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How Persia Became Iran

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How Persia Became Iran

Iran was known for centuries as Persia – a name originating from “Parsa”. However, this term was given by foreigners, not the people of the land itself.

The indigenous people used the name “Iran,” a word that derives from “Airyam” which is a term found in the country’s ancient texts dating back to the time of Cyrus the Great (4th century BC).

The glorious Persian Empire was vast and included many religions, cultures, and civilizations. It was known for its literature, poetry, art, and variety of food. By the 4th century AD, the term Iran was being used in writing and literature.

At the beginning of the 20th century, the Pahlavi dynasty was established, led by Reza Shah Pahlavi who was influenced by the West. Reza Shah changed the name Persia to Iran in an attempt to reconnect with the nation’s ancient glorious imperial past while at the same time aiming to modernize the nation.

Reza Shah’s attempt to officially change the country’s name from Persia to Iran came into force in March 1935. However, the British who occupied Persia and Iraq during WWII objected to the change as the name Iran was too similar to Iraq and could cause confusion.

In 1959, Reza Shah’s son announced that the terms Iran and Persia could be used interchangeably in formal correspondence.

When oil was discovered in Persia in the early 20th century, its development made permanent changes in the political and economic arena in the Middle East. It drew the attention of other international countries to Persia. The British were the first to capitalize on Iran’s oil discovery when in 1909 they gained full control of Iran’s oil industry by establishing the Anglo-Persian Oil Company.

Iran’s oil and petroleum industry has remained at the heart of internal and external politics ever since.

Since the 1979 revolution, the official name of the country is the Islamic Republic of Iran, which emphasizes the Iranian Shi’i Muslim domination of the regime. This has caused divisions within the newly established state of Iran which persist today.

Today, most of the world refers to the country as Iran, while some cultural exports such as food, art, and literature are often referred to as Persian goods because they come from this historic region.

The Relations Between Iran and Israel

In biblical times, Iran was known as Persia. The Hebrew biblical books of Isaiah, Daniel, Ezra, Nehemiah, Chronicles, and Esther contain references to the life and experiences of Jews in the Persian empire.

In 586 BC, the Babylonians expelled large populations of Jews from Judea in the Babylonian captivity. Subsequently, the Persian Empire conquered the Babylonian kingdom. Persia was known to have a tolerant attitude toward the cultures and religions of the people under its rule.

In the book of Ezra, the Persian King Cyrus the Great permitted and even enabled the Jews to return to Judea and rebuild the Holy Temple in Jerusalem. In late 6 BC, the reconstruction of the temple was carried out “according to the decree of Cyrus.” King Cyrus died before it was completed and his successor, Darius the Great, as well as successive kings of the Persian empire, Darius and Artaxerxes, ordered the completion of the temple. (Ezra 6:14). The last chapters of the Tanach, the Hebrew Bible – 2 Chronicles 36:23 and the Book of Ezra – speak of Cyrus’ decree allowing the Jewish exiles in Babylon to return to Judea, along with the commission to rebuild the temple. King Cyrus is honored in Jewish history as a righteous king.

Not all Jews left Persia and Jewish communities have existed in today’s Iran for over 2,700 years.

According to the Book of Esther, there was a large number of Jews in the Persian empire. In 6 BCE, during the reign of Persian King Ahasuerus, (aka Xerxes the Great, son of Darius the Great), The evil antisemite, Haman, plotted to annihilate all the Jews in the Persian Kingdom.

And though God’s Name is absent from the book of Esther, it is obviously He Who used a beautiful Jewish maiden and the Persian King to thwart Haman’s evil plot and save the Jews from annihilation. Evil Haman and his sons were hanged on the gallows and the Jews’ enemies were destroyed. This event is celebrated by the Jews as the holiday of Purim.

Israel-Iran Relationship From the 20th Century

After the establishment of the State of Israel in May 1948, Iran – a non-Arab Muslim majority country – recognized Israel as a sovereign state and maintained close ties with it for years. Israel even had a permanent delegation in Tehran which later became an embassy.

However, pro-Palestinian Ayotallahs criticized the Iranian government’s diplomatic relations with Israel and they, along with Iranian citizens who were sympathetic to Palestinians, supported the Palestinians financially, much to the dismay of the Iranian government.

In 1953, the pro-Western leader Mohammad Reza Pahlavi was reinstated as the Shah of Iran. After the Six-Day War, relations between Iran and Israel flourished, and trade between the two countries was very active. Iran supplied Israel much needed oil and Israel provided the means by which Iranian oil was shipped to European markets via the joint Israeli-Iranian Eilat-Ashkelon pipeline. Israeli construction firms and engineers were active in Iran and El Al, the Israeli national airline, operated direct flights between Tel Aviv and Tehran. Iran and Israel exchanged military projects, though kept secret, such as the joint attempt in the years 1977–79 to develop a missile in the Project Flower.

