What’s the Truth About Palestine?

Note: This is Part 1 of a two-part series. For Part 2, click here.

Talk of a comprehensive Arab-Israeli peace agreement has been around so long it’s become multi-generational. Yet, instead of getting closer to it, these days it appears further away than ever. President Trump has described such an agreement as the “ultimate deal.” However, there is ample reason why it hasn’t happened, and likely won’t.

The most important factor in reaching an agreement is both sides must want to achieve peace. However, indisputable evidence proves only one side actually wants genuine peace and co-existence. In order to substantiate this, we will take a sober look and separate fact from fiction.

Who’s Who?

The Arab Palestinians are in a different category than the rest of the Arab world, which consists of 22 sovereign Middle Eastern nations. They do not have the distinction of being a sovereign nation, which they feel entitled to. Yet, is their pursuit of nationhood based on hard evidence or fabrication? Shouldn’t the facts be known before green lighting it?

“Palestinians” are a mix of Jordanians, Egyptians, Lebanese, Syrian and so forth who resided within the area known as the British Mandate of Palestine. It encompassed 43,000 square miles, and the British promised it to the Jews as a national homeland in the 1917 Balfour Declaration. Yet in 1922, the same British government turned over 75 percent of this land to become the nation of Transjordan (today’s Jordan). What remained was a mere 25 percent or 11,000 square miles of the original 43,000.

After World War II and the Holocaust, the British had their hands full trying to manage a volatile situation. In 1947, after years of strife, they turned the issue over to the United Nations. After much debate, by a 72 percent majority, the UN voted to partition two separate states, one Jewish and one Arab. I call this the “original two-state solution.” The Jews accepted the partition. However, the surrounding Arab nations rejected the vote. Their reaction was to attack the new Jewish state 24 hours after its independence, in May 1948, with the intention of destroying it. This is indisputable fact.

The Coming Storm

Prior to attacking the fledgling Jewish state, regional leadership directed local Arabs living in the area to relocate temporarily, in order to give their armies time to destroy the U.N.- partitioned Jewish state. Their thinking was they would wipe newly born Israel off the map and soon return to grab a huge windfall. Most of the local Arabs went along. They felt Israel would be destroyed in only a few short weeks.

However, their destructive aspirations failed, and the tiny nation of Israel not only survived, it remains today—and flourishes. Israel is blessing the world with cutting edge advancements in the fields of technology, science, medicine, agriculture, security and more.

What Might Have Been

We can only lament how different history might have been if the Arab nations accepted the U.N. partition vote. Yet, they chose war and have never taken responsibility for their action.

So what happened to the Arabs who left, hoping the Jews would be wiped out? Many ended up in “no man’s land,” which gave birth to the so called “Palestinian refugees.” Yet are they truly refugees? They did not leave with the intention of relocating elsewhere to start a new life, as refugees typically do. They left anticipating the Jewish state would be destroyed, allowing them to return and claim what was theirs, plus what wasn’t theirs. An honest assessment disqualifies them from being classified as “refugees.” The plan was based on bloodthirsty greed and hatred.

Since then, they have portrayed themselves as victims deserving of nationhood and compensation. However, they aren’t asking anything from the Arab nations who directed them to leave in order to launch their attack. Their demands are directed at Israel, Britain and the rest of the world. Excuse me? If anyone is to blame for their plight, it is not the Jews or Israel. Blame rests squarely with the Arabs, whose goal was to destroy the Jewish state. Clearly their fate was driven by hatred, greed and destructive intentions.

Have they ever admitted this? No. Instead they went on the offensive, and to this day, the Arab nations and the “Palestinians” lay blame on Israel for their plight. This is precisely what Yasser Arafat did when he founded the first “Palestinian” terror group in 1964, the Palestinian Liberation Organization (PLO). He blamed Israel and took no responsibility for the Arab plan to destroy the Jewish state. He also rejected the United Nations partitioning of a sovereign Arab state. If nationhood was their goal, why would he reject an Arab state? Simple: The partition included accepting a Jewish state next to the Arab state, which he refused to do. His PLO charter calls the “Balfour Declaration, the British Mandate for Palestine and the United Nations partition null and void.” (PLO Charter Articles 19 & 20)

Moreover, his organization’s charter specifically calls for the “Palestinian people to assert their absolute determination and firm resolution … to work for an armed popular revolution for the liberation of their country and the right to return to it.” (PLO Charter Article 9)

So much for peaceful co-existence. {eoa}

Daniel Calic and his wife, D’vorah, live in Israel and are Founders of blessisraelnetwork.com. They are also co-hosts of a groundbreaking program: Revelation to the Nations, which provides the first dedicated platform for the Israel Messianic community, connecting them with believers in the nations.