MILNET Opinion The Myth of Oppression - The Great Arab Lie, 2/16/2005
On the eve of a new wave of negotiations between the Palestinian
Authority and Israel, we thought it appropriate to set some expectations and
address ten myths the Arab Nations and the Palestinians have foisted
upon the naive public.
The so called displaced members of the nation of Palestine foment a
myth that the Palestinian is oppressed by the Jewish people in Israel
and around the
world. They myth includes geographical references to the region
that are not supported by any written history and ignore International
Law, chronological defeats in war, or rationale discussion.
Yet this myth has persisted and finally the Israelis have given up and
said "fine, have your state inside our borders and we will just see if
that stops the violence." The goal is admirable, but doomed to
failure. The brief experiment that is the Palestinian Authority has
shown the statehood notion to be a lie, it will not stop the violence.
This briefing will discuss the pitfalls of the plan to create a
Palestine and point out where these faults will, in the end, not stop
the violence, only add more power and weight to those creating the
violence in the first place.
Sub-Myth One: The Territory of
Palestine
According to scholars the world over, if there ever was a so called
Palestine, it was located hundreds of miles east of Jerusalem, dead
center in the heart of Jordan. In fact, early in the twentieth
century, the nation that is now Jordan expelled would be Palestinians
-- the historical ties to the land that lies in Jordan was removed
centuries ago when Arab tribes pushed the nomads who might today have
called themselves Palestinians out of that area. Immigration into the
area that was within the borders of the granted State of Israel was
through the arab equivalent of homesteading or trade amongst owners of
invalid or undocumented title. Territory outside the original
boundaries was conquered land and under International law, remains the
property of Israel. However, in order to appease Arab neighbors,
Israel has ceded land back to Jordan and Egypt, creating a tender peace
between Israel and those two countries. Israel has also ceded back
some territory to Syria and Lebanon. However, Israel drew lines that
they believed would provide security from attack on their northern and
northeastern borders.
Sub-Myth Two: The Palestinians are a race or a culture
The term Palestinian refers to Palestine. Palestine existed in
1000 B.C. and before. It was a Jewish conquered territory at that
time. There are no Palestinians descended from Arabs of that time and
place, only Jews.
There is no Arab Palestinian race, culture or similar notion. The
dwellers of the region who were displaced centuries ago had no
government, organization, or capital. In fact they had no
leaders, officials, or tribal recognition. They were simply nomads and
homesteaders -- squatters who were regularly displaced by other
landowners who themselves abandoned the area The tribes the Jews
displaced were wanders and squatters who other Arab tribal leaders came
along and kicked off their land. They didn't even have a
language or credo. They were treated by the Arab tribes as
unclean and usually less than human. Before 1930, population growth in
the area finally annexed by the grant of the Israeli state had been
populated about 2/3 arabs of various ethnic factions. There was little
land sale recording, however, it is clear that both Jews and Arabs
owned land at near about the same ratio (2/3 Arab, 1/3 Jew). This is
the proud heritage
that so called Palestinians wish you to believe entitles them to chunks
of land in Israel.
Sub-Myth Three: The Israeli
government oppresses those who would call themselves Palestinians
There is no way to identify Palestinians. No DNA, no practices,
no address. They ARE Christians, Jews, and Muslims. In the case
of Muslims, there are a handful of Muslim factions who also call
themselves Palestinians.
There are no laws in Israel that identify or separate Jews from
Christians, or Jews from Muslims. Israel has a equal rights
provision in its constitution and is a signatory to the human rights
conventions. Security regulations restricting movement in
Israel did not exist until the number of terrorist attacks against
Jewish people became so large that the costs of treatment of wounded
and burials became a significant portion of the countries GNP.
Non-Palestinians -- those with no ancestral ties to the nomads of the
region -- from outside the occupied territories bring weapons and
credos that foment the killing of Jews and those in the refuge camps
gladly do their bidding.
