Why Do Palestinians Need a State?

Arutz Sheva ^ | 02 February 2003 | Bruce S. Ticker

[SJackson]

In the nearly 36 years since Israel seized the West Bank, a basic question has never seemed to be posed, much less answered: Why can´t the Palestinians live under Israeli rule?

Sure, an independent Palestinian state may one day become a reality, and for practical purposes such a state might serve Israel´s needs as much as that of the Palestinians.

This is more than a rhetorical question. If the Arabs scoff at living among Israelis, will they be content to live next door to them?

Many supporters of Israel believe that the Arabs are seeking the destruction of Israel and want a Palestinian state as a staging area for the next step toward that end. It is evident that many Arabs are motivated by this goal.

So, it is important to understand why the Palestinians need their own state. It doesn´t make sense. After all, Jews comprise 2.4 percent of America´s population against a Christian spread of at least 80 percent. However, we in America are satisfied living here. Jews like myself vote and participate in the political process. Many Jews succeed beyond their wildest dreams; there are poor Jews; and probably most of us are part of the struggling middle class. We face prejudice, but there are also legal avenues to combat discrimination. The majority religion - Christianity - does possess a heavy influence here, but most Christians and Americans of other religions or no religion are fair, treat us with respect and make us feel welcome.

In fact, our Christian neighbors often come to our aid in times of need. On one occasion when a synagogue was vandalized in a Philadelphia suburb, many non-Jews were out in force to clean up the mess. When a Jewish family was terrorized during Hanukkah in another Philadelphia suburb, their neighbors bought menorahs and placed them by their windows in a show of solidarity.

Arabs and Muslims who live in America likewise participate in the system and many thrive. Unlike their brethren 7,000 miles away, they haven’t asked for an Arab state here.

Surely, Israel must govern all its citizens equitably and with justice - whether they are Jews, Muslims, Christians or part of any other group. And clearly, the Palestinians in Gaza and the West Bank should not be living under such deplorable conditions. However, the Palestinians as a group created many of the circumstances that led to such a tragic situation, and their leaders in the territories and other Arab nations have done little to help.

Do other groups living in Israel and its territories seek their own state? I haven´t heard of that from the Druse or Greek Orthodox.

Israel was not founded for the sake of hosting any particular religion. Jews as a people needed a homeland as a refuge from 2000 years of all forms of abuse, which culminated in the murder of six million of our brethren. Yes, it is a Jewish state, but wholly in an ethnic sense - not a religious one.

There are already 22 Arab states which occupy a large chunk of the modern world, while Israel and its territories comprise a tiny piece of real estate. Jews who lived in Arab states were exiled after 1948 and many were absorbed by Israel, yet the Palestinians have been treated as pawns by the rest of the Arab world.

If Palestinians are any different from the rest of the Arabs, why did Yasser Arafat say during the 2000 negotiations that he represented one billion Muslims? What distinguishes the Palestinians from the rest of the Arabs?

For demographic reasons alone, Israel may eventually need to enter into a two-state arrangement. Yet, on the basis of pure merit, I honestly don´t get it. The question must still be answered: Why do the Palestinians need an independent state?

[SJackson]

If you'd like to be on or off this middle east/political ping list, please FR mail me.

[tictoc]

Bump

[MoJo2001]

Palestinians don't need a state. They have a country for which they should move to: JORDAN! The Palestinian people may be suffering, but whose fault is it? They need to grow some balls and find some Kahunas to get the job done. Yasser Arafat hasn't done anything for them. Yet, they insist on his being their leader. So? It's either freedom and democracy or Yasser Arafat? What have they chosen to this point? Well, they can't complain that Americans don't have sympathy. They are too stupid to understand.

[Sparta]

Are you nuts? Sending the Palis to Jordan would severly undermine King Abdullah who is truly an ally of the United States. Send them to Saudi Arabia or Syria instead.

[Sparta]

I'm looking forward to the next article by the Elder of Zion.

[anotherview]

The last thing Israel or the U.S. wants is to destabilize the Hashemite government in Jordan.

It isn't that the Palestinians need a state. Israel needs to get rid of the Palestinians, and nobody will take them.

[Blennos]

Why do the so-called palestinians need a state? The answer is quite clear. This will help the arabs fulfill their oft-stated goal of removing Western influence, Jewish and Christian, entirely from the Middle East.

