Denied Nationality by Arabs, Israelis
Palestinians Deserve Their Own State


But Statehood Should be Tied to Mutual Recognition, Peace
The Palestinian Arab people deserve a state of their own for two reasons: Their Arab brothers don’t want them and the Israelis, with 1.5 million Arabs of their own, don’t want them either. So, as with the Jews of Europe, being an unwanted people, they qualify for a homeland. Yet any such state should be tied to mutual acceptance and a peace treaty.

The major problem for the West in dealing with this endless growing headache has been in understanding the Middle East mindset. When the UN voted for the creation of Israel in 1947, it was with largely a western mindset…if the new state could survive a military campaign against it, that would be the end of hostilities. And, as with post war Europe, loose ends such as refugees could be solved through negotiations.

The West never imagined an endless period of hostility and wars aimed at ridding the region of a thorn in its side…one that only seem to fester with time. And that was because the Arab nations refused to treat the wound, in this case, an ever-increasing number of refugees, from these wars. They knew there would come time when this infection would burst open, as it now is doing.

We in the West see things in terms of quick success or failure…politicians see issues as terms in office. But, the Arabs have long viewed life in a timeless void where, if you wait long enough, the world will revert back to the way it was.

So, it has been with their endless conflict with Israel. The Arab League knew in 1948, after their first losing war with Israel, that keeping Arab refugees stateless would be beneficial to their new war against the Infidel, a war of attrition.

Now, that practice has borne fruit…a UN resolution resurrecting the ancient Roman territory of Palestine into the State of Palestine. Yet, as was the case with Israel in 1948, a resolution is one thing, holding on to your claim is another. This makes any Palestinian entity problematic since it’s really composed to two basic entities, the West Bank, at peace with Israel and the Gaza Strip, at war with Israel. The new state of Palestine is divided, before it’s even off and running, both geographically and politically.

It’s one thing to having a nation born into a state of war, fighting for its survival, and another fighting before being born as a nation so you can carry on the fight legitimately after a painful birth.  Hamas, which controls Gaza, hates Israel religiously and has vowed to destroy it. Its hostile and deadly acts are the sole reason for Israel’s blockade. Hamas would also like to rest control of the West Bank from the PLO. But, the two factions have called a truce for now. This is the state of the state that’s being born.

Israel, for its part in this saga, has made the mistake of thinking it could out wait the Arabs war of attrition by heaping hardships on the Palestinians. Things such as settlement building, withholding funds and border crossing delays are part of a failed policy by the conservative government to nobble the Palestinians into negotiations.

Yet all this right up to the any UN resolution ignores the one basic fact that has remained since 1947…one that was made clear by recent events in Egypt…. The Arabs, including the Palestinians, don’t want a Jewish state in the region. Why, for example, hasn’t a peace offering been made with the Palestinian state resolution? It seems this would be a natural part of any statehood bid. Israel’s 1948 declaration of independence called on all its neighbors to work together for peace…So why not the Palestinians?

Most probably it’s because Palestinian President Mahmood Abbas is a tool of the Arab League, an organization, which with a few exceptions, has worked toward weakening and eventually destroying Israel. The League has one other concern…Palestinian refugees…It doesn’t want its member states to be forced through international pressure to accept them as citizens.

What’s mystifying in an ever-smaller world is how no major international political or body of justice has condemned League Resolution 1457, which denies Palestinians citizenship in Arab nations.

Just as mystifying is the ethnic loyalty the Palestinians continue to hold for people who have kept them penned up in camps for as long as 63 years on a promise that the Infidel would be driven into the sea. Making peace isn’t that hard, especially when you become sick and tired of feeling sick and tired. But, it takes two.

However, one positive advantage of a Palestinian state for Israel will be it’s ability and even its inability curb attacks. If it does, great, if not, Israel will have a green light to respond against an established nation that maintains a state of war against it.

More realistically, a Palestinian state’s main priority will quickly shift from war to economics and making the life of its citizens better. To do this it will need Israeli assistance…assistance that will be offered only in peace.