We Would Like to Report a Hate Crime

 

In one instance of this hate crime, a single moment, thousands, tens of thousands, nay, hundreds of thousands were struck and terrified by this singular exhibit of this ongoing hate crime. This hate crime is so pervasive that it never ceases and is being furthered and perpetuated somewhere every hour of every day. This hate crime has several varieties but one surpasses all others combined in frequency and sheer forcefulness. When the hate crime, this particular form of hate crime, is committed it usually takes a form which strikes the hearts and lives of numerous simultaneously as is the intents of the perpetrators. This hate crime exists in every country, even in areas where its victims have never existed, visited, or ever been known by this select group of hate criminals. This is the only hate crime where there need not be any victim present or even within hundreds or even thousands of miles yet these hate crimes are still committed but often ignored. What is more remarkable is that places where there are real victims, unless one specific individual is struck personally, visibly, and dramatically with presentable damage or injury for the crime to be actually researched and possibly prosecuted. More often than not, contrary to much public opinion, another less visible result of the propensity and sitting on the extreme periphery of this specific form of hate crime, these more virulent nonspecific group targeted versions of this hate crime, the most common variety, the extent of police attention barely exceeds the taking of the initial report and just over half the time taking follow-up reports beyond taking a finalized list of physical damages and the cost of repairs.

 

What are the signs of this hate crime? Well, let us be honest, it is a group of hate crimes all aimed at a single measurable group who are readily identified though not necessarily easily discerned if one had to choose them from a line-up. Often these hate crimes are committed against the dead through desecration of grave sites, headstones, walls, gates and other items of areas of cemeteries set aside for the people who are victimized after their passing. Often the most affected are the relatives of those whose graves have been desecrated as well as those responsible for upkeep of their cemetery, either an entire cemetery or simply a reserved section. The resting places are far from the only targets as also gathering places are targeted such as retail stores, restaurants, food stores and any place where the victims shop or own some venture. Nothing related to these victims is safe, nothing anywhere. These hate crimes are rising in their commission at what are alarming rates across Europe while politicians are ignoring these crimes while focusing on similar crimes on other groups which are far less frequent. The reporting of these other hate crimes are very much shouted by the media ringing alarm bells regularly warning that the committing of such hate crimes against this targeted group is epidemic. This reported epidemic striking this particularly vociferous group whose protestations are of great interest in the media and the public conscience as their importance is apparently immeasurable has taken center stage while amounting to less than one third the number of the hate crime we are reporting about. Three times as many hate crimes are perpetrated against a group ignored while the lesser numbers are claimed to be propagated as a plague against society of which awareness must be immediately raised and kept at a sensitivity which could only encourage fake news over faked hate crimes.

 

That is exactly what had occurred since the election of Donald Trump. The Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC) has reported numerous high profile such purported hate crimes against Islamic women where they were victimized, reportedly, because they were wearing scarves, headscarves, hijabs, where presumably easily identifiable Trump supporters, after all the perpetrators were white and male and showing hatred, this is a reported hate crime after all, and victimizing Muslims women, which has to be the ultimate current evil, identifying them from their dress, particularly the hijab which these men tore off, demanded they remove or demanded they leave their country or other hateful acts. The SPLC had reported that hijabs had been torn off victims of these horrific hate crimes by Trump supporters at the University of Michigan (since retracted), Louisiana State University (also retracted), San Diego State University (that too was retracted), the New York City subway (again: retracted), and the University of New Mexico (no witnesses, won’t reveal attacker’s name or report the incident for investigation) as reported in an article titled The Great Hijab Cover-Up by Ann Coulter. These are reports that have been granted, along with similar reported crimes, close-up and intense coverage by the mainstream media as their perusal has produced reported crime wave of Islamophobic induced hate crimes. Meanwhile anti-Semitism has been largely ignored by comparison which is counterintuitive if one is aware of the actual commission of actual hate crimes as reported by the FBI for 2014 in the United States alone (see image below). Another report which came with the headline “Anti-Muslim hate crimes are still five times more common today than before 9/11” reported the actual numbers of religious hate crimes displayed two graphs, one showing the increase in anti-Muslim crimes from before and after 2001 which was significant (see image below) but still needs to be placed in context of all religious hate crimes which they did with another graph showing actual hate crimes by religion for 2013 (see image below). The combination of the two graphs, one showing the increase and then reduction to a higher new-normal of Islamophobic crimes and then the comparison showing the dominance of anti-Semitic hate crimes compared to all others usually with anti-Semitism driven hate crimes almost universally, excepting one year which proved to be an exception, 2001, being over half of the total anti-religious hate crimes proved the mainstream media, Washington Post in this particular case, to trumpet Islamophobic actions while trying to ignore or minimize by comparison anti-Semitism.

