The current wars in the Middle East seem without any permanent solution.

For the Italic people, there should always be some reflection on how our ancestors created Palestine two thousand years ago as a result of Jewish rebellions.  The Romans first occupied Judea during an internal Jewish power struggle (63 B.C.) when invited in to resolve the dispute. Once resolved the Romans never left.  Emperor Augustus allowed the Jews autonomy under King Herod, but when Herod died the place went to pieces, forcing Rome to rule directly with prefects like Pontius Pilate.

Ultimately, some Jews didn’t like to be a part of the Roman Empire even though Rome allowed them to collect their own Temple taxes, observe the Sabbath, and exempted them from military service.  These Zealots were a minority of Jews, but they became violent causing two rebellions that were put down brutally.  The Romans looted and destroyed Herod’s Temple, using the money to build Rome’s Colosseum.  Jerusalem was declared off-limits to Jews and much of the country packed up to live elsewhere in the Empire.  Rome rearranged the Middle East renaming Judea “Syria-Palestina.” 

Enter the 20th Century.  Hitler comes to power in Germany.  German and Austrian Jews need a place to flee.  Palestine is mostly Arab Muslim now under British control.  The USA under President Roosevelt doesn’t want thousands or even hundreds of Jewish immigrants.  FDR has an idea.  He writes to Italian dictator Benito Mussolini in 1938 asking him to allow thousands of Jews to settle in southern Ethiopia (only three years before the Allies had sanctioned Italy for taking over that nation.).  Mussolini replied that Italy now ruled over 40,000 Ethiopian Jews in the north and would be amenable to European Jews settling there.  Despite the offer any potential deal is quickly squashed by European Zionists who want to resurrect ancient Judea in Palestine.  It’s Jerusalem or bust!

Now comes WW II and the Holocaust.  Jewish survivors wanted out of Europe and a homeland of their own—in Palestine.  Despite the violent resistance of native Arabs and Muslims, Jews by the hundreds of thousands found ways to enter Palestine (remember the movie, Exodus?).  So many that the United Nations was asked to partition Palestine between the Jews and Palestinians.

In this age of election integrity, the November 1947 UN vote for partition never sat well with Palestinians.  Beside the guilt votes by the U.S. and Europeans, one Jewish ‘influencer’ was working hard behind the scenes – the Banana Man.

Samuel Zemurray founded United Fruit, growers and exporters of bananas and other tropical fruits from Central America.  To build this empire he literally bought and sold nearly all the presidents and dictators of that region (Hence the term “Banana Republic”).  In 1947, Zionists asked Sam to swing the UN vote with some ‘old-fashioned’ lobbying. 

 Zemurray sat down, picked up the phone and “went to work.” He asked every leader in Central America two questions: How do you intend to vote on partition? And, can your vote be changed? After making the round of phone calls, Zemurray told Weizmann (a Zionist leader) that every vote from Mexico to Colombia was up for sale, but the price was very high. By the time the votes were actually counted, all the Central American countries had switched their votes to “yes” [or abstained].*  Lo and behold, the Partition was approved.  Thus began the endless wars of the Middle East. *(source: Museum of the Jewish People)

On his way to becoming the Banana Man of Central America, Sam Zemurray had to push the Vaccaros of New Orleans out of his way.  The Vaccaros came to New Orleans from Sicily in 1860 and pioneered the Central American fruit business decades before Sam.  Their Standard Fruit Company was competition to Sam’s United Fruit. While the Vaccaros were building a hospital and railroad, Sam was bribing officials and using the U.S. government to send in troops and start revolutions.

The Vaccaros, and in-law Vincent D’Antoni, eventually sold Standard Fruit in 1964 which later became the Dole Food Company.  Would there be an Israel if Italians held all the bananas in 1947? -JLM