CREATION ACCORDING TO BIBLE AND QURAN

All civilisation has their unique creation story which is about the birth of their tribe or race. Here we look at the creation stories of the three Abrahamic religions, Judaism, Christianity and Islam, solely from their scriptures. Whether they should be taken as mythology or historical accounts, is up to one’s persuasion.


GENESIS:

Chap 1 (KJV) (This is in detail. If you already know the story, skip it.) 

(1) In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth. (2) And the earth was without form, and void; and darkness was upon the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters. (3) And God said, Let there be light: and there was light. (4) And God saw the light, that it was good: and God divided the light from the darkness. (5) And God called the light Day, and the darkness he called Night. And the evening and the morning were the first day. (6) And God said, Let there be a firmament in the midst of the waters, and let it divide the waters from the waters. (7) And God made the firmament, and divided the waters which were under the firmament from the waters which were above the firmament: and it was so. (8) And God called the firmament Heaven. And the evening and the morning were the second day. (9) And God said, Let the waters under the heaven be gathered together unto one place, and let the dry land appear: and it was so. (10) And God called the dry land Earth; and the gathering together of the waters called he Seas: and God saw that it was good. (11) And God said, Let the earth bring forth grass, the herb yielding seed, and the fruit tree yielding fruit after his kind, whose seed is in itself, upon the earth: and it was so. (12) And the earth brought forth grass, and herb yielding seed after his kind, and the tree yielding fruit, whose seed was in itself, after his kind: and God saw that it was good. (13) And the evening and the morning were the third day. (14) And God said, Let there be lights in the firmament of the heaven to divide the day from the night; and let them be for signs, and for seasons, and for days, and years: (15) And let them be for lights in the firmament of the heaven to give light upon the earth: and it was so. (16) And God made two great lights; the greater light to rule the day, and the lesser light to rule the night: he made the stars also. (17) And God set them in the firmament of the heaven to give light upon the earth, (18) And to rule over the day and over the night, and to divide the light from the darkness: and God saw that it was good. (19) And the evening and the morning were the fourth day. (20) And God said, Let the waters bring forth abundantly the moving creature that hath life, and fowl that may fly above the earth in the open firmament of heaven. (21) And God created great whales, and every living creature that moveth, which the waters brought forth abundantly, after their kind, and every winged fowl after his kind: and God saw that it was good. (22) And God blessed them, saying, Be fruitful, and multiply, and fill the waters in the seas, and let fowl multiply in the earth. (23) And the evening and the morning were the fifth day. (24) And God said, Let the earth bring forth the living creature after his kind, cattle, and creeping thing, and beast of the earth after his kind: and it was so. (25) And God made the beast of the earth after his kind, and cattle after their kind, and every thing that creepeth upon the earth after his kind: and God saw that it was good. (26) And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness: and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth. (27) So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them. (28) And God blessed them, and God said unto them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue it: and have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over every living thing that moveth upon the earth. (29) And God said, Behold, I have given you every herb bearing seed, which is upon the face of all the earth, and every tree, in the which is the fruit of a tree yielding seed; to you it shall be for meat. (30) And to every beast of the earth, and to every fowl of the air, and to every thing that creepeth upon the earth, wherein there is life, I have given every green herb for meat: and it was so. (31) And God saw every thing that he had made, and, behold, it was very good. And the evening and the morning were the sixth day.

Chap 2.1-2 (KJV)

(1) Thus the heavens and the earth were finished, and all the host of them. (2) And on the seventh day God ended his work which he had made; and he rested on the seventh day from all his work which he had made.


In 1976 Zachariah Sitchin wrote “The 12^th Planet” which is basically an embellishment of the idea that gods were extraterrestrials. An advanced alien race called Anunaki lived in an undiscovered planet called Nibiru. A task force arrived on Earth where they mined for gold. A revolt broke out as the workers could not take the demands of working in mines. So they bio-engineered homo sapiens to work as slaves in the mines.

Sitchin claimed to have based his book on years of studying the cuneiform tablets of the ancient Sumerians. This was the earliest recorded civilisation of humans found in Mesopotamia (today’s Iraq). The Sumerians appeared some time in 4,500 BC. Sumerian is called a language isolate which means it is one of it’s kind, not related to any known language. Which means expertise is rare. The Sumerians wrote on clay tablets in the form called cuneiform. These were first discovered in the 16^th century AD and deciphering took a long time from 19^th to mid-20^th century AD.

