A Brief History of PalestineBy Kirk BaileyPalestine was a common name used until 1948 to describe the geographic region between theMediterranean Sea and the Jordan River. In its history, the Assyrian, Babylonian, Roman, Byzantine, and Ottoman empires have controlled Palestine at one time or another.After World War I, Palestine was administered by the United Kingdom under a Mandate received in 1922 from the League of Nations. The modern history of Palestine begins with the termination of the British Mandate, the Partition ofPalestine and the creation of Israel, and the ensuing Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

The Partition of PalestineIn 1947, the United Nations (U.N.) proposed a Partition Plan for Palestine titled “United Nations General Assembly Resolution 181 (II) Future Government of Palestine.” The resolution noted Britain’s planned termination of the British Mandate for Palestine and recommended the partition of Palestine into two states, one Jewish and one Arab, with the Jerusalem-Bethlehem area protected and administered by the United Nations.

The resolution included a highly detailed description of the recommended boundaries for each proposed state. The resolution also contained plans for aneconomic union between the proposed states and for the protection of religiousand minority rights. The resolution called for the withdrawal of British forces and termination of the Mandate by August 1948 and establishment of the new independent states by October 1948.

First Arab-Israeli War (1948)Jewish leadership accepted the Partition Plan but Arab leaders rejected it. The Arab League threatened to take military measures to prevent the partition of Palestine and to ensure the national rights of the Palestinian Arab population. One day before the British Mandate expired, Israel declared its independence within the borders of the Jewish State set out in the Partition Plan. The Arab countries declared war on the newly formed State of Israel beginning the 1948 Arab-Israeli War.After the war, which Palestinians call the Catastrophe, the 1949 Armistice Agreements established the separation lines between the combatants: Israel controlled some areas designated for the Arab state under the Partition Plan, Transjordan controlled the West Bank and East Jerusalem, and Egypt controlled the Gaza Strip.

The Six Day War

The Six Day War was fought between June 5–10, 1967, with Israel emerging victorious and effectively seizing control of the Gaza Strip and the Sinai Peninsula from Egypt, the West Bank and East Jerusalem from Jordan, and the Golan Heights from Syria. The U.N. Security Council adopted Resolution 242, the “land for peace” formula, which called for Israeli withdrawal “from territories occupied” in 1967 and “the termination of all claims or states of belligerency.” Resolution 242 recognized the right of “every state in the area to live in peace within secure and recognized boundaries free from threats or acts of force.”

The 1973 WarIn October 1973, war broke out again between Israel and Egypt in the Sinai andthe Syria in the Golan Heights. A ceasefire was achieved (U.N. resolution 339)and U.N. peacekeepers deployed on both the fronts, only withdrawing from the Egyptian front after Israel and Egypt concluded a peace treaty in 1979. U.N. peacekeepers remain deployed in the Golan Heights.

Rise of the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO)In 1974, the Arab League recognized the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) as the sole legitimate representative of the Palestinian people and relinquished its role as representative of the West Bank. The PLO gained observer status at the U.N. General Assembly the same year.

In 1988, the Palestinian National Council of the PLO approved a Palestinian Declaration of Independence in Algiers, Tunisia. The declaration proclaims a “State of Palestine on our Palestinian territory with its capital Jerusalem,” although it does not specify exact borders, and asserts U.N. Resolution 181 supports the rights of Palestinians and Palestine. The declaration was accompanied by a PLO call for multilateral negotiations on the basis of U.N. Resolution 242.

The Intifada (1987 to 1993)Conditions in the West Bank and Gaza Strip, including Jerusalem, after more than 20 years of military occupation, repression and confiscation of land, contributed to a Palestinian uprising called the intifada in December 1987. Between 1987 and 1993, over 1,000 Palestinians were killed and thousands injured, detained, imprisoned in Israel or deported from the Palestinian territories.

The peace processIn 1993, the Oslo Accords, the first direct, face-to-face agreement between Israel and the PLO, were signed and intended to provide a framework for the

future relations between the two parties. The Accords created the Palestinian National Authority (PNA) with responsibility for the administration of the territory under its control. The Accords also called for the withdrawal of Israeli forces from parts of the Gaza Strip and West Bank.

Implementation of the Oslo Accords suffered a serious setback with the assassination of Yitzhak Rabin, Israeli Prime Minister and signer of the Oslo Accords, in November 1995. Since 1995, several peace summits and proposals, including the Camp David Summit (2000), Taba Summit (2001), the Road Map for Peace (2002), and the Arab Peace Initiative (2002 and 2007), have attempted tobroker a solution, with no success.

The drive for recognition of Palestinian statehoodIn a speech on September 16, 2011, Mahmoud Abbas, President of the PalestinianNational Authority, declared his intention to proceed with the request for recognition of statehood from both the United Nations General Assembly and Security Council. On September 23, 2011, President Abbas delivered the official application for recognition of a Palestinian State to the United Nations Secretary General.Numerous issues remain to be settled by Israelis andPalestinians, however, before an independent state of Palestine emerges. Negotiations are ongoing.

