Here are eight of the possible views of land ownership:
#1 Historic Right
#2 Worldview/Religion/Moral Claim
#3 Present Possession
#4 Military Might (The most popular view with most people in most of history)
#5 Best Use
#6 Diplomacy/Compromise
#7 Legal Claim
#8 Visitor Status (No one group, nation, religion, ideology, etc. “owns” the land. All humans are merely visiting. We must share.)
In the Light,
Daniel Wilcox
Showing posts with label land. Show all posts
Showing posts with label land. Show all posts
Wednesday, August 13, 2025
Thursday, May 9, 2024
Excerpt of Interview with Palestinian leader Eli Chacour, follower of Jesus, author of Blood Brothers
From SOPHIA Vol.54 number 2, Spring 2024
“Unless We Share the Land Together,
We Are Doomed to Disappear Together.”
An interview with Archbishop Elias Chacour,
Author of Blood Brothers (his own family’s
tragic story of how his father and brother were
kidnapped by the Israeli Army, their church was
blown up, and they were banished from their
village, yet his father said they needed to love
their enemies—the Israelis as Jesus taught)
Elias Chacour is
Emeritus,
Melkite Catholic Archdiocese
of Akka, Haifa, Nazareth, and All Galilee
and Leader of Mar Elias Educational Institutions including a high school with 1200 students; 60% Muslim, 40% Christian, Druze... There are some Jewish teachers, but no longer any Jewish students.
Sophia: Westerners were quick to condemn Hamas’s
killing of Israeli civilians last
year, yet have been more
likely to excuse or ignore the
atrocities being committed
by the state of Israel against
Palestinians. Why do you
believe that is?
Elias Chacour: It is the traditional way in the Western world to
justify everything Israel does. Israel
is considered a divine entity. It can
do no wrong. That’s why there is so
little sympathy with the Palestinians.
We have to understand that the
violence did not happen out of the
blue. It’s like a circle in the chain.
Palestinians have been suffering for
75 years. They lost their homes. They
lost their independence. They were under siege in Gaza. All the people in
Gaza are Palestinians from Palestine, but they were reduced
to refugees in their own country and scattered around the
world. So, it’s understandable that, at some point,
they would revolt.
But it was too atrocious.
Of course, I condemn it. But
what has been done to the
Palestinians, both before the
Hamas attack and after it, as
retaliation, is also atrocious.
It is unbelievable and unacceptable. Israel is demolishing a whole section of Gaza
and reducing the people to refugees, without
any excuse. They want to destroy, and they want to demolish.
They want to finish with the existence of the Palestinians.
We are used to seeing the Western world being one-sided
and say that whatever Israel does is legitimate and good. Even
to massacre, kill, and destroy is good because they are the chosen people. My goodness, this isn’t God’s judgment!
The Palestinians lost everything. Their country, their independence,
and their dignity. Everything. They are a scattered people.
They have lost everything. What Israel has done in Gaza is an
atrocity. It is an act of revenge.
The Jews have a good memory. They remember the Holocaust, which is good. They don’t want to forget it, and they shouldn’t!
But they blame Palestinians. How can they blame us?
The Jews say they are here because this was their home 2,000
years ago. Fine. They were deported by the Romans, and we were
not.
We were here, too. We stayed here. We waited here. And
then we welcomed them when they came in. But we cannot accept what they are doing to us.
SOPHIA: There are many in the West who say that there’s no
such thing as Palestine and that Jordan might as
well be the Arab homeland. But you clearly have a
deep Palestinian identity.
Eli Chacour: Absolutely. Why do you think that Westerners have a hard time
understanding that all Arabs are not alike, and that Palestine is
a real place with a real people?
I think it is because the Zionist propaganda convinced the
Western world that they have to compensate for what was done
to the Jews during World War II—the Holocaust...
