SC is far from being dangerous… Actually it’s the contrary… Keep up with the good work 😉 cheers Younes

Syria Comment Clean

It is not infected with a virus or malware.

Professor Josh,

This is good news. I was beginning to think you removed all the Pro-Israel participants here;)

Merci, Younes. My son is named Younes (Jonah) but some members of my family argue that “Younes” is old fashioned and prefer to use Jonah. What is with this “old fashioned” claim? I have always liked the name, Younes.

Joshua,
Isn’t that is the name of the prophet Yunnan , in Arabic Younis , the one that was swallowed by the whale and lived , it is a good name , the man makes the name not the other way around , that was the fear of my mother when i was named after my grandfather ,and i am sure you son will make a diffrence ,

Social Media Lessons from Middle Eastern Activists

http://humanrights.change.org/blog/view/social_media_lessons_from_middle_eastern_activists

Lawyers, religious and political leaders — like Gandhi combining all of these roles, for example — used to be the social glue that made activism effective. While they certainly still are to an extent, social media is rapidly proving to be not only a new glue, but a flexible adhesive that can unite, organize and mobilize activists on scales, in ways and with speeds previously unimaginable. Here are few instances in which social media is, has and can be used for activism in the Middle East, and the lessons activists worldwide can learn from them and apply now.

OneMideast.org: An online discussion arena intended for raising and debating ideas central to the Arab-Israeli peace process, not only among country leaderships, but person-to-person as well. According to its website, “the project, which represents the first joint Syrian-Israeli online discussion of its kind, was formed through the efforts of private individuals — bloggers, academics, political analysts, journalists, and professionals — who embarked on producing an extensive list of objections to peace commonly encountered in both Syrian and Israeli societies.” Warning: not for those who do not find debate an invaluable mode of activism.

The social media activism lesson: Better to hash problems out with words than with violence, and social media provides powerful platforms to interact peacefully across geographical, political and religious lines.

Norman, Younis, or in Greek, Yanis, is indeed the prophet swollowed by the whale. Inshaallah, the man will make the name. Thanks for your vote of confidence.

AP, We love Israel and we love you. We just prefer the state remaining within its internationally recognized borders. You, we like everywhere, especially on these pages.

Too Much Love

AP, We love Israel and we love you.

Professor Josh,

Thanks, I’m relieved. I didn’t know Baathist sympathizers loved Israel. I tell you, there’s no end to the education one gets while participating on your forum!

Now, who do you love more, Iran or the Golan?

This is for you Norman. The journey from the belly of the whale to the port of safety,

http://www.aljazeera.net/NR/exeres/44BB89C3-6F72-492C-AA5A-9CDB7287AEDC.htm

Don’t forget to click on the video for some audiovisuals.

Hillary is upset at iranian so-called opposition,

http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5iyFPLJuhtTwvczkO6BAv9EEZKxkA

This writer believes the UN sacnctions are actually good for Iranian government,

http://www.alarabiya.net/views/2010/06/10/110937.html

He probably would have liked to see something else other than sanctions.

In my opinion, Iran should not trust the US nor the Israelis. They may end up doing what the writer had in mind.

June 7, 2010 Israeli Poll on aftermath of Ship Boarding: Top Line Results:

http://pechterpolls.com/

85% of the respondents indicated that Israel either did not use enough force (39%) or used the right amount of force (46%) regarding the recent ship boarding incident.

53% were satisfied with Prime Minister Netanyahu’s job performance..
.

Poll: Iran Gets Negative Reviews in Iraq, Even from Shiites.
May 4, 2010

http://www.washingtoninstitute.org/templateC05.php?CID=3199

Among Shiite respondents, a large plurality expressed a negative (43 percent) rather than positive (18 percent) view of “Iran’s ties with Iraqi political leaders.”

17 percent voiced favorable views of Iranian president Mahmoud Ahmadinezhad; just over half (52 percent) had a negative opinion, with the remainder saying they were neutral, unsure, or unwilling to answer.