A criação do Estado de Israel e a questão palestina 

Desde a Antiguidade, uma região do Oriente Médio é chamada de Palestina pelo império Britânico. Aproximadamente em 120 a.C, os hebreus (judeus) conquistaram esta região. Porém, com consecutivos domínios estrangeiros sobre este território, foi iniciado um processo de dispersão (diáspora) da população judaica para outras regiões, embora grande parte ainda continuasse na Palestina. Duas grandes revoltas ocorreram por parte dos judeus contrao domínio romano, ocasionado a demolição do Templo de Jerusalém, aumento da dispersão dos judeus e a proibição deles habitarem em Jerusalém, o que resultou na dispersão de hebreus pelo Império Romano. 

Com isso, as populações helenísticas passaram a ocupar a Palestina, que no ano de 395 passou a ser uma província. 

No ano de 1517, a Palestina foi conquistada pelos turcos otomanos (Império Turco). E já no século XX, havia populações de judeus habitando na região juntamente com o povo árabe, fato este que ficou mais intenso em 1918, o quegerou um incomodo na população árabe, e com isso os judeus imigrantes criaram um movimento paramilitar chamado Haganah, com o objetivo de se proteger e armar planos para futuramente atacar os árabes. A Declaração de Balfour feita pelo ministro britânico dos Assuntos Estrangeiros favorecia a instituição de um novo Estado judeu, mas como a Grã-Bretanha mantinha uma ótima relação econômica com os Estados mulçumanos do Oriente Médio, tentou impedir a imigração dos judeus para não contrariar seu aliado, porém a população de judeus, e a organização dos terroristas na Palestina pressionavam o mundo para a criação desse novo Estado. 

Finalmente, em 1947 foi aprovado pelas Nações Unidas o plano de Partilha da Palestina, que dividiu o território emdois Estados: um judeu e outro árabe, com o principal objetivo de acabar com o confronto que havia entre as duas sociedades. 

O plano de partilha da Palestina foi recusado pelos Estadosárabes. 

No ano de 1948, foi proclamado o Estado de Israel pelos judeus, que foi invadido pelos países árabes vizinhos, dando inicio a primeira guerra árabe-israelense. 

Os países árabes que estavam na guerra eram Egito, Jordânia, Iraque, Síria e Líbano, estes foram derrotados pelo Estado de Israel, o que levou a ampliação do território israelense, que passaram a dominar 75% da Palestina. Com isso, teve inicio a expulsão dos palestinos para países vzinhos.

O restante do território Palestino condiz à Faixa de Gaza ea Cisjordânia que estavam ocupadas respectivamente pelas tropas armadas do Egito e da Jordânia. 

  

Segundo Conflito: Guerra de Suez (1956)

Com o objetivo de garantir o acesso dos ocidentais (principalmente franceses e ingleses) ao comércio oriental,antes realizado pelo contorno do sul da África. O controle das operações realizadas no canal ficou sob o domínio inglês e continuou mesmo após a independência do Egito. No entanto, em 1952, um Golpe de Estado realizado pelo revolucionário Gamal Abdel Nasser pôs fim ao regime monárquico do rei Faruk. A liderança de Nasser no governo egípcio revelou uma política de caráter nacionalista,

buscando a modernização do Estado por meio da reforma agrária, do desenvolvimento da indústria e de uma melhor distribuição de renda. A luta contra o Estado de Israel, entretanto, não deixou de ser alimentada. 

Numa atitude de combate ao colonialismo anglo-francês, Abdel Nasser nacionalizou o Canal de Suez e proibiu a navegação de navios israelenses no local. A medida causou um grande impacto na Inglaterra, França e Israel que, então, iniciaram uma guerra contra o Egito. No desenrolar do conflito, os egípcios foram derrotados, mas os Estados Unidos e a União Soviética interferiram, obrigando os três países a retirarem-se dos territórios ocupados. Ao final, oCanal de Suez voltava, definitivamente, para o Egito, mas com o direito de navegação estendido a qualquer país. 

A Guerra de Suez revelou uma nova referência para o contexto político da região: a cumplicidade de Israel com as potências imperialistas ocidentais. Tal constatação acentuou a ruptura entre árabes e judeus, abrindo precedentes para novos conflitos. 

Terceiro Conflito:Guerra dos Seis Dias (1967) 

No ano de 1967, o líder egípcio Nasser, armou um esquema para fazer com que a Síria e a Jordânia mobilizassem suas tropas para apoiá-lo em caso de um revide israelense. 

Na manhã de 5 de junho, a força Aérea Israelense (FAI) executou um ataque coordenado às principais bases aéreas doEgito destruindo quase todos os seus aviões no solo e inutilizando as pistas. 

No decorrer da guerra, a FAI conseguiu derrotar 350 aviões árabes foi derrotado somente 31 deles. 

