The Troubled History of Jews

Before we take up the Jews, Judaism and Israel, let us go back into the Biblical times. About 4000 years ago. It all begins with a 99 years old man called Abraham whom the God promises a nation. In return, Abraham is to simply believe in one God, have his followers circumcised and travel to the promised land, Canaan. This Hebrew family travels to Canaan from Southern Iraq. Canaan can be roughly described as the present day Israel. When there is a famine at Canaan, Abraham’s son Isaac, along with his 12 sons, migrates to Egypt. In Egypt, they are made slaves.

Then a man called Moses frees them from slavery and leads them back to Canaan. During this journey, at Sinai, Moses receives Torah from God. Torah includes the 10 Commandments and subsequently is also known as the Old Testament. The terms Hebrews, Israelites or Yahudi mean the same thing. And word Jewish can have any or all implications like cultural, religious, social or ethnic. And the Jews prefer to be called Jewish because word Jew has come to be considered somewhat derogatory. Now back to the story.

Each of Isaac’s 12 sons heads a tribe and it is King David who unites them to establish the first Jewish Kingdom (1000 BC). There is also a tribe of the Philistines who live on the Mediterranean coast (Gaza area) and who are said to have migrated from Southern Greece. The Philistines are also Semitic and Canaanite people. The Northern part of the Jewish Kingdom, called Israel, is run over by the Assyrians (Syrians) who drive out (721 BC) the 12 tribes towards Khorasan, Iran. One of those lost tribes is said to be the Pathans of the South Asia. Later, the Southern part of the Jewish Kingdom called Judea is also run over by Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon (Iraq) in 597 BC and they destroy the first temple built by Solomon. The Jews are taken prisoners, made slaves and taken to Babylon.

Then the usual suspects of history come calling with their expeditions. Cyrus the Great from Persia captures Babylon and frees the Jews from slavery. Some Jews do not return home and this first dispersion of people coins a new term - diaspora. Next to come is the unstoppable Alexander the great who captures Canaan (332 BC). The Jews revolt against the Greeks and fail. The Jews commemorate this event as Chanukah. The Romans are next to capture Canaan in 70 AD and they destroy the second Temple. The Jews are taken to Rome as slaves. The Romans rename Judea (Jerusalem) as Palestine to remove the trace of the Jewish people. The second temple gets rebuilt with the wailing wall, old wall of the first temple.

So one wonders why the Jews keep annoying everybody? The reason is not difficult to understand. They introduced a new monotheistic metaphysical philosophy, which challenged the earlier beliefs. Not only that, they always resisted falling into any temptations to change their belief or identity. They were always more scholarly; and were successful traders and businessmen. As a consequence, they were well off. And faced with a perpetual threat of exile or job discrimination or property confiscation, the Jews preferred to go into temporary nature of occupations such as finance, trading, precious metals or money lending. This enabled them to exercise strong influence and some measure of control over the society. While the Rulers felt threatened and insecure, the ordinary folks could not help feeling envious and jealous.

Meanwhile, the Judaism was getting more formalized and ritualized. There was a day of rest – Sabbath. The exodus from Egypt began to be commemorated by an 8 day holiday called Passover. There also began a 10 days of repentance and reading of scripture with first two days called as Rosh Hashanah and the last day as Yom Kippur – the day of fasting and sacrifice. To me, its appealing features are that worship is non-obligatory. Others are not called heretics. It has a scholarly tradition and there is a search for Truth by questioning the God. The Jews believe that it is a way of life rather than a religion. Judaism also does not believe in proselytizing (preaching to convert) and seeking conversions. Judaism’s two successors – Christianity and Islam were to heavily borrow from the concepts, thoughts and rituals of the Judaism.

Then a Jewish reformer called Jesus comes along and introduces the concept of Trinity – Father, Son and the Holy Ghost. The detractors say that Jesus wanted to appease the Romans by introducing a familial version of God like the Roman Gods. Jesus begins to be called Christ meaning ’anointed’ (from Greek word cristo). After 300 years of his death, one of his apostles Paul writes the New Testament (the Christian Bible), the first half of which is the Old Testament – the Jewish Torah.