After the Islamic Iranian Revolution in 1979 and the expulsion of the Shah, Ayatollah Khomeini became supreme ruler of Iran and declared that Israel was an “enemy of Islam” called the “Little Satan. The United States was called the “Great Satan.”

Iran severed all diplomatic and commercial ties with Israel. Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) and its Quds Force were established to carry out military assignments.

Theocratic regime, now named the Islamic Republic of Iran, does not recognize the legitimacy of Israel as a state.

Aggressive posturing and hateful rhetoric against Israel coming out of the leaders in Tehran became common occurrences. The then-Iranian President Ahmadinejad said that Israel should be “wiped off the map.” Other factors that have contributed to the escalation of bilateral tensions include Iran’s development of nuclear technology, aimed mainly against Israel, and Iran’s funding of Islamist terror groups such as Hezbollah, Hamas, Palestinian Islamic Jihad, and the Houthi movement. Iran has also been involved in terrorist attacks against Israeli and Jewish targets in other parts of the world.

Israel has hit Iranian targets in Iran through assassinations and cyber attacks.

Overall, the Iran-Israel proxy conflict is a complex and ongoing dilemma that has had a significant impact on the political and security dynamics of the Middle East.

The Threat of Ramadan

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With war in Gaza raging, tensions in East Jerusalem and in Judea and Samaria, (aka the West Bank territories) are escalating with the start of the holy month of Ramadan, particularly on the Temple Mount. Located in east Jerusalem’s Old City, the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound on the Temple Mount is considered the third holiest site in Islam, while to the Jews it is the most holy site as the location of the two ancient Holy Temples.

Even after Israel won the Six Day War and conquered and annexed east Jerusalem in 1967, including the Temple Mount, the Muslim religious facilities of the Temple remained under the administration of the Waqf, dedicated to Muslim religious purposes. All Islamic religious activity has remained under Jordanian control since the cease-fire of the 1948 war of Israel’s independence.

In Islam, the holiday of the Ramadan fast (and feasting every night) observed by millions of Muslims around the world is supposed to be a time of prayer, reflection, and community. The Muslims believe that during this holy month, their holy book, the Quran, was revealed to the Prophet Muhammad.

However, since Israel gained control of the grounds of the Temple Mount, each year, the time of Ramadan has become particularly inflammatory. Every year violence erupts on Ramadan as Palestinians use the compound and even the mosque itself to riot and throw rocks in provocation of Israeli forces who are there to keep law and order. When Palestinian rioters are injured and many are arrested as a result of Israeli police dispersing rioters, even more violence ensues.

Image above: Cartoon by Alaa’ al-Laqta. Right: Incitement to violence.  The Arabic reads, “The meal of young Jerusalemites before the Ramadan fast” (Alaa’ al-Laqta’s Facebook page, April 23, 2021).

In 2022 and 2023 during Ramadan, inspired by Hamas and carrying Hamas flags, Palestinian terrorists shot, stabbed, and threw bombs on Israelis praying at the Western Wall below. PA (Palestinian Authority in Judea and Samaria) President Mahmoud Abbas negated any Jewish connection to Jerusalem by declaring, “We alone have the religious, historical, and legal right to Al-Buraq Wall (the Western Wall).”

Ramadan is not like any holiday in other religions. Rather than being a month of peace and harmony, it is a month of war and violence. From Islam’s beginnings, Ramadan was a time to wage war.

History of Ramadan

In 624 CE, during Ramadan, the Prophet Muhammad waged his first jihad (holy war). In 632, during the month of Ramadan, Muhammad attacked and conquered the city of Mecca with its Kaaba stone, which is Islam’s most holy site today.

Throughout the centuries, Muslims have waged wars and conquests during Ramadan. A few more examples are:

  • The conquest of Rhodes in 653 CE
  • The invasion of Spain in 710 CE and 
  • Battles against the Crusaders over Jerusalem led by Salah Al-Din in 1187 CE.
  • In 1260, Muslims defeated the Mongols in Palestine (now Israel,)
  • In the 20th century, between 1962 to 1970, during the Yemeni Civil War, Muslims fought each other through nine Ramadans.
  • In 1973 on the Jewish holy day of Yom Kippur, Egypt and Syria, on Ramadan launched a surprise attack on Israel. The Israelis call it the Yom Kippur War whereas they call it the Ramadan War.  
  • In 1981, Iran rejected an offer for a Ramadan cease-fire from Iraq, and a year later attacked Iraq in what they called, “Operation Ramadan.”
  • Likewise, in 1987, Iran again rejected an offer of a Ramadan cease-fire from Iraq.
  • In Israel, Palestinians rioted from the years 1987 to 1993 during six Ramadans. From the 1990s and well into the beginning of the 21st century, during Ramadan, Muslims continued to war in other locations than just in Israel. For example, widespread fighting occurred in Kashmir when Muslims rejected a Ramadan cease-fire offered by India as a step for peace.