No Sinai, o exército egípcio tinha sete divisões e cerca de950 carros de combate, distribuídos em posições defensivas. 

O Exército israelense montara a Operação Lençol Vermelho, realizando a guerra-relâmpago. 

No dia 8 de junho, os israelenses armaram uma embocada exterminando 60 tanques, 100 canhões e 300 veículos. 

Para reabrir o estreito de Tiran, foi enviado um grupo de combate para o sul da península, com o objetivo de encontrar-se com uma força de pára-quedistas que saltara emSharm-el-Sheikh, mas não houve luta, pois a guarnição egípcia havia batido em retirada. 

Excepcionalmente na história das guerras, houve uma vitóriatão ampla foi conquistada em tão pouco tempo, forma apenas quatro dias para vencer um exército de sete divisões.

Vejamos a seguir no mapa os territórios conquistados: 

Podemos observar a seguir o mapa da “cidade velha” e como foi feita sua divisão. 

Quarto conflito: Guerra do Yom Kippur(1973)

Em 6 de outubro de 1973, teve inicio a guerra de Yom Kippur, onde os árabes começaram levando vantagem, pois a Síria recuperou as Colinas de Golã, e o Egito dominou uma porção da península de Sinai. Porém os israelenses com o apoio dos Estados Unidos recuperam as colinas de Golã e Sinai, com isso Egito e Síria forma derrotados por Israel.

Acordo de Camp David

Com o cessar-fogo estabelecem-se as relações diplomáticas, iniciando-se um processo que é designado por paz americana.Iniciado em 1974/1975 com a metodologia dos pequenos passosde Henry Kissinger e, continuada pelo presidente Jimmy

Carter em 1978/1979, ela visa, por parte dos E.U.A., a divisão do mundo árabe. A visita do presidente egípcio a Israel (1977) e os Acordos de Camp David (1978), que preparam um tratado de paz separado entre Israel e o Egipto, concluído em 1979, constituem acontecimentos de relevo político na região. O presidente Sadate terá procurado nesta estratégia discutir a solução do problema palestino. Numa outra perspectiva, o tratado deveria atrairoutros estados árabes, nomeadamente a Jordânia. A realidadeposterior não viria a confirmar estas perspectivas, e os dirigentes israelitas prosseguirão até 1983 uma política assente na agressividade e na ocupação (os Montes Golan em 1980). Quanto às conversações sobre a autonomia dos Territórios Ocupados, previstas no Tratado de Paz entre o Egito e Israel, elas são praticamente ignoradas, e Israel continuando a instalar colunatas na Cisjordânia. 

Intifada 

Em 1987 teve inicio uma revolta popular em Gaza chamada de Intifada, onde os palestinos atacavam os israelenses. A população armada de paus e pedras enfrentava diariamente ossoldados israelenses, que tentavam conter a rebelião de forma brutal atacando com paus, pedras, balas de borracha ebombas de gás, e isso acabou prejudicando a imagem de Israel, e esta ação acabou sendo condenada pelo Conselho deSegurança da ONU, predominando a opinião pública mundial favorecendo a OLP. 

E em 1988, foi instituído o Estado Independente da Palestina pelo Conselho Nacional Palestino, no território de ocupado por Israel em 1967. Neste mesmo ano, o rei Hussein admite que a OLP está representando bem os palestinos e desiste de ocupar a Cisjordânia. No ano de 1991, é realizada a 1ª Conferencia Internacional de Paz para o Oriente Médio, da qual o Conselho aceitou a participar. 

Em 1993 foi estabelecido o Acordo de Paz de Oslo *,dando origem assim á Autoridade Palestina, na qual os termos nunca foram cumpridos pelos palestinos. 

* Uma série de acordos,entre o governo de Israel e o Presidente da OLP, que previa o termino dos conflitos. 

Podemos observar na figura a baixo as áreas controladas pelos palestinos na Cisjordânia. 

O ano de 1996 se destacou devido à eleição do primeiro-ministro Binyamin Ntanyahu do partido de likud. O método usado para a pacificação da região encontrava-se em espera,enquanto isso os terroristas palestinos recrudescem seus atentados. 

Já no ano de 1998 Arafat e Netanyahu, vão até os EUA para mais uma de suas negociações, que teve como conseqüência a assinatura do acordo de Wye Plantation. 

Em 17 de maio de 1999 Ehud Barak é eleito e devido a essa eleição Israel retomou a politica de devolução dos territorios, ja determinada no acordo de Wye Plantation, deixando livres 7% da Cisjordânia. 

Podemos observar a seguir no mapa a ocupaçao de Palestinos e Iraelenses na Faixa de Ganz. 

