The ‘Palestinian Land’ Myth

Commentary ^ | May 6, 2026 | Seth Mandel

[Freeleesy]

The idea behind this is as follows: Jews were massacred and their property stolen by Arabs, therefore Arab Palestinians have a right to it in perpetuity. They believe this is true of Jewish property in Jerusalem and Hebron as well, for example. This is a cornerstone of anti-Zionism, that Jews have no right to life or property.

Yet there’s another point to be made here besides the fact that the mayor of New York and a legion of progressive-aligned anti-Semites revealed their unique combination of ignorance and bad faith. There are a couple of problems with the whole concept of “Palestinian land.”

The first is that “Palestinian” here is used to mean “Arab.” The protest mob reportedly even chanted “From water to water, Palestine is Arab.” When they use the phrase “Palestinian land” they are declaring it Judenrein.

Second: If a Palestinian Arab personally owns a piece of land, that land is a Palestinian’s land, which is not the same thing as Palestinian national territory. From the perspective of national claims and sovereignty, it is, at most, disputed land. There have been two sovereign claimants to land on what is known as the West Bank: Israel and Jordan. Jordan relinquished its claims on the land decades ago. Israel has not annexed it. There is no Palestinian national claim to sovereignty, even if one believes that eventually turning it into Palestinian sovereign national territory is the only just resolution to the conflict.

Thus the Palestinian claim to disputed territory that was once occupied by the state of Jordan can best be described as “land the Palestinians want.” That’s fine! They are more than entitled to make demands in a negotiation process. And they should aspire to precisely the kind of statehood that Israelis—both Jews and Arabs—have built with its capital in Jerusalem. The state of Israel is a worthy model, and though successive Palestinian governments have rejected offers of statehood, perhaps they are reconsidering.

Israel did not invade a place called “Palestine” and take its land. It fought a defensive war against Jordan and won. “Palestinian land” is a concept of the future—if the Palestinians want it.

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TOPICS: Hamas; Hezbollah; Iran; Israel; News/Current Events; Qatar; War on Terror
KEYWORDS: ethniccleansing; israel; nerdeenkiswani; pallywood; socalledpalestinians

[Freeleesy]

Most so called “palestinians” are grandchildren of Arab immigrants, settlers anyway .

[Celtic Conservative]

Primarily Jordanians. Jordan used to be called “Trans-Jordanian Palestine”. Palestine is a region, it was never a country. Another term for this area is The Levant. Palestine as a country is a historical fiction. And to suggest it ever existed is the height of mendacity.

CC

[Netz]

Find an intellectually HONEST PALEOstinian and he/she will tell you the truth is irrelevant.