a425couple
2024-10-24 19:07:02 UTC
Salem Harris
Studied at the Institute of Jewish Studies, PBUUpdated Aug 19
What would happen to Gaza and the West Bank if Palestine had complete
control over all of its territory without the existence of Israel?
We’ve already seen what happens. I was in Jericho a few times before
Israel completely turned it over. It always struck me that in the middle
of the desert was this practical oasis near the Dead Sea. Several times
from visiting the Eastern Orthodox Monastery of the Mount of Temptation
I would look down and see the disparity of the desert and Jericho.
The Archaeological site was exciting and thriving. My professor and a
handful of us got to do some simple excavation, and found some cool
textured shards. We hit a nice cafe and enjoyed our time there.
And then it was turned over to the PLO.
The very next year when we returned I was actually shocked. The site
itself was trashed. Parts were now inaccessible. We were escorted to a
nice rest stop that was being passed off to us as the good things that
the PLO was doing for the town. We were encouraged not to go anywhere
else. I did not heed the encouragement, heading back up to the monastery.
When I looked down it was almost heartbreaking. The disparity was
vanishing. The desert was encroaching. The town looked dismal. I would
have hoped it was an isolated incident- except that I had seen something
nearly identical with Bethlehem.
The sad thing was? The real loss was to the ordinary Palestinians. Shops
were closing left and right as tourism dried up. And all the PLO would
do was occasionally leave their mansions and blame all of the decay on
Israel.
I almost adore the very carefully chosen shots of Gaza that Hamas floats
out to the press. They show very select areas - just like the PLO did,
and hide the decay. They then blame the Israelis for all their woes,
foment the public - who largely just wants to be left alone, and then
launch attacks like they did on October 7.
For some reason it is the lot of the Palestinian people to fall victim
to corrupt leaders who don’t give a damn about anything but annihilating
the Jewish People and pushing Israel into the sea. They try to harken
back to a time before Israel as a golden era of some Palestinian state -
ignorant that some of us know the history of the Levant.
Before Israel the area was a down-trodden province of the British
Empire, dirty, corrupt, and impoverished. Before the British it was even
worse. The Ottomans overtaxed the area, exploiting everything they
could, and giving the inhabitants- Arab and Jew alike, no say in their
affairs. There was no idealistic self governing Palestinian state. There
had been no self governing state at all since the Bar Kochba Rebellion
in the second century.
edit: I did err in calling Palestine a British “province”. It was a
mandate. A mandate that was administered, protected, corrected,
punished, controlled, and eventually taxed.
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Keith Stepp
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Studied at the Institute of Jewish Studies, PBUUpdated Aug 19
What would happen to Gaza and the West Bank if Palestine had complete
control over all of its territory without the existence of Israel?
We’ve already seen what happens. I was in Jericho a few times before
Israel completely turned it over. It always struck me that in the middle
of the desert was this practical oasis near the Dead Sea. Several times
from visiting the Eastern Orthodox Monastery of the Mount of Temptation
I would look down and see the disparity of the desert and Jericho.
The Archaeological site was exciting and thriving. My professor and a
handful of us got to do some simple excavation, and found some cool
textured shards. We hit a nice cafe and enjoyed our time there.
And then it was turned over to the PLO.
The very next year when we returned I was actually shocked. The site
itself was trashed. Parts were now inaccessible. We were escorted to a
nice rest stop that was being passed off to us as the good things that
the PLO was doing for the town. We were encouraged not to go anywhere
else. I did not heed the encouragement, heading back up to the monastery.
When I looked down it was almost heartbreaking. The disparity was
vanishing. The desert was encroaching. The town looked dismal. I would
have hoped it was an isolated incident- except that I had seen something
nearly identical with Bethlehem.
The sad thing was? The real loss was to the ordinary Palestinians. Shops
were closing left and right as tourism dried up. And all the PLO would
do was occasionally leave their mansions and blame all of the decay on
Israel.
I almost adore the very carefully chosen shots of Gaza that Hamas floats
out to the press. They show very select areas - just like the PLO did,
and hide the decay. They then blame the Israelis for all their woes,
foment the public - who largely just wants to be left alone, and then
launch attacks like they did on October 7.
For some reason it is the lot of the Palestinian people to fall victim
to corrupt leaders who don’t give a damn about anything but annihilating
the Jewish People and pushing Israel into the sea. They try to harken
back to a time before Israel as a golden era of some Palestinian state -
ignorant that some of us know the history of the Levant.
Before Israel the area was a down-trodden province of the British
Empire, dirty, corrupt, and impoverished. Before the British it was even
worse. The Ottomans overtaxed the area, exploiting everything they
could, and giving the inhabitants- Arab and Jew alike, no say in their
affairs. There was no idealistic self governing Palestinian state. There
had been no self governing state at all since the Bar Kochba Rebellion
in the second century.
edit: I did err in calling Palestine a British “province”. It was a
mandate. A mandate that was administered, protected, corrected,
punished, controlled, and eventually taxed.
60.7K views
View 1,169 upvotes
View 23 shares
1 of 22 answers
220 comments from
Keith Stepp
and more
More from your Digest