It Looks Like War: Israel - Lebanon

[pablocham]

so you're saying there's been peace there up until 1917?

I am saying that you're suggestion that "this war" goes back to the "dawn of time" is incorrect. Certainly men have been warring with oneanother on and off since the dawn of time, but most historians and modern commentators that I have read trace the present conflict between Arab states and Jews in the region to about this point at the earliest.

 

[Terry Lennox]

I am saying that you're suggestion that "this war" goes back to the "dawn of time" is incorrect. Certainly men have been warring with oneanother on and off since the dawn of time, but most historians and modern commentators that I have read trace the present conflict between Arab states and Jews in the region to about this point at the earliest.

I'd say it goes back at least to 597 BC... which in my book is pretty close to the "dawn of time"....

 

[pablocham]

I'd say it goes back at least to 597 BC... which in my book is pretty close to the "dawn of time"....

Well, let's assume for the sake of argument that there is meaningful continuity between the canaanites and philistines and modern Arabs, and between ancient Jews and modern Jews, as well. Also, let's assume that the accounts in the Old Testament are literally correct and not, as many scholars and historians believe, propaganda meant for internal consumption.

Granting both of those contentious assumptions, you still have to account for the long history of peaceful coexistence between Jews and Arabs and Muslims prior to 1917. Between about 300 b.c.e. and 1917 I can find nothing to indicate a consistent or continuous history of war between Jews and Arabs. Certainly there were episodes of forced conversions during the Muslim conquests, but these seem to be the exception. On the other hand, there is a great deal of conflict between Europeans and Christians (Greeks, Romans, Spanish, Byzantine Christians, Russians, Germans, Poles, the Catholic Church, etc.) and Jews. There is far more historical authority for saying that Europeans will always oppress and persecute Jews, or, for that matter, saying the French and the Germans will always be at war, than there is for saying that Jews and Arabs have been at war since the dawn of time.

 

[scotrace]

I have been taught that the origins of the Jewish-Arab animosity go back to the time of Abraham.
















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[Nathan Flowers]

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Oh well, enough for now.

If the current conflict turns into something even more serious than it is now, this may reopen, or we may open another thread regarding it. Till then, we're closing the doors on this one.