Ray, Re being a relative, Arab Muslims, Christians, and Jews all tend to see themselves and each other as the children of Abraham. Your note about Israelites calling Greek migrants Philistines was the first I had heard of that. Arabs tend to refer to Israelis as 'owlaad al aam' which means children of my father's brother. I think you are right that terminology is a very important issue. A lot of Palestinians [from the Arabic Philistine] consider themselves as Canaanites.
Bill On Tue, 10 Jun 2003 22:20:44 -0400 "Ray Evans Harrell" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> writes: > At the time of King David the Mycenaean Greeks had landed on the > coast of > Israel. They formed a people who were not Habiru or Canaan. They > were > known by the Israelites as Philistines and were the opposite of the > Israelis > although the Israelis took many of their better architectural > features from > them. It was the metaphor of David and the Philistine giant that > the > intifada took for their image stealing it from the Israelis. The > child > who stops a giant with a stone. > > The one who tried to tie the Athens and Jerusalem together was the > Jewish > philosopher Leo Strauss who used the Greeks as reason and Jerusalem > as the > revelation saying that one needed both in order to evolve. Of > course, the > Jewish settlers called the Arabs that they met in Palestine > "Philistines" > and that was not a good place to begin. > > Today, everyone has to give up something. The orthodox have to > grow up and > discover the Israel within that evades them while the Palestinians > have to > acknowledge that Israel is antecedent to Islam and that Islam > wouldn't exist > without the Jewish prophets in their own book. It comes down to > families > being able to get along. The Jews will have to share and pay > reparations > (at least the settlements) and the Palestinians will have to accept > the fact > that a relative has come home and that the ancient stories are no > longer > applicable. That they must built a future together. If they > can't do > that then they will be known as just a couple of warring tribes > that don't > deserve all of the accolades that the world gives them as major > spiritual > centers and the world will wipe the dust from its feet. > > I hope they do decide to get along. I like the Jews. I will > always be a > relative and the Arabs although foreign to me, seem to have a very > interesting culture and history. Sacrifice is what makes sacred. > That > land will never be holy unless the two decide to make it so > together. IMHO. > > REH > > > > > > > ----- Original Message ----- > From: "Ed Weick" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > To: "Brad McCormick, Ed.D." <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>; "Ray Evans > Harrell" > <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > Cc: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>; <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > Sent: Tuesday, June 10, 2003 7:55 PM > Subject: Re: [Futurework] Athens and Jerusalem > > > > Brad, take a look at > http://members.eisa.com/~ec086636/christians&jews.htm > > on my website. It may answer your question to at least some > extent. Here > > are some references to Judaic-Greek interactions from the site: > > > > "Arguably, Christianity owes its origin less to Judaism than to > the > Greeks. > > The Christian sense of mystery and duality, of good and evil, of > Heaven > and > > Hell, of generalized sin as opposed to disobedience of divine law, > of a > > pantheon consisting of a great god and lesser and more > specialized > spiritual > > beings, is essentially Greek. But it would seem that what > Christians also > > inherited from the Greeks was a prejudice against the Jews. To > some > > considerable degree, this prejudice was economically based. The > Jews > formed > > a large part of the population of the Graeco-Roman world. Many of > them > were > > neither poor nor downtrodden, but wealthy and powerful, a matter > which > > played no small role in their eventual persecution. > > > > The wealthiest Jews were to be found in the major commercial > centers of > the > > ancient Mediterranean world. Among the most prominent of these > centers was > > Alexandria, which was founded by Alexander himself in 332 BCE, and > which, > in > > a generation or two, had displaced Athens as the Mediterranean's > most > > important commercial and cultural center. > > > > By the standards of the day, Alexandria was a large city. At the > time of > > Christ, it had nearly half a million people, with Jews comprising > some 30 > to > > 40 percent of its population. From Alexandria, the Ptolemies, a > dynasty > > founded by Alexander, maintained close control over the economy of > Egypt, > > Rome's wealthiest province and granary. However, following the > death of > > Cleopatra VII, the last of the Ptolemies, in 30 B.C., the city > fell under > > direct Roman rule, and a path was opened to greater individual > initiative. > > It would appear that the Jews took full advantage of this, > accumulating > > wealth and economic influence, and incurring the envy and wrath of > the > Greek > > Gentile population. Much the same process occurred throughout the > Roman > > world, engendering strong anti-Jewish feeling. Gentiles both > envied and > > dreaded the Jews, feeling that they would be overwhelmed by > growing Jewish > > influence while their own income and wealth remained stagnant. The > several > > references in Greek and Latin literature to the wealth of the Jews > and > > Jewish rulers suggest that such envy was not misplaced. It became > a major > > source of anti-Jewish hostility throughout the classical period. > (Feldman, > > Louis H., Jew and Gentile in the Ancient World, Princeton, 1993, > > pp.108-109)" > > > > Ed Weick > > > > > > ----- Original Message ----- > > From: "Brad McCormick, Ed.D." <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > > To: "Ray Evans Harrell" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > > Cc: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>; <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > > Sent: Tuesday, June 10, 2003 6:57 PM > > Subject: [Futurework] Athens and Jerusalem > > > > > > > It is obvious (and I read it again recently, > > > but I didn't write down the reference...) that > > > "The West" as we know it has a "multiple inheritance" > > > from the Greeks and the Jews. > > > > > > Does anyone know anything about whether there was > > > any contact between the two in "classical" (not > > > late-Hellenistic!) times? > > > What would Pericles, Aristotle, Socrates, Sophocles, > > > Pindar, Homer, Hesiod, Pythagoras, Protagoras et al. > > > have made of Abraham, Moses, Jeramiah, Amos, Solomon > > > et al., and vice versa? > > > > > > Did they engage with each other? (That's probably > > > historically irrelevant, since, if they did engage > > > with each other, the engagement didn't result in > > > a marriage, let alone any offspring -- like if the > > > Chinese discovered The New World before Columbus, etc.). > > > But, as psychoanalysts say: "everything is grist for the > > > mill". > > > > > > And, yes, what if Alexander the Great had not died in Iraq, > > > but had been able to complete a journey to The East, > > > and return? Might Persepolis have become Cosmopolis (ref. > > > Stephen Toulmin's book by that name) and ethnicities have > > > now for almost 2,500 years, have been -- for us > > > citizens of the universal city -- of concern only > > > to our ethnographers? Would we today live in a world where > > > nachines move themselves so that we no longer > > > need slaves, but we would still spend our days > > > in leisured pursuit of "shining words and deeds" in the > > > public space of the [cosmo-s creating] polis? > > > > > > \brad mccormick > > > > > > -- > > > Let your light so shine before men, > > > that they may see your good works.... (Matt > 5:16) > > > > > > Prove all things; hold fast that which is good. (1 Thes > 5:21) > > > > > > <![%THINK;[SGML+APL]]> Brad McCormick, Ed.D. / > [EMAIL PROTECTED] > > > > ----------------------------------------------------------------- > > > Visit my website ==> http://www.users.cloud9.net/~bradmcc/ > > > > > > _______________________________________________ > > > Futurework mailing list > > > [EMAIL PROTECTED] > > > http://scribe.uwaterloo.ca/mailman/listinfo/futurework > > > > > > > ________________________________________________________________ The best thing to hit the internet in years - Juno SpeedBand! Surf the web up to FIVE TIMES FASTER! Only $14.95/ month - visit www.juno.com to sign up today! _______________________________________________ Futurework mailing list [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://scribe.uwaterloo.ca/mailman/listinfo/futurework
