millennium, in about 1948 BCE and came in conflict with them as an adult. He would have died in the year 1773 BCE.  "And Abraham sojourned in the land of the Philistines many years.(Gen. 21:34)".  Famine moved Isaac from the Negev to the Philistine country.  

The pagan Philistines (Judges 14:3, 1Samuel 14:6), who did not worship or obey the one true God, were a violent race willing to perform sometimes gruesome acts to strike fear into the hearts of their enemy.  After Joshua's death, the tribe of Judah battles the Philistines and takes their major cities of Gaza, Askhelon, and Ekron. The enemy regroups, however, and in a short time retakes its territory (Judges 1:18 - 19, 3:1 - 3).

The political structure of Philistine society was unique. There was no unified Philistine nation-state or even a Philistine kingdom to speak of; the Philistine people were somewhat unified by a confederacy of the five leading cities: Ashdod, Gath, Ashkelon, Ekron, and Gaza. Those cities, referred to as the “Pentapolis,” were first referenced in Joshua 13:3. Each of the five cities was ruled by a chieftain known as a seranim, which was probably an Indo-European word closely related to the Hittite word tarwanis and the classical Greek word tyrannous. The individual chieftains set the agenda in their cities, but when it came time for war, then they all met to make a group decision. It is unknown for sure which of the five cities was the most important if any were, but the Old Testament book of I Samuel 6:16 mentions that after the Philistines had taken the Ark of the Covenant from the Israelites and then suffered great calamities. As a result, they decided to return the relic to the Israelites. After the Philistines returned the Ark, “the five lords of the Philistines had seen it, they returned to Ekron the same day.” This passage implies that Ekron was the leading Philistine city, at least in the eyes of the Israelites.

Ekron is mentioned in Assyrian and Egyptian sources as well as in the Bible where the local god is called Baal Zebub.  When Alexander Balas gave Ekron to Jonathan the Hasmonean in 147 BCE, and according to Eusebius, it was a large village inhabited by Jews in the 3rd century CE.  The modern Israel town of Mazkeret Batyah, in the vicinity of what is believed to have been the ancient site, was originally called Ekron. 

                                                    

One group of  Philistines had settled south of Beersheba in Gerar where they came into conflict with Abraham and Isaac. Abraham and Abimelech, Philistine king of Gerar,  had reached an agreement in Beer-sheba, indicating that Abimelech was near his land of the Philistines as he and his General Phicol, the chief captain of the army of Abimelech, returned to the land of the Philistines from there. The Philistines took advantage of the latest technology and used it in battles (Judges 1:19, 1Samuel 13:19 - 20). They were also willing to take military risks and carry out repeated offensives against their foes.   

Abimelech (in Hebrew, melekh means king) and Aba means father, so Abi must mean my father; Abraham had just finished a pact of friendship (Gen 21).  The account of Abraham's relations with Abimelech (Gen. 20) resembles, in some respects, the story of the latter's relations with Abraham's son, Isaac.  (Gen 26). Because of his friendly association with both Abraham and Isaac, the rabbis accorded Abimelech a place in paradise among the Pious Heathens.  Abraham is said to have pitched his tent among the Canaanite and Philistine people of Eretz Yisrael.  He visited Egypt, and returned to live in Hebron.  He fought to deliver Lot, his nephew, from Chedorlaomer, King of Elam, Amraphel, King of Shinar, and their allies.  It is said that he lived until age 175.  

Another group of Philistines came from Crete after being repulsed from Egypt by Rameses III in 1194 BCE who seized the southern coastal area of Eretz Yisrael where they founded 5 principalities:  Gaza, Ascalon, Ashdod, Ekron, and Gath.  By nature a fighting people, they dominated parts of Judah in the period of the Judges. 

The Philistine cities of Gaza, Gath and Ashdod housed giant enemy warriors known as the children of Anak (Anakim, Numbers 13:28, 33, Joshua 11:22).                                                     

                                            

Gath was one of the 5 Philistine cities in the southern coastal plain.  It was the home of Goliath.  Gath  was captured by David, fortified by King Rehoboam, but lost to the Assyrian king, Sargon in the 8th century BCE.                                          

Goliath, either said to be 6'9" or 9'9",  the Philistine giant from Gath was slain by David in single combat.  (I Sam. 17:21:10). Goliath, who lived in Gath, was conservatively 9 feet 6 inches tall (2.9 meters), wore a battle coat weighing 80 pounds (36.2 kilograms) and threw a spear with a 17-pound (7.7 kilogram) head! David and his men fought these giants on several occasions (1Samuel 17, 2Samuel 21:15 - 20).