I remember my father told us, within a few days, we might
have Jewish soldiers come to our village. That was in 1948. He
said, these are the survivors of a certain satanic plan in Germany
aiming at destroying all the Jews... And
some would be coming to our village. We need to show them that
somewhere in this world, they are welcome. They are our blood
brothers. That’s why I wrote my book, Blood Brothers.
SOPHIA: That was a beautiful part of your autobiography.
Initially, your father wanted to welcome the Jews
because they had nowhere else to go.
Eli Chacour: I want to say something very dangerous. The land of Palestine does not belong to the Jews. Yet, it cannot belong to the Palestinians either.
The land is God’s and both have to share the land!
That’s why I wrote my second book, We Belong to the Land. The Jews can say that. The Palestinians have the right to say that also. Unless we share the land together, we are doomed to disappear together.
SOPHIA: The State of Israel has sometimes claimed that they
are trying to protect Palestinian Christians from
Islamist terrorists and radicals. Have you found
this to be the case?
Eli Chacor: No, no, no, no.... The Christian Palestinian villages
that were destroyed by the creation of the State of Israel are
many—about twenty villages...the Jews who
came, and they were welcomed by us, and then as a response
to our welcome, they destroyed our villages...
Eli Chacour:
... two Christian women were going to a church in Gaza, and the
Israeli snipers shot them...
To read the whole interview go to:
The Journal of the Melkite Catholic Eparchy, page 15-17
https://melkite.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/03/Sophia-v54-02-2024-Spring.pdf
Those wishing to support Archbishop Elias’s educational apostolate can
donate to the Pilgrims of Ibillin (pilgrimsofibillin.org/donate-now/)
In the LIGHT of Justice, Sharing, Kindness, Peace-creating,
Daniel Wilcox
“Unless We Share the Land Together,
We Are Doomed to Disappear Together.”
An interview with Archbishop Elias Chacour,
Author of Blood Brothers (his own family’s
tragic story of how his father and brother were
kidnapped by the Israeli Army, their church was
blown up, and they were banished from their
village, yet his father said they needed to love
their enemies—the Israelis as Jesus taught)
Emeritus,
Melkite Catholic Archdiocese
of Akka, Haifa, Nazareth, and All Galilee
and Leader of Mar Elias Educational Institutions including a high school with 1200 students; 60% Muslim, 40% Christian, Druze... There are some Jewish teachers, but no longer any Jewish students.
Sophia: Westerners were quick to condemn Hamas’s
killing of Israeli civilians last
year, yet have been more
likely to excuse or ignore the
atrocities being committed
by the state of Israel against
Palestinians. Why do you
believe that is?
Elias Chacour: It is the traditional way in the Western world to
justify everything Israel does. Israel
is considered a divine entity. It can
do no wrong. That’s why there is so
little sympathy with the Palestinians.
We have to understand that the
violence did not happen out of the
blue. It’s like a circle in the chain.
Palestinians have been suffering for
75 years. They lost their homes. They
lost their independence. They were under siege in Gaza. All the people in
Gaza are Palestinians from Palestine, but they were reduced
to refugees in their own country and scattered around the
world. So, it’s understandable that, at some point,
they would revolt.
But it was too atrocious.
Of course, I condemn it. But
what has been done to the
Palestinians, both before the
Hamas attack and after it, as
retaliation, is also atrocious.
It is unbelievable and unacceptable. Israel is demolishing a whole section of Gaza
and reducing the people to refugees, without
any excuse. They want to destroy, and they want to demolish.
They want to finish with the existence of the Palestinians.
We are used to seeing the Western world being one-sided
and say that whatever Israel does is legitimate and good. Even
to massacre, kill, and destroy is good because they are the chosen people. My goodness, this isn’t God’s judgment!
The Palestinians lost everything. Their country, their independence,
and their dignity. Everything. They are a scattered people.
They have lost everything. What Israel has done in Gaza is an
atrocity. It is an act of revenge.
The Jews have a good memory. They remember the Holocaust, which is good. They don’t want to forget it, and they shouldn’t!
But they blame Palestinians. How can they blame us?
