Thoughts from a Paleo Conservative Mind

Hello Friends,

I'm Jamal Greene. I have a passion for politics, both domestic and international, and this blog is dedicated to that passion. In my blog I cover US politics, the Economy, matters of National Security, and International Relations. I am, as my title suggest, a Conservative, Classically Liberal. Think Goldwater, not Bush.
Progressives are trying to dramatically transform this country into something our Founders would not recognize as the America they sought to establish. I believe it is time for the citizens of this great nation to stand up to those who seek to encroach on our freedoms; its time to stand up and be heard. Be Silent No More.

Tuesday, June 8, 2010

On Israel and Palestine: Separating Fact from Conspiracy

After posting a YouTube video on the recent events occurring near the Gaza involving Israel and the Flotilla, I have been berated with messages about the content of the video. Most of the messages have been positive and supportive, but some have quite over the top in my opinion and will be addressed in this writing.

At the heart of the Flotilla incident lays the outgoing Israeli-Palestinian/Arab conflict; a conflict that’s been fought for many with no end in sight. The Jewish people believe Israel to be their ancestral homeland and therefore gives them the right to return and claim what was historical theirs. The Palestinians and Arabs, who populated the land in the absence of the Jews for nearly 1300 years, believe the land is theirs. Both sides have validity to their claims and this is why I support a two state solution to the crises, although I’m not so sure one will ever materialize. The Case for the Jewish state is simple: They were there first. Let me start by saying that I am in no way shape or form a dispensationalists or believer in Eschatology, religion or religious teachings play no part in my reasoning. It is a fact of secular history that in 1480 BCE Tuthmosis III became ruler of Egypt; he reigned from 1480 BCE until 1426 BCE. During his reign he conquered many of the areas in and around the modern state of Israel, formerly the land of Canaan. After his victory over the inhabitants of the land it is believed by historians that he enslaved around 90,000 of them, taking them into Egyptian captivity. After many centuries of Egyptian captivity, the number of years is still an ongoing debate, the Semitic people who had been taken out of the land in and around Canaan, modern Israel, now sought to return there. Secular history testifies to the existence of the Kingdom of Israel, Judah included, with Saul being its first king and David being its most famous. King Saul began his reign around 1020 BCE and David assumed the thrown years. After David, his son Solomon assumed the thrown and built the first of two Jewish temples in Jerusalem. The first temple was destroyed by the Babylonians around 586 BCE; the second was destroyed by the Romans in 70 CE during the siege of Jerusalem. A reading of history confirms the existence of such temples, and if there are still any doubts all anyone has to do is look to the Western Wall, all that’s left of the temple, for validation. From the time of the Kingdom of David until around the beginning of the 7th century CE, the Jewish people had a constant and lasting presence on the land of modern day Israel. For example, even after the Kingdom of Israel split after Solomon’s death into the kingdoms of Northern Israel and Judah, the Jews remained on that land. Even after the Northern Kingdoms fell to Assyria around 722 BCE, the Jews remained. When the first temple was destroyed by the Babylonians around 586 BCE and many Jews were led into Babylonian captivity, some Jews remained. After the Babylonians were defeated around 539 by Cyrus of Persia the Jews were permitted to return to the land of their forefathers, which many of them did. The Jewish people erect the second temple around 515 BCE and maintain their presence on the land during Persian, Greek, and Roman occupations. The Jewish presence in their historic homeland begins to wade in and around the years of the Crusades as they were driven out by Christian and Muslim fighters.
From that time on the Jews begin to disperse from one part of the world to another. The Jews left their ancestral homeland and sought refuge throughout Europe, with some making homes for themselves as far away as China, yes China. There are Chinese Jews and Hispanic Jews, even Black Jews due to the diaspora; the Jewish people have come to have a diverse and multicultural presence throughout the world.

In the case of the Palestinians/Arabs, as stated earlier, from around 638 CE, beginning with the siege of Jerusalem under the caliphate of Umar, Muslims began to claim sovereignty over the land. Muslims, like Christians and Jews, believe Jerusalem to be a special city, a holy city. It was from Jerusalem, according to Islam, and at the site of what is called today by Muslims Al-Aqsa Mosque, that the prophet Muhammad ascended into heaven. From 638 CE until present day, there is nearly 1300 years of Arab occupation of what they came to call Palestine. So I understand the claim made by the Arabs that it’s their land; even though I would disagree with it. After the end of WWI and the defeat of the Ottoman Empire, the holy land fell to the control of Western Powers and under a League of Nations mandate, the British Government obtained rule over what was Palestine. It was the world powers that decided to recreate a Jewish state on their ancestral homeland, and they had every authority and right to do so. Some may call that imperialism and say they stole the land from the Arabs and gave it to the Jews. Well, in 638 CE when the Muslims conquer Jerusalem and took control of the holy land, where they stealing it from the Eastern European Christian empire already there? The Arabs obtained it the same way the Byzantine Empire (Eastern Europeans) did, as did the Greeks before them, which was through war. Land and territory acquisition through war is replete throughout world history. Throughout history war has gains and consequences, winners and losers. In the case of WWI the Ottomans lost and due to that lost consequences ensued; the consequence was that they lost control of what they called Palestine, among other territories.

So today we stand at a point when neither of the parties, the Israelis nor Palestinians are ready to make any real concessions on the issue of land. The Palestinians and some of their sympathizers claim that they are under a type of South African like apartheid, by which they are trapped in ghettos and cut off from the rest of the world by Israeli security checkpoints. Is this true? The Apartheid no, the vast security check points yes. The Apartheid in South Africa was based solely on racial hatred; the same claim cannot be made about Israel’s security policies. After all, if the Israelis truly hate Arabs why do hundreds of thousands of them (Arabs) live in the state of Israel? Yes, hundreds of thousands of Arabs actually live in Israel and live there by choice. Israel doesn’t have a racial problem, it has a security problem. For example, in 2007 during the month of August 81 rockets and 101 mortar bombs were fired from Hamas controlled Gaza into Israel. To Hamas and Free Gaza sympathizers, what would any sovereign nation’s response be to 81 rockets and 101 mortars being shot across their border besides a dramatic increase in security? In this case the Israelis know where the attacks are coming from so they simply isolate and target that area; that’s good security policy not apartheid. In September 2007, 70 rockets and 132 mortar bombs were fired into Israel from Gaza; in November and December of 2007 178 rockets and 209 mortar bombs were fired from Gaza; and in 2008 alone 1,750 rockets and 1,528 mortar bombs were fired from Hamas controlled Gaza into Israel. The problem in Gaza isn’t Israel, the problem is Hamas and its declaration to see the state of Israel destroyed through holy war. How can Israel make peace, a true and lasting peace, with a government that has in its official charter a mandate to see them annihilated?

Lastly, as far as the conspiracy theories go regarding the Jews and their control of the world’s money supply, I don’t read too much into conspiracy because they aren’t easily proven; of course if they could be they would be conspiracies. Do I believe the Jewish Rothschild family, among others, are involved in an international scheme to control the world financial systems and the state of Israel plays apart in their plans? No. Although conspiracy theories make for good books and interesting conversation, they are not reliable sources of information and are often used as tools of propaganda. Remember The Protocols of the Elders of Zion?