Never a dull moment

Well where does one begin. The past week has been full of activity both locally and in the news. I guess I will start with the Israeli/Lebanon issue. Only because the idea of a blog, in part, is so that I can look back years from now and have a better idea of what was actually happening in the world, and in my thoughts. And considering the weight of the issue, I would definatley like to record some of my thoughts on this issue. I would also like to warn anyone reading this, that I can be a little sarcastic. I should also point out that I have a problem with the state of Israel in general. I am not anti-semetic, but I have a problem with the idea of creating a state simply on a whim. In fact I dont believe this can be done. I believe that states and countries are created by peoples. Usually as a result of a ground roots uprising and or a civil campaign to create such a state. I am no political scientist, but there is much about the state of Israel, as we know it, that seems to me to be like an apartheid government. But like I said I do not know. So what do I believe, I believe that Palestine should be a land where Jews, Muslim, Christians, and whomever else wants to live there, may live in peace. I believe that the God of these three religions wants it that way. So with that said, here goes.

I guess the biggest problem one has in understanding the middle east, is it would take a lifetime of study to even come close to knowing all the different angles on this issue. But for me, when I look at the map of the middle east and see Israel, and its western ideals, sitting right in the middle of the Muslim world, something doesnt make sense. My first question is How did this state manage to develop right there. How did it survive the tribal years and not get integrated by all its muslim neighbors? And then I find out that it was just put there in 1948, by the UN, but mainly Britain and the USA. Not only was it put there, but it was put there with enough fire power to ensure that it did not have to be assimilated. It could, quite easily stand-alone. But it is not quite that simply.

As history will tell us, there was a time when the Jewish people lived on the land that is now Israel. Our modern Bible gives us their story. But we must also conclude from this story that the Israelites were not the only people living on this land. But for some reason, most of which can be found by reading the Bible, the Jewish people believed that they had the God given right to occupy this land. Not only did they have the God given right to occupy this land, but they had the right to KILL or wipe out any other peoples they found occupying THEIR land along the way. And for this reason, it is easy to see why there is so much death within the pages of the OLD TESTAMENT. But my key points here are, YES the jewish people did live in the lands of palestine a long time ago. BUT, YES so did many other cultures, religions, and peoples.

Over the centuries the Middle East has been controlled by many different peoples. The Romans, The Muslims, the Christians, and probably a few other i dont know about. And during some of those times, the Jewish people were welcomed and assimilated into the population. And at other times, they have been exiled from the land. It would be fair to say, i beleive, that in the few centuries leading upto 1948, The Jews were for the most part exiled from the lands of Palestine, in the Ottoman Empire controlled by the Sultan.

So the Jewish people, living in exile, were scattered around Europe, from Spain to Russia. A people without a homeland. A Nomadic people. I must also point out that because of this the Jewish religion gained a great deal of spirituality, centered around the fact that their home, was always where they laid there heads. But anyway, the Jewish people always dreamed of being returned to their homeland, as foretold in the Old Testament. Similar to the Christian idea of the second coming of christ.

Anyway, in the late 1800 a movement is started known as the "Zionist movement". It is a movement to try to create a homeland for the Jewish people. It would have been great to return the jews to parts of Palestine and Jeruselum, but they would have been happey with Cyprus, or just about any option that granted them a homeland. In fact talks occured at the turn of the century with the Sultan to create the state where it is today, but these talks produced no significant headway.

But then Hitler comes along, and with him one of the greatest autrocities ever recorded, I say ever recorded because it can be sure by the words contained in the old testament, that the jewish people have been guilty of similar autrocities in their history. But anyway, this autrocity is carried out against the jewish people. Hitler and his diabolical regime, set out in an attempt to exterminate the jewish people from the face of the earth. Luckily for humanity Hitler was not able to complete his objective, and thus we as a species are blessed with having the jewish culture and people still with us, and not just in our textbooks.

But what most people dont know, is that in 1922, the League of Nations gives control of Palestine to Great Britain, for the purpose of creating a Jewish state. What most people also dont know, is that in 1939 the British White Papers closed the Palestinian doors to Jewish immigration. Which resulted in millions of Jews being unable to flee Nazi occupation. I dont want to make assumptions here, but this sort of means that at least some of the blood from the holacaust was on British Hands. ANd this is probably at least part of the reason why Britain, after the second world war, acted so Hastely to create the state of Israel. And by hastely, I mean simply without all the political manoevering, and planning needed when one is about to attempt to displace millions of Palestinians from there homes. It is one thing to want to create a Jewish state. It is quite another, impose a jewish state on an already entrentched society.


WOW, this is getting long....I am going to have to continue this tomorrow




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