Post by Okwes on Jun 2, 2008 10:27:31 GMT -5
Native American take on US support for Israel
Newcomb: American Zionism
Posted: May 23, 2008
by: Steven Newcomb / Indigenous Law Institute
www.indiancountry.com/content.cfm?id=1096417346
In his May 15 speech before the Israeli Knesset,
President George W. Bush invoked the Old Testament
story of the chosen people and the Promised Land. Bush
said that the establishment of Israel in 1948 ''was
the redemption of an ancient promise given to Abraham,
Moses and David - a homeland for the chosen people in
Eretz Yisrael.''
Bush also spoke explicitly of an alliance and a
friendship between Israel and the United States rooted
in the Bible. The source of the link between the two
countries, he said, ''is grounded in the shared spirit
of our people, the bonds of the Book, the ties of the
soul.'' Then, weaving a bit of American history into
the mix, Bush told his audience: ''When William
Bradford stepped off the Mayflower in 1620, he quoted
the words of [the Hebrew prophet] Jeremiah 51:10:
'Come let us declare in Zion the word of God.'''
According to Bush, ''The founders of my country saw a
new promised land and bestowed upon their towns names
like Bethlehem and New Canaan. And in time, many
Americans became passionate advocates for a Jewish
state.'' American Indian lands, in other words, were
viewed by the founders of the United States as a new
Land of Canaan, a promised inheritance and everlasting
possession.
Although there may be those orthodox Jews who would
not concur with Bush's characterization of the Old
Testament, his speech illustrates the kind of thinking
that has played such a prominent role in the historic
mistreatment of American Indians by the United States,
and in the callous and often brutal mistreatment of
Palestinian people by the state of Israel. The mental
model of a chosen people and a promised land provides
a convenient rationalization whereby one people feels
entitled and justified, by divine right, to take over,
possess, and profit from the lands of other peoples.
The Old Testament tells us that Abraham was originally
named Abram. In Genesis 15:18, we find the description
of a ceremony on the ''same day the Lord made a
covenant with Abram, saying, Unto they seed
[offspring] have I given this land, from the river of
Egypt unto the great river, the river Euphrates: The
Kenites, and the Kenizzites, and the Kadmonites, And
the Hittites, and the Perizzites, and the Rephaim, And
the Amorites, and the Canaanites, and the Girgamonkeyes,
and the Jebusites.'' (KJV)
The grammatical placement of a colon after the word
''Euphrates'' indicates that not merely land was being
given to Abraham and his descendants; the indigenous
peoples already living in the land were also being
given to Abraham and the ''chosen people.'' The
colonial adventure story of the Old Testament tells us
that ''the Lord'' brought Abram to ''this land to
inherit it.'' After renaming him Abraham, ''a father
of many nations,'' the deity told Abraham: ''And I
will give unto thee, and to thy seed after thee, the
land wherein thou art a stranger, all the land of
Canaan, for an everlasting possession.''
By using Bradford's quote of Jeremiah, Bush was making
a metaphorical connection between the United States
and Israel, but also between Zion and the lands of the
indigenous nations of North America. Bradford used the
Old Testament quote of Jeremiah to project the concept
of Zion onto the lands of the indigenous nations in
North America. Clearly, this is an American version of
Zionism.
In 1823, the U.S. Supreme Court delivered a landmark
decision in the case Johnson v. M'Intosh, a decision
that was fully in keeping with the chosen
people-promised land tradition. The unanimous ruling
was written by Chief Justice John Marshall regarding a
supposed land dispute. The court used the doctrine of
Christian Discovery and Dominion as the basis for its
decision. Marshall said that a ''discovery'' by
''Christian people'' of lands inhabited by
''heathens'' resulted in the Christians having an
''ultimate title'' and ''ultimate dominion'' to those
lands. The Johnson ruling still serves today as the
cornerstone of U.S. federal Indian law and policy and
in 2005 the U.S. Supreme Court cited the doctrine of
discovery in City of Sherrill v. Oneida Indian Nation
of New York.
The Johnson ruling is premised on the idea that when
Christians, as the new chosen people, locate or
discover lands that have not yet been taken over and
possessed by other Christians, the ''discoverers,'' as
if by magic, obtain the divine right and authorization
to assert an ultimate dominion over and subdue those
lands, and the indigenous peoples living there.
Bush's use of the chosen people-promised land model
before Israel's Knesset reflects a mentality of
privilege and entitlement by supposed divine right.
This mental framework has greatly contributed to the
intractable aspects of U.S. policy towards American
Indian nations and Israel's policy toward the
Palestinian people.
Steven Newcomb, Shawnee/Lenape, is indigenous law
research coordinator in the education department of
the Sycuan Band of the Kumeyaay Nation in San Diego
County, co-founder and co-director of the Indigenous
Law Institute, and author of ''Pagans in the Promise
Land: Decoding the Doctrine of Christian Discovery''
(Fulcrum Publishing, 2008).