 

Hate Crimes Motivated by Religious Bias in a Short Graphic History

 

The truths about hate crimes is that anti-Semitism is by all measures the most prevalent hate crime which only gets worse when one remembers that Jews make up such a small portion of the population of the United States (less than 2%), Europe (less than 0.2%), and the world (less than 0.2% and omitting Israel approximately 0.1%). Despite the small numbers and percentages of Jews in the populations of the world by nation, continent and the world, the measure and amount of anti-Semitic feelings, beliefs, hatreds, myths and amount of ill at ease found by the Index of Anti-Semitism released by the Anti-Defamation League has some stunning revelations. Their map gives a revelation of the percentage of people responding to their questionnaire revealing they have anti-Semitic beliefs and leanings is stunning in its disclosure of the percentages worldwide by each regional or continental area is stunning, shocking and plain horrific in what it relates (see map below). Places where there are few if any Jews, it is revealed, have amounts of anti-Semitism well beyond reasoning and logic. The site above has numerous comparison tables, links to studies from previous years, about information, actual questions from the survey and other interesting information which flushes out their studies.

 

Levels in Percentages of Anti-Semitism Worldwide by Regions

 

Anti-Semitism has permeated human history all the way back to ancient Egypt under the Pharos as related in Torah and the Old Testament. This may even be the second oldest hate crime only exceeded by virgin sacrifices which were designed to promote a higher percentage of more friendly and greater amounts of male and female interactions of intimacy in the weeks, and particularly days and hours, approaching such sacrifices. Civility may have reduced the practice of human sacrifice but anti-Semitism continues to be woven within our societies around the world. The numbers tell the story but the silence in the media tells another side of anti-Semitism, media silence. In an age where every conceivable type of hate crime is getting pages upon pages of ink with what seems like an overly copious amount of charges which after full investigation are proven to be false. The latest has been the hijab campus hate crime wave where report after report has proven out to be false reports. Despite the percentage of false report of hijab victim crimes one might think that the media might be more cautious and wait for the initial investigation to be conducted as many of these incidents were disproven within forty-eight hours, but the media has jumped at the very first hint of a report or even in one case from the Ann Coulter article where one reported case to the SPLC actually had no witnesses, would not reveal attacker’s name nor report the incident for investigation to the authorities yet it made it into reports and interviews with the media where the SPLC provided information or an interviewee for a news or editorial program, both radio and television as well as print. Yet media reporting of anti-Semitic hate crimes are given less prominence and far less hyperventilating by media reporting. One would be led to believe that Islamophobia is rampant across society, especially in Europe and the United States, while anti-Semitism has been all but eliminated when the reality is except for a one year exception, 2001; anti-Semitism has had three times the numbers of hate crimes than Islamophobic hate crimes. If the media were being honest, then pictures like those below would be more prevalent than Women in a hijab crying and sobbing while telling her tale to local and national if not international media.

 

 

The conclusion is obvious, anti-Semitism has been around for such a long time that it is not new and thus not news while Islamophobia is far more recent problem, though far less than anti-Semitism, and thus is of greater interest. Further, Islam is in the news and of more interest with the Syria war, Iraq war, the recent United States and allies’ involvement in Iraq and Afghanistan and other news of great interest. Much of this news is of a negative type, thus the media, which seeks to minimize the harsh realities of the violence permeating many Islamic nations, interest in finding news which places Islam in a better and more sympathetic light. Having an attractive, young Muslim woman crying on camera telling about how she was assaulted for being a Muslim, well, that is a sympathy story. Add that they are claiming that the attackers were supporters of Donald Trump make the story irresistible. On the other side of the table, we have Israel. The media has had Israel in their sights as the Obama Administration blamed Israel for his failures in forging Middle East peace between Israel and the Palestinian Authority. The stories about Israel blamed for this, Israel responsible for that, about the only failure which was not blamed on Israel was the rising cost of health insurance under Obamacare. With all of this negative Israel stories, well, Jews were not exactly near the top of the list for sympathetic coverage. This could have contributed to the near invisible coverage of anti-Semitism. Whatever the reason for the unbalanced coverage, had the media covered reality as the numbers represent, then anti-Semitism coverage would have been beyond that of all other religious hate crimes combined as the above graphs reveal clearly. But since when was news about reporting reality and what is actually happening and not about painting the picture the media elitists want you to believe. With the mainstream media so utterly left-leaning and the current position of the left being predominantly anti-Israel and anti-Zionist, it does not take a huge leap in logic to conclude that anti-Semitism could not be all that far removed.

