Back to The Israel PageThis article can be found at Israel Insider, May 27th 2002
http://www.israelinsider.com/views/articles/views_0407.htm
We have all been had
By Sharon Nader Sloan and Beth Kennedy May 27, 2002
Did you know that there was never any country called
Palestine? Did you know that there is no such thing as a
Palestinian people?
The ideas that the West Bank and Gaza are occupied
Palestinian land, and that the Palestinian people are
fighting for their land, have been accepted by most of the
governments of the world and by most of the media in the
world. But if you read on, you will see that these two claims
are the biggest lies ever deliberately perpetrated on
humanity.
Check out any map of the Middle East and see for yourself.
You will find Palestine listed as a region as it always has
been, but definitely not a country. We can locate the
Mojave Desert on the map, but we still do not recognize it
as our 51st state, let alone a country. Similarly, the region
of Siberia is a region not a state. The Sahara is a region not
a state, etc., etc. Neither is Palestine a state. It never was
a country, just a region.
Importantly, the Jews did not displace anyone, because no
one permanently resided there. It was a land inhabited by
nomadic, Bedouin tribes. The whole region was nothing but
deserts and swamps. Only about 120,000 Arabs resided in
an area that covered the territories, the State of Israel and
Jordan. When Mark Twain visited the area he wrote he
found nothing but a wasteland.
During the 19 years that the territories, including Jerusalem
and Gaza, were occupied by the Kingdom of Jordan and
Egypt, no one talked about a Palestinian state; not the
Arab countries, not the United Nations. Nobody asked
Jordan or Egypt to abdicate their ownership and give it to
the Palestinians. Not even the Palestinians themselves said
anything about a Palestinian state or a Palestinian people,
because nobody heard of a Palestinian people. It never
existed.
The fact simply is that there are no Palestinians. These
people are Arabs like all other Arabs, and they happen to
live in a region called Palestine. They are not a separate
people.
What makes a separate people? Religion, language,
culture, garb, cuisine, etc., etc. The Arabs in Palestine
speak the same language, practice the same religion, have
the same culture, etc., etc., as all the other Arabs. The few
minor differences that exist between them are like the
minor differences that exist between the Welsh, the Scots,
and the Londoners. They are still all Britons. Yankees and
Southerners have the same minor differences, but they are
still all Americans. People in the south of France are quite
different from the people in the north, but they are still all
French. These inconsequential differences do not make a
people.
The Arabs living in Syria or Jordan, etc., etc., are also the
same Arabs, but they are each a separate nation because
they each have a separate country. The so-called
Palestinians want a separate country because they claim to
be a separate nation. They are not. They were never a
separate people before the new State of Israel. How did
they become one now?
Because of these lies, the so-called Palestinians feel
justified in sending suicide bombers to kill women, children,
babies, old men, old women and noncombatant citizens.
Because of these lies, the United Nations and the media of
the world are condemning Israel, which is acting less
harshly than any other country would act in retaliation for
such heinous attacks. What is the United States doing in
Afghanistan, a totally foreign country? Killing Afghanis.
Why? Because they attacked us on September 11. I
understand this. But why do not they understand that that
is exactly what Israel is doing, only on a much smaller
scale?
Ask yourself this: Should the use of terror ever be
rewarded? When is the use of terrorism justified as a
military tactic? As a political tactic? As an economic tactic?
What implications does this hold for future conflicts?
Let us examine the truths here:
1. There never was a Palestinian state or a Palestinian
nation. There are no Palestinian people, per se. Rather,
these are Arabs living in a region that historically has been
called many things, including "Palestine."
2. Israel did not go to war against a Palestinian state and
occupy its land. Rather, Israel was attacked by six Arab
countries at once. She defended herself, defeated her
attackers, and won the so-called territories, not from the
Palestinians, but from Jordan and Egypt.
3. Jerusalem was never the capital of any state but Israel.
It was certainly never the capital of a country that never
existed. Why should the Palestinians get any part of it?
Because they want it? Because they have terrorists?
4. Jerusalem, under the current Israeli control, is a free and
open city. Israel, as a democracy, guarantees freedom of
religion within its borders. Contrast this fact with areas that
have come under Palestinian occupation. What percentage
of Christians have left in recent years because they cannot
stand the harassment and persecution?
5. Most Arabs living in Palestine today are not indigenous
to the region. It was not until after the Jews had changed
deserts and swamps into a productive and thriving land
that the Arabs started migrating there. Arafat himself was
born and raised in Cairo, Egypt. Did you know that?
The belief that giving the Palestinians a state will bring
peace is a delusion. The truth is that they want it all. The
short-term goal is a state consisting of the West Bank and
Gaza. The long-term goal is a state that includes all of
"historical Palestine," including Jordan.
How do I know this?
The late Faisal Husseini, Arafat's Jerusalem representative,
a man who was cultured, sophisticated and considered the
most moderate of all the Palestinians, shortly before his
death on May 31, 2001 expressed his true feelings in an
interview with the popular Egyptian newspaper el Arav.
Husseini said: "We must distinguish the strategies and
long-term goals from the political-phased goals which we
are compelled to accept due to international pressures."
But the "ultimate goal is the liberation of all of historical
Palestine." Explicitly he said: "Oslo has to be viewed as a
Trojan Horse."
He even added and clarified that it is the obligation of all
the Palestinian forces and factions to see the Oslo Accords
as "temporary" steps, as "gradual" goals, because in this
way, "We are setting an ambush for the Israelis and
cheating them." He also differentiated between "strategic,"
long-term, "higher" goals, and "political" short-term goals
dependent on "the current international establishment,
balance of power, etc., etc."
All historical Palestine! Does not this include all of Israel
and all of Jordan?
What does this say to you?
Unless the Arabs recognize and accept these truths, even if
they are given a state of their own, and no matter how
many agreements and treaties they sign, they will always
feel wronged, cheated, and forced into giving up what they
now claim is theirs. They will continue to plot and look for
an opportunity to destroy Israel in order to take back what
they claim is theirs, especially the younger generation that
has been brainwashed to hate the "occupying enemy."
Whether there is a Palestinian state or not, there will be no
peace.
Only a massive and ongoing reeducation of the Arab people
to these truths will enable meaningful negotiations to
begin, followed by a lasting peace between Arabs and
Jews. It is therefore critical that everyone who has an
audience, whether in print or other media, use the forum
they have available to repeat these truths again and again
until they reach the consciousness of those waging war in
the Middle East.
Views expressed by the author do not necessarily reflect those of
israelinsider. (although they definitely reflect those of bobfield.com)
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