Ramadan Today

Now, at the start of Ramadan, as the war in Gaza continues, Hamas is calling for violence against Jews.

In a speech prior to the start of Ramadan which began on March 10th, Hamas political leader, Ismail Haniyeh, incited Palestinians in Jerusalem, Judea, and Samaria to storm the Al-Aqsa mosque on the Temple Mount.

Haniyeh also called for the Iran-aligned “Axis of Resistance” members including Hezbollah, the Houthis, and various Iraqi Shia militias to escalate their attacks against Israel. A spokesman for Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ), another Iranian-backed Palestinian terror group, called for a “month of terror” against Israel during Ramadan.

It is obvious that Hamas, under the guise of this holiday, intends to inflame religious tensions and increase attacks against Israelis, so the month of Ramadan begins the second phase of their plan that began on October 7th. Unfortunately, also the PA has increased incitement against Israel during this fragile period.

Unlike Hamas, Israel intends to do everything possible to decrease tension and prevent violence during this volatile time. Israel’s policy is to maintain religious freedom and access to holy places for all religions, including access for Palestinians and Israeli Arabs to Muslim holy sites on the Temple Mount.

The 9th of Av and the Weeks “Between the Straits”

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“From the straits I called to the Lord.” Psalm 118:5

The Month of Av in the Hebrew calendar starts this coming Saturday. The three-week period between the 17th of Tammuz and the 9th of Av is known as the Dire Straits (or “distress” see Lamentations 1:3—“All who have overtaken her have done so in the midst of her distress”.)

Roman Triumphal arch panel copy from Beth Hatefutsoth, showing spoils of Jerusalem temple. Image by Wikimedia Commons.
Roman Triumphal arch panel copy from Beth Hatefutsoth, showing spoils of Jerusalem temple. Image by Wikimedia Commons.

The period of the Dire Straits starts on the 17th of Tammuz – the month before Av. Jerusalem’s walls were breached and Jerusalem fell; Jerusalem’s two Temples on the Temple Mount were destroyed on that same day, the 9th of Av, and the two Jewish exiles – first to Babylon for 70 years, and second throughout the world for about 2000 years – occurred on the 9th of Av.

The Jews have experienced many calamities over the centuries, and it is amazing to learn that most of those calamities occurred on the same day of the year, the 9th of Av.

The destruction of the Jerusalem Temples, especially that of the Second Temple, changed the path of Jewish history and the Jewish nation as the Jews were dispersed in the Diaspora among the nations (few Jews remained in the land) and survived against all odds. They went through persecution, expulsions and relocation, suffering, and calamities. Nonetheless, the Jews as a people were preserved by Jewish tradition and a longing to return to Jerusalem.

The 9th of Av, Tisha b’Av, commemorates a list of catastrophes so severe that Jews believe God appointed this date for Jewish suffering.

Some of the catastrophes and calamities that happened to the Jews on the 9th of Av were:

586 BCE: The First Temple was destroyed on the 9th of Av in the year 586 BCE when most of the Jews from Judah and Benjamin were exiled to Babylon and Persia (Jeremiah 52).

69 CE: Five centuries later in 69 CE, the Romans attacked, torched, and destroyed the Second Temple on the 9th of Av, the same day as the first temple’s destruction. Most of the Jews were exiled to the Roman Empire. Many were sold into slavery and many were tortured and killed.

133 CE: When the Jews rebelled against Roman rule, they believed that their leader, Simon bar Kochba, would bring them victory and fulfill their messianic longings. However, in 133 CE, the Jewish rebels were brutally butchered in a final battle at Betar. The date of the massacre was the 9th of Av!
     A year after their conquest of Betar, the Romans plowed over the Temple Mount and built on the ruins of Jerusalem a pagan city that they renamed Aelia Capitolina.

1290 CE: on the 9th of Av, the Jews were expelled from England.

1492 CE: the Golden Age of Spain came to an end for the Jews. The Spanish and Portuguese Inquisition forced mass conversion to Catholicism upon the Jews. Furthermore, Queen Isabella and her husband Ferdinand banished the Jews from Spain and Jewish property was confiscated. The edict of expulsion was signed on March 31, 1492, and the Jews were given exactly four months to leave the country. The Hebrew date when no Jew could no longer remain in Spain was the 9th of Av.

WWII and the Holocaust were actually the outcomes of WWI that were set into motion also on the 9th of Av. As we know, 6 million Jews were tortured and murdered in the Holocaust as part of the Nazi’s “Final Solution” to get rid of all the Jews. After the war, Gentiles in Russia, Poland, Ukraine, and Hungary continued to persecute and murder Jews.

1949 CE: Israel won the war of independence. Yet, the Old City of Jerusalem remained in Jordanian hands, and Jews were forbidden to go up to the Temple Mount and the Western Wall except for one day, the 9th of Av.

