During the years when the Western Wall and the Temple Mount were in Muslim hands, Jews were barred from access, and the Hashemite authorities made the wall a public urinal. Christians were prevented from visiting their sacred places in the Holy City. What had for centuries been the Jewish Quarter was brutally cleansed of everything Jewish, whether ancient or modern. The destruction of part of Jerusalem's heritage by the Arabs was unimaginable. Which mirrored exactly what was happening in the West Bank, and most of the Arab world.
Save for the Mellahs in Morocco, and some old buildings in Cairo and Alexandria, little remains to remind the Arabs that other people once lived in the lands they conquered.
AFTER 1967
When the Israelis liberated the old Jewish quarter and regained access to the Wall, they permitted each community access to the holy sites. Morally this was the right choice, but strategically and historically it may have been an error. There has been no Arab reciprocation. And much like in 1929, 1948, 1967, and 1973, the Arabs still insist that they will cleanse the map by blood. First the Holy Land, then the rest of the world.
In the meantime, the Christians have by and large turned their backs on Jerusalem, not caring one way or other, provided only that the Jews be disinherited.
DISINVESTMENT ANTI-SEMITES
Yes, I know not all Christians feel that way. But the disinvestment movement in most Christian denominations leaves little doubt. The Christian world would prefer that there be no Jews in Jerusalem. Many Presbyterian Churches are strongly anti-Israel, a number of Lutheran Congregations openly support the terrorist infrastructure, and the Methodists are severely disapproving of anything too Jewish (such as Israel).
The less said about the American Society of Friends, and the Unitarians, the better.
The Catholic Church, after a brief period of pro-Israel sentiment, has now seemingly realized that there is more to be gained by proselytizing among the other Christian sects, including their own arch-conservative breakaways, and has stepped away from some of its more sincere rapprochementoes to the Jews.
It is time to remind the Christians and the Muslims that, contrary to when they were in power in the Holy Land, there is freedom of religion there now. Unlike during the Christian and Islamic periods, all can worship in whatever way they choose.
Any cleric belonging to an anti-Israel organization should be banned from entry. There is no reason to permit him or his followers into the country.
Israel is a secular democracy. And as such, should be far less hospitable towards people who because of religious bias seek Israel's destruction.
There should be NO room for deviant-religious Jew-hating political nuts in Israel.
Lest you now call me a Jewish anti-Christian bigot, I hasten to point out that my family, until four generations ago, were strict Dutch Calvinists. There are no Jews in my family. Consequently I am not a Jewish anti-Christian bigot, I am an irreligious jack-Calvinist bigot.
If you don't like it, you know what you can do.
what a load of garbage. your logic is self selving and doesn't reflect the facts.
ReplyDeleteyou zionist need antisemism to justify the hatred zionism spread. without antisemism zionism wouldn't make sense.
without antisemism zionism wouldn't make sense.
ReplyDeleteJudging by your comment, there's plenty of anti-Semitism out there.
And you're right - without anti-Semitism, Zionism would make far less sense. It is because of European and Arab bigotry that there is STILL a pressing need for a Jewish nation-state. And it is because of people like you that Jews still need to go home. Every week brings another group back to Israel, where they choose to rebuild what two millennia of Christians and Arabs sought to destroy.
There is a distinction between "anti-semitism" and "anti-zionism", despite the generous overlap between the two. "Anti-semites" hate Jews. "Anti-Zionists" hate Jewish political rights, and Jewish political expresion and so seek to deny the Jews, but ONLY the Jews of their natural right of national self-determination in their ancestral homeland. While perhaps ALL "anti-zionists" may not be anti-semites, certainly ALL anti-semites are anti-zionist. In modern times, I find that classically anti-semitic people believe that they get a "free pass" for their racism against Jews IF, at the same time, they mention "Israel." Its still a form of bigotry, and really, just a variation on a theme.
ReplyDelete