Jews are often accused of
being colonialists invading another country at the expense of the indigenous
inhabitants. It should be noted that there has been a Jewish presence in the
Land of Israel for thousands of years. Abraham lived in Israel (then called
Canaan) almost 4 thousand years ago. His son Isaac was born in Canaan, as was
his son Jacob.
The
homeland for the Jewish people was promised to them and their descendant
numerous times in the Bible. In Genesis 15:18 we read, “In
the same day YHWH made a covenant with Abram, saying, ‘To your seed have I
given this land, from the river of Egypt to the great river, the river
Euphrates’.” In Genesis 17:7-8 we read, “And I will establish my covenant
between me and you and your seed after you in their generations for an
everlasting covenant, to be a God to you, and to your seed after you. 8And
I will give to you, and to your seed after you, the land wherein you are a
stranger, all the land of Canaan, for an everlasting possession; and I will be
their God.”
The promise was repeated to Isaac, the son of Abraham in Genesis 26:3, which says, “Sojourn in this land, and I will be with you, and will bless you; for to you, and to your seed, I will give all these countries, and I will perform the oath which I swore to Abraham your father.” No other nation on earth has its title deed written in the Bible, as has been done for Israel.
The promise is repeated to Joshua, in Joshua 1:2-4: “Moses my servant is dead; now therefore arise, go over this Jordan River, you, and all this people, to the land which I do give to them, even to the children of Israel. 3Every place that the sole of your foot shall tread upon, I have given to you, as I said to Moses. 4From the wilderness and this Lebanon even to the great river, the river Euphrates, all the land of the Hittites, and to the great sea toward the going down of the sun, shall be your coast.”
Moses had prophesied that the Jewish people would be cast out of their land in Deuteronomy 28. Two chapters later, he prophesied the full restoration of Israel.
Amos 9:14-15 also promises the full restoration of Israel: “And I will bring again the captivity of My people Israel, and they shall build the waste cities, and inhabit them; and they shall plant vineyards, and drink the wine thereof; they shall also make gardens, and eat the fruit of them. 15And I will plant them upon their land, and they shall no more be pulled up out of their land which I have given them, saith יְהֹוָה your God.”
Eventually a Pharoah arose who did not know Joseph, and Jacob’s descendants became slaves in Egypt, where they remained for centuries. However, they never forgot their homeland, and yearned to someday return. Moses became their deliverer, and brought the Israelites out of Egypt. The Israelites spent another 40 years in the wilderness before they could enter the Land of their forefathers. Regretfully, Moses died east of the Jordan River, and did not enter the Holy Land. However, Joshua was able to lead them into the Promised Land.
Anybody who claims to be a Bible believer should be quick to notice that the Scriptures primarily revolve around the Jewish people, including even most of the Newer Testament. You would be erasing most of Jewish history previous to the end of the First Century CE[1] if you deleted the portions of Scripture regarding the Jews. Jacob’s son Joseph had been sold into slavery by his brothers. However, Joseph eventually rose from slavery to become Prime Minister of Egypt, second only to Pharaoh. Jacob and his extended family migrated to Egypt because of famine, where they were warmly greeted.
“But what about the Palestinians?”
Great question! I’m so glad I asked it. Now I will answer it. First of all, before 1948, it was the Jews living in what was then called Palestine that called themselves Palestinians. The Arabs living in Palestine generally called themselves Syrians or Arabs.
The Second Jewish Revolt against Rome ended in 135 CE with the complete destruction of the Jewish nation. The name “Palestine” was given to that part of the world by the Romans, naming it after Israel’s ancient enemies, the Philistines. There was a mass destruction of Jewish lives in that awful war. Most remaining Jews were forced into the Galut (Exile). Eventually the Greeks conquered the area called Palestine.
Then another empire was ascendant: The Islamic Empire. The prophet of Islam – Mohammed – died in 632 CE. Only 8 years later, Caliph Umar ibn al-Khattab conquered the area known as Palestine in 640 CE. That means that Arabs moved in to colonize Palestine about 2600 years after the time of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.
In Mark Twain’s book, The Innocents Abroad, Mark Twain wrote the following:[2]
"Stirring scenes ... occur in the valley [Jezreel] no more. There is not a solitary village throughout its whole extent-not for thirty miles in either direction. There are two or three small clusters of Bedouin tents, but not a single permanent habitation. One may ride ten miles hereabouts and not see ten human beings…"
To find "... the sort of solitude to make one dreary," one must, Twain wrote dramatically, "Come to Galilee for that... these un-peopled deserts, these rusty mounds of barrenness, that never, never do shake the glare from their harsh outlines, and fade and faint into vague perspective; that melancholy ruin of Capernaum: this stupid village of Tiberias, slumbering under its six funereal palms.... We reached Tabor safely .... We never saw a human being on the whole route.
