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Empty no more

Reader comment on item: Legacy of Empire

Submitted by AG (United States), Aug 9, 2022 at 15:34

Fifty years before Ben-Burion wrote that Palestine was "not an empty country," Mark Twain visited and came away the the opposite impression:

"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; Capernaum is a shapeless ruin; Magdala is the home of beggared Arabs; Bethsaida and Chorazin have vanished from the earth, and the 'desert places' round about them where thousands of men once listened to the Saviour's voice and ate the miraculous bread, sleep in the hush of a solitude that is inhabited only by birds of prey and skulking foxes.

Palestine is desolate and unlovely. And why should it be otherwise? Can the curse of the Deity beautify a land?

Palestine is no more of this work-day world. It is sacred to poetry and tradition—it is dream-land."

So it's reasonable that Israel, which gave civilization its first taste of the rights of man and democracy, would never be understood by an empire-seeking land that still worships kings, queens, and princes.

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".

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Reader comments (6) on this item

Title Commenter Date Thread
1A question of conscience [76 words]PrashantAug 10, 2022 01:26284968
Misunderstanding 'Palestine' Commenced in the Mists of Hidden Mysteries - Starting with How Its Name Betrays Its Destiny [228 words]M ToveyAug 9, 2022 22:48284962
Bit Players Britain and America [738 words]David RyanAug 9, 2022 21:08284957
Contemplations of Chronological Christian Contemporary Circumstances [332 words]M ToveyAug 10, 2022 16:03284957
Souvenir? [40 words]AGAug 11, 2022 04:49284957
Empty no more [268 words]AGAug 9, 2022 15:34284937

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