Celebrity Real Estate Developer and Israel-hater Mohamed Hadid recently posted the following on Instagram.
“No comment needed?” I disagree.
For a start, what Mohamed has not told you is from where he shared the map – The National Library of Israel website!
Not exactly the sort of thing you’d expect from someone who does not recognize Israel. Then again, Mohamed is not exactly known for his consistency.
As for the map itself, I am not entirely sure what Mohamed thinks it proves. It was published by the Syria Ottoman Railway Company in 1894, a clue that there was no independent state of “Palestine” at the time. The main point of the line was to be to facilitate commerce between Syria and the UK. Haifa would operate as a port, but the area of then Palestine was a means to an end:
But it gets worse for Mohamed. A lot worse.
The notes to the map contain an acknowledgement of the positive impact of the Jewish immigrants, who really were making the desert bloom, while providing employment opportunities for the Arabs residing there at the time. There is also an acknowledgement of the area’s history as the land of Israel:
What is now referred to as part of the “West Bank” is referred to by its real, biblical name “Judea”:
The map itself shows the Biblical names of places, including “Samaria” (also part of what is now erroneously referred to as the “West Bank”), as well as the territories of the Israelite tribes:
In other words, this is yet another example of Mohamed failing spectacularly to prove the point he was presumably trying to prove; instead he has only managed to prove the exact opposite point.