 

Beyond the Cusp

 

Where We Are and Where it All Came From

 

The world is in a frightful state, and we do mean frightful as in scare the living daylights out of you. Merkel invited the civilizational Jihad to set up home in the heart of Europe and they moved in just about everywhere. The United States is having their quadrennial Presidential elections which are more reminiscent of elections for tenth grade presidential elections. Does the United States, with their three hundred million citizens and who knows how many illegals (hey, if they vote why not let them run too) really want us to believe that Hillary Clinton, Bernie Sanders, Ted Cruz and Donald Trump are the best they’ve got to offer? Puleeze! Then there is the fact that their media has not seen fit, from any political angle, to report that there are tens if not hundreds of thousands of OTM (other than Mexican) refugees being brought in from across the southern border as well as by boat and plane? What gives? Is this a bipartisan program with the tacit approval from the top echelon from both parties? If that proves true then the people have a right to be furious with the establishment. Perhaps it really is a case of good party-bad party where there really is no difference except in their campaigns of lies. Could it really be the fact that three of the four candidates for President are outside of the party boss’s iron-fisted control that has everybody’s nickers in a bunch? And what gives with Israel. Yes we have the constant demand for Israel to commit suicide and then the world not understanding why they refuse, that is an understandable crisis which has real depth and meaning. That is not the worst thing the media has to report about. They have a soldier up on charges of manslaughter for shooting a terrorist which is a combatant out of uniform. Back not so long ago in our day that was called a spy and could arrant being shot on sight, things have changed. We understand and get it, Israel is not permitted to shoot their enemies, they have to love them and give them land and everything until they can eradicate the Jews in Israel, we have seen this game before throughout our three thousand year plus history. We even just referred to it in our Seder when we read, “In every generation there is one that rises up against us.” The problem is in this generation there is a running contest on who can be the most devious of those rising up against us. I can handle our enemies if it comes to that but our friends, and we probably should write that as “friends”, those there is the problem that we aren’t supposed to shoot our friends quite yet. And on the political horizon we have reports of scandals which include, and we are not joking here, these were real scandals in our media; the Netanyahu’s eat a lot of ice cream; Sarah Netanyahu yelled at a former worker who was subsequently fired for poor performance, how dare she; the Prime Minister demanded a bed on the plane taking him on a twelve hour flight overnight where he was to give a speech the morning of his arrival before the United nations, the bed got deeper coverage and more commentary than his speech; the Netanyahu’s rescue dog nipped at people who were warned it was still nervous and temperamental yet they approached and stuck out their hands, surprise; then there are reports that the Prime Minister refuses to kiss the ring of United States President Obama, well, finally some real news, perhaps we should take this and run with it.

 

Many of the above stories had far more in depth coverage in Europe than the final actual news story and they were regarded as scandalous. Then there are the reports from the European media which make claims against the Israeli government or charge the IDF (Israeli Defense Force) with shocking use of violence against demonstrators throwing Molotov cocktails at them and these reports inevitable quote “Israeli NGO’s” as their source as if that makes it more credible. What they are not reporting is that these Israeli NGO’s get most if not all of their funding from the European Union (EU), European governments, European NGO’s and other foreign individuals and next to or actually nothing from the Israeli government or people. These are all extreme leftist organization who agree with the Europeans and are pushing for an Israel with an Arab Muslim majority as they demand Israel absorb five to eight million Arab refugees and they claim because Israel is a democracy that with the Muslims ruling the nation there will be freedom of religion and the treatment of the Jews will remain exactly as it is now. We would like to make a challenge to the members of these groups for them to spend a weekend, just three days, in Gaza City wearing a Kippot, a Yamaka. Then they can come tell us how things will not change. The only condition is that they do this unannounced and completely without any NGO protection. We feel sure that nobody would get harmed because it would never happen for two reasons, they would never be caught dead wearing a Kippot and they would never do anything anywhere near so suicidal.

 

I would like to make a few points about the Jews in Israel and Israel in general. First and foremost, we reached an agreement after World War I with the British government which held the control for creating a Jewish State in the British Mandate. We believed the British, silly us, when we agreed to allow for 78% of the Mandate lands to be used for an Arab Palestinian State east of the Jordan River in exchange for guarantees that the lands west of the Jordan River would be used solely for the Jewish State. Would it now be too much to ask that this deal be honored? Israel has no designs on lands beyond those promised us. Proof was our returning of the entirety of the Sinai Peninsula to Egypt when we made peace. Further, the world need remember that the lands of Judea and Samaria, renamed by Jordan as West Bank, was occupied land and that once the Arab League refused the offer from the United Nations General Assembly in Resolution 181 which was a suggested solution, the entire resolution became void and invalid as it required both sides to accept the offer and only the Zionists who were to found Israel accepted. The Zionist acceptance did not bind them to Resolution 181 as the Arab League refusal followed by their general declaration of a genocidal war where half a dozen Arab states invaded Israel the morning of May 15, 1948, the first day of Israel’s existence, but that the areas which later were always referred to as Gaza and West Bank were actually Israeli land occupied by Egypt and Jordan for almost twenty years. Further, the Jews are the indigenous peoples returning to their ancestral home and the Arabs are the colonial power who took the lands from the remains of the Roman Empire which were another occupying power. Israel had faced occupation almost constantly since their fall to the Babylonians but has had the remnants of their people remaining in the land the entirety of our three thousand plus year history in the land of Eretz Yisroel. The Arabs did not arrive in these lands until after the year 600 AD which was a mere two thousand years after the establishment of Eretz Yisroel. As far as the use of the name Palestinian, the Jews were the original Palestinians as can be verified by simply reading any of the British reports from World War I and even before. There was even a Palestinian Brigade in both world wars which was comprised of almost exclusively Jews from the area called Palestine since the time of the Romans. The Philistines were never called Palestinians and were actually a Greek colony which resided along the norther coastal regions of the Sinai and even into what is known today as Gaza and their civilization collapsed and was dispersed some twenty-five hundred years ago and they were never heard from again. The Romans attempted to resurrect their name but it lost quite a lot of the identity in their translation which referred to the area as Syria Palaestina which was a Roman province between 135 and about 390, during the same period when much of the Jewish population was dispersed across the Roman Empire. This was the main reason that Jews were found in lands all across the globe, they were dispersed by the Romans and some fled even further to escape the cruelties of Roman decrees meant to eliminate the Israelites, the Hebrews. Rome had a set of procedures for eliminating peoples which worked so well that one civilization is remembered because of their succumbing to the Roman treatment for erasing a peoples, they were the Carthaginians. Hannibal was probably one of the most famous of the Carthaginians. The Jews survived due to their secret weapons, contained in Torah, Hashem’s laws meant for the Hebrews to live by and thus make them a peoples who, even when most assimilated, have this core identity and once they become the accursed and are either forced into exile or attempted to be extinguished, at least once every generation by the one who rises up to oppress and kill us, they have their Torah to fall back upon and reestablish their peoplehood.