2000 CE: Arab terrorist attacks and violence erupted in Jerusalem while Jews observed the 9th of Av.

2005 CE: The forced evacuation of Jewish settlers from Gaza in 2005 occurred on the 9th of Av.

According to God’s plans, the 9th of Av was meant to be a day of joy and celebration. When God led Israel out of Egypt into the Promised Land in the year 1313 BCE, the 9th of Av was the day they were to enter the Holy land at Kadesh Barnea (the shortest distance from Egypt to the land of Israel.) Twelve men were sent to spy out the land. However, 10 spies (besides Joshua and Caleb) through lack of faith and full of fear brought back a negative report and said it was better to return to Egypt rather than be killed by the giants in the land. Because of their unbelief, the day of joy turned into a day of mourning.

God was highly displeased by Israel’s rebellion and lack of faith and made the people wander in the Sinai desert for 40 years until that whole generation died; only their children would have the privilege of entering and possessing the Promised Land. (Num. 13-14)

God has faithfully brought back His beloved Israel to the Land He promised their forefathers, and today the nation of Israel is again in the land of Israel. One day, the people of Israel will look upon the one they have pierced, Yeshua, (Zech. 12:10,) and they will proclaim, “Baruch haba beshem Adonai” (blessed is He who comes in the Name of the Lord) Matt. 23:39.) Yeshua said that on that day they would see Him again, but this time they will see Him as their Messiah and Savior. They will mourn for Him as for a firstborn Son (Zech. 12:10). And then, All Israel will be saved (Rom. 11:26.) On that day, God will turn the mourning into great joy again.

Please Pray With Us

This is a dangerous time for Israel and the Jewish people world-wide. We are seeing evidence of rising antisemitism in many countries, including the United States. Please pray for our people, wherever they may be, for safety and especially for salvation.

The Cause of the Current War in Israel

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The Arab propaganda (including Jordan which has custodianship of Muslim and Christian sites in Jerusalem) is claiming Israel doesn’t respect worshippers and international law safeguarding Arab rights. East Jerusalem tensions have resulted in clashes between Police and Palestinians on the Temple Mount around the Muslim Al-Aqsa mosque, at the height of the Ramadan fasting month.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Israel was safeguarding the right of worship but would not tolerate rioting in the compound of the Temple Mount that houses Al-Aqsa Mosque. Israel was forced to take police action against rioters in Jerusalem.

No one is talking about the elections in the PA west bank, the first since 2006, that were supposed to take place at the end of May. (They are now delayed indefinitely.) Abbas, the president of the PA territory was concerned that if the election went forward as scheduled, his party, Fatah, might lose ground to two Fatah splinter groups, and Hamas would take over the territories, as it did in Gaza.

Abbas had to prove to the young radical Palestinians he can be as anti-Zionist as Hamas. He knows the formula of firing up his young people – spreading fake news about Israel trying to take over the Temple Mount by “storming” their holy Al-Aqsa mosque. Adding to the fuel is his denial that the Temple Mount was ever the site of the Jewish Holy Temples. This is the same fiction -perpetrated by his predecessor, Yasser Arafat. Their policy is to reject any history or facts connecting the Jews to Jerusalem. Hamas in Gaza took advantage of the situation to target Jerusalem.

Fake news that the Jews aim to destroy Al-Aqsa and replace it with the Third Temple has been going on for years. Regardless of evidence refuting it, once a lie is repeated many times and spread, it becomes a fact to those who wish to believe it.

The reality is that even when an Israeli politician wishes to visit the Temple Mount, he must get permission from a PA Preventive Security Service officer, as did Ariel Sharon in 2000, a visit that ignited the second Intifada (Palestinian uprising in the West Bank) which went on for four years with many suicide bombings and killing of many innocent Israeli citizens.

It is preposterous but true, that any Israeli, even a high-ranking government official, must request permission from an Arab minor ranking officer to enter the holiest Jewish site in the world. Or because he does, it will cause a bloody outburst of violence.

The Palestinian youth continue to accept the fabrication of this fake news as being true. The fake news continues to claim that the Jewish state does not allow the Muslims to pray in the Al-Aqsa mosque when the truth is that Jews, not Muslims are forbidden to pray on the Temple Mount. Israel’s law grants freedom of worship to all religions. Any statement to the contrary is just an excuse to carry out an intifada, which was most certainly planned in advance.

  1. At this time, even Jordan blames Israel for allowing right-wing religious Jews entry into the Al-Aqsa mosque compound on the Temple Mount, claiming it provokes Muslim passions and raises the risk of igniting the area. “Israel’s illegal actions have dangerous repercussions on the stability of the region.”
  2. Another cause for the clashes is the East Jerusalem neighborhood of Sheikh Jarrah, where Palestinian families face eviction. Jordan’s King Abdullah II (whose Hashemite family claims descent from Islam’s Prophet Mohammad and draws legitimacy from its custodianship role) accused Israel of attempting to change the demographic status of the holy city, which contains sites sacred to Judaism, Islam, and Christianity.

