Documented in one of the best posts at Mondoweiss ever, followed by the one of the best comments sections.
The original post is by Thomas Suarez, author of the recent book State of Terror, which is the best book on the Zionist terror from the beginning of Zionism up to the Nabka. The book is endorsed by the likes of Ilan Pappe, himself the best historian of the Nabka. Suarez spent many years studying archival documents, some not seen in ages, to produce this book.
The comments section is far longer than the original post, and equally interesting.
One of the commenters sounds a bit like a friend of mine who moved to Israel recently. Their points are rebutted in a mostly excellent part of the comments, bit by bit. Very educational.
Then within the comments are many excerpted articles, with the full history of Jerusalem, as best known to objective historians. Everyone knows it wasn't founded by Jews in 2700 BCE. David and Solomon are conventionally said to appear 1000 BCE and 900 BCE, however the archeological evidence is that the city was empty then, there is no evidence of palaces or a great civilization. Then the region is conquered by one empire after another. But perhaps only under actual Jewish rule for less than the last 200 years BCE. Afterwards, one empire after another. In it's 3700 year history, less than 200 years (the Hasemite rule) are known to be under Jewish rule, and at most not much more than that. (Not that this matters, but it certainly isn't the basis of an objective immortal claim. Most people have ancestors from many parts of the world...does that give the the right to most people to displace the people who are in any of those places now and create a new exclusive sovereignty for the co-religionists who were dominant in an ancient slice of time in the past?)
The "Second" Temple existed independent of the various imperial rulers, however, so so for about half a millenium, out of the entire 3700 year history prior to modern Israel. Because...Judaism is a religion.
The Dome of the Rock was the first major Muslim architecture, and has been there almost 1400 years.
Evidence of a First Temple is lacking.
After the revolt of Bar Kochbar, only a small number of leading Jews went into diaspora. The majority in the levant remained, mostly as farmers, many converting later to Christianity and then Islam. I said this before from common sense, it is confirmed here. (Do the Jews have rights to displace the former sovereigns because those poor farmers mostly didn't stick with the religion? What about others that moved in and out, as in fact the Jewish ancestors must have done at some time, and/or may have been there for far longer? )
[This history of Palestine, whose name dates back to the Greeks but was populated for millenia. The peoples, cultures, religions and empires that have been in and out are astounding. At the time of Jesus, Greek culture was dominant. The known Jewish kingdom, the Hasemites, was a mountain group--around Jerusalem--who allied with many other groups to create The Holy Land, a kingdom which lasted less than 200 years, yet it figures big in Western imaginations.]
But this is not to say, even during Jewish rule, that Jews were the only ones in the sourthern levant. They never were. I also said this before. Although the biblical story has Jews as invaders of the Levant (from Abraham's birthplace, Iraq), the best historical evidence is that they were a sect of the regional population of Caananites whose descendants also include modern Palestinians an many other groups. There is no evidence that any "slaves" escaped from Egypt (and, fwiw, the Pyramids were not built by slaves) or conquered a neighboring territory in 1200 BCE or whatever. That's all mythology.
The first anyone else knows of Jews is from captivity and that's also when the original Torah was written. Many including me believe that the Ancient Jewish story (with David, Solomon, and so on) was invented to give the re-settlers a better chance of succeeding. The returned to their home territory within the new empire created by Cyrus who had conquered Babylon, and under his authority. Though this is often described as motivated by Cyrus' enlightenment, there may also been considerable geopolitical advantage to him to have a client state near his border with Egypt. Curiously he and Truman may have had similar motivations in establishing a "Jewish" state, Truman being President who broke ranks with the ongoing UN process (it was intended that neither Israel nor Palestine in the Resolution 181 plan unilaterally declare independence--in fact it had been forbidden--but be part of a dual nation mandatory system--not to say that 181 had any moral or ethical force either especially as it gave the majority of the territory to settlers rather than the idigenous who, by rights, should have had it all) and recognized Israel's unilateral declaration of independence.
The southern levant has often been a frontier between empires because of it's geography (the connection between 3 continents) and human history. It seems that Jews--people who claim ancestry from the region but were found elsewhere at various times--have been re-settled twice to run or at least be part of a client state in this region for the major imperial power of the time, first by Cyrus, second by the UK and US. The Torah casts the Egyptians in a rather unfavorable light--all the better for the Jewish re-settlers not to be co-opted by their new neighbors and remain loyal to the more distant Cyrus.
Given it's central connecting location and proximity to the birthplace of humanity, it's likely that nearly all people have some ancestry from the southern levant.
As Suarez says, however, none of the ancient history really matters now. But I think clearing away the mythology helps, especially against the backdrop where some are saying "Jews were building Jerusalem for 3700 years." It would be much more true to say the Palestinians were building Jerusalem for 3700 years.
Correction to earlier post: the Romans used the name Palestine for the region from their first conquest in 6 CE, not later after the sacking of Jerusalem or the revolt of Bar Kochbar as I had previously said. The name Palestine also had been used by the Greeks, the previous imperial ruler, who had conquered the levant in 330 BCE. So the name Palestine is at least 2348 years old, and in use for nearly all of that time for the whole region.
The Christian Crusaders kicked out Jews and Muslims. When the Muslims ultimately regained control, they let the Jews back in. So for most of the 2nd Millenium, up until the dawn of Zionism, Jews lived in peace under Islamic rulers in the Levant, sometimes going there as a safe haven from Christians and others in other places.
Judaism is just like all other religions in being a mind control system to create useful idiots.
