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Mark Twain in Palestine, 1869

Reader comment on item: Newt Gingrich and the "Invented" Palestinian People

Submitted by Jim K. (United States), Dec 11, 2011 at 18:04

True, Palestine was only a geographical region in the midst of Arabia, a hundred times larger, but had not been recognized as a land with a distinct people with their own culture and government since ancient Isreal. Mark Twain, after his trip there, wrote about what he saw there in 1869:

"Palestine sits in sackcloth and ashes. Over it broods the spell of a curse that has withered its fields and fettered its energies. Where Sodom and Gomorrah reared their domes and towers, that solemn sea now floods the plain, in whose bitter waters no living thing exists—over whose waveless surface the blistering air hangs motionless and dead—about whose borders nothing grows but weeds, and scattering tufts of cane, and that treacherous fruit that promises refreshment to parching lips, but turns to ashes at the touch.

"Nazareth is forlorn; about that ford of Jordan where the hosts of Israel entered the Promised Land with songs of rejoicing, one finds only a squalid camp of fantastic Bedouins of the desert; Jericho the accursed, lies a moldering ruin, to-day, even as Joshua's miracle left it more than three thousand years ago; Bethlehem and Bethany, in their poverty and their humiliation, have nothing about them now to remind one that they once knew the high honor of the Saviour's presence; the hallowed spot where the shepherds watched their flocks by night, and where the angels sang Peace on earth, good will to men, is untenanted by any living creature, and unblessed by any feature that is pleasant to the eye.

"Renowned Jerusalem itself, the stateliest name in history, has lost all its ancient grandeur, and is become a pauper village; the riches of Solomon are no longer there to compel the admiration of visiting Oriental queens; the wonderful temple which was the pride and the glory of Israel, is gone, and the Ottoman crescent is lifted above the spot where, on that most memorable day in the annals of the world, they reared the Holy Cross. The noted Sea of Galilee, where Roman fleets once rode at anchor and the disciples of the Saviour sailed in their ships, was long ago deserted by the devotees of war and commerce, and its borders are a silent wilderness."

Submitting....

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Reader comments (108) on this item

Title Commenter Date Thread
5Sorry there is no Palestinian people. Jews have lived in Palestine long before prophet muhammad was marrying children. [168 words]Phil GreendFeb 10, 2013 20:15203389
People of all sorts [12 words]Peter SimonJan 17, 2016 14:37203389
People of all sorts [11 words]Peter SimonJan 17, 2016 14:37203389
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Palestinians [49 words]EstherJan 16, 2012 03:14191952
5not about a State, not about land [105 words]ilana kraussDec 18, 2011 15:18191824
1Newt Gingrich and his knowledge of Palestine - a hypocrisy [474 words]slayhyDec 16, 2011 11:39191753
1where was the place [10 words]RonDec 18, 2011 16:14191753
10Palestinian people are invented or not [159 words]JoeDec 13, 2011 22:02191677
11They do Not want a State [47 words]Michael Hanni MorcosDec 15, 2011 16:09191677
1Newt's comment [78 words]goappleDec 15, 2011 22:15191677
The so called Palestinian cause [34 words]Seamus Dafydd Dives MacNemiDec 23, 2011 03:35191677
1Palestinians [161 words]Marlene K.Dec 12, 2011 22:54191648
2Cheap propaganda [179 words]Dean AllanDec 14, 2011 01:30191648
4Cheap propaganda [395 words]JudithDec 15, 2011 14:33191648
Respect for history [76 words]Dean AllanDec 15, 2011 23:47191648
1The American People Deserve Straight Talk [48 words]DaveDec 12, 2011 21:47191647
1Palestine or Philistine [117 words]Dean AllanDec 12, 2011 19:24191643
2Palestine or Philistine [363 words]JudithDec 15, 2011 14:04191643
Invented history! [314 words]Dean AllanDec 15, 2011 22:16191643
The truth shall prevail [19 words]slayhyDec 16, 2011 13:55191643
15House of Meat, eh...? how funny!! Bethlehem and Palestine facts [1439 words]saraDec 16, 2011 17:20191643
2"Invented" Palestinian People and "House of Meat, eh...? how funny!!" [325 words]JudithDec 16, 2011 20:03191643
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2Invented Palestian people and house of meat. [194 words]JudithDec 19, 2011 14:23191643
5000 Year Ago - made me laugh [137 words]slayhyDec 20, 2011 03:54191643
The invented Palestinian people [18 words]JudithDec 20, 2011 16:44191643
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1The Quranic word Lahm/Lahma [115 words]dhimmi no moreJun 4, 2017 12:40191643
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1Yesterday there may not have been a Palestinian people, but today there is. [173 words]Sid PerloeDec 12, 2011 16:14191639
4PALESINIANS ARE JORDANIANS [120 words]JACQUES HADIDADec 12, 2011 13:22191634
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Palestine a Land for Palestinians [167 words]slayhyJan 4, 2012 11:49191634
1YOU SEEM TO HAVE A LIKING FOR THE WORD "LIE" [214 words]JACQUES HADIDAJan 7, 2012 14:28191634
unfortunately changing words was and is always a habit ... [345 words]slayhyJan 7, 2012 21:17191634
Whose Changing of the Words is Allowing the West to Gang Up in the Med [604 words]M. ToveyJan 11, 2012 16:25191634
1Reality check [138 words]Greg McColmDec 12, 2011 12:58191633
2Newt Gingrich and the "Invented Palestinian State. Very Credible as a Historian and Scholar. [111 words]AnneDec 12, 2011 08:24191627
Intellectual relevance [65 words]housamDec 12, 2011 03:46191619
Newt Gingrich and the Invented Palestinian People [240 words]JudithDec 12, 2011 03:03191618
2Newt's Bold Comment [210 words]Clarence PuckettDec 12, 2011 00:54191613
Newt Gingrich [59 words]Sam MoharebDec 11, 2011 20:36191599
that was then; this is now [205 words]john w mcginleyDec 11, 2011 19:41191597
Palestinians a lie ... [308 words]NuritGDec 11, 2011 19:33191596
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6Mark Twain in Palestine, 1869 [373 words]Jim K.Dec 11, 2011 18:04191588
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w/response from Daniel Pipes
Richard H. ShulmanDec 11, 2011 17:03191585
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1Long before the Mandate... [90 words]TurkcekonusanamerikaliDec 13, 2011 00:07191585
5Be Careful About Calling Other People Ignorant [175 words]Richard H. ShulmanDec 13, 2011 19:35191585
1Mr. Richard [167 words]Debanjan BanerjeeDec 13, 2011 23:04191585
1No discrimination, just truth [438 words]Dean AllanDec 14, 2011 00:39191585
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3Debanjan Banerjee knows who is going to win the 2012 US election [33 words]PrashantDec 15, 2011 13:18191585
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Dear Mr. Prashant [128 words]Debanjan BanerjeeDec 17, 2011 22:22191585
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4Newt's right, but... [130 words]Kepha HorDec 11, 2011 08:18191567
1Intention rather than identity [604 words]George LakerDec 11, 2011 20:46191567
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Zion is Known By Her Almighty God. [311 words]M. ToveyJan 9, 2012 16:19191567

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