Most of the discussion that happens on the Israel-Palestine conflict these days confines itself to the controversial (in fact cunning) Belfour Declaration and the events that happened as a result , especially after 1948 , a time when Britain and America were acting like the owners of this planet !
By the way , they still are behaving like that only , putting their feet and fingers anywhere and everywhere !!!
But the earliest accounts after Hazrat Moosa led his followers to safety and the army of Pharaoh was drowned in the Red Sea is absent from the popular discourse
Daadi Ammi hamaari bachpan meiN Hazrat Moosa (Prophet Moses) aur unn ke bhai Hazrat Haroon (Prophet Aaron) ke struggles ki kahaani sunaya karti thiiN , and I would always be overwhelmed with awe and respect in honour of Prophet Moses ... the food that they used to get from Heaven (The Manna-Salva) ... his magical staff and the miracles associated with it ... his closeness to God so much so that he is referred to as “Moosa Kaliimullah” because he used to converse with God ... And of course ! God’s “Promised Land” to Bani Israel !!!
My ... My ... What a divinely gifted Prophet Hazrat Moosa was !!!
That was childhood, so pure and innocent, that's a time you are learning what is good about the faith / religion you are born into
But as one grows up, some blessed ones are destined to realise that in politics religion is twisted and then politicised , hand-picking some sentences and words from religious texts to craft a narrative to suit the political agenda that is being worked on continuously to divide people for materialistic , monetary or territorial gains
Let us never forget that every religious text , even the Qur'an which Muslims believe has not changed from the time it was revealed to Prophet Muhammed, is open to various interpretations , and have been interpreted differently at different times to please political powers and patriarchal forces
And hence the understanding that the Message contained in these divine books have not changed is the biggest illusion
Coming back to Prophet Moses ...
After the Ten Plagues , Prophet Moses led the Exodus of the Israelites out of Egypt and across the Red Sea , after which they based themselves at Mount Sinai , where Prophet Moses received the Ten Commandments.
The “Promised Land” that is so much being talked about these days was, as per one information available on Wikipedia, promised to Prophet Abraham even before his sons were born
But according to subsequent confirmation, God had promised Abraham that there would be a "Promised Land" for the nations to come out of his son, Isaac
So be it, let us believe in the subsequent confirmation
The land of Canaan that the Twelve Spies were to explore was the same Promised Land.
The Twelve Spies, as recorded in the Book of Numbers, were a group of Israelite chieftains, one from each of the Twelve Tribes, who were dispatched by Moses to scout out the Land of Canaan for 40 days as a future home for the Israelite people , during the time when the Israelites were in the wilderness following their Exodus from Ancient Egypt.
Moses asked for an assessment of the geographic features of the land , the strength and numbers of the population , the agricultural potential and actual performance of the land , civic organization (whether their cities were like camps or strongholds) , and forestry conditions.
He also asked them to be positive in their outlook and to return with samples of local produce.
Ten of the twelve chieftains came back with negative reports about the land , thus slandering what they believed God had promised them. They did not believe that God could help them , and the people as a whole were persuaded that it was not possible to take the land.
As a result , the entire nation was made to wander in the desert for 40 years , until almost the entire generation of men had died.
After 40 years of wandering in the desert , Moses died on Mount Nebo at the age of 120 , within sight of the Promised Land.
Joshua and Caleb were the two chieftains who had brought back a good report and believed that God would help them succeed.
They were the only men from their generation permitted to go into the "Promised Land" after the time of wandering.
(Source of info: Wikipedia)
(Waise The Twelve Spies vaguely remind me of the people mentioned in Sureh Kahef in The Holy Qur'an , have been curious forever to know more about them)
Anyway ... So wasn't the search for "The Promised Land" complete after Joshua and Caleb entered the land of Canaan ?
Their future generations must have lived on that land and made it their home
So now which other "Promised Land" is being talked about ?
Were the present day Americans also on a mission to find some "Promised Land" when they drove away the natives from the land they now occupy and call it The United States ???
Quite clearly this occupation under the pretext of "Promised Land" initiated by the British through "Belfour Declaration" is a play of power and politics in the most inhuman manner that is so typical of the colonists
There is most certainly no love for God or religion involved
Ilan Pappe , the British Israeli historian has rightly said ...
"Most Zionists don't believe that God exists, but they do believe that He promised them Palestine" !!!
But we do see what people who love God and respect their religion do
As Christmas draws nearer , a church in Bethlehem , the biblical birthplace of Jesus , is receiving attention for its decision to redesign its Christmas nativity scene to reflect the impact of the ongoing Israel-Hamas war.
Just weeks before Christmas , the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Bethlehem , located in the West Bank , unveiled a new display of the nativity scene that shows baby Jesus lying in a manger amid rubble.
The imagery symbolizes the destroyed Palestinian communities in Gaza and the ongoing war between Israel and the Hamas , a church official said.
"Church families met last week and built it together. It was a moving experience for our families. During the service on Sunday, some people were in tears," Reverend Doctor Munther Isaac, the church's pastor, told The New Arab.
"We are pleased our message has reached the world. This is what Christmas looks like in Palestine this year, the origin of Christmas."
(Report by Richard Lawrence , published Dec 8 , Fox News)
