Trump gives Israel a 70th birthday present
The US embassy has officially moved to Jerusalem today. All that had to happen in the architectural sense (for now, anyway) was the sprucing up of a building that was already operating as a consulate, but in the psychological sense the move is much bigger.
I read a number of articles and portions of articles published today on the subject in the MSM, and so far all of them have made two points that are basically propaganda. The first (quoting the Vox article I just linked) is this:
It’s a controversial move that breaks with decades of official US policy…
And similarly, from CNN:
The US officially relocated its Embassy to Jerusalem on Monday, formally upending decades of American foreign policy…
Oh, really? In fact, the move actually fulfills decades of American foreign policy. The CNN article doesn’t breathe a word of this fact.
The Vox article is marginally better, but only 696 words into it. For the first 696 words (and how many readers will ever read that far?) the text ignores it—and then suddenly, any readers who have hung in there get a startling surprise (if they were previously unfamiliar with US policy on this, which I assume most people are):
To be clear, Trump isn’t the first US president to talk about moving the American embassy to Jerusalem. As Politico points out, Bill Clinton said he supported the idea in principle. George W. Bush declared he would move the US ambassador there in 2000. And Barack Obama, for his part, referred to the city as the capital of Israel and said it must remain “undivided.” Congress has also repeatedly passed legislation calling for the embassy move.
But none of the previous presidents followed through…
Why didn’t they follow through? Because they didn’t want to be seen as favoring Israel, which of course (until Obama) was an absurdity, because until Obama all US presidents quite obviously favored Israel. They wanted to keep Jerusalem as a bargaining chip, too, although Trump has also said that he will be doing the same. But the Vox article waits till 1439 lengthy words have been written—many of them alarming, such as predictions that this move of Trump’s will make peace in the region unattainable (as though it was so close to being attained before by conventional diplomatic means)—before it reveals the following:
The Trump administration says that it’s not taking a stance on final status issues like the boundaries of Israeli sovereignty in Jerusalem. And during a White House call on Friday, US Ambassador to Israel David Friedman said the move was done to create “a better dynamic for peace,” and that “from a broader perspective, this helps stability.”
But of course:
And experts say this move essentially shuts down any potential talks with Palestinians.
Those “experts” have done so very well so far in the region, haven’t they?
I wrote that there were two points all the articles I read seem to mention. The second points tends to be mentioned in the articles’ headlines: the fact that Palestinians protested and were met with a violent response from Israel. For example, the sub-headline in the Vox piece reads like this: “Israeli soldiers have killed at least 50 Palestinian protesters along the Gaza border today as tensions ramp up.” Oh, those murderous Israeli soldiers, killing those peaceful protestors!
This time it takes Vox fewer words than before to get to the clarification, which appears in paragraph 6:
But as the embassy event got underway on Monday, Israeli soldiers killed more than 50 Palestinian protesters and wounded more than 2,200 others on the Gaza border. Many of the protesters were unarmed, though some hurled rocks and Molotov cocktails. The Israeli military said that they shot three protesters who were attempting to detonate a bomb. Thousands of Palestinians are in their seventh week of protests there, calling for the right of return to territory that is now part of Israel.
And how did that “50 killed” statistic get reported?:
Gaza’s health officials say a total of 52 Palestinians have been killed and more than 1,200 wounded by Israeli fire on Gaza’s border, 1,113 from live rounds.
The track record of truthfulness in such reports from Gaza health officials, however, is very very poor. Digging a bit deeper:
In a show of anger fueled by the embassy move, protesters set tires on fire, sending plumes of black smoke into the air, and hurled firebombs and stones toward Israeli troops across the border. Later on Monday, Israeli forces fired from tanks, sending protesters fleeing to take cover.
The military said its troops came under fire in some areas, and said protesters tried to break through the border fence. It said troops shot and killed three Palestinians trying to plant a bomb.
