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The Real Origin of the Palestinians' Catastrophe

(Boston Globe) Jeff Jacoby - May 15 is the anniversary of Israel's birth in 1948. It is also the date on which Palestinians in recent years have commemorated their nakba or "catastrophe." But the nakba was self-inflicted. Contrary to the mythology promoted in many quarters today, the war that created the refugees was not launched by the infant Jewish state in order to drive the Arabs out. It was launched by the Arabs to smother that infant in its crib. The contemporary nakba narrative is a masterpiece of ahistorical distortion and antisemitic propaganda. It casts the events of 75 years ago as a monstrous crime successfully committed by Jews against Palestinians. The opposite is closer to the truth. In November 1947, the UN General Assembly voted to partition the land - which had been under British rule since 1917 - into "independent Arab and Jewish states." The Jews agreed to this two-state solution. The Arabs, as they had in the past and would in the future, refused. They immediately commenced a campaign of murderous aggression to prevent a Jewish state from becoming a reality. After the Zionist leaders, in accordance with the UN resolution, proclaimed Israel's independence, within hours bombs were falling on Tel Aviv. Arab armies from Lebanon, Syria, Iraq, Transjordan, and Egypt crossed Israel's borders. "This will be a war of extermination and a momentous massacre," promised Azzam Pasha, secretary-general of the Arab League. "We will sweep them into the sea." The Zionist leaders pleaded with the Palestinian Arabs to "participate in the building up of the state on the basis of full and equal citizenship and representation in all its institutions." But the Arabs spurned the Jews' plea. The nakba was the result. For 75 years, Palestinians have paid a painful price for their refusal to grasp the hand of friendship that was offered to them.
2023-05-18 00:00:00
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