The Conflict – Part 13

THE WEALTHY ARAB PROPAGANDA machine has done immense harm to the real, ancient history of the Jewish people. But the long-term, almost irreparable damage will come from the extra hands willingly being lent to the Arabs by the academe. Numbers of prestigious reference works are including misleading or falsified information concerning Jewish history in their volumes, and it is from these works that many nation’s extract information for inclusion into their educational systems.

Individuals who expend a great deal of money for expensive reference books for their private libraries, usually do not replace these books for decades; if ever. It is common to see 20 and 30 year-old sets of Encyclopædia Britannica being offered for sale in a newspaper’s classified advertisements. False information included¯knowingly or unknowingly¯in any reference work will continue having an impact upon minds several generations after it is first published. Arabs are very much aware of this fact and are aggressively and successfully implanting their warped version of history into some of the world’s most prestigious publications. Many articles in today’s encyclopedias¯those having a bearing on Jewish history and their presence in the ancient land are, unbelievingly, being written by Arabs. Someone has pointed out that this is like keeping score in a game of cricket by counting the runs of only one side.

Space will never permit us an extensive coverage of falsified or incorrect information in encyclopedias, dictionaries and text books. Information contained in articles pertaining to the same subject in the same work will vary greatly according to the particular author or authors. Only a few examples from some of the more prominent publications can be given here.

In a nutshell, the condensed history of Israel and Palestine is as presented in an excerpt from an article in The Random House Encyclopedia under the heading: Israel: History:

“Once the land of Canaan, then Israel, then Palestine, the modern state of Israel was born on May 14, 1948, after 2,000 years of Jewish statelessness and half a century of efforts by Zionists.”121

At least we know that what this writer has maintained since the beginning is correct¯Palestine was originally called Canaan before it became known as Israel, and only after that did it become Palestine. Another article in the same encyclopedia under the heading of: Palestine, we read: “Moses led the Jews out of Egypt and into Palestine.” Whatever happened to Canaan which was mentioned in the previous article? It is completely omitted and upholds the Arab version of history.

Another scrap from an article from the same source: “The Philistines, a trading people, conquered the Jews who had settled in Palestine.” Again, no Canaan mentioned, and the Arab version of history is upheld.

Once again from the same source:

“Gaza…One of the five city-kingdoms of Philistines, it was under frequent attack because of its strategic position between Palestine and Egypt.”

No Canaan¯Arab version upheld again. And yet another excerpt from the same source in an article concerning Sennacherib, King of Assyria (704 681 BC): “He led another major campaign against, Phoenecia, Palestine, and Philistia in 701.” The simple fact that the name Palestine originates from Philistia¯the land of the Philistines seems to be of no account whatever to this “historian,” he just replaced “Israel” with “Palestine.” It is an absolute impossibility to have Palestine and Philistia in existence at one and the same time¯perhaps the late Arafat himself authored the article?

Groliers Illustrated Encyclopedia provides much the same distorted information as Random House. In an article on the Philistines we find: “The Philistines were one of a number of Sea Peoples who penetrated Egypt and Syro-Palestine coastal areas during 1225 1050 BC.” Here we have an Anglicized version of the Roman name that was given to the land of Israel¯some 1,200 years before the Romans actually gave it! Another extract from Groliers:

“Although some scholars date the arrival of the Hebrews earlier, the principal influx of Hebrew tribes (see JEWS) from the desert into Palestine occurred between the 14th and 12th centuries BC.”

The same old story. The Jews came from Egypt, wandered around in the desert before going straight into Palestine. Groliers is another major reference work that supports an Arab revision of Palestinian history.

Earlier we had three quotations concerning the Philistines. Only Random House had theirs entirely correct: “Philistines, a non-Semitic people who probably came to Philistia from Crete in about the 12th century BC.” The Philistines were one of the Sea Peoples¯their name derived from having settled in Philistia.

Webster’s Unabridged Dictionary followed the crowd and defined “Philistine” as: “a member of non Semitic people who lived in southwestern Palestine from c. 1200 BC on.” Revised history is enforced by having the Philistines live in Palestine more than 1,300 years before it existed.

The authoritative Encyclopædia Britannica also misinforms people with its article on the Philistines:

“Philistines, a people of Aegean origin who settled on the southern coast of Palestine in the 12th century BC shortly before the arrival of the Israelites…they occupied the coastal plain of Palestine.”

Here the Britannica also upholds Arab revisionist history and delegitimatizes Jewish claims to their homeland by having Palestine in existence 1,250 years prior to the entry of the Israelites. This writer is most fortunate to possess a rather large and comprehensive

personal library (which includes the Britannica and five other major encyclopedias), but not a single book or article consulted corroborates the twelfth century date given for the entry of the Jews into Canaan. The most reliable authorities place the date between early and mid-fifteenth century BC.

In the text concerning the modern history of Palestine, the Britannica takes an apparent pro-Arab stance by depicting Israel as racist, aggressive and expansionist. An example:

“In 1950 the Kingdom of Jordan annexed the West Bank of the Jordan River; this was seized and occupied by Israel in 1967, along with the Gaza Strip, the Sinai Peninsula (Egyptian), and the Golan Heights (Syrian).”

Not a mention anywhere in the whole article of an Arab blockade of the Tiran Straits. Not a mention of the massing of Arab troops on each of Israel’s land borders, nor of the Arab contemplation of there being “no Jewish survivors” in the inevitable war that was to follow. And no mention at all of the Six-Day War and Israel’s miraculous victory over five Arab nations¯each of which had larger and better equipped armies than that of the Jewish state. For absolutely no reason and without any provocation, Israel simply “seized and occupied” Jordanian, Egyptian and Syrian territory. Is it any wonder that the world is on the side of the “downtrodden” Arabs?

To be continued

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