Nothing in Israeli Law notes the difference between any human in
Israel, and until the violence began to peak, Israeli leaders
refrained from taking steps to identify the so called Palestinian.
Today separation has been the only semi-effective means to control, to
some degree the violence. On many occasions, the separation and
restrictions on movement have been rescinded, only to be accompanied by
a huge jump in murders of Israeli Jews and Christians, and Muslims who
work next to them.
Sub-Myth Four: Oppression of the
Palestinians is intentional economic oppression
The average educational level of the so called street
Palestinian is high school level whereas the education of the average
Israeli is higher, nearing a 80% college graduate level. Israelis
and Palestinians compete for jobs and Israelis win the higher paid and
more authoritative jobs.
There IS an economic distinction between Israelis and so called
Palestinians. Muslim schools in Israel are not funded by
Israel, the Muslim schools refuse Jewish funds.
Jewish schools are well funded and teach modern mathematics, decision
making, economics, and science. Muslim schools teach Whabbism,
hatred and death to the Jew. The average Palestinian cannot hold a job
in a technical field, and woman are not allowed to attend school, and
thus half the population of the Palestinians rarely contribute to the
economic advantage of the Palestinian.
Boys and girls are taught equally and the notion of equal rights to all
is taught in the Jewish schools. In Muslim schools girls must
wear the burka and they are not taught the same lessons and are second
class citizens. Western science is rarely taught and mathematics
levels are dismal.
Palestinians who wish to attend college travel to enlightened Arab
states who have real educational systems in place. Or they attend
western nation schools and then return. The local
institutions are not open to girls and women and few Palestinians can
afford to attend anyway. There are few if any scholarships presented by Arab
nations for so called Palestinians, nor is there any reasonably sized
effort to find jobs for Palestinians in the Arab nations surrounding
Israel. Thus is it rationale to say Israel is economically
oppressing the Palestinian? Who is really oppressing the
Palestinians? Their own Arab "brothers".
The Palestinian Authority receives millions from
Arab nations presumably to help the people -- to build and run schools,
buy food for the majority who cannot feed themselves, yet the Authority
allows rocket
and mortar attacks to be executed from right next to and in some cases
from
within schools and hospitals. When Israel retaliates against those
sources, schools and hospitals and indeed neighborhoods get
damaged or destroyed. The Palestinian Authority is very slow to
rebuild and does not prevent terrorists from setting up their bases for
attack next to or within schools or hospitals.
Without proper schools, the Palestinians (Jews, Muslims, and
Christians) cannot get the education required to advance their place
economically. The oppression comes from within the Arab
community, not from Israel.
Israel has offered to provide public schools but non-Jewish parents,
adult attendees or their leaders have steadfastly refused, stating that
their own Muslim
oriented schools are fine. Israel has offered to provide funding
to help the Muslim Schools upgrade their level of teaching to help
their attendees get better jobs in the world as well as within Israel.
Again this aid is refused.
Sub-Myth Five: Israel murders
Arabs by the carloads
Patently untrue, this myth is pure propaganda. In the decades
since Israel became a nation, more Israelis have been killed by Arabs
by at least two magnitudes. Only in recent years has Israeli
retaliation began to increase, yet the number of killed Palestinians is
no where near the rate of murders of Israelis by terrorists. Again the
numbers are more than two magnitudes apart. Israeli retaliation
targets are tactical -- bomb factories, hideouts of key terrorists or
in some cases a vehicle transporting terrorists. Terrorist targets are
almost always civilians or guards at checkpoints. The civilians are
unarmed and usually include children. Children are killed in Israeli
retaliation because the Terrorists make their bases or build bombs,
load mortar shells and other such activities n buildings where
innocents live.
Israeli police and soldiers wear uniforms and positioned, with their
arms in plain sight. Terrorists hide bombs on their bodies or hide
their guns and then open fire while hiding among the innocent including
their own people working, eating, or playing amongst Israelis.