Sitchin’s work has been totally discredited for amateurishness with respect to the primacy of the Sumerian language, he had a Mesopotamia-centric world view and wholly misunderstood Sumerian, Assyrian and Babylonian literature, his scientific, archaeological, astrological, geological and biological knowledge as relates to Sumeria have been found wanting. Mainstream academia considers his works pseudo-history and pseudo-science.

Yet Sitchin’s books sold by the millions. The genre of alien-being astronaut gods has a ready market of atheists, liberals, agnostics and conspiracy theory enthusiasts who cannot get enough ‘proof’ for their anti-God anti-Christianity polemic.

Aside from the astronaut gods belief, many hold the view that Sumerian culture and religion  influenced the Jews who where guilty of plagiarism. Non-believers push the narrative Christianity evolved from pagan worship of Sumerian Sun God via Sol Invictus of the Romans brought by Constantine when he converted to Christianity. Islam to them is also a pagan religion based on Nanna the Sumerian Moon God, represented by the moon icon on every mosque. What seems most interesting is the Sumerians have a few stories as told in the Epic Of Gilgamesh, also appear in the Old Testament, such as the flood story. Supporting this view is the fact Abraham came from Ur, a city in Mesopotamia. He would have continued Sumerian pagan practices after God took him out of Ur into Canaan.

The counter arguments are many. Judaism is monotheism, Sumerians were pagans. There were Semitic people living in Sumeria as well as the region north west of Mesopotamia. It could well be the Semites influenced the Sumerians. When stories similar to the Bible are studied in detail, there are major differences. For example, in the flood story, Noah was adrift 40 days and nights and the flood was universal. Sumerian flood was localised and lasted only 6 days and nights. Flood stories are also to be found in many other cultures far away from, and had nothing to do with, Mesopotamia, such as South Americas and Polynesia. Noah’s universal flood explains it.

QURAN:

Allah created everything in 6 days, the same as the Bible. Details are different but that of course does not mean Quran is wrong. Quran is adamant the task took 6 days as it repeats this many times, for example :

Surah 10.3:

Surely your Lord is Allah Who created the heavens and the earth in six Days, then established Himself on the Throne, conducting every affair. None can intercede except by His permission. That is Allah—your Lord, so worship Him ˹alone˺. Will you not then be mindful?

Surah 11.7:

And it is He who created the heavens and the earth in six days - and His Throne had been upon water - that He might test you as to which of you is best in deed. But if you say, "Indeed, you are resurrected after death," those who disbelieve will surely say, "This is not but obvious magic."

There are many other verses where same is mentioned, eg surahs 7.54, 25.59, 32.4, and 50:38.

So did Allah really take 6 days to complete His creation?  There is a problem counting the number of days and inconsistencies in the sequence of events. Let’s work through this.

Surah 2.29:

He it is who created for you all that is in the earth, then He went up to heaven and proportioned it as seven heavens, and He is knower of everything.

هُوَ ٱلَّذِى خَلَقَ لَكُم مَّا فِى ٱلْأَرْضِ جَمِيعًۭا ثُمَّ ٱسْتَوَىٰٓ إِلَى ٱلسَّمَآءِ فَسَوَّىٰهُنَّ سَبْعَ سَمَـٰوَٰتٍۢ ۚ وَهُوَ بِكُلِّ شَىْءٍ عَلِيمٌۭ ٢٩

The keyword is ثُمَّ (thumm pronounced as thoumba) which means ‘then’, something that comes after. So Earth was created first then heaven. Back then, there was no Arabic for ‘space’. Heaven here means space. Quran has a huge problem with science in this sequence. Earth does not exist in a void, it exists in space. Earth has to come into being at the same time as space or after. It is scientifically impossible for Earth to come first, for where will it be placed as there was no heaven or space yet? According to The Big Bang Theory, the universe was created in one big explosion of energy. Is Quran saying Earth was created first and then comes the Big Bang.

This error in sequence is seen again in the creation verses Surah 49.9 to 49.12.


Surah 49.9 to 49.12:

(49.9) Ask ˹them, O Prophet˺, “How can you disbelieve in the One Who created the earth in two Days? And how can you set up equals with Him? That is the Lord of all worlds.
(49.10) He placed on the earth firm mountains, standing high, showered His blessings upon it, and ordained ˹all˺ its means of sustenance—totaling four Days exactly—for all who ask.
(49.11) Then He turned towards the heaven when it was ˹still like˺ smoke, saying to it and to the earth, ‘Submit, willingly or unwillingly.’ They both responded, ‘We submit willingly.’
(49.12) So He formed the heaven into seven heavens in two Days, assigning to each its mandate. And We adorned the lowest heaven with ˹stars like˺ lamps ˹for beauty˺ and for protection. That is the design of the Almighty, All-Knowing.”