Newcomb: American Zionism
Posted: May 23, 2008
by: Steven Newcomb / Indigenous Law Institute
www.indiancountry.com/content.cfm?id=1096417346
In his May 15 speech before the Israeli Knesset,
President George W. Bush invoked the Old Testament
story of the chosen people and the Promised Land. Bush
said that the establishment of Israel in 1948 ''was
the redemption of an ancient promise given to Abraham,
Moses and David - a homeland for the chosen people in
Eretz Yisrael.''
Bush also spoke explicitly of an alliance and a
friendship between Israel and the United States rooted
in the Bible. The source of the link between the two
countries, he said, ''is grounded in the shared spirit
of our people, the bonds of the Book, the ties of the
soul.'' Then, weaving a bit of American history into
the mix, Bush told his audience: ''When William
Bradford stepped off the Mayflower in 1620, he quoted
the words of [the Hebrew prophet] Jeremiah 51:10:
'Come let us declare in Zion the word of God.'''
According to Bush, ''The founders of my country saw a
new promised land and bestowed upon their towns names
like Bethlehem and New Canaan. And in time, many
Americans became passionate advocates for a Jewish
state.'' American Indian lands, in other words, were
viewed by the founders of the United States as a new
Land of Canaan, a promised inheritance and everlasting
possession.
Although there may be those orthodox Jews who would
not concur with Bush's characterization of the Old
Testament, his speech illustrates the kind of thinking
that has played such a prominent role in the historic
mistreatment of American Indians by the United States,
and in the callous and often brutal mistreatment of
Palestinian people by the state of Israel. The mental
model of a chosen people and a promised land provides
a convenient rationalization whereby one people feels
entitled and justified, by divine right, to take over,
possess, and profit from the lands of other peoples.
The Old Testament tells us that Abraham was originally
named Abram. In Genesis 15:18, we find the description
of a ceremony on the ''same day the Lord made a
covenant with Abram, saying, Unto they seed
[offspring] have I given this land, from the river of
Egypt unto the great river, the river Euphrates: The
Kenites, and the Kenizzites, and the Kadmonites, And
the Hittites, and the Perizzites, and the Rephaim, And
the Amorites, and the Canaanites, and the Girgamonkeyes,
and the Jebusites.'' (KJV)
The grammatical placement of a colon after the word
''Euphrates'' indicates that not merely land was being
given to Abraham and his descendants; the indigenous
peoples already living in the land were also being
given to Abraham and the ''chosen people.'' The
colonial adventure story of the Old Testament tells us
that ''the Lord'' brought Abram to ''this land to
inherit it.'' After renaming him Abraham, ''a father
of many nations,'' the deity told Abraham: ''And I
will give unto thee, and to thy seed after thee, the
land wherein thou art a stranger, all the land of
Canaan, for an everlasting possession.''
By using Bradford's quote of Jeremiah, Bush was making
a metaphorical connection between the United States
and Israel, but also between Zion and the lands of the
indigenous nations of North America. Bradford used the
Old Testament quote of Jeremiah to project the concept
of Zion onto the lands of the indigenous nations in
North America. Clearly, this is an American version of
Zionism.
In 1823, the U.S. Supreme Court delivered a landmark
decision in the case Johnson v. M'Intosh, a decision
that was fully in keeping with the chosen
people-promised land tradition. The unanimous ruling
was written by Chief Justice John Marshall regarding a
supposed land dispute. The court used the doctrine of
Christian Discovery and Dominion as the basis for its
decision. Marshall said that a ''discovery'' by
''Christian people'' of lands inhabited by
''heathens'' resulted in the Christians having an
''ultimate title'' and ''ultimate dominion'' to those
lands. The Johnson ruling still serves today as the
cornerstone of U.S. federal Indian law and policy and
in 2005 the U.S. Supreme Court cited the doctrine of
discovery in City of Sherrill v. Oneida Indian Nation
of New York.
The Johnson ruling is premised on the idea that when
Christians, as the new chosen people, locate or
discover lands that have not yet been taken over and
possessed by other Christians, the ''discoverers,'' as
if by magic, obtain the divine right and authorization
to assert an ultimate dominion over and subdue those
lands, and the indigenous peoples living there.
Bush's use of the chosen people-promised land model
before Israel's Knesset reflects a mentality of
privilege and entitlement by supposed divine right.
This mental framework has greatly contributed to the
intractable aspects of U.S. policy towards American
Indian nations and Israel's policy toward the
Palestinian people.
Steven Newcomb, Shawnee/Lenape, is indigenous law
research coordinator in the education department of
the Sycuan Band of the Kumeyaay Nation in San Diego
County, co-founder and co-director of the Indigenous
Law Institute, and author of ''Pagans in the Promise
Land: Decoding the Doctrine of Christian Discovery''
(Fulcrum Publishing, 2008).