The Israeli/Palestinian conflict is perhaps the most complex political issue of our time. Many have resorted to simply blaming one side or the other but if we take the time to understand the history and correct our misconceptions, a potential path forward for the Palestinians begins to emerge. So let’s start by trying to get the story straight and clear up 10 of the biggest misconceptions out there. Misconception#1 – Israel illegally stole land from the Palestinians. In 1947, the UN voted to give land to both the Jews and the Palestinians. The Jews accepted their partition and legally formed the state of Israel. The Palestinians rejected their partition and attacked. Even after losing the war, the Arabs still had most of the land from the UN ruling. Which leads us to no 2. Misconception #2 – The surrounding Arab nations actually want to create a Palestinian state. So after the war, the West Bank and Gaza were controlled by Jordan and Egypt for 19 years. During that span, those governments never established a Palestinian state, Instead they kept the land for their own use. Misconception#3 – The Arab nation wants to solve the refugee crisis. Palestinians have settled in Arab nations throughout the Middle East. These Nations could solve the crisis immediately by granting refugees equal rights, but instead they refused to let them vote, own land or even study in public schools. Ironically, the only country to grand them full citizenship rights is Israel which absorbed 156,000 Arabs after the 1948 war and even today Arabs hold seats in the Israeli government and supreme court. Misconception #4 UN efforts are helping to solve the refugee crisis. The UN did step into provide assistance to the Palestinian refugees but instead of using their existing agency that helps resettle refugee populations around the world the UN created UNRWA which labels every Palestinian as a refugee until a Palestinian state is formed within the borders of Israel. This makes it more difficult for Palestinians to thrive in their host countries and locks them into perpetual refugee status passing it on to their children, grand children and great grand children swelling the refugee population from 500,000 in 1949 to nearly 5 million today. As conditions worsened the international aid started to pour in which incidentally is Misconception#5. Misconception#5 – The solution is more money. Really? The western nations have given the Palestinians a ton of aid. Even taking inflation into account, they have been given 25 times more money per person than Europe was given to rebuild after WW2 where is the stable economy? Where’s the improved infrastructure? That money sure could have helped, but it was given to some leaders who had a different agenda which brings us headlong into Misconception#6. Misconception#6 Forming a state is the primary goal of the top Palestinian leaders. Of this international aid did go to help ease one man’s suffering – Yasser Arafat after his death, accountants hired by Arafat’s own family discovered secret investment worth more than one billion dollars. That income stream would be threatened if a new state was formed which gives leaders like Arafat or Mahmoud Abbas for that matter a billion plus reasons to never actually sign a peace treaty. Which leads us to Misconception #7- Israel has a true peace partner. In the year 2000, desperate for resolution, the Israeli elected prime minister EHud Barak with a mandate to make peace with the Palestinians. Barak offered Yasser Arafat 94% of the land he demanded, except Jerusalem. Arafat flatly refused. President Clinton blamed the failure of the best chance at peace in 60 years squarely on Yasser Arafat. Which brings up perhaps the most common Misconception #8 – Israel just needs to give up land for peace. The last time Israel tried this was in 2005. They forced thousands of Jewish settlers out of Gaza and in exchange the Palestinian leaders promised peace but when Israeli moved out, The Palestinians voted Hamas in. Yep they elected a terrorist organization. Who since taking power has fired more than 10,000 rockets into Israel. Surprised? Then you have probably bought into Misconception#9 – Most Palestinians want a lasting peace with Israel. Some Palestinians do, but they are a minority. For 60 years, Palestinian educational leaders have fed their children a steady diet of hate. Idolizing suicide bombers and celebrating death, right in the classroom And finally Misconception #10 – Give the Palestinians a state now is the only solution to their suffering. This has been the only approach tried for the last 60 years. But these are people we are talking about, and waiting until they have a state to give them equal rights has only made things worse. Currently, Israel is the only nation to grant full rights to the Palestinians with their borders, but by granting them equal rights in every nation where they live, we could immediately increase the quality of life for every Palestinian. Let’s be honest, these misconceptions have concealed potential solutions. When we take time to clear up confusion and face reality, we begin to uncover the truth and that’s when real progress towards justice can begin
Posted on: Mon, 28 Jul 2014 08:24:12 +0000