First a digression. A Facebook friend likes to promote his religion online. Nothing wrong in that. A few days back he posted regarding (49.11) the time when heaven was still like smoke. He attributed this to the greatness of Allah to see what James Webb telescope is now showing us, that primeval space indeed looks somewhat like smoke. I don’t know if he realised the error of Quran’s sequence of creation and the number of days.

These verses reinforce surah 2.29. Earth was formed first (49.9) and then space or heaven (49.11).

The Earth and its sustenance was already formed (49.9 and 49.10) when Allah then (recall thoumba) turned to heaven, aka space aka universe, which at that time was ‘still like’ smoke. He then got Earth and Heaven to willingly come together. So before Allah put Earth into the universe, shouldn’t one ask where did he place it?

If that was bad, try counting the number of days.

Now look at the sequence and number of days. First Earth was created in 2 days. The mountains and it’s sustenance, ie the waters, rivers, vegetation, rees, etc. took 4 days. Finally, He formed the heaven, or space, or universe which took another 2 days. The math clearly shows 8 days for creation, not 6.

It gets worse.

Surah 79.27-33:

(27) Are you a more difficult creation or is the heaven? Allah constructed it.
(28) He raised its ceiling and proportioned it.
(29) And He darkened its night and extracted its brightness.
(30) And after that He spread the earth.
(31) He extracted from it its water and its pasture,
(32) And the mountains He set firmly
(33) As provision for you and your grazing livestock.

Notice the sequence is now Heaven, Earth, and sustenance. The Quran changed the sequence of creation?

Notice also Adam and Eve do not appear in these creation verses.




Typo, scripting, or printing errors are understandable. But for Quran, it is an important issue because it claims for itself to be the true words of God. Word for word, it is without error and immutable. Allah is all-knowing, a statement repeated over and over again in the Holy Book. What can explain for the inconsistencies in number of days, sequence of creation and the scientific impossibility of placing Earth outside the Universe.

Quran is a simple narration of creation. It dwells not on the philosophical issue of TIME.  

The Bible presents an organised view, encapsulated in Genesis chap 1. More significantly, the Bible establishes two Truths that science has no alternative explanation. First, according to the Bible, in the beginning, there was VOID, or nothingness. Second, there was a beginning of TIME, ie when God created the Universe. This idea of a beginning of TIME so scared non-theological scientists that has them hesitating accepting The Big Bang Theory. For recognition of Big Bang means accepting there was a beginning of TIME, thus existence of a creator, GOD. 

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ANACHRONISM IN QURAN – BROTHERS SOLD JOSEPH

The Gospels have been subjected to historical inquiry for hundreds of years and came out none the worst. The Quran has been spared this intensity of scrutiny in the past. The age of internet facilitates research sharing and corroboration. Inevitably a growing number of private enterprises focus their magnifying glass on the Book out of academic fascination or polemical pursuits, in what has been essentially a virgin field. This effort has thrown up many interesting aspects that demand scholarly response but which has yet to hit mainstream historical researchers.

“Historical method is the collection of techniques and guidelines that historians use to research and write histories of the past. Secondary sources, primary sources and material evidence such as that derived from archaeology may all be drawn on, and the historian's skill lies in identifying these sources, evaluating their relative authority, and combining their testimony appropriately in order to construct an accurate and reliable picture of past events and environments.” Wikipedia

Anachronism is the attribution of events or things to a period which they do not belong. The Quran suffers from numerous lapses of anachronism. Let’s examine an instance here.

Surah 12-20:

وَشَرَوْهُ بِثَمَنٍۭ بَخْسٍۢ دَرَٰهِمَ مَعْدُودَةٍۢ وَكَانُوا۟ فِيهِ مِنَ ٱلزَّٰهِدِينَ

Google translation:

“And they sold him for a reduced price - a few dirhams - and they were, concerning him, of those content with little.”

This verse relates to the story in the Old Testament of Joseph, the youngest son of Jacob. Joseph’s brothers were jealous of him and they schemed to kill him. Eventually the brothers sold Joseph to some traveling merchants passing by on their way to Egypt.