As Situações dos Territorios Palestinos em 2000 

No ano de 2000, Ehud Barak continuava no poder, porém em setembro do mesmo ano teve um colapso no seu governo, o fimdas conversações de paz e o agravamento de violência geradoentre israel e palestinos, que só ocorreram devido a visitade Ariel Sharam ao monte do templo. Israel se retirou de sete cidades da Cisjordânia e também da zona de segurança no sul do Libano. Alguns palestinos estão sob juristição da autoridade palestina. 

Após quase 2 anos como primeiro-ministro Ehud Barak renuncia ao cargo, dando espaço para novas eleições na qualo vencedor é o maior inimigo dos paçestinos, “Ariel Sharon”do partido LIKUD. 

Em fevereiro de 2001 Sharon já eleito o Primeiro-Ministro de Israel,mantém sua postura belicista perante os terroristas palestino e afirma que continuará com a construção de assentamento nos terrirorios ocupados.Devido as afirmações de Sharon,os grupos Jinhad Istamico e o Hamasaumentaram os números de atentados suicidas. 

Para se vingar dos atentados, o governo de Israel começou atacar as áreas de controle da ANP com bombardeios aéreos. 

Enquanto isso, Arafat ficou confinado na cidade de Ramallahna Cisjordânia até maio de 2002, sendo acusado de não conter atentados terroristas praticados pelos palestinos. 

No decorrer desses acontecimentos, Israel admitiu a politica do “Muro Protetor”, para tentar acabar com a infra-estrutura do terror por meio de tropas e escavadeiraspreenchendo praticamente todas as cidades que estavam sob odominio palestino na Cisjordânia.

A situação em 2003 

Os atentados palestinos suicidas contra a população civil de Israel só aumentavam, e com isso a situação de Gaza e Cisjordânia se complicou. A Autoridade Palestina foi responsabilizada por estes atentados, pois o governo israelese acusou Yasser Arafat denão agido para impedir as ações dos terroristas. 

Ainda em 2003, foi construído um muro pelo governo israelense para separar a Cisjordânia de Israel, com o objetivo de conter os atentados.

Question: "Why do Jews and Arabs / Muslims hate each other?"

Answer: First, it is important to understand that not all Arabs are Muslims, and not all Muslims are Arabs. While a majority of Arabs are Muslims, there are many non-Muslim Arabs. Further, there are significantly more non-Arab Muslims in areas such as Indonesia and Malaysia than there are Arab Muslims. Second, it is important to remember that not all Arabs hate Jews, not all Muslims hate Jews, and not all Jews hate Arabs and Muslims. We must be careful to avoid stereotyping people. However, generallyspeaking, Arabs and Muslims have a dislike of and distrust for Jews, and vice-versa.

If there is an explicit biblical explanation for this animosity,it goes all the way back to Abraham. The Jews are descendants ofAbraham’s son Isaac. The Arabs are descendants of Abraham’s son

Ishmael. With Ishmael being the son of a slave woman (Genesis 16:1-16) and Isaac being the promised son who would inherit the blessings of Abraham (Genesis 21:1-3), obviously there would be some animosity between the two sons. As a result of Ishmael’s mocking Isaac (Genesis 21:9), Sarah talked Abraham into sending Hagar and Ishmael away (Genesis 21:11-21). Likely, this caused even more contempt in Ishmael’s heart towards Isaac. An angel prophesied to Hagar that Ishmael would “live in hostility towardall his brothers” (Genesis 16:11-12).

The religion of Islam, to which a majority of Arabs are adherents, has made this hostility more profound. The Qur'an contains somewhat contradictory instructions for Muslims regarding Jews. At one point it instructs Muslims to treat Jews as brothers and at another point commands Muslims to attack Jewswho refuse to convert to Islam. The Qur’an also introduces a conflict as to which son of Abraham was truly the son of promise. The Hebrew Scriptures say it was Isaac. The Qur’an saysit was Ishmael. The Qur’an teaches that it was Ishmael whom Abraham almost sacrificed to the Lord, not Isaac (in contradiction to Genesis chapter 22). This debate over who was the son of promise contributes to the hostility today.

However, the ancient root of bitterness between Isaac and Ishmael does not explain all of the hostility between Jews and Arabs today. In fact, for thousands of years of Middle Eastern history, Jews and Arabs lived in relative peace and indifferencetowards each other. The primary cause of the hostility has a modern origin. After World War II, when the United Nations gave a portion of the land of Israel to the Jewish people, the land was at that time primarily inhabited by Arabs (the Palestinians). Most Arabs protested vehemently against the nation of Israel occupying that land. Arab nations united and attacked Israel in an attempt to drive them out of the land, butthey were defeated. Ever since, there has been great hostility between Israel and its Arab neighbors. Israel exists on one tinypiece of land surrounded by much larger Arab nations such as Jordan, Syria, Saudi Arabia, Iraq, and Egypt. It is our viewpoint that, biblically speaking, Israel has a right to existas a nation in its own land that God gave to the descendants of

Jacob, grandson of Abraham. At the same time, we strongly believe that Israel should seek peace and display respect for its Arab neighbors. Psalm 122:6 declares, “Pray for the peace ofJerusalem: May those who love you be secure.”