So which is it, three bombers killed by Israel, or fifty sort-of-peaceful protestors?
By late afternoon, at least 52 Palestinians, including five minors, were killed, the Gaza Health Ministry said. One of the minors was identified as a girl.
The [Gaza Health] ministry said 1,204 Palestinians were shot and wounded, including 116 who were in serious or critical condition.
The statement says about 1,200 others suffered other types of injuries, including from tear gas.
Just for starters, what on earth would children be doing at protests that were guaranteed to be violent? Other than being offered as propaganda martyrs? Remember, also, the Pallywood theater of al-Durah. And yet every single article I’ve seen reports these Palestinian statistics as though they are undisputed facts, with no reason to disbelieve their veracity.
There’s much more I could say, but this post is long enough as it is. For an alternate point of view to that of CNN and Vox and those diplomatic “experts,” I refer you to this. If you read only sources such as CNN, you might be forgiven for thinking that the move to Jerusalem is simply a mindless provocation devoid of plan or strategy. But actually:
As the United States takes a historic step towards recognizing Jerusalem as Israel’s capitol, a point vehemently protested by Palestinian leaders, the senior administration official told the Free Beacon that this new reality is not being viewed as an impediment to peace.
The United States is in the “late phase,” in fact, of finalizing its peace plan that will be presented to both sides in the coming months.
The plan has been in the works for at least the past year, according to Trump administration officials, and will be presented “when the time is right.”
“We’ve been working hard and want to give the plan the best chance for success,” a senior administration official told the Free Beacon. “We want to get a lasting deal that is livable for both parties.”
Details of the plan are being kept tightly under wraps, but it is expected a public roll out of the peace plan will arrive within the next month to two months, sources said.
“We’re not going to preview elements of the plan because no one is going to like everything in it””so anything you reveal is going to make someone angry because it will not be in context,” the administration official said, explaining that the Trump administration is being extremely sensitive to both sides.
Should be very interesting. One prediction I will make is that, if any good comes of this, the left and the MSM will be highly reluctant to give Trump any credit whatsoever.
{NOTE: Also, see this from Roger L. Simon, as well as this at Legal Insurrection.]
“Why didn’t they follow through? Because they didn’t want to be seen as favoring Israel, . . . ” [Neo]
Once again we’re dealing with a credentialed class that is more concerned about how they are viewed by other members of their social circle and a class which sanctimoniously believes that it understands and knows better than the deplorable rubes.
Then along comes Donald Trump. Two recent essays focus on this non-standard president. The first, David Brooks:
https://www.nytimes.com/2018/05/10/opinion/donald-trumps-lizard-wisdom.html
who begins to surmise that Donald Trump’s life on the NYC street, so to speak, makes him more aware of how our adversaries think.
The second, Michael Walsh:
https://pjmedia.com/michaelwalsh/donald-trump-black-swan/
paints Trump as a president in direct contrast to the credentialed class.
People forget that Trump was raised in the rough and tumble world of NYC real estate development along with all of the economic corruption, bureaucracy, and bureaucratic corruption that such a life entails.
Furthermore, as a graduate of a military school, Trump knows that a battle plan becomes obsolete when the first shot is fired.
Trump understands that chaos is not just the way ideas are tested, but it is the fundamental process of life itself. Civilization, by contrast, is a veneer.
He really does remind me of George S. Patton.
And the North Koreans that have been helping Iran with their ballistic missile program have left.
The blood libels are being churned out fast and furious.
It’s one thing that the MSM has discovered it can do really well.
And yes, everything is fair—and permitted—as long as the Zionists (and those who support them) are damaged.
Moreover, the MSM seems to believe that such a policy can’t possibly have any unforeseen repercussions; couldn’t possibly backfire.
But then, they’ve been telling lies for so long it really wouldn’t be fair to expect them to change….
