To My Christian Zionist Friends

Have you read the words of an Archbishop, those of Archbishop Emeritus Desmond Tutu?

According to him,

The suffering inflicted by Israel on the Palestinian people shows that it has forgotten the Jewish scriptures..."They have forgotten their own history. They have forgotten what their own prophets have said about our God," Tutu said..."God is always on the side of the oppressed. In the Holy Land, the Palestinian people are the ones suffering."

..."Those of us who are Christian have been influenced very greatly by what one might call the Jewish scriptures. The biased God of the past is the biased God of the present... and if God is to be God, watch out," he added. "This is the anguish that I bear."

I am sure you are quite well aware, besides the political bias in his statement, ignoring the historical record of the past 150 years of the modern return of Jews to the Land of Israel, continuing what Jews have done for over 1800 years (and ignored by too many of the experts on this regions), and the Arab persecution, most times violent, against the Jews in horrific form, that Tutu's theology is all wrong.

True, today, the Arabs of the former Mandate of Palestine, cliam they are living in "occupied territories" which are but areas of the original Mandate territory which were awarded to the Jewish through an act of international law in a progression of decisions taken at the Versailles Peace Conference, the San Remo Conference and the League of Nations between 1919 and 1922, following the acceptance by the nations of the world of the Balfour Declaration. The present tension is not about wrongs but rights - who owns the land. For believing Christians, unconnected to the present dispute, the Bible makes it quite clear that the land was and will be given to Abraham and his descendants through the line of his son Isaac and grandson Jacob (Israel).

In Genesis 12:7 Abraham, the father of both Jews and Arabs, was told, "Unto thy seed will I give this land". And even if you believe that Jesus will inherit that promise, a concept we Jews do not accept, the acts of today's Arabs against Christians in Bethlehem, in Gaza, in Cairo, in Baghdad and other cities throughout the Middle East, make it quite clear that the Arabs are not the proper progeny of Abraham.  There is no hope for peaceful coexistence between Christians and Mulsims the evidence makes clear.

The dispute over Jerusalem is, in addition to all the mudane issues, also a religious/spiritual one. It can be portrayed as that Ishmael cannot accept the existence of Judaism, for Judaism predicates the reality that the Land of Israel, with Jerusalem as its capital, represents the covenant God made with the people Israel. Borders are irrevelant.

As Hamas makes clear:

...Nothing in nationalism is more significant or deeper than in the case when an enemy should tread Moslem land. Resisting and quelling the enemy become the individual duty of every Moslem, male or female...(Article 12)...There is no solution for the Palestinian question except through Jihad...(Article 13)...Palestine is an Islamic land...Since this is the case, liberation of Palestine is then an individual duty for very Moslem wherever he may be. On this basis, the problem should be viewed. This should be realised by every Moslem...(Article 14)...In face of the Jews' usurpation of Palestine, it is compulsory that the banner of Jihad be raised...It is necessary to instill in the minds of the Moslem generations that the Palestinian problem is a religious problem, and should be dealt with on this basis. Palestine contains Islamic holy sites...(Article 15)...The Islamic nature of Palestine is part of our religion and whoever takes his religion lightly is a loser...(Article 27)... Israel, Judaism and Jews challenge Islam and the Moslem people. "May the cowards never sleep."...(Article 28)... It is the duty of the followers of other religions to stop disputing the sovereignty of Islam in this region, because the day these followers should take over there will be nothing but carnage, displacement and terror...(Article 31)...Palestine is the navel of the globe and the crossroad of the continents. Since the dawn of history, it has been the target of expansionists. The Prophet, Allah bless him and grant him salvation, had himself pointed to this fact in the noble Hadith in which he called on his honourable companion, Ma'adh ben-Jabal, saying: O Ma'ath, Allah throw open before you, when I am gone, Syria, from Al-Arish to the Euphrates. Its men, women and slaves will stay firmly there till the Day of Judgement. Whoever of you should choose one of the Syrian shores, or the Holy Land, he will be in constant struggle till the Day of Judgement." Expansionists have more than once put their eye on Palestine which they attacked with their armies to fulfill their designs on it. Thus it was that the Crusaders came with their armies, bringing with them their creed and carrying their Cross. They were able to defeat the Moslems for a while, but the Moslems were able to retrieve the land only when they stood under the wing of their religious banner, united their word, hallowed the name of Allah and surged out fighting under the leadership of Salah ed-Din al-Ayyubi. They fought for almost twenty years and at the end the Crusaders were defeated and Palestine was liberated...(Article 34)

And do not ignore the Quran verse:

"But the Jews will not be pleased with thee, neither the Christians, until thou follow their religion; say, The direction of Allah is the true direction. And verily if thou follow their desires, after the knowledge which hath been given thee, thou shalt find no patron or protector against Allah." (The Cow - verse 120).