In the days of Old Testament people paid for goods and services in metals such as silver and gold. The most commonly known weight was shekel. There are higher and lower denominations of shekels.

The relationship of the weights known as talent, maneh, shekel, beka and gerah can be determined from the Gospels and other written records.

1 Talent = 60 Manehs
1 Maneh = 50 Shekels
1 Shekel = 2 Beka
1 Beka = 10 Gerahs.

Two other weights are pim and kesitah. The absolute value of pim can be determined from archaeological finds. Kesitah is an archaic weight whose metrological value is lost.

All these are just terms of weight, just like present day pounds, grams, or tons. The relationship laid out nicely such that if we know what is the weight in present day term of say grams for shekel, for example, then we know the weight of talent, maneh, beka, and gerahs.

Shekel, being the most common, so there will be pieces of silver with this weight. Goods may be sold at say, 2 shekels of silver. Then 2 pieces of silver at 1 shekel each change hands.

The Chinese were the first to use minted coins with the advent of bronze-cast coinage (771 – 221 BC). In Western history, the first coins were found in today’s Turkey dated to 700 BC during the Lydian Empire. Dirham, as a currency used in the Levant, came only in late 7th century AD.

The Quran has a huge problem - it is out by over a thousand years. As the standard Islamic narrative goes, the Quran was put together sometime 7th - 8th century AD. An exegetical reading points to the writer inadvertently inserting the real world currency into scripture, a coinage which was not in use till a thousand years later. It was an error noticed by neither man nor God. If it indeed was human error, which is understandable, then the Quran has a larger problem. It claims for itself to be the true exact words of God, thereby error-proof, is immutable, has not changed one single word or letter for 1,400 years, and is protected by God. 

Let’s compare to what the Gospel says.

Genesis 37:28 (KJV 1900)

“Then there passed by Midianites merchantmen; and they drew and lifted up Joseph out of the pit, and sold Joseph to the Ishmeelites for twenty pieces of silver: and they brought Joseph into Egypt.”

The brothers were paid with 20 pieces of silver that weighed 20 shekels. The Bible got it right that the price was pieces of metal. Coins were not yet in use.

The Bible does not provide a wishy-washy “a few Dirhams” but a specific price of 20 shekels of silver. The danger of being too specific is, can it stand up to historical evidence. During the Patriarchal Age (Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob) Egypt was an importer of slaves from the Levant up to Lebanon. Inflation was also an economic phenomenon the ancients had to suck up to. The reference price for slaves depends on the relevant period. During the 2nd millennium BC, which was Joseph’s time, historical records show Asiatic slaves fetched about 5 to 15 shekels while Semitic slaves commanded a higher rate. 20 shekels was common. Joseph indeed would have fetched 20 shekels, supporting what the Bible said. The reason for the premium on Semitic slaves is they were given higher level tasks like scribes and supervision of Asiatic slaves.

Slave trade data are evidenced in legal records of ancient Babylonia. The Hammurabi Law Code is a Babylonian legal text composed in 1755-1750 BC inscribed on a basalt steele. It is very well-preserved and it records, amongst a vast amount of information, the mean prices for slaves.

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ISRAELI EMBASSY’S FB POST : LOOKING BEYOND THE STREET LIGHT

 

The Israeli Embassy made a Facebook post recently which the Singapore government objected and requested it be taken down. The embassy obliged and said the post had no official approval and erring personnel has been penalised.

Two issues the Minister for Law and Home Affairs K. Shanmugam was unhappy with were:
a. The post pointed out “Israel is mentioned 43 times in the Koran. On the other hand, Palestine is not mentioned even once.”
b. “.. that archaeological evidence such as maps, documents and coins show that Jewish people are the indigenous people of Israel”.

The Minister called the post “insensitive”, “inappropriate”, “completely unacceptable” and “an astonishing attempt to rewrite history”.

In the aftermath of the Israel-Hamas conflict, there has been massive arguments in social media on which side holds the high moral ground as the rightful people of the land. The issue goes far beyond the Balfour Declaration and 1948 founding of the state of Israel into misty antiquity.

When Joshua led the peoples of Moses into the Promised Land, they settled into a northern kingdom called Israel, and a southern kingdom called Judea. Ten of the tribes settled in the Kingdom of Israel and they were known as Israelites. The two tribes that settled in Judea were known as Judeans, or Jews in short form. Today they are collectively called Jews.