This was a no lose proposition for Trump. Appeasement – as practiced by the professional foreign relations crowd – has accomplished exactly nothing with and for the Palestinians. So Trump moves our embassy. Protests and violence follow, but this state of affairs has ebbed and flowed in various forms since the establishment of the Jewish State. Likewise the professional class, they are opposed to supporting Israel regardless of where the US embassy is located.
Mike K,
Plus, Iran will now be losing money to support Hamas and its “martyr’s families, Saudi Arabia has sided with Israel, and Israel has wiped out a lot of Iranian sites in Syria. There is a whole lot going on. These single-issue analysts are playing checkers in a game of 3D chess.
I fully support the US Embassy move to Jerusalem. That said, I expect there to be at the least an attempted massive attack against our new Embassy within the year.
Hopefully, intelligence assets and security precautions will prevent a successful attack.
But the US Embassy move to Jerusalem will not affect the actual prospects for peace, as the Palestinians have no desire for a peace that results in an Israel still existing.
“Two thousand years waiting for a restoration of Jewish sovereignty in Jerusalem, and for some American Jews, today’s significance is that it gives them a chance to emote their hostility to Trump. Sad!”
Some “news” outlet — CNN, MSNBC, one of those — is quoting a J Street stat (that J Steet pulled out of its tuchus), that 80% of American Jews oppose the move.
We arrived in Tel Aviv on April 11, the Memorial of the Holocaust, and were in Jerusalem for the Memorial Day (for the war dead) and the 70th Independence of Israel (celebrated according to the Jewish lunar calendar as are all holidays). Never have I experienced memorials so soberly and respectfully observed, nor a memorial of Independence so joyfully embraced. Truly outstanding. At the Independence the streets were teeming with people, free concerts all over, 2 fireworks display (10 pm and 12 am). What joy and happiness. This went on throughout the night, the next day, BBQ’s in the parks. We were in front of a building when President Trump had tweeted his congratulations and the lighted message I HEART the USA was broadcast. We will never forget our 1st time there and all we saw and experienced.
Victor Davis Hanson recently gave us a fine article noting the similarities between Harry Truman and Donald Trump. Now we have another. Both had the courage to recognize the State of Israel.
Is it bad of me to think the most important thing is that it really, really pisses off the Palestinians?
CapnRusty: I recently read Merle Miller’s account of Truman’s recognition of Israel in 1948 against the steadfast opposition of the State Dept.
Truman was against it too, but an old Jewish friend visited him in the White House. Truman made his friend promise not to say a word about the Middle East.
And his friend didn’t. He just stood silently as his eyes filled with tears which ran down his face.
It was too much for Truman. After his friend left, Truman called State and gave the word to recognize Israel.
_______________________________________________
A year later, the Chief Rabbi of Israel … told [Truman]: “God put you in your mother’s womb so that you could be the instrument to bring about the rebirth of Israel after two thousand years.”
At that, great tears started rolling down Harry Truman’s cheeks.
–Merle Miller, “Plain Speaking: An Oral Biography of Harry S. Truman”
Of course Truman called his friend “you son of-a-bitch” before the visit was over…
“These single-issue analysts are playing checkers in a game of 3D chess.” [exoat @ 7:59]
Actually I think the analogy works the other way around. Chess is such a complex game, its easy to critique moves without seeing the forest for the trees. It’s akin, in my mind to mixed martial arts; you can punch, hit, kick, and throw.
Checkers, OTH, is more like boxing; you can only punch. It is a more straightforward game, requiring a strategic ability restricted by fewer movement alternatives.
Besides, the best one can do in chess is only isolate and restrict your opponent’s king. In checkers, you get to make kings.
GB is right. There can be no peace until the arabs known as ‘palestinians’ are rubbed out to the extent that they accept complete unconditioanal surrender.
Besides, the best one can do in chess is only isolate and restrict your opponent’s king. In checkers, you get to make kings.
T: However, in chess you can make queens.
And you don’t just isolate and restrict the king. You mate him. What would Freud say?