Thank you amir for letting us know that 85% of the israelis polled are solid supporters of terrorism. I take note also that another 8% thought too much force was used. May be with somewhat less force or perhaps with few media manipulations they would join the main stream and form a solid 93% majority in support of terror and killing of civilians on high seas not to mention condoning the blockade. What about the remaining 7%?

I take it that you believe the results reflect the nature of the population at large within + or – 4%? So it is very likely we’re only looking at a mere 3% whose opinion may be different.

Amir
I take it that this poll exclude arab israeli

I also thought that amir is entitled to know in exchange for the polls he provided that the Maliki and Hakim blocs have united forming 159 MP’s out of 325 – 4 MP’s short of simple majority. This is what Iran may have been looking for even according to WP. The kurds, with 40 MP’s, have immediately expressed desire to join the coalition.

With this WP Pechter poll, the US can now begin the pull out on time knowing full well the Iraqi Shiite are opposed to Iranian machination and fully confident of a ‘mission accomplished’. They (Americans) can now go to Afghanistan and sort things out as today David Cameron (British PM) had to change course and land his helicopter at a location contrary to plans when it was discovered at the last minute it was about to be shot down by the Talibans.

How Long will it take Turkey, Iran and Dr. Assad to Free Palestine?

I take it that this poll exclude arab israeli

majedkhaldoun,

The following poll was conducted by the left-leaning newspaper, Ha’aretz:

The survey, carried out by the Dialog group for the centre-left Haaretz newspaper, also found that Israelis would vote for an even more right-leaning government if elections were held today.

The poll surveyed 500 respondents “who constitute a representative sample of the population” and had a margin of error of 4.3 percentage point. Where responses do not total 100 percent respondents declined to answer or had no opinion.

http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5g0tnkRFuueTxGu0XhK7UeAVLbqQg

The US is very upset that Turkey voted against UN sanctions. The buzz word coming out of some circles (mostly Israeli) is that it will be Turkey’s fault now if a joint US/Israeli attack on Iran is carried out because of Turkey’s shifting alliances jeopardizing American so-called leadership in the Middle East. Joint US/Israeli manoeuvres were conducted recently simulating possible joint attacks on Iran.

The Israelis are adopting new terminologies now when speaking of Turkey. In particular they are beginning to refer to Turkey as the Erdogan Entity (or EE) in anticipation of an emerging world order which may be called UE or United Entities. Turkey will feel very satisfied with the new order as the new acronym can also be misconstrued as United Europe allowing it to claim defacto entry to Europe without need for approval from snobbish French and Germans. In this order, every entity will have a veto power in order to fulfil the neo-con ‘noble’ dream of a fully functional democratic world. It looks like a win-win scenario to everybody.

Iran on the other hand is threatening to inspect each and every ship crossing the straits into the gulf as it considers the straits part of its sovereign territory. That of course will happen if the so-called powers (sorry entities) ‘dare’ to board and inspect any Iranian ship.

[Syria Comment is Clean]

Well I knew that, and actually I have followed Google link to see why and found out that one person has flagged the site as dangerous. His claim, apparently, have merits on the account that the site have had a malicious script at some point. It is just annoying that you can almost bring one site down as easily as that.

Anyways, Glad to have the site cleaned up again. But where are the new posts, we need to read more news every single day. It is hard to filter the clutter nowadays and this site points me to sites and people that I like to here from.

Please, more content. Bring it on.

Majed,

I’m aware of the fact that this survey was conducted among Jews only. But as the link that Akbar brought, you can see that the whole political map in Israel moves (further) to the right, despite the balancing votes of the Arab Israeli population.

Masri,

Personally, I try to avoid using the charged term, “terrorism”. It now became so politicized and misused, that it is now no more than a propaganda tool, being used (or misused) by both sides, equally.

About Iraq, I heard the troubling news about the Maliki-Sadr alignment. I think it would be a grave mistake to exclude the Sunnies from power in Iraq, and it will only bring more bloodshed and division.

Unfortunately, this is so typical of Arabs, to want everything, and the unableness to compromise.
Eventually, they want everything, but get nothing.

