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ISRAEL AND JERUSALEM FACTS
1. ISRAEL BECAME A STATE IN 1312 B.C., TWO MILLENNIA BEFORE ISLAM;

2. ARAB REFUGEES FROM ISRAEL BEGAN CALLING THEMSELVES "PALESTINIANS" IN 1967, TWO DECADES AFTER (MODERN) ISRAELI STATEHOOD;

3. AFTER CONQUERING THE LAND IN 1272 B.C., JEWS RULED IT FOR A THOUSAND YEARS AND MAINTAINED A CONTINUOUS PRESENCE THERE FOR 3,300 YEARS;

4. FOR OVER 3,300 YEARS, JERUSALEM WAS THE JEWISH CAPITAL. IT WAS NEVER THE CAPITAL OF ANY ARAB OR MUSLIM ENTITY. EVEN UNDER JORDANIAN RULE, (EAST) JERUSALEM WAS NOT MADE THE CAPITAL, AND NO ARAB LEADER CAME TO VISIT IT;

5. JERUSALEM IS MENTIONED OVER 700 TIMES IN THE BIBLE, BUT NOT ONCE IS IT MENTIONED IN THE QUR'AN;

6. KING DAVID FOUNDED JERUSALEM; MOHAMMED NEVER SET FOOT IN IT;

7. JEWS PRAY FACING JERUSALEM; MUSLIMS FACE MECCA. IF THEY ARE BETWEEN THE TWO CITIES, MUSLIMS PRAY FACING MECCA, WITH THEIR BACKS TO JERUSALEM;

8. IN 1948, ARAB LEADERS URGED THEIR PEOPLE TO LEAVE, PROMISING TO CLEANSE THE LAND OF JEWISH PRESENCE. 68% OF THEM FLED WITHOUT EVER SETTING EYES ON AN ISRAELI SOLDIER;

9. VIRTUALLY THE ENTIRE JEWISH POPULATION OF MUSLIM COUNTRIES HAD TO FLEE AS THE RESULT OF VIOLENCE AND POGROMS;

10. SOME 630,000 ARABS LEFT ISRAEL IN 1948, WHILE CLOSE TO A MILLION JEWS WERE FORCED TO LEAVE THE MUSLIM COUNTRIES;

11. IN SPITE OF THE VAST TERRITORIES AT THEIR DISPOSAL, ARAB REFUGESS WERE DELIBERATELY PREVENTED FROM ASSIMILATING INTO THEIR HOST COUNTRIES. OF 100 MILLION REFUGEES FOLLOWING WORLD WAR 2, THEY ARE THE ONLY GROUP TO HAVE NEVER INTEGRATED WITH THEIR CORELIGIONISTS. MOST OF THE JEWISH REFUGEES FROM EUROPE AND ARAB LANDS WERE SETTL ED IN ISRAEL, A COUNTRY NO LARGER THAN NEW JERSEY;

12. THERE ARE 22 ARAB COUNTRIES, NOT COUNTING PALESTINE. THERE IS ONLY ONE JEWISH STATE. ARABS STARTED ALL FIVE WARS AGAINST ISRAEL, AND LOST EVERY ONE OF THEM;

13. FATAH AND HAMAS CONSTITUTIONS STILL CALL FOR THE DESTRUCTION OF ISRAEL. ISRAEL CEDED MOST OF THE WEST BANK AND ALL OF GAZA TO THE PALESTINIAN AUTHORITY, AND EVEN PROVIDED IT WITH ARMS;

14. DURING THE JORDANIAN OCCUPATION, JEWISH HOLY SITES WERE VANDALIZED AND WERE OFF LIMITS TO JEWS. UNDER ISRAELI RULE, ALL MUSLIM AND CHRISTIAN HOLY SITES ARE ACCESSIBLE TO ALL FAITHS;

15. OUT OF 175 UNITED NATIONS SECURITY COUNCIL RESOLUTIONS UP TO 1990, 97 WERE AGAINST ISRAEL; OUT OF 690 GENERAL ASSEMBLY RESOLUTIONS, 429 WERE AGAINST ISRAEL;

16. THE U.N. WAS SILENT WHEN THE JORDANIANS DESTROYED 58 SYNAGOGUES IN THE OLD CITY OF JERUSALEM. IT REMAINED SILENT WHILE JORDAN SYSTEMATICALLY DESECRATED THE ANCIENT JEWISH CEMETERY ON THE MOUNT OF OLIVES, AN D IT REMAINED SILENT WHEN JORDAN ENFORCED APARTHEID LAWS PREVENTING JEWS FROM ACCESSING THE TEMPLE MOUNT AND WESTERN WALL.

2006-07-26 07:28:56 · 16 answers · asked by Anonymous in Arts & Humanities History

16 answers

According to the Bible, particularly in Genesis, the Land of Israel was promised as an everlasting possession to the descendants of Hebrew patriarchs Abraham, Isaac and Jacob by God, making it the Promised Land.

