Race, Religion, And Politics In Israel-Palestine (Part One)-

NIV Genesis 17:7-8 7-"I will establish my covenant as an everlasting covenant between me and you and your descendants after you for the generations to come, to be your God and the God of your descendants after you." 8- "The whole land of Canaan, where you now reside as a foreigner, I will give as an everlasting possession to you and your descendants after you; and I will be their God. 

NIV Genesis 17:18- And Abraham said to God, “If only Ishmael might live under your blessing!”

NIV Genesis 17: 19-20 19-"Then God said,“Yes, but your wife Sarah will bear you a son, and you will call him Isaac. I will establish my covenant with him as an everlasting covenant for his descendants after him." 20- "And as for Ishmael, I have heard you: I will surely bless him; I will make him fruitful and will greatly increase his numbers. He will be the father of twelve rulers, and I will make him into a great nation."

According to these verses in The Holy Bible-New International Version, it is apparent that God promised Abraham and all his descendants the entire Canaan territory. While He said the rulers of Canaan would either descend from Ishmael (Father Of The Arabs) or Isaac (Father Of The Israelites), God stated that all Abraham's descendants would take possession of Canaan. Abraham did have other children. Their names were Jokshan, Medan, Zimran, and Midlan.

It is additionally obvious according to how these verses read that God showed no partiality to any group of Abraham's descendants. He wanted all of them to partake in the possession of Canaan as long as they exalted Him as God. Both Muslims and Jews revere Abraham as their religious patriarchic figure. Both Judaism and Islam incorporate the Torah (Old Testament) in its religion. The Book Of Genesis is in the Torah.

Yet we have nations and people throughout the globe who insist that the region once known as Canaan in Biblical times must be reserved for one religious/racial/ethnic group. This belief totally contradicts the citations of The Holy Bible.

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