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 "Palestinian" redemption May 16, 2008
By Rabbi Dov Stein
The history part: Throughout history, the people of Israel has undergone multiple holocausts carried out on two fronts: physical extermination holocausts and religious forced conversion holocausts. Physical holocaust of millions of Jews occurred from the days of the Assyrians, Babylonians, then Romans, Arabs, Crusadors, through Spaniards, Kozaks and Germans. Not to speak about the continuous discriminations and killing Jews all over the world by individuals and communities in pogroms etc. in smaller scales.
Most often, the holocaust came in combination of an extermination and a choice of forced conversion. For all intents and purposes, the number of Jews who were forced to convert to the conquerors' religion of choice equals the number of Jews who refused to convert and knowingly chose death (this is known to have happened for example in Spain).
According to different calculations, were these holocausts not have happened, the Jewish nation would be numbered today upwards of one half billion people! It must be noted that half of those Jews did not disappear from the Jewish faith due to death but rather due to forced conversions as a result of fear from death.
One particular group of Jews, in the land of Israel, that was forced to convert in order to save their lives, did so from the fear of the Islamic sword. The Jewish community that remained in the Holy Land was forced to relinquish their religion in exchange for Islam, which in philosophical values was close to that of Judaism. In addition, in Islam, there is the common value with Judaism of the single deity. It is for these reasons that it was easier for the Jews of the land of Israel to claim an acceptance of Islam, when all that was required of them was to declare a faith to a single deity and the belief of Mohammed as a prophet.
It was the hope of these individuals, who surrendered to the threat of death by converting, that within a short period of time this decree would be lifted and that they would be permitted to return to their original faith - Judaism. To their disappointment, this did not happen and as part of the forced conversion, they were forced to educate their children in accordance with the Muslim culture, causing the loss of their Jewish identity. However, this forced conversion was not always successful in erasing these people's memories of their Jewish origin. As it turns out, these people remained in the land of Israel while the various conquering armies left, leaving behind a considerably small demographic influence.
The solution part: This book brings up the basic problems within the Jewish identity: does it rely on physical inheritance or on a mental and idological one? (Obviously, if it relies exclusively on the physical, a Palestinian might be automatically considered to be a Jew.) This question is widely discussed in the Jewish religious literature where the conclusion is a compromise between the two approaches.
In reality, one's origins influence his views and these influence over the generations his origins. It turns out that some method of a minimal merger of the two, with a strong emphasis on the mental and idological ingredient in order to determine if one belongs to the Jewish brotherhood that according to the Halakha is the base for the right to live in the Holy Land. This situation in the case in our hands here is not similar, though there is a value in stating that the community referred to as "Palestinian" is in its origin a Hebrew one. There is a place for reconnecting this community with the Hebrew culture from which it was forcefully removed by the Islamic sword. In fact, there is stipulation within the Jewish religion for welcoming back to Judaism those who converted away from it by force rather than choice. A natural occurrence when a person becomes aware that part of his ancestral history includes a religion and culture different than his current ones is his desire to investigate this background. It is not so hard to believe that upon learning that the change away from the original religion to the current one was forced, this person might be inclined to re-examine his current education and views with a new perspective.
In addition, the proper treatment of the "Palestinian" community and the calculated welcoming of it to the Hebrew culture may bring about a radical change of cultural character of these people. Careful cultural measures could bring about the emancipation of this miserable community, and to defuse the ticking time bomb towards peace in the world as in this community the most dangerous views of Islamic terrorism were developed, dangerous to the survival of humanity. The education of this community with a greater emphasis on peacefulness, through the teaching of basic lifestyle commandments (called in Judaism"the seven commandments for the sons of Noah") as a first step towards positive cultural evolution, will most probably heavily contribute towards bringing about calm to the world of extreme Islam.
Rabbi Dov Stein
Sanhedrin's Secretary
dbtc@actcom.com
Brothers Aug 14, 2010
By S. Cranow
"The Granovitch"
Numerous attempts have been made at resolving the Israeli/Palestinian conflict and all have failed due to the fact that they were based on the erroneous thinking that lead too failure in the first place. A two state solution will lead to a hudna, or a temporary ceasefire. Something new must be tried. That something is re-engagement.
Genetic studies comparing the Y chromosomes of Jews, both Ashkenazi and Sephardic, have yielded a result that both Palestinians and Jews came from the same core population. Another genetic test has shown that Palestinian and Jewish immune systems are so close as to be an almost identical match. A final third study showed that only two groups of people suffered from inherited deafness. A group of Ashkenazi Jews and a group of Palestinians.
What is going on here? Why all the fighting? Contrary to popular belief the Jews were not expelled en masse from Judea after the revolt against the Romans. Many of the am haeretz remained in the hills to till the soil and harvest their crops. These Judeans would later convert to Christianity under the Byzantines and later under Al Hakem who was so young when he came to power that his religious ministers were the ones running the show. Under his ruler ship everyone was supposed to convert to Islam or die. Most of the Jedeans that were left behind chose to convert rather than face death or part from their land. Later on Al Hakem's decree would be rescinded. A portion of the converted Judeans would return to Judaism openly while other chose to remain publicly Muslim. These Marrano type Judeans were called Mustarabim. They never really were that enthusiastic about Islam. In fact it was not until recently that many mosques would bee built. After a while these Mustarabim forgot their identity and thought of themselves as Arabs. Hence the Palestinians.
Many groups of people would wander in to Judea. Descendants of the Roman Army stayed behind mostly as Christians. Even before the advent of Islam Arab tribes came moving into Judea. The Judham who were idol worshipers who now live around Jerusalem are prime examples. Over the years people would come and go leaving behind a remnant.
The Edmomite and the Moabites, who being related to the Israelites, were forcibly converted to Judaism on two occasions. They were devoted to the religion to the religion of Israel perhaps more so than the actual children of Israel. They also fought back against the Romans a lot more devotedly than the children of Israel. These Bretheren of Israel would later migrate to Persia and come back wiith their cultural memories wiped clean. They though they were Sunni. Their real homeland according to the author is in Jordan where Moab was located.
The solution to this endless fighting is to reunite the Palestinians with the Jews their brothers. This is not to be done by converting them to Judaism but rather by teaching them all the cultural components of Judaism. The Bible, history and Hebrew. Of course if they chose to adhere to Christianity and Islam they would be welcome to do so. They must also serve in the Israel defense forces.
This book was excellent in many ways. For the longest time it has been my opinion that the Palestinians and the Jews were one people from the start. Hence a bi-national state. However the author advises one state for one people. Since the Palestinians and the Jews are really two haves of the same nation it makes sense.
The author does break down the Palestinian population into component parts with percentages as to their origins. Part of the Palestinian population are descended from Israelites while another part comes from the Edmomites and Moabites. A small portion comes from the Roman Army. I can accept the origins but where does the author get these facts and figures about the origins?
THe author has enough wisdom to know that solutions take time and that they are also learning processes. He advises a gradual solution and advises learning from mistakes.
 Palestine/Israel Jun 20, 2008
By Bayboro Housejesse H. Barton
Very interesting, brings a wnhole other approach to an age old issue. It certainly sheds an interesting light on the current situation.
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