Israel has ceased retaliation for months at a time on the promise that
they will let the cycle of violence cease and talks between the
Palestinian Authority and Israel can resume towards a peaceful
settlement. In every case, Israel has patiently waited while the
violence stopped, trickled back into being, and then became wholesale
slaughter against Israelis again before resuming retaliatory
attacks.
Israel has paid the price for conciliatory gestures with huge numbers
of Israeli lives, all lost for nothing -- the violence has continued on and on..
Sub-Myth Six: Israel has created prison living for Palestinians and restricting freedom
In the late 1980s Israel setup checkpoints on major thoroughfares
within Israel that led between typically Jewish settlements and so
called Palestinian settlements. The Palestinians do not have the
economy to buy or even rent homes thus live in refugee camps. They live
in these camps because they did not come from a home and move into
Israel because it was a decision they made. They migrated
because they were forced out of Arab run nations of Lebanon, Syria,
Egypt or Jordan. They DID flee during years of wars between
Israel and their neighbors and thus became refugees. Until
violence increased between Arab and Jew in Israel, there were no
security measures to separate the so called Palestinians and the
Israelis. Over the decades since the 80s, the separation has
become complete, including a security wall.
The separation is necessary because outside forces have funded and
supplied Arab terrorists with huge rockets and mortars so they can be
setup just outside Jewish Settlements and fire into those settlements
killing scores of Israelis.
Helicopter patrols seek to spot these attackers and thus provide a
clear indication of Israeli vigilance in those areas bordering the
Israeli settlements. These aircraft attack known bomb factories or hideouts.
While some of this has worked to decrease the violence, the fact
remains that homicide bombers still blow up buses in the cities of
Israel on a regular basis and Israeli deaths continue to rise at a rate
higher than those non-Israelis in the so called occupied territories.
Sub-Myth Seven: Palestinians
cannot build an infrastructure because Israel keeps destroying it.
Israeli retaliation occurs against bomb factories and sources of
incoming fire. An analysis of the buildings destroyed is less than 1%
of all the buildings in the area controlled by the Palestinian
Authority.. The edges of Palestinian Authority controlled
areas that face Arab nations could easily become "no combat" zone and
flourish, simply by controlling where would be terrorists
operate. However, the PA has no such control and the Arab Nations
turn a blind eye to their brethren who foment terrorism in Israel.
Lebanon and Syria are clearly not interested in building a flourishing
area for so called Palestinians and refuse to let them settle across
their borders -- in fact the passage into Lebanon and Syria across
Israeli borders is highly restricted and is one way allowing terrorists
into Israel and no Palestinian settlers out of Israel.
The funding for the Palestinian Authority is more than adequate to
build schools, living quarters, and fund targeted programs to better
the Palestinian educational level and create small business.
However, for some reason, the funds do not get spent.
The PA does not produce an audit of where its funds are being
spent. Arab donations go into a black hole and violence comes
out. Would an accounting of funds to the Palestinians reveal
funds going toward guns, ammunition for guns and mortars, mortars,
rockets and launchers? Until the PA produces a clear and
verifiable audit of Arab funding, there will never be a true reckoning
of why the Palestinian infrastructure does not exist. If
Palestine does become a state, will the leaders suddenly open their
books? This is very doubtful.
Sub-Myth Eight: The Palestinian State Will Resolve the Terrorism Problem for Israel
Events in Ramallah during the infatada and in the Iraqi cities of
Najaf, Baghdad and Fallujah clearly indicate the level of civilization
of the terrorists involved. To believe that these people will go live
peacefully effectively inside Israel is not only naive, but clearly
wishful thinking.
After a period of Euphoria, the people in Palestine will realize they
have no education, no imports, no exports, and no industry. Street
vendors will be the wealthiest people in the nation and soon they will
be victims of theft or murdered for their product. Then the
Palestinian State will look outside for reasons for their despicable
condition and find Jews living better and happier.