The Jews say they are here because this was their home 2,000
years ago. Fine. They were deported by the Romans, and we were
not.
We were here, too. We stayed here. We waited here. And
then we welcomed them when they came in. But we cannot accept what they are doing to us.
SOPHIA: There are many in the West who say that there’s no
such thing as Palestine and that Jordan might as
well be the Arab homeland. But you clearly have a
deep Palestinian identity.
Eli Chacour: Absolutely. Why do you think that Westerners have a hard time
understanding that all Arabs are not alike, and that Palestine is
a real place with a real people?
I think it is because the Zionist propaganda convinced the
Western world that they have to compensate for what was done
to the Jews during World War II—the Holocaust...
I remember my father told us, within a few days, we might
have Jewish soldiers come to our village. That was in 1948. He
said, these are the survivors of a certain satanic plan in Germany
aiming at destroying all the Jews... And
some would be coming to our village. We need to show them that
somewhere in this world, they are welcome. They are our blood
brothers. That’s why I wrote my book, Blood Brothers.
SOPHIA: That was a beautiful part of your autobiography.
Initially, your father wanted to welcome the Jews
because they had nowhere else to go.
Eli Chacour: I want to say something very dangerous. The land of Palestine does not belong to the Jews. Yet, it cannot belong to the Palestinians either.
The land is God’s and both have to share the land!
That’s why I wrote my second book, We Belong to the Land. The Jews can say that. The Palestinians have the right to say that also. Unless we share the land together, we are doomed to disappear together.
SOPHIA: The State of Israel has sometimes claimed that they
are trying to protect Palestinian Christians from
Islamist terrorists and radicals. Have you found
this to be the case?
Eli Chacor: No, no, no, no.... The Christian Palestinian villages
that were destroyed by the creation of the State of Israel are
many—about twenty villages...the Jews who
came, and they were welcomed by us, and then as a response
to our welcome, they destroyed our villages...
Eli Chacour:
... two Christian women were going to a church in Gaza, and the
Israeli snipers shot them...
To read the whole interview go to:
The Journal of the Melkite Catholic Eparchy, page 15-17
https://melkite.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/03/Sophia-v54-02-2024-Spring.pdf
Those wishing to support Archbishop Elias’s educational apostolate can
donate to the Pilgrims of Ibillin (pilgrimsofibillin.org/donate-now/)
In the LIGHT of Justice, Sharing, Kindness, Peace-creating,
Daniel Wilcox
Tuesday, September 5, 2017
Israel Evicts Elderly Palestinian Family--Who Owns the Land?
http://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-41159653
Tragic how humans only think of themselves--in this case Jewish settlers:-(, focused on their own lives, not caring that they have forced an elderly Arab family out of their home of many years.
At other times, Palestinian haters do the same, and much worse as when they praise Palestinian murderers as "heroes."
Have both sides forgotten each other's histories, all the suffering, injustice, etc.?
Yes, the problems of land ownership are incredibly difficult.
Why didn't the Arab family buy the house if they have lived there for 53 years?
Since they have lived there for so long, why didn't the Jewish owners of the property--who sold it to Jewish settlers--help this elderly Arab family to stay?
(It's true that the Israeli owners allowed the Palestinians to stay while the case was legally fought through in the courts. BUT why not help the elderly Arab family keep it?)
Why go back now and change things from back in 1948, punishing this elderly Arab family now, who probably had nothing personally to do with the loss of the house in the 40's?
And why, if this is necessary, WHY has NOTHING been done for all the Arab lands lost, stolen back then by Jewish soldiers?
Look at the maps, study the histories. Jewish people confiscated millions of acres of Palestinian land.
Of course, everything is unfair in war.
And why is the Israeli government also still trying to take away land owned by a Palestinian family near Bethlehem, who have a Turkish legal deed from about 1906?!
All of this smacks of nationalistic and religious selfishness, prejudice, inequality, injustice, and inhumanity.