Refusing to place the embassy in Jerusalem was a gesture of deference to the Arab states and sundry parties. Refusing to defer to them is good. That sort of cravenness is for societies run by Eurotrash and Trudeautrash, not a society run by and for men.
If Trum was playing chess, his administration and FBI would not have failed to obey his orders.
In chess, the bishops aren’t known for backstabbing their own king for example.
In RTS and strategy simulations, however, they are known for these tricks and is much more complicated than some extra dimensional chess.
As for Israel being restored: the House of Israel are the 12 tribes under Jakob.
Right now the State of Israel contains the regathering of Judah and half of Benjamine. Did this omniscient god somehow get amnesia or alzheimers like Reagan, and just forgot about all the other tribes he had a covenant with?
The restoration prophecies haven’t even finished yet.
the House of Israel are the 12 tribes under Jakob.
Which 12? In some parts of the Bible the 12 tribes include Levi and Joseph, in others they include Joseph’s sons Ephraim and Manasseh but leave out Levi. Simeon tends to get left out as well.
It’s kind of a WIP:
http://www.tabletmag.com/jewish-news-and-politics/189072/becoming-moses
https://shavei.org/
http://www.israelnationalnews.com/Radio/News.aspx/4435#.WvrmxuS1t9A
Or you can google: “Michael Freund” AND exiles
http://www.end-times-bible-prophecy.com/regathering-of-israel-bible-verses.html
Israel’s been scattered a number of times. Jeroboam’s 10 tribes of Israel vs Judah. Jeremiah warned about the punishment inflicted by Nebu of Babylon.
The First Temple, Solomon built. And the second temple, destroyed in 70 AD.
Sometimes Ezekiel is talking about the Third Temple period. And usually Jeremiah is talking about the period surrounding the destruction of the First Temple, not necessarily these days.
4 Hear the word of the Lord, O house of Jacob, and all the clans of the house of Israel. 5 Thus says the Lord:
“What wrong did your fathers find in me
that they went far from me,
and went after worthlessness, and became worthless?
6 They did not say, ‘Where is the Lord
who brought us up from the land of Egypt,
who led us in the wilderness,
in a land of deserts and pits,
in a land of drought and deep darkness,
in a land that none passes through,
where no man dwells?’
7 And I brought you into a plentiful land
to enjoy its fruits and its good things.
But when you came in, you defiled my land
and made my heritage an abomination.
8 The priests did not say, ‘Where is the Lord?’
Those who handle the law did not know me;
the shepherds[a] transgressed against me;
the prophets prophesied by Baal
and went after things that do not profit.
9 “Therefore I still contend with you,
declares the Lord,
and with your children’s children I will contend.
14 “Is Israel a slave? Is he a homeborn servant?
Why then has he become a prey?
15 The lions have roared against him;
they have roared loudly.
They have made his land a waste;
his cities are in ruins, without inhabitant.
16 Moreover, the men of Memphis and Tahpanhes
have shaved[b] the crown of your head.
17 Have you not brought this upon yourself
by forsaking the Lord your God,
when he led you in the way?
18 And now what do you gain by going to Egypt
to drink the waters of the Nile?
Or what do you gain by going to Assyria
to drink the waters of the Euphrates?[c]
19 Your evil will chastise you,
and your apostasy will reprove you.
Know and see that it is evil and bitter
for you to forsake the Lord your God;
the fear of me is not in you,
declares the Lord God of hosts.
-Jeremiah 2
For people that don’t know the references, Israel was constituted out of the Abrahamic covenant, which because the House of Israel suffered in Egyptian bondage and laws, was taken out of Egypt by Moses. The people couldn’t stand a higher agreement or law, so they were given the 10 commandments and the Torah. Later on, Israel broke even those simplistic restrictions and rules, thus Jeremiah was sent from the Divine Counsel to warn Israel of judgment.
