http://democast.tv Dr. Daniel Pipes, in response to Newt Gingrich's bringing the subject to public awareness, explains how Palestinian Arab nationalism, like the Muslim claim to Jerusalem, was devised as part of Muslims' competitive rivalry with Judaism.
The former speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives and current Republican presidential candidate said yesterday that "there was no Palestine as a state. It was part of the Ottoman Empire. We have invented the Palestinian people, who are in fact Arabs and are historically part of the Arab people, and they had the chance to go many places."
Everyone from the PLO to a Mitt Romney spokesman jumped on Gingrich for this assertion, but he happens to be absolutely correct: no Arabic-speaking Muslims identified themselves as "Palestinian" until 1920, when, in rapid order this appellation and identity was adopted by the Muslim Arabs living in the British mandate of Palestine.
"The Muslim Claim to Jerusalem" by Dr. Daniel Pipes
"Why does Jerusalem now loom so large for Muslims, to the point that a Muslim Zionism seems to be in the making across the Muslim world? Why do Palestinian demonstrators take to the streets shouting "We will sacrifice our blood and souls for you, Jerusalem" and their brethren in Jordan yell "We sacrifice our blood and soul for Al-Aqsa"? Why does King Fahd of Saudi Arabia call on Muslim states to protect "the holy city [that] belongs to all Muslims across the world"? Why did two surveys of American Muslims find Jerusalem their most pressing foreign policy issue?
Because of politics. An historical survey shows that the stature of the city, and the emotions surrounding it, inevitably rises for Muslims when Jerusalem has political significance. Conversely, when the utility of Jerusalem expires, so does its status and the passions about it. This pattern first emerged during the lifetime of the Prophet Muhammad in the early seventh century. Since then, it has been repeated on five occasions: in the late seventh century, in the twelfth century Countercrusade, in the thirteenth century Crusades, during the era of British rule (1917-48), and since Israel took the city in 1967. The consistency that emerges in such a long period provides an important perspective on the current confrontation."
http://www.danielpipes.org/84/the-muslim-claim-to-jerusalem
"If I Forget Thee: Does Jerusalem Really Matter to Islam?" by Dr. Daniel Pipes
"In Jerusalem, the theological and historical arguments matter, serving often as the functional equivalent of legal claims. The strength of these arguments will ultimately help determine who governs the city. Already we hear the ritual and relativistic cliche that Jerusalem is "a city holy to both peoples." But like most cliches, this one is more false than true. Jerusalem stands as the paramount religious city of Judaism, a place so holy that not just its soil but even its air is deemed sacred. Jews pray in its direction, invoke its name at the end of each meal and close the Passover service with the wistful statement "Next year in Jerusalem."
In contrast, Jerusalem is not the place to which Muslims pray. It is not directly connected to any events in Muhammad's life. And it is not even mentioned by name in the Koran. The city never became a cultural center or served as capital of a sovereign Muslim state. Jerusalem has mattered to Muslims only intermittently over the past thirteen centuries, and when it has mattered, as it does today, it has been because of politics."
http://www.meforum.org/pipes/281/if-i-forget-thee-does-jerusalem-really-matte...
The Year the Arabs Discovered Palestine [Short version]
by Daniel Pipes The Jerusalem Post September 13, 2000
http://www.danielpipes.org/352/the-year-the-arabs-discovered-palestine
Loading...
5:42
Romney vs Gingrich on Israel-Palestine Issues: Gingrich's Controversial "Invented People" Commentby UnfilteredView5,096 views
In 1948, Ben Gurion decided to call the newly-born Jewish country "Israel."
What would've happened if Ben Gurion were to call it "Palestine?" Then those who today call themselves "Palestinians" would call themselves "native Israelis" and demand Jews to get out of their Israel.
Wouldn't that be interesting.
Kurtlane 1 month ago
Dr. Pipes is right about everything here, but I wish he'd blame Barak's insane high-handed deals on Barak himself, not on Jews as a whole.
Kurtlane 1 month ago