Dead
Sea Scrolls Document History of Israel, Refute Palestine, Occupation
Photo: Joel Leyden / Israel News Agency
By
Joel Leyden
Israel News Agency
Jerusalem
--- February 10, 2012 .... One need not trek thousands of miles
to view the ancient Dead Sea Scrolls in Jerusalem.
Smack in the middle of Times Square and Broadway in New York City,
the Discovery Museum has been displaying this ancient, Hebrew
literature since last October.
The
ancient, 2,000 year-old Hebrew scrolls were accidentally discovered
in 1947 by a Bedouin boy high above the Israel Dead Sea in a number
of caves. The Dead Sea Scrolls reveal the history of the Jewish
Second Temple period (520 B.C.E.-70 C.E.), particularly from the
second century B.C.E. until the destruction of the Second Temple
in 70 C.E. - a time of crucial developments in the crystallization
of the monotheistic religions. The Dead Sea Scrolls are made up
of roughly 900 documents and biblical texts. They are made of
animal skin, papyrus and even forged copper and are considered
one of the greatest archaeological finds of the 20th century.
The
Dead Sea Scrolls are a vivid testament to the life, times, community
and legal heritage of the Jewish people to the land of Israel.
In
a world filled with blatant propaganda and lies by the Palestinian
Authority (PA), Iran, Hamas and Islamic Jihad, it is refreshing
to view upon these well preserved documents that speak of community
and values by Jews who lived in biblical Israel.
How
can Arabs or the UN declare that Israel, the West Bank or
Gaza is occupied land when these documents were written over
600 years before the prophet Muhammad, before there was anything
called Islam or Palestine?
These Jewish documents contain numerous copies of books from
the Hebrew Bible, written in Hebrew, not Arabic!
How
can Arabs or the UN declare that Israel, the West Bank or Gaza
is occupied land when these documents were written over 600 years
before the prophet Muhammad, before there was anything called
Islam or Palestine?
These Jewish documents contain numerous copies of books from the
Hebrew Bible, written in Hebrew, not Arabic!
The
The Israel Antiquities Authority has done a fine job in preserving
and providing global exhibits of these documents, artifacts which
directly mention the Ten Commandments.
At
the Discovery
Times Square exhibit The Dead Sea Scrolls: Life and
Faith in Biblical Times," a recently arrived set of 10 new
documents have been installed to replace the previous set on display.
The new collection includes a section from the book of Isaiah
and two scrolls never before seen by the public, Greek Minor
Prophets and Job Targum.
The
New York Dead Sea Scrolls exhibit is being sponsored by American
Express, WNBC, The Westin, Sheraton Hotels, Ahava and El Al Israeli
Airlines.
The Dead Sea
Scrolls exhibit in New York was created to appeal to the general
public with thousands of Christian and Jewish visitors visiting
the museum on a daily basis. The exhibition contains 500 different
artifacts dating back as far as 3,000 years, including a giant
stone from the Western Wall and several ossuaries (stone containers
used to store human bones). Among the ossuaries are those speculated
to have come from the family tomb of Jesus and Mary.
Security
surrounding these artifacts could not be more stringent. Each
person who walks into the Discovery Museum in New York is profiled
and then escorted through the exhibit.
As
one walks onto the sand drenched floors of this New York City
museum Dead Sea Scrolls exhibit and enters a colorful multimedia
display they are greeted with the words: "welcome to Israel."
And
that is the way it should be. The Dead
Sea Scrolls are Israel. But you would never know it by Israel's
lack of effective PR.
The
New York PR firm MWW is responsible for publicizing the Israeli
exhibit. They state that this exhibit is not in New York to make
a political statement but rather to be enjoyed and embraced as
history at its best.
Coins used
in Israeli communities over 2,000 years ago.
Photo: Israel News Agency
But
with Iran, Syria, Hamas, Hezbollah and the PA now teaming up with
millions of dollars in Arab oil money for public relations to
delegitimize the State of Israel there has never been a more important
time than to hold the Dead Sea Scrolls up high whenever someone
mentions the words occupation or Palestine.
Yes,
there were Arabs living in what was once called the Palestinian
Mandate by the British, Arabs who chose war rather than creating
their own state next to a Jewish one in 1948. Arabs who came from
Syria, Jordan and Egypt. Arabs who never had and only created
a government called Palestine in 1967. The newly formed Palestinian
Fatah movement led by Egyptian born Yasser Arafat called for war
to eliminate Israel. Prior to 1967, there were no Palestinian
coins, stamps, flags, literature - nothing to relate to either
a government or society of "Palestinians" in the region
of Israel, Judea and Samaria.
So
the next time you hear or read the word "occupation"
in Facebook, Twitter or YouTube, please respond with three words:
Dead Sea Scrolls.
They
were around a few years before Yasser Arafat.
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