 According to another tradition, Goliath was killed by Elhanan, the Bethlehemite. (II Sam. 21-19). David hurls a stone from his sling and hits Goliath in the center of his forehead, Goliath falls on his face to the ground, David cuts off his head. The Philistines flee and are pursued by the Israelites "as far as Gath and the gates of Ekron". David puts the armor of Goliath in his own tent and takes the head to Jerusalem, and Saul sends Abner to bring the boy to him. The king asks whose son he is, and David answers, "I am the son of your servant Jesse the Bethlehemite."

David impressed Saul with his military prowess in war with the Philistines by being able to marry Saul's daughter, Michal.  However, Saul became jealous of this great warrior's ability, causing David to run for his life and seek refuge with Achish, king of Gath, a Philistine king. Saul and 3 of his sons were later killed at the battle of Mt. Gilboa.   David then succeeded in breaking the Philistine military power and annexed the entire coastal belt. David was fighting against other groups as well at this time, like the Edomites, Ammonites, and Moabites as well as Aram (Syria); and signed treaties with Sidon and Tyre and extended the Israelite frontiers to an extent never again attained.  

Achish, this Philistine king, David had sought asylum with him because of the proximity of his realm to the frontier of Judah.  Other refugees would do this, too.  Achish led the Philistine army at the battle of Mt. Gilboa in which Saul was killed.  He continued to reign after David's conquest of Philistia. 

 David and his men battle the Philistines an astonishing thirteen times (1Samuel 17, 18:17 - 27, 19:8, 23:1 - 5, 2Samuel 5:17 - 25, 21:15 - 20, 23:9 - 16). His victories destroy their ability to make war (1Chronicles 18:1) for at least 130 years. In 843 B.C., however, they and their Arab allies fight their way to Jerusalem, capture royal prisoners and then ransack the palace (2Chronicles 21:16 - 17).                                 

 The Philistines' pagan fish god, Dagon.  Shrines are mentioned at Gaza (Judg. 16:12).  Ashdod (I Sam. 5:1-7) and Beth Shean (I chron. 10:10).  Dagon occupied an important place in the Ugaritic pantheon.  He was a god of the soil and plant growth and widely worshiped in the Middle Eastern countries.  This cult was adopted by the Philistines when they entered Canaan.  

Philistines  sought to exploit any weakness or distraction on the part of their enemy. For example, they launched an invasion of Israel when King Saul was foolishly pursuing David in the wilderness (1Samuel 23:24 - 28).  The Philistines, after years of battling Israel's King Saul, were finally able to overcome and kill both him and three of his sons on Mount Gilboa. They celebrated their greatest success by chopping off Saul's head and sending this gruesome war trophy on a victory tour throughout their land. When the head completed its tour, they hung it in up in their temple dedicated to Dagon.  In order to further advertise the victory they felt Dagon gave them, they fastened Saul's headless corpse, along with the bodies of his sons (one of which was David's close friend Jonathan), to the wall surrounding Beth-shan (1Chronciles 10:8 - 10, 1Samuel 31:8 - 13).

Saul at first repelled the danger but was ultimately defeated.  David, however, ended the era of Philistine domination and overran Philistia. 

                                                                

Samson, an Israelite judge,  fell in love with a Philistine woman. He had been a fighter of the Philistines and won many feats.  He fought for the desire to be free of the Philistine suzerainty.  He fell into the Philistine hands as a result of the deceit of Delilah who betrayed the secret of is superior strength as lying in his hair; She cut off his hair.    How brutal was this enemy of God's people? When the Philistines finally discovered Samson's weakness, they overpowered and arrested him. They then proceeded to gouge his eyes out from their sockets and made him (no doubt in excruciating pain) grind grain in a prison (Judges 16:21).  The efforts of Samson significantly weaken Philistine aggression (Judges 14 - 16). In just a few years after his death, however, they humiliatingly defeat Israel's army on two separate occasions. They kill 34,000 Israelites, including the High Priest's two sons, and capture the Ark of the Covenant (1Samuel 4).

When the Israelite kingdom dissolved in 920 BCE when King Solomon died, the Philistines re-established their independence but were never thereafter a serious factor. Between the days of Abraham and David were 763 years.  The Philistines had become hostile after having a peaceful beginning with the Israelites.  

In  (Joel 3:4 - 8). it tells how the Philistines kidnapped Judeans and sold them to the Greeks.  

The Philistines came to the Levant from the Aegean and brought with them a religion that was very different than that practiced by the Israelites, or even than what was practiced by their Canaanite neighbors for that matter. The Philistines were by nature an aggressive and expansionist people, which was ultimately the primary reason why the two peoples clashed. The Philistines expanded their influence in the region until they collided with the Israelites in the middle of the eleventh century BC. The two peoples then fought a series of wars that lasted for nearly a century, which ultimately decided who would be the dominant group in the region.

