Israel And Palestine: Some Facts Please!

This maven has been in an extended period of passive aggression. It took the words of the Richmond Times-Dispatch Correspondent of the Day for May 30 to get me to put word-processor to paper again. The writer was responding to Representative Eric Cantor’s rather strange suggestion that President John Adams was an early Zionist, but in his letter he reveals that he is totally clueless concerning the history of the Middle East. In concluding his letter he states that the State of Israel has been built by the “conquest of Palestinians and the occupation of their land.” The TD writer needs to be educated on the facts.

First, there has never been a political entity called “Palestine.” For several hundred years prior to World War I, the area on the eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea was an inconspicuous backwater in the Ottoman Empire. On some old maps this area was referred to as “Syria” on others as “Palestine.” However, these were descriptions of geographic areas, not of countries.

Second, the Ottoman Empire was defeated in World War I and after the war its territory was carved up by the League of Nations to be administered as “Mandates” by the victorious powers. These “Mandates” included the future Arab states of Iraq, Syria and Lebanon. The League of Nations awarded a mandate over “Palestine” to England with instructions that it be administered as a “homeland” for the Jewish People. The “Palestine” of the Mandate included all the land currently in Jordan, Israel, Gaza and the West Bank.

Third, England violated the terms of its mandate over Palestine. Initially, it split off the 2/3 of the Mandate east of the Jordan River Valley and gave it to the Hashemite Tribe. This area later became the Arab state of Jordan. Also, although it permitted unrestricted Arab emigration into the Mandate, England severely restricted the entry of Jews.

Fourth, during the period of the British Mandate, from 1918 to 1948, the only people referred to as “Palestinians” were the Jews living in the Mandate. The Arab residents were referred to simply as “Arabs.”

Fifth, at the end of World War II a three-way civil war among the Arabs, the Jews and the British erupted in the Mandate, and England referred the problem to the United Nations. In the fall of 1947, the United Nations voted to partition the Mandate into a Jewish state and an Arab state. The Jews accepted this partition, but it was rejected by the Arab world. On May 14, 1948, the Jewish state, Israel, declared its Independence. On the next day armies from five Arab countries—Lebanon, Syria, Iraq, Jordan and Egypt—invaded Israel with the declared intent of destroying it. This war cost thousands of lives on both sides and resulted in many people losing their homes.

Sixth, at the end of this 1948-49 war, armistice lines (but not permanent boundaries) were drawn. Although, neither the Gaza Strip nor the West Bank was within the area controlled by Israel, no attempt was made at the end of the war to establish an Arab Palestinian state in these areas. Rather, Gaza was annexed by Egypt and the West Bank was annexed by Jordan. For nineteen years the “Palestinians” in Gaza and the West Bank were quite content to be citizens of Egypt and Jordan.

Seventh, in May 1967 the United Arab Republic (a union of Egypt and Syria) expelled United Nations peacekeepers that had been stationed on the armistice line with Israel, massed tens of thousands of troops along the armistice line, blockaded Israel’s southern port and publicly threatened to destroy Israel. Rather than waiting for an Arab attack, Israel launched a defensive attack against Egypt during the first week of June. Based on false Egyptian reports that it was winning, both Jordan and Syria joined the war against Israel. By the end of the war, Israel had defeated its three Arab neighbors and was occupying previously Arab-controlled territory. Israel acquired Gaza and the Sinai Peninsula from Egypt, the Golan Heights from Syria and the West Bank from Jordan. It acquired no territory from the “Palestinians.”

Eighth, after the end of the 1967 war, Israel offered to return land to the Arabs in exchange for peace. At a meeting of Arab leaders in Khartoum, in September 1967, a resolution was adopted that there would be no peace with Israel, no recognition of Israel, and no negotiations with Israel. These Khartoum Resolutions meant that, before there were any settlers on the lands Israel occupied in 1967, the Arab world was still concentrating on the destruction of Israel rather than establishing any Palestinian state.

I can add Ninth and Tenth and Eleventh, but I have already shown enough facts to demonstrate that Israel never conquered the “Palestinians” or occupied their land. Prior to the establishment of the League of Nations Mandate there was no “Palestine.” In 1947, Arabs in the Mandate were given the opportunity to create an Arab state, but they rejected the United Nations partition and chose instead to try to destroy Israel. Thus, the “Palestinians” retained no rights under the UN partition plan. After the 1948-49 war, no state for Palestinian Arabs was created. Instead, the Gaza Strip was annexed by Egypt and the West Bank was annexed by Jordan. In the 1967 war, Israel occupied Egyptian, Syrian and Jordanian territories but did not conquer “Palestinians.” Perhaps if we agree on history as it happened, rather than as some people wish it had happened, we can start bringing peace to the world.

Watch Your Language, W

President W’s speech in Ramallah, as reported in today’s TD, again shows why it is crucial that our next president not be someone who is a foreign policy virgin and does not like to read. Mr. Bush, who didn’t even know the Middle East existed until September 11, 2001, and whose only interaction with it since has been the invasion of Iraq, has now decided to rescue his legacy by brokering a resolution to the century-long war between Jews and Arabs in the territory west of the Jordan River valley. And, Mr. Bush has made it clear that he expects the whole nasty mess to be over before he leaves office on January 20 of next year.

Unfortunately, Mr. Bush’s continued lack of foreign policy ability shows in his choice of words. As quoted in the TD, Mr. Bush said:

“There should be an end to the occupation that began in 1967. . .These negotiations must ensure that Israel has secure, recognized, and defensible borders. And they must ensure that the state of Palestine is viable, contiguous, sovereign, and independent.”

