That same evening when O’Connelly arrived in his room he saw the voice mail message light flashing on his bedside phone. A voice announced Hadi Mahmoud, saying he was a journalist and proposing a meeting in the hotel bar, leaving a mobile phone number. O’Connelly was curious, he called Mahmoud, who he was surprised to discover had been awaiting his return in the hotel lobby bar.
As O’Connelly entered the bar a man of about forty seated in one of the red leather armchairs in the far corner made him a sign.
‘Nice to meet you Mr O’Connelly, please site down. What would you like to drink?’
‘A cool beer would be nice.’
Mahmoud ordered the beer from a waiter who had arrived and a Pepsi Light for himself.
‘You must be wondering who I am?’
O’Connelly smiled politely.
‘My name is Hadi Mahmoud, I’m a journalist, the Jerusalem correspondent for Al Quods, that’s a Palestinian newspaper.’
‘You’re a Palestinian?’ said O’Connelly becoming a little wary.
He observed Mahmoud, a good looking man, a small moustache, a regular face, casually but smartly dressed, an expensive wristwatch, perhaps a ladies man as some would say.
‘Don’t worry,’ Mahmoud laughed, ‘I’m not a terrorist, nor am I a Palestinian in the sense you mean. I am an Israeli Arab.’
O’Connelly smiled a little embarrassed.
‘Let me explain, I’ve learnt that you’re here doing some research work for an archaeological book. What I would like to do is provide you with the Palestinian point of view of history in the Holy Land.’
The drinks were served and Mahmoud lifted his glass, ‘Cheers.’
‘Cheers.’
They sipped their drinks.
‘How did you get my name?’
‘Let us say from a mutual acquaintance.’
‘So how can I help you?’
‘As I said I am a journalist, you are a writer. We have both been taught that the pen is mightier than the sword – at least that is what we like to believe.’
O’Connelly nodded.
‘In the West everybody takes it for a given fact that this is the Promised Land of the Jews, nobody has ever stopped to wonder where the Palestinians came into the story. People some how think it is we who have usurped the land of Israel.’
O’Connelly in his mind seemed to agree with that, after all the Jews had lived there from the beginning of time until they were dispossessed. He remembered de Lussac’s work and the historical facts both ancient and modern.
If you have a little time I would be pleased to provide you with another vision of this land.’
O’Connelly nodded.
‘Before going into details, it is important to bear in mind the fact that we Muslims believe in all the prophets, including Jesus Christ, we consider the heritage of all prophets as our own. Islam is in fact an extension of the founding monotheist religion of the prophets prior to Islam.’
O’Connelly was surprised as the Muslims he had met in his own limited experience had never admitted such an idea.
‘By the way, I am not a fundamentalist. I am not even a very good Muslim. I believe in Allah, but I rarely pray or go to the mosque. That surprises you I can see.’
O’Connelly shrugged, it was not his business what a man believed or not.
Mahmoud spoke slowly and carefully, he avoided giving the impression of trying to convince or making an impassioned defence of religion.
‘Any way, we, that is us Muslims and you Christians share the same beliefs and values, the difference being is that Muslims believe Mohammed was the last and true messenger of God.’
O’Connelly drank his beer and listened he did not want to get involved in a religious debate, he himself a solid convinced atheist.
‘Do you know much about Islam?’
The question caught O’Connelly by surprise, in truth he new very little apart what filtered through in the media.
‘We believe, that Islam is the continuation and perfection of the monotheism of which were earlier versions,’ he said then paused waiting for a reaction. O’Connelly simply nodded.
‘The message Judaism and Christianity was superseded by the message of the Prophet Mohammed, the last prophet. You should know that Muslims recognize the Old Testament and the Bible as the words of God.’
O’Connelly was not surprised, but had to admit to himself that his knowledge of this fact was very recent.
However, we do not believe their message is exactly as it was revealed to Moses or Jesus, who were also messengers and prophets of God. So you see we have a lot in common.’
‘Interesting,’ he replied non-committally.
‘Islam recognizes Jesus but rejects the idea of the Trinity and Christ being the son of God. The Koran confirms the virgin birth of Christ and the story of Moses is also found in the Koran. We respect Jesus and Moses and all other prophets as they were true prophets of Allah.’
‘Tell me how Islam is structured? I mean the difference between Shias and Sunnis.’
