Tornado Alley (PROG)

[fuagf]

Myth: Israel European Jews returned to Jewish original inhabitant only 'home'.

A thank you, also, to the other, for giving you the opportunity to set them straight. :)

F6, this re the turkey known as Israel is plucked from the hazy-mazy past, because it is as clear
and concise a rebuttal of the myth that the original inhabitants of Palestine were Jews, as i have
seen. I don't recall seeing this one, yet, lol, that doesn't at all mean i haven't before. July 23, 2006.

Thanks heaps for bringing all the information back in your

"Even in biblical times there was a great deal of ethnic and even religious mixing in ancient Judea and Israel, which practically all the biblical prophets were perpetually railing against. Moreover, even during that time, there ware Jewish communities established in Arab lands, in Persia, India, East and North Africa. With the destruction of the Temple and the final fall of their autonomous Roman colony in 70 AD, the important families such as the High priests, members of the Sanhedrin, the Judaic internal court which handed Jesus over to the Roman authority and a few others, felt insecure, There had been a number of revolts and uprisings against their hegemony and their collaboration with Rome, Jesus was one non violent example, and so they decided to leave when the Romans pulled out. Most of the indigenous subsistence farmers, craftsmen and small-time traders stayed put and continued their lives as before. Some of these inhabitants were early Christians and form the ancestors of today's Palestinian Christians, others remained Jewish. Modern research suggests that when Islam arrived in the area in 638 AD many of these Jews converted and that they form a considerable part of today's Palestinians. Numerous surnames, such as Mousa, Dini and Canaan, are even nowadays shared by Arab Jews, Muslims and Christians. Incidentally, people with the surnames Da Souza and Sassoon were originally from the Jewish community in Suza, the ancient capital of Persia. Those who left with the Romans later dispersed to other parts of Europe and even central Asia, where there were some trading outposts. The bulk of European Jews, however, consisted of Khazars, inhabitants of an important kingdom in the early middle ages, roughly between the Caspian and the Black sea. One of their Khans or kings converted to Judaism around 740 AD and made Judaism the state religion. In the 9th century Khazaria finally fell to the Viking hordes and its inhabitants dispersed throughout much of Europe. Thus the idea of a "return" of European Jews to their roots is an absurd myth.

The various Jewish communities in Asia (including what is termed the middle east) and North Africa were on the whole well integrated into their respective societies and did not experience the persecutions that later became so prevalent in Europe. In Palestine, for instance, Muslims repeatedly protected their Jewish neighbours from marauding crusaders; in one instance at least, Jews fought alongside Muslims to try and prevent crusaders landing at Haifa's port, and Salah al-Dinl-din (Saladin), after re-conquering Jerusalem from the crusaders, invited the Jews back into the city."