The Lord said to me in the days of King Josiah: “Have you seen what she did, that faithless one, Israel, how she went up on every high hill and under every green tree, and there played the whore? 7 And I thought, ‘After she has done all this she will return to me,’ but she did not return, and her treacherous sister Judah saw it. 8 She saw that for all the adulteries of that faithless one, Israel, I had sent her away with a decree of divorce. Yet her treacherous sister Judah did not fear, but she too went and played the whore. 9 Because she took her whoredom lightly, she polluted the land, committing adultery with stone and tree. 10 Yet for all this her treacherous sister Judah did not return to me with her whole heart, but in pretense, declares the Lord.”
11 And the Lord said to me, “Faithless Israel has shown herself more righteous than treacherous Judah. 12 Go, and proclaim these words toward the north, and say,
“‘Return, faithless Israel,
declares the Lord.
I will not look on you in anger,
for I am merciful,
declares the Lord;
I will not be angry forever.
13 Only acknowledge your guilt,
that you rebelled against the Lord your God
and scattered your favors among foreigners under every green tree,
and that you have not obeyed my voice,
declares the Lord.
14 Return, O faithless children,
declares the Lord;
for I am your master;
I will take you, one from a city and two from a family,
and I will bring you to Zion.
This analogy of Israel as the bride and YHVH as the groom-god, is also seen often times later on during New Testament.
Israel and Judah has been divorced. It’s not something the UN can override with human laws.
21 Thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel: “Add your burnt offerings to your sacrifices, and eat the flesh. 22 For in the day that I brought them out of the land of Egypt, I did not speak to your fathers or command them concerning burnt offerings and sacrifices. 23 But this command I gave them: ‘Obey my voice, and I will be your God, and you shall be my people. And walk in all the way that I command you, that it may be well with you.’ 24 But they did not obey or incline their ear, but walked in their own counsels and the stubbornness of their evil hearts, and went backward and not forward. 25 From the day that your fathers came out of the land of Egypt to this day, I have persistently sent all my servants the prophets to them, day after day. 26 Yet they did not listen to me or incline their ear, but stiffened their neck. They did worse than their fathers. J 7
I will scatter them among the nations whom neither they nor their fathers have known, and I will send the sword after them, until I have consumed them.” J 8
This isn’t outside the scriptures of Judaism like the NT is. While it is not the Torah, the Laws associated with Moses, Jeremiah is considered a legitimate prophet by the Jewish people and his words in Hebrew are still memorized and attested to.
“Behold, the days are coming, declares the Lord, when I will punish all those who are circumcised merely in the flesh– 26 Egypt, Judah, Edom, the sons of Ammon, Moab, and all who dwell in the desert who cut the corners of their hair, for all these nations are uncircumcised, and all the house of Israel are uncircumcised in heart.”
Paul kept using circumcision of the heart. A Pharisee has memorized the Torah and other texts. Paul wasn’t making stuff out of thin air to appease the Greek goyim.
Almost nobody in Judah’s power authority listened to Jeremiah or other prophets. In fact, it was easier to kill them and to call them false prophets.
Why would Jews convert to the Nazarenes and Jesus teachings? Everytime Israel has tried to rebel against their god, YHVH, bad things would happen as per the original contract in Deuteronomy: the curses. Even the Temple, the House of the Divine itself, would be destroyed. People in Judea didn’t believe it was possible when Jeremiah told them that their mighty nation backed by a war god would fall, but fall it did. And the Pharisees and Sadduccees didn’t believe that the Second Temple would fall, which it did.
Reading the New Testament is like reading the last book of a trilogy. It all goes back to the Old Testament. The same contracts and conflicts.
Humans, especially fanatical nationalists, don’t take it kindly when people tell them their leaders are corrupt and or wrong.
Which 12? In some parts of the Bible the 12 tribes include Levi and Joseph, in others they include Joseph’s sons Ephraim and Manasseh but leave out Levi. Simeon tends to get left out as well.