Jordan had earlier provided the Palestinians with land deeds in Sheikh Jarrah stating it proves previous Israeli owners’ claims to the property are groundless. “The eviction of Palestinians of Sheikh Jarrah from their homes is a war crime.”

Several hundred Jordanians protested near the fortified Israeli embassy in Jordan’s capital, yelling “Death to Israel” and calling for the expulsion of the Israeli ambassador while opposing the unpopular peace treaty with Israel. Many citizens in Jordan are of Palestinian origin.

The Legal Battle in Sheikh Jarrah

What is the legal battle over property rights in Sheikh Jarrah?

The plots in dispute were purchased by a Jewish endowment before Israel’s Independence in 1948.

After the 1948 partition of Jerusalem into east and west, with the Israel-Jordan border dividing them, the Jordanians took possession of the Old City of Jerusalem and gave the area of Sheikh Jarrah land to some Palestinians.

After the 1967 Six-Day War, when Israel won control of the entire city, Israeli laws were made allowing Jewish-owned land to be reclaimed from the Palestinians. The Jewish owners then began claiming property inhabited by Palestinian families, some of whom are now facing eviction from homes that they have lived in since 1948.

Last Friday, right-wing Israeli Knesset member, Itamar Ben-Gvir, visited the neighborhood to announce he would be opening his parliamentary office there. That provoked more protests and violence.

The legal dispute in this East Jerusalem neighborhood must be resolved on a governmental level. The government cabinet could rule that the land and homes in question remain in the possession of the Palestinian residents. However, at this time, there is no functioning government, and the responsibility to resolve the dispute falls to the Israeli Supreme Court, which has a majority of left-wing judges that rule most of the time contrary to the ruling of the government.

Right-wing Religious Jews on the Temple Mount?

Anticipating riots and violence on the Temple Mount, Jerusalem police decided to cordon off the area outside the Damascus Gate and entered the al-Aqsa mosque compound last week to guard the place but ended clashing with Palestinian protesters.

The riots caused the Police to limit buses carrying Israeli Arab worshippers into Jerusalem for prayers on Laylat al-Qadr, the holiest night of the Muslim calendar.

Muslim worshipers pray outside in the al-Aqsa Mosque compound on Saturday night.

As violent as the riots became in the following days, the Israeli police deserve credit for not using deadly force.

A New Intifada

Last week, Hamas’ leaders announced their detailed plans to open a new intifada against Israel on May 9. May 9 was an excuse based upon a combination of three events: Jerusalem Day – Israel’s annual national day celebrating the unification of Jerusalem in 1967; Muslims marked the holiest day of the month of Ramadan, and Iran (who supports Hamas) marked its own Jerusalem Day, the purpose of which is to call for the destruction of Israel and end Jewish rule in Jerusalem.

Hamas’s leaders kept their word. The combination of Arab violence in Sheikh Jarrah, the Damascus Gate, and the Temple Mount, along with balloon bombs and rocket launches againisIsrael from Gaza, arson fires, and terrorist attacks in Judea and Samaria, are precisely what Hamas’ leaders said would transpire.

What About Fatah (the PA)?

Fatah (the Palestinian authority party in the territories of Judea and Samaria a.k.a. “The West Bank,”) for its part has been a full participant in the violence. The PA took credit for the drive-by shooting of three young Jewish students at a bus stop in Samaria last Monday, who were critically wounded. One of them died of his wounds three days later, and the other two are still fighting for their lives.

Conflict Background 

In 63 BC, Judea became a protectorate of Rome under the administration of a governor but was allowed a king. The governors were corrupt and often would attempt to squeeze as much revenue as possible from the citizens of their regions and take for themselves as much money as possible. 

Jerusalem, the capitol city of the only remaining Jewish nation, was totally destroyed in 70 AD following the Romans’ victory over Judah’s Great Revolt against Roman rule over the Jewish nation. It is estimated that as many as one million Jews were killed in this Great Revolt against Rome and many were sold into slavery outside the country. 

The Great Revolt of 66-70 AD and the Bar Kokhba revolt that followed 80 years later, were the greatest calamities in Jewish history before the Holocaust. A large part of the Jewish population was either massacred or exiled, and these failed rebellions resulted in total loss of Jewish political authority in Israel and Judah for over 2,000 years until 1948.

After the last revolt, the conquering Romans annexed Judea as a Roman province, and changed the name to Syria-Palestina (later known as Palestine), and built on the ruins of the destroyed Jerusalem the Roman city they called Aelia Capitolina. All this was an attempt to remove any connection of the Jewish people to the land and the city. The Romans systematically drove the Jews out of Palestine. That began the history of the Diaspora as the Jewish people spread over Africa, Asia, and Europe. Some Jews remained and became a minority in their own land.

