Message from discussion
Napoleon, the Jews and Palestine
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From: "Francis A. Miniter" <famini...@comcast.net>
Newsgroups: rec.arts.mystery
Subject: Re: Napoleon, the Jews and Palestine
Date: Sun, 05 Jul 2009 14:00:14 -0400
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Francis A. Miniter wrote:
> Last evening, while boxing some books I am not interested in, I came
> across *The Romance of Palestine: A History for Young People* by Rev.
> James W. Lee (1897), and I was reminded of our earlier discussions in
> this newsgroup about claims of the Jews and Palestinians to what is
> variantly known as Israel and Palestine. I had remarked at one time
> that I had come across British maps of the 1890s naming the region
> "Palestine". So I browsed through this book, which combines a tour
> guide (with photographs!!) with religion lessons and some history. What
> surprised me was a short section about Napoleon in Palestine.
>
> That caused me to do an internet search and I came up with some
> interesting information. It should be remembered that on September 27,
> 1791, the Convention granted Jews full citizenship in France. Napoleon
> apparently was shocked when on coming into Italy in 1797, he discovered
> that Jews were forced to live in Ghettos in the big cities. He
> abolished the ghettos - there and elsewhere. And he abolished the laws
> of the Inquisition which were constant threats to "new Christians". On
> Malta, he allowed the building of a Synagogue. And so, when he reached
> Palestine, he prepared a proclamation dated April 20, 1797,
TYPO: That should have been 1799
> that would
> establish an independent Jewish state in Palestine. Only his defeat at
> Acre prevented it from being issued.
>
> But that was not the end of it. On May 22, 1799, he announced a
> proclamation asking Jews to join with him to re-establish the ancient
> Jerusalem. He followed this up on August 16, 1800, with the statement
> that if should govern a nations of Jews, he would rebuild the Temple of
> Solomon.
>
> From all this a few things are clear. First, the name Palestine for
> the region was well established (Napoleon also uses it in writing his
> own account of the Egyptian Campaign). Second, the idea of
> establishment of a Jewish state in Palestine precedes even the formation
> of a Zionist movement later in the 19th century. Third, perhaps
> Napoleon was the first Zionist.
>
--
Francis A. Miniter
Oscuramente
libros, laminas, llaves
siguen mi suerte.
Jorge Luis Borges, La Cifra Haiku, 6
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