Ephraim and Manasseh are the split clans that are given Joseph’s blessings. They can be counted as 1 tribe under Joseph or for prophetic purposes, as separate.
http://sacred-texts.com/bib/fbe/fbe267.htm
Testament of Reuben
Testament of Simeon
Testament of Levi
The Testament of Judah
The Testament of Issachar
The Testament of Zebulun
The Testament of Dan
The Testament of Naphtali
The Testament Of Gad
The Testament of Asher
The Testament of Joseph
The Testament of Benjamin
Levi are still the Levites, the priesthood associated with Aaron. Ezekiel says they will be back in the Third Temple sometime later in chapter 44+.
Dan has some certain incidents and so did Reuben. Whether their inheritances were damaged or taken away, that’ll require more thorough research.
This is what the Lord Almighty says: “Many peoples and the inhabitants of many cities will yet come, 21 and the inhabitants of one city will go to another and say, ‘Let us go at once to entreat the Lord and seek the Lord Almighty. I myself am going.’ 22 And many peoples and powerful nations will come to Jerusalem to seek the Lord Almighty and to entreat him.”
23 This is what the Lord Almighty says: “In those days ten people from all languages and nations will take firm hold of one Jew by the hem of his robe and say, ‘Let us go with you, because we have heard that God is with you.’” Zechariah 8
That has actually happened. Baptists and other Christian Protestants go to Jerusalem on tours and to ask rabbis for their wisdom on the Torah or Old testament.
‘Thus says the Lord GOD, “No foreigner uncircumcised in heart and uncircumcised in flesh, of all the foreigners who are among the sons of Israel, shall enter My sanctuary. 10″But the Levites who went far from Me when Israel went astray, who went astray from Me after their idols, shall bear the punishment for their iniquity. 11″Yet they shall be ministers in My sanctuary, having oversight at the gates of the house and ministering in the house; they shall slaughter the burnt offering and the sacrifice for the people, and they shall stand before them to minister to them.…
Ezekiel 44
The Levites went bye bye after Aaron and Jeroboam.
Ezekiel is apparently talking about after the destruction of the 2nd temple, not the first. One of the reasons why Jesus goes into beast mode at the temple is because he knows his scriptures.
The Levites have never been back from the captivity of Assyria. They never went to Babylon and thus could not have returned to recreate the temple as the Second.
The Abrahamic Covenant locks Jakob’s sons in. It’s part of the inheritance law. What they will get depends on the decisions of their god, not on human translations of a book or interpretation there of.
Correction: Some of the Levites defected to Judah after Jeroboam’s 10 tribe separatism. I don’t know if any were left after the Babylonian captivity. They had certain problems with their genealogies and it got lost, so even if a Levite was a levite, he couldn’t do his priest duties without his lineage.
Gosh, why would Trump want to change the way the US does things in Israel when past presidents’ not acting on the 1995 Jerusalem Embassy Act has resulted in great strides in establishing peace in the region? /sarc
One of Trump’s greatest feats has been choosing not to do things the way past presidents have done things for decades. Seems he’s not only erasing Obama’s legacy, but nuking a lot of the DC swamp’s conventional wisdom, too.
“Seems he’s not only erasing Obama’s legacy, but nuking a lot of the DC swamp’s conventional wisdom, too.”
Lizzy, sounds like you are channeling Sarah Sanders’s mic drop at the press conference.
http://www.powerlineblog.com/archives/2018/05/sarah-sanders-responds-to-iran-critics.php
“Q Thank you, Sarah. Yesterday, Hillary Clinton, John Kerry, and former President Barack Obama all weighed in on the President’s Iran decision. … What is the President’s response to them? …
MS. SANDERS: I think based on each of those individuals’ lack of success in this entire process on foreign affairs, they would probably be the last three people that we would look to for advice and counsel, and whether or not we had made the right decisions.”
