Storytelling is an admirable practice when its purveyors do so to entertain or impart lessons. But what happens when a disenfranchised group bent on killing you hijacks your history, spins it for their benefit and hoodwinks the rest of the world? This is exactly what the Palestinian movement has done to Israel.
Let’s not forget the facts. The Palestinian push for an independent state dates back to the land that Britain occupied and named Palestine way before Syria, Saudi Arabia or Lebanon existed. Then in 1947, the UN parceled out nearly four-fifths of Palestine to create an Arab state, Transjordan (now Jordan) and earmarked only one-fifth to create a Jewish state, Israel.
There is a growing belief by much of the world that if Israel stops settlement activity and turns over land to create a Palestinian state than the Israeli-Palestinian conflict will be kaput. Don’t believe it for a second. This is propaganda. Israel has not had peace during its 62-year existence even when there were no settlements. So, I hate to be the one to squash this fairytale ending but peace cannot occur by legitimizing known terrorist factions inside Israel’s borders. The only solution for peace is to eliminate terrorist threats inside Israel and assemble a legitimate Palestinian state inside jointly negotiated Arab-occupied land.
But don’t hold your breath for any Arab land offers to create a Palestinian state. The 22 surrounding Arab states advocate a Palestinian state but not on their land.
Instead, former US President Bill Clinton urged Palestinians and Israelis to return to the bargaining table at the recent Saban Forum in Jerusalem. Some of the rationale Clinton offered only highlighted the fact that Obama’s recent Middle East diplomatic efforts deflated faster than Colorado’s “balloon boy”.
Clinton suggested that Palestinians are having children at a faster rate to support his plea to Israelis to cut a deal. He also suggested that Hamas might be capable of launching GPS-guided rockets from Gaza into Israel’s southern border. So when does a former US president pressure a country to cut a deal to create a state based on inflated demographics or the threat of technology-savvy terrorist attacks? The US has long advocated a policy that it does not negotiate with terrorists. So why would America expect Israel to?
But Clinton didn’t stop there. He added that the largest danger is nuclear proliferation that would follow Iran’s ability to produce weapons of mass destruction. So now, the US is using the threat of a nuclear Iran to persuade Israel to cut a deal. This seems anti-American. It’s common knowledge that Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad called the extermination of 6 million Jews during World War II a “myth”, and has stated that extremist factions should wipe Israel off the map. Honestly, would any country want to see a nuclear Iran? Probably only one: Iran. Allowing Iran to have atomic weapons is about the same as aiding Dr. Evil in his attempt to take over the world in the Austin Powers trilogy.
But Prime Minister Netanyahu delivered a promising speech at the Saban Forum that indicated that peace is within reach as long as three challenges to Israel’s security are met:
“First, Iran must be prevented from developing a nuclear military capability. Second, a solution must be found to the threat of missile and rocket attacks. And third, Israel’s right to defend itself must be preserved not only in principle but in practice.”
But unwillingness to negotiate on the Palestinian side reared its ugly head when Palestinian leaders from President Mahmoud Abbas on down sidestepped Israel to secure support from the UN Security Council. A unilateral declaration not only violates Israel’s right to reach an agreement on the borders of its country but it undermines the 1995 Oslo-derived agreement that neither side should take unilateral steps affecting the status of the territories. Abbas has also made mention of making East Jerusalem the new Palestinian state’s capital when this would go directly against the 1947 UN Partition Plan that claimed Jerusalem as neutral territory.
How can global citizens help the peace process along? We can start by discrediting Arab manipulation of Israeli and Jewish history. There needs to be an international condemnation of Arab countries and their leaders that try to rewrite and reframe the history of Israel and Jews worldwide. This can only occur when US leaders assess retribution to Arab countries that condemn and attack Israel instead of pushing for a two-state solution with groups that have sworn to eliminate Israel. At the end of the day, long-lasting peace and stability can only occur if Israeli and Jewish history remains intact, terrorist groups like Hamas and Hezbollah splinter and both parties reach a cooperative peace agreement.
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