In the 7th century, the new religion of Islam spread throughout the known world. Palestine and Jerusalem were conquered by the Muslims. They built on the Temple mount their Mosques. 

When the Zionist movement started in Europe in the late 19th century, and as a result of great persecution of the Jews in Eastern Europe, Jewish pioneers immigrated to Palestine and started building the land which was occupied by the Turkish Muslim Othman Empire. These new immigrants bought land to build settlements and cities. The British claimed authority of the land under a League of Nations Mandate (temporary keepers) after Germany, and its Muslim ally Turkey capitulated ending WWI. The French and British as victors divided the spoils of war.

All of this time, there were Jews who lived in Jerusalem. After Israel won the war of Independence in 1948, the Old City of Jerusalem (as well as the territories of Judea and Samaria) fell into the hands of Jordan. The Jews who lived in the old city, including the area that is called now Sheikh Jarrah, were evicted from their homes and fled to Israeli West Jerusalem. The Arabs took possession and began squatting on the Jews’ property.

After Israel won the 1967 Six-Day War, the old city was united with the new City and Israel elected to reinforce its historic and legal rights to reclaim Jewish property and holy sites. 

To reassure the Arabs that Israel had no intention to change the Status Quo, then-Defense Minister Moshe Dayan’s made the infamous decision to allow the Temple Mount – the holiest place in Judaism, as well as the site of important mosques – to remain in the hands of the Waqf, a Muslim religious authority. Ironically, freedom of religion was observed everywhere except on the Temple Mount where Jews were forbidden to pray and restricted in their visits to the site. The Muslims abhorred the Jew’s “filthy feet” even walking on their “Holy Grounds.” 

Even though Dayan believed that he acted in the country’s best interests, it set a precedent that led to the Arab Muslims claiming possession of the entire site.

In 1967, Israel passed a law permitting Jews to recover property lost to them in the 1948 war. As far as Sheikh Jarrah was concerned, it eventually led to a long, drawn-out legal case in which Jews sought to recover this property from Arabs who had been living on it for decades without legal title or paying rent.

Now, as the case is about to be heard by Israel’s Supreme Court, there is a concern that pictures of “poor” Arab Palestinians being evicted from what is considered their homes would be bad for

Israel’s image. The world, including the US, still equates Israel to the Palestinians. “Both sides” are urged to do their best to avoid violence, even though it’s only the Palestinians who are rioting at the site and bombarding Israel with rockets and missiles.

While the Jews who own the four houses in question in Sheikh Jarrah have the law on their side, it would be better for Jewish security that they lose their case. They believe that evicting the illegal Arabs occupying the premises will do more harm than good since enforcing the law will only provide an excuse for more violence.

Arab refugees fled the country in 1948 and 1967, mainly because their leaders urged them to get out to avoid the fighting and promised them to win the next time when they would be able to return and have even more property once the Jews had been driven into the sea. A much fewer number of Arabs were driven out by Israel as a result of bitter fighting during the war. An Israeli law canceled the property rights of those who left to go to an enemy country, which applied to all of the Arab refugees.

The world forgets the fate of more than 800,000 Jews from Arab and Muslim lands who were expelled from their homes after Israel became a nation and their possessions confiscated. They were never offered compensation for their losses.

Even if Jews have the right to recover their property in Jerusalem, does this mean that it is wise to do so at this time? It will and did, stir up resentment, both among Palestinians and foreign opponents of Israel.

By giving in to the Arab invaders, Israel may gain a period of quiet; however, as with the case of Dayan and the Temple Mount, at the end of the day, it will not serve Israel’s best interest, and violence will continue as the militant Palestinians like Hamas, will always find an excuse to fight Israel, whose stated goal is that one day the Land of Israel and Jerusalem will be theirs.

RETURN TO ZION – the Miracle of Modern Israel

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The destruction of Jerusalem and the second temple by the Romans in 70 CE and the banishment of the Jewish people to the far corners of the Roman Empire ended the Jewish nation and the sovereignty of the Jewish people of Judah for almost 2,000 years. During the following centuries, until the 19th century, whenever a Jewish population attempted to settle and gather in the suburbs of Jerusalem, they were warned off by the reigning empire—frequently by force. After the decree of Rome banishing the Jewish people from the city of Jerusalem and the region, the Roman government renamed the land “Palestine.”

Thereafter, the Jewish people suffered prejudice and persecution as a people. There ceased to be a Jewish nation – neither Israel nor Judah. As the Lord warned through the biblical prophets, the people of Israel were scattered around the earth. However, the Jewish people stayed together as a people wherever they lived throughout the world, observing the Sabbath and celebrating the Jewish (biblical) holidays. During the Passover Seder (meal), they recited the story of deliverance from slavery in Egypt, and at the end, they proclaimed: “Next year in Jerusalem!”

