Mark Twain visited the region soon after the end of hostilities between Christian and Muslim Druze at Mount Lebanon, where over ten thousand Christian Arabs (mostly Maronite) were massacred in 1861, and that should explain his blatantly racist remarks in respect of the Turks, Arabs, and Muslims in general. Mark Twain's visit occurred during the middle of the hot Mediterranean summer. Palestine's arable land is under 17% of its total area, click here to view Israel's profile at CIA's Worldfact Book. Backgroundīefore we analyze what Mark Twain wrote, the following facts This quote was taken out of context to portray Palestine as 'empty, destitute, and a barren desert', of course until Israeli and Zionist Jews 'made' its desert bloom. This quote has been widely circulated in Israeli textbooks, media outlets,Īnd many Jewish communities around the world as FACTS about Even the olive tree and the cactus, those fast friends of a worthless soil, had almost deserted the country.' we never saw a human being on the whole route. A desolate country whose soil is rich enough, but is given over wholly to weeds. Mark Twain's visit to Lebanon, Syria, and the Holy Land in 1867 was published in 'The InnocentsĪbroad', where he described Palestine as follows: Please make sure to tag your post with the appropriate flair.įor a full list of Twain's works, please see here:, and check out the other links in the Mark Twain Resources sidebar.ĭon't hesitate to message the moderators with any questions.Palestinian women harvest cotton in the village of Kafr Saba in 1937 In order to keep this subreddit a meaningful place for discussions, moderators will remove low-effort posts that add little value, simply link or show images of existing material (books, audiobooks, films, etc.), or repeatedly engage in self-promotion, without offering any meaningful commentary/discussion/questions.

Please take a minute to familiarise yourself with the subreddit rules in the sidebar. Twain's most well-known works include classics such as The Adventures of Tom Sawyer, The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, The Prince and the Pauper, and many more. This is a public subreddit focused on discussing Twain's works and related topics (including film adaptations, historical context, translations, etc.). Welcome all fans of the works of Mark Twain (pen name of Samuel Langhorne Clemens)!

Mark twain in the holy land