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Palestinians Pretend Israel Is Stolen Arab Property

(Commentary) Jonathan S. Tobin - The idea of Palestine as an Arab nation dates back only to the beginning of the 20th century. The Arab political awakening there only happened as a reaction to the return of the Jews to the land beginning in the late 19th century. But even then, the Arabs didn't call themselves Palestinians. Up until the creation of the State of Israel that was a name only used by Jews who had embraced the British Mandate for Palestine created by the League of Nations to facilitate the creation of a national home for the Jewish people after World War I. It was only after Israel's rebirth in 1948 that the Arabs began to call themselves Palestinians. The Palestinians' national identity is not so much bound up with a specific language, culture, or land as it is with the idea of resisting the return of the Jews. Without Zionism, there was no Palestinian Arab nationalism. Palestinian nationalism means rejecting the legitimacy of a Jewish state no matter where its borders might be drawn. In order to justify their relatively newly minted national identity, the Palestinians have embraced a narrative that completely negates the Jewish connection to their ancient homeland. Their attempt to claim that Jerusalem, its Temple Mount and the Western Wall have no Jewish connections isn't merely an insult. Such canards, which are promoted by the supposedly moderate Palestinian Authority as well as Hamas, are rooted in a need to justify the expulsion of the Jews and to pretend that the country is stolen Arab property.
2016-02-15 00:00:00
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