I don't think religion is the issue. The early Zionists wanted little to do with Judaism. In the first Zionist settlements speaking Yiddish was forbidden. Mainstream European Judaism rejected Zionism. The Zionists styled themselves proud "new Jews" who were manly, never again to submit meekly to go to their destruction as had happened in Europe not long before. David Ben-Gurion (born David Green in Poland) was not religious but agreed to allow the Haredim (orthodox Jews) to have control of social issues (marriage, deciding who is a Jew, exempt from military service) in Israel in return for their support of Zionism. HAMAS certainly is an Islamic organization but the conflict is over the land, not religion.
Now if the Israelis pull something off on the Temple Mount, as in destroying the Dome of the Rock, the golden dome, the third holiest site in Islam and what sticks in the throat of Zionists as a limitation on their sovereignty over all of Palestine, then religion will explode as an issue.
I have gone both ways on whether this current genocide in Gaza has a religious component. Some days I believe the prominent scribes who proffer that it's just an Israeli "land grab" having little to do with religion. Other days I think religion is the MAJOR factor for the hatred.
In this video Dr. Omar Suleiman, an American Muslim scholar, civil rights leader, and writer, (Suleiman was born to a Palestinian family in New Orleans in 1986) discusses whether the claims of Jesus being a Palestinian are correct? And how this factors into the current Israeli occupation of Palestine?
Being an atheist, I side with neither Jew, Christian or Muslim, however the sanity of this guy's words I think resonates with wisdom and knowledge not seen on today's mainstream news.
He claims that is important to distinguish that Israel in the Bible is NOT the same as "Israel" as a nation-state project. He thinks this is a simple effective point to make that destroys a lot of arguments of dehumanization against Palestinians. Huh? Above my pay grade I guess!
Watching Al Jazeera TV 24/7 I don't see how any sane thinking person can be pro-Israel.
EDIT: and then I read comments like this - typical of the comment threads in YouTube® videos, and cannot convince myself that religion is not a factor.
"Jesus of Nazareth is a priest in the order of Melchizedek, the Most High God. Religion is considered a divisive force in the world, but when you understand our Creator and the Most High God, religion unifies the religions."
Yeah right!!!
Take care Clif. I have enjoyed your contributions to BV's this past year.
And folks get angry at Christopher Hitchens.....🤔🤔
'Religion poisons everything" - Christopher Hitchens
I don't think religion is the issue. The early Zionists wanted little to do with Judaism. In the first Zionist settlements speaking Yiddish was forbidden. Mainstream European Judaism rejected Zionism. The Zionists styled themselves proud "new Jews" who were manly, never again to submit meekly to go to their destruction as had happened in Europe not long before. David Ben-Gurion (born David Green in Poland) was not religious but agreed to allow the Haredim (orthodox Jews) to have control of social issues (marriage, deciding who is a Jew, exempt from military service) in Israel in return for their support of Zionism. HAMAS certainly is an Islamic organization but the conflict is over the land, not religion.
Now if the Israelis pull something off on the Temple Mount, as in destroying the Dome of the Rock, the golden dome, the third holiest site in Islam and what sticks in the throat of Zionists as a limitation on their sovereignty over all of Palestine, then religion will explode as an issue.
Happy New Year Clif,
I have gone both ways on whether this current genocide in Gaza has a religious component. Some days I believe the prominent scribes who proffer that it's just an Israeli "land grab" having little to do with religion. Other days I think religion is the MAJOR factor for the hatred.
In this video Dr. Omar Suleiman, an American Muslim scholar, civil rights leader, and writer, (Suleiman was born to a Palestinian family in New Orleans in 1986) discusses whether the claims of Jesus being a Palestinian are correct? And how this factors into the current Israeli occupation of Palestine?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I19RIDTc5n0
Being an atheist, I side with neither Jew, Christian or Muslim, however the sanity of this guy's words I think resonates with wisdom and knowledge not seen on today's mainstream news.
He claims that is important to distinguish that Israel in the Bible is NOT the same as "Israel" as a nation-state project. He thinks this is a simple effective point to make that destroys a lot of arguments of dehumanization against Palestinians. Huh? Above my pay grade I guess!
Watching Al Jazeera TV 24/7 I don't see how any sane thinking person can be pro-Israel.
EDIT: and then I read comments like this - typical of the comment threads in YouTube® videos, and cannot convince myself that religion is not a factor.
"Jesus of Nazareth is a priest in the order of Melchizedek, the Most High God. Religion is considered a divisive force in the world, but when you understand our Creator and the Most High God, religion unifies the religions."
Yeah right!!!
Take care Clif. I have enjoyed your contributions to BV's this past year.