Did God Promise Palestine To The Jews?
Hameed Abdul Karim
For some reason or the other the Sri Lankan print media has, in recent times, taken a very pro-Israel stance. When they carry stories of the Middle East conflict from western agencies like Reuter, AFP or BBC it can be excused because such agencies are heavily biased in favour of Israel. But when editorials and articles by ‘readers’ appear frequently you begin to raise an eyebrow or two. It becomes worst when they papers refuse or deny the reader of a ‘right of reply’. Such is the case with The Island, once a progressive newspaper, but no it has joined the ‘mainstream’ carrying different stories and editorials whilst following the same pro-Israel and pro-establishment theme as other newspapers.
Such was the case with The Island when they ignored a ‘right of reply’ I wrote to an article that heavily promoted Israel and its myths. Here is what I said.
Dr. V.J.M. De Silva in his article titled ‘The Israeli Palestinian Conflict Some Random Thoughts’ (The Island, 12 August, 2014) quotes the Bible in support of Israel. The one that Dr. Silva cites is often quoted by Jewish and Christian Zionists or Evangelical Christians to support the colonial conquest of Palestine by European Jews. This so called promise to the Prophet Abraham (peace be on him) is found in the book of Genesis.
God’s Promise
The particular verse is found in Genesis 17:8 which says ‘And I will give unto thee (meaning Abraham) and thy seed after thee, the land wherein thou art a stranger, all the land of Canaan (Palestine) for an everlasting possession and I will be their God’. However, this is the only verse that Dr. Silva quotes like all Zionists. There are other verses in the same Bible that should be taken into account before we can draw any conclusions. This particular verse must be put to test in accordance with the Biblical verse that says ‘And if thou say in your heart, how shall we know the word which the Lord has not spoken. When a Prophet speaks in the name of the Lord, if the thing follow not, nor come to pass, that is the thing the Lord has not spoken, but the Prophet had spoken it presumptuously: thou shall not be afraid of him’. (Deuteronomy Ch. 18: 21-22)
Let’s put Genesis 17:8 to the test with the verses of Deuteronomy quoted above.
