Read other letters about this article

• Monday, January 5, 2009 11:32 AM

  No, Something Stinks, that's simply not true.

  Yes the Jews have always been there. They stayed and converted and we call them Palestinians now.

  They are the same people of the Bible.

  -- something stinks

  While your statement would have had some truth during the late 1800s and early 1900s, because the term Palestine referred mostly to Jews living in the area at the time, it's not true any more.

  For instance, Palestine Texas is not named after the Arab population living in the the former Judea. It's name after the Biblical area.

  The entire area was called Judea until 135ce, when a Rome renamed it Palestine in order to suppress Jewish nationalism.

  Your claim that Jews converted in mass to Islam is simply unsupported by any historical fact.

  In fact, the term Palestinian didn't even start to refer to Islamic people in the area until 1930s.

  While you would have the Palestine conference earlier, this was a region not a people, and included the area of what is now Jordan.

  Love or hate Arafat, he did succeed in creating a people who seem themselves and a distinct group now. Though this is a relatively new idea, they still count as a people and should have their own homeland. It won't be all of Israel the West Bank and Gaza, anymore than the Jewish areas will consist of the same area.

  The irony of it all is Jews for 2,000 years were hounded because they would not assimilate and change religions. They were subject to mass expulsion many times in Europe's history. They were constantly subject to harassment for keeping their own culture - Then you come along and pretend none of that happened.

  —Xanthro Read Xanthro's other letters
  Permalink
  Flag
  Click "Submit Flag" if you feel this post is inappropriate. Explain why below if you wish.

  Cancel