R C Macaulay wrote:
Howdy Vorts,
Gosh, golly, gee folks, here we go again with the Jews and arabs. This
time the "wedge" is oil. The USA uses oil like toilet paper and
everybuddy knows wez intitled to it.. or we think we do. We have enough
oil provided we turn off a few lights and live like I we did back in the
'30's by riding bicycles. We ain't gonna cuz we are better and smarter
than anyone else and besides, we deserve it.. ask any TV advertizing
message.
If we are getting into a middle east debate over some long term bar room
argument, this feud over land goes back awhile. Ask any Palestinian
lounging on the corner in Gaza and he'll correct you by stating ..
don't call me a Pallestinian.. call me a Canaanite cuz we wuz here first.
The fact that Abraham came to Canaan and bought his land fair and square
ain't got nuthin to do with it.
OK now this is 3500 year old history, so I hope we can discuss it in a
little more depth while leaving our guns safely out of sight under the
table, eh?
To be blunt, if you want to do a title search on the land of Israel you
need to start with Joshua, not Genesis, and the stories aren't very similar.
Sure Abram (later Abraham) and his gang paid for the land they settled
on when they *first* came to Canaan. But then the weather turned poor
and they didn't want to just tough it out, so they pulled up stakes and
moved to Egypt, apparently preferring to live under the thumb of the
predecessors of Nasser to trying to scratch out a living in land which
showed every sign of turning into a desert. Their neighbors, in
contrast, apparently stayed put and just "made do".
Since the not-yet-Israelites just left without so much as handing the
keys to the local Century -14 broker to put the homestead on the market,
after a couple centuries went by their former property was legally
considered "abandoned" and was taken over by the local government, in
the form of the Philistines. (Under current U.S. law this typically
happens a lot faster; property is considered "abandoned" after about 3
to 5 years depending on the state.)
Subsequently, after deciding they didn't like living with Egyptians so
much any more, Abraham's descendants moved back to Canaan. And this
time they most certainly didn't "buy" back their abandoned land "fair
and square": Instead, under the warlord Joshua's ungentle patronage,
they barged in, all guns (and trumpets) blazing, and nuked everybody and
everything in their path. The rather astonishing destruction of the
fortified city of Jericho is merely among the first of their exploits.
This didn't endear the nascent nation of Israel to the locals, and
doesn't seem to put the possession of the land of Israel on the firmest
of legal footings. Oh, granted, God said it was theirs, so under God's
law it's clear cut, but under international law it's rather hazier, I
think; unlike God's law, international law doesn't technically recognize
the principle of "might makes right".
But this is hopelessly off topic so I think I'd best shut up at this point.
His kinfolks later bought up most of
Manhatten Island if you notice who's name's on the title to you
apartment. but.. that's why they call it "political science" at Yale..
where all the really smart US presidents learn how to practice their
profession..
Now if we can just find out what their profession is..
Richard
