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This is Part 2 of a two-part series on the Palestinian problem. In Part 1, we began examining the lies (or, if you prefer, the more politically correct disinformation) being told about Israel’s history and its right to the land now called Palestine. While this article does not discuss mysticism, it provides a historical foundation for a future article on panentheism within Palestinian Liberation Theology.

Where Will America Stand with Israel? Will We Stand for Truth or Fall for Lies?

Statements like the ones made by Bishop Perez are extremely dangerous as they impact America’s view of Israel. God promised Abraham and his descendants (Israel) in Genesis 12:3 to bless those who bless Israel and curse those who curse Israel. While God used foreign invaders as a tool of judgment against Israel (Hos 9 – 12; Isa 8; 2 Kgs 17-25, 2 Chron 32-36, Jer 21, 22, 25, 27-28, 32, 34), He always subsequently destroyed those tools. Will America be a tool of judgment, or will we be blessed because we blessed Israel?

Many justice-minded Christians may not be aware of the historical lies being said about Israel and are thus contributing to anti-Zionism –– what Rabbi Sacks calls “the new anti-Semitism.”1AIPAC. 2013. “Rabbi Lord Jonathan Sacks at AIPAC.” YouTube. March 12, 2013. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sDXeUhUpHYY. Loc. 3:21 Speaking at the 2013 American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) Policy Conference, Rabbi Lord Jonathan Sacks addressed the cultural path to legitimizing the new anti-Semetism:

I tell you that what we grew up with – “Never Again” –– is beginning to sound like “Ever Again.” And at the heart of it is hostility to Israel. . . . In the Middle Ages, Jews were hated because of their religion. In the 19th century and the 20th they were hated because of their race. Today, when it’s no longer done to hate people for their religion or their race, today they are hated because of their state. The reason changes but the hate stays the same. Anti-Zionism is the new anti-Semitism.2AIPAC. 2013. “Rabbi Lord Jonathan Sacks at AIPAC.” YouTube. March 12, 2013. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sDXeUhUpHYY. Loc. 3:21

There are seven historical facts about Israel and Palestine that everyone needs to know:

1) The Palestinians have had numerous opportunities to create an independent state but have repeatedly rejected them.3“Myths and Facts the Middle East Peace Process.” 2024. Jewishvirtuallibrary.org. 2024. https://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/myths-and-facts-the-middle-east-peace-process#15.9. Accessed September 2024
2) The bulk of land acquired by Zionists prior to 1929 was purchased legally from large, predominately absentee, landowners like the Levantine Sursock family.4Hirst, David. 1984. The Gun and the Olive Branch.London: Faber. Pg 149-150
3) The name “Israel” appears in several key, pre-Christian archeological finds including the 2nd millennium BC (2000 BC to 1001 BC) Merneptah Stele, which speaks of Israel in Canaan.5NIV Archaeological Study Bible : An Illustrated Walk through Biblical History and Culture. Grand Rapids, Mich.: Zondervan. Pg. 1175
4) The name “Palestine” doesn’t appear until 5th century BC, when the Greek historian Herodotus first references “Palestine,” which is derived from the word “Philistia,” which is a reference to the Philistines’ past existence on the southern coast of Canaan.6“Origins of the Name ‘Palestine.’” n.d. Www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org. https://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/origin-of-quot-palestine-quot. Accessed September 2024
5) In the area known today as Palestine, there has never been a state that was not Jewish and there has never been an Arab, Palestinian, or Muslim state. The Jews are aboriginal to the land of Israel. The Palestinians are aboriginal to Arabia.7“Myths & Facts Israel’s Roots.” 2024. Jewishvirtuallibrary.org. 2024. https://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/myths-facts-2023-israel-s-roots-chapter-1#3. Accessed September 2024
6) Despite claims by Yasser Arafat that “Palestine [in 1881–– the beginning of the Zionist invasion according to Arafat] was a verdant area, inhabited mainly by an Arab people,” historical records demonstrate something very different. Below are just a few examples. [Emphasis Mine]

