-Caveat Lector- ----- Original Message ----- From: "Euphorian" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Sent: Wednesday, November 27, 2002 8:08 AM Subject: [CTRL] History of Palestine - Wikipedia
Quite a good history. Pretty darn accurate. Some minor issues. Calling the place Palestine is a problem. First and most important, is that there is no such place. Period. That land in that region was called Palestine for relatively brief periods in history. It's like calling a woman who was married several times by the name of her first husband even though she had remarried. It's simply a political act in favor of the Arab point of view to call Israel, the West Bank, or Jordan, Palestine. The title of the piece > History of Palestine < is unhistorical for the same reason. This is borne out by the very history it contains. Calling the land Palestine BEFORE THE ROMAN DEFEAT OF JUDEA, is like calling this land mass the United States of America before 1776. It simply was something else and demonstrates a false chauvinism. Joshua2 > -Caveat Lector- > > http://www.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_Palestine > > >>>Many hot linques at site<<< > > > History of Palestine > From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. > > See Also: Palestine, History of Levant, History of ancient Israel and Judah, History of Israel > > Historical overview > > The term Palestine originates with the Philistines, who inhabited the southern coast of the > region in biblical times. It went into disuse with the disappearance of the Philistines c.1000 > B.C., but was reintroduced by the Romans following the Second Jewish Revolt ("Great > Revolt") of Bar Kochba of 132-135 A.D in the province of Judea. Historically, there was a > clear distinction between Philistine and Judean territories, however, the Romans adopted > the name for the province in an effort to erase any memories of the Judean rebels they > defeated: similarly, Jerusalem, Palestine's historic capital, was renamed Aelia Capitolina. > > For nineteen hundred years since that time, the region was subject to successive waves of > invaders, each of which left some mark on its people and landscape. This can be attributed > to Palestine's strategic location at the crossroads of Asia, Africa, and Europe, and its unique > religious status as a Holy Land" to the three great monotheistic religions: Judaism, > Christianity, and Islam. > > In 1917, the British captured the region from the Ottoman Empire and called it Palestine, > after the longstanding Roman name for the area. This came at a time of renewed interest > in the country among the European powers, Arab nationalists, and Jewish Zionists, who > sought to reestablish their ancient homeland there. Competition between the latter two > groups came to a head immediately after World War II, when Zionist claims gained greater > urgency after the murder of almost six million Jews in the Holocaust. The Zionists > demanded an independent homeland to absorb the Jewish refugees from Europe; the local > Arab population, by now called Palestinians, argued that they played no role in the > Holocaust, so the refugee problem should not be resolved at their expense. > > On November 29, 1947, the United Nations voted to partition what remained of the British > Mandate of Palestine into two states: one Jewish, and one Arab. The proposal was rejected > by the Palestinian Arabs and the surrounding Arab states but accepted by the Jews. Less > than five months later, the Jewish population declared its independence as the state of > Israel, and the first of a series of wars rocked the region. Large numbers of Palestinian > Arabs fled, while others were expelled from their homes during the fighting in what is > called in Arabic the Naqba, or "Tragedy." Israel managed to maintain its independence and > even expand its borders, but a new refugee problem, this one of Palestinian Arabs, was > created. > > What remained of the territories allotted to the Arab state in Palestine was occupied by > Jordan (the West Bank) and Egypt (the Gaza Strip) from 1948 to 1967, Not " occupied. Annexed. > when Israel > occupied those areas in the Six Day War. This view is an example of Arab propaganda. Israel didn't just " occupy " the West Bank of Jordan, It was attacked by Jordan and several other Arab armies. It successfully defended itself, and defeated Jordan's military forces and drove them back over the Jordan River. This left the West Bank under the control of Israel. ISRAEL DIDN'T WANT IT!!! Israel offered it back to King Hussein who didn't want it either anymore because he didn't want to deal with the Palestinian problem as it played out in his country. This left Israel in the position of administering a conquered territory with an ENEMY POPULATION. Every other country in the world which won land in a war, had the victor's option of keeping it or not. The UN decided that the Israelis did not have that same option. This was a political decision played out by the Arabs, the Americans, and Soviet