mskfisher's Journal: Biblical-Scale Litigation

I've seen this floating around for a while, but this time it caught my attention again.

http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=573&e=20&u=/nm/egypt_jews_dc

Lawyer to Sue Jews for Biblical 'Plunder'

CAIRO (Reuters) - An Egyptian lawyer said Wednesday he was planning to sue the world's Jews for "plundering" gold during the Exodus from Pharaonic Egypt thousands of years ago, based on information in the Bible.
 
...

The relevant passage from the Bible, Exodus 12 verses 35 to 36 reads: "The Israelites had done as Moses told them; they had asked the Egyptians for jewelry of silver and gold, and for clothing. ... And so they plundered the Egyptians." This translation is in the New Revised Standard Version of the Bible.

Now, I don't understand the problem. They "asked" the Egyptians for the items - there's no record of them using force. The Egyptians were (at that moment) glad to get the Israelites out of their country - they'd just been hammered by 10 plagues, and the last one was a doozy (firstborn sons were killed by the Angel of Death). So it was kind of a "Here! Go! Take this! Fine! Just leave! Please!"
Of course, they reconsidered later, and the Egyptian army was subsequently drowned in the Red Sea.

Regardless, the people currently inhabiting the bit of land we call "Egypt" aren't even the Egyptians that were around at that time.

I know this is being done in order for it to fail, and to try to show that claims from thousands of years ago (i.e. Israel's claims to the region) have no grounds.
But I don't even see the legal case here.

Logic?

[GMontag]

Logic's place in the courtroom has been absent for quite some time.

What is truly amazing, this is a story of reperations of the style being demanded by Liberal Arts Professors and Racist Activists across the USA but is never used as an example of "the right thing to do".

Moslem

[sql*kitten]

Well, you have to understand the Moslem mindset. Their entire self-identify hinges on being a victim. Their decline as a civilization is because they are "victims" of a Jewish conspiracy, not because of their own inability to form a modern civil society. The poverty of their people, despite their oil wealth, is again a sign of their victimization by thre West (controlled of course by Jews). The sabotage of the peace process by Arafat every time the Israelis offer the so-called "Palestinians" a deal is becau

Re:Moslem

[freaq]

brilliant troll! i almost thought you were serious. you are joking, right?
right?
omg, what if you aren't?
fear fear fear fear

Re:Moslem

[http]

when i first stumbled across your comment, it was moderated 'informative'. proof that there are still good drug dealers out there.

Re:Moslem

[sql*kitten]

when i first stumbled across your comment, it was moderated 'informative'.

If you can refute anything I said, feel free to do so. I'm not interested in their "theory" of Islam in this case - but the political reality of the last 50 years or so. Every Moslem-governed country in the Middle East has exhibited the behavior I have described.

Its:Muslim

[http]

hoooo.... to paraphrase (retired) cbc reporter Russ Germain, if you can't spell it right, what else are you getting wrong?

Their entire self-identify hinges on being a victim

well,that's like saying that the entire self-identity of christians depends on being a martyr. yes, martrydom is important in christianity (and there's a reason martyrs get killed - being around a martyr makes it difficult to be a pacifist) the self identity of muslims revolves around adherence to the five pillars [islamicity.com]

Their decline a

Re:Its:Muslim

[sql*kitten]

Ummm which decline? news to me! although iraq _has_ had its largest archeological museum looted just recently, and more than a few have argued that the looting was orchestrated by american collectors. personally, i don't buy that, i think it just goes to show that it's possible for civilizations to have common criminals.

The Ottoman Empire? The Turkish Caliphate? Over the past few centuries, the Islamic world has gone from being a major world power to a backwater. Did you know that Egypt, once the world's

Statute of Limitations?

[calebb]

Isn't it like 90 days or something? Or is that just a USA thing? Surely other countries have limits and how quickly the charges must be filed.

Not to mention all the other good points made above.

Caleb

Well, thats going to be an easy case to win...

[iainl]

All you have to do is prove that (1) The Bible can be accepted to be the absolute, unbiased word on the facts, and hope that no-one turns your entire case into a debate on creationism, (2) that they are the rightful recipients of any reparations, being personal descendants of the the Egyptians plundered, (3) that the things were actually "plundered" and not just given away, and (4) that the people paying actaully benefited in any way by being bequeathed said items.

Simple.