Restless Palestinians
Identity, Education, Affluence
Keys to Middle East Peace
by Dan Ehrlich

Arab Leaders Allow Refugees one Emotional Outlet
The mass Palestinian marches on Israel’s borders were spurred on by the current chaos in the Middle East and the fact the refugee cause was being sidelined by greater events in the region. They want their peace of the action, too.

But what the demonstrations illustrated was a problem much bigger than the creation of a Palestinian state in the West Bank and Gaza Strip.

There are millions of refugees, children and grandchildren of refugees who have no desire to live with Israelis. And they couldn't even if they wanted to. There are too many now. They today, as back in 1948, want to destroy Israel and its Jewish character.

That’s mainly because of their own tribal and religious beliefs and the fact the host Arab nations that have been sheltering these people for as long as 63 years, have not allowed them to assimilate or even gain citizenship. Yet, they still remain loyal to their fellow Arabs. The only outlet they are allowed is vengeance against the Infidel.

Palestinians know better than to demonstrate against Syria or Jordan, which in the past have shown no tolerance for national aspirations within their borders. Israel is seen as their soft natural target. That may have changed after the violence and deaths this past weekend. As time passes Israel’s attitude towards violent provocation is hardening in line with how such things are dealt with in this region.

The current carnage in Syria and Libya exemplifies why there have been long Palestinian uprisings against Israel. In the past militant Palestinians knew the Israelis wouldn’t do what their fellow Arabs would do to win…mass killings to where entire villages were wiped out.

That seems to have changed a bit after the 2009 Gaza onslaught, as a result of Palestinian attacks on Israel. It’s one thing burning down your own areas and another attacking your stronger enemy. Today, even Hamas is cautious in attacking Israel.

For generations the Palestinians, locked in the Arab time warp, have been fed the current Hamas line that there will be a day of deliverance, when they will drive the Jews out and they will return.

But, as we have seen during the recent months, this time warp has closed and the Arab masses now want their piece of the action up front, not in heaven. Whether that includes virgins remains unexplained.

A look at any Middle East map reveals one of the world’s few under populated regions…except for the historic Fertile Crescent of Israel, Lebanon and Gaza. Even here on this relatively small piece of land, beachfront property is highly sought after with a total population of about 14 million. Half of this figure belongs to Israel.

Yet, over in massive Libya, several times the size of the Fertile Crescent the population is only 6 million. And Israel’s neighbor Jordan, with a much bigger land mass, has a population of 5.2 million…more than 4 million of which are Palestinian Arabs, not members of the ruling Hashemite tribe.

It doesn’t take a genius to conclude justice for the Palestinians will be permanent homes and their own nationality since their Arab brothers don’t claim them… which has been a crime that has gone unnoticed for generations.

The main reason for the Arab League edict denying citizenship to Palestinians in other Arab nations was the very probable belief they would abandon their demands on all of Israel. The Palestinians have been the best weapon the Arab nations have had, since they have lost all their open wars with Israel. Is the Obama Administration pressing the Arabs to scrap this unjust edict?

Also unheralded through generations was the Jewish exodus from Arab lands after the Israel’s founding…unheralded because, unlike Arab treatment of Palestinians, Israel welcomed their brethren to the new nation…they ceased to be refugees.

What should have happened then would have been similar to the founding of Pakistan, carved from India, but without the resulting massive death toll. Such a partiton should happen now.

Most of the West Bank should be re-linked with Jordan, which is already 80 percent Palestinian, and a Palestinian state declared in the West Bank and portions of Jordan.

As for Gaza, in the long-term it would be as unworkable as part of a new Palestinian state as East Pakistan was before it became Bangladesh. It would either have to be an autonomous enclave, or better yet be finally taken back by Egypt. Many Gazans, aside from Palestinians, are of ethnically Egyptian. Yet, Egypt never demanded its return as part of its peace deal with Israel.

However, even if this happened, the hatred and hostility of Israel would still exist until a completely new mind set and non-religious based education permeated the region along with individual economic well-being. The one truism we see in the world is democratic nations filled with relatively affluent people don’t make war on each other.

But for now, it’s difficult to envision a non-Arabic, non-Muslim progressive multi cultural democracy existing side by side with poverty level Islamic theocracies. Just look at the constant state of tension and suspicion between India and Pakistan, both with nuclear missiles aimed at each other.