Based on Israeli reasoning, here in California in the U.S., I ought to lose my home that my family has lived in for 26 years.
And it ought to be given back to Mexicans who used to own this land before it was stolen.
Of course, the Mexicans also stole it from the Chumash native Americans.
So utterly sad.
Two wrongs don't make any right.
(Note: I lived for most of a year on an Israeli kibbutz near Bet Shean, have seen and studied the Israeli-Palestinian chasm for many years. Have also been a guest of a Palestinian family in the city of Nablus, Palestine.)
Troubled in the Light,
Daniel Wilcox
Tuesday, June 21, 2016
Stand Up for Human Rights Against the Israeli Government and Settlers
Israeli lawyer uses inside knowledge against settler group
Published June 21, 2016 Associated Press
(AP Photo/Mahmoud Illean)
from The Associated Press:
"This May 17, 2016 photo shows construction on land owned by Palestinian Mohammad Abu Ta’a, in east Jerusalem. Abu Ta’a discovered some years ago that the Israeli government had expropriated the piece of land in Jerusalem belonging to his family and handed it over to a leading organization that oversees Jewish settlement building in the West Bank."
"Now, the Palestinian landowner is fighting back in an unusual way -- enlisting Israeli lawyer Stephen Berman whose inside knowledge of the system is helping Abu Ta’a expose the settler organization’s property grab."
"JERUSALEM – A few years ago, Mohammad Abu Ta'a discovered that some storage trailers had disappeared from a plot of land in Jerusalem belonging to his family. Then, the family received a letter informing them they were now trespassers."
"When the Palestinian landowner contacted Israeli land authorities, he was told the government had expropriated the land and handed it over to a leading organization that oversees Jewish settlement building in the West Bank. That group, Amana, is now building its new headquarters on the land."
--
"Following a paper trail of old maps and land registry documents, Berman said he uncovered how Israeli civil servants, stretching back decades, abused their power to seize control of the tiny but attractive triangle of real estate from the Abu Ta'a family in east Jerusalem and give it to Amana, a 40-year-old organization that spearheads the construction of Jewish settlements in east Jerusalem and the West Bank."
"The organization, which has been investigated multiple times for fraudulent real estate deals, has helped plan and build numerous government-sanctioned Jewish settlements and unauthorized outposts."
"An investigative program on Israel's Channel 10 TV in February reported that Israeli police investigated 15 West Bank land acquisitions where settlement outposts were built and found that Amana's subsidiary had forged documents for 14 of them. The subsidiary denied the claims."
"The Amana organization is a settler organization that deals with construction of settlements ... many times on stolen Palestinian land," said Hagit Ofran of the anti-settlement watchdog group Peace Now. "We are not surprised to see them stealing land also in Jerusalem."
"The trouble here is that the government is helping the settlers to take over this land," Ofran added.
[Stolen land] ...expropriated land went into building the Israeli national police headquarters, government ministries and large Jewish neighborhoods, which the international community considers illegal settlements."
Read the whole unjust theft story at
http://www.foxnews.com/world/2016/06/21/israeli-lawyer-uses-inside-knowledge-against-settler-group.html
In the Light for Justice and Human Rights,
Daniel Wilcox
Published June 21, 2016 Associated Press
from The Associated Press:
"This May 17, 2016 photo shows construction on land owned by Palestinian Mohammad Abu Ta’a, in east Jerusalem. Abu Ta’a discovered some years ago that the Israeli government had expropriated the piece of land in Jerusalem belonging to his family and handed it over to a leading organization that oversees Jewish settlement building in the West Bank."
"Now, the Palestinian landowner is fighting back in an unusual way -- enlisting Israeli lawyer Stephen Berman whose inside knowledge of the system is helping Abu Ta’a expose the settler organization’s property grab."
"JERUSALEM – A few years ago, Mohammad Abu Ta'a discovered that some storage trailers had disappeared from a plot of land in Jerusalem belonging to his family. Then, the family received a letter informing them they were now trespassers."