Video here
http://www.powerlineblog.com/archives/2017/05/sarah-huckabee-sanders-shuts-down-the-democrats.php
Recently they assessed the DNA blood of red Indians. 3% of them still have Haplo group X, which is only present in the Levantine Middle East. Not Asia or near the Alaskan land bridge.
There goes that archaeological pet theory that everybody came over from the Asian land bridge idea. Humans always come up with the funniest ideas.
Also some red tribes in North America now say they have connections to Hebrew songs and customs.
Plato talked about Atlantis using ships to create colonies and trade routes.
“Which 12?…”
The tribes of Joseph, Levi and Simeon are a bit unusual, the first two for one reason and the third for a different reason.
According to the tradition, all three, as sons of Jacob, were considered tribes (along with the other nine = 12).
However, Joseph, receiving a “double portion”, was split in two (his two sons, Ephraim, the younger, and Menashe, the elder), each of whom became a “tribe” in its own right and each receiving an allotment in the Holy Land. (Though the tribe of Menashe also split itself into two parts, one part being allotted territory west of the Jordan River and one part being allotted territory east of the Jordan River—in present day Jordan.)
Levi, while an original tribe, did not receive an allotment of territory like the other tribes; instead, it was charged with assisting the priests (who were themselves of the tribe of Levi, descending from Aaron) in matters relating to sacrifices and the tabernacle (later, the temple). Originally, such assistance was supposed to have been the responsibility of the first born of all the tribes (because they were “saved” or “redeemed”, as it were, not having been killed during the last of the 10 plagues suffered by the Egyptians); but following their failure during the episode of the golden calf, the tribe of Levi, having joined Moses in the fight against that idolatry, was appointed to the role instead. Note that the Levites did not receive territory but were allotted “cities of refuge” (six, originally—three on either side of the Jordan River), where they could settle and own homes.
By not being allotted territory, one could say that Levi, ultimately, “lost” its status as a “tribe”; however the number of tribes remained 12: the original 12 minus two (Joseph and Levi), with Ephraim and Menashe bringing the number back up to 12.
During the period of the two kingdoms (“Israel” in the northern part of the Holy Land and “Judah” in the southern part), i.e., the period following the breakup of the Davidic/Solomonic empire (i.e., following Solomon’s death), the kingdom of Judah included the territory of Benjamin (though it also subsumed part of the territory of Simeon).
The other ten tribes (including part of Simeon) formed the northern kingdom of Israel, keeping in mind that the tribes of Reuven and Gad were allotted territory to the east of the Jordan River.
These ten tribes were, for the most part exiled to various places by the Assyrians following the Assyrians conquest of the northern kingdom around 723 BCE (hence the “ten lost tribes”). However, not all of them were exiled, and while some were exiled to points unknown, others ended up in Mesopotamia, where they were joined about 140 years later by their coreligionists from Judah after the latter had been conquered by the Babylonians and were exiled, similarly, eastwards.
Approximately 50 years later (that is, following the Persian defeat of the Babylonians), the Persian king, Cyrus, allowed the Judeans (from whence the “Jews”) to return to the Holy Land; and although a significant number decided to stay in Mesopotamia, some of those who opted to return were those members of the 10 tribes who had preceded them to that region (140 years earlier).
“. . . you don’t just isolate and restrict the king. You mate him. What would Freud say?” [Huxley @ 1:37 AM]
LOL
I actually read through this thing. Near the very bottom of the article, I read “Palestinians hurling blazing kites and tires…”
“Palestinians hurling blazing kites and tires…”
Those are the peaceful ones.
These ten tribes were, for the most part exiled to various places by the Assyrians following the Assyrians conquest of the northern kingdom
This resulted in the Samaritan people. The Assyrians, like many Empires, would translocate people around so that they do not present a military threat or a threat of rebellion.
Nebu of Babylon grabbed most of Judah’s leaders, killing the rest.
