PALESTINE
IS STILL AN ISSUE
13
THINGS YOU MUST KNOW ABOUT THE PALESTINIAN CONFLICT
As
the periodic bloodshed continues in the Middle East, the search for an
equitable solution must come to grips with the root cause of the conflict. The
conventional wisdom is that, even if both sides are at fault, the Palestinians
are irrational “terrorists” who have no point of view worth listening to. Our
position, however, is that the Palestinians have a real grievance: their
homeland for over a thousand years was taken, without their consent and mostly
by force, during the creation of the state of Israel. And all subsequent
crimes—on both sides—inevitably follow from this original injustice.
(Introduction to the book “The origin of the Palestine-Israel conflict
published by Jews for justice in the Middle-east).
1.
The current turbulence in the Middle-East between Israel and Palestine is
as a result of the illegal occupation of Palestine by Jews from across the
length and breadth of the world claiming that it is “the Jews historical
homeland”.
2.
This call for massive occupation was not coming from any religious edict.
Rather it was as a result of a movement known as Zionism. As a matter of fact,
Zionism was an idea brought about by an Austro-Hungarian Journalist known as
Theodor Herzl. He together with Max Simon Nordau (born Simon Maximilian
Sudfeld) and Prof. Mandelstamm formed a triumvirate that massively represented
the “Zionist dream”.
3.
Zionism is a form of secular Nationalism that stems from secular
philosophers and not religion. However, as in the case of other versions of
nationalism, Zionism also attempted to use religion for its own ends. It is at
best, a racial ideology that sees Jews as ultra-superior to all other races and
that those races are unfit to live closer to Jews.
4.
The above-mentioned three men formed the World Zionist Organization which
started the massive call for Jews to move so that they live separately because
they are a separate “race”. Initially,
most Jewish communities in the world rejected the call and saw it as a betrayal
of the edicts and teachings of Judaism.
5.
In the year 1900, in their quest to find a place of settlement, the Jews tried Uganda in a design known as “Ugandan
Scheme” or “Ugandan Plan”. This offer was made to them by the British Colonial
Secretary called Joseph Chamberlain. This plan foiled because the land was
occupied by Maasai people who were
emerging from their conquer over the Sirikwa tribe and also the land was filled
with lions and other wild creatures.
6.
They later regarded Palestine because according to them “it was their
historical land.” So the Propaganda began. They canalized the propaganda
because they had the largest imperialist then, Britain solidly behind them. The
slogan they used to make their message appealing was “a people without a land
for a land without a people.” In actual fact, the Jews had land because they
were settled in various parts of the world and the land in question was
inhabited by Palestinians.
7.
The British Foreign Secretary during the First World War (1914-1918) then
was Arthur James Balfour. He wrote a letter to Baron de Rothschild. This letter
became known as the ‘Balfour Declaration.”
As a result of this, England, the world’s super-power by then ruled that
“His Majesty's Government views with favor the
establishment in Palestine of a national home for the Jewish people… in
Palestine.”
8.
Having received the
official support of the Balfour Declaration, the Zionists found themselves in a
difficult position when many fellow Jews refused to emigrate. Thus the Zionists
began to engage in "special activities" to "encourage"
Jewish migration to Palestine, even force when necessary, such as harassing
Jews in their home countries and cooperating with anti-Semites to ensure that
governments would expel their Jews. Thus Zionism developed as a movement that
harassed and terrorized its own people.
With the Nazi
Party's rise to power, Jews in Germany were subjected to ever-increasing
pressure, a development that further accelerated their migration to Palestine.
The fact that the Zionists supported the Nazi suppression of Jews is a fact,
and yet remains one of history's best-kept secrets.
9.
Approximately 100,000
Jews emigrated from wherever they were to Palestine between 1920-29. If one
considers that there were about 750,000 Palestinians at that time, then 100,000
is certainly no small number. The Zionist organizations had complete control
over this migration. Jews who set foot in Palestine were met by Zionist groups,
who determined where they would stay and what type of work they would do. This
migration was encouraged by Zionist executives with various incentives.
