By Peter Bailey
The recent shenanigans of the Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) and their Commander in Chief, Julius Malema, in protesting the Centenary of the Balfour Declaration in front of the Israeli Embassy in Pretoria fascinated me. My thoughts were that not many in that crowd of protesters actually had any real knowledge whatsoever of Israel, Palestine or even where this much disputed territory even lies. What I am certain about is that the EFF and its members did not consider the freedom, economic and otherwise experienced by all in Israel, compared to that in the area under the control of the Palestinian Authority, which I find strange, considering the chosen name, the Economic Freedom Fighters. Mr. Malema and his party neglect to consider that the Khoisan of South Africa are the first people of that land while the Black tribes started moving southwards around 600 CE (AD). The descendants of these later arrivals from the north make up the vast majority of South Africa’s population, having ascendancy over the Khoisan, or first people of the region. This set me off on a new chain of thought about the actual right of the Jewish people to the Land of Israel, or Palestine as Mr. Malema calls it.
Julius Malema – Leader of EFF
The Jewish people are to Israel the same as the Khoi San people are to South Africa, the Aborigines to Australia or the Maoris to New Zealand. Nobody ever questions the legitimacy of other first people or original native inhabitants of any countries globally, except that of the Jewish people. Nobody disputes the right to be called the First People of any of the other original native inhabitants of other countries, with the exception of the Jewish People and Israel. This article will justify the claim of the Jewish people to the land of Israel.
Jewish History in Israel
Herodotus
Herodotus, a Greek historian who is often referred to as the “first historian” or the father of recorded history, visited the Middle East around 450 BCE and wrote extensively about the area. He visited Gaza which was at that time inhabited by the Philistines, from which he derived the name of Palestine for the region. According to Encyclopedia Britannica, the Philistines were not indigenous to the Middle East, but had Aegean origins, meaning that they were not native to the Middle East. While their culture had completely disappeared almost 2,500 years ago, those that claim the present day “Palestinians” are descended from the Philistines, tacitly acknowledge that the “Palestinians” are not native to the territory.
Herodotus also refers to another group of people, those living inland from the coastal areas, referring to them as a people who “practice circumcision”, no doubt the Jewish people, who had brought circumcision with them from Egypt. Nobody has ever disputed the fact that Abraham, ancestral father of the monotheistic Hebrew religion and of the Jewish people was native to the Middle East. We must bear in mind that many tribes roamed over vast areas in search of water and grazing for their herds, in much the same way that Abraham led the Hebrew people. The counter argument presented that most modern Jews in Israel arrived from Europe and therefore not native to the region needs to be examined in greater detail.
Forced Removals
Josephus Flavius
Jewish historian Flavius Josephus writing in the period following the destruction of the Temple in Jerusalem by the Romans in 70 CE (AD) – often citing Greek and Roman historians – wrote a detailed history of the Jewish people. This history verifies the fact that the Jewish people inhabited and governed the land of Israel from Jerusalem 3,000 years ago. This all changed when the 2nd Temple was destroyed and large numbers of the inhabitants of Judea (Israel) were taken into captivity and forcibly removed to Rome, where a sizeable Jewish community developed. Josephus also confirms that the Babylonians, in 587 BCE, destroyed the first Temple as well as taking many Jewish captives to Babylon and replacing them with people from elsewhere. This was the first recorded history of population transfer.
Who were the victims? The answer is clear:
The Jewish People and their capital city, Jerusalem.
Roman rule became Byzantine rule after the advent of Christianity and the adoption of that religion by the Romans in 330 CE. Despite facing great adversity, a small Jewish population remained in Jerusalem, maintaining their ties to their ancestral homeland. Life was extremely difficult for them as the official policy of the Byzantine rulers was to convert Jews to Christianity – often forcibly – while at the same time forbidding the return of Jews from other lands to what was then known as Palaestina Province. This all changed in the 7th century following the advent of Islam in the Arabian Peninsula and the subsequent conquest of the region by Islamic forces.
For the Jews very little changed!
Forced conversion to Islam replaced forced conversion to Christianity, with Islam emerging the dominant religion in the region, as it remained for the ensuing 1,500 hundred years.
The Jewish people were removed from their land and capital of Jerusalem long before the advent of Islam, which now claims rights, not only to the land, but also to Jerusalem. Jews were dispersed all over the world as they moved from country to country seeking freedom to practice their religion and sustain themselves.
In effect, they were seeking the economic and religious freedom – take note Julius Malema.
Return of the Jewish People
Balfour Declaration – 1917
The Balfour Declaration, recognised the historic right of the Jewish people to return to their ancestral land, the Land of Israel, where they would eventually find their economic and religious freedom. The long arduous road travelled by Jews since the destruction of the Temple 2,000 years ago, has been a deadly journey through many countries and continents. Always on the move, facing persecution and exile in one region after another, until finally, the Balfour Declaration in 1917 set in motion a process culminating in the restoration to the Jewish People of their ancestral homeland in 1948 with the establishment of the modern State of Israel.
On 11 May 1949, the General Assembly by the requisite two-thirds majority approved the application to admit Israel to the UN by United Nations General Assembly Resolution 273.
The Arab League and Arab countries were opposed to any partition of Palestine and to the establishment of Israel, and took military action against the newly formed state in the 1948 Arab–Israeli War.
Despite superior manpower and resources, they failed to strangle the infant State of Israel at birth, and have not stopped trying to do so ever since.
Ancient People; A New Dawn
The reality is that Israel is the only democracy in the Middle East; an ‘island’ that guarantees religious freedom surrounded by a sea of Islamic states characterised by oppression rather than freedom.
If Julius Malema and his party really understand the meaning of their chosen name, Economic Freedom Fighters, supporting Israel and taking an example from the Jewish people will allow them to serve their supporters far more effectively.