Indeed the Koran mentions “Children of Israel” 43 times in different context. Sometimes it refers to Israelites , sometimes it means the progeny of Jacob and other times it refers to the Israelite community generally. Does it include the Judeans is a question for etymologists and theologians. Here are some examples : Surah 2.83, 3.49, 5.12, 7.137, 10.90, 7.105 and so on.

Does the Koran mention Palestine? Not even once. Most will contend the term Palestine (or Palestina in Latin) was coined by the Romans in 2^nd century BC when they named a Roman province Syria Palestina, which covered the swath of land West of the River Jordan to the sea,

But those who betted on the Romans are wrong. There have been much earlier use of names outside of Biblical accounts that sounded like Palestine. Egyptian hieroglyphs mentioned Peleset, a neighbouring people they have been at war with since 1150 BC. Statute of Padisset, dated 800 BC, mentioned trade between Canaan and Paleset.

The Assyrian word for Paleset was Pilistu, first mentioned in the 800 BC Nimrod Slab. A century later, Palistu was again mentioned in Esarhaddon Treaty.

The Egyptian and Assyrian inscriptions provide no description of location and are preceded by Old Testament accounts. The scripture mentions Palestims (Philistines), the people that lived in the towns on the southern coastal stretch (corresponding to Gaza and further northern towns of Eshkelon and Ekron) who had been at war with the Israelites. Goliath, the giant that David fought against, was a Philistine. Before you can say “aha”, Philistines were not Arabs. They were a maritime people of Aegean or Mediterranean origins, probably from Crete.

The first written record came from Greek historian Herodotus who wrote in 5^th century BC of a district of Syria called Palaistine which he located somewhere between Phonecia (where Lebanon is today) and Egypt, and covers the coastal stretch and lands further East up to the Judean Mountains and the Jordan Rift Valley, in other words “from the river to the sea”.

Then came the Romans who named their province West of River Jordan to the sea as Palestina, or Palestine.

Whether Peleset, Pilistu, Palaistine, or Palestina, it is clear these were just geographical names in antiquity. There was no race of people called Palestinians. The Koran has it right in no mention of Palestinians.

It follows the Israeli embassy’s post was factual. But we live in dangerous times when factual info can land one in trouble.

The government has generally taken a hands-off approach to social discourse in the public sphere even on religious issues. The red line is where religious issues are brought up to serve political agendas or meant for mischief to steer sentiments. The government’s concern to manage communal sensitivities in a multi-religious society is understandable. That Singapore's Muslim leaders have been mature, responsible, compassionate, and with great interfaith co-operative attitude, is the consequence of decades of nurturing and gains in trust, something all stake holders and government can take credit for. But always cognisant the status quo cannot be taken for granted. Vigilance remains imperative.

Shanmugam’s objection to the selective quoting of scripture to support a political narrative is a criticism of the embassy ‘searching under a street light’. This is an idiom for observational bias often attribute to 13^th century Turkish philosopher Mullah Nasreddin. It means the tendency to look for answers where it is easiest to look, ie look at where the light shines and avoid unlighted areas.

However the Minister’s point that the Facebook post was “an astonishing attempt to rewrite history” actually puts him at odds with history and the Koran.

Back to history. Were there no Arabs in the region in antiquity? The nomadic Nabateans inhabited the area East of River Jordan in the 5^th to 3^rd century BC. Nabateans were of Arab origin who mysteriously disappeared from history, leaving behind their famous cave buildings in Petra. Like the Nabateans, except for the Jewish people, all the other names in antiquity such as Moabs, Hitities, Philistines, Canaanites, have all disappeared from history.

The challenge for legitimacy to territorial inheritance and thus the right to sovereign nationhood is what’s keeping two peoples with different ideologies locked in a life-and-death struggle for more than a hundred years. Online internecine battles on legitimacy to territorial inheritance centred on one side claiming evidence from scripture, and the other on indigeneity.

Many claims the so-called Jews in Israel today have nothing to do with the Jews of antiquity. Well in fact the Jewish genome has been extensively studied under advanced scientific means and the evidence is there is a Jewish signature amongst Ashkenazi, Sephardi, Mizrahi, and Crypto-Jews.

At the same time, the same group argues Palestinians have been DNA-tested to trace their origin to the Canaanites, thus they actually predates the Jews to the land. This seems unlikely since Canaanite was a catch-all name for miscellaneous groups of Semitic speaking people in the region. Being non-homogeneous, there is no common DNA marker. Leaving the science aside, unschooled Muslims may be shocked to know what the Koran actually says of the matter.

