Thursday, October 26, 2023

Palestine or Israel?

 We know from Herodotus the term "Palestine" first appeared in the 5th century BC in his history. 

In the early 2nd century AD, the term "Syria Palaestina" (literally, "Palestinian Syria") was given to the Roman province of Judaea around the time the Romans crushed the Bar Kokhba revolt in 135 AD. By 390 AD, during the Byzantine period, the imperial province of Syria Palaestina was then reorganized into Palaestina Prima, Palaestina Secunda and Palaestina Salutaris. The Muslims continued to use those names for the regions through the Ottoman Empire and its demise. 

The idea that this area should be called "Israel" is a post-WW II conceit. It has not been called that for over 2000 years, as this graphic from a 1947 issue of National Geographic shows:


So, the idea that the area should be called "Israel" instead of "Palestine" is very much like the Protestant idea that Protestant theology can be traced all the way back to Christ's time - it's absurd on its face, but that doesn't keep people from trying to defend it and promote it.

As for Judaism somehow being unique, there is no evidence of that. Hinduism is older than Judaism and can lay claim to being BETTER and more obviously chosen by God precisely because they prospered.  Zoroastrianism is older than Judaism and much more deeply persecuted than the Jews ever were, so if persecution is the standard, then Zoroastrianism wins. Parsis can also be viewed as a distinct tribe.

Judaism isn't unique, it's prosaic. In fact, it isn't even properly Judaism anymore. Temple sacrifice was wiped out two millennia ago. The rabbi-synagogue system is essentially a new religion pasted into history under the old name, but with no real connection to any of the original faith system. There is no way to look at Reform, Conservative, Orthodox or even Haredi or Karaite and claim that they are practicing a theology anything like Isaac's sons practiced.

As for "tribe", there is literally no way to differentiate a Jew from a non-Jew. There are no distinct genetic markers, no real indications of a tribe, no physical test that differentiates a non-Jew from a Jew. One could make the tribal claim for Hindus as easily as one can for Jews. In terms of belief, the claims for what constitutes Judaism are so wide and varied that there is essentially no common ground left. It's all a chimera, a fantasy.

It's like saying a visit to the Germany pavilion at Epcot Center, Disneyland is identical to being a German living in Munich. At this point, Judaism is nothing but absurd play-acting. Judaism is just a bunch of modern leftists LARPing as ancient monotheists, and doing a piss-poor job of it.

Update:
We should also keep in mind that our idea of what constitutes Israel is not the same as the Jewish idea of what constitutes Israel


Similarly, we should remember that just as the Koran requires the Muslims to commit genocide against the Jews, the Torah requires the Jews to commit genocide as well:

"...listen to this lecture by Rabbi Eliyahu Kin, delivered in 2009, on the question: “Why must Jews destroy Amalek?” Let me summarize it for you. The Amalekites deserved their fate because they opposed the will of God. The will of God is good, and opposing the will of God is evil. So exterminating Amalek is good, while saving just one Amalekite, as Saul did, is evil. In fact, since God is good, exterminating Amalek is the expression of his goodness. And since “the best way to love what Hashem (God) loves is to hate what Hashem hates,” hating Amalek is loving God. The reason why the Amalekites hate the Jews is not because the Jews want to exterminate them. “What bothers Amalek is that the Jew believes in mussar, morality, ethics, being good, being nice.” The Amalekites are also evil because they oppose the Torah — in which God orders them to be exterminated. Ultimately, Rabbi Kin summarizes, “we are cruel to Amalek because we need to be. Because that is exactly what they would do to us if they had the chance.” Why? Because Amalek “is a concentration of hatred.” And Jews must hate hatred — except the hatred of God for Amalek, which they must love as an expression of God’s love. "

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