MYTH

“The Jews have no claim to the land they call Israel."

FACT

A common misperception is that all the Jews were forced into the Diaspora by the Romans after the destruction of the Second Temple in Jerusalem in the year 70 C.E. and then, 1,800 years later, the Jews suddenly returned to Palestine demanding their country back. In reality, the Jewish people have maintained ties to their historic homeland for more than 3,700 years.

The Jewish people base their claim to the Land of Israel onat least four premises: 1) the Jewish people settled and developed the land; 2) the international community granted political sovereignty in Palestine to the Jewish people; 3)the territory was captured in defensive wars and 4) God promised the land to the patriarch Abraham.

Even after the destruction of the Second Temple in Jerusalem, and the beginning of the exile, Jewish life in the Land of Israel continued and often flourished. Large communities were reestablished in Jerusalem and Tiberias bythe ninth century. In the 11th century, Jewish communities grew in Rafah, Gaza, Ashkelon, Jaffa and Caesarea. The Crusaders massacred many Jews during the 12th century, but the community rebounded in the next two centuries as large numbers of rabbis and Jewish pilgrims immigrated to Jerusalem and the Galilee. Prominent rabbis established communities in Safed, Jerusalem and elsewhere during the next 300 years.

By the early 19th century—years before the birth of the modern Zionist movement—more than 10,000 Jews lived throughout what is today Israel.1 The 78 years of nation-

building, beginning in 1870, culminated in the reestablishment of the Jewish State.

Israel’s international “birth certificate” was validated bythe promise of the Bible; uninterrupted Jewish settlement from the time of Joshua onward; the Balfour Declaration of 1917; the League of Nations Mandate, which incorporated theBalfour Declaration; the United Nations partition resolution of 1947; Israel’s admission to the UN in 1949; the recognition of Israel by most other states; and, most of all, the society created by Israel’s people in decades of thriving, dynamic national existence.

“Nobody does Israel any service by proclaimingits ‘right to exist.' Israel’s right to exist,like that of the United States, Saudi Arabia and152 other states, is axiomatic and unreserved.Israel’s legitimacy is not suspended in midairawaiting acknowledgement. . . .There is certainlyno other state, big or small, young or old, thatwould consider mere recognition of its ‘right toexist’ a favor, or a negotiable concession.”

Abba Eban 2

MYTH

“Palestine was always an Arab country.”

FACT

The term “Palestine” is believed to be derived from the Philistines, an Aegean people who, in the 12th Century B.C.E., settled along the Mediterranean coastal plain of what are now Israel and the Gaza Strip. In the second century C.E., after crushing the last Jewish revolt, the Romans first applied the name Palaestina to Judea (the southern portion of what is now called the West Bank) in anattempt to minimize Jewish identification with the land of Israel. The Arabic word Filastin is derived from this Latin name. 3

The Hebrews entered theLand of Israel about 1300B.C.E., living under atribal confederationuntil being united underthe first monarch, KingSaul. The second king, David, established Jerusalem as the capitalaround 1000 B.C.E.David’s son, Solomon,built the Temple soonthereafter andconsolidated themilitary, administrativeand religious functionsof the kingdom. Thenation was divided underSolomon’s son, with thenorthern kingdom (Israel) lasting until 722 B.C.E., when the Assyrians destroyed it, and the southern kingdom (Judah) surviving until the Babylonian conquest in 586 B.C.E. The Jewish people enjoyed brief periods of sovereignty afterward until most Jews were finally driven from their homeland in 135 C.E.

Jewish independence in the Land of Israel lasted for more than 400 years. This is much longer than Americans have enjoyed independence in what has become known as the UnitedStates. 4 In fact, if not for foreign conquerors, Israel would be more than 3,000 years old today.

Palestine was never an exclusively Arab country, although Arabic gradually became the language of most of the population after the Muslim invasions of the seventh century. No independent Arab or Palestinian state ever existed in Palestine. When the distinguished Arab-American historian, Princeton University Prof. Philip Hitti, testified against partition before the Anglo-American Committee in 1946, he said: “There is no such thing as ‘Palestine’ in history, absolutely not.”5

Map of British Mandate

Prior to partition, Palestinian Arabs did not view themselves as having a separate identity. When the First Congress of Muslim-Christian Associations met in Jerusalem in February 1919 to choose Palestinian representatives for the Paris Peace Conference, the following resolution was adopted:

We consider Palestine as part of Arab Syria, as it has never been separated from it at any time. We are connected with it by national, religious, linguistic, natural, economic and geographical bonds. 6

In 1937, a local Arab leader, Auni Bey Abdul-Hadi, told thePeel Commission, which ultimately suggested the partition of Palestine: “There is no such country as Palestine! ‘Palestine’ is a term the Zionists invented! There is no Palestine in the Bible. Our country was for centuries part of Syria.” 7 The representative of the Arab Higher Committee to the United Nations echoed this view in a statement to the General Assembly in May 1947, which said Palestine was part of the Province of Syria and the Arabs of Palestine did not comprise a separate political entity. A few years later, Ahmed Shuqeiri, later the chairman of the PLO, told the Security Council: “It is common knowledgethat Palestine is nothing but southern Syria.” 8

Palestinian Arab nationalism is largely a post-World War I phenomenon that did not become a significant political movement until after the 1967 Six-Day War.

