invasions, coming from the deserts in the east, such as the Israelite invasion of Biblical times and the Arab invasion of the seventh century. The Eastern invaders, infiltrating the country, speaking a similar language, looking much like the inhabitants who themselves are the descendants of former invaders, are easily absorbed into the mainstream of Palestinian culture, which has always been a melting pot of varied Semitic influences.

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Like Israel, the Crusaders' state had its problems with diverse elements of the population-the European (Frankish or Ashkenazi) ruling class; the native members of the state (the Poulains, as oriental Christians were called, or the Sephardim, as we call the oriental Jews today), and the native Muslim population left within the frontiers of the new state without really belonging to it.

Like the Israelis, the Crusaders excelled in battle, knowing that their security rested on their readiness to withstand enemy attack. Like the Kingdom of the Star of David, the Kingdom of the Cross continued to expand by warfare long after it was first established. At their height, the Crusaders' states controlled a far greater area than that conquered by Israel even in the 1967 war; it included the whole of the Syrian and Lebanese seaboard, as well as eastern Turkey and at least a foothold in the Transjordanian hills.

Much as some Israelis tend to consider themselves as establishing a beachhead for the whole Jewish people and look down upon other Jews as shirkers and deserters, the Crusaders thought of themselves as the vanguard of Christendom acting and fighting for all the Christians of the world. The deep concern of Jews everywhere for the fate of Israel during the 1967 war echoed the waves of anxiety that would awaken Europe whenever the kingdom of Jerusalem was in danger. This relationship formed in both instances the basis of the economy. Long before the gap

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