10.
From the day Zionism
entered Palestine, its adherents have sought to destroy the Palestinians. To
make room for the migrating Jews, whether influenced by Zionist ideals or
afraid of anti-Semitism, the Palestinians were constantly pressured, exiled,
and kicked out of their homes and lands. This movement to occupy and exile,
accelerated by the founding of Israel in 1948, destroyed the lives of hundreds
of thousands of Palestinians. To this day, about 3.5 million Palestinians still
struggle for their lives as refugees under the most difficult conditions.
11.
According to official records, the number of
Jewish immigrants to Palestine increased from 100,000 in the 1920s to 232,000
in the 1930s. As of 1939, the Palestinian population of 1.5 million included
445,000 Jews. Their numbers, which had represented just 10% of the population
20 years earlier, now accounted for 30% of the population. Jewish settlements
also expanded rapidly, and by 1939 the Jews owned twice the amount of land that
they had owned in the 1920s. As of 1947, there were 630,000 Jews in Palestine
and 1.3 million Palestinians. Between November 29, 1947, when Palestine was
partitioned by the United Nations, and May 15, 1948, Zionist terrorist organizations captured three-fourths of Palestine. During this time, the number of Palestinians
living in 500 cities, towns, and villages dropped from 950,000 to 138,000 as a result of attacks and
massacres. Some were killed; others were exiled. In
this way, 400 Palestinian villages were wiped off the map during 1948-49. The
property left behind by the Palestinians was seized by the Jews, by virtue of
the “Absentee Property Law”. Until 1947, Jewish land ownership in Palestine was some 6%. By
the time the state was formally established, it had sequestered 90% of the
land.
12.
“The Balfour Declaration, made in
November 1917 by the British Government… was made a) by a European power, b)
about a non-European territory, c) in a flat disregard of both the presence and
the wishes of the native majority resident in that territory.
13.
Gandhi
on the Palestine conflict – 1938
“Palestine
belongs to the Arabs in the same sense that England belongs to the English or
France to the French…What is going on in Palestine today cannot be justified by
any moral code of conduct…If they [the Jews] must look to
the Palestine of geography as their national home, it is wrong to enter it under
the shadow of the British gun. A religious act cannot be performed with the aid
of the bayonet or the bomb. They can settle in Palestine only by the goodwill
of the Arabs… As it is, they are co-sharers with the British in despoiling a
people who have done no wrong to them. I am not defending the Arab excesses. I
wish they had chosen the way of non-violence in resisting what they rightly
regard as an unacceptable encroachment upon their country. But according to the
accepted canons of right and wrong, nothing can be said against the Arab
resistance in the face of overwhelming odds.” Mahatma Gandhi, quoted
in “A Land of Two Peoples” ed. Mendes-Flohr.
Sources:
1. “Palestine”
by Harun Yahya
2. “The
origin of the Palestine-Israel conflict” by Jews for Justice in the
Middle-east.
3. “Palestine and Israel: A Challenge to Justice”
by John Quigley, professor of law at Ohio State University. Duke University
Press, 1990.
4. “The
Fateful Triangle: The United States, Israel & the Palestinians” by
Noam Chomsky, professor at MIT and “arguably the most important intellectual
alive” (NY Times). South End Press, 1983.
5. “Original
Sins: Reflections on the History of Zionism and Israel” by Benjamin Beit-Hallahmi.
An honest history of Zionism by a noted Israeli scholar who teaches at Haifa
University. Olive Branch Press, 1993
6. “Bitter
Harvest” by Sami Hadawi. A very complete look at the documentary evidence
of the creation of the state of Israel, by a Palestinian Christian who lived
through that period. Caravan Books, 1979.
More
to come………. In sha Allah! Free Palestine!
Inusah
Mohammed.
okoromaazi@gmail.com
The
writer is a student of Tafsiliyya School for Training and Education.
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