 

Israel desires no lands beyond the Jordan or outside the lands promised us by the League of Nations, the British Mandate, the White Papers, Article 80 of the UN Charter or any other agreement through the years. Then there is the Jewish People. Judaism is a different religion than most others as it is also a ruling document for the Jews when they reside in the Promised Lands, those lands west of the Jordan River to the Mediterranean. It is meant for no one else. We do not desire to convert anybody nor conquer lands which are not ours to claim. This is the land of Hashem for which we are assigned to care for and it will care for us for as long as we are faithful and follow the laws of Hashem given in Torah. When we follow the law we will receive the rains which are so essential if one is to survive long here in our lands. Simply ask the elders who have lived here since before the Zionist return. They will tell of a land which refused to give up her bounty. Read the accounts from Sam Clemens (Mark Twain) from his essay Travels in the Holy Lands and see his description of a land forsaken. The records of the many empires, the Babylonians, Egyptians, Persians, Assyrians, Greeks, Romans, Caliphate, Seleucids, Ottomans, British or any others who possessed these lands. Even the Canaanites did not get the full production of these lands until Abraham dug wells and every well he dug produced prodigious amounts of water and he left them for all to use as he was a generous and righteous man. We do not desire to make the world Jewish, quite the contrary, we just ask that we be allowed to be Jews in our ancient homelands west of the Jordan and nestled along the Mediterranean. Our only expression to everyone other than Jews is that if you wish a civilized society we can give as a guild the Noahic Code which is very much similar to our Ten Commandments without the religious requirements which is our relationship with Hashem (see both below). These are seven simple laws which make the backbone of almost every nation which also has a good human rights record which we would hold is no accident as the most difficult of the Codes is to establish a fair justice court system which ignores all except that which is true and proven. Beyond that recommendation we make no demands other than allow us to live beside all in peace and we will live according to our Torah, or at least try and live up to its high standards, and will allow the rest of the world to live as they choose. Those who may decide to live within our borders will be required to obey many of the legal requirements we demand of ourselves and will otherwise be free to live as they please and practice their religion as long as it does not conflict with our laws. One easy to understand requirement is if you worship Baal we will insist there be no human sacrifices as that is an abomination.

 

 

Noahic Codes

 

 

Ten Commandments
Arranged in Hebrew
Reading from Right to Left
with English Translations
Underneath the Hebrew

 

 

Perhaps we should not worry so much about Europe and the United States as they have been around quite a while and should have learned how to live and let live. Perhaps they could grant Israel the same privilege and respect. Hopefully we can all live in peace and understand that we all have our own problems and can eventually work them out with a minimum of distress. We have our own challenges and are not seeking any additional ones now or in the future. Those who insist on residing within what should be our recognized borders we will work out something mutually beneficial or we will face that difficulty as it unfolds. Israel has accommodated foreign attempts to intervene and run our affairs to their best interest which almost always appears to be in our worst interest and seemingly as attempts to erase the Jewish State. Let it be known that any attempts or demands that Israel not be the Jewish State or to deny the Jews a native land and other such intents which desire eradicating the Jewishness of Israel are, by definition, a form of anti-Semitism and will be treated with the dignity such deserves. Israel was established as the homeland of the Jewish People long before there was any Europe as we know it today. Long before there was a United Kingdom, France, Germany, Italy and every other nation. There was not yet Greece as that nation consisted of city states such as Athens, Troy, Sparta, Ionia, Lesbos, Aetolia, Messenia, Thessaly and many others (see map below).

