Back in October 2011, Mahmoud Abbas savored a victory that required no loss of life or property. The Palestinian Authority was officially admitted as the newest member of the UNESCO (United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization). Many were concerned by the fact that Abbas was using an educational and cultural venue to push a political agenda, and the fear was that it would only be a matter of time before the UNESCO platform would be used again to further delegitimize Israel and validate the Palestinians return to “their land”.
The Palestinian authority is aching for validation from the global community. The problem is that their very existence is founded on a myth at best.
• There is no Palestinian language, they speak Arabic
• There is no Palestinian culture, it is a mix of Jordanian, Syrian, Lebanese and Egyptian culture and in short, an Arabic culture.
• There is no Palestinian food, it is Arabic food.
• The Palestinians are NOT descendants from the Canaanites, they are Arabs from Israel’s neighboring countries.
As reported on by Mitchell Bard in Myths and Facts: A Guide to the Arab-Israeli Conflict, we can read:
When the First Congress of Muslim-Christian Associations met in Jerusalem in February 1919 to choose Palestinian representatives for the Paris Peace Conference,the following resolution was adopted:
When the First Congress of Muslim-Christian Associations met in Jerusalem in February 1919 to choose Palestinian representatives for the Paris Peace Conference,the following resolution was adopted:
We consider Palestine as part of Arab Syria, as it has never been separated from it at any time. We are connected with it by national, religious, linguistic, natural, economic and geo- graphical bonds.
In 1937, a local Arab leader, Auni Bey Abdul-Hadi, told the Peel Com- mission, which ultimately suggested the partition of Palestine:“There is no such country as Palestine! ‘Palestine’ is a term the Zionists invented! There is no Palestine in the Bible.Our country was for centuries part of Syria.” The representative of the Arab Higher Committee to the United Nations echoed this view in a statement to the General Assembly in May 1947, which said Palestine was part of the Province of Syria and the Arabs of Palestine did not comprise a separate political entity. A few years later, Ahmed Shuqeiri, later the chairman of the PLO, told the Security Council:“It is common knowledge that Palestine is nothing but southern Syria.”
Palestinian Arab nationalism is largely a post-World War I phenom- enon that did not become a significant political movement until after the 1967 Six-Day War.
It was not until the 1960s under the leadership of the late Yasir Arafat that the “Palestinian cause” came to the forefront of the world political scene.
Before that, it was pretty much an unanimous understanding amongst Arab nations that there were no such people as Palestinians, but simply Arabs.
In the last 50 years, a phenomenon has been taking place. Banking on a combination of ignorance, tolerance and political correctness from the West, the Palestinian authority has slowly developed an identity, usurped from the Jewish people and the Jewish roots of the Bible.
Today, less than 8 months after being recognized by UNESCO, the Palestinian authority is pushing the envelope. Mahmoud Abbas is attempting to make the “Bethlehem Church of the Nativity” into a Palestinian sacred site.
The likelihood of that happening is uncertain at best. Yet, on their own site, UNESCO did list the Church of the Nativity as being in Palestine:
…the Church of the Nativity and pilgrimage route, Bethlehem (Palestine) will be processed on an emergency basis and the documents that concern them are not yet available. Chad, Congo, Palau, Palestine and Qatar stand to enter
the World Heritage List with their first inscriptions.
Although the fact that Abbas didn’t follow protocol and submitted his claim as an “emergency” might cost him the vote or might even force him to properly resubmit it for a 2014 vote, the very fact that it is currently listed as being part of Palestine clearly proves the progress that Mahmoud Abbas and his cohorts are making. Some might claim that this is purely semantics but I think it goes deeper in establishing an undeserved legitimacy.
If you cannot claim historical facts, simply make them up or better yet, steal them from those to whom they rightfully belong to. Mahmoud Abbas can try all he wants to claim the Church as a Palestinian holy site, Yeshua (Jesus) remains a Jew not a Palestinian.
If the world remains silent while the Palestinian authority and their supporters keep denying, rewriting and even stealing biblically founded Jewish history, eventually the Jewish roots will no longer be able to hold and feed the tree where Christianity comes from.
Many evangelicals are supporting this move by the Palestinians, yet they don’t seem to realize that by rewriting history to exclude Jewish heritage they will eradicate the very foundation of Christianity.