The land of Israel and the city of Jerusalem were never forgotten. In the latter19th century, events began to transpire that would eventually give birth, after almost two millennia, to the modern Jewish state of Israel.

The “Aliyah Movement”

The literal meaning of the Hebrew word, “Aliyah” is “to go up.” In other words, no matter where a Jewish immigrant is coming from to Jerusalem or the Land of Israel, he is going up. It is also the term for calling a member of a Jewish synagogue to “come up” to read the weekly portion from the Holy Torah scroll.

The Aliyah movement was a response to the historic and repeated persecution of European Jews. It swept young Jewish adults of Eastern Europe in an almost spontaneous burst of passion for the Land.

The First Aliyah in 1881 to 1882 – a reaction to pogroms (an organized massacre) in Czarist Russia would eventually include almost 35,000 Jewish pioneers, a generation of Jewish young adults determined to leave their countries of origin and “go up” to the land of their forefathers, now called Palestine. Their passion was to rebuild their families and the land. These pioneers frequently overcame monumental obstacles to reach the historic lands of Judah and Israel, at that time known as “Palestine,” in an attempt to build a new life for themselves and the Jewish people.

The First Zionist Congress – The second significant event in the latter 19th century was the emergence of Zionism under the initial inspiration and leadership of Theodor Herzl, a successful secular Jewish journalist from Vienna, who was shocked by the deadly anti-Semitism, prejudice, and persecution of the European Jews at the hand of the gentiles, and was convinced that they were a continual threat. The solution, according to Herzl, was a Jewish homeland in Zion, the ancient land of the Jewish people. To this end, he organized the First Zionist Congress, held in Basel, Switzerland, in 1897 with about 200 Jewish delegates in attendance from different nations.

During the 19th century, as the First Aliyah began to unfold, and the First Zionist Conference was held, Christian leaders were of mixed opinions as to the significance of these matters. Some read the prophecies in the scriptures and were certain the nation of Israel had to be reborn. Others, believing in the replacement theology, were just as certain Israel and the Jews were rejected by God and replaced by the “Church.” Depending on the denomination, churches were for or against, (moral) support to the Zionist cause.

This debate continued right up until the UN voted in 1948 to make a way for a Jewish homeland, and continues to rage to the present day. Is it Prophetic or Political? Whether it is a Russian diplomat acting on behalf of the Czar; or a U.S. President, or the U.S. State, religious and/or political beliefs lie beneath the surface of action or inaction. Even today, beliefs, as well as self-interest and necessities, right or wrong, specifically affect individuals’ and nations’ positions on the events taking place in the Middle East.

Following the death of Herzl in July 1904, the banner for a Jewish state was carried by a new generation of secular, humanist, European Jews. Chaim Weizmann and David Ben-Gurion were the most notable. The motivating force behind the struggle for the creation of a Jewish homeland was driven by these men who were liberal, even socialist in their beliefs and politics.

Religious Judaism was not significantly represented among the early leaders of what became the first Israeli politicians. They were not motivated at all by a historical/biblical longing for the return to the land of their fathers. Their motivation was nationalistic; to the extent that they were convinced, there could never be peace for Jews in any non-Jewish country.

Internationally, and under all circumstances, whenever events turned negative—be they political, economic, or even climate change—the Jews were always the convenient scapegoats for blame. Even in the USA, it was widely held among the general population that “the Jews were behind the banking crisis and the Great Depression.”

The early Zionist founders were Jews but had no real connection to the Jewish religion or traditions. Some barely believed in God, or not at all. In fact, religious Judaism was skeptical of any effort to create a new Jewish state. Many Orthodox rabbis spoke openly against it, even maintaining it was up to the Messiah, when He comes, to reestablish the nation. Many went so far as to say working for a (secular) Jewish state was blasphemous.

The Balfour Declaration – Britain’s Lord Balfour’s declaration was a public statement issued on November 2, 1917, by the British government and published on November 9, 1917. It declared support for the establishment of a “national home for the Jewish people” in Palestine, (which was at that time a Muslim Ottoman Empire region with a small minority Jewish population.) 

It seemed to satisfy the vision Herzl had for a Jewish home in their homeland. However, its implementation met with opposition within the British government because England was dependent upon the expanding crude oil development of the Middle East, which necessitated good relations and support of the Arab populations and states that apparently controlled the crude reserves.

At the conclusion of WWI, the victorious Allies, at the encouragement of Great Britain, made several modifications to the map of the Middle East that was previously the undivided Turkish Ottoman Empire. They divided up much of that territory to create a new map. Included in this innovative map-making was the creation of several new countries that had never existed before, such as Iraq, Kuwait, Jordan, Lebanon, Syria, Saudi Arabia, Oman, and others. The “Great Nations” behind this new map of the Middle East were Great Britain, France, and, to some extent, Russia.