 

 

Grecian City States

 

 

Rome, the predecessor to Italy, was not yet even a twinkle in the wolf pack’s eyes as Romulus and Remus had yet to be born, let alone adopted by some rather peculiar foster parents, but at least one grew to be a man to be reckoned with while the other, well, not so much. France was divided between the tribes of the Gaelic and Frank among other lessor tribes. Even the recognized ancient religions of the Buddhists, Confucians, Hindus, Taoist and other Asian religious beliefs were yet to be founded as these came into existence during the time of the building of the Second Temple in Jerusalem and well after the reign of Kings Saul, David and Solomon. The main religious structure other than the Hebrews and Hashem, the invisible creator of all that is, was and ever will be, was idolatry and the worship of kings and Pharaoh as gods.

 

 

Romulus and Remus Suckled by a She Wolf

 

 

There were tribal cultures of idolaters worshiping such as Baal, the Egyptian gods, Greek and Roman gods, Babylonian, Persian gods and the Arabic Moon god Allah. Then there were the human gods such as Pharaoh, Nebakanezzer, Roman Caesars and other absolute rulers who were worshipped as gods. Even later there came the Mayan, Aztec, Inca, Olmec and others and their gods. The one seeming constant for many of these gods was the blood sacrifice which often was a human sacrifice. Probably the most abhorrent of these human sacrifices were those made to Baal as these were the sacrifice of infants, the most innocent and helpless (some examples pictured below). There are examples existing even today of idolatry and some would refer to avarice and the pursuit of wealth above all other considerations as examples of a form of idolatry where the coinage would represent their idol.

 

 

Idols of the Ancient World

 

 

Beyond the Cusp

 

Who were the colonizers of MENA Pre-World War I?

 

We hear much talk by the mainstream media and especially the leftist editorialists about how the deprived victims the Arab populations of MENA (Middle East and North Africa) who were subjugated beneath the imperial European (and presumably American) colonizers. Exactly who were these colonizers and for how long had they exploited the citizens of MENA’s lands? Well, according to the liberal and mainstream media story line as they infer, though never quite say outright, were England, France, Italy and Spain. Further, there will be implications of over a century to potentially many centuries these colonial powers ruled over most of the MENA nations with many remaining under colonial control after World War I and even after World War II with the old dynasties lasting through 1970 or even 1979, and the most brash might even claim that there is a colonial power still ruling in the Middle East to this very day, though this last claim is as big a lie as they come. Perhaps a closer look is in order to get an honest picture.

 

Let’s begin with when the nations in MENA first came under imperial control and were placed under the presumed onus of foreign rule. Colonial rule came to the MENA nations in an early period which many of us first heard referenced when we studied the Bible. Perhaps some of the earliest colonial powers are not exactly what many of us would ever consider to be colonial powers yet as these were rulers who conquered other nations and subjugated them, these were the original colonialists. Terms can be applied to situations which most of us never would have considered applicable but when you are weaving a lie it is easy to go overboard in your definitions and apply modern terms to ancient events. The Egyptians would have been the first of the colonial powers many of us knew about despite there were others close to the same age such as the Hittites, Minoans, Mesopotamian, Persian and even Israel under Kings David and Solomon. All of these predated the better known Greek and Roman Empires and dates back to the ancient beginnings of China and Mayan cultures. A handy little timeline can be seen below. For the purpose of choosing a start date, why not begin around the year five-hundred which is after the fall of Rome and the Western Roman Empire while the Eastern Roman Empire or Byzantine Empire was limping into the future feebly.

 

 

Timeline of World Civilizations 3700 BCE through 1700 CE

 

 

All the most ancient empires have fallen and for the most part there was peace with each city moving forward loosely attached to Constantinople across the entirety of MENA though the farther west one went across northern Africa, which had less the ties to the Byzantine rule. This left this area ripe for the pickings and a harvester was about to enter the scene. Shortly before the year seven-hundred a new force emerged under the banner of Islam and began its spread heading initially into the heart of the former lands of Babylon, Persia and into Egypt. There was little resistance as the Byzantine Empire was crumbling and unable to field a credible defense. Jerusalem fell in April 637 to the forces of the Rashidun Caliphate. The conditions for the surrender were understood to be the conquering Islamic rulers would give guarantees of civil and religious freedoms for the Christians under the rule from Jerusalem in exchange for Jizya, a tax on non-Muslims given in exchange for their protections which also included the Christians acceptance of Dhimmitude, a form of subservient lower class citizenship which was to be protected and tolerated and condoned. The spread of Islam took place largely in three stages, the first during the life of Mohammad, Next under the first four Caliphs, and finally under Umayyad Rule which was the basis for the Caliphate (see map below).