Surah 5:20
And ˹remember˺ when Musa (Moses) said to his people, “O my people! Remember Allah’s favours upon you when He raised prophets from among you, made you sovereign, and gave you what He had never given anyone in the world.”

Surah 5:21
“O my people! Enter the Holy Land which Allah has destined for you ˹to enter˺. And do not turn back or else you will become losers.”

Surah 5:22
They replied, “O Musa! There is an enormously powerful people there, so we will never ˹be able to˺ enter it until they leave. If they do, then we will enter!”

Surah 5:23
Two God-fearing men (Joshua and Caleb) —who had been blessed by Allah—said, “Surprise them through the gate. If you do, you will certainly prevail. Put your trust in Allah if you are ˹truly˺ believers.”

These verses of course refer to the Battle of Jericho where the Jews defeated the Canaanites and entered the Promised Land. Here is evidence Allah gave the Promised Land to the Jews and instructed the destruction of Canaanites. Muslims that put up the argument of Palestinians having Canaanite ancestry need to understand it is at odds with the Koran.

More on the history. After the Romans came the Ottoman Empire (1299-1922). Under Islamic law, if Jews pay a jizya (a special tax), they are called Dhimmis, protected and allowed to stay. In reality they were mistreated as 2^nd class citizens, considered dirty, spate at, treated as lower than animals, not allowed in certain trades, segregated in certain quarters in squalor. When a Dhimmi sees a Muslim approaching, he must move to the other side of the street. (Note that Hitler’s Germany adopted similar practices except the Germans considered Jews mental retards). Discrimination under Muslim rule forced massive diaspora of Jews out of Palestine. This hollowed out the Jewish population, the economy, which in turn also hollowed Arab Palestinians.

Mark Twain (real name Samuel Clemens) visited the Holy Land in 1867 and this is what he said:

“There is not a solitary village throughout its whole extent – not for 30 miles in either direction. There are two or three small clusters of Bedouin tents, but not a single permanent habitation. One may ride 10 miles, hereabouts, and not see 10 human beings.”

“Palestine sits in sackcloth and ashes. Over it broods the spell of a curse that has withered its fields and fettered its energies.”

Mark Twain described a desolate uninhabitable land at the end of the 19^th century which held through the turn of the 20^th century.

The splinkling of Jewish and Arab settlements lived peacefully. They were known as Jewish Palestinians and Arab Palestinians.

After WWI, things took on a spectacular change. Both Jewish and Arab population began increasing rapidly. What happened to cause this change?
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For the Jews, there was both pull and push factors. Zionism, Balfour Declaration and 1948 Declaration of State of Israel were factors for ‘aliyah’, a Jewish term for the ‘act of going up’ (to the Holy Land of Jerusalem). Aliyah describes the return of Jews from diaspora to their land of origin. In more current times, the economic success of Israel is another pull factor. The pogroms in various parts of Europe and increased discrimination in Islamic countries in the throes of nationhood were push factors.

For the Arabs, economics was the pull factor. There were a couple of factors that was beginning to drive the economic engine. First, Great Britain was given responsibility for the Palestine Mandate. That meant bringing in capital and technology to get the region moving along. The discovery of oil in the surrounding area in Iraq and Persia (present day Iran) with refinery activities and transportation across the region enroute to Europe and Suez Canal meant jobs. Labour follows employment opportunities. There follows a migration of Arabs from the poorer Middle East countries into Palestine.

Those that look at scripture and convoluted United Nation’s resolutions to try make sense of the situation, are searching under the street light. The problem is staring at us right in the face. It is all a matter of demographics.

Arab Palestinians see Jewish immigration as an invasion of newcomers they equate as invaders or occupiers. These are easily quantified from government records that breaks down population growth from birth and from immigration.

On the other hand, Arab Palestinians view their own immigration numbers as people with deep roots to the land. Poor documentation of resident list by the Ottomans and weak census by British Mandate, aggravated by the fact immigration is mostly illegal, means unreliable data. Based on the logic of observable link between economic disparities and migration trends, it is beyond doubt the growth in Arab Palestinians parallels that of the Jews, ie. driven by recent immigration.

What seems apparent is a people expert at using immigration as warfare tool, as evidenced all over Europe currently. The growth in own numbers are all sons and daughters of people who have lived on the land since time immemorable. And so it is represented to the world, any growth in Jewish numbers is a Zionist invasion, and growth from Arab immigration are indigenous Palestinians. Therein the case for a Palestinian instead of Israeli, state.

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