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<h1 class="gmail-reader-title">Zionist Myths: Israeli Invention of National Symbols</h1>June 27, 2023</div>
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<img src="https://www.palestinechronicle.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/May-Golan-678x455.png" alt="" title="May Golan" class="gmail-moz-reader-block-img" style="margin-right: 25px;" width="421" height="283">
Israeli far-right politician May Golan at a Flag March in Jerusalem, in 2021. (Photo: Adi Hodefi, via Wikimedia Commons)
<p><strong>By <a href="https://www.palestinechronicle.com/writers/jamal-kanj" title="Display all articles for Jamal Kanj">Jamal Kanj</a></strong></p><blockquote>
<h3>The absence of an authentic Israeli national memory made it crucial
for political Zionism to construct a convoluted web of deception by
appropriating national symbols.</h3>
</blockquote>
<p>If a random group of highly educated individuals were asked who
established the city of Jerusalem, some might plead ignorance, but most
would likely answer King David. After all, it’s ostensibly known as the
City of David.</p>
<p>This example demonstrates how unchallenged legends, originating from
non-historical documents like religious texts, can shape the sophistical
historical narratives. This article will delve into major Zionist
wonted myths that are accepted at face value in the West.</p>
<p>The organic development of nations relies on several factors: mainly
national symbols that form an important part of the national memory,
distinct cultural heritage, belonging, territory, values, customs,
traditions, language, and social behaviors. These elements evolve
gradually and are transmitted over generations, forming the foundation
of nationhood.</p>
<p>However, the development of the State of Israel followed an
unconventional path. The political Zionist movement took a reverse
approach by occupying the territory, first, bypassing the natural
process of generational development and appropriating various aspects of
the local surface culture, including national symbols.</p>
<p>Israeli leaders often assert, for instance, that Jerusalem has been
the Jewish capital for 3000 years. In the West, the veracity of such a
claim is not questioned, either out of ignorance, religious
accommodation, or outright fear of being accused of “antisemitism” for
challenging Zionist narratives. This organized intimidation is the
primary reason why critical thinking in the West often fails to
challenge Israeli accounts.</p>
<p>As a result, only a few are aware that the city of Jerusalem served
as the capital of the original Palestinians for over 6000 years, long
before it was occupied by Jewish tribes from Mesopotamia. Historical and
archaeological evidence points to the Phoenician Canaanites, the
ancestors of today’s Palestinians, as the first human settlement in
Jerusalem in the 4th millennium BCE. The Jebusites, a Canaanite tribe,
referred to the small town on the hill as “Urushalim.” The name is a
portmanteau term blending the words “uru,” meaning “founded by,” and
“Shalem,” the Phoenician Canaanite god of dusk, hence, “Urushalim.”</p>
<p>Consequently, the most well-known Israeli national symbol, Jerusalem,
was not the City of David. In fact, it was built 3000 years before
David’s birth, and was dedicated to the Canaanite god of dusk, Shalem,
not Avraham’s Elohim. Israel and Zionism adopted a variation from the
Canaanite lexicon, calling the city “Yerushaláyim,” implying a Hebrew
association with the original name.</p>
<p>The Zionist appropriation of national symbols is so pervasive that I,
too, once fell for this misconception, mistakenly believing that
“Urushalim” had a Hebrew origin. I recall hearing a Christian priest in
Lebanon refer to Jerusalem as “Urushalim,” instead of its Arabic name,
“Al Quds.” At the time, I failed to realize that the priest was using
the original Canaanite name, reminding us that modern Zionists
appropriated the name “Urushalim” when the city was occupied in the 10th
century BC and again in the 20th century AD.</p>
<p>In addition to the historically forged claim of being the “eternal
capital,” another iconic national symbol that has been falsely portrayed
as exclusively “Jewish” is the six-pointed star in the Israeli flag.
Contrary to popular belief, the hexagram in the Israeli flag is not
solely a Jewish symbol. Prior to its association with Judaism in
17th-century Eastern Europe, the earliest Jewish usage of the symbol was
inherited from medieval Arabic literature by Kabbalists for use in
talismanic protective amulets.</p>
<p>The symbol was also used in Christian churches as a decorative motif
many centuries before its first known use in a Jewish synagogue. Israeli
historian Shlomo Sand’s book, “The Invention of The Land of Israel,”
explains that the Star of David is not an ancient Jewish symbol but has
its origins in the Indian subcontinent, where it was extensively used by
various religious and military cultures.</p>
<p>The two equilateral triangles can still be found today in the
stunningly intricate mother-of-pearl inlay work featuring hexagrams as
part of mosaic designs on walnut chairs, tables, and wooden boxes in
present-day Syria. This exquisite art form dates back thousands of years
in the city of Damascus, the world’s oldest continuously inhabited
city.</p>
<p>Another symbol that lacks inherent religious significance in history
is the so-called “Western Wall.” The wall is not an internal structure
and cannot be part of a building. Rather, it is an exterior embankment
supporting higher ground (Haram el Sharif/ Noble Sanctuary) and an
extension of the defensive exterior wall surrounding the Old City, which
predates the Jewish presence in the city. The approximately
2.5-mile-long and 40-foot-high fortification wall was reconstructed
between 1537 and 1541 under Ottoman Sultan Suleiman I.</p>
<p>Jews who assimilated within Palestinian culture but maintained their
religious beliefs lived in Palestine, including Jerusalem, alongside
their Muslim and Christian compatriots for centuries. Throughout
history, before the advent of the Western Christian Messianic movement
and the birth of political Zionism, there are no historical records
indicating that the Western fortification wall was used as a prayer
site. The west side of the wall only became a religious attraction in
the seventeenth century, driven by Christian religious devotees who
wanted to hasten the return of the Messiah.</p>
<p>In an attempt to validate their delusional fantasies, successive Israeli governments have conducted extensive excavations <a href="https://www.middleeastmonitor.com/20151013-israels-haunted-temple/">beneath the Noble Sanctuary</a> for over sixty years. However, they have yet to produce any archeological evidence pointing to a religious Jewish site.</p>
<p>In more recent history, it is little-known that the melody of the
Israeli national anthem, “Hatikvah,” originally belonged to the World
Zionist movement’s anthem and was adapted from the famous tune “Vltava”
(My Homeland) by Czech composer Bedřich Smetana.</p>
<p>The absence of an authentic Israeli national memory made it crucial
for political Zionism to construct a convoluted web of deception by
appropriating national symbols and imbuing alternative facts that have
become ingrained in the Western national discourse. By inculcating false
narratives, legends, and fables into the mainstream, a new reality is
shaped, or as Nazi propagandist Joseph Goebbels famously said, “A lie
told once remains a lie, but a lie told a thousand times becomes the
truth.”</p>
<p>The latter could possibly explain the mutual adulation between Donald Trump, and his Hebrew version, Benjamin Netanyahu.</p>
<p><em>This is the third of a series of articles that will explore
Zionist myths, artificial history, and made-up culture. For the first
article, click <a href="https://www.palestinechronicle.com/zionist-myths-israeli-invention-of-artificial-reality/">here</a>. For the second article, click <a href="https://www.palestinechronicle.com/zionist-myths-and-israels-fairytale-history/">here</a>.</em></p>
<div><p><br></p><p><span><em>–
Jamal Kanj is the author of “Children of Catastrophe,” Journey from a
Palestinian Refugee Camp to America, and other books. He writes
frequently on Arab world issues for various national and international
commentaries. He contributed this article to The Palestine Chronicle</em></span></p></div>
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