MYTH

“The Palestinians are descendants of the Canaanites and were in Palestine long before the Jews.”

FACT

Palestinian claims to be related to the Canaanites are a recent phenomenon and contrary to historical evidence. The Canaanites disappeared from the face of the earth three millennia ago, and no one knows if any of their descendantssurvived or, if they did, who they would be.

Sherif Hussein, the guardian of the Islamic Holy Places in Arabia, said the Palestinians’ ancestors had only been in the area for 1,000 years. 9 Even the Palestinians themselves have acknowledged their association with the region came long after the Jews. In testimony before the Anglo-American Committee in 1946, for example, they claimeda connection to Palestine of more than 1,000 years, dating back no further than the conquest of Muhammad’s followers in the 7th century.10Over the last 2,000 years, there have been massive invasions (e.g., the Crusades) that killed offmost of the local people, migrations, the plague, and othermanmade or natural disasters. The entire local population was replaced many times over. During the British mandate alone, more than 100,000 Arabs emigrated from neighboring countries and are today considered Palestinians.

By contrast, no serious historian questions the more than 3,000-year-old Jewish connection to the Land of Israel, or the modern Jewish people’s relation to the ancient Hebrews.

MYTH

“The Balfour Declaration did not give Jews the right to a homeland in Palestine.”

FACT

In 1917, Britain issued the Balfour Declaration:

His Majesty’s Government views with favor the establishmentin Palestine of a national home for the Jewish people, and will use their best endeavors to facilitate the achievementof this object, it being clearly understood that nothing shall be done which may prejudice the civil and religious rights of existing non-Jewish communities in Palestine or the rights and political status enjoyed by Jews in any other country.

The Mandate for Palestine included the Balfour Declaration.It specifically referred to “the historical connections of the Jewish people with Palestine” and to the moral validityof “reconstituting their National Home in that country.” The term “reconstituting” shows recognition of the fact

that Palestine had been the Jews’ home. Furthermore, the British were instructed to “use their best endeavors to facilitate” Jewish immigration, to encourage settlement on the land and to “secure” the Jewish National Home. The word“Arab” does not appear in the Mandatory award. 11

The Mandate was formalized by the 52 governments at the League of Nations on July 24, 1922.

MYTH

“Arabs in Palestine suffered because of Jewish settlement.”

FACT

For many centuries, Palestine was a sparsely populated, poorly cultivated and widely-neglected expanse of eroded hills, sandy deserts and malarial marshes. As late as 1880,the American consul in Jerusalem reported the area was continuing its historic decline. “The population and wealthof Palestine has not increased during the last forty years,” he said. 12

The Report of the Palestine Royal Commission quotes an account of the Maritime Plain in 1913:

The road leading from Gaza to the north was only a summer track suitable for transport by camels and carts . . . no orange groves, orchards or vineyards were to be seen until one reached [the Jewish village of] Yabna [Yavne]. . . . Houses were all of mud. No windows were anywhere to be seen. . . . The ploughs used were of wood. . . . The yieldswere very poor. . . . The sanitary conditions in the village were horrible. Schools did not exist. . . . The western part, towards the sea, was almost a desert. . . . The villages in this area were few and thinly populated. Many ruins of villages were scattered over the area, as owing to the prevalence of malaria, many villages were deserted by their inhabitants. 13

Surprisingly, many people who were not sympathetic to the Zionist cause believed the Jews would improve the condition

of Palestinian Arabs. For example, Dawood Barakat, editor of the Egyptian paper Al-Ahram, wrote: “It is absolutely necessary that an entente be made between the Zionists and Arabs, because the war of words can only do evil. The Zionists are necessary for the country: The money which they will bring, their knowledge and intelligence, and the industriousness which characterizes them will contribute without doubt to the regeneration of the country.” 14

Even a leading Arab nationalist believed the return of the Jews to their homeland would help resuscitate the country. According to Sherif Hussein, the guardian of the Islamic Holy Places in Arabia:

The resources of the country are still virgin soil and willbe developed by the Jewish immigrants. One of the most amazing things until recent times was that the Palestinian used to leave his country, wandering over the high seas in every direction. His native soil could not retain a hold onhim, though his ancestors had lived on it for 1000 years. At the same time we have seen the Jews from foreign countries streaming to Palestine from Russia, Germany, Austria, Spain, America. The cause of causes could not escape those who had a gift of deeper insight. They knew that the country was for its original sons (abna’ihi-l-asliyin),for all their differences, a sacred and beloved homeland. The return of these exiles (jaliya) to their homeland will prove materially and spiritually [to be] an experimental school for their brethren who are with them in the fields, factories, trades and in all things connected with toil andlabor. 15

As Hussein foresaw, the regeneration of Palestine, and the growth of its population, came only after Jews returned in massive numbers.