 

 

Expansion of Islam Across MENA and threaten Europe before Ottoman Rule

 

 

After the spread of the Caliphate which continued what was technically an empire which implied colonization over territories beyond the initial founding under Mohammad which was centered around Medina, the beginnings of Mohammad’s power, and included the Mecca region which Mohammad took partially as it was the closes power base, the Meccan rulers denied Mohammad’s claim to rightful ruler and had chased the early Mohammad from their territories as they rejected his preaching and teachings and determined he was a corrupting influence. The Caliphate had followed particular lines of succession which had split early after Mohammad’s death which formed the duality which still splits Islam into competing camps of Sunnis and Shiites. For the largest part the Sunni Muslims outnumbered and were the stronger camp though never quite capable, or more likely never made an effort to unify belief as beliefs can be near impossible to be completely defeated thus any effort would eventually prove fruitless and not worth the efforts expended. Instead the Sunni simply kept expanding their empire and largely tolerated the Shiites unless attacked and given no choice. When the two sects did engage each other the Sunni proved superior defeating and often killing the Shiites and their rulers in battle. The Caliphate continued to rule their lands after and expanding conquering Spain and headed into Frankish territory, early France, where the Caliphate reached is furthest advance. After taking Granada they advanced to the next major city, Tours, where a decisive battle turned the tides in the year 732 CE finally having a definitive defeat of the Caliphate forces. The battle victory is credited to Charles Martellus (the Hammer) Martel, who lost a mere thousand to fifteen-hundred of his forces, would later in history be granted the title of savior of Christianity. The vanquished was Abd Ar-Rahman Al Ghafiqi who was slain during the battle along with an estimated twelve-thousand of his warriors.

 

Beginning at the beginning of the fourteenth century the Ottoman Empire began to make its presence felt which would eventually lead to their conquering the entirety of the Caliphate at their most powerful. Until this point the Caliphate ruled over the near entirety of MENA and had spread into Spain and southeastern Europe. The map below shows the advances and periods of the Ottoman Empire conquering the Caliphate, bringing an end to the successions of Caliphs and temporarily ending the violence between Shiite and Sunni camps. The Ottoman succession follows the lineage of Ottoman Beylik who initiated the spread and domain of his family tribe in the year 1300 as his aim was likely like everybody before them, to conquer the known world. The expansions continued from his death in 1359 through 1451 when the next ruler of the Ottomans who expanded the borders notably during his rule through 1481 was Medmed II. He was followed by Selim I (1512-1520) and Suleiman the Magnificent (1520-1566). There was expansion beyond this period where the Ottoman Empire reached its apex before its fortunes began to wane.

 

 

Ottoman Empire Ascending from 1300 through 1683 includes Golden Age of Islam

 

 

The Ottoman Empire caught the Caliphate as it was in retreat after having lost Spain (Andalusia) during the Christian Reconquista which was part of the campaign to rid Spain of its Moorish Muslims as well as the Jews and any other group which was not Catholic and sworn fealty to the crown. This period of the Christian Reconquista was a logical following from the victory at Tours by Charles (the Hammer) Martel and spanned an area of time stretching from its earliest uprisings in the north and northwest in the Battle of Covadonga in the summer of 722, a full decade before the battle of Tours, but this revolt was the very beginning of the end of Islamic rule in Spain (Andalusia). The battles continued until finally the signing of the Treaty of Granada on November 25, 1491. This was the end of the fighting with the turning over of the city of the final southern coastal towns of Granada. It was during the final push that King Ferdinand II of Aragon and Queen Isabella I of Castile that the infamous Spanish Inquisition was initiated. The Spanish Inquisition lasted from November 1, 1478 through to July 15, 1834. The Inquisition was the attempt, a rather thorough and successful attempt, to convert, drive out or otherwise deal with any residual Moorish or Islamic followers remaining in Spain along with ridding Spain of its Jews who either fled with the Muslims or were chased eventually across all of Europe ending up in Russia and Poland for a while until the Czar’s pogroms drove them into Poland and Germany which set the stage for the Shoah, the Holocaust.

 

There were other adventures which came from Europe somewhat as a response to Islamic Caliphate advances leading up to the fall of Constantinople in 1453. These were known as the Crusades which were an attempt to retake the Holy Land after the initial fall of Jerusalem in April 637. There were four separate crusades which took separate routes reaching the Holy Lands and gathered the troops from various countries, kingdoms and City-States they passed through and could find willing, or sometimes less than willing, forces to join in their ‘holy’ missions. The Crusader routes and periods of duration (shown below on map) began in 1095 with the First Crusade which continued until 1099. The Second Crusade began in 1147 and lasted until 1149. The Third Crusade was initiated in 1189 going into 1192. The Fourth Crusade began in 1202 and terminated in 1204. They had limited success and resulted in making some groups and individuals very wealthy, so much so that they remained in the Middle East despite having to live under Islamic rule. As far as having a definitive effect on the course of history, it is doubtful and at best might be credited with a residual effect of engaging forces which otherwise could have assisted with the attacks on Constantinople but not on events thereafter.

 

 

Crusader Routes I through IV spanning 1095 through 1289

 

 

The Ottoman Empire final began to weaken while the European powers were feeling the results of the Renaissance, the Enlightenment and soon the industrial revolution. While these events were transforming Europe the Ottoman Empire mostly rested on their laurels and stagnated which would cost them as they began to be surpassed by Western technology and discoveries and inventions which led to superior weapons of war. There were three stages of decline for the Ottoman Empire as indicated on the map below. Parts of the Ottoman Empire were held by them for just over a half century, and were under Islamic Caliphate before that for another seven-hundred to almost a thousand years. The final areas of the Ottoman Empire finally fell during World War I and became the Mandate lands from which Iraq, Lebanon, Transjordan (currently Jordan), Syria and Israel were formed. The European colonialists held lands which were formerly under either Ottoman or Caliphate colonial rule for well over a century while the Europeans held these lands for periods of merely a decade or less to the longest being at most a century and those are the exceptions.

