MORE TRUTHS ABOUT: Who was in the area called Palestina in 1695? MOST: WHY DID I ACCEPT WHAT I WAS TOLD?
Recently a long-time friend sent an email with the following fact-claim: Palaestina ex monumentis veteribus documents who was in the area called Palestina in 1695. Most of the inhabitants were Jewish or Christian, with hardly any Muslims. As for the names of settlements, the roots were Hebrew, Greek and Roman, with only one name with Arabic roots.
My friend had only ever sent reliable information so I trusted what he sent.
A reader found a source - Wikipedia - with a very different account of the content of the book. The reader ended with a question:
Are we looking for truth, or for Zionism's desperate attempts to legitimise colonialism and genocide?
I will address that question.
I will also address a much more important question: Is there any reason why I accepted the fact-claim I received, beyond that it came from a friend who had only ever sent accurate information? YES, THERE IS A VITAL REASON.
But first, what did this reader assert about Palaestina ex monumentis veteribus:
From what I can see, the book does in no way whatsoever claim to give a CONTEMPORARY description of Palestina, but gives an overview of what was known to this person about the BIBLICAL Palestina, based on all possible sources he could find: religious or secular but mainly ANCIENT.
I checked his claims:
For all readers of Latin, the full book - all 666 (!!!) pages - is online:
https://archive.org/details/b30535062
I had hated Latin. That was out.
I readily found 2 English sources other than Wikipedia:
RELAND, ADRIAN° (Hadrian; 1676–1718), Dutch Orientalist and theologian. Reland studied at Utrecht, was appointed professor of philosophy at Harderwijk in 1699, and professor of Oriental languages and antiquities at Utrecht in 1701.
He published Antiquitates sacrae veterum Hebraeorum (1708) and De spoliis templi Hierosolymitani in arcu Titiaco Romae conspicuis liber singularis (Utrecht, 1716). Reland's major work was Palaestina ex monumentis veteribus illustrata (2 vols., 1714), in which he collected all the knowledge then available on the historical geography of Ereẓ Israel and its ancient sites, arranging the latter alphabetically. His sources included not only the writings of classical authors, but also those of the church historians, the Lives of the Saints, and talmudic literature which he quotes in the original. Reland also recorded Nabatean and Palmyrene inscriptions, though he was unable to decipher them. All later Orientalists made use of his monumental compilation which is of value even today.
There is also:
Hadriani Relandi Palaestina ex monumentis veteribus illustrata
Adriaan Reelant, Jan Goeree, Jan Wandelaar
LEGARE STREET Press, Jul 18, 2023 - History - 666 pages
This illustrated 18th-century Latin book is an exhaustive geographical and historical survey of ancient Palestine, based on the author's extensive field research and scholarly analysis of ancient texts and artifacts. It includes detailed maps, drawings, and engravings of the region, as well as descriptions of its flora, fauna, and topography. The book is a valuable resource for historians, archaeologists, and anyone interested in ancient Near Eastern culture and history.
https://books.google.ca/books/about/Hadriani_Relandi_Palaestina_ex_monumenti.html
The book length jumped out at the - 666!! I checked the Latin version. The page on which it is written, FINIS, is 661. But yes, if one includes the blank pages beyond that, one gets to 666, and even, if one includes the back cover, to 668.
But back to the main point:
It seems certain that Palaestina ex monumentis veteribus does NOT document who was in Palestina in 1695, but mainly puts together information from earlier sources, including far earlier sources.
So why did I believe the fact-claim that, in 1695, most of the inhabitants were Jewish or Christian, with hardly any Muslims?
The answer has nothing to do the reader’s snide suggestion, that I’m not looking for truth, but for “Zionism's desperate attempts to legitimise colonialism and genocide.”
The answer lies with truths I have not been giving enough attention - truths relating to Islam.
Starting in 2006, I became very aware of and concerned with Islam. The first thing I learned: it’s not a religion of peace. Islam means submission - not my kind of thing at all. I began to research and read - people like Bill Warner and Robert Spencer and Nonie Darwish. By 2009 I was asking myself, what can I do, to get more people aware of the reality of Islamic ideology? In April 2012, I had an idea: I could interview major truth tellers about Islam.
Who were these truth tellers? What were they like? What had gotten them to become aware of realities most people were closed to seeing? What were they finding and what were they doing?
I set up the World Truth Summit, and in September 2012, did the first of several interview series.
The dangers of Islamic ideology stayed a major focus for years.
Among other things, I did a kid’s video. Fun, easy, simple, clear. Just 9 minutes. For ages 8 and up. Also very suitable for getting adults informed.
Translated into various languages.
Perhaps 200,000 views through various uploadings.
