Israel – Can We Begin to Understand? – part 1
Posted on 30. Dec, 2008 by Editor in Israel
Israel Becomes a Nation 1897
Israel - Can We Begin to Understand?
It is often believed that Israel became a Nation in 1947; however, that is not true. The ReBirth of the Nation of Israel was conceived over centuries, nurished on hope and prayer and finally given birth by a bold proclamation at a little meeting in Basel, Switzerland; known afterwards as the first World Zionist Congress. The man’s name was Theodor Herzl. Theodor Herzl proclaimed:
At Basel I founded the Jewish State! If I said this out loud today I would be greeted by universal laughter. In five years, perhaps, and certainly in fifty years, everyone will perceive it. — Duvernoy, p. 58
Exactly fifty years later the rest of the world did perceive the rebirth of the Jewish State of Israel. On November 29, 1947, the United Nations voted to establish a Jewish state in Palestine.
“On November 2nd, 1917, Lord Balfour, the British Foreign Sectretary, had issued a declaration stating: “His Majesty’s government views with favour the establishment in Palestine of a national home for the Jewish people… ” The Balfour Declaration did not create a Jewish state, but it prepared the way for one.” — Promised Land by Derek Prince, p. 39
Palestine (UN Partition Plan) 1947
Shortly after this time things began heating up in the region and in 1922, then British Secretary of the colonies, Winston Churchill, with a stroke of a pen, partitioned four-fifths of the total territory for Palestine – it became known as Transjordan.
From the time of partition in 1922, no Jewish immigration was permitted to eastern Palestine –i.e., Transjordan. No such restrictions, however, were placed on Arab immigration to the Jewish homeland. Arabs entered freely to take advantage of the higher wages and living standards resulting from Jewish development. In fact, while the Jewish population rose by 375,000 between World War I and World War II, the non-Jewish population increased by 380,000. Interestingly enough, the Arab increase was largest in areas of intensive Jewish development (e.g., a 216% increase in Haifa), and negligible where there was little Jewish influx. — Derek Prince: The Last Word on the Middle East, p.40
During those years, as more and more new settlers reached Palestine, absentee Arab landlords took advantage of the situation and sold swampy, rocky or sandy soil to the incoming Jewish settlers at exorbitant prices. The Jews were not deterred. The drained swamps, watered the deserts, and planted trees and crops and have turned a barren fruitless land into abundant crops.
The World Watches Israel
What is it about this tiny piece of land and the people, that the world watches? What makes this small piece of land worth fighting for for over two thousand years? Two thousand years ago Rome wanted it, of course the people of Rome couldn’t understand why. Crusades were fought over the land by so-called Christians and Arabs for more than two thousand years. Even Napoleon Bonaparte invaded Palestine in 1799. Both World Wars fought over that same region. Hitler tried to decimate the Jews in WWII. After November 29, 1947, when the United Nations voted to establish a Jewish state in Palestine, immediately the Arab Nations rose up and declared war on Israel and vowed to wipe them off the face of the earth.
Why is it that the sons of Ishmael continue to fight against the sons of Abraham? The war between the Arab nations and Israel is the oldest recorded family feud in recorded history.
No other land, in the written history of the world (that we know of) has been fought over as much as the land of Israel. And no other people have been fought against as often as the people of Israel. Why is that?
Has there ever been a time when Israel was not in the news?
These are questions that are worth thinking about. Can we begin to understand the history of this land and these people? Our next article we will look at events from 1950 to present.
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