 

 

Ottoman Empire in Decline 1800 through 1914 and Start of World War I

 

 

The next map depicts the lands as they were held by European nations after World War I had established their claims in the Treaty of Versailles in 1919. The area outlined in red depicts the mandate lands decided by the San Remo Conference in 1922. These demarcations were proposed initially by the Allied Powers of Great Britain, France, Italy, Japan and Russia. The United States observed the negotiations but was not a direct signatory as the United States desires no holdings, colonial states, mandate responsibilities and was hopeful that they could have assisted in ending this horrific war and had already made their feelings known concerning the restructuring of Europe and the redrawing of boundaries, founding independent states out of the Austria-Hungarian Empire. Eventually the United States was coerced into adding their approval of the Mandate System which many viewed as the most tenuous of the treaties despite the signature of King Faisal signing as the representative for the Arab League.

 

 

Colonial Structure Post World War I defined by Treaties from initial surrender in 1919 through the San Remo Conference setting up the Mandate System in 1922 plus Sykes-Picot redrawing of much of the Middle East

 

 

The final map below depicts the independent states and their dates when their current governments or their freedom from European colonial rule came about. These dates are meaningful as it puts to a lie the claims you will likely hear about how these nations were under colonial rule and only recently gained their independence. There will be other lies which will be half-truths or misinformation by giving one impressions knowing the reality is totally different.

 

 

Dates that the MENA nations received their independence after colonial rule many since the times of the Persians or even earlier

 

 

The actual history which needs to be remembered is that many of these nations have been ruled by outside forces since the very early ages of civilizations while others were once inhabited by a nation which either was destroyed in history or faced a natural disaster which placed their population, that which survived, within another culture where they assimilated and disappeared from history though they often brought skills with them which benefited their host nation which likely made them more welcome. One example of the last occurrence was the Minoan civilization which resided on the Isle of Santorini in the Mediterranean Sea. Everything was going along really great as they had their religion and held their sacrifices, one of which is of interest if you know your Hebrew Bible. The Minoans had a spring ritual which was intended to bring fertility to their crops, their herds, their people and to benefit all parts of their society. In this sacrifice they had to prepare a feast using newly born calf boiled and then roasted and brushed with a preparation made from the calf’s mother’s milk. Anyway, the Minoans were happily fishing and enjoying the wonderful Mediterranean weather until the ground rumbled and the caldera erupted all but destroying the entire Island which has slowly resurfaced in the ensuing years. Santorini is located between the Greek mainland and Cyprus in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea (see picture with map insert below). Santorini is still a dangerous place and potentially threatened with another eruption. Like most volcanoes, it is not a matter of if but of when the next devastating eruption pours forth and erases all traces of human development or existence as the Island may be blown completely apart only to rise from the Mediterranean depths with a whole new look and geography just as it has done throughout all of history. The homes and island is beautiful and a jewel glittering in the Mediterranean Sea and we can only hope it continues to glitter from the lights on the porches of the homes and not from lava belching forth from out of the sea.

 

 

Volcano Thera Caldera Santorini Island Ancient Home of the Minoan Civilization until Eruption just ruined their day

 

 

When we look at the history of MENA nations one need remember that much of the area was also the cradle of civilization and as such had a distressing habit of spawning great civilizations which came, expanded as far as they could reach, overreached or had a number of bad years or the next great civilization either defeated and overran their empire or the two had a merger of sorts as exampled by the Greeks being subsumed by the Roman Empire which did not exactly destroy the four Greek sub-Empires as much as they incorporated as the Greeks saw an advantage of being the center of education and philosophy while the Romans knew of the Greek intellect and their ability to fashion weapons. That is not to say there were not conflicts, but somehow both civilizations influenced each other for the better. But even before Rome, before the Greeks, before the Persians there were the Babylonians, the Israelite Kingdom, the Hittite, the Egyptian and the Mesopotamian Empires. Each ruled and the areas of MENA can be said to have survived as best the individual tribes, city-states, empires, nations and peoples could be expected. There were the Ancient Empires which lasted from prehistory through the Greeks of Alexander. Alexander the Great was the last of the ancient empire builders and his would be the first of the new age empires, the actual colonialists of history. From here many empires claimed to be setting out to conquer the world but they also knew that dream could not be realized in one’s lifetime. Even here the states of MENA faced the Greeks followed by the Romans then the Byzantines as Rome broke into two Empires, the Eastern Roman Empire or Byzantine; and the western Roman or what became the Holy Roman Empire. Even European nations became colonized as there were the intra-European empires such as the Austrian-Hungarian Empire, Charlemagne, Napoleon and eventually the Nazis. After the Byzantine Empire collapsed there was the Caliphate followed by the Ottoman Empire, the two main Islamic Empires. During their time in power there were still the Mongols who came to conquer the world and instead converted to Islam by in large. China and India had their effect on the nations of the Middle East and also set up that area for who could take control of the trade routes. It was because of lack of access to these very trade routes which launched the European age of colonization which is the final or modern stage. Where the age of European conquest began in the late fifteenth century with Columbus and the other explorers heading to lay claim to the new lands in the Americas, then started an age of conquest as the natives were not as advanced when it came to warfare. The one advantage of living in the most contested lands in the world is you build up some formidable weaponry and tactics which the native tribes of the Americas were of no match.