‘There are two main sects with a number of smaller sects and branches. The Sunnis – I myself am a Sunnis, are the largest – followed by the Shias. We Sunnis do not have a structure like you Christians have a clergy or for that matter any formal organization. No one person or institution has religious authority.
‘What is the role of the imams?’
‘Our imams are prayer leaders, but if fact any respectable Muslim can lead the prayers. The muftis interpret laws of the Sharia whilst the Qazi or Kadi applies the Sharia.
‘In Iran, the Shias have an organized clergy with imams and ayatollahs as religious authorities who decide on religious questions. They can to some degree innovate and reform laws together with the state.’
‘What about questions of belief?’
‘There are few doctrinal differences between the Sunnis and Shias. The origin of the separation goes back to the succession of the Prophet. When Muhammad died in 632AD his role as the messenger of Allah ceased, since there was to be no messenger or prophet after him. So the difference had more to do with politics than anything else.’
‘And Saudi Arabia?’
‘Saudi Arabia is the home of the Prophet, but they have no authority outside of their country, though they are respected. Today the international Muslim community looks to specialists concerning their laws University of Al-Azhar in Cairo is a reference.’
‘I see, most interesting.’
‘Look, let us forget religion and talk about the Palestinians. If we look at history and archaeology we know that the Jews were just one of the many peoples that lived in this land in ancient times. We Palestinians, part of the nomadic Semitic people, lived here before the Jewish religion came into being.’
‘I’ve no argument with that.’
‘There were many tribes as we know from the Bible. Some of these tribes became Jews and others followed other ancient religions. The Jews rose to power and dominated the region, their power rising and falling with the regional balance of power and with the invasions of the Babylonians, Persians or Greeks. Then came the Romans and after the Revolt the Jews ceased to hold any power and were dispersed to all parts of the Mediterranean and Middle East. Palestine then became Provincia Syria Palaestina until the Arab conquest by Muslims.’
Mahmoud paused to let the words sink in, perhaps waiting for a reaction. He was disappointed O’Connelly had hear it all before, endlessly repeated by every expert and so called expert since he had started his research.
‘Look I don’t want to bore you with an historical exposé, what I would like is to spend a little time with you talking of the archaeological and historical evidence and to put into perspective the existence of the other peoples who have shared this land for thousands of years.’
‘So what do you suggest?’
‘Perhaps we can visit the Haram esh-Sharif tomorrow or the day after, as you wish, according to your schedule.’
O’Connelly looked more enthusiastic, it
could be useful, perhaps he could even get to see the cisterns: ‘Why not.’
‘Good, how long are you here for?’
‘For the moment I have an opened schedule.’
‘Then perhaps we could get to see the Nabateans in Jordan, they founded the first Arab city in Petra.’
That sounded like getting carried away to O’Connelly, though it would be a pity to miss the opportunity to visit Petra especially since Mahmoud sounded like a good guide.
‘Let’s stick to Jerusalem for the moment.’
‘No problem,’ he said with a smile, ‘so let me call you tomorrow and we can try to set up the visit to the Haram esh-Sharif.’
The next day he met Mahmoud early and the left for the Old City where they entered the Haram by the ramp at the Western Wall. It was a fine morning and when they entered the gate O’Connelly was surprised to find himself in a pleasant leafy square.
‘So let us start with a general tour, then we can look at the mosques.’
‘It suits me.’
‘As we walk I will tell you about our people.’
‘Fine,’ said O’Connelly looking around, there were few people, it was probably too early for the tourists.
‘We believe there was a covenant and it was given to Abraham and his descendants, but the children of Ismail and Mohammed are also the descendants of Abraham.’
Mahmoud then launched in a long deviation explaining how the present day Jews were not Abraham's descendants, but are Caspian Jews who were converted to Judaism in the ninth and tenth centuries AD.
He explained that the Jew’s vision of history was inexact and that Islam had through the Palestinians a longer presence in Jerusalem than that of the Jews. O’Connelly heard for the twentieth time the story of how the ancient inhabitants of Palestine had lived as nomads then establishing towns and villages long before the arrival of the Hebrews and their religion. O’Connelly had to agree he now knew that Palestine had been the home to many different peoples, the early Canaanites who were in fact the Philistines, then the Phoenicians and the many other tribes such as the Moabites, Edomites, Aramaeans and Ammonites. All these peoples had intermingled with the early Arab tribes that migrated out of the Arabian Peninsula from ancient times and after the Muslim Conquest.