influenced countries. It would have been VERY INTERESTING if the same resolution were applied to these countries as well as Israel. Think about that one for a moment. The real issue today is one of giving the " Palestinians " a sovereign state in that area. That would create two unacceptable conditions for the security of Israel. First, it would remove the buffer in which to fight a war should Israel be attacked again from the east. That is vitally important when you consider that Israel is only NINE MILES WIDE from the border of the West Bank (near the Arab city Tulkarem) to the sea. Secondly, the Palestinians make no deep secret of the fact that the creation of a sovereign Palestinian state between Jordan and Israel is JUST THE FIRST STEP in the reacquisition of what they call " historical Palestine " which is the old Mandate consisting of Israel and Jordan. This is why Israel bases all it's negotiations on security issues. And this is why the " Palestinians " divert the issue to one of " civil rights." It's not about rights. It's about land and a secure existence for all the residents of the region. It is THIS very issue which sits as the hindrance to peace in the middle east. > Since that time, the Palestinians have struggled to > assert their own independence, either in all the territories of Palestine or in the West Bank > and Gaza. To date, efforts to resolve the conflict have ended in deadlock, and the people of > Palestine, Jews and Arabs, are engaged in a bloody conflict. > > In current usage, then, the term Palestine describes the geographical area, the geopolitical > unit in its colonial boundaries, or, most frequently, > *********** the proposed state of the Palestinian people. ***********(J2) > > The disputes of the last half century in Israel and Palestine have their immediate origins in > the Zionist movement of the 19th century in Europe, and the rise of Arab nationalism in the > second half of the 20th century, but the roots of the conflict go back millennia because of > the religious beliefs related to this land. > > Historical population of Palestine > > Over the last thousands years the population of Palestine was comprised of various ethnic > groups, including Syrian Arabs, Egyptian Arabs, Arab immigrants from the Arabian > peninsula, Bedouin Arabs, Druze (who are not Arabs), Jews, Turks, as well as smaller > number of people from other areas. > > Today, many Arabs, especially Palestinians, look back at the peoples in this land over the > last millennium and hold them to be an indigenous Palestinian people. Most historians > would disagree with such a romantic attitude, saying that this view is a historical > anachronism. There's little historical evidence that the various Arab ethnicities ever saw > themselves as a united people or nationality. It was only with the creation of modern Arab > nationalism in the beginning of the 20th century that this perception began to change. > > Former Israeli Prime Minister Golda Meir claimed that > > "There was no such thing as Palestinians... It was not as though there was a Palestinian > people in Palestine considering itself as a Palestinian people and we came and threw them > out and took their country away from them. They did not exist." > > While obviously inconsiderate of the Arab nationalism, that had had a long history even > prior to Israel's establishment, the statement was not meant to imply the absence of Arabs > in the land before 1948, but rather that they lacked a single national agenda. Ironically, the > original Arab position, including the position of the PLO was the same as that of Prime > Minister Meir. For example, in March 31, 1977, the Dutch newspaper Trouw published an > interview with Palestine Liberation Organization executive committee member Zahir > Muhsein. He claimed that > > "The Palestinian people does not exist. The creation of a Palestinian state is only a means > for continuing our struggle against the state of Israel for our Arab unity. In reality today > there is no difference between Jordanians, Palestinians, Syrians and Lebanese. Only for > political and tactical reasons do we speak today about the existence of a Palestinian people, > since Arab national interests demand that we posit the existence of a distinct 'Palestinian > people' to oppose Zionism. For tactical reasons, Jordan, which is a sovereign state with > defined borders, cannot raise claims to Haifa and Jaffa, while as a Palestinian, I can > undoubtedly demand Haifa, Jaffa, Beer-Sheva and Jerusalem. However, the moment we > reclaim our right to all of Palestine, we will not wait even a minute to unite Palestine and > Jordan." > > Palestinians today take great exception to any such former view. They interpret such views > to mean that Israelis deny the existence of various Arab peoples in the land before 1948. > The former position is often rejected, or (more often) its existence ever is denied. While > the historical situation is often argued about, there's no party in the Middle East conflict that > would deny