"Nazareth is forlorn .... Jericho the accursed lies a moldering ruin today, even as Joshua's miracle left it more than three thousand years ago: Bethlehem and Bethany, in their poverty and their humiliation, have nothing about them now to remind one that they once knew the high honor of the Savior's presence; the hallowed spot where the shepherds watched their flocks by night, and where the angels sang, "Peace on earth, good will to men," is untenanted by any living creature... Bethsaida and Chorzin have vanished from the earth, and the "desert places" round about them, where thousands of men once listened to the Savior's voice and ate the miraculous bread, sleep in the hush of a solitude that is inhabited only by birds of prey and skulking foxes.
"Palestine sits in sackcloth and ashes... desolate and unlovely," Twain wrote with remorse. "It is dreamland."
Arab resettlement to the Land began to take off when Jewish refugees from the violent pogroms of eastern Europe made life for Jews in Europe very dangerous. Jews bought up land from the Ottoman government based in modern-day Turkey. These lands were considered basically worthless lands of swamps and wilderness. However, with Jewish immigration, the land began to be productive after many centuries of being in major disrepair.
These Jewish settlements needed additional workers to work the fields in the late 1800s and early 1900s. Arabs from various countries began to migrate to the Jewish communities, where they were able to earn more money working for Jews than in the various countries they had been living in for centuries. They were Syrians, Egyptians, Lebanese, etc. It wasn’t until after the Six-Day War of 1967 that they began identifying as Palestinians, simply because they were living in the area that was historically called Palestine.
By the way, the area called Palestine included all that is Israel, Jordan, Gaza, and the Golan Heights. Palestinian Arabs believe that they should have a land of their own. I agree! Jordan is Palestine, and most of the inhabitants of Jordan are Palestinians. And Palestinians are Arabs. There are 22 Arab nations, and many more Islamic nations which are not Arabic, such as Turkey, Iran, Pakistan, and Indonesia (the most populous Islamic nation of all). There is only one Jewish nation in the entire world, the nation of Israel. We don’t need another Arab nation in carved out of the Biblical and historic heartland of Israel.
After Israel’s War of Independence in 1948, Jordan moved in and conquered the so-called West Bank, known to Jews as Judea and Samaria. If the Arab nations really wanted to create a Palestinian state in the West Bank, they could easily have done it when the so-called West Bank was occupied by Jordan between 1948 and 1967. However, the ultimate goal was the destruction of Israel. It should also be noted that the nations of Egypt, Jordan, and Syria fought against Israel in 1967, seeking to destroy Israel and drive the surviving Jews into the Mediterranean Sea. Instead, they lost the war, and Israel gained the Suez Peninsula, Gaza, the so-called West Bank, the Golan Heights, and most important of all, the old city of Jerusalem.
Foolishly, the Israeli government offered to return all these territories in return for peace. This offer was rejected by the surrounding Arab nations with the Khartoum Resolution of September 1967: “No peace with Israel, No negotiation with Israel, No recognition of Israel.” In the year 2000, Yassir Arafat was offered a Palestinian state via the Camp David Accords negotiated between US President Bill Clinton, PLO Chairman Yassir Arafat, and Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak. After the deal was signed by all three, Yassir Arafat went back and instigated another very violent intifada (uprising) with much loss of life, rejecting a PA state.
Israel withdrew 100% from Gaza in 2005, removing every Israeli man, woman, and child, even removing the Israeli graves from Gaza. This was a peace gesture from Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon, with the full approval of Benjamin Netanyahu. Gaza had complete independence, effectively becoming a second Palestinian state (after Joran). Israel also left behind factories, green houses, and farms. After Israel left, the Palestinians went through and destroyed all that Israel left behind. Instead of peace, Gaza responded with bombs and missiles attacking Israelis on the other side of the border.
The worst attack of all was the Hamas attack of October 7, 2023 in which over 1200 were murdered. Children were killed in front of their parents, while other children were forced to witness the murder of their parents. Women and girls were raped so violently that their pelvises were broken. There was no shame. They videoed their assaults and put them on the internet for all to see. They were proud of their violent assault.
Most Jews, both in Israel and around the world, were hoping that Israel would establish a Palestinian state in Judea and Samaria. Now most Jews are adamantly opposed to establishing a second Palestinian state in the so-called West Bank. They now realize that such a state would be a terror state wreaking havoc on all the Israeli cities surrounding Judea and Samaria. The Palestinian Authority also proclaimed that such a state would be Judenrein – free of Jews. Meanwhile, Arabs would be free to live throughout Israel. The one good thing that resulted from October 7TH and the war that followed is that the Jewish people have concluded there will never be a Palestinian state created in Judea and Samaria.
As noted on the previous page, Jews lived in the Land long before the Arab invasion. This is the Jewish homeland. Jews pray facing Jerusalem every day, and pray for the return to Zion. The Arabs are the colonialists.
Arabs are, however, free to live in Israel. Arabs in Israel have full citizenship rights. They serve in all professions. They vote and even serve in the Knesset. Most refer to themselves as Israeli Arabs, not a Palestinians. Arabs living in Israel have far more rights and freedoms than Arabs living in any Arab country.