This ‘want everything – getting nothing’ Syndrome, characterizes the Arabs regarding the Arab-Israeli conflict, and is the main cause for the Israeli political map, moving constantly to the right.
.

Professor Josh says “Israel Pays High Price” NewZ

Today’s Question:

Why is Saudi Arabia allowing Israeli fighters to pass through Saudi airspace?

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/middle_east/article7148555.ece

AP said: “Why is Saudi Arabia allowing Israeli fighters to pass through Saudi airspace?”

FYI:

1) The royal family in KSA sit on a gold toilets, so what do you expect?
2) They are scared of Iran’s nuclear capability, but not of Israel’s; perhaps the theory of Jewish ancestory in Saud’s family true…but weren’t we all jewish at some point?
3) KSA are US proxies, pictures awash on the net of SAUD-BUSH drooling on each other.

Husam

Saudi who should have been the leaders of sunni moslems, have been weakened by the Ossama ben laden’s saudi taliban, by their fear of Shia Iran influence, by the habits and love of luxury and by the paralyzing effect of the extremist wahhabi sect on their human rights abuses.
Because of that they are under the ‘protection’ of the USA who could turn against them any time. They lived in that fear, so they accept just anything shamelessly.
They and another US “protected” country, Egypt were treated as half man by Bashar al Asaad and unfortunately this is what they have become.
Turkey has taken the lead of sunni moslems and that shift, in view of Erdogan positions vs Iran is very beneficial to Moslems in the region in general as it makes moderate sunnis less suspicious of Iran’s proselytic intentions.
Overall the demise of KSA as a political/religious leader in the region is a excellent thing.
It probably makes Israel and the US less comfortable as they have to deal with a more coherent and strong block and cannot count on Turkey anymore for attacking or threatening Iran.
A new positive development for the region.

WD,

You made a very good comment in 22. But I also wish you took the time to refute the false claim of everyone having been a Jew at one time or even the more false claim of the Sauds being of Jewish origin. These two claims can only be made by someone who lacks knowledge of history or somone with a certain suspicious agenda in mind.

We were never all Jews at one time as the Jewish religion came into being very late in time compared to our history. The Jewish religion was never adopted by the people of the area as a whole. It was very limited in terms of its time of coming into being as well as in the scope of its adherents. The Sauds, despite our dislike of them, are of known Arab lineage and have no connection whatsoever with Judaism.

As expected, the Saudis issue categorical denial of any agreement as reported by the Times,

http://www.aljazeera.net/NR/exeres/A5B2B006-3F5C-4FB6-9155-7ABB448EF953.htm

This denial, of course, does not tell us what the Sauds would do in case the israelis go ahead and use the Saudi aerospace in their upcoming attack. We also do not know if the Saudis have the capabilities to prevent such misuse of their aerospace if they choose to.

What we know for sure is that there was a plan by the israeli thugs to use the Saudi, Jordanian and even Iraqi and Kuwaiti aero spaces in order to carry out bombing raids on Iranian facilities. This scenario accomplishes many objectives that cannot be accomplished using other means. First, the route brings the Iranian targets within range of Israeli bombers. Secondly, it gives Iran the pretext to hit Saudi and other gulf state targets and even to close the straits as a reprisal. Thirdly, the attack on Saudi by the Iranians will force the US to intervene in the war and protect the israeli thugs from Iranian reprisals, which was always an Israeli objective.

The proper thing to do in order to foil such zionist plot, of course, would be to create tome confidence building measures between Iran and Saudi Arabia with the help of other states in the region such as Turkey and Syria. Turkey, in particular, may be interested in some form of defense cooperation with the Saudis relieving the Sauds of complete reliance on the US. Turkey may even provide technical assistance in operating some aerial defense systems in the Kingdom. It may be even interested in stationing some of its fighter jets in the Kingdom. That will give Turkey tremendous clout in the region showing it as the only power interested in and with the capability to maintain the peace and tp prevent an outbreak of regional wars instigated by the thugs of zionism and their US backers.