“Mark Twain, who visited Palestine in 1867,described it as: “. . . a desolate country whosesoil is rich enough, but is given over wholly toweeds—a silent mournful expanse. . . . Adesolation is here that not even imagination cangrace with the pomp of life and action. . . . Wenever saw a human being on the whole route. . . .

There was hardly a tree or a shrub anywhere. Eventhe olive and the cactus, those fast friends ofthe worthless soil, had almost deserted thecountry.” 16

MYTH

“Zionism is racism.”

FACT

In 1975, the UN General Assembly adopted a resolution slandering Zionism by equating it with racism. Zionism is the national liberation movement of the Jewish people, which holds that Jews, like any other nation, are entitled to a homeland.

History has demonstrated the need to ensure Jewish securitythrough a national homeland. Zionism recognizes that Jewishness is defined by shared origin, religion, culture and history. The realization of the Zionist dream is exemplified by nearly six million Jews, from more than 100 countries, who are Israeli citizens.

Israel’s Law of Return grants automatic citizenship to Jews, but non-Jews are also eligible to become citizens under naturalization procedures similar to those in other countries. Israel’s policy is not unique; many other countries, including Germany, Greece, Ireland and Finland have special categories of people who are entitled to citizenship.

More than one million Muslim and Christian Arabs, Druze, Baha’is, Circassians and other ethnic groups also are represented in Israel’s population. The presence in Israel of thousands of Jews from Ethiopia, Yemen and India is the best refutation of the calumny against Zionism. In a seriesof historic airlifts, labeled Operations Moses (1984), Joshua (1985) and Solomon (1991), Israel rescued more than 20,000 members of the ancient Ethiopian Jewish community.

Zionism does not discriminate against anyone. Israel’s openand democratic character, and its scrupulous protection of the religious and political rights of Christians and Muslims, rebut the charge of exclusivity. Moreover, anyone—Jew or non-Jew, Israeli, American, or Chinese, black, white, or purple—can be a Zionist.

By contrast, the Arab states define citizenship strictly bynative parentage. It is almost impossible to become a naturalized citizen in Arab states such as Algeria, Saudi Arabia and Kuwait. Several Arab nations have laws that facilitate the naturalization of foreign Arabs, with the specific exception of Palestinians. Jordan, on the other hand, instituted its own “law of return” in 1954, accordingcitizenship to all former residents of Palestine, except for Jews.18

The 1975 UN resolution was part of the Soviet-Arab Cold Waranti-Israel campaign. Almost all the former non-Arab supporters of the resolution have apologized and changed their positions. When the General Assembly voted to repeal the resolution in 1991, only some Arab and Muslim states, as well as Cuba, North Korea and Vietnam were opposed.

Writing after “Operation Moses” was revealed,William Safire noted:

“.  . . For the first time in history, thousandsof black people are being brought to a countrynot in chains but in dignity, not as slaves butas citizens.” 17

MYTH

“The Zionists could have chosen another country besides Palestine.”

FACT

In the late 19th century, the rise of anti-Semitism led to a resurgence of pogroms in Russia and Eastern Europe,

shattering promises of equality and tolerance. This stimulated Jewish immigration to Palestine from Europe.

Simultaneously, a wave of Jews immigrated to Palestine fromYemen, Morocco, Iraq and Turkey. These Jews were unaware ofTheodor -Herzl’s political Zionism or of European pogroms. They were motivated by the centuries-old dream of the “Return to Zion” and a fear of intolerance. Upon hearing that the gates of Palestine were open, they braved the hardships of travel and went to the Land of Israel.

The Zionist ideal of a return to Israel has profound religious roots. Many Jewish prayers speak of Jerusalem, Zion and the Land of Israel. The injunction not to forget Jerusalem, the site of the Temple, is a major tenet of Judaism. The Hebrew language, the Torah, laws in the Talmud, the Jewish calendar and Jewish holidays and festivals all originated in Israel and revolve around its seasons and conditions. Jews pray toward Jerusalem and recite the words “next year in Jerusalem” every Passover. Jewish religion, culture and history make clear that it is only in the land of Israel that the Jewish commonwealth canbe built.

In 1897, Jewish leaders formally organized the Zionist political movement, calling for the restoration of the Jewish national home in Palestine, where Jews could find sanctuary and self-determination, and work for the renascence of their civilization and culture.

MYTH

“Herzl himself proposed Uganda as the Jewish state as an alternative to Palestine.”

