Israelis are adamant that it can never happen as
an influx of over 4 million hostile Palestinians into Israel with
population of around 7 million, 20% of whom are Arab, would
inevitably lead to the end of Israel as we know it. Yet the
Arabs would not sigh off on any peace agreement that does not
include a “just solution” for Palestinian refugees. We are all
for a just solution but what that just solution is needs to be
examined by looking at the events that took place right after
the state of Israel was formed.
There are different accounts of exactly what
triggered the exodus of over half a million of Palestinians in
1948. To sift through conflicting Arab and Israeli accounts in
order to get to an absolute truth is almost impossible. What is
indisputable is that the Arabs did not want Jews in Palestine
and often resorted to violence in order to drive them out.
Palestinian Refugees in 1948
The Arab revolts of 1920, 1929 and 1936 that
claimed a lot of lives on the both sides are good examples of
that. In fact the Arabs already began using terrorism against
the Jews in 1930s, more then a decade before the State of Israel
was born. In the 1940s there was a substantial rise in Arab
nationalism and in Palestine it was fueled even more by the
Jewish presence. Leading up to U.N. partition of Palestine on
November 29 of 1947 there was already a de-facto civil war going
on as both sides were arming themselves preparing for an inevitable
conflict. The U.N. Resolution 181 tried to deal with that
problem by dividing the land between the Jews and Arabs and
settling the problem once and for all. But the Arabs were
vehemently opposed to conceding even an inch of Palestine to the
Jews.
On May 14th 1948 the Jews proclaimed
their Declaration of Independence and the creation of the state of
Israel on the territory that was allocated to them by the United
Nations. Israel’s independence was only a couple of years removed
from the end of the World War II. The Jewish population of
Europe just went through Holocaust that took six million Jewish lives
and as much as some Europeans were ashamed of the horrible
events that took place on their continent they did not mind if
the Jews just left. Not having too many choices available to
them many European Jews chose to join their brothers and
sisters in Palestine. At last they had a place they could call
home and get on with their lives.
But the Jews did not have a lot of time to
celebrate their freedom as the armies o
f
Egypt, Jordan, Syria, Iraq and Lebanon converged
on the fledgling state. The Arab leaders were vowing to clear Palestine from the Jews once and for all. Here were the Jews,
many of whom barely survived the European Holocaust, and they
were already
facing another one in the hands of oncoming Arab armies. As many
people, both Jews and Arabs, were fleeing the areas of conflict,
chaos ensued and the rumors were running rampant.
Palestinians claim that many of them were forced
out by the Jews from some areas which given the dire situation
that Israelis were in is quite conceivable.
The Jews
firmly believed that they were facing annihilation. Their
history if full of examples of unimaginable cruelty that their
enemies have inflicted on them and yet they were expected to be humanitarian and
merciful to their enemies who would accept nothing less then
driving all the Jews into the sea.
Many Arabs fled in fear of
retributions while others were encouraged to do so by their own
leaders who were so convinced of an easy victory that the
fleeing Arab population was assured that they would be able to
return to their homes just within a few days. While the Arabs
could run to Arab half of Palestine, Egypt, Jordan, Lebanon and
countless other Arab speaking countries the Jews were stuck in
tiny Israel as they had no place else to go.
The attacking Arab armies were competing with
each other for the right of being called the liberator of
Palestine. There was no coherent military plan devised by the
Arab commanders and there was very little communication between
the allied armies. They believed that the rag-tag Israeli forces
had no chance against their superior numbers and armament. But
things did not go their way. Israelis proved to be a lot more
resilient then Arabs expected. Not surprising as Jews knew full
well what would happen to them if they lost. Miraculously
Israel had survived but it came at the high cost as they lost
over 1% of their population in the conflict,
a huge number for such a small country.
The biggest losers though were the Palestinians
who now had to start a new life instead of going back to what
was expected to be a unified Arab Palestine. The Arab leaders
who failed them never took responsibility for their mistakes and
instead created an entire industry out of the misery of the Palestinian
people that is still going strong after 60 years.
But the mistakes of Arab leaders did not end on
the battlefield. Following the War of Independence of 1948 the
defeated Arab governments took their frustration on defenseless
Jewish populations of their respective countries. Angry mobs
were allowed to engage in pogroms all around the Arab world.
Many Jews were killed, their homes and businesses expropriated
or torched. Hundreds of thousands had to flee leaving behind all
their worldly possessions.
Over 800.000 Jews were either
forced out or fled their homes from from 1948 until
the early 1970s. While many scattered around the world
the majority have settled in Israel. Israel did a great job
absorbing hundreds of thousands of people with different
cultural backgrounds while the Arabs did a great job of erasing
the history of the Jewish communities that lived in those lands
for over two millennia. How many people today would even know
about the Jewish exodus out of Arab countries. And yet
when you look at the demographic statistics of Jewish population
before 1948 and today broken down by countries the results are
staggering:
1948
Today
Algeria
140.000
100
Egypt
80.000
500
Iran
100.000 25.000
Iraq
150.000
40
Lebanon
50.000
30
Libya
30.000
0
Morocco
150.000
7000
Syria
30.000
100
Tunisia
105.000
1500
The above numbers represent nothing short of ethnic cleansing. The methods used by Arabs to get rid of Jews
varied from Russian type pogroms that only required rampaging mobs, drunk on anti-Semitic propaganda, to do the
killing and raping to more sophisticated methods like government
approved public hangings and firebombings of ancient
synagogues. In countries like Egypt, thousands of families were
ordered to leave but were allowed only one suitcase and forced
to sign declarations "donating" their properties to the Egyptian
government. Many Jews were forced to turn their businesses over
to Muslims and ended up working for their former employees.