Let me ask the question again: Is Israel a Colonial Nation? Israel is being accused of being a colonial nation by European countries. I find that a bit ironic. European colonialism has been a curse to indigenous peoples around the world. Wherever European settlers and explorers went, they brought oppression to the countries they went to.
Europeans came to what is now the United States and Canada. They famously received a warm welcome from the indigenous people of what is now called Massachusetts. It is the source of the annual celebration of Thanksgiving. It wasn’t too many decades later that the descendants of the Pilgrims became oppressors to the people that had welcomed their ancestors.
As those of European descent moved westward across the North American continent, the indigenous tribes that had lived here for thousands of years had their lands stolen from them. The American buffalo herds numbered in the millions. However, because American Indians depended upon them for their survival, the buffalos (more properly called bison) were nearly wiped out, until only about 26 remained. Thanks to modern conservation efforts, there are now thousands of bison once again wandering this continent.
Many American Indian tribes were completely wiped out. Survivors were often forced into what are called Indian Reservations, often inferior land that white settlers didn’t want. The children were often taken from their families and taken to residential schools with the soul purpose of “taking the Indian out of the Indian.” The purpose of these schools was to destroy indigenous culture, language, and family ties. They were often physically, mentally, and even sexually abused by these schools. Many of these residential schools were run by so-called Christians of various denominations. The children were physically punished if they were caught speaking their native languages to each other. Many children died from abuse in these schools. Many others suffered psychological trauma. These schools of cultural destruction continued until the early 1970s in the USA and Canada.
This same pattern of abuse against indigenous peoples continued in Africa, Asia, South America, Australia, New Zealand, the Caribbean, and Pacific Islands. Many Africans were forcibly brought to the American continents under horrendous conditions, spending months on board these ocean voyages, leaving behind their families in Africa. They were forced into slavery, and lost their cultures and languages, as happened to the indigenous peoples of the Americas.
British Imperialism
It is indeed curious that so many in England accuse Israel of being colonialists and even accuse Israel of imperialism. The English were conquering other peoples long before they came to the Americas. Wales, Scotland, and Ireland were all forcibly conquered by the English via many bloody wars. These good Englishmen set about trying to destroy their cultures and languages in what amounted to cultural genocide. It wasn’t until the 20TH Century that Scotland and Wales were given the autonomy that they deserved. Eventually Ireland was split into two, when the southern part of Ireland gained full independence via long bloody battles against the English invaders.
Eventually, the Great Britain went far beyond Wales, Scotland, and Ireland. Eventually the British Empire stretched around the world. The saying was, “The sun never sets on the British Empire.” Since that time, most of the British colonies in Asia, Africa, and the Americas have finally won or were granted their independence.
There was a side benefit to European colonialism. Many millions were exposed to the Bible. The negative result was that European colonialists made European cultures and theologies part of the lifestyle expected of those who accepted the Bible. European missionaries were active in trying to destroy indigenous cultures. European or American cultures and theologies should never be included as part of the Gospel. Most of those who were “evangelized” by these missionaries were totally unaware of the Judaic foundations of the faith.
European colonialism did have some benefits. For instance, the English language has also been a blessing. Many British colonies such as India, Pakistan, Nigeria, South Africa, etc. have many indigenous languages. The only unifying language for some of these countries is the English language. English has also become the language of education, commerce, and industry for former British colonies.
Likewise, Israel could be a blessing to her Arab neighbors if they would make peace with Israel. Israel has the talents and abilities to help her Arab nations prosper in technology, agriculture, and many fields. Israel could be a blessing to the entire Middle East if only the Arabs would cease to make war. By the way, most of the wars that occur in the Middle East are Arabs fighting against Arabs. This is perhaps a fulfillment of prophesy. “He [Ishmael] will be a wild ass of a man. His hand will be against everyone, and everyone’s hand will be against him (Genesis 16:12).” Ishmael is the ancestor of most of the Arab peoples of today.
I happen to be a descendant of Europeans. I am not a fellow of color seeking to disparage the white race. However, I do believe we need to remember history so as not to repeat the evils of the past. Spain and Portugal committed similar crimes against the indigenous peoples of Latin America. They stole their gold, destroyed their cultures, and robbed them of their lands. And of course, many were murdered by so-called “civilized” Spanish and Portuguese settlers and conquistadors. My wife is from Colombia, the northern part of South America. She is of mixed ancestry, including Chibcha Indian ancestry. Colombia was an early victim of Spanish imperialism.
The purpose of telling this unfortunate history is to amplify the hypocrisy of these European descendants accusing and condemning Jews as being colonialists for returning to the land of their ancestors, and also falsely believing that the Palestinian Arabs of today are the indigenous people of Israel. Before Europeans falsely accuse Israel of being a colonial nation, they need to look at themselves in a mirror. European colonialism was a huge sin against many peoples. In contrast, Jews are returning to their own homeland. This is not colonialism.