Lideri Suprem@xhezairbey
For roughly 3500 years in what is called the Proto-Canaanite period, Jerusalem belonged to the Canaanites who worshipped many gods and godesses. It wasn't until 2000BC do scholars find a reference that debatably refers to Jerusalem. The word is "Rusalimum" in texts of Egypt's Middle Kingdom. Scholars believe that the name is a consecration to "Shalim" a Canaanite deity of the netherworld from Ugaritic scriptures. Reference is also made to “Urusalem”
In 2150 BCE, Abraham (pbuh) was order by God according to the Bible, to move from his birthplace (Ur Kasdem in Southern Iraq) to Canaan. He and his family were never rulers in Canaan. They first pitched a tent in Bethel, then moved to Egypt ruled by Pharoahs, then lived in the Negev desert and moved back to Bethel. Meanwhile Lot (pbuh) moved away to live under the Kingdom of Sodom. Abraham then lived under the various canaanite kings of the time, including Abimelech the King of the Philistines.
The territory passed from the Canaanites to the Egyptians, ultimately. So here we have Egyptians and Canaanites being the original inhabitants of Jerusalem for 3,500 years. The Israelites lived under these authorities. Eventually a famine in Canaan led them to move to Egypt. They lived in Egypt, away from Canaan for 430 years before they became enslaved by the Pharoahs.
After Exodus, Jerusalem was finally taken by King David in 1010BC. This is the first time Israelites actually ruled something. It was very short lived however. They lost the city to the Egyptians in 925BC. Jehoash of Israel briefly recaptured it in 786BC but then lost it to the Assyrians in 740BC. So they intermittently ruled Jerusalem for just 131 years.
For 600 years the Israelites did not rule Jerusalem. The Jewish Hasmoneans finally re-took it in 140BC under Simon Thassi but then lost it to the Persian Seleucides in 134 BC. That's 6 more years of Jewish rule. Due to a Seleucid civil war, Judeah incidentally became independent in the chaos in 116BC. In 87BC the Jewish Hasmonean king executed 800 Jews for sedition. In 47BC they lost Jerusalem again, this time to the Romans. That's 69 years of rule.
In total, off and on the Jews ruled Jerusalem for approximately 206 years.
Comparing successive rule thereafter:
The Pre-Constantine Romans ruled it for 250 years.
The Christian Byzantines ruled it for 304 years.
The Arab Muslims ruled it under the Rashidun, Umayyad and Abbasid Empires for 332 years.
The Egyptian Muslim Fatimids ruled it for 129 years.
The Crusaders took it from the Muslims and held it for 88 years.
The Muslim ruler Saladin conquered it in 1187 and his descendents held it for 63 years.
The Egyptian Muslim Mamluk Empire ruled it for 236 years.
The Ottomans ruled it for 401 years.
So in summary:
That's 3500 years of non-Abrahamic rule Canaanite and Egyptian rule, 206 years of Jewish rule, 392 years of Christian rule. And over 800 years of Muslim rule, which includes 395 years of specifically Arab rule.
So who has the best claim? If we go by original inhabitants or length of rule, then it’s the Canaanites and Egyptians. Egyptians still exist today. Canaanites, although mostly wiped out by Biblical orders, still exist in Lebanon today. The Lebanese are descendents of original Canaanites. In any case however, both Egyptians and Canaanites including Philistines, lost control of the land over 3000 years ago. So they are out. They don’t even care to rule the land and don’t make any claim for it anyway. In any case, the Jewish claim to being the original inhabitants, is very easily thrown out.
After Canaanite and Egyptian rule, the Israelites (Jews+Samaritans) ruled very intermittantly for 206 years. Not a long time, and not a stable rule. Neither were they the first inhabitants, nor did they rule for very long. Pagan Romans thereafter ruled longer than them. Thereafter, Christian Romans ruled longer than them.
Then came Muslim rule. They are of course the last to the party, but in recent history, they’ve ruled the longest. This includes 395 years of stable Arab Muslim rule and 400 years of stable Turkish Ottoman Muslim Rule.
So, between Palestinians (Christian and Muslim) and Jewish Israelis, who has the better claim?
History tells us that Jews ruled Palestine for barely over 2 centuries. The Christians ruled it for nearly 4 centuries, double that time. the Muslims ruled it for over 8 centuries, more than doubling the time the Christians ruled and four times as long than the Jews ruled. And as the Palestinian people are a religious confederation of Christians and Muslims, both consistently at peace with each other, that puts their birthright to it at 1200 combined years. Nearly a thousand years longer than Jews ever reigned over Jerusalem.
And like it always has been throughout Islamic history, the Jews are welcome to stay there, but as co-inhabitants with their Christian and Muslim neighbors. No barbwired walls, no soldiers shooting little kids, no stealing people’s homes like bandits, no apartheid separating Palestinians from Jews.
By Dr. Khalid Osman