Thus says the Lord God, "Because the Philistines have taken vengeance; yes, have taken vengeance with spite in their heart, to destroy it (His people) with never ending hatred . . . Behold, I will stretch out My hand on the Philistines . . . and will destroy the rest of the sea coast. And I will execute great vengeance on them . . ." (Ezekiel 25:15 - 17, HBFV).

Israelites were descendants of Shem, the sons being Elam, Asshur, Arpachshad, Lud, and Aram(Syria). Their dwelling place extended from Mesha going toward Sephar, the mountain to the east. 

What happened to the Philistines?  In the Persian and Greek Periods, foreign settlers, chiefly from the Mediterranean islands, overran the Philistine districts.  The Philistines had become ancient Israel's longest and greatest enemy. They had become the feared foe of the Israelites for close to 700 years.  

                                                    

Constant rocket fire coming from Gaza into Israel has caused retaliation.Gaza has been warned time and time again that Israel will respond.  One conflageration on the Temple Mount started by Palestinians caused them to rain more than 4,369 rockets were launched toward Sderot, Ashkelon, Ashdod, Jerusalem and neighboring communities. Ten Israelis were killed. More than 90 percent of projectiles heading toward populated areas were intercepted by Iron Dome. Roughly a third of the rockets landed inside the Gaza Strip. Most of the others landed in open fields.  This attack brought Israel to a standstill in their bomb shelters closing down work and school. It happened from May 10-20, 2021.  

 From the time of Herodotus, Greeks called Palestine after the Philistines with the name, Syria Palaestina, and under Emperor Hadrian, the Romans gave the name officially to the former land of Judah.  Living in the same place, Gaza, of many Philistines, are the Palestinians; a branch   of Hamas, who have become most war-like.  I don't believe that Israel of today has the patience to wait for another 700 years to end this problem.    

Egypt, by comparison, has a history of going back for almost 30 centuries—from its unification around 3100 B.C.E. Ancient Egypt was the preeminent civilization in the Mediterranean world. 

Resource:

The New Standard Jewish Encyclopedia

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lycia

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Achish

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Goliath

https://www.biblestudy.org/maps/why-are-philistines-greatest-israel-enemy.html

https://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/palestinian-rocket-and-mortar-attacks-against-israel

Mother of Roman Emperor Who had The Last Word: Helen

Nadene Goldfoot                                 

           

Jerusalem had been destroyed by Emperor Titus in 70 CE along with the complete destruction of the 2nd Temple on the Temple Mount.  The Jewish people had been starved to death who tried to stay during the attack.  After it was over, those still alive were taken as slaves to Rome.  Some had managed to escape to Spain and other parts of the world.  
                                                      

                                                                   

 Aluf Bar Kokhba took Jerusalem back in 132
and held it for 3 years

 Emperor Hadrian, Roman Emperor from 117 to 138  had rebuilt the city somewhat during the 130's when Aluf Bar Kokhba of the Judean  Army had reappeared with men and had retaken Jerusalem and held it for 3 years in 132.  He was said to be of Davidic descent.  His name meant, "son of the star."  He was the nephew of Rabbi Eleazar of Modiin.  There was a revolt against Hadrian in 132 CE which Simeon Bar Kokhba led. Reasons for the revolt would be to take back their city of David!  That should be enough reason.  Jerusalem was being rebuilt as a Roman colony.  There was an edict out of a prohibition of circumcision to remaining Jews.  Bar Kokhba and his men recaptured Jerusalem, but it's hard to imagine that they were able to annihilate a whole legion of Romans.  Even so, coins were minted during those 3 successful years with the names of Simeon and Eleazer the head Priest (Cohen) which shows an established revolutionary regime.  
                                                    

Hadrian had visited Jerusalem in 130 and decided to hellenize the country by converting Jerusalem into a Roman colony named after himself.  This caused the rebellion against him by the jews.   The war with the Jews led by Bar Kokhba was the most difficult of his reign.   After his victory, he had the title of Imperator.  Judea became a consular province called Syria-Palaestina.  

