Heritage Florida Jewish News - Central Florida's Independent Jewish Voice

When Israel declared the forming of the Second Jewish Commonwealth on the very land where the First Jewish Commonwealth was declared centuries ago, there were those who were thrilled, those who were nervous and those who violently protested the change in that part of the world.

It took a war, according to biblical accounts, because there were people living there. This has been proven through archeological digs and other evidence – so whether it was God or Providence or a people tired of wandering – the First Jewish Commonwealth was formed, fought for and won.

We had a Royal approach to governing, again, through biblical accounts. We had kings, the land was split up and put back together again. We fought wars, even wars with each other. But the Roman Empire was rampant, they had a much larger army, so the First Commonwealth of the Jewish people was conquered.

Thus began our wandering. While the land of Israel remained, the government changed hands. It was the Romans, then the “Barbarians” and finally the Turkish Empire. In World War I, the British beat the Turks, took over most of the Middle East, including Israel.

The Arabs, who had joined the British (see “Lawrence of Arabia”) helped beat the Turks and for joining the Brits, were promised a huge slice of the Middle East.

A little-known slice of history is the “Sykes/Picot Agreement.” In 1915, when the war was less than one year old, a British Nobleman by the name of Sykes and a French official named Picot met in a British war room. In essence, they said that they would get America into this war, the Americans would win and then France and England would divvy up the Middle East, known generally as Arabia between themselves.

Well, it came to pass. In the peace talks held in France, the Arabs got very little. A sliver of the African continent. BUT — turned out it was a sliver where most of the Middle East oil was.

This created a nation under one of the major Sheiks in the Middle East, the Saudi Clan. Somewhere in this actual “land grab” was the ancient and holy land of Israel.

The Jews had never forgotten Israel and when it was “decided” that the Jews should indeed have a country of their own (again) this small sliver of land in the desert of the Middle East with its ancient Jewish history was singled out by Jewish Leaders in the Zionist Movement after WWI. Only because it was the ancient and Holy Land of Israel.

In1948 the United Nations voted to recognize the State of Israel, and the Second Jewish Commonwealth was formed. The Arabs did not agree.

The day after the declaration, the Arab Nations put together a huge army to wipe this small Jewish Nation off the fact of the earth. They failed. They failed in 1968, in 1973 and today with their almost daily attacks on Jewish settlements and even in Jerusalem, the capitol of the nation.

Countless talks have been scheduled, held and ended with nothing, no agreement. Why? The Arabs do not want a Jewish Nation to exist. You cannot negotiate with anyone who is not interested in a solution that does not give them everything they want and leaves nothing for the other side.

Israel, over these many years has grown into a financial and business powerhouse with whom most nations want to work. Their incredible scientific developments, their ability to turn the desert into a thriving nation with a huge agricultural economy.

The United States gives Israel a huge amount of money every year. But did you know that every dollar given to Israel comes back to the U.S. in the form of Israel using that money, under the agree meant to buy U.S. armaments.

There have been many “Peace Talks.” They all fail. The United States has tried to force the Jewish Nation into many “Peace Deals” which are one sided against Israel and unworkable on their face.

The message is clear: There are a large group of Arabs who will not be satisfied until there is no Israel. Are there agreements between some Islamic Nations and Israel? Yes. But no Arabs. So, it is not a religious boycott. It simply means the Arabs do not want peace.