I freely admit that my view of the Middle East has been shaped by the environment in which I was raised–Jewish, Zionist, Western. I have been conditioned, perhaps indoctrinated, to believe that the Jews are the indigenous people of the Land of Israel. In addition, beyond my religious beliefs, which I acknowledge might not be persuasive to non-believers, I have studied the history of the Jews’ miraculous return to our historic homeland and the juridical basis (Balfour, San Remo, League of Nations, United Nations, and the successive defensive wars) establishing our right to the land.

Nevertheless, as a former academic, I try to be open to new arguments and evidence. I am not so doctrinaire as to dismiss any idea, no matter how seemingly outlandish, without reasonable and fair consideration.

When UNESCO designated Sebastia as a Palestinian World Heritage Site, my initial reaction was a combination of outrage and amusement. Samaria is full of Jewish history and there is a literary and historical record documenting it. “In the thirty-first year of King Asa of Judah, Omri became king over Israel-for twelve years. He reigned in Tirzah six years. Then he bought the hill of Samaria from Shemer for two talents of silver; he built [a town] on the hill and named the town that he built Samaria, after Shemer, the owner of the hill.“ I Kings 16:23-24. Samaria is the ancient capital of the Kingdom of Israel, founded about 880 BCE and renamed Sebastia by Herod the Great in honor of Augustus.

Other than the Jews, there were no Palestinians in the time of Omri and none in the time of Herod.

The question of whether the majority of what are known as today’s Palestinians are descendants of recent immigrants or long-term indigenous populations has become highly contentious, as advocates for the Palestinian cause (notably Wikipedia) attempt to rewrite history. Nevertheless, the record and much evidence suggests that the most substantial portion of the Arab population descended from emigrants who arrived during the 19th and 20th century, including tens of thousands of Egyptian soldiers and peasants in the mid-nineteenth century when Ibrahim Pasha ruled (accounting for the ubiquity of the al-Masri name), an even greater number from Syria, Transjordan, and Lebanon, who arrived under Ottoman rule between 1890 and 1915, largely to support Zionist development, and a final influx during the British Mandate (1920-1948), driven by Jewish immigration, modernization, and development. As noted, recent efforts to document indigenous continuity and natural growth, adopted and advocated by Wikipedia and Palestinian apologists, are not persuasive, but have been widely disseminated.

UNESCO has willingly, even eagerly, allowed itself to be co-opted by the revisionist disinformation regime. In addition to the recent Sebastia howler, UNESCO has designated the birthplace of Jesus (Church of the Nativity and Pilgrimage Route in Bethlehem) as a Palestinian World Heritage Site. Without too much scoffing, because it is a bit unseemly, also listed as Palestinian sites are Hebron, Jericho, and the Saint Hilarion Monastery, none of which had any original connection whatsoever to Arabs, Islam, or Palestinians.

Oh, yes, also Jerusalem.

As mentioned, I was both skeptical, amused, and outraged, but also intellectually curious. I wrote to UNESCO and requested access to their archives to see whether any basis at all existed for what I took to be nothing but agitprop and hype. To my great surprise, they acceded to my request.

I have concluded the first round of research, having been provided complete access to their historical records. To say that I am shocked and a bit discombobulated would be an extreme understatement. But, intellectual honesty compels me to share some of my findings, in no particular order, since each one is an eye-opener, if not a revelation.

I need to reevaluate my entire belief system.

1. According to UNESCO, Fatriq Abdul Henry addressed the Virginia House of Burgesses before the Revolutionary War, as follows: “Is life so dear or peace so sweet, as to be purchased at the price of chains and slavery? Forbid it, Almighty Allah. I know not what others may say, but as for me, give me intifada or give me death.” In part because of that speech and in part because of the belief that developed in that colony that a martyr who died in the cause (shaheed) would spend eternity with seventy Virginians, the site has been proposed by UNESCO as a Palestinian World Heritage Site.
2. Stonehenge is a prehistoric monument dating from between 3000-2000 BCE. It was formerly believed to be some sort of observatory because its layout is aligned with the sun at solstices. Some believe it was a burial ground and some believe it was a spiritual retreat. UNESCO has discovered that it was a kosher hotel that was the site of the first Palestinian terror attack in 2742 BCE, on the first night of Passover. All that was left was a ring of standing stones, each around 13 feet high, 7 feet wide, and weighing around 25 tons. UNESCO has conditionally designated it a Palestinian World Heritage Site because it is the last architectural site of note to be associated with Palestinians prior to terror tunnels.
3. Battle of Hastings. The Norman invasion of England was previously thought to have involved only the French, the Angles, and the Saxons. UNESCO has discovered that there was a huge influx of Muslim immigrants to both France and England from Palestine in the years 1010-1065 (the large current Arab population extant in those countries supports the hypothesis). UNESCO has declared Hastings a Palestinian World Heritage Site, because it has discovered that the entire dispute was over which country would have to absorb the Palestinian refugees of the other. Current events suggest that both lost.
4. Reich Chancellery, Berlin, Germany. On this proposed Palestinian World Heritage Site, Haj Amin al-Husseini, the fugitive Grand Mufti of Jerusalem, met with Adolf Hitler on November 28, 1941. (While al-Husseini is an old Jerusalem name, it originally dates back to early Islamic history in Arabia–Mecca and Medina, circa 800 CE–from which it branched out across the Islamic world; sorry Wikipedia.) At the meeting al-Husseini agreed to marshall Arab support for the Axis and Hitler agreed to annihilate the Jews in Palestine when Germany prevailed. UNESCO thought this was an excellent arrangement; hence the designation.
5. London, England. In 1910, the London General Omnibus Company introduced the world’s first mass-produced motor bus. In 1911, a Palestinian terrorist tried to blow it up. An obvious choice for a UNESCO Palestinian World Heritage Site. Also in London, UNESCO took official note of the Thames Tunnel, the first modern tunnel successfully constructed under a navigable river. It connected Rotherhithe and Wapping; the first time Yahya Sinwar saw it, he said, “I can use it to kill Jews.” Slam dunk for a UNESCO Palestinian World Heritage Site.
6. Mount Sinai. Where God gave the Torah to the Palestinians.
7. Tel Aviv. Where the Palestinians established the first modern Palestinian city.
8. Nova Music Festival. Need I go on?Well, there you have it. We really need to reevaluate the whole situation. It is quite inconceivable that a respected organization like UNESCO would allow itself to be used as a cat’s paw of a group of terrorist thugs.

   So they must be right. The Palestinians were here first.

   But we are still not going anywhere.

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The above post originally appeared on my Substack (https://garyepsteinjd.substack.com/)