        • The first official public census, taken by the Turks in 1844, revealed a Jewish population of 7,120, as opposed to 5,760 Moslems.
        • In 1785, the French historian Constantine Francois Volney described the state of Palestine as “ruined” and “desolate.”
        • In 1857, the British consul in Palestine, James Finn, reported back to England: “The country is in a considerable degree empty of inhabitants, and therefore its greatest need is that of a body of population.”
        • In 1867, Mark Twain wrote in The Innocents Abroad: “Stirring senses… occur in this valley no more. There is not a solitary village throughout its whole extent – not for thirty miles in either direction.” He goes on to describe Galilee, Judea, and around Jerusalem as deserts devoid of population. And for the country as a whole: “Palestine sits in sackcloth and ashes. Over it broods the spell of a curse that has withered its fields and fettered its energies… Palestine is desolate and unlovely… It is hopeless, dreary, heartbroken land.”8 Netanyahu, Benjamin. 2009. A Durable Peace. Grand Central Publishing. Kindle Edition. Loc 864-908

7) The city of Jerusalem is not mentioned anywhere in the Koran, whereas in the Bible it is mentioned 667 times in the Old Testament and 139 times in the New. The only Islamic reference to Jerusalem is in the Hadith literature –– a record of the words, actions, and approvals of the prophet Muhammed. Muslims have no scriptural right to the city. In fact, the Koran even states that the Holy Land belongs to the Jews.9Hadian, Sharam, Truth in Love Ministries, interviewed by DeYoung Jr., Jimmy. 2024. Review of Prophecy Today Weekend . Edited by Prophecy Today. https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/prophecy-today-weekend-march-09/id132427025?i=1000648586852. Loc 46:43 – 53:07

All we have to do is turn to the Qur’an, Surah 5:20-21:

And ˹remember˺ when Moses said to his people, “O my people! Remember Allah’s favours upon you when He raised prophets from among you, made you sovereign, and gave you what He had never given anyone in the world

O  my people! Enter the Holy Land which Allah has destined for you ˹to enter˺. And do not turn back or else you will become losers.”10Al-Ma’idah, Quran.com, https://quran.com/al-maidah/20-21

If Muslims have no scriptural right to Jerusalem, then why do they insist on controlling it? According to Sharam Hadian of Truth In Love Ministry, Jerusalem is only sacred in Islam because they conquered it in A.D. 637. In fact, Islam has absolutely nothing in common with Christianity and Judaism. They believe the exact opposite of the Abrahamic Covenant (Gen 12:1–3; 15; 17:9–14; Deut 30: 1-10). They believe Abraham took Ishmael (not Issac) to Mecca (not Mt. Moriah) to sacrifice him as God commanded.11Hadian, Sharam, Truth in Love Ministries, interviewed by DeYoung Jr., Jimmy. 2024. Review of Prophecy Today Weekend . Edited by Prophecy Today. https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/prophecy-today-weekend-march-09/id132427025?i=1000648586852. Loc 46:43 – 53:07 But according to the Answering Islam website:

the Quran itself states that the prophetic line came through Isaac, not Ishmael: “And we bestowed on him Isaac and Jacob, and we established the prophethood and the scripture among his seed” (29:27). Neither does the Quran say that Allah established a covenant with Ishmael and his descendants.

The Muslim scholar Yusuf Ali adds the word “Abraham” and changes the meaning as follows: “we gave (Abraham) Isaac and Jacob, and ordained among his progeny prophethood and revelation.” By adding in Abraham, Yusuf tries to include Muhammad in the prophetic line, but is in fact only more clearly defining Isaac’s lineage. Abraham’s name is not found in the arabic text of the Quran, which Muslims consider to be perfectly preserved.12God’s covenant with Abraham, Answering Islam; https://www.answering-islam.org/Responses/Al-Kadhi/r06.08.html Accessed 17 September 2024

