ROBERT STEINBUCH: Never Again |
The father of the modern Zionist movement to establish a Jewish national home was Theodor Herzl, an Austrian-Jewish journalist and playwright. In 1896, partially in response to the massacres of Jews in Russia, he published his seminal work "The Jewish State," calling for the creation of a publicly recognized Jewish homeland. During his time, he and others often discussed various places for Jews to re-birth a nation, while also recognizing Jews' historical and biblical claim to Israel.
Two weeks ago, I was listening to Salem Radio Media's program, the Dave Elswick show, on 101.1 FM. I've been a regular guest and occasional host of the show for years.
On that day's show, Dave was discussing Israel with a guest when his often-interjecting producer, Val Emmons, questioned the guest on air as to why Jews didn't create a country in other places, including Alaska and the Soviet Union. Wait, what?
Uh, no one ever offered Jews land to create a Jewish country before the British split Israel, which Britain controlled after seizing it from the Ottoman Empire (the Turks), who ruled the Holy Land for 400 years. The British also offered part of the land to Arabs, who rejected the proposal and attacked the Jews.
Prior to British control, Israel was subject to foreign rule since biblical times (in reverse chronological order and simplified):
An........