In our previous article we discussed the origins of the Palestinians. Avi wrote in asking: “Where did the Palestinians come from? Why do they claim our land is theirs? Is there any possibility for peace?”
When the Ottoman Empire fell during WWI the British captured the Middle East in 1917 including the Holy Land and they wanted to divide it up between the Jews and the Arabs. There was no group of people called Palestinians at the time. The Arabs living in the Holy land at the time were nameless and without any specific nationality, family or any common land of origin. Their grouping together in the holy land was a result of leaving the control of the Ottoman Empire. Some were actually nomads and most were refugees from neighboring countries. The local Arabs wanted to make a country in the Holy land no different than Jordan, Syria and Lebanon.
The British agreed to divide up the land between the Jews and the refugee Arabs and in 1947 the UN proposed the Partition Plan to make an Arab country and a Jewish one. The Jews were happy to agree with the plan but the Arabs demanded the entire land for themselves and sought to clear the country out of its Jewish inhabitants from the Jordan River to the Mediterranean Sea! The Jews accepted the offer of getting an independent country under the auspices of the UN and the British. The timing of all the details and unexpected twists history are astounding in how they weave together a complex tapestry which affects our situation until today!
The War of Independence and dividing the land
After the establishment of the Jewish state, Israel was meant to live tranquilly with the Arabs that worked in agriculture and the refugees that also came to the holy land if it wasn’t for the Arab desire to destroy us and control the entire land. In 1948 when Israel declared its independence and the creation of a Jewish State the Independence War broke out threatening its very existence. The large Arab countries all waged war against the newly founded Israel with the clear intent to wipe it off the map and they were assisted by the local Arabs who were more than happy to help. Through the grace of G-d Israel defeated the vast armies against all odds. In this war the green line was created.
The first Palestinians
A year after this war Israel divided up the Arabs and sent most of them beyond the green line to what became known as the West Bank which was under Jordanian control and the Gaza strip under Egyptian control. Please note that all these powerful Arab nations claim they’re fighting for the interests of the Palestinians yet with the exception of Jordan none would offer them citizenship in their countries or allow them to immigrate there. (This is the same situation today with the wars in Iraq and Syria where refugees must become the burden of the west instead of going to fellow Arab countries for assistance.)
It was only since 1948 that this hodge-podge collection of Arabs of farmers and refugees from adjacent lands decided to call themselves “Palestinians” to give the impression that they are descendants of the ancient Philistines of 3,000 years ago!
After 19 years in 1967 the 6 day war broke out where again the Arab countries rose up against Israel to destroy us. These countries included Egypt, Jordan, Saudi Arabia, Syria, Libya, Sudan, and even Tunisia, Morocco and Algeria joined in this war. Again miraculously and against all odds all these countries were defeated and the West bank and Gaza came under Israeli control. Today there are 1.75 million inhabitants in Gaza presently and though they were not a nation until now they are now without a doubt a nation under Israel’s control.
There’s no one to make peace with
If the Palestinians weren’t obstinate about possessing all of the land of Israel, and wouldn’t try to kill us with cruel acts of terror there would have been a peace treaty a long time ago. However the current situation of terror and wanting all the territory is compounded by internal strife between factions in Gaza and the West Bank who are all fighting for control of the Palestinians. Thus they have not made a viable united government that can sit down and come to an agreement with Israel. This gives rise to the phrase “no partner for peace”.
Ironically, despite the terror, Israel supplies water and electricity to Gaza but cannot allow them independence as they all declare their intent to destroy Israel. So Israel denies them the rights to having an airport and free port cities which would facilitate acquisition of missiles and armaments to be used against them.
Many attempts at making peace with the Palestinians like the Oslo accords in 1993 when Yitchak Rabin gave the PA thousands of guns for their ‘police force’ to maintain their future sovereign state, or the unilateral Gush Katif land giveaway in 2005 all failed. These activities just made the Palestinians bolder and more dangerous allowing them to carry out murderous terror attacks more effectively, strengthening the enemy and not helping Israel at all.
“Enlightened” Leftists, especially Jewish ones claim Israel must withdraw to pre-1967 borders that they “conquered” and they must “free Palestine” and give the Palestinians independence in Gaza and the West Bank. This would bring about the end of Israel and the murder of millions of Jews surrounded by Arabs armed with missiles and other tools of destruction. Therefore until the coming of the Messiah there is no natural and viable solution to the Israel-Palestinian conflict.
We’ve painted a picture of an impossible situation that no other nation has ever dealt with in world history. We exist miraculously between the hammer and the anvil surrounded by tens of Arab countries that all want our destruction, a UN that seeks our downfall and we’re walking on a tightrope where any wrong move can bring destruction G-d Forbid.
Please note that the Jewish nation is the only nation in 2017 that nations actively seek to destroy unconditionally and totally. Hassan Nasrallah said he actually hopes all the Jews come to Israel so he can kill them more easily and not need to go around the world killing them out bit by bit. No one says this about any other nation.
Our rabbis say we are in the end of days and they aren’t just saying it in a vacuum. We’re in a situation that was orchestrated by G-d and is so extraordinary in order that we recognize that we’re before the redemption and need G-d’s help more than ever.
There is no one to rely on but our father in heaven!
What should we do in this era before the redemption? Moses in his prophecy in the Torah given 3,300 years ago tells us what to do: When you’re in trouble and all these things will befall you at the end of days. You should come back to G-d and listen to his voice,” (Deuteronomy 4, 30).
