Why burn the land you claim to love?

The well-known Biblical account of two women, arguing their case before King Solomon, that the live baby belonged to each one, comes to a shocking crescendo when one of the mothers agrees with the king’s bizarre suggestion to cut the baby in half. It was only as a result of the horrified reaction of the true mother that the king was able to discern to whom the baby belonged – exemplifying the one who cared for the welfare of the child. 

Because what purpose would half of a dead baby serve to anyone, let alone the mother who loved it?

In many ways, this story serves to reveal the heart of a human being, the deep passion felt for another, while the contrast exposes evil and malicious intent. This very same dynamic is playing out thousands of years later, with the land of Israel, representing the precious baby which one side has nurtured, developed and loved with all their heart, evidenced in the beauty of all that’s been created.

Contrast that to the other side, equally laying claim to that treasured blessing, but the difference is that in order to seize it, they are first willing to destroy it by setting it ablaze. That is what is being encouraged on Telegram channels, whose hundreds of thousands of followers, per Hamas posts, are being told to ignite and burn groves, forests and settler homes in the Judea and Samaria territories.  

The message, geared to Palestinian youth, who live in those areas as well as Jerusalem, is a clear incitement to ramp up violence, including setting cars on fire, all in the hope of terrorizing the Jewish citizens who they claim have stolen their land.

Ironically, if every Palestinian were to take their advice and burn down the forests, the nature reserves, the homes, the businesses, the cars and every other treasured asset which adds to the beauty, wealth and splendor of a country, what would they actually be inheriting?  

Would the burnt out, charred mess of ashes, along with the skeletal remains of homes, buildings and pretty much everything that once stood, still reflect a worthwhile conquest?

Aren’t they really envious of the Garden of Eden, which has been produced through the hard work as well as blood, sweat and tears of the first Zionist pioneers, followed by the exiles who returned from the Nazi death camps and then the passionate dreamers who left their respective countries to be part of the rebirth of the Jewish nation? Isn’t that the end-product which they deeply covet and are trying to appropriate for themselves? 

What they fail to realize is that once they destroy it, by impaling its beauty and wonder, they will no longer be in any position to enjoy and savor its magnificence? Because they will have inherited half of a dead baby with no benefit or pleasure to anyone.

It is this stark difference of two people which helps to reinforce the rightful owners of the land of Israel.  While Jewish archaeologists carefully and painstakingly sifted the earth for rare historical artifacts and treasured remains which are undeniable identifiers of Jewish generations who resided in this piece of real estate, destruction of these assets have been the work of the Muslim Waqf, (a council composed of 18 members and headed by a director, appointed in Jordan) in direct violation of their authority, per Supreme Court rulings.  

In 2007, for example, when “the Waqf requested authorization to dig a ditch to replace power lines, a layer of earth with pottery shards, from the days of the First Temple were found. Since 2004, archaeologists have been sifting through the rubble, removed by the Waqf, from the Temple Mount to the Kidron Valley…ancient finds which belonged to the late period of the Kings of Judea in the 8th and 7th centuries BCE.” 

These prized riches, held dear by the people whose ancestors possessed them, would be preserved and cherished, while the people who have no historical claim to the land would unearth them as rubbish, ready to toss them into the garbage bin of obscurity as a way to rewrite history.

That is why their message to the young is, “O youth of the West Bank, let us bring the flame of freedom which will not die. Let us make their night a burning day. Let us bring back to them the nightmares of occupation, so they know that every day is a struggle for the resistance. Set fires of freedom everywhere. We will not give in and will not give up until we burn every piece of stolen land.” 

This detestable instruction, being disseminated to the generation who, if triumphant in their violent efforts, would be the heirs of the land they just plundered and devastated.  It’s a generation which would not have one day of pleasure from the bounty and the abundance of every blessing which took 77 painstaking years of ingenuity, creativity and genius to create, because they would first have to restore it back to its former glory.

But while all that great investment was taking place, to build an incomparable Jewish homeland, what was happening to the people who adopted the Palestinian identity?  Why did they not value their lives and those of their children enough to fashion their own paradise of culture, education, technology, medical advances, agricultural know-how and every other benefit known to mankind?  

Why was theirs an investment into deprivation, destruction, violence, indoctrination of hate, envy and rage? Why did they waste their energies on ruin and devastation – all of which returned on their heads, embittering lives which, instead, could have produced beauty, artistic talent, a productive society and a joyful existence, all of which is part of the divine purpose for which we were given breath by our Creator? 

It is this type of contempt for the Almighty and His loving plan for humanity which has disqualified these haters from ever obtaining the land which was, in any event, deeded to the Jewish people and intended for them to inhabit and develop, because they value the gift of God and the blessings which accompanied His endowment.

Just as the wisest man who ever lived, the world must also distinguish the rightful owners of the land by acknowledging those who love and protect it, as opposed to those who would choose to completely destroy it so that no one else can ever enjoy it!