Anthropological discoveries showed that early man lived in Israel since the dawn of humanity, evolving from hunter gatherers to early farmers and nomadic tribes that settled in the region in the Palaeolithic. Archaeological shows the sites of more than two hundred Canaanites towns and villages during the second millennium BC, long before Judaism had been established as the religion of the Hebrews.
The Hyksos ruled Palestine from the eighteenth to sixteenth centuries BC. They were a people of Western Semitic origin possible from southern Palestine who during the 12th and 13th dynasties migrated into Egypt. With a decline in Egyptian power they captured the Egyptian capital at Memphis according to historic records in 1648 BC.
During this period of time no Hebrew nation existed. At the time David is supposed to have existed the region was made up of different lands: Philistia, Phoenicia, Judah, Ammon, Moab, Edon with what is part of present day Syria including the area of Damascus. To the south were the Egyptians, the north the Hittites and to the east the tribes of Arabia, including those who founded the city of Petra. To the north were the Assyrians, Persians and Babylonians who in turn invade Palestine and were by the Greeks and Romans.
‘You see Mr O’Connelly during Roman times the Jewish presence ceased to exist in Palestine after the destruction of Herod’s Temple.’
‘That’s going a bit far, a whole people didn’t disappear in one go.’
‘I agree but their power was broken for almost two thousand years, as for those not killed or put into slavery they were gradually dispersed all across the Roman world.’
‘Some of them certainly remained.’
‘No doubt, but in 66AD, under the Emperor Nero, the Jews revolted against Roman rule again, and Titus put down the revolt once and for all in 70CE. It took him four years. After besieging the city he entered Jerusalem and razed Herod’s temple and the city, 350,000 were killed and the rest sold into slavery.’
‘Yes, that’s history.’
‘You can still see the triumphal arch in Rome, standing on the Via Sacra leading to the Forum, built to commemorate the conquest of Judea and the end the Jewish Wars. The soldiers can be seen carrying the Menorah.’
‘I’ve seen it – it remained in Rome almost four hundred years until Vandals sacked the city in 455AD. It went to Constantinople in the 6th century where it was probably melted down.’
‘The Jews revolted again in 132-135AD.’
‘In Jerusalem?’
‘No, in the rest of Judea occupied Jerusalem for a short time.’
‘Interesting I was not aware of that.’
‘Then Hadrian sent a huge army defeated the Jews and took over Jerusalem again, tens of thousands of Jews were killed and captured and Hadrian had the city razed, building a new capital they called Aelia Capitolina and the Jews were banished and did not for two hundred years.’
‘It was Christian then?’
‘Not yet. But in any case there were no more Jews. They fled from Judea and dispersed across the whole of Mediterranean area as far as Andalusia and even to Persia and Arabia. So for more than two hundred years they had no contact with Palestine, just their religious beliefs and the memory of their Temple. It was after the peoples of Palestine were Christianised, that is until the arrival of Islam.’
‘What effect did Christianity have on Palestine?’
‘Palestine became Christian under the Romans. Jesus, the son of Maryam, according to our Muslim belief, was one of God's signs sent to mankind. He declared himself as such at the very outset. He was a servant of God, and God made him a prophet. If I can quote the Koran, Jesus said:
I am indeed a servant of God: He hath given me revelation and made me a prophet; and He hath made me blessed wheresover I be, and hath enjoyed on me Prayer and Charity as long as I live.’
‘So the Palestinians were romanised.’
‘Yes, at that time Aramaic had long since replaced Hebrew, then with the arrival of Christianity as the official religion of the Eastern Roman Empire in Constantinople, Greek became the language of the educated class.
‘The latest archaeological research work shows that Abraham came into Israel from the north in the seventh century AD, which is total conflict with the interpretation of Jews and Christians.”
‘So you agree that the first Temple could not have been built at the time attributed to David.’
‘That’s correct, the general idea is that David and Solomon lived in the ninth century before Christ, and that is totally wrong. The Bible was written by the Jews to justify their domination of the different peoples who lived in Canaan, forming the Kingdom of Judah.’
52
Akhenaton
‘You can be a good scientist and you can believe. You can be a good scientist and not believe’. Finklestein