Mitchell Bard: The Palestinians ... Sixty Years of Missed Chances
[Mitchell Bard is the Executive Director of the nonprofit American-Israeli Cooperative Enterprise (AICE) and the director of the Jewish Virtual Library. He holds a Ph.D. in political science from UCLA and has been published in academic journals, magazines, and major newspapers.]
On November 29, 1947, the United Nations voted to create a Jewish state and an Arab state in Palestine. Soon Israel will celebrate its 60th birthday and the Palestinians could be having one of their own if they had accepted the international community’s judgment that the just solution to the conflicting claims of Jews and Arabs in Palestine/Israel was the establishment of two states. Instead, the Arabs decided they would not accept or recognize a Jewish state in their midst and sought to destroy it. As we saw during the conference convened in Annapolis last week on November 27, little has changed.
Few people besides historians know that the Arab states did not go to war in 1947-48 to create a Palestinian state. They were more interested in carving the territory up for themselves. Even the Palestinians expressed little enthusiasm for statehood at the time as most saw themselves more closely associated with Syria or what was then Transjordan than any independent state of Palestine.
As they did then, the Arab states do little today beyond give lip service to the idea of establishing a Palestinian state. A majority of Jordan’s population is Palestinian and it really is a Palestinian state, geographically and historically, as well as demographically. The Jordanians have consistently feared the establishment of a Palestinian state because of their recognition that the Palestinians were nearly as likely to turn their violence in the direction of Amman as they were to direct it at Tel Aviv.
Egypt has been in an ideal position to assist the Palestinians, but instead have primarily aided in the descent of the Palestinian Authority into chaos by refusing to prevent smuggling of money or arms across its border with Gaza. Consequently, Hamas has grown stronger and become a bigger threat to the mainstream Fatah party as well as to the Israelis.
The rest of the Arab states are content to cheer from the sidelines and to pressure the United States to impose a solution on Israel under the pretext that this will entice Arab leaders to cooperate in Iraq and with the effort to stop Iran’s nuclear program. The Arab states, especially Saudi Arabia, however, care only about their own interests, principally, the survival of their dictatorial regimes. Regardless, of U.S. policy toward Israel, they will do whatever increases the likelihood they will stay in power.
While the Palestinians complain that they are being isolated and persecuted and suffering terribly as a result of the “occupation” and the international boycott of Hamas, the truth is they have still received billions of dollars in assistance. As was the case under Arafat, who stole nearly $1 billion, most of this money is being squandered. Moreover, the oil-producing states could easily support the Palestinian economy for a year with a fraction of the profit they earn each month. Instead, they shout about Palestinian suffering and do little to ameliorate it.
At the Annapolis meeting, the Arab states showed no more interest in living with a Jewish state than they had 60 years earlier. The Saudis insisted that they be allowed to enter through different doors so as not to be contaminated by coming close to an Israeli. Most of the Arabs treated the Israeli delegation like pariahs. This was supposed to convince Israelis to risk their security by making territorial concessions?
Israel has consistently made clear it is prepared to give up as much as 97 percent of the West Bank, in addition to the 100 percent of the Gaza Strip it has already evacuated. But what are the Palestinians prepared to concede? Nothing, not even the recognition that Israel is a Jewish state.
Mahmoud Abbas may well be sincere in his desire to reach an agreement with Israel. Unfortunately, he cannot even keep the peace in the Palestinian Authority he is supposed to lead. He had no control over Gaza and little over the West Bank. If he had signed a peace treaty in Annapolis, it wouldn’t have been worth the paper it was printed on because he could not deliver on his commitments. If he can’t stop the rockets from being fired daily from Gaza into Israel, what exactly can he offer Israel? Moreover, he has not retreated from maximalist demands on the core issues of borders, refugees, Jerusalem and settlements, so beyond a nice photo opportunity it is hard to see any progress coming out of Annapolis.
