Nadene Goldfoot
The big question was of how this desolate land of Palestine made up of desert and swamps would ever look like anything or amount to anything was bothering even Sherif Hussein bin Ali (1853-1931) , the guardian of the Islamic Holy Places in Arabia. He was a leading Arab nationalist but he believed that the return of the Jews to their homeland would help resuscitate the county. This man fathered 4 boys and 3 girls with 4 wives, who became kings in the Middle East, so he wasn't so dumb. He was brilliant in my eyes. He was the Emir of Mecca and King of the Arabs, the last of the Hashemite Sharifians that ruled over Mecca, Medina and the Hijaz in unbroken succession from 1201 to 1925.
Sherif Hussein was the one who launched the Great Arab Revolt in June 1916 against the Ottoman Empire army who sided with Germany. He had allied himself during the 1st World War with the British and the French in his desire to establish a single independent and unified Arab state stretching from Aleppo (Syria) to Aden (Yemen), based on the ancient traditions and culture of the Arab people and Islamic ideas.
His 4 sons, Emir Ali, Emir Abdullah (King Hussein's grandfather-of Jordan) , Emir Faisal (King of Iraq and Syria) and Emir Zeid's (King of Iraq for short period) forces led the Arab army against the Turks. In the end, Britain and France denied the Arabs their unified Arab state, turning them against the very Jews they thought belonged there. They did gain their Hashemite Arab rule over all of modern Jordan, most of the Arabian peninsula and Syria, however, so it wasn't a total loss, and sooner than the Jews gained theirs. They gained far more than the Jews did, actually 80% of the land designated to be the Jewish Homeland. Maybe if Sherif Hussein could have lived longer, he would have put in another good plug for the Jews.
He had written the following, "The resources of the country are still virgin soil and will be developed by the Jewish immigrants. One of the most amazing things until recent times was that the Palestinian Arab used to leave his country, wandering over the high seas in every direction. His native soil could not retain a hold on him, though his ancestors had lived on it for 1,000 years.
At the same time, we have seen the Jews from foreign countries streaming to Palestine from Russia, Germany,Austria, Spain and America. The cause of causes could not escape those who had a gift of deeper insight. They knew that the country was for its original sons, for all their differences, a sacred and beloved homeland.
The return of these exiles to their homeland will prove materially and spiritually to be an experimental school for their brethren (the Arabs) who are with them in the fields, factories, trades and in all things connected with toil and labor."
As Hussein foresaw, Palestine bloomed only after Jews returned in greater numbers giving his people lots of jobs and training..
Resource: Myths and Facts, a concise record of the Arab-Israeli conflict by Mitchell G Bard PhD and Joel Himelfarb
http://www.kinghussein.gov.jo/sharif_hussein.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hussein_bin_Ali,_Sharif_of_Mecca
The big question was of how this desolate land of Palestine made up of desert and swamps would ever look like anything or amount to anything was bothering even Sherif Hussein bin Ali (1853-1931) , the guardian of the Islamic Holy Places in Arabia. He was a leading Arab nationalist but he believed that the return of the Jews to their homeland would help resuscitate the county. This man fathered 4 boys and 3 girls with 4 wives, who became kings in the Middle East, so he wasn't so dumb. He was brilliant in my eyes. He was the Emir of Mecca and King of the Arabs, the last of the Hashemite Sharifians that ruled over Mecca, Medina and the Hijaz in unbroken succession from 1201 to 1925.
Sherif Hussein was the one who launched the Great Arab Revolt in June 1916 against the Ottoman Empire army who sided with Germany. He had allied himself during the 1st World War with the British and the French in his desire to establish a single independent and unified Arab state stretching from Aleppo (Syria) to Aden (Yemen), based on the ancient traditions and culture of the Arab people and Islamic ideas.
His 4 sons, Emir Ali, Emir Abdullah (King Hussein's grandfather-of Jordan) , Emir Faisal (King of Iraq and Syria) and Emir Zeid's (King of Iraq for short period) forces led the Arab army against the Turks. In the end, Britain and France denied the Arabs their unified Arab state, turning them against the very Jews they thought belonged there. They did gain their Hashemite Arab rule over all of modern Jordan, most of the Arabian peninsula and Syria, however, so it wasn't a total loss, and sooner than the Jews gained theirs. They gained far more than the Jews did, actually 80% of the land designated to be the Jewish Homeland. Maybe if Sherif Hussein could have lived longer, he would have put in another good plug for the Jews.
He had written the following, "The resources of the country are still virgin soil and will be developed by the Jewish immigrants. One of the most amazing things until recent times was that the Palestinian Arab used to leave his country, wandering over the high seas in every direction. His native soil could not retain a hold on him, though his ancestors had lived on it for 1,000 years.
At the same time, we have seen the Jews from foreign countries streaming to Palestine from Russia, Germany,Austria, Spain and America. The cause of causes could not escape those who had a gift of deeper insight. They knew that the country was for its original sons, for all their differences, a sacred and beloved homeland.
The return of these exiles to their homeland will prove materially and spiritually to be an experimental school for their brethren (the Arabs) who are with them in the fields, factories, trades and in all things connected with toil and labor."
As Hussein foresaw, Palestine bloomed only after Jews returned in greater numbers giving his people lots of jobs and training..
Resource: Myths and Facts, a concise record of the Arab-Israeli conflict by Mitchell G Bard PhD and Joel Himelfarb
http://www.kinghussein.gov.jo/sharif_hussein.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hussein_bin_Ali,_Sharif_of_Mecca
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