The Invention of the Jewish People is a book of 2009 for the Independent on Sunday

Shlomo Sand is correct in saying that there is no such thing as a Jewish nation! I have also tried in numerous discussions to let people understand that there exists a very big difference between Israeli and Jew: While an Israel maybe a Jew, a Jew is not necessarily an Israeli – the sole ground on which Christians, referring to the questionable Genesis 15:18-21, lend blind support to Israel!

I think that the history of dynasty Israel is indeed the history of social justice in its extremity! Below is my input on our Israel/palestine conflict in my “Palestine, Israel and God”:

I think that I have made my position about the Israel/Palestine conflict very clear in several discussions. I shall here therefore embark on the probability of God making the assertion as recorded in Genesis 15:18-21.

Let me start by stating that I am Christian, have been Christian all my life, and was born and raised in a Christian home. Like most Christians around the world, I, too, grew up accepting Israel as God’s chosen people, and even when as a teen some things about Biblical record did not make sense, I quietly accepted while pondering silently. It was not until late 2002 that, after having had the opportunity to chat with a British-raised Israeli zionist, an Israeli rabbi and an Israeli businessman, on separate occasions, I seriously started to re-examine the Bible I had grown on. During my discussion with the above mentioned Israelites/Israelis, I asked each: On what does Israel base claim on the portion of land it calls Israel?

British-raised Israeli Zionist

“In the 1940s, Israel was created by the mandate of the Balfour Treaty – ,” the Israeli zionist started.

“The 19 what? and the Balfour what?” I asked in amazement.

“The Balfour Treaty – ,” continued the Israeli zionist.

“Please, stop right there!” I exclaimed. “Sir, are you talking about the Israelites/Israelis of the Bible that we Christians know about or some other Israelis?”
“Oh, you are going to Holy texts,” Israeli zionist said.

“Of course, I am going to Holy texts! It is because of Holy texts that we Christians, even those of us pondering over some of the accounts of Holy texts, lend support to Israel . Are you aware, sir, that without Holy texts the nation Israel does not exist?”

“Please, do not say that. You are Christian and you have to support us.”
“No, I do not have to support nonsense! Something is not adding up here. I ask you, a zealous Israeli, a very crucial and simple question, and you tell me about 1940s and the Balfour Treaty!”

“You do not understand,” Israeli zionist said.

“Oh yes, I do understand! The one thing I know for sure is that, the Israel that we Christians lend blind support to was not created in the 1940s,” I replied as we pulled in front of his hotel. The Israeli zionist threw his fare at me as he got out of my vehicle, and I counted his change and threw it at him as he walked to the revolving door of his hotel, to the alarm of two hotel employees. I then got in my vehicle, slammed the door and roared away.

Israeli Rabbi

“Well, in the 1940s – ,” the Israeli rabbi started.

“Rabbi, not you, too!” I said smiling. (I had instinctively addressed him “rabbi” simply because of his kepah, without knowing the man was in fact a rabbi. I am of the habit of addressing even young Jews wearing kepahs or bearded men I run into as “rabbi” as a term of endearment.) I briefed the rabbi about my encounter with the British-raised Israeli zionist.

“Oh, I see,” the rabbi said with bowed head. “You are a prophet. You are a Jew.” The rabbi continued, and I wondered what he meant by his last sentence, though I never asked, seeing we were by then pulling in front of his destination. While his two male companions got out, the rabbi, sitting next to me, reached for my hand, and quietly told me the situation was “complicated” and asked me to pray.

Israeli Businessman

“Well, in the 1940s – ,” the Israeli businessman started.

“Oh my God!” I exclaimed. “I am not hearing this! Let me guess, my dear sir: You are going to tell me that Israel was created in the 1940s. Right?” I asked laughing.

“Well, that is what the Balfour Treaty did,” he said smiling at me.

“Are you guys the same Israelites of the Bible?” I asked.

“Oh, you are going back to Holy books. Please, let us forget about Balfour Treaty and Holy books. I just want to live my life in peace,” the Israeli businessman said.

