VII. Great Israel in the Schemes of Early Zionist Sages

Zionists never had in mind to have the tiny land between the Dead Sea and the Midetrainnian as the Eretz Yisrael of the Talmud but rather the claimed Promised Land from the Euphrates to the Nile, as stated at the entrance to the Kenest.

This aspiration is reflected on the Israeli flag. The two blue stripes symbolize the Nile and the Euphrates and what they claim to be David's star in between the two blue stripes, stands for the land of Israel.

A look at the currently used Israeli coins constantly reminds the Jews of their dream of Greater Israel. Many Zionist leaders declared that they could not coexist with the Arabs on the same land. All Arabs should be deported to make room for the greedy Jews!!

Yes, such an aspiration sounds like a wild dream. However, we should not forget that the establishment of the Zionist State a century ago seemed impossible. The Jews are well known for their opportunistic tactics and deceitful maneuvering, not just in politics and the military, but in all aspects of life.

When prophet Mohammad was in war with all Arab tribes who surrounded Madinah during the 7th year of Hijrah, the Jewish tribe of Banu Guraydhah who had signed a treaty with the Muslims to unite against outside attacks, sided with the polytheists and tried to stab the Muslims in the back. When the chance to occupy the Goaln Hights emerged during 1967, they did not hesitate. They did the same in Sinai and later on in Southern Lebanon. So, such Zionist dreams must be taken seriously.

While visiting Washington D.C. in July 1945, Ben-Gorion held a meeting with nineteen American Zionist leaders who promised to purchase the most sophisticated American weapons and weapon factories for Zionist guerillas. Only four months after the military deal was wrapped and weapons were already received by the Zionists, the US through its Department of State imposed a ban on all types of weapons to be sold to the Palestinians or any Arab countries. Yet, most Arab countries were still under occupation at the time.

All the previously mentioned unjustified sympathy and support towards the Jews (I talked about in detail in a number of preceding essays) took place by linking the question of Jewish refugees in Europe with the right to a state in Palestine under the extensive Zionist propaganda of the claimed historical rights in Palestine. The Soviet Union and the US kept the Jewish refugees' issue linked to the right to have a homeland in Palestine. Arabs, weak out cries, were overlooked in a world where the oppressed is only brutally crushed. Some Arab and Palestinian armed groups (like that of Al-Jihad troops led by Al-Husaini) showed extraordinary courage in resisting the Zionist occupation.

Many Christian fundamentalist sects and Zionist Christians, like the Jehovah's witnesses, adopted the position of full and unlimited supports for the Jews. They were misled by the claim that the Jews will establish the kingdom of the lord in the Holy Land as if they were blind to the fact that Jews do not even recognize Christianity as a legitimate religion nor Jesus (peace be upon him) as a messiah; an issue that I will be discussing in coming essays insha'allah.

The Zionist dream of Greater Israel, from the Nile to the Euphrates, has been the basis for the industrious and continuos planning and hard work of the genuine father of contemporary Zionism, Theodore Herzel, the Austrian Jewish Journalist. His dream from the beginning was the claimed land of the Torah (Old Testament). Palestine was perceived as a base from which the Zionists could launch the execution of their ultimate plan. This plan was saliently stated in his diary as follows: "the base should be Palestine or its surroundings … we have got to establish our state based on our Jewish nationality. Therefore, we must obtain the means for political attraction… I cannot say more than this" (P1473).

In another place, Herzl stated that "the slogan we must raise is Palestine of David and Sulaiman".

According to the Zionists, the land of claimed Greater Israel was referred to in the Old Testament as the land promised to Prophet Abraham (Peace be upon him) in Genesis (15:19); It was on that occasion that the lord made a covenant with Abraham saying: "To your descendants I give this land, from the Wadi of Egypt to the Great River (the Euphrates)".

In other words, the real State of Israel is different from the Palestine that we know from current political maps, with its defined boundaries; but rather is to extend Greater Israel from the Nile to Euphrates. To Zionist extremists, who have become very influential in current Israeli governments, it is the Promised Land.

In his diary, Hirzl designed a scheme for Zionists to follow in order to achieve the dream of Greater Israel, by stating:
"The area from the Nile to the Euphrates… we need a transitional period under the control of our Jewish leadership and institutions. Afterwards, political relations like that of Egypt and the Ottoman Sultan could be established. [He said this before his efforts to get a permission to have a homeland for the Jews in Palestine from Sultan Abd Alhamid II were rejected. However, his followers were able get a much stronger support through Balfour Declaration] As soon as the Jewish population reaches two thirds in one area, the Jewish administration will be in control" (Herzl's Diary, 2:711).

Most of these aspirations, written a century ago when the Jews were in the Diaspora for about 2000 years, became a reality fifty years later. Is Netanyahu and other Jewish leaders still getting guidance from Hertzl's master plan?!, The Israeli government is now (during Netanyahu's government) executing a plan to expand the municipal boundaries of Jerusalem in order to accommodate a large number of Jewish settlements out-side the city, thus outnumber the Palestinians living in the city then the Jewish administration will be in full control. It is a deliberate plot aimed at blocing any efforts for future negotiations over the final status of Jerusalem.

Do the Jews have these rights in the land they claim to be their Promised Land? Can they achieve their plan of establishing Greater Israel? The next essay will shed light on these issues insha'allah.


Dr. Abdallah H. Al-Kahtany
* from his book new zionism