While Yeshua (Jesus) was born a Jew and possibly not even at the disputed site, He remains the Son of God, the Messiah of Israel and the Savior of the World (Isaiah 52:13-53:12, John 3:16). No boundaries, political agenda or rewriting of history can ever change that because history is HIStory!
In 1937, a local Arab leader, Auni Bey Abdul-Hadi, told the Peel Com- mission, which ultimately suggested the partition of Palestine:“There is no such country as Palestine! ‘Palestine’ is a term the Zionists invented! There is no Palestine in the Bible.Our country was for centuries part of Syria.” The representative of the Arab Higher Committee to the United Nations echoed this view in a statement to the General Assembly in May 1947, which said Palestine was part of the Province of Syria and the Arabs of Palestine did not comprise a separate political entity. A few years later, Ahmed Shuqeiri, later the chairman of the PLO, told the Security Council:“It is common knowledge that Palestine is nothing but southern Syria.”
Palestinian Arab nationalism is largely a post-World War I phenom- enon that did not become a significant political movement until after the 1967 Six-Day War.
It was not until the 1960s under the leadership of the late Yasir Arafat that the “Palestinian cause” came to the forefront of the world political scene.
Before that, it was pretty much an unanimous understanding amongst Arab nations that there were no such people as Palestinians, but simply Arabs.
In the last 50 years, a phenomenon has been taking place. Banking on a combination of ignorance, tolerance and political correctness from the West, the Palestinian authority has slowly developed an identity, usurped from the Jewish people and the Jewish roots of the Bible.
Today, less than 8 months after being recognized by UNESCO, the Palestinian authority is pushing the envelope. Mahmoud Abbas is attempting to make the “Bethlehem Church of the Nativity” into a Palestinian sacred site.
The likelihood of that happening is uncertain at best. Yet, on their own site, UNESCO did list the Church of the Nativity as being in Palestine:
…the Church of the Nativity and pilgrimage route, Bethlehem (Palestine) will be processed on an emergency basis and the documents that concern them are not yet available. Chad, Congo, Palau, Palestine and Qatar stand to enter
the World Heritage List with their first inscriptions.
Although the fact that Abbas didn’t follow protocol and submitted his claim as an “emergency” might cost him the vote or might even force him to properly resubmit it for a 2014 vote, the very fact that it is currently listed as being part of Palestine clearly proves the progress that Mahmoud Abbas and his cohorts are making. Some might claim that this is purely semantics but I think it goes deeper in establishing an undeserved legitimacy.
If you cannot claim historical facts, simply make them up or better yet, steal them from those to whom they rightfully belong to. Mahmoud Abbas can try all he wants to claim the Church as a Palestinian holy site, Yeshua (Jesus) remains a Jew not a Palestinian.
If the world remains silent while the Palestinian authority and their supporters keep denying, rewriting and even stealing biblically founded Jewish history, eventually the Jewish roots will no longer be able to hold and feed the tree where Christianity comes from.
Many evangelicals are supporting this move by the Palestinians, yet they don’t seem to realize that by rewriting history to exclude Jewish heritage they will eradicate the very foundation of Christianity.
While Yeshua (Jesus) was born a Jew and possibly not even at the disputed site, He remains the Son of God, the Messiah of Israel and the Savior of the World (Isaiah 52:13-53:12, John 3:16). No boundaries, political agenda or rewriting of history can ever change that because history is HIStory!
Amen to this! I pray all Christians would begin to learn about and embrace and protect the Jewish roots of Christianity. It is all HIS story and so important for us to know; and in the process we come to know Jesus and God’s written Word better too.
I certainly concur with Olivier and Sara. So good to have this spelled out for those who would disagee but in ignorance, merely responding to media hysteria.
Thanks Olivier for your article. It’s also interesting to note that from 1948-1967 the West Bank was controlled by Jordan and Gaza was under the rule o Egypt. For 19 years the so-called Palestinian people has every opportunity to appeal to Jordan and Egypt to give them the respective territories as a Palestinian state without Israel’s intervention. Why didn’t they take advantage of that opportunity? As you say, it was not until after the Six Day War that the “Palestinians” started to push for statehood.
Great! I’d like to come back and read it 🙂 Is there any chance I’d get an email when you publish it?Tree Service Birmingham AL