Amir ,
Wanting everything is not an Arab trade , it looks like it is a semitic one , Arabic and Jewish, they are the same at the end of the day , do not see further than their noses , It could be because they both have big noses that cloud their vision ,

Norman,

It was explained to me differently. I was told only the Jews have big noses. The Arabs have myopic vision with smaller noses. I also verified that by looking at some Arab and Jewish noses. But I am not an optometrist or an ophthalmologist. The end result may well be as you say. Vision is limited to the tip of the nose. We also should ask for an opinion from Dr. Bashar.

Dear Norman,
The ‘West’ is the world’s most greedy ‘want all’ entity and we the Semite are the world’s most stupid people for letting them to manipulate us, we never ever wanted more than what is ours in the first place.

WD,
The Saudi-Israeli deal is couple months old why the news paper is talking about it today?

Why Discuss,
The Muslims are not sheep and don’t need men of religion ,or clerics as leaders.
Almost all the Muslims are against clericalism within Islam.
What we see in Iran it’s an heresy which terrorize the Iranian people.
And sectarianism within Islam is not a Problem ,because it’s already sectarianaly united ,with a overwhelming majority of Sunna.
The supporters of Qaida style organizations or Iranian theocracy ,are tiny minorities.
If Turkey is seen as a model by the majority of Muslims , Iranians included ,it’s because of its liberal democracy.

Yes ,Muslims as any other people love the good and hate the evil.

Why Discuss:

Thank you for your comment. So what your are saying is that by being afraid of Shia (IRAN), they do deals with Zionist, which makes them what? Half-men!. But in reality they align themselves to Zionist over Iran while they are supposed to be protectors of Islam. That is a shame to all muslims.

Almasri:

“Mr. Know-It-All” Do you know if your great-greatest grandfather was a Jew? The way you speak and your tone is always as though you are educating everyone here. The Jews are acknowledged in the Quran, and their books as well. We have lived with them for thousands of years. While I agree with you that Judaism came for a specific people and time, however if you, yourself know history, you would not be a jew-hater because hatred will not bring anything positive. You take every opportunity to speak negatively about Jews. The Quran differentiates between good Jews and bad(Zionist), just like good Muslims and bad.

Mohammed (PBUH) himself admired the good Jews because they were monotheists. Jewish practices, from Yom Kippur / Ramadan, miday prayers / Friday prayer, Ghusul, etc… helped model early Islamic behavior. It is a a fallacy to say Judaism came later than Islam. While Islam was the religion dating back to Adam, it only manifested itself through Mohammed and the revelation of the Quran. Jews all over the world are misled and brainwashed to believe in Israel (that is whole other discussion). Norman said it right in his comment #25: the majority of Arabs and Jews want it all including yourself. You said: Jews came later than “OUR” history. I know you meant us Mulslim,but are you forgetting the Arabs include Christains? We have to be in an inclusive mindset. I believe in a comprehensive solution which must begin with the way we think about others.

It looks like British media has a lot of secrets to reveal about Iran. The Guardian reports an aeroplan has been prepared to move Khamenei and Ahmedinejjad to non other than Syria at a moment’s notice. The newspaper also reports four high ranking Revolutinary Guard Generals have fled Iran recently due to disagreements with high command about so-called opposition protests.

HUSAM,
I thought we have an agreement that we would not address each other. Do you always break your word? This is the second or third time you break your word. I do not like people who break their words.

I do know who my great greatest grandfather is. I can go way way back (longer than you can imagine) and I am not claiming any special honors because of that. I can tell you for a fact none of my ancestors was Jewish If you do not know who yours are and for some reason you came to believe that you have Jewish roots, then speak only about yourself.

I am sure I am not the only one who would find your statement “but weren’t we all jewish at some point?” to be historically inaccurate and even offensive.

You can go ahead and like Jews as much as you like. People have the right to like and dislike whomsoever they please. It is simple human nature.

If you find my comments to be lecturing you in a manner that you do not need, it is very simple to skip them over.

