Things I did not know about Israel/Palestine

Last week I began to think how can the Arab’s believe Israel is taking over the Middle East.  There are 22 Arab and or Muslim nations. Iran is not considered and Arab nation. Israel is surrounded by Arab and or Muslim nations. How can anyone say "expansionist Israel" has "taken over" the Middle East or trying to take over the Middle East?

The Arab countries occupy 640 times the amount of land as does Israel and outnumber the Jews of Israel by nearly fifty to one. How convenient that today's Arab Nations are forgetting that land east of the Jordan River was also part of "Palestine". Why are they not demanding Jordan return that area to the Palestinians?

In 1916 control of the southern portion of the Ottoman Empire was turned over to France and Britain under the Sykes-Picot Agreement, which divided the Arab region. Lebanon and Syria were assigned to France and "Palestine" (today's Jordan, Israel and "West Bank" and Gaza ) was given to Great Britain.  Because no other peoples had ever established a national homeland in "Palestine" since the Jews had done it 2,000 years before, the British "looked favorably" upon the creation of a Jewish National Homeland throughout ALL of Palestine.

The Jews had already begun mass immigration into Palestine in the 1880's in an attempt to rid the land of swamps and malaria and to prepare for the rebirth of Israel. This Jewish effort to revitalize the land did not only attracted Jews back to the land it also attracted an equally large immigration of Arabs from neighboring areas who were drawn by employment opportunities and healthier living conditions. There was never any attempt by the Jews to get rid of the Arabs in the land.

in 1946 Trans-Jordan was renamed to "Jordan". The remaining 18% of Palestine, now WEST of the Jordan River, was to be the Jewish Palestinian homeland.  However, sharing was not part of the Arab psychological makeup then or now. With the help of the British the Jews were forced out of Trans-Jordan!

The British at first tried to maintain order but soon due to the large oil deposits being discovered throughout the Arab Middle East they turned a blind eye. It became clear to the Palestinian Jews that they must fight the Arabs and drive out the British. Finally in 1947 the British had enough and turned the Palestine matter over to the United Nations.

The 1947 U.N. Resolution 181 partition plan was to divide the remaining 18% of Palestine into a Jewish Palestinian State and a SECOND Arab Palestinian State  based upon population concentrations.  The Jewish Palestinians accepted... the Arab Palestinians rejected. The Arabs still wanted ALL of Palestine... both east AND west of the Jordan River. Therefore, the resolution was not carried out and it never became legally binding! The Arabs started the 1948 war.

On May 14, 1948 the "Palestinian" Jews finally declared their own State of Israel and became "Israelis." On the next day, seven neighboring Arab armies - Egypt, Jordan, Syria, Lebanon, Saudi Arabia, Iraq and Yemen... invaded Israel. Most of the Arabs living within the boundaries of the newly declared "ISRAEL" were encouraged to leave by the invading Arab armies to facilitate the slaughter of the Jews and were promised to be given all Jewish property after the victorious Arab armies won the war.

The truth is that most of the Arab Palestinians who left Israel in 1948 – between 400,000 to 500,000 – never saw an Israeli soldier! They did not flee because they feared Jews. They left because they believe the Jews would be exterminated and would return afterwards to reclaim their homes, and to inherit Jewish properties as well. They guessed wrong.  The Jews  did not throw out all the Palestinian Arabs living in Israel they chose to leave after being encourage to do so by the seven Arab nations that invaded Israel. Those Arabs who did not flee became Israeli-Arab citizens.

The end result of the 1948-49 Israeli War of Independence was the creation of a Jewish State. From 1949-67 when all of the West Bank, Gaza and Jerusalem were under Arab [Jordanian, Syria and Egyptian] control, no effort was EVER made to create a second Palestinian State for the Arabs living there. Why do many in the world want the Jews to give up part of their country when none of the Arabs were willing to concede any of their land to the 'so called' Palestinian Arabs?

Throughout much of May 1967, the Egyptian, Jordanian and Syrian armies mobilized along Israel's narrow and seemingly indefensible borders in preparation for a massive invasion to eliminate the State of Israel. Within two hours the Egyptian Air Force did not exist most of its planes were destroyed while still on the runways. Unaware that the Egyptians had no more air force, King Hussein of Jordan launched his attack from the his West Bank into Israel, while Syrian troops prepared to descend down the Golan Heights high ground into northern Israel. The Arabs lost the battle in six days they had once again underestimated the Jewish Nation of Israel.  

Now, 35+ years later and despite the fact that Israel won a war started by seven Arab nations and fought by three Arab nations the Israelis are still willing to allow the Arab-Palestinians to have a state on much of the West Bank and Gaza if only they would stop sending their suicide/homicide bombers into the heart of Israel.

Israel was responsible for bringing about some of its own problems. The Arabs in the West Bank and Gaza Strip were packed and ready to leave following their 1967 defeat. Suddenly the victorious Israeli General Moshe Dayan persuaded them to stay. I think this was madness. The Arabs would have slaughtered the Jews if they would have had an opportunity to do so and to this day are still trying to. Dayan's plan was to educate them, offer them modern medical treatment, provide them with employment both in the West Bank, Gaza and inside Israel Proper itself. He thought he would be able to build a healthy relationships with the Arabs – how wrong he was.  If he build a bridge to the Arab world it was a bridge to terrorism.

Jordan accounts for 3/4 of Palestine's original land mass. Though they may call themselves "Jordanians," they are culturally, ethnically, historically and religiously no different than the Arab-"Palestinians" on the "West Bank." Even the flag of Jordan and the flag of the proposed 2nd Arab-Palestinian state on the West Bank / Gaza look almost identical. Why do they not give the 'so called' Palestinians their own land to establish a State or Nation. 

Another thing that is interesting to me is the term "Palestinian". The name had referred to Israeli Jews back in the 1940's, and has been slowly redefined to refer to the Arabs in the West Bank and Gaza. I guess political correctness started much earlier than we thought. 

The Middle East Conflict was always a war by Arabs against Jews, not a conflict between Israelis and "Palestinians." The war was repackaged as a conflict between Jews and Palestinians as a public relations gimmick by the Arab fascist regimes. These regimes had never had any interest in "Palestinians," or in creating a "Palestinian" state, or in "Palestinian nationalism" before 1967. The Palestinians are a regional group of Arabs having virtually no cultural nor national distinctive traits separating them from Syrians, Lebanese, and Jordanians. They are all basically Arabs. Yasser Arafat’s family came to Gaza from Egypt and a wealthy family of current PA President Mahmoud Abbas moved to Tzfat from Damascus, Syria!

The Middle East war continues because it is really an Arab-Israeli war, not an Israeli-Palestinian conflict. It is also in large part a war between barbarism and civilization and in many ways an Islamic religious jihad against the Jews.