 

The lands which form MENA were already colonized by the Ottomans who had a number of other cultures which also fought with their colonizers as all had a common bond which was Islam. This made these lands too much of a threat plus the Europeans had learned to have a healthy respect for the Ottomans and the followers of Islam through the Crusades and the wars which were barely able to constrain the Ottomans from sweeping across Europe. Much of that was due to the King of Poland and Lithuania John III Sobieski who came and relieved the city of Vienna from the Ottoman siege and brought that offensive to a conclusive end. Still, there was little attempt until into the nineteenth century before any assaults were waged on a by then weakened and almost backward sclerotic empire. Taking fair stock on the years of actual colonialization we see that the MENA nations, of which Syria is no exception except like Israel there was an Assyrian Empire which did not extend to anywhere near as vast an area as the more well-known colonizing empires, otherwise Syria has been a colony of somebody for a very long time. The ancient Empires spanned a good three-thousand years or more depending on sources. The middle empires which include the Roman, Byzantine, the Caliphate and the Ottoman Empires lasted almost two-thousand years. The final age was the European age of colonization of the MENA area which lasted less than two hundred years and when we speak of the Middle East itself it is even shorter barely making a century with Syria being far less and Iran almost untouched by the European colonizers. So, when the news reports tell of how these poor nations have been colonies for near an inestimable time and have not tasted freedom until only the most recent of times and even then most were brutal dictatorships, there is some truth. The problem is for the vast majority we were talking of Biblical era and pre Biblical times all the way through the Greeks and to the Roman Empire after the fall of the Eastern Roman Empire these lands were ruled by Muslims for the majority of the modern ages.

 

 

Mandate of San Remo for French and British including actual treaty demarcations for each nation

 

 

The Europeans only poured in at the end of the Ottoman Empire as it fell with the final areas which included Syria not falling until World War I thus not becoming a colony of the Europeans until around 1920 and with the areas of Iraq, Syria, Lebanon, Jordan and Israel they were not colonies as much as protectorates being held secure from invasions by the British and the French starting in 1922 with the enactment of the San Remo Conference. The above map shows the League of Nations proposed British and French Mandates with the demarcations for Syria, Lebanon, Iraq, Transjordan and Israel. This mandate was carved from the remains of the Ottoman Empire where the nation of Turkey was what would remain as the originator of the entire Ottoman Empire while these areas above plus Kuwait, the United Arab Emirates, Yemen and Oman were brought into being and Saudi Arabia gained complete and uncontested control over Mecca and Medina. These maps and dates should arm those wishing to have the truth behind their arguments readily available to speak to what exactly Europe owes the refugees and victims of colonial rule when in reality it is the Arabian Peninsula, the originator of the Caliphate, and Turkey as the original source for the Ottoman Turks who founded the Ottoman Empire. The Europeans as far as Syria is concerned were a brief caretaker that lasted barely twenty-six years, exactly the same as it did for Israel and Israel has only had to take in over one million Jewish refugees from across the lands that make up MENA as many of them drove their Jews from their lands during the late 1940s and through the 1950s with some from Ethiopia and Russia coming even later and still taking in the Bnei Menashe from India and Israel will continue to take in Jewish refugees from the world over and has also taken in other refugees including but not limited to the Vietnamese boat people and Christians seeking refuge from persecutions. It makes one wonder how many refugees have been taken in by Saudi Arabia, Kuwait (who after the Gulf War which freed them from Saddam Hussein thanked the Palestinian workers for the support which Yasser Arafat lauded on Saddam Hussein and flew every last one back to the Palestinian Occupied areas of Judea and Samaria), Qatar (whose Al-Jazeera news service so gallantly praised and supported the uprisings in the hopes of placing the Muslim Brotherhood in charge of as many nations as possible and almost won Egypt and really urged on the war in Syria until it turned so very ugly) or Bahrain. One might expect these wealthy nations to assist their Arab brothers and sisters but nary a word from them except to demand that Europe do their part because the Europeans had colonies in the area for an average of fifty years compared to the one thousand year rule of Islam as the Caliphate and the Ottoman Empires. Europe should offer to take in refugees one for every twenty that the nations of the Arabian Peninsula give refuge to, that would be fair and proportional but don’t hold your breath.

 

Beyond the Cusp