"When the Palestinian landowner contacted Israeli land authorities, he was told the government had expropriated the land and handed it over to a leading organization that oversees Jewish settlement building in the West Bank. That group, Amana, is now building its new headquarters on the land."
--
"Following a paper trail of old maps and land registry documents, Berman said he uncovered how Israeli civil servants, stretching back decades, abused their power to seize control of the tiny but attractive triangle of real estate from the Abu Ta'a family in east Jerusalem and give it to Amana, a 40-year-old organization that spearheads the construction of Jewish settlements in east Jerusalem and the West Bank."
"The organization, which has been investigated multiple times for fraudulent real estate deals, has helped plan and build numerous government-sanctioned Jewish settlements and unauthorized outposts."
"An investigative program on Israel's Channel 10 TV in February reported that Israeli police investigated 15 West Bank land acquisitions where settlement outposts were built and found that Amana's subsidiary had forged documents for 14 of them. The subsidiary denied the claims."
"The Amana organization is a settler organization that deals with construction of settlements ... many times on stolen Palestinian land," said Hagit Ofran of the anti-settlement watchdog group Peace Now. "We are not surprised to see them stealing land also in Jerusalem."
"The trouble here is that the government is helping the settlers to take over this land," Ofran added.
[Stolen land] ...expropriated land went into building the Israeli national police headquarters, government ministries and large Jewish neighborhoods, which the international community considers illegal settlements."
Read the whole unjust theft story at
http://www.foxnews.com/world/2016/06/21/israeli-lawyer-uses-inside-knowledge-against-settler-group.html
In the Light for Justice and Human Rights,
Daniel Wilcox
Thursday, August 13, 2015
The Chasm of the Divide
from Masalaha--
A Personal Reflection by one Palestinian:
“I had just had a hard time at the checkpoint; they hadn’t treated me well as a Palestinian. I was going to Ramallah with my friend and a colleague in the car, and one of the soldiers humiliated me.
He was rude, and made me get out of the car and asked “Who is that chick next to you?”
I was annoyed, as she was my colleague and he was not talking about her in a nice way.
Then he saw that I wasn’t happy with the way he talked to me, so he said ‘Read that number plate over there.”
I felt like he was insulting me. I argued with him, “Why do you want me to read it?”
I’m not a man who likes a fight, but he was being very rude to me.
My friend was telling me to just read it, but I didn’t want to. I started to read it very slowly, and then he dropped his pen.
He said, “Pick it up.”
And I thought, “I’ve had enough.”
When I refused, he put his gun against my head and said, “You will.”
I said, “Do whatever you want. I will not pick it up.”
After that, he didn’t make me pick it up, but we had to wait three hours at the checkpoint without our ID.
I wasn’t feeling like going on a trip to meet Israelis would be good, but I’m a person who likes to face the situation. If I have fear, I want to face it. If I have a problem, I want to confront it because it will get out of control.
I thought to myself, “Okay, I will deal with the Israelis as foreigners as I am meeting them abroad in Jordan, not as soldiers in their uniforms.” On the first day it was okay, but in the evening it got hard. We had to get into pairs, each Palestinian with an Israeli,
and tell one another three things about each other.
I wasn’t lucky. The guy who I was with was an Israeli officer in the army.
I told him that I was from Bethlehem. And I told him my story. Then it was his turn. He looked like a tough man and he told me that he knew Bethlehem well as he had been there during the second intifada. He was in my city in a tank and I thought, “Now I am sitting with him!”
After that, I don’t remember anything else about what he talked about. I just saw black. I put him in the place of each soldier I had met that week. It was hard. I felt that I didn’t like him at all.
Late that same night, I told myself that I didn’t want to leave it like that with him. I wanted to talk to him. He is the one who gave me this feeling so I have to talk to him. So I went to him and asked to talk. He’s my age. I told him how he made me feel and that I found it hard that he was in the army.
