|
Cooking.com
| The great poet George Satayana once wrote that "those who fail to learn from history are doomed to repeat it." Yet every time I read an article about the Israeli / Palestinian conflict it is obvious that no one does remember the facts. There is always a great deal of talk about “Israeli occupied territories” and “Palestinian Refugees” and the “Right of Return” by those who fled Israel in 1948. But what are the facts? Are these lands “occupied” at all? Who are these “refugees”? Let’s turn the clock back about 120 years to 1882 and move rapidly forward. Were there millions of Arabs living in “Palestine” back then? Maybe even a few hundred thousand? Nope. According to the Turks who “owned” Palestine at the time there were 141,000 Muslims, both Arab and non-Arab in Palestine.[1] By the time Britain had taken control the Arab population was 752,048. Let’s not argue how it grew from 141, 000 to 752,000 in a mere 40 years. . .let’s focus instead on the fact that the Arabs made up 75% of the population of Palestine. The Jews at the time made up 11% and the Christians nearly another 10%. But here we get back to why knowing your history is so critical. In 1923 Britain (who now controlled Palestine) spun off over 75% of Palestine and gave it to the Arabs! So the 75% of the Arab population now could lay claim to 75% of the land. Seems somewhat reasonable a division. This new country (which even today is 60% Palestinian in population) is named Jordan. That is right: Jordan is in reality Palestine.” The remaining 25% was to be made into a Jewish state. Surprised? It gets even better. In 1948 after the United Nations decided to carve up the remainng 25% as Jewish and Arab nations, the Arabs elected to reject the UN decree and go to war against Israel in an attempt to take all of the land for the Arabs. They lost the war and an estimated 300 to 400,000 Arabs who had been living there “fled.” But here is an important part of history that again gets over looked: while these Palestinians fled Israel and now demand the right to return. . .the Arab countries demanded that the Jews living in their countries leave. Over 600,000 Jews were made refugees in 1948 – their lands confiscated, their moneys taken. . .many had lived in those lands for a thousand years or more but they were forced to flee. Yet we never hear about these refugees. Why don’t they have the same “right of return” or “reparations” as the Palestinians demand? Earlier I mentioned that Jordan got 75% of Palestine in 1923. Well, in the 1948 war the Arabs got another 10%. So now with 85% of “Palestine” they still demand more land from Israel. Why? Why do reporters and editorialists only review history back to 1967? One hundred and twenty years is not so very long ago historically speaking. Neither is 46 year since Israel’s inception in 1948. Why are these facts never discussed? Why is it always Israel who must give more and more? George Satayana put it very well indeed when he said "those who fail to learn from history are doomed to repeat it." |
All information on this website is copyrighted 2006
Contact administrator with comments and feedback |
