Israel's Jewish Essence Is Non-Negotiable: A Response to Mahmoud Abbas

[shira]

Addressing the United Nations General Assembly last month, Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas declared that he had come "from the Holy Land, the land of Palestine, the land of divine messages, ascension of the Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) and the birthplace of Jesus Christ (peace be upon him)."

No mention of Kings David and Solomon, nor of the prophets Isaiah, Ezekiel, Jeremiah, and Amos, or of the great Jewish sage Rabbi Akiva, or of Hillel and Shammai, the most prominent members of Jerusalem's Sanhedrin, the Jewish High Court, around the very time of Jesus Christ's birth.

....

All these men lived in Abbas's "Holy Land, the land of Palestine" long before the birth of Muhammad. Indeed, the very words "Jews" and "Jewish" are conspicuously absent from Abbas's speech.

Abbas's deliberate refusal to acknowledge that before either Christianity or Islam ever appeared on the historical or theological scene, Judaism had been firmly ensconced in what is today the State of Israel, speaks volumes.

more...
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/menachem-rosensaft/israels-jewish-essence-is_b_995736.html

[provis99]

1. I wonder...

what would happen if Abbas told the Palestinians to convert en masse to Judaism? Would Israel accept them then? My guess would be no, because it's more of a racial conflict than a religious one.

[shira]

2. Instead of wondering, just think...

If it's racial, what are the two "races" in this conflict? More than half of Israel's Jews have roots going back thousands of years in Arab lands.

[provis99]

3. Mizrahi Jews and Beta Israel Jews are regularly discriminated against.

and Arab Israelis are the routine victims of discrimination. So your comments pretty much confirm it is racial.

[shira]

7. Which race is discriminating vs. Mizrah and Beta Israel Jews? n/t

[leveymg]

4. There's no hatred more violent, irrational or intractible than a feud within a family or

among neighbors. Just more oil onto the all-consuming eternal funeral pyre.

[Jefferson23]

5. Sarkozy: It is silly to talk about a Jewish state

French leader quoted as saying 'Abbas is a statesman. Netanyahu, on the other hand, never fails to disappoint us'

PARIS – French President Nicolas Sarkozy has always described himself as a true friend of Israel. However, according to unusual statements attributed to him in the French magazine Le Canard Enchaîne, he unequivocally sides with the Palestinians.

The paper quotes comments made by the French leader during a cabinet meeting held upon his return from last month's UN General Assembly, Yedioth Aharonoth reported.

"It is silly to talk about a Jewish state," Sarkozy said while referring to the Israeli demand that the Palestinians recognize Israel as the Jewish state. "It would be like saying that this table is Catholic. There are two million Arabs in Israel."

Sarkozy is also quoted as saying that "the US has been asking (Mahmoud) Abbas for years to come to the negotiating table. He is willing to do it because he is a statesman. Netanyahu, on the other hand, never fails to disappoint us," Sarkozy said in what appears to be a cynical tone.

http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4132036,00.html

[shira]

6. July 2011: J'lem greets French edict on Israel as Jewish state

The French Foreign Ministry on Wednesday circulated comments made by Foreign Minister Alain Juppe last week saying that any solution to the Middle East conflict would need to recognize Israel as the nation-state for the Jewish people.

Israeli diplomatic officials reacted very positively to Juppe’s statement, saying it was an indication that the Europeans were moving in the direction of Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu’s position that recognition of Israel as the state of the Jewish people must be part of the parameters for future negotiations with the Palestinians – especially if they include the pre-1967 lines, with mutually agreed-upon swaps.

more...
http://www.jpost.com/DiplomacyAndPolitics/Article.aspx?id=231285

[Jefferson23]

8. Check your dates, you need to update yourself. n/t

[shira]

9. Yep, nice 180 from the French within the last 3 months. n/t