There are four items in today’s post, but there’s a unifying theme—the influence of Zionist ideology on the tragic events in Palestine. That influence continues disastrously, as it has throughout the history of the idea. With that in mind, we begin with an excerpt from an eloquent letter written by a Jewish member of the British cabinet in opposition to the Balfour Declaration. I linked to this in a comment the other day, and this seems a good time to bring it to the attention of the wider readership. The letter is embedded in a post by Sheldon Richman at Antiwar.com:
It’s the middle paragraph of a mere one-page letter from Foreign Scretary James Arthur Balfour to Lord Rothschild, dated November 1917. It seems that in the drive to create a “national home” for the Jewish people, everything after the comma was forgotten (ie protecting the rights and religions of other inhabitants of Palestine). Montagu was courageous and his skepticism of the Zionist project as “mischievous,” -well, Colonel Karen sums it up - it has led to perpetual war for Israelis, and we’re all just aghast as it continues. Tx Mark for this putting this post together.
the part after the comma reads: “…it being clearly understood that nothing shall be done which may prejudice the civil and religious rights of existing non-Jewish communities in Palestine…”
Do you think that Israelis are pivoting from "this is what we made Hamas to do, as horrible as it is" to "the Gazans are Amalekites [in the Bible, they supposedly made a vow to eliminate Israel that still stands] and must be eliminated?" I have heard the latter multiple times, although less so recently. And I had never heard a modern person claim that until recently.
I can't recall if this has been discussed at Meaning In History but there are some truly chilling things going on at an 'eschatological' level. I use the scare quotes because I think Satanyahoo may or may not take this stuff seriously but is quite certainly exploiting this strand of zealotry. And may be being propped up by it - - - for the meantime.
Excellent read. Thank you.
For anyone interested in the contents of the Balfour Declaration, here’s a link to it on wikipedia: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Balfour_Declaration
It’s the middle paragraph of a mere one-page letter from Foreign Scretary James Arthur Balfour to Lord Rothschild, dated November 1917. It seems that in the drive to create a “national home” for the Jewish people, everything after the comma was forgotten (ie protecting the rights and religions of other inhabitants of Palestine). Montagu was courageous and his skepticism of the Zionist project as “mischievous,” -well, Colonel Karen sums it up - it has led to perpetual war for Israelis, and we’re all just aghast as it continues. Tx Mark for this putting this post together.
the part after the comma reads: “…it being clearly understood that nothing shall be done which may prejudice the civil and religious rights of existing non-Jewish communities in Palestine…”
Wink, wink!
Why do I have a feeling Prigozhin is in Gaza.
see if this works....friend just sent this AM, pretty interesting
https://www.palestine-studies.org/sites/default/files/attachments/jps-articles/2537686.pdf
Well worth reading!
For a deeper dive into Schölch's work:
https://yplus.ps/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/Scholch-Alexander-Palestine-in-Transformation-1856-1882.pdf
Many thanks Cass, and to Elspeth for her link also. How sad to realise this scholar barely lived into his forties.
Thanx to my friend.
Gave her a heads up re this substack.
Thank you Mark !
Yes -- I searched around for his cause of death, without success. His scholarship on Palestinian history is very illuminating and impressive.
I did the same. Briefly mentioned on wikipedia.de as 'heart failure;
Yep, it works.
Do you think that Israelis are pivoting from "this is what we made Hamas to do, as horrible as it is" to "the Gazans are Amalekites [in the Bible, they supposedly made a vow to eliminate Israel that still stands] and must be eliminated?" I have heard the latter multiple times, although less so recently. And I had never heard a modern person claim that until recently.
Yes.
I can't recall if this has been discussed at Meaning In History but there are some truly chilling things going on at an 'eschatological' level. I use the scare quotes because I think Satanyahoo may or may not take this stuff seriously but is quite certainly exploiting this strand of zealotry. And may be being propped up by it - - - for the meantime.
https://www.countere.com/home/a-red-heifer-is-the-secret-to-understanding-the-israel-hamas-war
LOL! How do you feel knowing that these people are the tail wagging the dog? Well, a big Well Done to the Anglosphere Empire.
Words fail me
Very well done! It's not a pretty tapestry, but it certainly is a tapestry.