Archaeological findings unveil 1,500-year-old Jerusalem road

Catholics seem to get the blame for a lot of Jewish misfortunes, however, the destruction of the Second Temple should not be one of them. The Gregorian Calendar referred to was first used, in Catholic Europe, in the latter half of the 16th. century AD. Protestant countries accepted it even later. In particular, when Britain eventually accepted it there were riots in the streets of England because they thought that their lifespan was being reduced by 12 days! You are talking about the Julian Calendar - Julius Caesar. The temple was destroyed, by pagan Romans, 1.5 millenia before Pope Gregory.

It is no myth that the majority of people descending from those practising the Jewish religion in Roman times converted to other religions. It happened in Palestine, Eygpt and North Africa. This is why the Jewish religion dropped from being substantial in the Roman Empire to the minor religion it is now having been substantially overtaken by the later religions of Christianity and Islam.

Seems to me you can find all those answers in the Old Testament/ Torah-------

That is pretty much what they have done.... except the natives have objected as they tend to do everywhere. At the end of the day, land theft is land theft and if religion means anything then it will be judged unless you have told God to get over it as well.

The land has a history of changing hands through takeovers. So why shouldn't Israel just take it and keep it and tell everyone else get over it?

I was of the impression that the Jews actually were led out of Egypt by Moses and were originally migrants to the land now called Israel but was then called Canaan? Leads me to ask was this land uninhabited at the time or were there people already living there? Do not the Canaanites have a say in all this?

"I have known Americans who converted to Reform or Conservative Judaism that have seen those conversions denied by the Orthodox." For the pure and simple reason that reform and conservative are not Judaism. There is only 2 kinds of Jews in this world; the practicing Jew, and the non-practicing Jew. It is just that some of us feel a need to justify our sins and therefore change the rules to fit our needs. Shalom

"Arabs who respect the law are free to become Jewish. It is a democratic country." - Realist Seems to me that the Orthodox who control what is acceptable in conversions in Israel disagree with you Realist. I have known Americans who converted to Reform or Conservative Judaism that have seen those conversions denied by the Orthodox.

"The only difference today is that the Jews are the only group whose culture/language/religion is endemic to the land." - David G You mean Israel culture and Hebrew? Israeli culture is distinctly European and Hebrew had vanished as anything but a liturgical/literary language until resurrected starting a few hundred years ago in Eastern Europe. The 'father' of modern Hebrew as the national language of Zionism was Eliezer Ben-Yehuda Born in Russia, and who moved to Palestine in 1881, You spin an enjoyable myth David G, but it is void of historic veracity. p.s. Hebrew is closely related to Arabic as BOTH are Central Semitic Languages. For a long time Jews in Palestine largely spoke Aramaic, which is also a Northwestern Semitic Language. p.p.s. Ben-Yahuda's Hebrew newspaper was shut down due to Jerusalem's Ultra-Orthodox because they objected to the use of Hebrew for conversation.

I don't think it's a 'myth,' and here's why. First, there's no convincing evidence the Jews ever left Palestine, and a good deal of evidence most of them stayed. For one thing, in pre-modern times, people rarely were completely expelled, and for another, there's no record of any great influx from Arabia into Palestine. Some evidence of such a movement into southern Iraq, but not Palestine. For another, if the Palestinians are related to South Arabian peoples, then what do genetic marker studies show about 'Jews'? That they're related to Poles? No doubt, in the case of Polish Jews. I imagine Yemeni Jews are REALLY related to South Arabian peoples. Probably puts the Palestinians to shame. Then too, at no point prior to 1948 was there ever any period where Jews even aspired to be the sole people within what is now modern Israel. The whole thing is a novelty -- and one that has brought a great deal of suffering to perfectly innocent people.

True, there have always been a few Jews living in Palestine. They faired better or worse from ruler to ruler. They tended to revolt and those revolts always ended with them being dispersed, banned, and hunted.

