This is what they pray for. The Numbers Don’t Lie.

 Appeared in Jewish News Service (JNS) and my Times of Israel blog.

 

In the early 1970’s, a New York University finance professor of mine said to our senior class, “give me one set of numbers and I will give you two sets of answers.” For most of my professional business career this has been true.

Against that mantra, which I have lived by for many decades, I am going to offer a few sets of numbers and only one set of answers. Because there is only one answer.

1. The ‘land’ set of numbers. There are about 1.978 billion Muslims in the world today out of approximately 8.2 billion people. Seventy-two percent (72%) of Muslims live in countries where either the Islamic religious symbol (crescent moon) is on its national flag, Islam is the official state religion, and/or more than 70% of that country’s population identifies as Muslim. The total area of these Islamic countries is 10.8 million square miles (28.1 million square kilometers) or 21.6% of the world’s total landmass.

Christians (of any and all denominations) number about 2.167 billion people. Eighty-five percent (85.1%) live in countries where either the Christian religious symbol (cross) is on its national flag, a Christian denomination is the official state religion, and/or more than 70% of that country’s population identifies as Christian. The total area of these Christian countries is 30 million square miles (77.6 million square kilometers) or 59.6% of the world’s total landmass.

In comparison to these two largest religions in the world, there are only about 15.7 million Jews in the world. Forty-nine percent (49%) live in the one and only country where the Jewish religious symbol (Star of David) is on its national flag, Judaism is the official state religion, and/or more than 70% of that country’s population identifies as Jewish. The total area of this one and only Jewish country is 10.85 thousand square miles (37.7 thousand square kilometers) or just 0.03% of the world’s landmass.

As a point of comparison, the Islamic lands are 733 times larger than Israel.

 

Sources below.

2. The self-created “Palestinian Refugee” set of numbers. This refugee population was the direct result of Arab nations not taking in their fellow Arabs who became refugees in the 1948 war they started in order to wipeout (genocidal) the nascent Jewish state. It is important to note that these refugees were not strangers, as were (for example) Eastern European refugees were to Western nations after World War II (different dress, language, customs, religion, etc.). These newly named “Palestinian Refugees” were their own Muslim brothers and sisters who were kept in poor living conditions for generations in refugee camps. Through the unique unheard of concept of “generational” refugees, and the knowing involvement UNRWA, these disregarded relations were taught to aspire to be a human weapon against the State of Israel and Jews. Without understanding the true “why and how,” this has become the cause celeb by the mainstream media and the left.

At the end of World War II there were approximately 3.5 million European Jews who were survivors and classified as refugees. In the early to mid-1950’s there were 850,000 Jewish refugees forcibly exiled from Arab lands, where they had lived for over 1,000 years. While there are still some living Jewish WWII survivors and those exiled from Arab lands, today none of them are “refugees” because (per the accepted definition of a refugee) they, and therefore their descendants, have become citizens of the countries to which they have been relocated. Yet, from the approximate 720,000 original Palestinian Arab refugees of 1948, they and their descendants now number 5.9 million, and are still called “refugees.”

History is full of many different “population resettlement events” and can be found by simply web-searching that phrase. Jewish history, for example, is full of events that caused upheaval and massive, world-wide Jewish refugees, from ancient times to today: Babylonian Empire exiles (597 & 586 BCE), Roman Empire exiles (66, 115, & 132 CE), English expulsion (1290), Spanish Inquisition (1478), the Holocaust (1939), and in 1948 to the early 1950’s expulsion from Arab lands; to name a few. Therefore, the topic of resettlement is obviously not new and should be explored as a solution for the Palestinian Refugee crisis. (By referring to Palestine, it begs the question, what is the origin of the word “Palestine”?)

3. The “rightful claim to the land" set of numbers. Contemporaneous documentarians of history; repeated Biblical references to, and descriptions of, the Promised Land; in situ archaeological evidence; and international law (UN Resolution 181); even ancient and modern Muslim texts confirm the Jewish Temple in Jerusalem…all support the fact that the Land of Israel belongs to the Jews. It is acknowledged that the borders of the Biblical Promised Land have been adjusted to accommodate modern established countries and weapons (i.e.: Syrian snipers shooting at Jewish civilians from the Golan Heights from the early 1900’s until 1967).

4. The “religious law” set of numbers. It is important to note that there are no Jewish laws for land expansion. There has never been any empire building in Israel’s ancient or modern history. In fact, Israeli Prime Minister Meachem Begin returned the vast Sinia Peninsula to Egypt in the Camp David Accords (1978), even though it was legitimately captured land during a defensive war.

Furthermore, there are no Jewish commandments to convert non-Jews. In other words, the Jews and the State of Israel have no desire to conquer or convert…only to live in peace and in their own land. Period. Compare that to the centuries of empire building history of Christians, which has changed, and the expansionist history of Muslims, which has not changed and still goes on, to this day.

Finally, there is the Jewish concept of "dina d'malchuta dina" (דינא דמלכותא דינא "the law of the kingdom/country is the law"). This principle is often discussed in Jewish legal contexts and refers to the idea that Jews should generally follow the laws of the country in which they reside, as long as those laws don't contradict fundamental religious principles. Unlike Christianity and Islam which seek to impose their religious laws (i.e., abortion, close bars on Sundays, Sharia, etc.) on the laws of the land in which they reside.

