A Review of Israel Shanak's JEWISH HISTORY, JEWISH RELIGION: THE WEIGHT OF 3000 YEARS

The bottom line of the decades-long conflict regarding the ownership of this land is that both the Jews and the Palestinians believe that they have “divine right” to the land that we know today as Israel, the West Bank and Gaza.

According to Israel Shanak in his book, JEWISH HISTORY, JEWISH RELIGION: THE WEIGHT OF 3000 YEARS, a good many Israelis, as well as Jews living in other parts of the world, believe that Jews have a divine right to part of Egypt right up to the outskirts of Cairo, all of Jordan, a chunk of Saudi Arabia, all of Kuwait and a piece of Iraq, all of Lebanon and Syria, some of Turkey, and the whole of Cyprus, because the biblical boundaries of Israel included these areas. Of course, Israel does not have the strength to re-occupy these countries, but it does have the strength to occupy all of the West Bank and Gaza. However, the dream of “getting back biblical Israel”, Shanak writes, is very strong among the orthodox Israeli Jews who have a great deal of influence with Israeli policy-makers.

The Palestinians, on the other hand, through an ownership trust called “waqf”, lay claim to almost all of Israel, the West Bank, and Gaza which have been given in trust to the Supreme Muslim Council. This land is theoretically inalienable, meaning that it may not be sold. In short, both Israelis and Palestinians have an historic and theological claim on the land in question.

Shanak points out something else that we non-Jews need to grasp in order to understand what underlies Israeli policy. When a group of settlers seizes a Palestinian property, they aren’t stealing the land; they are “redeeming” it. Any land that was part of “greater Israel” and that now belongs to a Gentile (a Muslim, a Christian etc.) is "unredeemed" and there for the taking. The commandment “Thou shalt not steal” for an orthodox Jew means “Thou shalt not steal from another Jew”.

What is even more disturbing is Shanak’s observation that, according to orthodox Judaism, a Jew is under no obligation to protect or spare the life of a Gentile (Muslim, Christian). A Jew will do so only if, by not doing so, some harm could come to the Jewish people. In a word, according to Jewish law, a Jew may do all that is necessary to rid the land of Gentiles. Conversely, Muslims have deemed Jews and Christians to be “people of the book” and, until recently, recognized them as “dhimmi”, that is, “protected” people, although with fewer privileges than the Muslim population. However, some radicals in Islamic theocracies cannot abide the presence of non-Muslims.

The point that Shanak makes in his book is that Israel puts on a good act for the West and makes token “efforts" to come to terms with the Palestinians. He writes that Canada and the United States are the most gullible of all western countries in the face of Israeli subterfuge. He says that Canada is particularly taken in, but that the US is a greater stumbling block to peace in the region because of the billions of dollars in aid that the US gives to Israel each year, allowing Israel to carry out its policies of expansion.

Shanak wants the West to see through Israeli action, and he wants Israelis to free themselves from the shackles of their history and religion so that they can play a more responsible role in today’s world.