He looked at me and said, “Zaire, listen. I’m sorry for what my people do. I am sorry for the things that have happened to you. But also understand that people like me, I have to do things that I don’t want to do. The army forces me to do things. So imagine how difficult it is in my heart.”
I felt his pain too. I realized that not all soldiers are bad; they are doing their jobs.
We prayed together, and on the last day, I shared my story. I was happy that I could influence people.
I’ve been away with Musalaha often since then. It has helped me so much as we learn the history of the other side, about their government and their political system, too. They don’t know about our system either, so it is really good. We learn to think and talk about the on-going situation.
Because of Musalaha, I don’t forget about reconciliation. However long the conflict continues, we need to carry on meeting with each other. We need to influence the next generation.
I now have Israeli friends who are very kind to me. We call each other up and see how we are both doing. It was very hard last summer as my Israeli friend was fighting in Gaza. We kept in contact though throughout the violence.
We need to be kind to each other. It takes time, but I believe in it. We are in one family. We believe in one God. It is important to sit together as one family. Musalaha brings us together. If I was to go on my own, I would be scared, but when there are more of us, it’s much easier.”
*Zaire’s name has been changed for confidentiality reasons.
From the Musalaha Website
--
Check out this Palestinian/Israeli organization dedicated to peace, reconciliation, and justice.
Start with their Bridge Building: https://www.musalaha.org/projects/bridge-building/
“Like all other departments in Musalaha, the Young Adults Department strives to bring Palestinians and Israelis closer towards reconciliation. The program track starts with a first encounter in a neutral location, away from associations of the conflict and away from the stresses of everyday life. In this environment, participants tend to express their feelings more freely, and more earnestly listen to and cooperate with each other…
Through Musalaha’s various reconciliation programs (e.g. trips, leadership opportunities, lectures) we empower these individuals with knowledge and understanding of issues concerning reconciliation and the Palestinian-Israeli conflict, helping them become positive influences advocating peace and fellowship in their communities.”
------
In the Light,
Daniel Wilcox
Saturday, July 11, 2015
"These Children Represent the Future of This Land..."
“These children represent the future of this land…”
Turn from the incessant distortion and destruction for and against various ideologies and religions.
Seek reconciliation and peace and empathy and compassion.
Here's an example of one group doing this:
From Musalaha’s webpage and Facebook page--
“Musalaha’s Israeli-Palestinian Children’s Summer Camp is designed to provide a framework for Israeli and Palestinian children to meet and come together in a fun and friendly atmosphere. Here they have the opportunity to build relationships with children from the other side, whom they would otherwise not have the chance to meet and learn to counter many of the stereotypes they have learned...as the children learn to be around other groups of people who are living in both Israeli and Palestinian societies.
If children, at a young age, learn to love and break down the barriers of hate we will be able to raise up a new generation that seeks to transform society through love, peace and biblical principles of reconciliation.
These children represent the future of this land, and if we do not invest in them now, and help them understand their common humanity as individuals made in the image of God, we will have missed a wonderful opportunity to impact their perceptions and decision making processes early on. Within a few years, many of these young people will be serving in the military, attending university and joining the work force. The ones who will be that change in their communities.
Following their experience at camp, these children are able to return home, equipped as messengers of peace and love and grow into agents of change within their own communities.”
“Under Christian rule, Jews were not allowed to visit the Temple Mount. When Islam came, Jews believed that this was a sign from God as they were allowed to return to Jerusalem under the second caliph Omar’s rule. At this point in history, Judaism and Islam were closest as Christianity was perceived as their mutual enemy. Islam’s main wars were with the Byzantine Empire and then the Crusaders. The Jews did not have military power at this time, but when the Crusaders came, they slaughtered all the Jews along with the Muslims.
“We are encouraged to see how learning and discussing these sensitive and important subjects aid in building relationships with each other.”
Cohen discussed some of the clashes that resulted between Jews and Muslims over holy sites, the Temple Mount in particular."