 Why, As Christians, We Must Support Israel

In addition to God’s warning in Genesis 12:3 that He will curse those who curse Israel, it is important to understand that Israel has a literal future.13“The Case for Zionism | April 4, 2024 | WorldviewTube.” 2024. WorldviewTube. May 30, 2024. https://worldviewtube.com/vault/audio/case-zionism-april-4-2024 The church has not replaced Israel and thus God’s covenants with Israel are still valid. According to Dr. Tommy Ice of the Pre-Trib Research Center “the promises in the first three verses of [Genesis] chapter 12 are on the same level as the foundational statements by the Lord in the first eleven chapters of Genesis.”14Ice, Tommy. 2012. Review of Why God Is a Zionist. Edited by Pre-Trib Research Center. Bible Prophecy Blog (blog). May 12, 2012. https://www.bibleprophecyblog.com/2012/05/why-god-is-zionist.html In addition, God clarified that the unconditional Covenant is between God, Abraham and his descendants and is “everlasting”:

And I will establish my covenant between me and you and your offspring after you throughout their generations for an everlasting covenant, to be God to you and to your offspring after you.  And I will give to you and to your offspring after you the land of your sojournings, all the land of Canaan, for an everlasting possession, and I will be their God.” (Genesis 17:7-8, ESV)

In “Why God Is a Zionist,” Dr. Thomas Ice makes an interesting point:

This clearly means that one’s treatment of Abraham, Isaac, Jacob and their descendants is a major foundational principle for an individual or a nation to consider as one of the responsibilities that God has given to all mankind. I have always believed that there was a blessing or curse waiting for how one treats Israel, but my new realization is that within the structure of Genesis it is placed on the same level as the cultural mandate (Gen 1:26-28), the establishment of marriage (Gen 2:18-24), the establishment of civil government after the Flood (Gen. 9:1-8), and the division of the nations after the Flood as an instrument for restraining evil (Gen. 11:1-9).15“Why God Is a Zionist,” Dr. Thomas Ice, May 5, 2012, https://www.bibleprophecyblog.com/2012/05/why-god-is-zionist.html, accessed 9/22/2024

The land promises of the Abrahamic Covenant are repeated 20 times in Genesis and 68 times in Deuteronomy.16“Why God Is a Zionist,” Dr. Thomas Ice, May 5, 2012, https://www.bibleprophecyblog.com/2012/05/why-god-is-zionist.html, accessed 9/22/2024

“Every prophet, except for Jonah, talks about a future time when Israel is right with the Lord and dwelling in her land. This is carried over into the New Testament. Nothing there cancels out or claims that there’s an ‘expiration date’ to the promises of God to Israel.”17“The Case for Zionism | April 4, 2024 | WorldviewTube.” 2024. WorldviewTube. May 30, 2024. Pg 99; https://worldviewtube.com/vault/audio/case-zionism-april-4-2024

Joel Rosenberg outlines the case from Joel for the judgment against the nations that divide Israel:

The Lord is going to judge the nations that come against and divide Israel for at least six reasons:

1. For scattering Israel and the Jewish people among the nations (Joel 3:2)
2. For dividing up the land of Israel, which the Lord describes as “My land” (3:2)
3. For selling the Jewish people into slavery (3:3,5)
4. For engaging in sex trafficking (3:3)
5. For stealing treasures from the Lord (perhaps from the Temple), and from Israel (3:5)
6. For murdering Jews and shedding Jewish blood (3:19, 21)18Rosenberg, Joel. 2011. Review of A MESSAGE of WARNING to the NATIONS: DO NOT DIVIDE the LAND of ISRAEL — Understanding the Book of Joel, Part 5Joel C. Rosenberg’s Blog(blog). June 24, 2011. https://flashtrafficblog.epicentermedia.net/2011/06/24/a-message-of-warning-to-the-nations-do-not-divide-the-land-of-israel-understanding-the-book-of-joel-part-5/

 Where will America stand in regard to Israel?Ω

Stephanie Potts and her husband, Jim live in Dayton, Ohio, and have been married for 23 years. She worked with the federal government for 15 years as an intelligence analyst and then entered full-time Christian service in 2015. She first joined Haven Ministries in Denver, Colorado, in 2015 and then transferred to Midwest Christian Outreach, Inc in 2021. She received her Bachelor’s degree from Florida State University in Political Science and International Relations and received her Master’s degree in Geographic Information Systems from Penn State University. She is currently working towards her master’s degree in Christian Apologetics through Southern Evangelical Seminary. She specializes in evangelizing to people involved in the New Age, to Muslims, and Native Americans. Stephanie’s personal website: rainbowapologetics.com

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