Husam,
My previous comment missed the very important section which deals with your extravagant claims about the Prophet (PBUH) which should not be overlooked by any Muslim. Here is the missing section:

Finally, and for your historical information, Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) banished the Jews from Medina and later on from all of Arabia. I am sure there were very good reaons for Him (PBUH) to do so. Please, do not bother to respond as these are historical facts that are very well documented which you can go and research and study on your own the exact reasons behind such banishment.

Almasri claims to know his greatest grandfather all the way to Adam and he is so certain that his lineage never had any Jewish blood, God forbid! Otherwise, he wouldn’t be able to look at himself in the mirror. Let me guess, you are a pharaoh, right?

You couldn’t help hold yourself, so much so, that you had asked others (WD) to do your dirty laundry. Don’t use proxies, please. I responded to you because you were referring to me and responding to what I said. So, you broke your promise and your word, not I.
Why would anyone on SC be offended if they found out that they have Jewish roots, unless you think everyone here is like you.
What I meant was, couldn’t we all at some point be Jewish, Christian or Muslims for that matter? Somewhere down the line someone converted. Yes, everyone has the freedom to believe or like what they want. And I have the right to believe that you are as racist as they come. You fail to see the difference between Jews and Zionist. There lies our differences. There are some Jews fighting for Palestinians more than any Arab (Finklestein, for one). Your hard core anti-Jewish stance doesn’t do us nor anyone any good. Do you like it when A.P. keeps going at it about Arabs or Muslims?
I have to respond to your point regarding our prophet, because your are giving partial information which can be misinterpreted. Your quote about “historical facts” that Mohammed (PBUH) banished Jews from all of Arabia is taken out of context. And, this by itself is no indication of how Muslims should behave towards Jews today. YOU ARE VERY WRONG, PEOPLE LIKE YOU give Muslims a bad rap. The media does same when it quotes from the Quran or the Ahadiths. But you are Muslim, more is expected of you. Some Jews conspired against Muslims at the time, and even this is happening today, we as Arabs are far from being remotely united as we were then. And, we have no will nor the power to do anything about it. Our times are different and so are the circumstances.

Moreover in 1839, a caliphal decree, Hatt-i Sharif of Gulhane, was issued, implicitly recognizing the equality of all Ottoman subjects, Muslim and non-Muslim alike. In 1856, the Hatt-i Humayan was issued, in which the principles of 1839 were repeated and the guarantees of the equality of all subjects were made more explicit. Thus, Muslim and non-Muslim were to have equal obligations…and equal opportunities… The decree abolished the jizya and dhimmi system for all time. Israel is doing everything in its power to expel the Palestinians, under religious pretext. If Muslims were to gain control of the region and God forbid, use that quote of yours to expel the Jews, I would be ashamed. Something tangible, like modern-day high treason has to take place to even consider it.

FYI, Prof. Josh said a few days ago something like “I LOVE YOU, Akbar Palace, and WE LOVE ISRAEL (not Jews, but Israel). What don’t you attack him as well?

Husam,
I specifically asked you not to respond because I wanted you to honour your word and act like a man for once at least. We have an agreement not to address each other. But I also felt you need to go and educate yourself on your own about many aspects of Islam as well as Judaism because you seem to be lacking in knowledge in both areas. Now you came back to me with a long list of diatribes that I find completely ridiculous.
Here are some points that you need to look at and address on your own. Please do not come back to me with other comments because you will receive blank comments from me from now on.
The Qur’an says
سورة آل عمران آية رقم 67

{ما كان إبراهيم يهوديا ولا نصرانيا ولكن كان حنيفا مسلما وما كان من المشركين}

You (Husam say in comment 29) ” It is a fallacy to say Judaism came later than Islam.”

As Muslims who should we believe? Your misguided statement or the Qur’an?

So far, neither the Qura’n, nor the Hadith, nor the Shiite nor the Sunnis made the claim as you make in the same comment ” Jewish practices, from Yom Kippur / Ramadan, miday prayers / Friday prayer, Ghusul, etc… helped model early Islamic behaviour” So please tell us which branch of Islam do you subscribe to? To me you look like an ecumenical Christian. As far as I know we don’t have ecumenism in Islam.

