From: perlman@qso.Colorado.EDU (Eric S. Perlman)
Subject: Re: Fair Swap
Organization: University of Colorado, Boulder
Date: Fri, 11 Sep 1992 20:58:19 GMT

In article <1992Sep11.073925.3382@mcs.kent.edu> rayes@Snake.mcs.kent.edu (Sandra Rayes) writes:
>In article <18oep2INNsu8@usenet.INS.CWRU.Edu> bx573@cleveland.Freenet.Edu (Alan H. Stein) writes:
>>
>>In a previous article, rayes@Snake.mcs.kent.edu (Sandra Rayes) says:
[....]
>>>As for institutions...ever heard of Al Aqsa???  It USED to be...before
>>>occupation, that is...a powerful religious center...it is mentioned in
>>>the Qur'an and many students of Islamic Shariah were educated there
>>>throught the years.
>>
>>An oasis in a desert.  Little attention was paid to it until the
>>reestablishment of Israel became a realistic possibility.
>>
>Baloney....it is mentioned in the Qur'an...Prophet Muhammad visited
>there and many Muslims from the Sham and even further used to go there
>in lieu of Hajj in Mecca (since they didn't have money and Jerusalem
>was closer).  Al Aqsa is tied with the BEST personalities in Islamic
>history.  I have met a lady who was educated there (pre '67).

As with every institution, there are good and bad personalities
associated with al Aqsa.  (Can anyone say Hajj Amin al-Husseini, for
example?) This is not to discount its importance in
Islam, just for perspective.  In any case, I was under the impression
that it was the Mount itself which is mentioned in the Qu'ran, and that
al-Aqsa dates from something like 50-100 years later.  Minor quibble.

>>What ever happened to the claim of one Arab people?  Or do you throw out
>>propaganda ploys when another is more convenient, and then retrieve them
>>when it suits your whim?
>
>Throwing out and retrieving convenient slogans is your trick, not ours.
>Palestinians have always stressed their love for their land and culture.
>Palestinians were traditionally peaceful (at a time when other Arabs
>were fighting) and settled farmers who enjoyed their pace of life and
>were blessed by the proximity of Al Aqsa, a holy site in Islam.
>That has never changed.  What has changed is the fact that Europeans
>have taken their land from them, treated them like animals, and
>assigned to them the role of victim.

Sandra, while now this definitely makes a lot of sense to a lot of
people, even those such as Rashid Khalidi have stressed that the
resurgence of Jewish nationalism - i.e. Zionism - triggered a huge
upswing in Palestinian nationalism, and that Palestinian nationalism,
such as it was, had its origins during the early part of this century
(Jacob Baltuch posted some excellent information on this several months
ago, which I unfortunately did not save).

For centuries Palestine was ruled by the Ottomans - and under their rule
*no one*, not Jews, not Armenians, not Kurds, and not Arabs, expressed
much in the way of nationalistic feelings there.  Other parts of the ME
weren't ruled by the Ottoman Empire for so long - and therefore their
history reflects different characteristics.

-- 
"How sad to see/A model of decorum and tranquillity/become like any other sport
A battleground for rival ideologies to slug it out with glee." -Tim Rice,"Chess"
     Eric S. Perlman 				 <perlman@qso.colorado.edu> 
  Center for Astrophysics and Space Astronomy, University of Colorado, Boulder
Newsgroups: talk.politics.mideast