I've been quiet since Israel erupted in fighting spurred
by disputes over the Temple Mount. Until now, I haven't even
bothered to say, "See, I told you so." But I can't resist any
longer. I feel compelled to remind you of the column I wrote just a
couple weeks before the latest uprising.
Yeah, folks, I predicted it. That's OK. Hold your applause. After all, I
wish I had been wrong. More than 80 people have been killed since
the current fighting in and around Jerusalem began. And for what? If you
believe what you read in most news sources, Palestinians want a homeland
and Muslims want control over sites they consider holy.
Simple, right? Well, as an Arab American journalist who has spent some
time in the Middle East dodging more than my share of rocks and mortar
shells, I've got to tell you that these are just phony excuses for the
rioting, trouble-making and land-grabbing.
Isn't it interesting that prior to the 1967 Arab-Israeli war, there was
no serious movement for a Palestinian homeland?
"Well, Farah," you might say, "that was before the
Israelis seized the West Bank and Old Jerusalem." That's true. In
the Six Day War, Israel captured Judea, Samaria and East Jerusalem. But
they didn't capture these territories from Yasser Arafat. They captured
them from Jordan's King Hussein. I can't help but wonder why all these
Palestinians suddenly discovered their national identity after Israel
won the war.
The truth is that Palestine is no more real than Never-Never Land. The
first time the name was used was in 70 A.D. when the Romans committed
genocide against the Jews, smashed the Temple and declared the land of
Israel would be no more. From then on, the Romans promised, it would be
known as Palestine.
The name was derived from the Philistines, a Goliathian people conquered
by the Jews centuries earlier. It was a way for the Romans to add insult
to injury. They also tried to change the name of Jerusalem to Aelia
Capitolina, but that had even less staying power.
Palestine has never existed -- before or since -- as an autonomous
entity.
It was ruled alternately by Rome, by Islamic and Christian crusaders,
by the Ottoman Empire and, briefly, by the British after World War I.
The British agreed to restore at least part of the land to the Jewish
people as their homeland. There is no language known as Palestinian.
There is no distinct Palestinian culture. There has never been a land
known as Palestine governed by Palestinians.
Palestinians are Arabs, indistinguishable from Jordanians (another
recent invention), Syrians, Lebanese, Iraqis, etc. Keep in mind that the
Arabs control 99.9 percent of the Middle East lands. Israel represents
one-tenth of 1 percent of the landmass. But that's too much for the
Arabs. They want it all. And that is ultimately what the fighting
in Israel is about today. Greed. Pride. Envy. Covetousness. No
matter how many land concessions the Israelis make, it will never be
enough.
What about Islam's holy sites? There are none in Jerusalem. Shocked? You
should be. I don't expect you will ever hear this brutal truth from
anyone else in the international media. It's just not politically
correct.
I know what you're going to say: "Farah, the Al Aqsa Mosque and the
Dome of the Rock in Jerusalem represent Islam's third most holy
sites." Not true. In fact, the Koran says nothing about
Jerusalem. It mentions Mecca hundreds of times. It mentions Medina
countless times. It never mentions Jerusalem. With good reason.
There is no historical evidence to suggest Mohammad ever visited
Jerusalem.
So how did Jerusalem become the third holiest site of Islam? Muslims
today cite a vague passage in the Koran, the seventeenth Sura, entitled
"The Night Journey." It relates that in a dream or a
vision Mohammed was carried by night "from the sacred temple to the
temple that is most remote, whose precinct we have blessed, that we
might show him our signs. ..." In the seventh century, some Muslims
identified the two temples mentioned in this verse as being in Mecca and
Jerusalem. And that's as close as Islam's connection with
Jerusalem gets -- myth, fantasy, wishful thinking. Meanwhile, Jews
can trace their roots in Jerusalem back to the days of Abraham.
The latest round of violence in Israel erupted when Likud Party leader
Ariel Sharon tried to visit the Temple Mount, the foundation of the
Temple built by Solomon. It is the holiest site for Jews. Sharon and his
entourage were met with stones and threats. I know what it's like. I've
been there. Can you imagine what it is like for Jews to be threatened,
stoned and physically kept out of the holiest site in Judaism?
So what's the solution to the Middle East mayhem? Well, frankly, I
don't think there is a man-made solution to the violence. But, if there
is one, it needs to begin with truth. Pretending will only lead to more
chaos. Treating a 5,000-year-old birthright backed by overwhelming
historical and archaeological evidence equally with illegitimate claims,
wishes and wants gives diplomacy and peacekeeping a bad name.
A daily radio broadcast adaptation of Joseph Farah's commentaries can be
heard on TalkNetDaily.
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