You have a point, and personally I don't go for the "God gave it to us" stuff, because I can't prove it.
But I have to ask you if you live in America, and how you feel about the white man coming in and taking over, and, if you feel bad about it - very bad about it - if you've ever considered moving back to the land of your ancestors... assuming your ancestors, for example, didn't come over to the UK with William the Conquerer. That poses new problems. People are where they are because it's where they are, as "part of the dream." My approach is, "live with it." go out, have a coffee and a bagel (or some nice organic bread) and get on with life. There's room enough for everyone, and everyone can make good, as long as they work for everything, and don't try to plunder what the next man has. You should read the Mahabharata; about the Pandavas and the Kauravas... Fun stuff (apologies to Richard). P. ----- Original Message ---- From: Stephen A. Lawrence <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: [email protected] Sent: Monday, June 9, 2008 3:57:38 PM Subject: Re: [Vo]:Oil Gang responds 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
