The fame of Palestine comes from the over 80 year dispute between its local Arab population and the immigrant Zionist Jews who strove and later managed to establish their own political entity, the “State of Israel”, expelling and depriving the indigenous population. Zionism in brief is a political ideology that believes in the establishment of a “national” home for the Jewish people in Palestine. It works to achieve its aim through all possible means, with violence on top of the agenda. It validates its belief and actions with certain religious arguments derived mainly from Judaism and historical arguments that are based mainly on the Old Testament. However, this neither implies that all Jews are Zionists nor that all Zionists are Jews.
There are some non- Zionist and even anti-Zionist Jews and there are many non- Jewish Zionists, most of whom are Protestant Christians. On the path to achieve their goals, the Zionists fought six wars, killing and displacing Palestinians inside or even outside Palestine, who escaped to safety in Lebanon. However, the Zionist view does not consider those killed and displaced as victims; on the contrary, it maintains that its actions are legal and ethical, defending the “undisputable” right of the Jews in their homeland. Let us, now examine this so called “undisputable right”.
Zionist Religious Claims
As the chosen people, God rewarded the Jews with the blessed land, the land of milk and honey, in which they established their great righteous kingdoms from which they were expelled by the Assyrians. It is time now for the Jews to return to this land that was given to them by a divine decree; it is time for them to end their miserable, two millenniums Diaspora. This rhetoric validates itself with verses from the Old Testament like:
“… The Lord said to Abraham: Leave your land, your tribe, the house of your father and go to the land I am leading you to www So Abraham went as the Lord told him … Then, they came to the land of Canaan… and the Lord appeared before Abraham and said: ‘To your progeny I give this land”….” (Genesis, 12/1), and: “…And (Abraham) lived in the land of Canaan. Then the Lord said to him: ‘Raise up your eyes and from the place where you were, look around you to the north, south, east and west, because all the land that your eyes can see I give to you and to your progeny for ever….” (Genesis, 13/14).
The Old Testament also includes: “… The Lord made a covenant with Abraham saying to your progeny I give this land,” from the river of Egypt to the great river; the Euphrates…” (Genesis, 5/15).
However, it should be clear to anyone of intellect that this pledge is valid only to its believers; hence, Jews do not have the right to force the local Muslim and Christian population, who do not share this belief, to surrender to it; had they believed in such claims there would have been no dispute from the beginning. Religious claims then are not able to validate anything as long as they are acceptable to one side only, which is the foreign and immigrant side.
Additionally, the Prophets of the Children of Israel (Such as Moses, Joshua, David, and Solomon (peace be upon them all) endeavored to house their followers (i.e. the Jews) in the sacred land. Thereupon, under the pretext of having their Prophetic heritage, the Jews alleged that Palestine is their own.
On the other hand, the great indigenous Muslim majority believes that:
First: Muslims are the legitimate heirs of all Prophets who led the struggle of monotheism on this land, the belief in the prophethood of those Prophets is an indispensable part of the Muslim faith, thus, by this logic, the land is theirs. According to the Qur’an, all Prophets were Muslims in faith, hence, Muslims are their most legitimate heirs because their relationship with the Prophets is one of faith, not of language or race; Prophets belong to those who share them the faith, Le. the Muslims. Here we quote the Qur’anic verse proving these points,
Ibrahim (Abraham) was neither a Jew nor a Christian, but he was a true Muslim Hanifa (Islamic Monotheism to worship none but Allah Alone) and he was not of Al-Mushrikun, Verily, among mankind who have the best claim to Ibrahim (Abraham) are those who followed him, and this Prophet (Muhammad) and those who have believed (Muslims). And Allah is the Wali (Protector and Helper) of the believers.) (Al ‘Imran 67-68)
They believe that the existing Torah of the Jews of today, is a distorted one that was rewritten by the Jewish rabbis to suit their goals and needs, therefore it is viewed very skeptically.
Second: Muslims, however, believe that this land was once given to the followers of Moses. This belief comes from what
Qur’an told:
“(Moses said): O my people! Enter the Holy Land which God hath assigned unto you, and turn not back ignominiously, for then will ye be overthrown, to your own ruin. They said: O Moses! In this land are a people of exceeding strength. Never shall we enter it until they leave it: if (once) they leave, then shall we enter. They said: O Moses! While they remain there, never shall we be able to enter, to the end of time. Go thou and thy Lord, and fight ye two, while we sit here (and watch)”… “Moses said: O my Lord! I have power only over myself and my hrother: so separate us from this rebellious people! Allah said. Therefore will the land be out of their reach for forty years: In a distraction will they wander through the land But sorrow thou not over these Rebellious people.” (Al-Ma’idah: 21-26)
God assigned the land to Jews on condition that they constitute a leading monotheistic paradigm based on the revealed teachings, but they did exactly the contrary, and the agreement therefore is null and void. Since this condition was not fulfilled, God sent His Messengers to other people so that they promote the faith to humanity in a better way than the children of Israel did. And from that time, the right to the holy land went to those who lead this mission of creating the leading example based on the divine revealed teachings, i.e. the Muslims. Indeed, Jews themselves had admitted that they no longer deserved the land because of their deviation and sins, this was said by their Prophet Armiah to Nebuchadnezzar and the Chaldeans. He said, “Alas, sinful nation, a people laden with iniquity, a brood of evildoers, children who are corruptors! They have forsaken the LORD, they have provoked to anger, The Holy One of Israel, They have turned away backward”. (The Book of Isaiah, 1.4) In other parts, Scriptures adds, “The earth is also defiled under its inhabitants, because they have transgressed the laws, changed the ordinance, broken the everlasting covenant.” (The Book of Isaiah, 24: 4-5.)
Third: Even if we endorse the belief of the Jews that the land was given to Ibrahim and his children, then the Arabs have a right to the land as well because Isma il “Ishmael”, the second son of Abraham, is one of their great grandfathers. Thus, according to the same logic, they have equal right to that of the Jews.
Fourth: For Muslims, the Qur’an has explained clearly the meaning of choosing the progeny of Ibrahim for leadership:
“…God said I will make thee an Imam to the Nations Ibrahim pleaded: And also (Imams) from my offspring! He answered: But My Promise is not within the reach of evil doers [tyrants]” (Al-Baqarah: 124)
The condition for this leadership is not to do evil things, but, on the contrary, the Zionist Jews are using it as an excuse to kill, displace, torture and oppress, as if God chose them to freely commit evil.
Excerpt from History of Palestine by Dr. Mohsen Muhammad Saleh