Such a state, if established, would simply a more effective base for terrorism, internationally sanctioned, and very difficult to undo once established.

Just what we need, another arab terrorist state to add to the list: Libya, Syria, Saudi Arabia, Iran, Iraq,Yemen, Sudan, Somalia et al.

[Sparta]

There's plenty of land in Saudi Arabia for the Palis. Why don't the Saudi Royal Family take them in?

[anotherview]

I agree that a terrorist state cannot and should not be established in Judea, Samaria, and Gaza. Hwoever, not all Palestinians are terrorists. Many (if not most) just want to live in peace, feed their families, and work normal jobs. Their so-called leadership is the problem, and the fact that anyone who questions that leadership is branded a "collaborator" and risks death.

No, there can be no state under Arafat or his ilk. There can be if there is a genuine change in leadership, a Palestinian media that supports peace, and no more agitation from Iraq, Syra, Iran, Saudi Arabia, etc...

Oh, and no, I don't see any of this happening soon.

[Non-Sequitur]

There's plenty of land in Saudi Arabia for the Palis. Why don't the Saudi Royal Family take them in?

Maybe they don't want to go?

[anotherview]

The Saudis hate the Palestians only slightly less than the Israelis do. There are still ethnic/tribal divisions between the Arabs. They are hardly unified in anything except their hatred of Israel and the Jewish people.

[anotherview]

Exactly. Would you want to be uprooted from your home? Well, they feel exactly the same way.

[Lee Enfield]

They need a state for the same reason the French do, no one else can live with them.

[SJackson]

Are you nuts? Sending the Palis to Jordan would severly undermine King Abdullah who is truly an ally of the United States. Send them to Saudi Arabia or Syria instead.

Southwestern Iraq, in a Jordanian protectorate?

Then again, since I'm frequently assured the "bad" Palestinians are a small minority, Jordan might be the right place, I'm sure King Abdullah got some advice from dad on handling the PLO, and it won't be the tepid Israeli way.

[Dog Gone]

Fine. Annex the West Bank, and soon the Jewish State becomes an arab state.

Or, if you don't annex that land, make it a country. I think everybody is entitled to citizenship in a country, and the West Bank is limboland.

[anotherview]

You are mostly right. The "Green Line" is not an internationally recognized border. It's the 1949 armistice line between the Arabs and Israel. Annexing the West Bank is a demographic nightmare for Israel, but Israel cannot go back to the indefensible 1967 boundaries. New borders must be drawn based on demographics, or, as Ehud Barak put it: "Use here, them there". This is essentially what was offered at Camp David. I differ with Barak in that I would never support redividing Jerusalem.

The problem is, to the Arab, concessions are a sign of weakness. The unilateral withdrawal from southern Lebanon was seen as a Hizbullah "victory", and it inspired the current intifada. Israel cannot repeat that mistake or go down the disasterous Oslo road again. However Israel eventually disentangles itself from the Palestinians, it must do so in a way that guarantees it's security and is seen as strength, not weakness. Clearly any withdrawal must be done as part of some sort of agreement, and failing that, it must be accompanied by annexation. The Palestinians must see themselves as only losing, not gaining anything, through terrorism.

[Dog Gone]

That's right, but it's in Israel's interest to create a Palestinian state on the West Bank. The 1967 borders won't work, but something will.

Decide what that is, build a wall to separate it, if necessary for security, and move on.

At some point, even the Palestinians will realize that they have most of what they asked for. And the demographics for Israel remaining Jewish will remain intact.

[anotherview]

It isn't that simple. Do you know how small Israel is?

Let me give you an idea. From my home in Netanya, which is on the coast, to Samaria is just seven miles. A wall will not stop modern weaponry. Imagine the Palestinians with rockets and chemical warheads, for example.

Israel cannot cede the territories or any part of the territories without some sort of security guarantee.

Catch 22: We can't keep the territories and we can't survive without them.

[MoJo2001]

King Abdullah who is truly an ally of the United States

Nuts? Please! He's not a true ally of America. He's just like the rest of the spineless monarchy over there. If democracy is good for Palestinians, it should good for all of the Middle East. That includes Jordan.

King Abdullah has come to Washington DC and like every other useless Arab monarch, he's tried to put pressure on Israel. His father screwed with Israel and lost badly. He's just a bit more restrained. There will not be peace between Israel or any of her neighbors. They want Israel to be abolished. They want the Jewish people to be wiped out. That's the essence of all this.