And 300 years of the New Testament, another reformer Mohammad, a well traveled middle-aged businessman, claims to be the messenger of God and gives a new code of life called Islam meaning submission (to God). He traces Islam down the line from Judaism and Christianity accepting their prophets. Islam is quite close to Judaism in its basic concept and rituals such as resurrection, circumcision, fasting, haram and halal except for the monogamy of Judaism. The detractors say that initial version of Quran included three pre-Islamic Arabian goddesses - al-lat, Manah and Uzza between verses 19-20 of 53 sura, Surat-an-Najm. Then the angel Gabriel told Mohammad that Satan had put these ideas in his mind and these are removed.

The Jews refuse to accept both the reformed versions of Judaism - Christianity and Islam. The scriptures of both Christianity and Islam do not portray the Jewish people in good light. The Christians even believe that the Jewish people were responsible for the execution of the Christ. So the hatred and persecution of the Jewish people continues into the future centuries. While both the religions stigmatize the Jewish people, there is a difference in approach. While the Christians go for the hard core measures such as exile, torture, forced conversions and executions, the Muslims confine themselves to additional taxes (jazzia), restrictions on jobs and property ownership, asking them to wear yellow labels or ban horse riding.

Let us take the Christian world first. From the fall of the Roman Empire in 410 AD to the 14th Century, the Church held the dominant power and Europe was what is called in the Dark Ages. It is from the 14th century that the Jews begin to have a hope of better prospects. The European Renaissance aimed at the cultural, scientific and artistic transformation begins around the 15th century. The Catholic Reformation aimed at breaking down the rigid religious structures begins around 16th century. The Enlightenment which argued that religion was against reason and sought to establish ethics, knowledge and rationality begins around the 18th century. With all these movements, the Church takes a back seat, politics get separated from the religion and a liberal knowledge based society emerges.

This leads to the onset of the industrial revolution (18th and 19th century). And England which had expelled the Jews in 1290 AD permits them to return home in 1730 AD. The French revolution of 1789 with its Declaration of Rights of Man proclaims that no one should be persecuted on the basis of religion alone. The Europe overtakes the Muslims empires in terms of knowledge, technology and power. The colonialists spread out to capture large stretches of territories all over the world. It is all a good news for the Jews. But the Jews have yet to suffer from the Russian Pogroms and Hitler’s final solution of extermination of 6 million Jews. It was only after the WW2 that the Christian world collectively feels a pain for the 4000 years of persecution of the Jews and decides to do something about it. This is the time the Muslim world decides to get nasty with the Jews.

Now let us trace back the Muslim’s treatment of the Jews. As said earlier, they were relatively more tolerant towards the Jewish people. Until the 14th century, they were also progressive and did not hesitate to seek knowledge from the earlier Greek and Roman eras. There was also a constant process of internal reformation (Ijtihad). The Jews consider their period under the Muslim rule in Spain as the Golden period of their history. When the Christian rule began in Spain, the Jews were asked to either convert or leave in two months. The Ottomans welcomed them and they contributed a great deal to the Empire.

They spread out to all areas under the Ottomans like Greece, Turkey, Iraq, North Africa, Egypt and Palestine and saw a 500 years of peace. They were to be called as the Sephardic Jews while the European Jewish Diaspora from Rumania, Poland and Lithuania were to be known as the Ashkenazi Jews who spoke Yiddish. Since the 14th century, the Muslim societies have been in a steady decline by virtue of their regressive and non-progressive nature; and their lack of interest in the knowledge power. The recent radical Islamic movements such as the Washbasin (1800), Muslim Brotherhood (1928), Islamic Jihad (1970), Deobandis/Talibans etc have further accelerated the process of decay. By the 20th century, Islam had regressed into a static non-progressive religion.

Around 1897, a man named Herzl starts the Zionist movement, calling for the Jewish homeland. The orthodox Jews term it as blasphemous. They argue that it is God’s job to send a messiah to get the promised land for His chosen people. Herzl even asked the Ottoman ruler to give Palestine to the Jewish people. This movement began to be accepted by the Jewish community after the horrendous experience of the holocaust. It may be interesting to note that the British had offered the Jews a Jewish homeland in Uganda. Similarly, Stalin had set up a Jewish homeland North of Vladivostok. But the Jews wanted to make a homeland in Canaan, as promised by God, which was no more than a stretch of desert. The Jews began to quietly purchase property on the Mediterranean coast and the first all Jewish city Tel Aviv begins to come up.