Contrast this with many mentions in the Qur’an regarding disbelievers and world dominance. Here are just two: Al-Anfal 8:12 (“…cast terror into the hearts of those who disbelieved, so strike [them] upon the necks and strike from them every fingertip.”) and dominance At-Taubah 9:33 (…the religion of truth [Islam] to manifest it over all religion…”).

5. The ‘religious freedom’ set of numbers. If there’s a question of religious freedom for the growing percentage of Muslims (18%) living in Israel, there is no need for concern. All citizens (Muslims, Christian, Druze, Baháʼí, etc.) enjoy freedom of religion, access to their religious sites, education, political representation, employment, and more. This is guaranteed in Israel’s Declaration of Independence and its laws. Unlike non-Muslims living in many Islamic countries being subject to prejudicial and oppressed dhimmi status. Or as seen in the town of Bethlehem where the Christian population went from an overwhelming majority under Israeli control to around 10% under Palestinian Authority rule given to them in the 1993 Oslo Accords.

Additionally, the Muslim claim that Jerusalem is Islam’s third holiest site is actually weak and vague. Jerusalem is not mentioned once in the Qur’an. The claim that Mohamed ascended from the Temple Mount is based on Qur’an Sura Al-Isra (17:1) and Surah An-Najim (53:1-18). These texts do not mention, allude, or even refer to Jerusalem, let alone Israel.

Counter that “claim’ with the hundreds of times Jerusalem, Israel, Hebron, Jericho, and other known landmarks that exist today, are mentioned throughout and repeatedly described in the Tanaḥ (Jewish Biblical texts).

One set of answers. Each “set of numbers” above includes irrefutable facts of history on one side, juxtaposed by the consistent inflammatory words of the Arab and Palestinian leaders preaching and indoctrinating over the past hundred years and leading to ongoing terrorism, intifadas, and the barbaric inhumane actions of the current Iranian-backed Hamas-Israel war. In addition, there’s the fact of high growth and infiltration of Muslim population throughout much of the world.

The contextual comparison of the vastness of Muslim lands (21.6% of the world’s landmass), and the other “sets of numbers” above, is the conclusion that there obviously is no territorial, military, political, or religious objective to conquer the infinitesimal strip of land called Israel (0.03% of the world’s landmass).

Therefore, there can be only one set of answers: Muslims are actively pursuing the genocide/slavery/dhimmi of all disbelievers (Jews, Christians, Hindus, et al.), with the goal of Islamic domination of rule and religion over the entire world. The numbers don’t lie. It is what they pray for.

# # #

Sources for Table of Landmass and Selected Religions:

# # #

David S. Levine, MBA. Author “Revolutions: In Their Own Words – What They Really Say About Their Causes” and the forthcoming book “Prayer: In Their Own Words – What do They Pray For?” David is a former New York advertising agency and marketing executive, and a retired adjunct professor from Rutgers University's School of Communication. Follow him on X: @DavidsLevine.

 

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

This Liberation Movement’s Only Tactic is to Destroy.

   [As appeared in the Jerusalem Post (edited for space), unedited article below.] “The creation of a Palestinian state is only a means for continuing our struggle against the state of Israel…Palestinian identity would be emphasized for political reasons.” – Palestine Liberation Organization senior executive committee member. Objective or Tactic? A tactic, by definition, is a method used in the process of achieving an objective or goal. In this instance, creating the concept of a Palestinian peoplehood or state is a tactic that has been employed consistently, and I am afraid to say, brilliantly, for the sole purpose of destroying the modern Jewish State of Israel. The benefit or well-being of anyone identified as Palestinian is clearly not the objective or goal. The unfortunate success of this abhorrent tactic is evidenced by the continued deplorable condition of Palestinian refugees in neighboring Arab countries. And the “Palestinian’s” inhumane employment of te...
Read more

For Israel to Grow Up, it Needs Political and Electoral Reform Now

 As appeared in the Jerusalem Post and Times of Israel Blogs .   Israel has grown into a world power in a comparably short period of time despite constantly fighting for its survival against much larger odds on the geo-political stage or in actual warfare.   The “nation building” was important (and successful) but it was rushed with just enough for what was necessary. Most Western European and North American countries had either the luxury, time, money, peace, and/or focus, to build well thought out and scalable political infrastructures. Israel now needs to take that time and thoughtful approach.   The Knesset must put forth changes to maintain a national coalition that can last an elected term, as well as deal with the national divisiveness over “judicial reform” that ended abruptly on 7 October 2023. Both issues are poised to return once a new election date is declared, or the coalition unity is threatened.   Let’s simplify a complicated topic ...
Read more

Palestine By Any Other Name Is Still Israel

What’s in a name? An often-asked question whose answer is complicated. Why does the media call them Arab towns but Israeli settlements ? Why did Greece protest when a new country, located to their north, named itself Macedonia, and then forced by the outcry to rename itself North Macedonia? Why does my mother insist I am David and not Dave? The simple answer: Words have meaning. There is history and nuance behind words and names. So here is a little light history. The ancient dates below are approximate. Timeline through history. When Abraham, the first monotheist and Jew, answered G-d’s call it was the beginning of Judaism; 2075 BCE. After 410 years of slavery in Egypt, traveling through the desert for 40 years and receiving the 10 Commandments, the Jewish people (aka The Children of Israel), settled in the Promised Land (Israel) around 1250 BCE and established their kingdoms. When Constantine proclaimed the Edict of Milan in 313 CE, considered by many to be the beginn...
Read more