There’s even a website:
https://livefreedom.net/islam-who-what-how.html
The video is also on Youtube:
For adults, among other things, I wrote The Quick and Easy Guide to Understanding Islam, which breezes through abrogation, taqiyya, the complete prohibition of further changes, kafirs, dhimmis, hijrah, jihad, dar al-Islam, dar al-harb, caliphate, and al walaa wal baraa.(The latter is not well-known but VERY IMPORTANT!) It sounds like a lot. It’s all made nice and easy. You can download it here: https://westindanger.com/media-files/QuickAndEasyGuideToUnderstandingIslam.pdf
How does all this relate to my believing my friend’s fact-claim that most of the inhabitants of the area labelled Palestina were Jewish or Christian, with hardly any Muslims?
Among the information I picked up was that there were thousands of references to Jerusalem in the Bible, zero in the Quran. (Note: a reader has commented that “Jerusalem, or al-Quds (Arabic) is mentioned several times in the Qur'an, as described in an article in the British Journal for Middle eastern Studies (2001) - https://www.academia.edu/38545015/Jerusalem_in_the_Qura_n.” This doesn’t go with what I remember learning. At any rate, this is still massively fewer than the thousands of references in the Bible.)
To get back to Palaestina ex monumentis veteribus…
The claims about the content of Palaestina ex monumentis veteribus were within what I knew about the shifting Jewish, Christian and Muslim populations.
Other information I learned was the intense Jew-hatred inculcated into many Muslims. I remember a Muslim student, an immigrant with his family from an Islamic country, saying that he had been in Canada for several years before he could accept that Jews were human - he had been taught such hatred and denigration of Jews in his country of origin. I remember, when in Egypt (2003), educated Muslims mentioning that Jews turned into apes and pigs. When I expressed disbelief, an engineer with an MA and 4 trips to Mecca, answered in quiet mater-of-fact tones: it’s in the Quran. I am very aware of the chants: From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free - meaning, no more Israel. I have seen the slogan, Death to Jews. I have seen posters of Israeli hostages, being held by Hamas, being torn down.
I know some people want to distinguish between Jew-hatred and anti-Zionism. Yes, there can be differences. But …
The reader who asked the question, if I was looking for truth or “Zionism's desperate attempts to legitimise colonialism and genocide” - I see him as almost certainly seeing Israel as colonizing (rather than having a legitimate historical claim to that area) and genocidal (as opposed to that the population of Gaza has quadrupled during the supposed genocide).
There’s yet another reason for my accepting my friend’s fact-claims. With the lockdowns and mandates, I had a major shift in focus. What was happening was so huge, dangerous, life-threatening, sometimes deadly, that I fell almost silent about Islam - especially as I knew that many of the people waking up to the dangers of the injections accepted that Islam was just fine, all religions are basically the same.
I know my silence - my self-censorship - has to change. The dangers of Islam are as real as ever.
I see my accepting the fact-claims of my friend as a nudge to pay more attention to Islam.
The reader with his snide remark about “ Zionism's desperate attempts to legitimise colonialism and genocide” - he’s way off the mark in ever so may ways. Plus, I definitely do not see his remark as coming from a desire for truth.
Truth - so important. The truth of the content of Palaestina ex monumentis veteribus. The truth about Islam - Islamic history and ideology. The truth about Jewish presence - and Christian presence - in the Middle East.
There are further truths to unearth. Like, to what extent are we being manipulated by the Global Predators (or Mr Global, or The Elite - call them what you will)? From many sources, I am hearing that Hamas was created by Israel - so all the current violence was planned by Israeli forces. But how much, if this should be so, were any individuals involved, under the control of the Global Predators?
The UN, staunchly anti-Israel, has done massive funding to the so-called Palestinians, including to schools that inculcate Jew hatred and belief that Israel must be eradicated? So far, I have not heard that Israel is behind the UN anti-Israel stance. But it would not surprise me to hear that.
What is true in this?
I have long heard - and have been given evidence - that the CIA toppled many governments worldwide.
I recognize we are manipulated by the Global Predators - whether it’s in the creation of World Wars I and II, in the recent war in the Ukraine, in what is happening between Israel and Gaza.
Again, truth - so important. Very important to explore what are the facts. Very important to explore what are layers of facts below the surface facts?
A big thank you to the friend who sent me the fact-claims about who was in Palestina in 1695. It has led to quite an interesting exploration. To be continued
Posted December 1, 2023
Total BS. Stop the Zionist propaganda! Islam does not say to hate everyone, it says respect everyone including Jesus who was mentioned more than Mohamed in the Quran, also to respect ALL 134 prophets including Moses. Not to lie, not to cheat, not to commit adultery, not to kill and not use USURY. ALL HARAM! Jihad, ignorant! is what we all doing Working to feed our families, studying hard etc0 the big Jihad, however, is when in war. Islam says never to kill unless they invade you and kill you family and take your home just like in Palestine, that Jihad is allowed but Jihad of beheading even Muslims like the terrorist groups created and funded by the West; AlQaeda, White Helmet, ALNusra and ISIS ALL HARAM and do not belong to Islam
"Mass Assassination Factory": Israel Using AI to Generate Targets in Gaza, Increasing Civilian Toll 18:05 min
https://youtu.be/KT7znz0eNFE?si=f-y3kWkX7Q0Zlb5h