Salim Munayer, Hillen Cohen
--
“Working for reconciliation is challenging. I have heard it said that whenever you try and create a bridge between two differing sides, you experience opposition. In our efforts to bridge the gap between people, we have not only found people who oppose us, but those who prevent others from accessing the bridge altogether.
Recently, people have spoken against Musalaha by misquoting us and unfairly criticizing our work. False accusations are often hard to take, especially in the middle of a conflict saturated with radical views, where labeling and blaming others for pretty much anything and everything is commonplace.
...
One of our staff members who studied Criminology reflected on a term used in the field called “Gatekeepers” to paint a picture of access and control. It has been helpful in understanding how and why people are intent on controlling information and reducing discussion to fit with their own agenda.
“Gatekeepers” are described as a type of thought police who fight against information that threatens their group’s beliefs. “
…
“As facilitators of reconciliation we are constantly presenting new information to counter racism, enmity, and misperceptions of the other. It is important that we share information and remain open minded in our discussions with people."
--
Musalaha seeks to promote reconciliation between Israelis and Palestinians as demonstrated in the life and teaching of Jesus. We endeavor to be an encouragement and advocate of reconciliation, first among Palestinian and Israeli believers and then beyond to our respective communities. Musalaha also aims at facilitating bridge building among different segments of Israeli and Palestinian societies according to biblical reconciliation principles.”
Salim Munayer
https://www.musalaha.org/home/
https://www.facebook.com/Musalahapage
Visit and Musalaha and other reconciliation and peace seekers in Palestine/Israel.
Don’t let the destroyers, the nationalists, the intolerant gatekeepers continue to distort and harm anyone.
Seek peace and pursue it in the Middle East, and everywhere!
In the Light,
Daniel Wilcox
Monday, June 23, 2014
Who Owns the Land in Israel/Palestine?
Who owns the land in Israel/Palestine?
Listen to these thoughtful words from a Jewish rabbi:
"But when we shift the question from "which people has a right to this land?" to "how do we extend full human and civil rights to all who live on the land?" we discover a decidedly different Biblical vision. We lift up the God who tells us that all humanity is made in the divine image--and that when push comes to shove, the land does not ultimately belong to any of us, but to God and we are strangers upon it."
Rabbi Brant Rosen
Listen to these thoughtful words from a Jewish rabbi:
"But when we shift the question from "which people has a right to this land?" to "how do we extend full human and civil rights to all who live on the land?" we discover a decidedly different Biblical vision. We lift up the God who tells us that all humanity is made in the divine image--and that when push comes to shove, the land does not ultimately belong to any of us, but to God and we are strangers upon it."
Rabbi Brant Rosen
Tuesday, December 4, 2012
Who Owns the Land? Jew or Arab? Neither!
Who Owns the Land? Jew or Arab? Neither!
Again recently, Jews destroyed animals and olive trees, vandalized mosques and cars, attacked Arabs, stole much more land, and dropped many more lethal bombs, etc.
Again recently, Arabs attacked Jewish families, lobbed hundreds of missiles into Israel trying to kill as many unarmed civilians as possible, etc.
In the last 12 years at least 6,700 Palestinians have been killed and at least 2,000 Jews.
What in HELL for? That’s right, that’s where the New Testament says destroying actions come from, from Hell.
All because of their selfish land claims—both by Arab and by Jew.
How do Arabs feel when they have lived on land for many years, (some families for over a 1,000 years!), but their land is confiscated by the Israeli army and given to immigrants from New York or Russia?!
How would you feel if your Arab family owned the deed to your own land but now the Israeli government is trying to take it away because they want it and claim the land is theirs because their ancestors lived on it over 2,000 years ago?
True story! You can read about it at World Vision’s website: http://blog.worldvision.org/stories/we-refuse-to-be-enemies/
On the other side…
How would you feel if your Jewish family can trace its ancestry on the land back to Bible times, but terrorist groups like HAMAS want to exterminate them, and keep launching deadly rockets to slaughter all, and then take over their land?
