69 million page views

Lebanon is not Israel

Reader comment on item: "Greater Syria" in the News
in response to reader comment: The reason for Lebanon's creation

Submitted by Michael S (United States), Jan 27, 2015 at 07:17

Daniel Pipes replies:

Le petit Liban had that overwhelming Christian population but the local Christians agitated for Le grand Liban and fell immediately into a minority. That's the danger of wanting land regardless of who lives on it - a warning to Israel as well.

That is interesting, Daniel. Of course, the big difference between Lebanon and Israel, is that Israel's boundaries were dictated by God; Lebanon's are arbitrary. There was considerable debate within the Zionist movement in its early years, between those who wanted the homeland to be in "Palestine" vs. those who would settle for having it somewhere else, such as Uganda. As far as I know, it was Ze'ev Jabotinsky who held the minority opinion favoring Israel's current location. I don't know many details on this matter; but I believe Jabotinsky's reasoning was that if the Jewish homeland were not in the "Promised Land", religious Jews would never settle there. If that was his thinking, he was probably right. Today, the Jews most adamant about settling the whole land are the religious Modern Orthodox. Since aliyah is still a major contributor to the increase of Israel's Jewish majority, perhaps there is practical wisdom yet in this thinking. Half the world's Jews still live outside Israel; and because their situation is probably more precarious than they imagine, it may be a good idea to have the extra land just for that reason -- besides the obvious reason of the need for strategic depth.

My (Conservative) rabbi, in the days that I was studying conversion, expressed concern that if all the Jews lived in Israel, they would all be wiped out if there were a nuclear attack. That is a genuine concern. On the other hand, the majority of Jews outside of Israel died in the Holocaust; and if it weren't for horror at the Shoah coupled with the renewed interest in Judaism caused by the establishment of Medinat Israel, most American Jews today might already have assimilated.

It's worth remembering, also, just how Israel acquired all the lands the world want to rid them of: They were repeatedly attacked by all their neighbors, and won the lands as a prize. It was only after repeated defeats (and loss of land), that the Egyptians and Jordanians decided to make peace.

Submitting....

Note: Opinions expressed in comments are those of the authors alone and not necessarily those of Daniel Pipes. Original writing only, please. Comments are screened and in some cases edited before posting. Reasoned disagreement is welcome but not comments that are scurrilous, off-topic, commercial, disparaging religions, or otherwise inappropriate. For complete regulations, see the "Guidelines for Reader Comments".

Reader comments (19) on this item

Title Commenter Date Thread
1The reason for Lebanon's creation [160 words]
w/response from Daniel Pipes
Michael SJan 8, 2015 17:47220182
Lebanon is not Israel [381 words]Michael SJan 27, 2015 07:17220182
1Turkey and ISIS [127 words]dhimmi no moreJun 16, 2014 08:57215427
1The fate of the Turks in Mosul and a hadith attributed to Muhammad [131 words]dhimmi no moreJun 17, 2014 07:37215427
2The illiterate Mohamed el-Ibiary: ISIS is nice and dandy and the caliphate is inevitable [101 words]dhimmi no moreJun 16, 2014 08:44215425
1The illiterate Mohamed el-Ibiary: ISIS is nice and dandy and the caliphate is inevitable and now the MB [81 words]dhimmi no moreJun 17, 2014 17:37215425
1داعش or ISIS has foreign fighters [111 words]dhimmi no moreJun 14, 2014 17:05215398
4What is really al-Sham as we are told in the Islamic historical tradition opinion [568 words]
w/response from Daniel Pipes
dhimmi no moreJun 14, 2014 10:24215391
1Lebanon, ISIS and other matters [75 words]dhimmi no moreJun 12, 2014 07:42215339
4Syria's destiny is with Iran [389 words]Lujack SkylarkJun 8, 2014 17:53215303
Hezbollah's Missiles Need Redirection [52 words]DaveJun 8, 2014 15:18215300
in vino veritas [47 words]Rebecca MouldsFeb 19, 2009 17:18150802
Syria Fighting Terrorism? [174 words]
w/response from Daniel Pipes
Kenneth LaboweAug 4, 2006 15:0151681
Syria is the Key [138 words]Robert H YaugerAug 2, 2006 08:0151502
The true nature of Islam [172 words]Robert H YaugerAug 1, 2006 15:3551432
Assyria [65 words]LoveJul 23, 2006 07:5050643
1Is "Greater Syria" Still Policy? [160 words]
w/response from Daniel Pipes
AlexJul 22, 2006 13:4650584
greater Syria is alive and well [34 words]y Brandstetter MDJan 8, 2015 04:0550584
1Pan-Syrianism is a by-product of European Nazism and local myths: The case of Antoun Saadee and the SSNP [1393 words]Pal MalaterJul 22, 2006 03:0250524

Follow Daniel Pipes

Facebook   Twitter   RSS   Join Mailing List

All materials by Daniel Pipes on this site: © 1968-2024 Daniel Pipes. daniel.pipes@gmail.com and @DanielPipes

Support Daniel Pipes' work with a tax-deductible donation to the Middle East Forum.Daniel J. Pipes

(The MEF is a publicly supported, nonprofit organization under section 501(c)3 of the Internal Revenue Code.

Contributions are tax deductible to the full extent allowed by law. Tax-ID 23-774-9796, approved Apr. 27, 1998.

For more information, view our IRS letter of determination.)