A New Map

With all of this “new country creation,” the Zionists had realistic expectations, in light of the Balfour Declaration, that Great Britain would only allow for a sliver of land in Palestine for the first Jewish homeland in two millennia.

Unfortunately, even this did not happen at that time, as the national security voices within the British Foreign Office prevailed with the argument that the vast Arab majority of the Middle East, where the largest concentration of future crude oil was certain to be located, would not permit the creation of a Jewish state in Palestine, no matter how small.

The League of Nations (later to become the United Nations) gave Great Britain the mandate over the Palestine area, which included the area that is now Jordan. The British were supposed to be there until the Jews would be able to rule their new state. They were also supposed to keep the peace in this troubled spot. This enabled the British to maintain British dominance in this strategic region.

But, due to England’s growing prejudice and hostility toward world Jewry and their religion, as the 20th Century progressed, it became clear to the Zionists that a Jewish homeland in Palestine might never be achieved. With hostility increasing all over Europe toward the Jews and British policy limiting the immigration of Jews to Palestine, Jews began to resort to “illegal” means to enter and settle in Palestine.

Nowhere to go

Even as Hitler’s final solution to exterminate the Jewish population of Europe progressed, Great Britain continued to forbid entry of additional European Jews refugees to Palestine. Once Hitler was finally defeated, Europe found itself with millions of DPs, (Displaced Persons,) of which the majorities were Jewish survivors of the Hitler extermination machine. These Jewish Holocaust survivors soon discovered they were not even welcome to return to their former European homes or cities. When a few brave ones attempted, they were greeted not as survivors of Hitler, but as “the cause of the war.”

A significant number of those who survived Hitler were killed by angry anti-Semite mobs when they attempted to return to their homes which had been confiscated (among them were Bella’s father’s family.) In Poland, returning survivors were attacked with shouts of, “Hitler should have finished the job! Why aren’t you dead?” The Allies decided it was too risky to allow these Jewish survivors to “just run loose.” So, the Allied Occupation Command decided to convert many of Hitler’s “death” camps to “DP camps,” camps for displaced persons (Bella was born in a DP camp in 1947). Once again, the Jews were locked up!

Although pressure was mounting on Britain to let some of these Holocaust survivors enter Palestine, the British government feared it would provoke an Arab violent reaction, as it saw itself as the only peacekeeping force in Palestine between the Arab population and the growing Jewish one.

By the fall of 1947, the pressure upon the British had grown almost intolerable, with U.S. President Harry Truman leading the way, finally, Great Britain agreed to an option of ending the mandate (trusteeship) submitted to a vote by the newly created United Nations general assembly. Britain lobbied on behalf of a proposal, calling for the simultaneous creation of an Arab state and a Jewish state, dividing the previously undivided Palestine.

However, with the growing aspirations of the Soviet Union in the Middle East and the desire to reduce the influence of Great Britain in the region, the Soviet Union, with all of their vassal states, voted for the end of the mandate and the creation of an independent Jewish state.

The U.N. vote on November 29, 1947, ended the British mandate in the region, as well as the blockade of the European-Jews, immigrated to Palestine.

Declaration of the State of Israel

Immediately upon the withdrawal of the last British troops from Palestine, Ben-Gurion, the leader of the Jewish population in the land declared the independence and statehood of the Jewish nation, calling the new Jewish state and the land – “Israel.” In fulfillment of the prophecy in Isaiah 66:8, on May 14, 1948, a nation, the Nation of Israel was truly born in a day.

Once the U.N. voted to end the mandate, and cleared the way for a Jewish state, it began to establish the permissible, likely borders. Also, it was envisioned that an additional Arab/Palestinian state would simultaneously be created in the former British Mandate Palestine.

The neighboring and existing (Islamic) Arab nations in the region opposed the idea of a Jewish state ever emerging in the Middle East, no matter how small. At the core of the Arab opposition was a fundamental Islamic inviolable precept that “Once a land or territory has been conquered by Islam, from that time that land is Islamic! All true followers of Islam are committed to going to war, and even dying, to enforce this Islamic dictum!” (Israel was conquered by Islam in the 7th century and reconquered in the 11th century)

The Miracle

This is the mantra of organizations like Hamas and Hezbollah as well as nations like Iran. To the secular nations, including the emerging secular leadership of the (then) proposed Jewish state, it seemed impossible to reason with such religious dogma. It appeared war would be the only solution. Jihad (Islam Holy War) was the only honorable response prescribed by Islam.

The outnumbered, outgunned Jews of the new state were seen as having no chance to survive such an attack from the surrounding enormous enemy armies. It was widely believed the Jewish state that was born in one day would not survive even one day. Miraculously, Israel defeated these enemies and God’s word of a reborn Jewish state prevailed.