THE PROGRESSIVE CONSERVATIVE, USA
An Online Journal of Political Commentary & Analysis
Volume X, Issue # 88, April 4, 2008
Dr. Almon Leroy Way, Jr., Editor
Government Committed to & Acting in Accord with Conservative Principles
Ensures a Nation's Strength, Progress, & Prosperity
PALESTINIANS CONTINUE TO THINK IT'S 1948
By Asaf Romirowsky
THE STATE OF ISRAEL & PALESTINIAN ARAB HISTORIOGRAPHY: PALESTINIAN PERCEPTION OF THE JEWISH STATE
AS THE ROOT OF ALL EVIL -- PALESTINIAN PERCEPTIONS, THE PALESTINIAN REFUGEE PROBLEM, & THE ISRAELI-ARAB
CONFLICT -- THE PALESTINIANS, INSTEAD OF SEARCHING FOR PATHS TO PEACE, ARE SEARCHING FOR MEANS TO WAGE
WAR AGAINST & DESTROY THE STATE OF ISRAEL
FULL STORY:
The Palestinian narrative sees Israel's 1948 War of Independence as the al Naqba -- "the catastrophe." The birth of a
sovereign Jewish state is perceived to be the root of all evil because this supposedly solidified how the small Jewish
community robbed the Palestinians of their land.
That is the recurring mantra found in Arab historiography -- a hypersensitive focus on discrimination and inequality. In
general, Arab scholars tend to ignore the huge corpus of materials found in the archives on the war and zoom in on what
are legitimate or illegitimate claims, using United Nations resolutions as the be all and end all.
Here we are, on the eve of Israel's 60th anniversary, and the Palestinians are still the only nationality that identifies and
defines itself by its refugee status. Since the end of World War II, there have been approximately 140 million refugees
worldwide. All have been assimilated with the exception of one -- the Palestinians. Ergo, as long the Palestinian refugee
problem exists, the Israeli-Palestinian conflict will continue.
And now, in order to illustrate how long the Palestinians have suffered, the Palestinian Authority has embarked on a new
initiative to commemorate Israel's 60th anniversary by calling on all Palestinians living in the Diaspora to converge on
Israel by land, sea, and air to forcefully implement the Palestinian "right of return."
The design -- drawn by Ziad Abu Ein, a senior Fatah operative and Deputy Minister for Prisoners' Affairs in the
Palestinian Authority -- states that the Palestinians have decided to implement UN Resolution 194, calling for a right of
return for all Palestinian refugees.
The proposal of this plan now -- notwithstanding if this ever came to fruition -- is clearly geared toward embarrassing and
hurting Israel during the anniversary celebrations by highlighting the right of return and, in essence, motivating
Palestinians to act out against Israel by any means possible.
Article 11 of Resolution 194, passed in December, 1948, states that "refugees wishing to return to their homes and live at
peace with their neighbors should be permitted to do so at the earliest practicable date, and that compensation should be
paid for the property of those choosing not to return and for loss of or damage to property which, under principles of
international law or in equity, should be made good by the governments or authorities responsible."
PATH TO DESTRUCTION
In reality, what is, of course, ignored is the desire to live in peace; moreover, what's not mentioned is the fact that the right
of return calls for 4.25 million Palestinian Arabs -- refugees of the 1948-1949 war and their descendants -- to immigrate to
Israel, turning the Jewish majority in that country into a minority and ending Jewish self-determination in a sovereign state.
In other words, its exercise can have only one result: the end of the Jewish state. (Talking about issues of "rights" enables
academics and certain policymakers to avoid saying this in too blunt a fashion.)
Overall, this discussion on the right of return is based on a highly specific reading of history -- one that assumes an Israeli
responsibility for creating the refugee problem via what the Palestinians are calling "ethnic cleansing." Restitution from the
allegedly guilty party involves the return of the refugees and their descendants.
Finally, the Palestinians -- 60 years after the modern State of Israel was established -- instead of searching for paths for
peace, are searching for paths of destruction. Distorting empirical history to discover alleged rights manages to create an
ongoing, unjustified animosity toward Israel, and continues to lead even well-meaning Palestinians down a path of false
hopes built on false foundations.
LINKS TO RELATED TOPICS:
Israel & the Arabs -- The Israeli-Arab Conflict
Middle East -- Arabs, Arab States,
& Their Middle Eastern Neighbors
American Foreign Policy -- The Middle East
Islamism & Jihadism -- Radical Islam & Islamic Terrorism
Page Three
Page Two
Page One
International Politics & World Disorder:
War & Peace in the Real World
Page Two
Page One
Islamist Terrorist Attacks on the U.S.A.
Osama bin Laden & the Islamist Declaration of War
Against the U.S.A. & Western Civilization
Islamist International Terrorism &
U.S. Intelligence Agencies
U.S. National Security Strategy
Asaf Romirowsky is an associate fellow at the Middle East Forum and the Manager of Israel & Middle East Affairs for the
Jewish Federation of Greater Philadelphia.
The foregoing article by Asaf Romirowsky was originally published in the Jewish Exponent, April 4, 2008, and
can be found on the Internet website maintained by the Middle East Forum, a foreign policy think tank which seeks to
define and promote American interests in the Middle East, defining U.S. interests to include fighting radical Islam,
working for Palestinian Arab acceptance of the State of Israel, improving the management of U.S. efforts to promote
constitutional democracy in the Middle East, reducing America's energy dependence on the Middle East, more robustly
asserting U.S. interests vis-à-vis Saudi Arabia, and countering the Iranian threat.
(Article URL: http://www.meforum.org/article/1876)
Republished with Permission of the Middle East Forum
Reprinted from the Middle East Forum News
mefnews@meforum.org (MEF NEWS)
April 4, 2008
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THE PROGRESSIVE CONSERVATIVE, USA
An Online Journal of Political Commentary & Analysis
Dr. Almon Leroy Way, Jr., Editor
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Conservative Government Ensures a Nation's Strength, Progress, & Prosperity