Just because you are Jewish doesn't mean you "know the real history"?
I have the Talmud in front of me and I've read through it completely once, sometimes I read sections from time to time but I prefer audio learning lately so I just refresh key quotes and ideals.
My assertion is that if I spoke to the average person of Jewish heritage they wouldn't know much about what's in the Talmud. THAT is Jewish history as viewed through understanding the Torah during periods of time when oral history was more common than written history. From the Mishnah to Rashis commentary etc.
As for the "Chosen One" theory. I believe we are all chosen, it just depends what that path is that G-d chose for us. Every religion has some aspect of "this is why I am good/ better/different than you as I follow the REAL faith". This isn't unique to Judaism I assure you.
The more recent history is well documented and free for all to study regardless of faith or lineage so you can be sure there are many non-Jews who understand their history as they have researched it in-depth. Just as there are many Canadians who know the history of my country better than I do.
The British in particular, being scholarly and lovers of history understand the creation of Israel as a Jewish state more than most since they essentially approved the return and there are some great historical readings about this period, the good, the bad and the ugly.
The increase of secularism in Israel is particularly interesting in my opinion as it defies the initial demands of Israels return, especially since David Ben-Gurion demanded the core of tenets of Judaism to be an aspect of the state. That is an aside but I believe it is important going forward for Israel, their values and beliefs. Just as we in the West seem to lose what helped formulate our great and FREE societies.
It's perhaps not unexpected with the rise of technology and science so prevalent in our lives that people think less about religion. It's similar to Christianity in much of the West, we know the Holidays, we might even know the history of the Holidays, but we don't pick up the bible much here, worse, we don't LIVE by the Judeo-Christian values which shaped our nations.
The push of Israel to be returned to the Jews was promoted exponentially more after the Holocaust and it was not just supported more with financial and legal sacrifices, but there was a powerful emotional need after the horrors of WWII were exposed. 60M Dead later, including 6M Jews.
Yes, there was a great deal of violence and injustice in the return of Israel, Churchill even turned his back in anger at times. It is history though and I try to understand the culmination of anger at how Jews suffered during WWII which lead to this return to Israel. However, it was voted on and decided by the U.N in 1948. That is the critical aspect of history which was decided during a turbulent period in humanity.
Now, nearly 80 years later, shouldn't Palestine have adapted and evolved into a functioning country? Go and look at the full list of countries that are less than 100 years old and you might be surprised, including those who left the former Eastern Bloc and/or became independent from their former colonial rule (both the decline of Russia and British Empires).
Taiwan, Singapore, Guyana, Croatia, Macedonia, just off the top of my head there are MANY more. All became functioning societies, for better or worse, often imperfect, they progressed.
Could anyone from that period have imagined the lack of progress for nearly a century?
There are Muslims in Israeli parliament. Where is the progress of Palestine? How come the Egyptians and others haven't been held to account for NOT helping them and/or absorbing them into the fold when it would have been beneficial?
There are too many people who have motives designed to keep Palestine from progressing. Many nations in the region do not want Israel there and they use Palestine for their ambitions, treat it as a buffer, a means to get international money and resources (used to buy weapons and build tunnels? Wow).
Arab nations in the region are finally understanding that it's time to move on and build relations. I do believe there should be two nations there, it is only a matter of time before this occurs so why not address it sooner than later? That's how I view it. I understand the resistance and alternatives should be discussed and assessed, but ultimately, which options makes most sense?
Regardless, Israel will remain an independent nation. It's been decided and we should all focus on moving forward. Any "real" history had better take into account all that was in consideration during that period. As for the problems between Israel and Palestine, I believe it would be wise for everyone to find some common ground, it's been too long already.