The ruins of Jerusalem were reconstructed as a pagan city, and an equestrian statue of Hadrian was erected on the site of the Holy of Holies.  A Roman Temple was built over the site and lasted until the Moslem period when they built a mosque over the Roman Temple.  
                                                     
 From the Talmud we read that the Romans first entered Galilee, then 133 CE, the Romans held a counterattack with an army of 35,000 under Hadrian and the commander, Julius Severus had begun. They fought in actions for the Valley of Jezreel, Ephraim and the Judean Hills, eventually retaking Jerusalem.   
                                                 

Hadrian

 From 134 to 135 CE, the Romans reduced the remaining hill and cave strongholds, Betar, of the Judeans.  Bar Kokhba was killed  when Betar fell when it was stormed by such a huge army.  The Romans had destroyed 50 fortresses and 985 villages, and of 580,000 Jewish casualties besides those who died of hunger and disease.  As a result of the revolt, Judea fell into desolation, its population was annihilated, and Jerusalem was turned into a heathen city, barred to Jews.  Bar Kokhba's personality has been blurred by censorship, but he must be credited with the military ability in organizing a nearly total popular revolt which engaged the best Roman forces for over 3 years.  It was an embarrassment to the Romans and they were ready to punish the Jews.  
                                                                               

 Rabbi Akiva said Bar Kokhba was the Messiah, but not all the rabbis accepted this view.  In the Talmud, he is represented as having great personal strength, was autocratic and irascible.  Letters he had written have been found near at the Dead Sea.  

By now, the Roman Emperor Hadrian had built a temple over the site of Jesus's tomb near Calvary and renamed Jerusalem as Aelia Capitolina.  He dedicated the Temple to either of his gods Venus or Jupiter.  
                                                        

Queen Helena (246-330CE) was the mother of Emperor Constantine the Great.  Supposedly she had destroyed this temple, known then as being for Venus, to be torn down.  Such is the story told by the end of the 4th century.  She had chosen a site to begin excavation which led to the recovery of remnants from her chosen god, Jesus, and was looking for crosses.  There already was a Bishop Macarius of Jerusalem who may have helped this story along by then, and said that the Queen had a woman near death brought from the city, and when she touched the first two crosses, her condition didn't change, but when she touched the third and last cross, she suddenly recovered.  Helena then declared the cross touched to be THE TRUE CROSS.  
                                                                         

Queen Helena had been born to the lowest of commoners, possibly in Drepana, Bithynia in Asia Minor, and had become the consort of the future Roman Emperor, Constantius Chlorus who reigned from 293 to 306, and was the mother of the future Emperor Constantine the Great who reigned fro 306 to 337, a regular Cinderella story.  She helped Christianity get started due to her influence on her son.  In her final years, she made a religious tour of Syria Palaestina and Jerusalem.  During this time, she allegedly discovered THE TRUE CROSS.  Later established churches;  The Eastern Orthodox Church, Oriental Orthodox Church, Roman Catholic Church, and the Anglican Communion Church revered her as a saint.  The Lutheran Church commemorates her. 
                                                          

" Helena left Jerusalem and the eastern provinces in 327 to return to Rome, bringing with her large parts of the True Cross and other relics, which were then stored in her palace's private chapel, where they can be still seen today. Her palace was later converted into the Basilica of the Holy Cross in Jerusalem. This has been maintained by Cistercian monks in the monastery which has been attached to the church for centuries."
                                                                    

Her son, Constantine I "the Great", was the 1st Christian emperor of Rome and ruled from 312 to 337.  He's the one responsible for the EDICT OF TOLERATION which he issued at Milan in 312 which established the supremacy of Christianity.  It was like a political battle between the new Christianity and the long established Judaism.  In 315, his decrees took on anti-Jewish attacks, canceling Jewish exemptions from political office and prohibiting proselytization or interference with Jewish converts to Christianity.  
                                
The emperor's legislation initiated the legal degradation of Jews that was characteristic of the Middle Ages.  Actually, this was the first government produced anti-Semitism and would set the stage for many countries to follow such as Spain's Spanish Inquisition.  

The irony is that Rome had an edict of Toleration against new Christians a few years earlier.  "On February 23, 303, on the Terminalia feast, Emperor Diocletian, by proposal of Galerius, issued a persecutory edict. The edict prescribed: much of what he used against Jews.  Then the next emperor did the very same thing to the Jews only worse.  

"Constantine's mother,Empress Helena, a woman of low social standing  was from Helenopolis of Bithynia. It is uncertain whether she was legally married to Constantius or merely his concubine. His main language was Latin, and during his public speeches he needed Greek translators.  "In 288, Maximian appointed Constantius to serve as his praetorian prefect in Gaul.   Constantius left Helena to marry Maximian's stepdaughter Theodora in 288 or 289.

Resource:  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Helena_%28empress%29

The New Standard Jewish Encyclopedia

https://www.britannica.com/topic/Edict-of-Toleration
https://jewishbubba.blogspot.com/2013/11/how-roman-edict-for-toleration-meant-to.html
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Constantine_the_Great

https://jewishbubba.blogspot.com/2016/07/horrors-of-2nd-temple-and-jerusalem.html