<nettime> Palestinians as Myth

["Douglas Rushkoff" <rushkoff@well.com>]

Could this article from Worldnet Daily possibly be true? It's apparently
by an Arab-American journalist/commentator, whose columns are at
http://www.worldnetdaily.com/bluesky_btl/20001011_xcbtl_myths_brmi.shtml

----
Myths of the
Middle East
Joseph Farah

© 2000 WorldNetDaily.com


I've been quiet since Israel erupted in fighting spurred by disputes over
the Temple Mount.

Until now, I haven't even bothered to say, "See, I told you so." But I
can't resist any longer. I feel compelled to remind you of the column I
wrote just a couple weeks before the latest uprising. Yeah, folks, I
predicted it. That's OK. Hold your applause.

After all, I wish I had been wrong. More than 80 people have been killed
since the current fighting in and around Jerusalem began. And for what?

If you believe what you read in most news sources, Palestinians want a
homeland and Muslims want control over sites they consider holy. Simple,
right?

Well, as an Arab-American journalist who has spent some time in the Middle
East dodging more than my share of rocks and mortar shells, I've got to
tell you that these are just phony excuses for the rioting, trouble-making
and land-grabbing.

Isn't it interesting that prior to the 1967 Arab-Israeli war, there was no
serious movement for a Palestinian homeland?

"Well, Farah," you might say, "that was before the Israelis seized the
West Bank and Old Jerusalem."

That's true. In the Six-Day War, Israel captured Judea, Samaria and East
Jerusalem. But they didn't capture these territories from Yasser Arafat.
They captured them from Jordan's King Hussein. I can't help but wonder why
all these Palestinians suddenly discovered their national identity after
Israel won the war.

The truth is that Palestine is no more real than Never-Never Land. The
first time the name was used was in 70 A.D. when the Romans committed
genocide against the Jews, smashed the Temple and declared the land of
Israel would be no more. From then on, the Romans promised, it would be
known as Palestine. The name was derived from the Philistines, a
Goliathian people conquered by the Jews centuries earlier. It was a way
for the Romans to add insult to injury. They also tried to change the name
of Jerusalem to Aelia Capitolina, but that had even less staying power.

Palestine has never existed -- before or since -- as an autonomous entity.
It was ruled alternately by Rome, by Islamic and Christian crusaders, by
the Ottoman Empire and, briefly, by the British after World War I. The
British agreed to restore at least part of the land to the Jewish people
as their homeland.

There is no language known as Palestinian. There is no distinct
Palestinian culture. There has never been a land known as Palestine
governed by Palestinians. Palestinians are Arabs, indistinguishable from
Jordanians (another recent invention), Syrians, Lebanese, Iraqis, etc.
Keep in mind that the Arabs control 99.9 percent of the Middle East lands.
Israel represents one-tenth of 1 percent of the landmass.

But that's too much for the Arabs. They want it all. And that is
ultimately what the fighting in Israel is about today. Greed. Pride. Envy.
Covetousness. No matter how many land concessions the Israelis make, it
will never be enough.

What about Islam's holy sites? There are none in Jerusalem.

Shocked? You should be. I don't expect you will ever hear this brutal
truth from anyone else in the international media. It's just not
politically correct.

I know what you're going to say: "Farah, the Al Aqsa Mosque and the Dome
of the Rock in Jerusalem represent Islam's third most holy sites."

Not true. In fact, the Koran says nothing about Jerusalem. It mentions
Mecca hundreds of times. It mentions Medina countless times. It never
mentions Jerusalem. With good reason. There is no historical evidence to
suggest Mohammed ever visited Jerusalem.

So how did Jerusalem become the third holiest site of Islam? Muslims today
cite a vague passage in the Koran, the seventeenth Sura, entitled "The
Night Journey." It relates that in a dream or a vision Mohammed was
carried by night "from the sacred temple to the temple that is most
remote, whose precinct we have blessed, that we might show him our signs.
..." In the seventh century, some Muslims identified the two temples
mentioned in this verse as being in Mecca and Jerusalem. And that's as
close as Islam's connection with Jerusalem gets -- myth, fantasy, wishful
thinking. Meanwhile, Jews can trace their roots in Jerusalem back to the
days of Abraham.

The latest round of violence in Israel erupted when Likud Party leader
Ariel Sharon tried to visit the Temple Mount, the foundation of the Temple
built by Solomon. It is the holiest site for Jews. Sharon and his
entourage were met with stones and threats. I know what it's like. I've
been there. Can you imagine what it is like for Jews to be threatened,
stoned and physically kept out of the holiest site in Judaism?

So what's the solution to the Middle East mayhem? Well, frankly, I don't
think there is a man-made solution to the violence. But, if there is one,
it needs to begin with truth. Pretending will only lead to more chaos.
Treating a 5,000-year-old birthright backed by overwhelming historical and
archaeological evidence equally with illegitimate claims, wishes and wants
gives diplomacy and peacekeeping a bad name.



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