The Palestinians Don’t Deserve a State
By Dan Calic
February 19, 2017
For decades the two-state solution has been repeatedly floated as the preferred goal of peace between Israel and the Arabs (‘Palestinians’). Yet it has never been realized. Accusations have been tossed around by various voices laying blame on both sides for the failure of the two-state solution to be implemented.
In light of the recent summit between Prime Minister Netanyahu and President Trump, it would appear the longstanding positon of the U.S. supporting the two-state solution is fizzling out. In my opinion, this is long overdue.
Simply put, the so-called ‘Palestinians’ don’t deserve a state.
The concept of a two-state solution has already been attempted with the 1947 UN partition of two states, one Arab, one Jewish. It failed. Why? The Arab nations rejected and ignored the resolution, attacking the fledgling Jewish state one day after it declared independence in 1948. Six decades and seven wars later (three with Hamas) what has changed?
A dramatic shift took place in 1967, when Yasser Arafat decided the Arabs who were displaced from the 1948 and 1967 wars deserved to have their own unique identity. So he renamed them “Palestinians.” For the record, before 1967 the term “Palestinians” referred to Jews. Walid Shoebat, an Arab who was living in Jericho during the ’67 war, said “On June 4 I went to sleep as an Arab. The next day, without moving anywhere I am suddenly called a “Palestinian.”
Arafat’s campaign included more than just an identity change for these newly renamed Palestinians. He demanded an independent state, and laid claim to the entire area west of the Jordan River which Israel captured during the 1967 war. As far as Arafat was concerned all this land was ‘Palestinian land.’ In 1964 he founded the PLO (Palestine Liberation Organization) with a specific goal of liberating “Palestine,” which included every inch of land of Israel.
International law affirms any land captured during a defensive war belongs to the victor, which was Israel.
After the 1967 war other terror groups sprung up including the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (1967), Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine (1969), Islamic Jihad (1979), Hizb’allah (1985) Hamas (1987), and several others. For the past 15 years the Fatah Party has been the dominant party in Judea/Samaria, generally referred to as the West Bank. Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas is the party chairman.
Each of these groups is dedicated to destroying (‘liberating’) the state of Israel.
So why don’t the ‘Palestinians’ deserve a state? First off their claim to the land has no basis in reality. It’s not as though Arabs have no history in the land. They do. However, the greater and more historical association belongs to the Jews. The Bible tells us it is this very land which was given to the Jews as “an everlasting inheritance.” This land, including Jerusalem, is the ancestral home of the Jewish people, superseding Palestinian claims by thousands of years.
However, let’s transition from the legitimate historical connection the Jews have to this land to today’s current events.
Let’s examine today’s Israeli/Palestinian relations a little closer.
Israel has made several attempts to appease the Palestinians, through agreements and offers. In 2000, Prime Minister Ehud Barak made an unprecedented offer to Yasser Arafat. It included turning over roughly 99% of the demanded land, dividing Jerusalem, and compensation for so-called “refugees.” By any definition, this was a huge compromise on the part of Israel. The offer was rejected and the talks collapsed. President Clinton laid blame squarely where it belonged, on Arafat.
Why was such an incredibly generous offer rejected? Simple, the Muslims refuse to accept the existence of a Jewish state under any circumstances, no matter what the borders are. They are firmly convinced every square inch of the state of Israel is Muslim land. Thus, to accept the existence of a sovereign Jewish state on land which they consider theirs would be viewed as blasphemy. This is punishable by death.
Not only do they refuse to accept the existence of Israel, or peacefully coexist, they have mounted a decade-long campaign to destroy the Jewish state.
For example, look at their founding charters:
Fatah Charter (party of Mahmoud Abbas)
Article 12 - “complete liberation of Palestine, and eradication of Zionist economic, political, military and cultural existence”
Article 13 - “Establishing an independent democratic state with complete sovereignty on all Palestinian lands, and Jerusalem is its capital city” -- Armed struggle is a strategy and not a tactic, and the Palestinian Arab People's armed revolution is a decisive factor in the liberation fight and in uprooting the Zionist existence, and this struggle will not cease unless the Zionist state is demolished and Palestine is completely liberated.
PLO Charter
Article 9 - “armed struggle is the only way to liberate Palestine”
Article 19 - “The partition of Palestine in 1947 and the establishment of the state of Israel are entirely illegal”
Hamas Charter
Preamble: 'Israel will exist and will continue to exist until Islam will obliterate it, just as it obliterated others before it.
Article 6 - The Islamic Resistance Movement is a distinguished Palestinian movement, whose allegiance is to Allah, and whose way of life is Islam. It strives to raise the banner of Allah over every inch of Palestine.
Article 13 - “…There is no solution for the Palestinian problem except by Jihad. Initiatives, proposals and international conferences are but a waste of time, an exercise in futility."
With the addition of Hizb’allah in Lebanon, these three organizations are today’s main players in the conflict. Their charters represent the principles upon which each organization was founded. Based on the quotes from each of their charters it is unquestionable none of them seek a two state solution, or peaceful coexistence with a Jewish state of Israel. They all seek its destruction.
Yet, instead of calling out these organizations, world leaders and the UN continue to blame Israel’s construction of homes as the main obstacle to a peace agreement. Recently the UN made this their official position with the passage of Resolution 2334. They are ignoring the clear requirement for the annihilation of Israel. Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas has repeatedly said he will never accept Israel as a Jewish state.
He glorifies those who murder innocent Israeli civilians by naming parks and schools after them. When young Arabs stab Israelis or run them over with vehicles, he refuses to condemn such terror. He considers every drop of Muslim blood holy in its pursuit of Palestine’s liberation.
The curriculum in Palestinian schools teaches children that the Jews stole their land. Moreover, they are taught it is holy to be a murder Jews and become a martyr for Allah.
Some might suggest the terrorists don’t represent the Arab-Palestinian population as a whole. If this is true, why has there not been any outcry from the general Palestinian population against the terror? Why has there not been a single demonstration for peace with Israel on the Palestinian street?
If they are committed to peacefully coexist with Israel there would be visible efforts to make that known to the world. Instead, all we see is continued terror and calls for Israel to cease construction. World leaders and the UN need to stop ignoring the Palestinians true agenda.
The reality is the Arab Palestinians need a civilized gut check. Until such time as they renounce all terror, recognize Israel’s right to exist as a Jewish state, drop all future land claims and amend their charters, they do not deserve their own state.
A civilized world should not reward murderers committed to destroy their presumed peace partner. Such action amounts to sanctioning their destructive anti-Semitic agenda.
