Protestantism introduced three principles, or myths, into the core of Christian doctrine, integrating the Jewish dimension with the Christian one regarding the issue of Jerusalem and Palestine. These principles are:
First, the Jews are the children of God and His chosen people.
Second, there is a divine covenant connecting the Jews to the Holy Land in Palestine.
Third, linking Christian faith to the return of Christ through the establishment of a Zionist state.
These principles/myths gave rise to the “Christian-Zionist” current in Western civilization. This movement was exploited by the Zionist movement in partnership with Western imperialism. Benjamin Netanyahu, when he served in the United Nations as the ambassador of the Zionist entity, stated in his address to the General Assembly in February 1985: “The writings of Christian Zionists, English and Americans, have directly been applied to the thinking of historical leaders such as Lloyd George (1863–1945), Arthur Balfour (1848–1930), and Woodrow Wilson (1856–1924) at the beginning of the twentieth century.
The dream of the Great Meeting (the call of Christ) illuminated the imagination of these men, who played a crucial role in establishing the political and international foundations for the revival of the Jewish state. Thus, the Zionist dream erupted through Christian Zionists!
The Western Christian myths became a Christian-Zionist current, aligning with the modern Zionist movement and exploiting it to achieve the ambitions of the Crusader-Zionist partnership against Jerusalem and Palestine.
With the onset of the modern Western colonial invasion led by Bonaparte (1769–1821) in Egypt and the East (1213 AH–1798 CE), Bonaparte threw the ropes of partnership to the Jewish minorities to assist him in establishing his colonial empire in the Islamic East and to plant them, in return, in the land of Palestine. Thus, while stationed at the walls of Acre in 1799, he issued an appeal to the Jewish people, stating: “O unique people, France now extends its hand to you, carrying the legacy of 'Israel.' The army sent by divine providence has chosen Jerusalem as its headquarters, and within a few days, it will move to Damascus, a city that has long scorned the legacy of David and humiliated it!
O rightful heirs of Palestine, the French nation invites you to your legacy, pledging its support and endorsement against all invaders.” (1)
After the defeat of Bonaparte and the evaporation of his colonial dreams amidst the flames of Egyptian revolutions and the heat of their sacrifices, English colonialism took over the Western project of colonizing the Islamic East and seizing Jerusalem. These imperial ambitions were cloaked in religious myths and theological delusions, serving as a combat doctrine in the historical conflict between the West and Islam.
In 1649, two Anglican theologians, Joanna and Albenscartrapt presented an appeal to the English government to form a partnership with the Jews in the project to steal Jerusalem and Palestine. The goal was to allow English and Dutch Protestants the “honor of transferring the Jews to the land that God promised their ancestors Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, granting it to them as an eternal inheritance!” (2)
In 1838, England established its first English consulate in Jerusalem, appointing a Protestant clergyman as its deputy consul!
In 1839, the English Lord Ashley Cooper (Earl Shaftesbury) (1801–1885) published his study, stating, “The Jews are the hope for the renewal of Christianity and the Second Coming of Christ,” to rule the world for a thousand happy years!
Also in 1839, the Secretary of the English Navy sent a letter to the Foreign Minister Palmerston (1784–1865), suggesting inviting Europe to follow the example of the Persian king Cyrus (557–528 BCE) and returning the Jews to Palestine, as Cyrus had returned them from ancient captivity!
In 1840, Lord Palmerston, the English Foreign Minister, asked his ambassador in Astana to press the Ottoman Sultan to bring back the Jews to Palestine to create a barrier against the resurgence of unity in the East, which Muhammad Ali (1184–1265 AH, 1770–1849 CE) was working towards. In Palmerston's memorandum, it was stated, “It would be in the clear interest of the Sultan to encourage the Jews to return to Palestine, to serve as an obstacle to any goals that might come to the mind of Muhammad Ali or his successors.” (3)
In 1840, the English Lord Shaftesbury presented a program to the London Conference regarding the settlement of Jews in Palestine, based on the principle of “a land without a people for a people without a land!” This principle was adopted by the Crusader-Zionist partnership to usurp Jerusalem and Palestine.
In 1844, the English Parliament established a committee on “the return of the Jewish people to Palestine!”
In 1882, the English clergyman William Hechler (1845–1931) went to Sultan Abdul Hamid II (1258–1336 AH, 1842–1918 CE) in Constantinople, attempting to persuade him to facilitate the migration of Jews to Palestine.
In the same year (1882), the first conference of Christian religious leaders was held in England to “find a solution to the Jewish issue!”
In 1894, the English diplomat and clergyman William Hechler published the book “The Return of the Jews to Palestine” as an implementation of religious prophecies!
On November 2, 1917, the Balfour Declaration was issued by James Balfour (1848–1930), the British Foreign Secretary, to Zionist millionaire Lord Rothschild (1845–1934), promising the establishment of a national home for the Jewish people in Palestine, a promise that was later implemented under British mandate. In 1917, the British Army entered Jerusalem under the command of General Allenby (1861–1936), and on that day, he said his famous words, “The Crusades have now ended!”
On that occasion, the English magazine “Punch” published a suggestive caricature featuring the crusader King Richard the Lionheart saying, “At last, my dream has come true!”
Thus, Protestant religious myths and imperialistic ambitions were wrapped around usurping Jerusalem and Palestine.
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(1) Dr. Mohamed Eamara, “In the Jurisprudence of Confrontation between the West and Islam,” page 21, published by El-Shorouk Al-Dawliyya bookstore, Cairo, 2003.
(2) “Evangelical Fundamentalism: Christian Zionism,” pages 36 and 39.
(3) George Kirk, “A Brief History of the Middle East,” translated by Omar Al-Iskandari, in Al-Alf Kitab project, Cairo, and Dr. Mohamed Eamara, “Israel: Is It Semitic?” page 14, Cairo, 1967.
Source: “Al-Azhar Magazine,” April 12, 2015.
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