Nakba Forever |
The Palestinians enjoy wallowing in their own self-inflicted misery.
When visiting English-speaking countries like Canada, England, and Australia, I have felt that they are similar to the U.S. but still different. Beyond changes in currencies and driving at times on the wrong side of the road, they have a different vibe than the U.S. One can see it in the massive wealth of America and the power of her military and economic strength. Still, overall, one can feel a certain kinship with the citizens of these countries and their way of life, even while being grateful for having an American passport.
Now, let’s move over to my neighborhood here in the Middle East. As it’s May, that means it’s Israel Independence/Palestinian Nakba time. The first half obviously reflects the Jewish leadership’s decision to declare a state when the official British mandate for Palestine ended. The Arabs responded with terror and war. Five Arab nations descended on the fledgling Jewish state. The Jews won, and for 80 years, much of the Arab world has never forgiven them. But what of the supposed “Palestinian Arabs” who, for the most part, were not indigenous. Rather, they or their immediate forefathers came to the area as the Jews were building up barren wastelands. They came for work. When the war started, Ben-Gurion and other Jewish officials begged the Arab residents to stay. They promised equal rights in the new country (which has been upheld) and asked them not to leave. On the other side, the Arab armies exhorted local Arabs to get out so as to make their war-fighting easier. The best analysis I have ever seen, from a former Harvard professor of mine, had half of the 720,000 Arabs who left doing so under fellow Arab instruction, with the remaining 360,000 being actively driven out by the victorious Jewish forces. The Jews declared an independent new state while the Palestinians screamed Nakba—or disaster.
When I........