I refer to the above captioned letter of Zareen Khaleel of Peradeniya which appeared in The Island (14.08.2002).

The Monothiest Abraham and his wife Sarah of the 1st civilized Mesopotamia (present day Iraq) migrated to the Divinely gifted Biblical Canaan or Israel which the Jews now own as the progeny descended of their son Isaac and the 12 sons of Isaac’s son Jacob, espoused to their Mesopotamian kindred.

Israel was also called Palestine by the primitive Philistine invaders. The Jewish nation is indeed indebted to their 1st anointed King David who ruled from Jerusalem in 1000 BC for having annihilated the Philistines.

Ever since rulers or empires of the Chaldeans, Assyrians, Babylonians, Persians, Turks, Romans and the Crusaders swept over the land. And the Jewish life was in diaspora for 19 centuries consequent to the Roman-Jewish war in 70-125 AD and it was more pitiable after they had crucified the Messiah. Yet they have been the only people whether large or little who held their land uninterruptedly for over 4000 years.

The Arabs however descended mostly of different tribal races in the Arabian Penninsular and others of Ishmael born of Hagar (Egyptain) Abraham’s mistress, who also espoused an Egyptain. Arabs were pagans until the 6th century AD Arabian Prophet Mohammed. Attracted to Jerusalem also made holy in Islam Moslems from the neighbouring Arab lands freely migrated and occupied the Jewish Soil during the 12 centuries Islamic Empire held Israel from 638 AD.

The three million Arab migrants now in the Gaza Strip and the West Bank who were displaced after the 1967 Mideast War identify themselves as ‘Palestinians’ and claim a separate State of Palestine in Israel.

The 2700 years old endtime prophecy of Amos 9 :l4 in the Holy Bible says that the Jews in the Modern Israel would be never dispersed again. Then again according to Esekiel 37: 21 -23 the diaspora Jews would be regathered into Israel as a sign of nearness to the 2nd Coming of Jesus Christ. In some future date the world population of 20 million Jewish stock would be in Israel.

Now that the tiny Israel, has become the mightiest power in the Mideast. Jews have a stupendous task to fight tooth and nail to defend their Ancestral Country from the enemy beligerant Nations.

If ever Jews are forced away from their Motherland where else could they go unlike the Arabs who possess 22 countries to call their own in the Mideast and North Africa?
H. Ridley S. Jayasinghe
Katubedda