>>No, they are not a race but a close religion.<<
Not all Israelis are Jews, and not all Israeli Jews are religious Jews.
>>They have a centuries old claim on Israel<<
Surely no stronger than the claim of the people who were living there within the past century?
>>I for one would like them to keep their Holy Land.<<
Kevin Phillips, in The Cousins' Wars, points out that the dissenting Protestant groups which played so great a part in the American Revolution, the Puritans, the Scots Covenanters, the Ulster Presbyterians, believed themselves, like the Jews, to be a Chosen People, and were very sympathetic to Jews. Oliver Cromwell was so hospitable to Jewish refugees that in 1899, the tricentenary of Cromwell's birth, when a statue of Cromwell was put up in Parliament Square, prominent members of Britain's Jewish community took part in the dedication ceremony.
These Chosen People and Chosen Nation theme may seem quaint but it hasn't gone away. At the Prayer Breakfast when Governor Gilmore (R-Va.) was inaugurated two years ago, the convocation was given by an extremely popular preacher who talked about "America is an experiment by God." It was the first time I'd ever heard this theme, but since then I've learned that it's been around since before the foundation. It was part of the justification for Manifest Destiny.
The audience was certainly familiar with it, and ate it up. I think it's big in the Bible Belt.
Just wanted to point out where your ideals may be coming from.
As for me, I don't think making sure Jews have Jerusalem is a legitimate aim of US foreign policy. I would not send my kids to die for the right of Jews to have access to Jerusalem - nor Christians, either.
I think fighting, killing, and dying, for an alleged holy place is a form of idolatry. It has no place in monotheism, and it has no place in a democracy. JMO. |
