Hi readers.
Although I’m not of the Judeo-Christian-Muslim religious tribe [and sub-tribes] I do love studying the Bible. There’s a lot of wisdom to be found there, a lot of history, and it’s jam-packed with all sorts of things we humans and products of western civilization probably ought to recognize about ourselves. At least if we ever aspire to cease being smart two-legged omnivores and become human beings.
There mightn’t be any better case study past/present of humanity than modern secular Israel and the gene-pool of those folks as they behaved in ancient times. Fact is, OT Hebrews struggled along as bronze-age barbarians killing, robbing, enslaving and generally hating their neighbors for a debatably long time. Never got along with anyone who wasn’t among their tribes. And eventually paid the price by revolting against the Romans once too often.
Those miles of crosses along the Appian way outside Rome that Christians are fond of taking ownership of were actually predominantly Jews the Romans managed to catch. And those they couldn’t catch were scattered from hell-to-breakfast across Europe and the Middle East for the next 2000 years. The ‘diaspora’.
You’d think a self-defined tribe would learn something from all that. But those ancient Hebrews weren’t all that different from the rest of us. So, when the major European powers and the US developed a sentimental kinship for the descendants of the ancient Hebrews and decided to let them return to the Middle East to a formal Israeli nation, the tribe had to fight their genetic cousins of different religious persuasions to take it away from them.
It all might have worked. accommodations and compromises could almost certainly have been made. The Muslims had a long history of toleration for their Jewish cousins. Far more tolerant than Europeans. As far as I’ve ever been able to discover there was never a single Muslim pogrom, attempt to exterminate Jews on any scale comparable to what always existed in Europe.
Fighting at the beginning was inevitable, but once it was all established a person would assume the modern secular state of Israel would begin battening down the hatches, finding any way it could to keep the neighbors happy, make them happy to have those Jews back in the neighborhood.
But Jews being human beings and a lot of them with a long European cultural history as baggage, spent the next 65 years doing exactly what their ancestors in ancient times had done. Even though they were badly outnumbered. They knew they had the upper hand, knew they had friends of super-power status to fend off any new diaspora.
So they flew the ‘Don’t Give An Inch’ flag and went through a series of wars wars wars, same as the rest of us of European stock. Which we might well have partly learned by venerating their holy book.
The Bible’s been well-studied for 2000 years now, both by Christians and by Jews. But there’s every reason to believe we haven’t learned a damned thing from it.
Old Jules
From bronze-age barbarian to nuclear warhead rocket-rattler. Same as the rest of us.
So Far From Heaven 
Old Jules,
Your knowledge and understanding of history, Jews, Muslims and bible is not very impressive. Your just one step behind the composer of the infamous Elders of Zion and his ilk!
leanpower: Since you’re a person Israeli making a living in the manufacture and sale of war-weaponry I’m inclined to suppose that your viewpoint’s tainted. Most of us manage to sell our souls to get rich if we’re in a position to do it, twist history and any doctrines around to justify it. Nothing special in you in that regard and it would qualify as unreasonable to expect anything else. War’s the way you make a living. Peace would bankrupt you.
However, the fact you make a living with a vested interest in killing off your own countrymen and their neighbors does somewhat destroy any opinions you might have about my understanding of the history of the Jews, the bible, and other related matters. The fact God told your ancestors to kill, enslave and rob your neighbors probably justifies it from your point of view.
Your Elders of Zion implication that I’m anti-semitic is bullshit. I’m not saying there’s anything wrong with Jews and your other semitic kinfolk that isn’t wrong with the rest of us. Hell, you’ve proved in your history both recent and ancient you’re no different from any of us, be it European, Aztec, Asian, or Anasazi.
Thanks for coming by and commenting. Jack
People are thick headed and most have a hard heart not open to the teachings of the bible. The bible is a fabulous read, it has everything in it from wars, sex, deceipt, love, hate and almost anything you can think of. I have read it all many times.
DizzyDick: No argument from me on that. J
An excellent post.
I read what you have to say, Jack, and though I’m listening as an outsider… it seems to me that you know a lot and understand even more about quite a lot of things. And you also seem to be a modest man about what you don’t know. When it comes to the bible, I prefer not to judge your knowledge or understanding of what went on in those days, nor to compare our understanding, even if I’ve studied it in the original language, as well as a few supporting documents from the old days. But when you talk about modern Israel, and that’s where I live man, for just a few more years than you’ve been alive… no real difference in our ages… I don’t think you understand much at all. And I say this, having more criticisms of the different Israeli governments along the way, than could possibly be guessed about yourself, at least from what you’ve just said here.
Read and acknowledged, ShimonZ. Thanks. Jack
A damn fine piece of writing in my humble opinion.
I ditto that!
Jack–a new Perspective of you I never realized!1
Keith: Life’s full of surprises, amigo. gracias, Jack
From the point -of -view of the other people of the area of Palestine; whether in Biblical times or present day; The Jews are unwelcome only because they have always insisted on totally conquering their neighbors.
They did so at the behest of God then and they have done so since their re-emergence as a nation in 1948 at the behest of a long line of Right-Wing, fanatical politicians and military leaders itching to use their prized American hardware.
Any pretense that Israel has only been defending itself is made-lie by the treatment they have meted out to the indigenous people of Palestine since they took control in 1948.
Their treatment of these Arabs is nothing less than genocide. Yes I said GENOCIDE.
No less reprehensible that that perpetrated by Adolf Hitler. A quick glance at the maps of Palestine and the body counts on both sides.
So I think Old Jules has a pretty good understanding of Israeli history.
You however; will of course deny my charges if you bother to reply at all.
It will do you no good though as anyone who is paying attention can see that the Israeli Government is bent on Genocide and unwilling to compromise on any point.
It is sad that a nation who claims territorial rights because of Biblical History should go so far to show they have no understanding of it’s meaning.
angrymanspeaks: Thanks for sharing your views. Gracias, J
Israel exists now.Will the Arabs ever accept it?If not,should all the Jews be moved somewhere else?By whom and to where?Soon Syria may have some space…… or how about giving them part of Germany?
Hi Kathryn: Israel does exist now because with the help of a couple of western powers playing God and a stack of circumstances allowing it to happen, along with displaced European Jews wanting it to happen. Done deal. There’s no moving them anywhere. They’re going to have to learn to get along with their neighors, including the descendants of the people they took it away from. Or they’re going to perish. Might perish anyway. A lot of things could have been done differently or better in the past, but there’s no returning to change it. Now it’s up to Israel to learn how to survive in a modern world, or to be destroyed as a consequence of not having learned how. Tough gig. J