the existence of a Palestinian nation today - which, as many believe, is entitled > to a state. > > There are now somewhere between 5 - 6 million people who consider themselves > Palestinians worldwide. Some live as a minority in Israel proper, some live in the West Bank > and Gaza, and most are refugees in many parts of the world (mainly the Middle East, > Europe, and North and South America). Many still live a life of diaspora, as displaced > persons. > > Few Palestinians have assimilated to their host countries; most Arab nations forbade > Palestinian Arabs from becoming citizens in Arab nations. Most Palestinians still seel a > sense of identity, with their Palestinian nationalism. Palestinians are working for their > political and national rights in both the West Bank and in Arab nations, where they are still > discriminated against. > > Jews have been been living in Palestine almost at all times as a minority. Being always a > major center for Jewish religious life (for instance it was where the Mishnah and the > Palestinian Talmud were written), it was the aim of numerous Jewish travellers from all > over the Jewish world. At times, the Jews would deal in various crafts; in other cases they > would be supported by contributions from communities abroad. Mentions of Jerusalem and > the Holy Land were a major part of everyday Jewish rite; they were therefore never fully > forgotten by the Jews. > > Early Political History of Palestine, and Decline of Jewish Population > > The earliest known people in Palestine was the Canaanites. It is most probable that the > Jews began as a part of them. Later, other (now mostly extinct) peoples appeared, such as > the Samaritans and the Phoenicians. However the Jewish population over the centuries > declined, due to several reasons. In 722 B.C., the northern Kingdom of Israel was destroyed > by the Assyrians, its inhabitants ("10 Lost Tribes") deported, and replaced by settlers from > elsewhere in the Assyrian Empire. > > Then he Babylonian Empire under Nebuchadnezzar conquered the Kingdom of Judah in 597- > 586 B.C., and deported the middle and upper classes of the Jews to Babylonia, where they > flourished. Decades later, the Jews in Babylon were permitted to return to Israel. However, > a large proportion decided to stay in Babylon for economic reasons. This was the beginning > of the Jewish diaspora. > > The Jews who had returned to Judea met the lower-class Jews that remained, surrounded > by pagans. One curious group (that exists up until this day) were the Samaritans, who > adhered to most features of the Jewish rite and claimed to be descendants of the Assyrian > Jews; they were not recognized as Jews by the returning exiles for various reasons (of > them at least some seem to be political). The return of the exiles from Babylon reinforced > the Jewish population, which gradually became more dominant and expanded significantly. > > In 539 B.C. the Babylonians were annexed by the Persian Empire, which held Palestine until > the time of Alexander the Great, who conquered Gaza and the surrounding areas in the > early 330s B.C. After Alexander's death in 323, his empire was partitioned, and the > competing Ptolemaic and Seleucid Empires occupied various portions of the eastern > Mediterranean, including different parts of Palestine, until the Roman Empire swept through > in 63 B.C. Under the Romans the territory of Palestine was in nearly constant revolt, and a > number of events with far-reaching consequences took place, including the founding of > Christianity, the destruction of the Jewish temple in Jerusalem by the Roman army and > mass suicide of Zealots in A.D. 66-70, and the sacking of the entire city of Jerusalem by the > Romans in A.D. 132. (Some sources mark the failed Jewish revolts as the beginning of the > Diaspora). > > Over several centuries, the diaspora grew even further. In addition to the large Jewish > community in Babylon, large numbers of Jews settled in Egypt, and in other parts of the > Hellenistic world and in the Roman Empire. This migration was primarily driven by > economic opportunities, though the situation in Israel also contributed. Israel experienced a > large amount of conflict, principally over Hellenistic and then Roman rule. > > The Jews were divided between those who were Hellenists, and supported the adoption of > Greek culture, and those who believed in keeping to the traditions of the past. This conflict > caused frequent disputes, which resulted in political and military upheveal -- such as the > Maccabean revolt of the 2nd century B.C., the war of the 70s A.D. and the revolt led by Bar > Kokhba in the 130s. The frequent conflict contributed to Jewish emigration, both as > refugees, through deportation, and by reducing economic opportunities in the region > compared to elsewhere. It also led to many deaths among the Jewish population of > Palestine, both deaths in battles with the Romans and others, deaths due to massacres, > and deaths due to the famine and disease that so often