Mr. Bush’s statement is chock-full of poorly chosen words. If Mr. Bush were not a neophyte, he would know that to the Arab world “an end to the occupation that began in 1967” means a return to the armistice boundaries that were in place from 1948 until May of 1967. Such boundaries, as demonstrated during the 19 years year before 1967 did not constitute “defensible borders” for Israel. Moreover, merely by using the word “occupation,” Mr. Bush is impliedly accepting the Arab world historical view that the 1967 war was an unprovoked war of conquest by the Israelis.

It is not at all clear how Mr. Bush would provide for his “viable, contiguous, sovereign, and independent” Palestinian state. If Mr. Bush had looked at a map of the land west of the Jordan he would have realized that Gaza and the West Bank, the two areas that presumably will make up the Palestinian state, are separated by a significant portion of the State of Israel. When he calls for a “contiguous” Palestinian state, does Mr. Bush really mean that the two separate areas of the state must somehow be physically united?

Mr. Bush’s language, in fact his entire diplomatic initiative, reveals that after seven years as our CINC he still doesn’t understand. Mr. Bush seems to have fallen for the propaganda line that if only the “Palestinian Issue” can be resolved by the creation of a Palestinian state there will be eternal peace in the Middle East. If Israel and Palestine can only beat their swords into plowshares and their spears into pruning hooks, then
1- Osama bin Laden will make a “mission accomplished” speech, will call off his war against western civilization, and al Qaeda will disband;
2- Iranian president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad will abandon his country’s uranium enrichment activities, will invite the Pope for a reconciliation meeting and will celebrate Passover with Israeli Prime Minister Olmert in Jerusalem;
3- All the factions in Iraq will disarm and will hold a “we’re so glad you’re here” party for American troops; and
4- Hezbollah, Hamas, and all the other Islamic terrorists will throw down their weapons; truly the wolf will lie with the lamb.

If only W had done a little reading, he would have known that there could have been a Palestinian state way back in 1948. The United Nations partition resolution called for the creation of both a Jewish and an Arab state in British mandated Palestine. Rather than establishing that state, the Arab leadership decided instead to try to destroy the infant Jewish state—Israel—with disastrous results for the Arabs living in Palestine.

For the next 19 years there could have been a Palestinian state. Instead, Egypt annexed Gaza, Jordan annexed the West Bank, and the Arab world continued its war of extermination against Israel. Even after the 1967 war, when Israeli troops were deployed from the Suez Canal to the Golan Heights, Israel offered to return land in exchange for peace. The response of the Arab world was “no peace with Israel, no recognition of Israel, no negotiations with it . . .”

So, I’m not sure why Mr. Bush thinks that by being “a pain if I need to be a pain” he will bring about peace between the Israelis and the Palestinians in the brief 12 months (plus) that he has left as president. As the TD pointed out yesterday in its editorial Permanent War,

“Presidents, secretaries of state, and designated negotiators have tried to make Arab-Israeli peace their legacy. The Nobel Peace Prize has been awarded to encourage progress. Hopeful signs arise only to crash. The fundamentals have not changed—and may not change for additional centuries of scarlet violence.”

The TD concludes that Mr. Bush’s peace diplomacy will fail as have all previous presidential attempts to end the Arab-Israeli war.

I am not willing to be as pessimistic as is the TD. I hope that before I depart this world I will see at least a perpetual state of non-war between Israel and its neighbors. But I’m afraid it will take more than W and his twelve month deadline to bring it about. In fact, I’m afraid that his choice of words at Ramallah may have made it tougher to bring about that solution now.

Israel-Palestine: Can there be peace without understanding?

Side-by-side op-eds and side-by-side letters in the Richmond Times Dispatch make it clear how far apart Israelis and Palestinians are. The June 4 op-ed pieces by Anna Avital, on behalf of Israel, and Nidal Mahayni, on behalf of Palestine, showed two people talking past each other with two separate views of history. The two June 18 letters, with Barry Gabay writing for Israel, and Riad Mahayni, writing for Palestine, again show angry people yelling at each other, again with disagreeing views of history. I wonder how people can come to agreement on sharing the lands between the Mediterranean Sea and the Jordon River valley if they cannot even agree on history.

Ms. Avital and Mr. Gabay see a tiny Israel threatened with extinction from the day of its birth by a sea of hostile Arab and Islamic neighbors. They see an Arab world constantly unwilling to allow the formation of a Palestinian state because it would require it to acknowledge that Israel exists. They see the 1948 and 1967 wars as David against Goliath battles in which Israel barely escaped with its life.

The Mahaynis, on the other hand, see a peaceful Palestinian society that was systematically destroyed by a Zionist invasion supported by European colonial powers. They see the Palestinian people as defenseless victims who are constantly being attacked by Israel, the bully on the block. They see the 1948 and 1967 wars as step 1 and step 2 in the destruction of Palestine.

Neither side sees itself as the aggressor. Each side sees itself as the victim. Obviously there is no trust. Ms. Avital and Mr. Gabay, seeing Israeli withdrawal from Gaza resulting in a further consolidation of power by Hamas and rocket attacks against Israel, do not see peace coming until “the other side” demonstrates that it is willing to live in peace with Israel. The Mahaynis, seeing continued Israeli occupation as the cause of the conflict, do not see peace coming until the “other side” withdraws from the lands it acquired in the 1967 war.

For peace to have a chance, each side must recognize their differing views of history. Each side must accept that the other has legitimate claims to the land they live on. Each side must concede that it cannot have the entire pie. Each side must also acknowledge that it has done great injustice to the other over the past century. Finally each side must seek a just solution to the dispute. Without justice, their can be no peace.