Op-ed:

Israel belongs to the Jews...always has and always will

By: Diane Sori

Recently, PA Minister of Social Affairs, Majida Al-Masri, said the Palestinians should unite in order to focus on the destruction of Israel, calling for unity and reconciliation between Fatah and Hamas in order "to turn to the struggle for the liberation of Palestine - all of Palestine.'"

However, he and all his muslim brethren forget that there is no such thing as 'Palestinians,’ and that even their own qur’an says Israel belongs to the Jews.

The idea of a ‘Palestinian people’ with a language, culture and nationality all their own, is the creation of former PLO head Yasser Arafat.  This creation was embellished upon by the surrounding Arab nations and the media after the humiliating Arab defeat to Israel in the '67 war.  Today’s so-called ‘Palestinian people’ are just regular run of the mill Arabs who speak Arabic, whose religion is islam, and whose culture is shared by the surrounding Arab countries.  

The name Palestine itself is just the Romanized version of the word ‘Philistia,’ the name given to the region by Rome in the first century, naming it after the Philistines, who were enemies of the Jews.  This name stayed until the end of the British Mandate period in 1947.  However, Jews have always claimed this land their homeland, Jerusalem its capital, and Israel its name.  And the land has never been without as many Jews as the governing powers would allow.

Like I said previously, muslim Arabs (remember, there are Christian Arabs) who believe Israel does not belong to the Jews don’t know their own qur’an.  

  

From the qur’an 17:104: "And We (allah) said thereafter to the Children of Israel (the Jews) "Dwell securely in the land (of promise)…..”

In the qur'an, ‘Night Journey,’ chapter 17:101-103: "Pharoah sought to scare them [the Israelites] out of the land [of Israel]: but We [Allah] drowned him [Pharoah] together with all who were with him.  Then We [Allah] said to the Israelites: 'Dwell in this land [the Land of Israel].  When the promise of the hereafter [End of Days] comes to be fulfilled, We [Allah] shall assemble you [the Israelites] all together [in the Land of Israel]."

As further proof, the qur’an states God orders the Jews into Israel in Sura 5:20-21: [5:20] Recalling that Moses said to his people (the Jews), “O my people, remember GOD’s blessings upon you: He appointed prophets from among you, made you kings, and granted you what He never granted any other people.

[5:21] “O my people, enter the holy land (Israel) that GOD has decreed for you, and do not rebel, lest you become losers.”

In case there are still any doubts about whether the qur’an speaks about the Jews' right to live in the land of Israel, see Sura 10:93-94: “We settled the Children of Israel in a beautiful dwelling-place.....If thou wert in doubt as to what We have revealed unto thee, then ask those who have been reading the Book from before thee."

And lastly, in the qur’an 5:20-21, "And [remember] when Moses said to his people: 'O my people, call in remembrance the favor of God unto you, when he produced prophets among you, made you kings, and gave to you what He had not given to any other among the peoples. O my people, enter the Holy Land which God has assigned unto you, and turn not back ignominiously, for then will ye be overthrown, to your own ruin.'"

These quotes, taken directly from the qur’an, should make it clear to all Arabs that Israel not only belongs to the Jews, but that by all accounts Israel is a Jewish state.  

Now if one would like to think in secular terms instead of religious terms, one can say Israel belongs to the Jews because the Jewish people have fought, died and won the land they saw as their homeland by their blood over many, many years and many, many battles.  The Turks call this ‘the right of blood.’ 

And there is still one more reason why the Land of Israel belongs to the Jews, a quite modern interpretation at that……when Palestine officially became the State of Israel in 1948, every nation in the world recognized it to be so by international agreements.  The first time Arab nations signed a treaty with the State of Israel, they recognized this fact, and this is ‘the right of recognition.’

So whether by religious documentation or by modern secular thinking, the land of Israel belongs only to the Jewish people…..it always has and it always will.

תחי מדינת ישראל היהודית ..... היום, מחר, תמיד