The knowledge currently on the Assyrians is a bit sparse. There is a connection with the Sea People though.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sea_Peoples
When Atlantis fell, their colonies would become disconnected and out of resources, with economic disruption.
Little further expansion took place under Shamshi-Adad V and his successor, the regent queen Semiramis, however when Adad-nirari III (811-783 BC) came of age, he took the reins of power from mother and set about a relentless campaign of conquest; subjugated the Arameans, Phoenicians, Philistines, Israelites, Neo-Hittites and Edomites, Persians, Medes and Manneans, penetrating as far as the Caspian Sea. He invaded and subjugated Babylonia, and then the migrant Chaldean and Sutean tribes settled in south eastern Mesopotamia whom he conquered and reduced to vassalage.
After the reign of Adad-nirari III, Assyria entered a period of instability and decline, losing its hold over most of its vassal and tributary territories by the middle of the 8th century BC, until the reign of Tiglath-Pileser III (745-727 BC). He created the world’s first professional army, introduced Imperial Aramaic as the lingua franca of Assyria and its vast empire, and reorganised the empire drastically. Tiglath-Pileser III conquered as far as the East Mediterranean, bringing the Greeks of Cyprus, Phoenicia, Judah, Philistia, Samarra and the whole of Aramea under Assyrian control. Not satisfied with merely holding Babylonia in vassalage, Tiglath-Pileser deposed its king and had himself crowned king of Babylon. The imperial, economic, political, military and administrative reforms of Tiglath-Pileser III were to prove a blueprint for future empires, such as those of the Persians, Greeks, Romans, Carthaginians, Byzantines, Arabs and Turks.
The connection is that the Norse vikings figured out how to travel down to Constantinople through porting their vessels across the major rivers. The Assyrian empire would have been in range to do the opposite if they had the boat technology and funding.
Thus it is not impossible for the Assyrians to have dispersed certain people to places that they could not easily get back from.
For example, Jesus’ uncle, the rich one, had mines in Britain. Rome was a cosmopolitan empire. Traveling through the great rivers to Constantinople was actually easier than traveling the Med sea.
The weird thing is that if they were taken to Mesopotamia, the capital where the Assyrians ruled over temporarily, Daniel and others in the B Captivity should have noticed them. They were close enough. But it was recorded that these tribes were never heard from again. It is possible they could have lost their language and inheritance culturally.
Assyria lost their main army. No wonder.
Ymar:
The Samaritans were a separate people who lived amongst the Israelites in the Northern Kingdom.
Barry:
The Levites actually had 42 cities to dwell in; among these were the six Cities of Refuge.
Everyone else:
There are plenty of Levites still around today. Anyone with the following last names (whose last name predated their arrival in America) may be presumed to be a Levite or of the more specific Priestly (Cohanic) tribe:
Levi, Levy, Levin(e), Segal (an acronym for Levite Assistant), Cohen, Katz (an acronym for “righteous Cohen”)
There are some other family names the entirety of which are Levite, absent any linguistic connection. For example, Horowitz.
Cohanim and Levite men to this day have some special roles and duties in Jewish religious ritual and liturgy, more so in Israel than in the diaspora.
– Yackums, your friendly neighborhood Levite
The Samaritans were a separate people who lived amongst the Israelites in the Northern Kingdom.
They were intermarried.
Judah thought they were separate but Judah wasn’t correct all the time.
Jesus claimed he was here for the Lost Sheep of the House of Israel, and not for the goyim gentiles (that came later with Paul).
Thus Jesus when he met the Samaritans, could have ignored them if they were not of the House of Israel.
Thanks Yackums for the correction (and info).
Would you happen to know how the Cohanim and Levi’im responded when the kings of the Northern kingdom (Israel) decided to build their own temples of sacrifice (e.g., in the cities Sebastiya and Dan, if I’m not mistaken—and perhaps elsewhere)?
That is, did they go along with it? Did they protest? Did they refuse? Did they flee south to the Kingdom of Judah?
Thanks….