If my lineage interests you so much, then here it is

نسبي يعود الى الامام علي الرضا رضي الله عنه ومنه يعود الى الامام علي كرّم الله وجهه وفاطمة الزهراء رضي الله عنها ومنهما الى خير البرية محمد بن عبدالله صلى الله عليه وسلم ونسب الرسول الكريم لا يحتاج الى دلالة٠ لنا آثارٌ في المغرب وفي المشرق وفي ارض الكنانة وفي حلب الشهباء. فكما ترى نحن عربٌ اقحاح وليس فينا يهودي قط٠

Al Masri ,

What is : ecumenical

Norman,

You should be able to find the definition of ecumenism anywhere on the net or even in any dictionary.

Al Masri,

I thought it would be easier to just ask .i tried , it is a long speech about a conference , It just gets too complicated ,

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ecumenism

Norman,

You seem to have found your way. Do you still need explanations from me?

Israel Pays High Price for Attack on Turkish Flotilla with Aid for Gaza NewZ

Looks like the Palestinian President WANTS Israel to continue the blockade…

http://www.haaretz.com/print-edition/news/abbas-to-obama-i-m-against-lifting-the-gaza-naval-blockade-1.295771

On June 10, some of the most influential analysts and academics who write on Syria spoke at the American Enterprise Institute. You can see Elliott Abrams, Tony Badran, Scott Carpenter, Danielle Pletka, David Schenker, Brian Fishman, William D. Wunderle, Bill Harris, Andrew Tabler, and Michael Rubin speaking on the occasion of the 10th anniversary of Bashar’s ascension to power by clicking:

http://www.aei.org/video/101256
Click full video and you will be taken to a link where you can select to view any specific speaker’s comments.

By the way, Josh Landis is mentioned a few times in the speech as well.

“some of the most influential analysts and academics”

Catchy line for a panel of scumbags!

Husam

Jewish roots ?

One way to find out :
From National Geographic, a 99$ DNA test..

https://genographic.nationalgeographic.com/genographic/participate.html

why not? You may claim israeli nationality 🙂

Al Masri ,

No , Thank you ,
Jad ,
Well said .

WD , do you think that these kits are made to have more Jewish relatives around the world so they decrease criticism of Israel , and increase donation for the Jewish state ,

The Syria Comment DNA & Money Thread

WD said:

One way to find out :
From National Geographic, a 99$ DNA test.

WD,

Interestingly, DNA tests have shown that the “Jewish People” are a real people, historically and demographically, although DNA is by no means the main indicator for “peoplehood”.

The main indicator for “peoplehood” is how YOU define yourself. If there are enough people who identify themselves in a similar manor, perhaps have a unique language and customs, then, voila, you have a distinct people. The Palestinians are no different.

WD, how do you define yourself? Is your DNA part of your decision-making process?

http://www.newsweek.com/2010/06/03/the-dna-of-abraham-s-children.html

WD , do you think that these kits are made to have more Jewish relatives around the world so they decrease criticism of Israel , and increase donation for the Jewish state

Norman,

Do Arabs give donations to the Palestinian State? I’m thinking that not only do Arabs give a lot of money to the Palestinians, but also Israel, the US, the European Union, the UN and maybe even Syria.

http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m2742/is_386/ai_n25018841/

WD:

That is so funny.

AP:

How do Russians claiming to be Jews end up in Israel? Please explain Peoplehood there!…How Jewish are they when they end up in Canada via Israel. I have met three that told me they are not really Jewish but wanted to come to Canada.

Almasri:

I will reply later whether you like or not 🙂

More Lessons in Peoplehood

How do Russians claiming to be Jews end up in Israel? Please explain Peoplehood there!…How Jewish are they when they end up in Canada via Israel. I have met three that told me they are not really Jewish but wanted to come to Canada.

Husam,

If you’re really interested, just do a search on the World Wide Web….