But true Judaism doesn't hold a candle to Zionism in that regards.
s
The original post is by Thomas Suarez, author of the recent book State of Terror, which is the best book on the Zionist terror from the beginning of Zionism up to the Nabka. The book is endorsed by the likes of Ilan Pappe, himself the best historian of the Nabka. Suarez spent many years studying archival documents, some not seen in ages, to produce this book.
The comments section is far longer than the original post, and equally interesting.
One of the commenters sounds a bit like a friend of mine who moved to Israel recently. Their points are rebutted in a mostly excellent part of the comments, bit by bit. Very educational.
Then within the comments are many excerpted articles, with the full history of Jerusalem, as best known to objective historians. Everyone knows it wasn't founded by Jews in 2700 BCE. David and Solomon are conventionally said to appear 1000 BCE and 900 BCE, however the archeological evidence is that the city was empty then, there is no evidence of palaces or a great civilization. Then the region is conquered by one empire after another. But perhaps only under actual Jewish rule for less than the last 200 years BCE. Afterwards, one empire after another. In it's 3700 year history, less than 200 years (the Hasemite rule) are known to be under Jewish rule, and at most not much more than that. (Not that this matters, but it certainly isn't the basis of an objective immortal claim. Most people have ancestors from many parts of the world...does that give the the right to most people to displace the people who are in any of those places now and create a new exclusive sovereignty for the co-religionists who were dominant in an ancient slice of time in the past?)
The "Second" Temple existed independent of the various imperial rulers, however, so so for about half a millenium, out of the entire 3700 year history prior to modern Israel. Because...Judaism is a religion.
The Dome of the Rock was the first major Muslim architecture, and has been there almost 1400 years.
Evidence of a First Temple is lacking.
After the revolt of Bar Kochbar, only a small number of leading Jews went into diaspora. The majority in the levant remained, mostly as farmers, many converting later to Christianity and then Islam. I said this before from common sense, it is confirmed here. (Do the Jews have rights to displace the former sovereigns because those poor farmers mostly didn't stick with the religion? What about others that moved in and out, as in fact the Jewish ancestors must have done at some time, and/or may have been there for far longer? )
[This history of Palestine, whose name dates back to the Greeks but was populated for millenia. The peoples, cultures, religions and empires that have been in and out are astounding. At the time of Jesus, Greek culture was dominant. The known Jewish kingdom, the Hasemites, was a mountain group--around Jerusalem--who allied with many other groups to create The Holy Land, a kingdom which lasted less than 200 years, yet it figures big in Western imaginations.]
But this is not to say, even during Jewish rule, that Jews were the only ones in the sourthern levant. They never were. I also said this before. Although the biblical story has Jews as invaders of the Levant (from Abraham's birthplace, Iraq), the best historical evidence is that they were a sect of the regional population of Caananites whose descendants also include modern Palestinians an many other groups. There is no evidence that any "slaves" escaped from Egypt (and, fwiw, the Pyramids were not built by slaves) or conquered a neighboring territory in 1200 BCE or whatever. That's all mythology.
The first anyone else knows of Jews is from captivity and that's also when the original Torah was written. Many including me believe that the Ancient Jewish story (with David, Solomon, and so on) was invented to give the re-settlers a better chance of succeeding. The returned to their home territory within the new empire created by Cyrus who had conquered Babylon, and under his authority. Though this is often described as motivated by Cyrus' enlightenment, there may also been considerable geopolitical advantage to him to have a client state near his border with Egypt. Curiously he and Truman may have had similar motivations in establishing a "Jewish" state, Truman being President who broke ranks with the ongoing UN process (it was intended that neither Israel nor Palestine in the Resolution 181 plan unilaterally declare independence--in fact it had been forbidden--but be part of a dual nation mandatory system--not to say that 181 had any moral or ethical force either especially as it gave the majority of the territory to settlers rather than the idigenous who, by rights, should have had it all) and recognized Israel's unilateral declaration of independence.
The southern levant has often been a frontier between empires because of it's geography (the connection between 3 continents) and human history. It seems that Jews--people who claim ancestry from the region but were found elsewhere at various times--have been re-settled twice to run or at least be part of a client state in this region for the major imperial power of the time, first by Cyrus, second by the UK and US. The Torah casts the Egyptians in a rather unfavorable light--all the better for the Jewish re-settlers not to be co-opted by their new neighbors and remain loyal to the more distant Cyrus.
Given it's central connecting location and proximity to the birthplace of humanity, it's likely that nearly all people have some ancestry from the southern levant.
As Suarez says, however, none of the ancient history really matters now. But I think clearing away the mythology helps, especially against the backdrop where some are saying "Jews were building Jerusalem for 3700 years." It would be much more true to say the Palestinians were building Jerusalem for 3700 years.
Correction to earlier post: the Romans used the name Palestine for the region from their first conquest in 6 CE, not later after the sacking of Jerusalem or the revolt of Bar Kochbar as I had previously said. The name Palestine also had been used by the Greeks, the previous imperial ruler, who had conquered the levant in 330 BCE. So the name Palestine is at least 2348 years old, and in use for nearly all of that time for the whole region.
The Christian Crusaders kicked out Jews and Muslims. When the Muslims ultimately regained control, they let the Jews back in. So for most of the 2nd Millenium, up until the dawn of Zionism, Jews lived in peace under Islamic rulers in the Levant, sometimes going there as a safe haven from Christians and others in other places.
Judaism is just like all other religions in being a mind control system to create useful idiots.
But true Judaism doesn't hold a candle to Zionism in that regards.
s
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