accompanies armed conflict. > > Palestine changed hands several more times in the post-Biblical period, becoming at first > part of the Byzantine Empire after the division of the Roman Empire into east and west (a > fitful process that was not finalized until A.D. 395), then an early acqisition of the first > Islamic Caliphate in A.D. 638. The marked the beginning of the longest contigious period in > Palestine, which lasted until 1948, when it was an integrated part of the Arab world. The > Umayyad dynasty controlled the Caliphate until they were overthrown by the Abbasids in > 661. Over time the monolithic Caliphate fragmented, and the Fatimid Caliphate assumed > control of Palestine in the 900s. > > In the next century, Seljuk Turks invaded large portions of West Asia, including Asia Minor > and Palestine, which was the proximate cause of the Crusades by the Christian European > powers. Jerusalem and the surrounding lands were the object of these military expeditions. > Christian forces held Jerusalem from 1099 to 1187, when Saladin defeated them. > > The Ayyubid Sultanate, founded by Saladin, controlled the region until 1250, when the > Mamluks invaded. The Mamluk Sultanate ultimately became a vassal state of the Ottoman > Empire, in the wake of campaigns waged by Selim I in the 16th century. > > By the end of the first millennium A.D. almost all the Jewish population lived in the diaspora, > in the Arab world and in Europe. > > Over time the Jewish population in Palestine declined, due to several causes: Jewish > emigration, deaths due to the multiple rebellions against the Romans, the deportation of > Jews and the settlement of pagans by the Romans in response to these revolts, and the > conversion of some Jews to Christianity (and later Islam). This conversion was driven both > by the attractiveness of these religions to some Jews, and the taxation applied to Jews by > Christian and then Muslim rulers (see Dhimmi). These special taxes on Jews especially > affected agriculture, in which the majority of the Jewish population in Palestine was > involved (the diaspora by contrast was primarily urban). As a result, the Jewish population > in their original homeland dwindled over the centuries to a tiny percentage, both of the local > population and of Jews as a whole. > > During this period Israel continued as a constant topic of Jewish thought and liturgy, though > its Jewish population was by then minimal -- for many of the Jews of the period "Eretz > Israel" was a mythical place of redemption, since few of them ever stepped foot in it, and > those who did found it changed dramatically from what it once was. > > Most Jews during this period believed that the Jewish people would would return to Israel > with the coming of the Messiah; some proposed that Jews attempt to return earlier, by > their own devices, but until the rise of Zionism in the 19th century they were in a minority. > > While up until the end of the 19th century, most of the Jewry did not have aspirations to > come to the land of Israel, there were always Jews in it; they settled mainly in the "4 > sacred cities" (Jerusalem, Safed, Tiberias and Hebron). Jews of European origin lived > mostly of donations from off-country, while many Sefardic Jews found themselves a trade. > By the end of the 19th century, the Jewish population of Palestine numbered 60,000, about > 15% of the land's population. > > Rise of Zionism > > Zionism, a political movement seeking to have Jews return to their ancient homeland in > Palestine, arose in Europe and Russian in the 19th century. It arose as a result of the > liberation of European Jews from the many legal restrictions placed upon them in Medieval > times, and the ideals of the Enlightenment and the French Revolution. Due to anti-Semitism > Jews were not accepted as part of the wider society, but by leaving the ghetto they were no > longer accepted by the Jewish community either. Zionism was also heavily influenced by the > rise of nationalism, a major trend in 19th-century European politics. Zionists held that an > independent Jewish homeland was necessary to ensure Jewish survival as a nation and to > protect Jews from anti- Semitism. They began to settle in Palestine, though intially the > numbers were small. The British government, who after World War I administered > Palestine under a League of Nations mandate, supported this aspiration of the Zionists by > the Balfour Declaration in 1917. > > The entries on Zionism and History of Israel provide more information on this topic. > > For the history of Palestine as a British Mandate, see British Mandate of Palestine. > > Retrieved from "http://www.wikipedia.org/w/wiki.phtml?title=History_of_Palestine"; > The page was last modified 09:50 Oct 26, 2002. > <A HREF="http://www.ctrl.org/";>www.ctrl.org</A> DECLARATION & DISCLAIMER ========== CTRL is a discussion & informational exchange list. Proselytizing propagandic screeds are unwelcomed. Substance—not soap-boxing—please! 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