ISRAEL may have inventions that changed the world for the better but what about the fate of the Palestinians?

The list of atrocities such as the massacres of Deir Yassin, Sabra and Shatila and Cave of the Patriarchs and the latest violence have been well documented for its apartheid policies. I will not dwell there. 

But not all Jews are at fault.

In Islam, Israel means “Abdullah” or “The Servant of God”. It is the title of Prophet Yaqoob (Jacob) which was granted by Allah. A grandson of Prophet Ibrahim, his generation is known as “Bani Isra’il”, hence the Chosen People.

Usually, people associate BI with Prophet Musa (Moses). “Remember Moses said to his people: “O my people! remember the favour of Allah unto you, when He produced prophets among you, made you kings and gave you what He did not give to anyone in the worlds” (Quran 5:20).

Later, Jeremiah was called to prophecy c. 626 BC to proclaim Jerusalem’s coming destruction by invaders. Because Israel had forsaken God by worshipping idols of Baal and burning children as offerings. They had broken the covenant and would suffer famine, foreign conquest, plunder and captivity in a land of strangers.

Muslim literature narrates the destruction of Jerusalem, which parallels the account given in the Book of Jeremiah.

Most were exiled in Babylonia. The Levites poured their souls into elegiac psalms: “By the rivers of Babylon, there we sat down, yea we wept, as we remembered Zion” (Psalm. 137:1). 

When Cyrus, King of Persia, conquered Babylon, he urged Jewish exiles to return and rebuild the Temple. Many returned but many more chose not to. The return was accompanied by political and military struggles for independence under foreign rule of the Persians, the Ptolemies, the Seleucids of Syria, and finally the Romans.

That’s the beginning of long, dark and bitter journey into exile lasting about two millennia. 

Today, many believed Israel should belong to Jews in fulfilment of God’s promise of the Promised Land. 

While God’s granting of the Promised Land is binding, “And (mention, O Muhammad), when Abraham was tried by his Lord with commands and he fulfilled them. (Allah) said, “Indeed, I will make you a leader for the people.” (Abraham) said, “And of my descendants?” (Allah) said, “My covenant does not include the wrongdoers” (Quran 2:124). 

Both holy Quran and Bible gives the similar condition of fulfilling the covenant in return for God’s blessings. However, Israelites refused to obey. 

Exodus 19:5 says: “Now if you obey me fully and keep my covenant, then out of all nations you will be my treasured possession. Although the whole earth is mine”.  

“They did not keep God’s covenant and refused to live by his law”. (Psalm 78:10)

Further, how would God view Palestinians continued existence and ownership of land and property in Palestine? Don’t they have the right to defend what is rightfully theirs? 

“Glory to (Allah) Who did take His servant for a Journey by night from the Sacred Mosque (Al-Aqsa) to the farthest Mosque, whose precincts We did bless, in order that We might show him some of Our Signs: for He is the One Who heareth and seeth (all things)” (Quran 17:1).

Zionism may have been an example of modern national liberation movements. A goal of ingathering of exiles in the Promised Land, the liberation of Jews from persecutions, humiliations, discrimination and antisemitism they had been subject to.

By the way, Israelites are not natives of Palestine. “The whole land of Canaan, where you now reside as a foreigner, I will give as an everlasting possession to you and your descendants after you; and I will be their God.” (Genesis 17:8) 

The current Israel is contrary to Judaism as some founders are anti-religion and in apparent violation of the traditional notion that Jews should wait for the Jewish Messiah.

Traditional Jews don’t support Zionism, an ideology they call “contrary to Jewish law and beliefs and the teachings of the Holy Torah. 

The first two of the “Three Oaths” on the nation of Israel do not reconcile beginning with the occupation and  wars fought with neighbours. Recall the threat, if Israel violates these oaths, their flesh will be made free like wild animals in the field.

Israel even bombed a US warship to blame it on Egypt so the US could start a war. 

The idea of returning to Palestine was rejected by the conferences of rabbis at Frankfurt am Main in 1845. The British government was tricked with fear that American Jews would encourage the US to support Germany against Russia. It resulted with the Balfour Declaration of 1917 which include that nothing shall be done which may prejudice the civil and religious rights of existing non-Jewish communities in Palestine.

Persecuted people deserve a land to live on but it should come from their persecutors in Europe. Its biggest supporter, the US, should help. There were proposals for Jewish settlements in the upper Mississippi region and opposite Buffalo, New York on Grand Isle. The American Israel Public Affairs Committee can achieve its objective to enhance the security of the United States and Israel by lobbying for these settlements.

Franklin D. Roosevelt once said that Israel “could only be established and maintained by force”.

Look at the list of numerous United Nations (UN) resolutions concerning Israel. Its relationship with USA encourages Israel to pursue aggressive expansionist policies and practices. Resolution 46/86, adopted in 1991 (under pressure from USA), revoked resolution 3379, which had called Zionism a form of racism. 

Also, check Amnesty International for Israel’s human rights violations.

Britain and USA should be held accountable in the mess they have created in the Middle East. Even Mahatma Gandhi rejected Zionism, saying that the establishment of a Jewish national home in Palestine is a religious act and therefore must not be performed by force, comparing it to the Partition of India into Hindu and Muslim countries.

The Jews are now threatened with a new holocaust – the Jews are now the victims, not the Palestinians. Muslims were the protectors of Jews in Judaism’s darkest hour when they faced persecution in Christian Europe.

Jews constitute 20% of all Nobel laureates including three winners for peace but why there is still no peace in the Middle East?

By the way, the evidentiary stage of Benjamin Netanyahu’s corruption trial kicked off recently.

What say you… – May 17, 2021.

* Saleh Mohammed reads The Malaysian Insight.

* This is the opinion of the writer or publication and does not necessarily represent the views of The Malaysian Insight. Article may be edited for brevity and clarity.