At that point the violence will start again. The prediction is that
this will occur within ten years of the official formation of the
Palestinian State. The result of that external expansion of violence
will be an Israeli incursion and a resumption of the conditions that
existed in 2000-2004.
Sub-Myth Nine: The United States Is An Accomplice in Israel's Oppression of the Palestinians
The United States HAS been a staunch ally of Israel. At the last
moment in the Yom Kippur War, the U.S. started delivering resupplies
thanks to a General who essentially disobeyed orders in order to help
save the Israeli nation. When the Israelis retaliated against
Palestinian attacks that murdered Israeli citizens, the U.S. counseled
restraint and put on pressure using proposed cuts in U.S. weapons
supplies (similar to that before the Yom Kippur War). No one seems to
preach that same restraint to Terrorists being sent from Lebanon, Syria
and Iran.
The United States has on EVERY occasion of violence on either side,
stated their disgust and has not condoned any of the violence.
The U.S. also supports Saudi Arabia in its mature moderation of OPEC
oil accounts. The U.S. also supports Jordan and Egypt's peace with
Israel.
Rhetoric against the U.S. is solely based on the U.S. support of Israel
the nation, not Israel's reaction to the violence done to the nation's
people. The U.S. support for Saudi Arabia includes ever increasing
pressure for the Saudi Royals to reform their governance of its
people. There are no Arabs "under the oppressive thumb" of the
United States. Not now, and not in the past.
Bin Laden's rhetoric is against the concepts and ideas that the United
States stands for, not its actions, there are no actions that Bin Laden
can point to that are oppressive or anti-Arab. Thus so called actions
are created.
Sub-Myth Ten: The United States is a Killer of Arabs and Palestinians, and Iraq is the Proof
The U.S. totally not involved in any violence against Palestinians. In
Lebanon in the 1980s was the only opportunity for the U.S. to kill
Arabs. Ships pounded Lebanese positions with offshore gunfire in
support of U.N. forces. When Marines were killed wholesale in their
barracks, the U.S. was part of a United Nations force that consisted of
Muslims and Christian nations. Terrorists murdered U.S. Marines, not
the other way around. Syria killed Arabs and Jews alike, but there is
no infatada against Syria.
In Iraq, the U.S. is more than willing to leave when the Iraqi security
forces are ready to manage their own security, and the government of
Iraq will make that request. When it is made, the U.S. will be gone
quite rapidly. The violence leading up to the elections in Iraq
indicated why Arab terrorists want the U.S. gone -- not because of
anything the U.S. has done to the Arab peoples, but what our policy of
democracy will mean for the terrorists.
Bid Laden and al-Zarqawi have stated it clearly. They want a radical
religious government in all nations in the Middle East, if not the
entire world. The violence will not stop until they are destroyed or
their dream of running the world under radical Islamic law is realized.
When terrorist activities in Iraq began shifting to Iraqi citizens in
positions of authority or in industry (mainly oil and power
infrastructure), no Arab media recognized or reported on the shift.
This clearly indicates that the terrorists can do no wrong in the eyes
of the regions biased media -- making the media in the Middle East a
primary part of the terrorists propaganda machine.
The worst U.S. forces have done is humiliate Arabs in Abu Gharib, a
reprehensible act no doubt, but has never placed a bomb in car and
killed Iraqi men, women and children. U.S forces have never kidnapped
journalists, employees of governments around the world or the U.N., and
has never beheaded them, let alone done these things so television
crews could record the murders. The U.S. soldier has never strapped on
explosives and exploded them amidst civilians at work or play. The
U.S. soldier has never sought out terrorists in a night club and gunned
them down without warning. The U.S. soldier has never hijacked an
aircraft or killed its passengers, or flown them into buildings.
Those who cannot see the difference between the U.S. soldier and the
terrorists is insane and belongs in a mental institution. Those who
preach that the terrorist has a just cause for what they do is
criminally insane and guilty of sedition and should be prosecuted for
that activity.