I respected the wishes of my Israeli businessman with attitude like Hugh Hefner, and for approximately three hours, gave him his requested tour of some places of interest – Downtown, Galleria, Texas Medical Center, NASA and Ship Channel included.

Before the above mentioned famous encounters, the only Israeli I had knowingly met was the wife of a dear brother in Christ in my church from Egypt . I thereafter picked up my Bible and re-examined the accounts about the Israelites/Israelis – accounts I have read on numerous occasions, and started asking some questions:

The God of creation is LOVE and ORDERLY, these I know! Why would an Omnipotent, Omniscient God of Love and Order, known not to punish children for the sins of their fathers (unless the children, of course, continue in the practice of their fathers) and known not to penalize people for that which they knew not, penalize nations by displacing them from their homelands for ungodly acts just in order to make room for another group HE, Omniscient God, would start rejecting as soon as HE set them apart (and yet, no known Holy text makes mention of the fact that any of the people mentioned in Genesis 15:18-21 had at any time received instructions for godly living from God)? Why did the Omniscient God, who would instruct the Israelites about annihilation of displaced nations (implying HE, Omniscient God, is very aware of the territorial nature of humankind) not have simply put this set apart group in Australia (which would have been an ideal location for a set apart people), or some other not yet occupied territory? Why would or how can a Loving Supreme God send nations into a nomadic life or sanction a set apart people to a life of unending conflict and mental anguish?

The God of Creation is LOVE, GOOD and ORDERLY! Asserting any of the ideas questioned above will be to reduce the Almighty, Supreme God of Creation to human level, and thus implying that God is a sadistic being!

While I have no doubt that the God of Israel would perform as recorded in the Bible, I refuse to believe such acts to be that of the God of Creation, Who since the fall of Adam and Eve, Has sought nothing more than to reconcile the world to Himself – Genesis 3:15; John 1: 1-12 and John 3:16!

I believe in the Almighty, Supreme God of Creation. And after careful and thoughtful re-examination of the Bible, I have concluded that to get to know the God of Creation, one mostly needs to pay close attention to the texts listed below:

Genesis chapters 1 through 4:16;

The Gospel – Matthew, Mark, Luke and John;

Acts chapters 1 and 2;

Revelation chapters 1 through 3

Everything else in the Bible should be subjected to scrutiny! While you will find that some of the passages in the Bible are direct and/or inspired words from the God of Creation, most, I believe, are revised versions and/or human opinions – a matter often the subject of point-of-view. Therefore, anything that contradicts the depicted God of LOVE and ORDER in the above selected texts is obviously human opinion. God is Love; Loving towards His creatures and definitely Orderly!

Let me also take this opportunity to state that the United States government does not support Israel for religious reasons, as some Christians would like to believe; the United States government supports Israel mainly because it is in exactly the same predicament as Israel: If it were ruled today that Israel indeed has no claims to Palestine land, then Native Americans and Mexicans will all be racing to the courts before the ink on the ruling has dried!

These notwithstanding, I would truly love to see Israel finally have a homeland of its own. Though I now believe that the Middle East is no longer the place for Israel (unless, of course, we can establish the exact location of Ur, the last Bible known home for Israel’s forefather Abraham), I think that we – all nations included – can use Hi-Tech to make Antarctica a habitable place for Israel. No, I am not sentencing Israel to death! I am simply attempting to resolve a very senseless situation, since Israel ‘s forefathers failed them by not establishing a homeland for Israel . And while I am not sure if the present Palestinians are the descendants of the original inhabitants of the land today known as Palestine , the fact still remains that there were occupants in the land before it was allegedly promised to Abraham in Genesis 15:18-21.

Of course, it would be foolish to assume that the removal of the Israelites/Israelis from Palestine or the Middle East will result in peace in the Middle East, just as it would be foolish to assume that the election of a non-Caucasian as president of the United States will automatically cause the Black and White Americans to forever put away their differences. I only mean to propose a solution to our Palestine/Israel unending conflict.