On that day, God made a covenant with Abram, saying: "To your descendants I have given this land, from the river of Egypt as far as the great river the Euphrates. The land of the Kenites, Kenizites, Kadmonites; the Chitties, Perizites, Refaim; the Emorites, Canaanites, Gigashites and Yevusites." - Genesis 15:18-21

When the Israelites were about to invade the promised land, God reiterated the land promise, as recorded in Joshua 1:4, "Your territory will extend from the desert to Lebanon, and from the great river, the Euphrates — all the Hittite country — to the Great Sea on the west."

With Genesis 15:18 and Joshua 1:4 in mind, the land God gave to Israel included everything from the Nile river in Egypt to Lebanon (North to South) and everything from the Mediterranean Sea to the Euphrates River (West to East).

So, what land has God stated belongs to Israel?

All of the land modern Israel currently possesses, plus all of the land of the Palestinians (the West Bank and Gaza), plus some of Egypt and Syria, plus all of Jordan, plus some of Saudi Arabia and Iraq. Israel currently possesses only a fraction of the land God has promised.

2006-07-26 07:37:50 · answer #1 · answered by Anonymous · 2 1

Excellent question, and well documented. Clearly, Israel owns the land, for the same reason that the United States owns most of North America: Ownership is defined by control. During the brief period that Germany occupied France, Germany could be said to "own" France. The only way to disagree with this argument is to assemble an army, and take it back. The Arab countries have tried this, and failed. They are now trying to accomplish, through terrorism and negotiation, what they were unable to accomplish through war.

The more logical question is whether anything can be done to prevent the terrorism / negotiation strategy from eventually working. I doubt it.

When the modern state of Israel was first created, after World War 2, the United Nations could have imposed a limited kind of peace on the region by declaring Jerusalem and the surrounding area an "international city", and putting it under the control of the U.N. This would have prevented some of the worst terrorism, (since most of the attacks against Israel have been racially or politically motivated) but it would have ultimately left Israel at the hands of the United Nations when defending itself. Since the U.N. is largely anti-semitic, there would have been problems. The only question is: would the problems have been as bad as what Israel faces today? No way to know, really.

Here is another item to add to the conversation: Three, and possibly four, of the largest religions all believe that the end of the world will begin as a result of fighting over land in Israel. At least two of the religions are commanded, as a matter of faith, to never compromise with any other, and to never back down an inch on this particular issue. Since this is so, how likely is it that the parties will reach a compromise?

Imagine if my Bible clearly told me to smite my next-door neighbor, kill him, and take his house, because God had promised his house to me. In addition, my Bible tells me that if I don't follow this command, my family will suffer God's wrath until the end of time.

Now imagine that his Bible clearly tells him, in just as many words, that the greatest sin that he could possibly commit would be to let me occupy a single inch of his house.

Not a lot of room there for rational negotiation...

2006-07-26 16:27:20 · answer #2 · answered by pretzelert 2 · 1 0

I believe it should be shared.It belongs to both the Muslim's and the Jew's.They should learn to live in peace.The Palestinian's should take control of Hamas and prevent what is happening Lebanon now to happen in Palastine...and maybe then they will have a free state and can emerge out of the poverty that Hamas keeps the Palestinian's in.The government's of Israel and Palestine need to get together and defeat Hamas and Hezbollah.These two groups are starving their own people to buy weapons and leaving their masses to die in filth.The groups care little for their people and use them as human shields in warfare.When will the citizen's wake up and realize it is the very groups that are betraying them? Keeping them in chains and from ever realizing their dreams of a free state and a peaceful co-habitation with Israel?

2006-07-26 14:44:26 · answer #3 · answered by crs-worldtraveler@sbcglobal.net 2 · 0 0

Jerusalem should be declared a World Heritage Site, as it is a Holy City to the three desert religions, Judaism, Christianity and Islam.
It should not become any nation's capital, except as a spiritual capital, to be shared by the three religions.
Leaving aside that it is Italy's capital, maybe Jerusalem should become like Rome is for Catholics.

2006-07-30 12:01:37 · answer #4 · answered by Hi y´all ! 6 · 0 0

Legally East Jerusalem is owned by the Palestinian authority while the rest is owned by Israel

2006-07-28 21:42:44 · answer #5 · answered by Anonymous · 0 0

Christian, Jews, and Muslims all claim Jerusalem as there own. The reason being all three religions have roots there. The importantant factor is not who it belongs to, but the significance of the city.

2006-07-26 14:39:43 · answer #6 · answered by Jason C 1 · 1 0

Israel was promised an area of land by God. If you read the Bible you will find that many countries have their land. Jerusalem is Israel's.Their history starts alot earlier than 1312 BC

2006-07-26 14:33:39 · answer #7 · answered by rltouhe 6 · 0 1

Jerusalem is the eternal capital of the Jewish people.

The only reason other people revere the place is because its the Jewish holy city (King David's capital).

2006-07-26 21:59:20 · answer #8 · answered by mo mosh 6 · 0 0

It belongs to Israel and the Jewish people and always will.

2006-07-26 15:42:48 · answer #9 · answered by republican_jew 2 · 0 0

Cher

2006-07-26 14:30:51 · answer #10 · answered by Anonymous · 0 0

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