The 'Judeo-Christian civilization' narrative

When Israeli leadership, especially today, justifies Western support, they invoke the language of civilizational identity and the concept of a Judeo-Christian civilization. This framing spans a thousand years of history, but it obscures a fundamental reality: Christians and Jews were never on the same side throughout that period. Even during the Roman Empire, Romans brutalized the Jewish population. The "Judeo-Christian" idea itself emerged from the Zionist movement as a way to restructure history and religion in terms that would resonate with the average uneducated American audience.

Historical Jewish presence in the Middle East

Historically, Jews have always had a home in the Middle East. There existed wonderful, massive, beautiful Jewish communities in Morocco, Iraq, Yemen, and Egypt. The Jewish community in Esfahan, for example, had been there for approximately 25 centuries by the time Theodore Herzl appeared on the scene. These communities flourished and integrated into their societies. Saladin employed two Jewish physicians—Maimonides, the greatest Jewish philosopher of the medieval period, and another named Ibn Umayya. The Kingdom of Granada at one point had a Jewish Wazir. The Jewish community in the Middle East did well, in stark contrast to the constant persecution and terrible circumstances faced by Jewish communities in Europe.

The creation of Israel and community destruction

The creation of Israel created a catastrophic situation for these long-established Middle Eastern Jewish communities. Israel has successfully, though tragically, destroyed those communities. In a sense, it made logical sense for persecuted European Jews to seek refuge in Palestine. The fundamental disconnect, however, lies in the method: why would one go to Palestine to conquer it, ethnically cleanse it, and then create a Jewish-only state? That is where the confusion truly sets in.