Jewish Refugees from Yemen in
1950
How was all this much different from what Nazis
did to Jews during the the Night of Broken Glass, an anti-Jewish
pogrom in Nazi Germany and Austria on 9 to 10 November 1938 that
started off the tragedy of the European Jews. While the German
government today openly admits the role on Nazi Germany in the
Holocaust, the Arab governments never took the responsibility
for their role in the expulsion of hundreds of thousands of Jews
of the Middle East. Their plight is conveniently forgotten in
order not to disturb the narrative of the tragedy of the
Palestinian refugees.
When the dust had settled and the Arabs looked
around they found that their actions actually made their enemy
stronger as the population of Israel almost doubled as almost
600.000 Jewish refugees ended up in Israel. Israel absorbed them
without a second thought while many of the Palestinian
refugees were languishing in the refugee camps scattered around
Arab countries and mostly dependent on the handouts from U.N.
and International community. Their fate was sealed. They have
become a sideshow that has inspired the generations of Arab
nationalists and jihadists around the world. .
So how is it a catastrophe for Palestinians Arabs
and not for the Jews from Arab countries who were never involved
in Arab-Israeli conflict but were forced into exile
none-the-less? How is it that a tiny Israel was able to absorb
hundreds of thousands of survivors of European and Arab persecution
and build a thriving society while the best the Arab countries,
with their vast territories and oil resources, could do is keep
their Arab brothers in refugee camps, give them no rights or
citizenships and keep reminding them that some day will have
their own state on the land that is called Israel.
Because Israel made a commitment that every Jew
in need of a shelter could find one in Israel. Jewish refugees
have accepted their new lives, learned new skills and become productive members of the Israeli society. The world has
quickly forgotten about them as their lives no longer were the
festering wound that the lives of their Palestinian counterparts
become. The Palestinian refugees never got a shot at the
normal lives as their miserable existence has become a weapon
for the Arabs, stronger then any military equipment Israel may
have in its arsenal.
The image of a Palestinian throwing a stone at
Israeli soldiers is ingrained in the collective conscience of the
world. If there is one thing that Palestinians have accomplished
beyond anybody’s expectations was to reach the status of victimhood that can not be surpassed by anybody. The deaths of
hundreds of thousands of fellow Muslims killed by Saddam Hussein
was not considered a catastrophe. On the contrary, Saddam was a
celebrity in Palestinian territories. The atrocities going on in
Congo and Darfur that claimed hundreds of thousands of lives get
only occasional coverage. The plight of non-Muslim
communities in Irag does not get even a mention.
The Palestinian question on the other hand is
always on the forefront. Pundits from Jimmy
Carter to Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, from the U.N. to the Arab League and
countless others in between make sure that they all get a chance
to take a swipe at Israel for mistreating the
Palestinians. Even the cruelest of the crimes committed by
Palestinian terrorists are vigorously defended. There is always
a readily available answer for any situation no matter how
indefensible. So much so that one sometimes needs to step back
and admire it as some sort of sick art form.
But what tops all of the above is when Nakba is
compared to the Holocaust. While many Arab historians deny that it
ever took place and argue that it was part of the Zionist plan
to take over Palestine, they have no problem using the word when
describing the plight of Palestinians. While every human life is
important and should not be taken without regard the comparison
is disingenuous and historically not accurate. During the 1948
war Israelis lost around 6500 people while Arabs
casualties, majority of which were the invading armies, lost
around 10,000 people.
During the Holocaust six million Jews were
brought to concentration camps from all around Europe to be
gassed, burned and buried in mass graves. The gold teeth of dead
prisoners were melted and placed into Swiss banks for the
benefit of the Nazis and their supporters. Their hair, skin and
other body parts were used to produce soap, pillows and other
products. Jewish children were paraded into the gas chambers
expecting candies as a reword. I will not go into more gruesome
details but these so called historians should be ashamed of
themselves for even bringing up the subject.
So here are the Arabs who refused to share the
land with the Jews, kept attacking them with the full intention of
ridding Palestine of every last Jew, lost the military
confrontation, made refugees out of 800.000 Jews most of whom
had to be absorbed by Israel, forced the generations of
Palestinians to live in refugee camps without allowing them to
be integrated into Arab societies and now they want Israel to
absorb over 4 million people who for 60 years dreamed about
ending the existence of the state they are trying to return to?
That does not sound like a just solution. In fact
that kind of solution would be catastrophic not only for Jews
but also for Arabs as the inevitable civil war that it will
produce can engulf the entire Middle East and many countries
beyond. Arabs and Israelis already swapped their populations.
Leave them be! Bring as many Palestinians to West Bank and Gaza
as you want once the peace agreement is signed and Palestinians
have their own state. In the meantime practice the peace making
by trying to resolve the disputes between Hamas and Fattah.
Placing completely unreasonable demands on Israelis sounds good
for the Arab street but is not going to resolve the problem.
A just solution must be just for all parties involved in order to
work. When Arabs will finally accept that concept we may have a
chance for peace.
At the time when Israel celebrates
the Day of Independence the Palestinians and the rest of the
Arab world commemorate the event by mourning the birth of the
Jewish state. There is word for it in Arabic called Nakba or
Catastrophe. Every year the Palestinians are
reminded of that event as a planned ethnic cleansing perpetrated
by the Jews. This Arab version of history is also brought up
every time the question comes up about the right of return of
Arab refugees and their descendants, numbering around four
million people, back to Israel. 