Still, as Churchill said, it is better to jaw-jaw than to war-war. Annapolis-like parlays will never amount to much more than jaw-jawing, however, unless the Palestinians and the other Arabs accept the wisdom of the decision made by the UN 60 years ago.
Read entire article at Britannica Blog
On November 29, 1947, the United Nations voted to create a Jewish state and an Arab state in Palestine. Soon Israel will celebrate its 60th birthday and the Palestinians could be having one of their own if they had accepted the international community’s judgment that the just solution to the conflicting claims of Jews and Arabs in Palestine/Israel was the establishment of two states. Instead, the Arabs decided they would not accept or recognize a Jewish state in their midst and sought to destroy it. As we saw during the conference convened in Annapolis last week on November 27, little has changed.
Few people besides historians know that the Arab states did not go to war in 1947-48 to create a Palestinian state. They were more interested in carving the territory up for themselves. Even the Palestinians expressed little enthusiasm for statehood at the time as most saw themselves more closely associated with Syria or what was then Transjordan than any independent state of Palestine.
As they did then, the Arab states do little today beyond give lip service to the idea of establishing a Palestinian state. A majority of Jordan’s population is Palestinian and it really is a Palestinian state, geographically and historically, as well as demographically. The Jordanians have consistently feared the establishment of a Palestinian state because of their recognition that the Palestinians were nearly as likely to turn their violence in the direction of Amman as they were to direct it at Tel Aviv.
Egypt has been in an ideal position to assist the Palestinians, but instead have primarily aided in the descent of the Palestinian Authority into chaos by refusing to prevent smuggling of money or arms across its border with Gaza. Consequently, Hamas has grown stronger and become a bigger threat to the mainstream Fatah party as well as to the Israelis.
The rest of the Arab states are content to cheer from the sidelines and to pressure the United States to impose a solution on Israel under the pretext that this will entice Arab leaders to cooperate in Iraq and with the effort to stop Iran’s nuclear program. The Arab states, especially Saudi Arabia, however, care only about their own interests, principally, the survival of their dictatorial regimes. Regardless, of U.S. policy toward Israel, they will do whatever increases the likelihood they will stay in power.
While the Palestinians complain that they are being isolated and persecuted and suffering terribly as a result of the “occupation” and the international boycott of Hamas, the truth is they have still received billions of dollars in assistance. As was the case under Arafat, who stole nearly $1 billion, most of this money is being squandered. Moreover, the oil-producing states could easily support the Palestinian economy for a year with a fraction of the profit they earn each month. Instead, they shout about Palestinian suffering and do little to ameliorate it.
At the Annapolis meeting, the Arab states showed no more interest in living with a Jewish state than they had 60 years earlier. The Saudis insisted that they be allowed to enter through different doors so as not to be contaminated by coming close to an Israeli. Most of the Arabs treated the Israeli delegation like pariahs. This was supposed to convince Israelis to risk their security by making territorial concessions?
Israel has consistently made clear it is prepared to give up as much as 97 percent of the West Bank, in addition to the 100 percent of the Gaza Strip it has already evacuated. But what are the Palestinians prepared to concede? Nothing, not even the recognition that Israel is a Jewish state.
Mahmoud Abbas may well be sincere in his desire to reach an agreement with Israel. Unfortunately, he cannot even keep the peace in the Palestinian Authority he is supposed to lead. He had no control over Gaza and little over the West Bank. If he had signed a peace treaty in Annapolis, it wouldn’t have been worth the paper it was printed on because he could not deliver on his commitments. If he can’t stop the rockets from being fired daily from Gaza into Israel, what exactly can he offer Israel? Moreover, he has not retreated from maximalist demands on the core issues of borders, refugees, Jerusalem and settlements, so beyond a nice photo opportunity it is hard to see any progress coming out of Annapolis.
Still, as Churchill said, it is better to jaw-jaw than to war-war. Annapolis-like parlays will never amount to much more than jaw-jawing, however, unless the Palestinians and the other Arabs accept the wisdom of the decision made by the UN 60 years ago.