Jewish traditional sources also counter this claim of Arabs to assume an equal Biblical status.  For example, the Zohar explains about the verse And Abraham said, O that Ishmael might live before you (Genesis 17:18) as

even though the Holy One, blessed be He, gave him the news about Isaac, Abraham cleaved to Ishmael, until the Holy One, blessed be He, answered him, And as for Ishmael, I have heard you..." (Genesis 17:20). He was later circumcised and entered the holy covenant before Isaac came into the world.

Come and see, for four hundred years, the minister of the children of Ishmael stood and begged before the Holy One, blessed be He. He said to Him, Whoever is circumcised has a portion in Your name. [The Holy one blessed be He,] said to him, it is so. He said to Him, Behold Ishmael who is circumcised. Why does he not have a portion in You like Isaac? He said to him, It is not so, the one was circumcised well and properly, while the other was not so. Moreover, the one cleaves to Me properly at the eighth day, while the others are distanced from me for many days. [The appointed minister over Ishmael] said to Him, But still in all, since he is circumcised, would he not have a good reward for this?

Woe is the time that Ishmael was born into the world and was circumcised. What did the Holy One, blessed be He, do [Pertaining to the complaint of the minister of Ishmael?] He distanced the children of Ishmael from supernal cleaving and gave them a portion below in the Holy Land, because of their circumcision.

The children of Ishmael are destined to rule over the Holy Land for a long time when it is empty from anything, like their circumcision, which is empty and imperfect. And they will prevent the children of Yisrael from returning to their place until the reward for the merit of the children of Ishmael reaches completion.

The children of Ishmael will cause great wars in the world and the children of Edom will gather against them, and wage war against them, one on the sea, one on the dry land, and one near Jerusalem. And they will rule over each other, but the Holy Land will not be given over to the children of Edom. Zohar Vaera

A further Chassidic exegesis is here:

the Zohar speaks of another aspect of exile at the End of Days:

...The descendents of Ishmael will go up at that time [End of Days] with the nations of the world against Jerusalem... (Zohar 1:119a)


There is a tradition that Ishmael will be the final extension of the Roman Exile. It will be with his descendants that the final generation of Jews before the redemption will have to contend. This is supported by the Midrash:

Israel will say to the king of the Arabs, "Take silver and gold and leave the Temple." The king of the Arabs will say, "You have nothing to do with this Temple. However, if you want, choose a sacrifice as you did in the past, and we will also offer a sacrifice, and with the one whose sacrifice is accepted, we will all become one people." The Jewish people will offer theirs, but it will not be accepted because the Satan will lay charges against them before The Holy One, Blessed is He. The descendents of Kedar will offer theirs, and it will be accepted.... At that time, the Arabs will say to Israel, "Come and believe in our faith," but Israel will answer, "We will kill or be killed, but we will not deny our belief!" At that time, swords will be drawn, bows will be strung and arrows will be sent, and many will fall... (Sefer Eliyahu, Pirkei Mashiach, p. 236)

Furthermore, says the Zohar:

[During the Resurrection of the Dead], many camps will arise in Land of the Galilee, because that is where Mashiach is going to be revealed, since it is part of Joseph's territory. It will be the first place to be destroyed. It will begin there ahead of all other places, and then spread to the nations... (Vayakhel)

Zechariah 12:2-3 where God says:

"Behold, I will make Jerusalem a cup of trembling unto all the people round about, when they shall be in the siege both against Judah and against Jerusalem. And in that day will I make Jerusalem a burdensome stone for all people; all that burden themselves with it shall be cut in pieces, though all the people of the earth be gathered together against it."

indicates the struggle we Jews are undergoing but there is Zechariah 14, which indicates a remnant of the nation will be defending Jerusalem and God will "go forth, and fight against those nations" (verse 3).

So, if Tutu does believe in the Prophets, he is reading something which isn't found in the text.

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