PS – There are plenty of Israelis living outside of Israel, just as with any other country. I believe most of the Syrians on this website live outside of Syria.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Israeli_nationality_law

It is interesting to read the following analysis which presents seven reasons why the Times story alleging Israeli/Saudi cooperation in an upcoming planned attack on Iran is false and an obvious zionist fabrication.

http://www.annahar.com/content.php?priority=9&table=makalat&type=makalat&day=Tue

The writer, who is not a Muslim himself, concludes that the Times story is a deliberate zionist misinformation attempt aimed at creating mistrust among Muslims. It is also interesting to note that following the Times publication, Ahmedinejjad and Saudi ambassador in Tehran met in order to show to the zionists that their plots are a desperate attempt that will not achieve its purpose.

However, I still believe that confidence building measures need to be undertaken between Iran and Saudi and perhaps Jordan. For example, the Saudis must at the least give early warning to the Iranians of any hostile air traffic that may violate its aerospace in case the Saudis do not want or have no means to intercept and prevent such violations. Jordan also needs to do the same. You cannot trust a zionist entity governed by a bunch of criminals.

al-Masri – when the Quran says Ibrahim was not a Jew nor a Christian but a haneef muslim, it means he wasn’t primarily a tribal memebr of a ritual community but a straight submitter to the will of God. ‘muslim’ here has its original significance. by claiming that islam-as-ritual-community predates judaism-as-ritual-community you are falling into the trap which the quran warns against, as well as insulting Islam by claiming that it says something plainly absurd, from a historical point of view.

best wishes

Qunfuz,
I appreciate your feedback. But you seem to have carried the argument into a completely different level than its original intent. If you go back to the comments, you will see that the issue was not the historical precedence of certain ‘ritual communities’ over others. The issue was the false claim that ‘we’re all originally Jews.’ Even without relying on the Qur’anic verse the claim is completely false as we all know Judaism came into being quite late in history and the scope of its adherents was also limited. The Qur’anic verse was meant to highlight a point in history when Judaism never existed.
Nevertheless, Islamic scholars believe that Adam himself was a Muslim in the full sense of the word. He asked for Allah’s forgiveness upon descent into earth in the name of Muhammad which upon being questioned by Allah over his knowledge of Muhammad who Adam never met, Adam replied:”I saw written above Your throne La Illaha illa ‘Lah Muhammad rasulu ’Lah. I know full well You will never allow near Your Holy Name except the name of the one who is dearest to You.”

Qunfuz,
In addition to the above, I ask you to ponder over the following Qura’nic pronounciation which recurs very frequently in the Book

وإن هذه أمتكم أمة واحدة

It often occurs in reference to other nations that existed since the beginning of time. It refers to such nations as ‘Muslims’ in the same sense as the community of Muslims that came about with Muhammad.

Likewise, the following verse is even more to the point,

هُوَ اجْتَبَاكُمْ وَمَا جَعَلَ عَلَيْكُمْ فِي الدِّينِ مِنْ حَرَجٍ مِّلَّةَ أَبِيكُمْ إِبْرَاهِيمَ هُوَ سَمَّاكُمُ الْمُسْلِمينَ مِن قَبْلُ وَفِي هَذَا لِيَكُونَ الرَّسُولُ شَهِيدًا عَلَيْكُمْ وَتَكُونُوا شُهَدَاء عَلَى النَّاسِ

Ibrahim in shunning associating worship to other than Allah was simply reverting to the primeordial nature of Islam with which humans were created. The verse is specifically speaking of a ‘millet’ which is a clear reference to a ritualistic community. Such ‘millets’ existed at various times since the beginning of time and quite often Judaism had nothing to do with them.

Therefore, any claim that certain faiths (even in the ritual communal sense) preceded Islam is negated in the Qura’n leaving Islam as the only faith that coexisted with humans since creation. You sure know there are Prophets that are mentioned in the Qura’n who were not Jews. In fact, the Qura’n even refers to all Jewish Prophets as ‘Muslims’.

You may argue and say historians have different views. But we all know the Qura’n is not bound by historical views. It claims to be The History par excellence – all else is human claims subject to whims, errors and quite often fabrications.