FACT

Theodor Herzl sought support from the great powers for the creation of a Jewish homeland. He turned to Great Britain, and met with Joseph Chamberlain, the British colonial secretary and others. The British agreed, in principle, to permit Jewish settlement in East Africa.

At the Sixth Zionist Congress at Basle on August 26, 1903, Herzl proposed the British Uganda Program as a temporary emergency refuge for Jews in Russia in immediate danger. While Herzl made it clear that this program would not affect the ultimate aim of Zionism, a Jewish entity in the Land of Israel, the proposal aroused a storm of protest at the Congress and nearly led to a split in the Zionist movement. The Uganda Program, which never had much support,was formally rejected by the Zionist movement at the Seventh Zionist Congress in 1905.

MYTH

“The Arabs saw the Balfour Declaration as a betrayal of their rights.”

FACT

Emir Faisal, son of Sherif Hussein, the leader of the Arab revolt against the Turks, signed an agreement with Chaim Weizmann and other Zionist leaders during the 1919 Paris Peace Conference. It acknowledged the “racial kinship and ancient bonds existing between the Arabs and the Jewish people” and concluded that “the surest means of working outthe consummation of their national aspirations is through the closest possible collaboration in the development of the Arab states and Palestine.” Furthermore, the agreement looked to the fulfillment of the Balfour Declaration and called for all necessary measures “ . . . to encourage and stimulate immigration of Jews into Palestine on a large scale, and as quickly as possible to settle Jewish immigrants upon the land through closer settlement and intensive cultivation of the soil.” 19

Faisal had conditioned his acceptance of the Balfour Declaration on the fulfillment of British wartime promises of independence to the Arabs. These were not kept.

Critics dismiss the Weizmann-Faisal agreement because it was never enacted; however, the fact that the leader of theArab nationalist movement and the Zionist movement could reach an understanding is significant because it

demonstrated that Jewish and Arab aspirations were not necessarily mutually exclusive.

"Our settlers do not come here as do thecolonists from the Occident to have natives dotheir work for them; they themselves set theirshoulders to the plow and they spend theirstrength and their blood to make the landfruitful. But it is not only for ourselves thatwe desire its fertility. The Jewish farmers havebegun to teach their brothers, the Arab farmers,to cultivate the land more intensively; we desireto teach them further: together with them we wantto cultivate the land—to ‘serve’ it, as theHebrew has it. The more fertile this soilbecomes, the more space there will be for us andfor them. We have no desire to dispossess them:we want to live with them.”

Martin Buber 20

 

MYTH

“The Zionists were colonialist tools of Western imperialism.”

FACT

“Colonialism means living by exploiting others,” YehoshofatHarkabi has written. “But what could be further from colonialism than the idealism of city-dwelling Jews who strive to become farmers and laborers and to live by their own work?” 21

Moreover, as British historian Paul Johnson noted, Zionistswere hardly tools of imperialists given the powers’ generalopposition to their cause. “Everywhere in the West, the foreign offices, defense ministries and big business were against the Zionists.” 22

Emir Faisal also saw the Zionist movement as a companion tothe Arab nationalist movement, fighting against

imperialism, as he explained in a letter to Harvard law professor and future Supreme Court Justice Felix Frankfurter on March 3, 1919, one day after Chaim Weizmann presented the Zionist case to the Paris conference. Faisal wrote:

The Arabs, especially the educated among us, look with deepest sympathy on the Zionist movement. . . . We will wish the Jews a hearty welcome home. . . . We are working together for a reformed and revised Near East and our two movements complete one another. The Jewish movement is nationalist and not imperialist. And there is room in Syria for us both. Indeed, I think that neither can be a real success without the other (emphasis added). 23

In the 1940s, the Jewish underground movements waged an anti--colonial war against the British. The Arabs, meanwhile, were concerned primarily with fighting the Jews rather thanexpelling the British imperialists.

MYTH

“The British promised the Arabs independence in Palestine.”

FACT

The central figure in the Arab nationalist movement at the time of World War I was Hussein ibn ‘Ali, the Sherif of Mecca in 1908. As Sherif, Hussein was responsible for the custody of Islam’s shrines in the Hejaz and was one of the Muslims’ spiritual leaders.

In July 1915, Hussein sent a letter to Sir Henry MacMahon, the High Commissioner for Egypt, informing him of the termsfor Arab participation in the war against the Turks. The letters between Hussein and MacMahon that followed outlinedthe areas that Britain was prepared to cede to the Arabs inexchange for their help.

The Hussein-MacMahon correspondence conspicuously fails to mention Palestine. The British argued the omission had beenintentional, thereby justifying their refusal to grant the

Arabs independence in Palestine after the war.24MacMahon explained:

I feel it my duty to state, and I do so definitely and emphatically, that it was not intended by me in giving thispledge to King Hussein to include Palestine in the area in which Arab independence was promised. I also had every reason to believe at the time that the fact that Palestine was not included in my pledge was well understood by King Hussein. 25