Plus, you need to keep history in your sites…
In 1880 there were 24,000 Jews living in the area of the Ottoman Empire called Palestine; there were 450,000 Arabs.
Only 5.3% of Palestine was Jewish!
Where then did all the Jewish people come from? From elsewhere...
But, of course, many people think since Jews once dominated in Palestine before 70 A.D., they have a right to return, as many, many thousands have from all over the world, especially from Europe and America.
Let’s assume so, but does that give them the right to intimidate and persecute Arabs and take away their land?
Please read what Amos has to say about injustice in the Jewish Bible.
We live on the Central Coast of California on what used to be Indian land. Because Indians used to live on this land (but were driven off long ago by the Spanish and Americans, like the Romans drove off the Jews), does this give Indians the right, now, to come back onto our property, kill my family, and confiscate our land?
Even if the Indians have historic right to the land, it certainly doesn’t justify their confiscating it by force of arms, and by killing people who now live on the land and then giving the land to their cousins from Florida.
Both Jew and Arab are violating their own religious scriptures, and are basically being selfish, because they won’t share.
<< James 4 >>
American King James Version
"From where come wars and fights among you? come they not hence, even of your lusts that war in your members? 2You lust, and have not: you kill, and desire to have, and cannot obtain: you fight and war, yet you have not, because you ask not."
TO BE CONTINUED
In the Light,
Daniel Wilcox
Again recently, Jews destroyed animals and olive trees, vandalized mosques and cars, attacked Arabs, stole much more land, and dropped many more lethal bombs, etc.
Again recently, Arabs attacked Jewish families, lobbed hundreds of missiles into Israel trying to kill as many unarmed civilians as possible, etc.
In the last 12 years at least 6,700 Palestinians have been killed and at least 2,000 Jews.
What in HELL for? That’s right, that’s where the New Testament says destroying actions come from, from Hell.
All because of their selfish land claims—both by Arab and by Jew.
How do Arabs feel when they have lived on land for many years, (some families for over a 1,000 years!), but their land is confiscated by the Israeli army and given to immigrants from New York or Russia?!
How would you feel if your Arab family owned the deed to your own land but now the Israeli government is trying to take it away because they want it and claim the land is theirs because their ancestors lived on it over 2,000 years ago?
True story! You can read about it at World Vision’s website: http://blog.worldvision.org/stories/we-refuse-to-be-enemies/
On the other side…
How would you feel if your Jewish family can trace its ancestry on the land back to Bible times, but terrorist groups like HAMAS want to exterminate them, and keep launching deadly rockets to slaughter all, and then take over their land?
Plus, you need to keep history in your sites…
In 1880 there were 24,000 Jews living in the area of the Ottoman Empire called Palestine; there were 450,000 Arabs.
Only 5.3% of Palestine was Jewish!
Where then did all the Jewish people come from? From elsewhere...
But, of course, many people think since Jews once dominated in Palestine before 70 A.D., they have a right to return, as many, many thousands have from all over the world, especially from Europe and America.
Let’s assume so, but does that give them the right to intimidate and persecute Arabs and take away their land?
Please read what Amos has to say about injustice in the Jewish Bible.
We live on the Central Coast of California on what used to be Indian land. Because Indians used to live on this land (but were driven off long ago by the Spanish and Americans, like the Romans drove off the Jews), does this give Indians the right, now, to come back onto our property, kill my family, and confiscate our land?
Even if the Indians have historic right to the land, it certainly doesn’t justify their confiscating it by force of arms, and by killing people who now live on the land and then giving the land to their cousins from Florida.
Both Jew and Arab are violating their own religious scriptures, and are basically being selfish, because they won’t share.
<< James 4 >>
American King James Version
"From where come wars and fights among you? come they not hence, even of your lusts that war in your members? 2You lust, and have not: you kill, and desire to have, and cannot obtain: you fight and war, yet you have not, because you ask not."
TO BE CONTINUED
In the Light,
Daniel Wilcox
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