Helen's History Hangup

Helen Thomas, again (the first time here):

The Zionists have to understand that's their [the Pals.] country, too. Palestinians were there long before any European Zionists."

I could be facetious and point out that when the Arabs conquered and occupied the Land of Israel, in 638 CE, there really weren't very many European Jews around.

For example,

The most diverse witnesses, such as Strabo, Philo, Seneca, Cicero, and Josephus, all mention Jewish populations in the cities of the Mediterranean. Most Jewish population centers of this period were however still in the Orient (Iudaea and Syria) and in Egypt (Alexandria was by far the most important of the Jewish communities, the Jews in Philo's time were inhabiting two of the five quarters of the city).

But, to be exact:

Large numbers of Jews lived in Rome even during the Roman Republican period. They were largely Greek-speaking and poor...The Jews maintained in Rome several synagogues, whose spiritual leader was called αρχισυνάγωγος (archisunagogos)...After the successive Jewish revolts of 66 and 132 CE, many Judean Jews were brought to Rome as slaves (the norm in the ancient world was for prisoners of war and inhabitants of defeated cities to be sold as slaves)...

So, the antisemitic theme of "European Jews displacing native Arabs" is BS and Thomas, as an Arab, is pushing a hate agenda. We know that Jews continued to live in the Land of Israel up until the Arabs first showed up.

Here's one timeline:

138 C.E., Antoninus Pius allows Jews to return to Jerusalem.
332 C.E., 'Bordeaux Pilgrim' reports that Jews anoint the "lapis perfusus" rock near Hadrian's statues on Temple Mount.
333 C.E., Edict of Milan, Jews start to build Temple.
362 C.E., Julian plans to rebuild the Temple and even begins construction.
438 C.E., Eudokia (wife of Theodosius II) gives the Jews permission to pray on Temple Mount.
443 C.E., Eudokia permits Temple reconstruction.
584 C.E., Maurice sent Jewish builders from Constantinople to Jerusalem to repair Julian's structure on Temple Mount.
614 C.E., Persian-Jewish alliance conquers Jerusalem, and attempt to construct a temple on Temple Mount
638 C.E., Judeo-Arab alliance conquers Jerusalem. Jews build wooden Temple on Temple Mount

and here at page xiv, you can read of a Jewish resident of Palestine doing business in Carthage.

There are other sources but this is enough for my point: Thomas is a know-nothing.


Sunday Update

Yid's got the video. Here.

Further UPDATE

Wayne State U. cancels the Helen Thomas award.
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