After WW1, the demise of the Ottoman Empire and distribution of the Middle Eastern territories as mandates to the British and French, the British get the Palestine. The Balfour declaration by the British recognizes the demand of the Jewish homeland at Palestine or Canaan or Eretzl Yisrael (land of Israel) as called by the Jewish people. In 1947, UN resolution 181 stated the creation of two independent states, Israel and Palestine, with Jerusalem as the UN territory. Majority of the Jews accept the proposal and majority of the Arabs reject the proposal. Even if we leave aside the promise of Canaan by God to the Hebrews, the same God that the Arabs also believe, the Jews 4000 years of persecution was a reasonable justification for a separate homeland.

The Palestinians aspiration for the homeland was more as a reaction to Zionism. This was the best offer they would ever get and now, after 56 years, many wars, many UN resolutions and many treaties, they are struggling to get less than that offer. It was an unwise decision by the Arabs (and Palestinians) to reject the offer. Not much wisdom could be expected from the families of Saud Bedouins and Shareef of Mecca, whom the British had installed as Rulers in Middle East as a compensation for their help in ousting the Ottoman Turks. Historically, whichever society had welcomed the Jews to live in peace with it, it had gained not only in terms of scholarship and knowledge but also in terms of commerce, trade and wealth creation. So could the Middle East.

The Arabs refuse to recognize Israel and attack (1948), lose more territory and create an intractable Palestinian refugee problem, the Palestinian Diaspora. Israel says that the Arabs instigated the Palestinians to leave Israel (about 700,000). The Arabs contend that the Israelis expelled them. After 1967 war, Israel captures the entire Sinai, Gaza, Golan, West Bank and Jerusalem. After 1973, Egypt and Jordan sensibly make peace with Israel. By now, Israel had regressed into a psyche of insecurity. The Oslo peace accord (1993), signed by Arafat, recognizes the Palestinian Authority with limited control over Gaza and West Bank. In 1993, Ehud Barak offers Arafat 95% of Gaza, West Bank and East Jerusalem in return for 69 Jewish settlements ceded to Israel.

This was the second best offer that the Palestinians would ever get. Arafat refused to accept it and missed another opportunity for peace. The final solution with regard to Gaza, West Bank, East Jerusalem, security of Israel, return of Palestinian refuges, Jewish settlement and creation of the state of Palestine is yet to be worked out. Meanwhile Islamic Jihad and Hamas wish to overthrow the Israeli Government and want to set up an Islamic state. Their weapon of war is suicide bombing and the Palestinian Authority seems to be unable to control it. It is easy to sink into a grief over the death of Arafat or get angry by the highhandedness of Sharon, but Arafat was never a hero. His struggle appears to be a struggle of how not to get a Palestinian homeland. He lacked far sight, vision and a sense of compromise that is essential for reaching a solution.

And so the struggle of the Jews to live in peace, stretching over four millenniums, continues. Is it because Judaism, unlike other faiths (except Dharma) has been a non-predatory religion with its adherents less than 13 million after 4000 years of its existence?

References:
Basic Judaism by Rabbi Milton Steinberg
Judaism for Dummies by Rabbi Ted Falcon, PH.D. ISBN D-7645-5299-6
http://www.jafi.org.il/education/100/maps/
http://www.bbc.co.uk/religion/religions/judaism/history/ index.shtml
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jew
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Judaism
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Satanic_Verses
http://en.wik ipedia.org/wiki/Anti-Semitism
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ History_of_Islam
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christianity
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Enlightenment_
http://en.wik ipedia.org/wiki/History_of_Europe
http://en.wikipedia.org/w iki/Dark_ages
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_Israe l
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Islamism
http://en.wikipedi a.org/wiki/1947_UN_Partition_Plan
http://en.wikipedia.org/w iki/Oslo_Accords
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arab-Israeli_ conflict
and many other