Just to add a little bit of FACTS to my above post:
The great poet George Satayana once wrote that "those who fail to learn from history are doomed to repeat it." Yet every time I read an article about the Israeli / Palestinian conflict it is obvious that no one does remember the facts.
There is always a great deal of talk about “Israeli occupied territories” and “Palestinian Refugees” and the “Right of Return” by those who fled Israel in 1948.
But what are the facts? Are these lands “occupied” at all? Who are these “refugees”?
Let’s turn the clock back about 120 years to 1882 and move rapidly forward. Were there millions of Arabs living in “Palestine” back then? Maybe even a few hundred thousand? Nope. According to the Turks who “owned” Palestine at the time there were 141,000 Muslims, both Arab and non-Arab in Palestine.
By the time Britain had taken control the Arab population was 752,048. Let’s not argue how it grew from 141, 000 to 752,000 in a mere 40 years. . .let’s focus instead on the fact that the Arabs made up 75% of the population of Palestine. The Jews at the time made up 11% and the Christians nearly another 10%.
But here we get back to why knowing your history is so critical. In 1923 Britain (who now controlled Palestine) spun off over 75% of Palestine and gave it to the Arabs! So the 75% of the Arab population now could lay claim to 75% of the land. Seems somewhat reasonable a division. This new country (which even today is 60% Palestinian in population) is named Jordan.
That is right: Jordan is in reality Palestine.”
The remaining 25% was to be made into a Jewish state.
Surprised? It gets even better.
In 1948 after the United Nations decided to carve up the remainng 25% as Jewish and Arab nations, the Arabs elected to reject the UN decree and go to war against Israel in an attempt to take all of the land for the Arabs. They lost the war and an estimated 300 to 400,000 Arabs who had been living there “fled.”
But here is an important part of history that again gets over looked: while these Palestinians fled Israel and now demand the right to return. . .the Arab countries demanded that the Jews living in their countries leave. Over 600,000 Jews were made refugees in 1948 – their lands confiscated, their moneys taken. . .many had lived in those lands for a thousand years or more but they were forced to flee.
Yet we never hear about these refugees. Why don’t they have the same “right of return” or “reparations” as the Palestinians demand?
Earlier I mentioned that Jordan got 75% of Palestine in 1923. Well, in the 1948 war the Arabs got another 10%. So now with 85% of “Palestine” they still demand more land from Israel.
Why? Why do reporters and editorialists only review history back to 1967? One hundred and twenty years is not so very long ago historically speaking. Neither is 46 year since Israel’s inception in 1948.
Why are these facts never discussed? Why is it always Israel who must give more and more?
George Satayana put it very well indeed when he said "those who fail to learn from history are doomed to repeat it."
In 1867 Mark Twain wrote of Palestine:
Quote:
"A desolation is here that not even imagination can grace with the pomp of life and action. We reached Tabor safely.. We never saw a human being on the whole journey."
Before the first aliyah in the 19th century Palestine was a mostly deserted place that was falling apart. I can show you pictures of the "Dome of the Rock" supposedly the 3rd most holy place of Islam was literally full of weeds and desolate. Hey, I'll bother. I'll find you a picture.
[not able to transfer pictures]
Notice the weeds and basic decay? and
Did you notice the roof is not gold and is missing lots of tiles?
By 1917 the British census determined that Arabs were 75% of the Palestinian population, the Jews were 11% and Christians made up another 10%. The Balfour Declaration of the same year promised to create a Jewish Homeland in Palestine. In 1922 Britain carved away 75% of Palestine and created a Palestinian state named Jordan.
Jordan IS Palestine. 75% of the population was given 75% of the land in 1922.
A Jewish state was not created until 1948 when the U.N. carved two states out of the remaining 25% of Palestine. Israel accepted, and the Arabs went to war in an attempt to erase the entire Jewish state. When the war ended the Arabs possessed 85% of Palestine and 99.99% of all the land in the Middle East.
This is the true history of Israel and her Arab neighbors.
What of the Palestinian refugees? Their tragedy is all too real – but Israel is not to blame. From 1948 to 1967 Arab countries controlled their lands – yet they were not assimilated. They lived then, as now, in refugee camps. It is a crime that Jordan did not assimilate them. I do have sympathy for the Palestinian refugees – but why are the other refugees ignored and forgotten?
For 2,500 years (long before Islam) Jews lived in Arab lands. In 1945 they numbered 1,002,270. These Jews were forced to flee in 1948. Israel assimilated them. Israel also assimilated many Arabs who became citizens and today sit in the Israeli Parliament.
So here we have the true history – two sets of refugees (Arab and Jew) – one assimilated long ago – another festering. We also know the truth that there are two Palestinian countries already in existence -- Israel and Jordan.