Dane Allen wrote on 10/21/15 at 14:26:28:mpescatori wrote on 10/21/15 at 04:53:51:Paraquat wrote on 10/16/15 at 09:23:57:Immigration without assimilation is an invasion.
--Steve
I'll write that down and give it to a sculptor to make a marble plaque.
Then I'll send it to the Israeli Ambassador here in Rome.
You know Israel has been in existence for 4,000 plus years and there is no real country called Palestine, Palestine was a take off of the word Philistine and was meant as an insult to the Jews. Jordan and a few other countries surrounding the current Israel have "absorbed" land from Israel.
My dear friend, either you understand squat about ancient history,or your Sunday School mentor has brainwashed into becoming a jewish Christian.
First things first, No-one from the Book of genesis is an "Israeli"; Israel being the nickname of Jacob, and "Israeli" meaning "blood descendant".
So, scientifically speaking, the documented line of Israel ends with Manasseh and Ephraim, the two
Egyptian children born of Joseph, son of jacob.
That means three generations: Jacob, Joseph (and his brothers) and Manasseh + Ephraim.
When Moses asks "Pharaoh" (most probably bthe Governor of Goshen) to "free my people", he means "the sons of those who immigrated with Jacob" but the number of generations is unknown.
When the "People of Israel" reachthe "Promised land", it is none other than those territories which were inhabited by Jacob (who emigrated to Egypt) and Esau (who stayed and roughed it and survived)
The result is the most ancient chronicle of war, invasion, mass murders and ethnic cleansing documented in human history.
It didn't last long, because "Israel" was consantly at war and walking about with a perennial chip on its shoulder.
If you read the Books of Judges you'll see that most of the time "Israel" was a local principality vassal to the Philistine Kingdom.
David killed Goliath (archaeology says he didn't but that's another story) and for four generations Israel was sovereign:
Saul, David (usurper) Solomon (not the first born, nor from the Queen) Roboham, after whose death the Kingdom split and goodbye Israel.
That there was an cultural identity, nobody denies that, but to say "Israel existed to 4000 years" is as false as saying the moon is made of green cheese.
"Israel" (actually, Kingdom of Judah) was vassal Principality to the Egyptians, the Assyrians, the babylonians, the Persians, the Romans until they became such a nuinsance Jerusalem was razed to the ground.
All in all, "Israel" as a sovereign state lasted 4 generaitons, about as much as the Christain Kingdom of jerusalem between the 1st and 2nd Crusade.
Incidentally, the current title of "King of Jerusalem" belongs to the Savoy - Italian.
So read a book on "investigative archaeology" or "comparative archaeology"(*) before going to Sunday School next time.
(*) this means archaeologists checking historical sources from neighboring Nations before believing wholeheartedly to only one opinable source.
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A for "Philistine", whose Bible are you reading ? Septuagint ? KJV from Masoretic Hebrew ? Masoretic is known to be an unreliable source even to the jews themselves!
In the Septuagint "Philistine" is used only 12 (twelve) times to refer to a specific people in a specific timeframe when "Israel" was at war with them (and generally lost)
In the Masoretic O.T. the name "Philistine" is used almost 300 times to refer to "foreign enemy" in general - vague, unfair and historically unreliable ...
Archaeology has proven beyond any doubt that the original Philistines were a "People of [from] the Sea" originating from Crete - hence, different metallurgy and different war tactics meant that if they were superior once, they were superior always.
In fact the Philistines regularly kicked ass.
Their region became known as Phalastiniya - Palestine after the name of those who lived there.
The Egyptians called that land Palestine.
The Assyrians called that land Palestine.
The Babylonians called that land Palestine.
The Persians called that land Palestine.
The Romans called that land Palestine.
All the turkic dynasties which ruled since the fall of the Roman Empire called that land Palestine.
Even the English called that land "Palestine" from 1920 to 1946.
Now comes Bronson and it's not calle "Palestine" any more ?
Suits you, Sir, suits you ...
Let's call England "Fish'n'Chippya"... see what the locals think !
(Sorry Hovis, had to pick on someone who can take the pun)