The airbrushing of Middle East history

Media • September 2010 • Views: 657

In the Guardian, Giles Tremlett writes about Europe’s first Christian theme park in Mallorca. He writes:

Exact details are scant, but the Buenos Aires park offers its re-enactments of the creation of mankind, the birth of Christ, the resurrection and the last supper eight times a day. With a cast of extras in the costumes of Romans and early Palestinians, the park advertises itself as ‘a place where everyone can learn about the origins of spirituality.

‘Early Palestinians’, eh? And just who were these ‘early Palestinians’? Well, they were what we would otherwise call… Jews. Jesus was a Jew. The ‘last supper’ was the Jewish Passover seder. The land of the New Testament was called Judea and Samaria. The people who lived there and were persecuted by the Romans were not called Palestinians. They were Jews.

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6 comments

freetoken Tue, Sep 14, 2010 8:49:52pm

Melanie Phillips ought to be the last person to be writing about “airbrushed” history. For example, she writes:

[…] Ateek has revived the ancient Christian doctrine of supersessionism, or replacement theology […]

Sorry, but no, that’s wrong. Supersessionism has been alive and well - indeed that theocratic hero Rushdoony and his followers all believe in it, and it’s still part of formal Christian doctrines for many.

Samson Tue, Sep 14, 2010 9:07:12pm

re: #1 freetoken

Perhaps you are correct about the issue of “supersessionism”, but the fact is that the Guardian article grossly misrepresented history by referring the the Jews (or Israelites if you prefer) as “early Palestinians”. Here’s the link to the Guardian article and, no, it’s not OK:

guardian.co.uk

Melanie Phillips is exactly right when she says:

“Early Palestinians’, eh? And just who were these ‘early Palestinians’? Well, they were what we would otherwise call… Jews. Jesus was a Jew. The ‘last supper’ was the Jewish Passover seder. The land of the New Testament was called Judea and Samaria. The people who lived there and were persecuted by the Romans were not called Palestinians. They were Jews.”

Bob Levin Wed, Sep 15, 2010 1:09:24am

re: #2 Samson

I remember my first foray running the LGF gauntlet was defending Melanie Phillips—but she’s wrong here.

First, no one in their right mind expects anything fair regarding Jews, Israel, Judaism, from the Guardian. But if you point out their obvious bias, at least be accurate—which is the point.

The Last Supper wasn’t a Seder. The Temple was still standing at the time, which means that the laws of Passover were still in effect, and a pascal lamb was brought to the Temple. I doubt anyone would argue Da Vinci had a Seder in mind when doing the painting.

This goes along with another myth about Jewish history, that we built the Pyramids. We didn’t. So, I would say that if we complain about the accuracy of others, then we’ve got to be accurate ourselves.

Samson Wed, Sep 15, 2010 7:22:48am

re: #3 Bob Levin

Your points are all well taken, but the substitution of “Jews” or “Israelites” by the politically loaded (and completely incorrect) term “early Palestinians” is unusual even for The Guardian. See also comments from CiF Watch:

cifwatch.com
cifwatch.com

I found this comment particularly apropos:

“On the other hand – and trying to look on the bright side – if the Guardian can persuade its readers that Jesus’ contemporaries were ‘early Palestinians’, then in theory we should finally have heard the last of the old anti-Semitic trope of Jews as Christ killers.

No; for some reason I don’t really believe it will work out that way either.”

Bob Levin Wed, Sep 15, 2010 1:12:08pm

re: #4 Samson

Actually, it’s not unusual at all. The bright side is that if you run into someone who takes the Guardian seriously—to paraphrase Lt. Aldo Raine—they really never like to take off that beautiful uniform.

Samson Wed, Sep 15, 2010 3:10:06pm

re: #5 Bob Levin

Thanks again for your comments. I still maintain that the use of the term “early Palestinians” represents some sort of new low, even for the The Guardian. I searched the paper’s website and I could not find another article that used this term as a euphemism for Jew or Israelite. In fact, practically the only place you can find this particular term used on the entire web is in the Guardian article itself or in blogs or articles written about it. I guess you could say that Tremlett has authored an “instant classic”.

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