"Funny the archeologists should find something that old that isn`t Jewish or Arab, but Byzantine. If my memory serves me right, the Byzantines spoke Greek, they were Christians, and they were the last hurrah of the Roman Empire in this region." - Zev Davis The Roman-Byzantine period in Jerusalem lasted over 700 years. Some construction went on. "And yes, Virginia, the most of the people who lived in Byzantine Palestine, as it was called were Jewish . . ." - ibid You believe in Santa Claus? Jews were a large portion of the population in Eastern Galilee and Southern Judea was Jewish, but over all the population of Byzantine Palestine was Christian and Pagan. Jews were expelled after the revolt against Gallus and were not readmitted until about 80 years later. In the end the Byzantine Emperor set out to kill the Jews in Palestine and Egypt. . . They were saved by the Arabs.

As I recall Greek and Aramaic were spoken in the Byzantine era. There was an independent Jewish kingdom around Jerusalem in the third century BCE. Jews formed the largest single ethnic group in what racists, imperialists and fellow travelers call Palestine. Indeed together with the other branch of the Children of Israel, the Samaritans, they formed the majority of the population in Judea-Samaria-Galilee until the invasions of the imperialist Arab armies of aggression. The Romans were fighting the Parthians; the Byzantines were fighting the Sassanids. The Sassanid empire displaced (or at least replaced) the Parthian empire.

Arabs who respect the law are free to become Jewish. It is a democratic country.

Dozens of nations have occupied Israel/Palestine. Canaanites, Israelites, Babylonians, Assyrians, Romans, Arabs, and Turks, to name a few, none of them had a more valid legal hold over it than the other, even the Canaanites probably took it from a group that has been lost to history. The only difference today is that the Jews are the only group whose culture/language/religion is endemic to the land. While the Palestinians might have some native cultural traits, ultimately their language and religion originate in the Arabian Peninsula, not the Levant, and unless that changes I think that will make all the difference in who will ultimately control it.

As I have read, as you have read, as we can see, in Safed, Tiberias, Jaffa, in "Arab villages" in the Gallilee, heck, in Peki'in, and other places in the Land of Israel. Too bad, that much of the work of Itzhak ben Tzvi hasn't been translated into European languages. The late second president of Israel documents the facts very well for anyone who wants to know. Of course, there will always be people who insist on "what they have been taught".

Recently, a myth has developed that despite Roman,and Jewish history to the contrary, that the Jews weren't dispersed but rather remained in place, and rather than fight conversion tooth and nail, as they had in the past, simply quietly converted to new religions, changed their names and forgot their family histories to become todays self-identified "Palestinians." This fasciating myth, in addition to being far fetched, also ignores modern genetic testing of Jews and Palestinians, showing most Palestinians have an Arab (Southern Semitic origin). Not too surprising, especially as the immigration of Arabs into pre-state Israel in recent times under the British is well documented i.e "Rape of Palestine (1938) William Ziff.

That is correct but what Jews have to realize too is that it has never been a Jewish only land - it has always had other tribes, cultures and peoples who have called Israel/Palestine home. Even before Jews arrived it was inhabited by other tribes - it is unnatural to the land to attempt to make it just one or the other - no one is truly native to this land - wether its out of Africa or the Arabia penisula - we are all immigrants.

I would add that no matter who controled the land politically, the fact is that there have always been Jews living in Eretz Yisroel. Even after the Diaspora began, Jews still remained in Eretz Yisroel.

So what are you suggesting? Hand the whole region back to Greece? Might be a fast track solution to get Israel and Palestine into the EU and solve all the political and refugee issues. On the other hand the Greek get some welcome help with their current budget problems. Sounds like a win-win solution!

The diaspora began after the destruction of the second temple during the first century of the Catholic Gregorian calendar (the one the west uses)- after that there were many people of different cultures in the region. In point of fact, there have always been people of various cultures in the region even before Jews arrived. Many Jews of ancient Israel/Palestine and others converted to Islam as well (as well as Christianity as the first Christians were Jewish) - so you can be Muslim and Palestinian and still be indigenous to the region. Just like Jews who by our own account came from Africa and are also strangers to the land.

Funny the archeologists should find something that old that isn't Jewish or Arab, but Byzantine. If my memory serves me right, the Byzantines spoke Greek, they were Christians, and they were the last hurrah of the Roman Empire in this region. And yes, Virginia, the most of the people who lived in Byzantine Palestine, as it was called were Jewish until most of them went into exile after they collaborated with the Parthians who promised them they could rebuld the Temple. That was in the second decade of the Seventh century. The Islamic Arabs arrived two decades later. Nuf said for the claims of antiquity by the Palestinian Arab historians!