Steve Kramer – READY FOR THE STATE OF PALESTINE?
A functioning State of Palestine is the aspiration of most members of the United Nations. They’ve been dreaming about it ever since 1967, when Israel took control of Judea and Samaria from Jordan, which had occupied the region since Israel’s War of Independence in 1948. It sounds great on paper, but in reality, the Palestinian Arab leaders are definitely not interested – their dream is to overthrow Israel. Nor are the Palestinian Arab citizens ready.
But even if those leaders and the citizens wanted to have a state, have they prepared for it? Are the requisite institutions and infrastructure in place? (No) Is the economy ready to function without continuing massive international aid? (No) Are its citizens prepared to stop blaming Israel for everything that affects them? (No) Are the Palestinian and other Arab leaders prepared to lose the scapegoat that they need to divert their unhappy citizens? (No)
Clearly, wishing for a Palestinian State won’t make it so. There’s no Palestinian “Theodor Herzl” who could write: “At Basel [the First Zionist Congress, 1897], I founded the Jewish State. If I said this out loud today, I would be answered by universal laughter. If not in 5 years, certainly in 50, everyone will know it.” Herzl was the visionary who inspired Jews to go to Palestine and to prepare for a Jewish state. 51 years later, Israel issued its Declaration of Independence, beat off attacking Arab armies, and was recognized as a viable state.
Here’s the situation today in the Palestinian Authority (PA): A Palestinian Arab in Jerusalem’s Shuafat “refugee” camp was murdered in a hail of bullets on May 2. 31-year-old Naha Nababta, an activist for improving living conditions in his community, was married and a father of two daughters. He was killed because he “collaborated” with Israeli authorities while trying to improve life for his people.
Was Nababta a contender to lead the Palestinians when Mahmoud Abbas finally quits? No, that’s Marwan Baghrouti, currently serving 5 life sentences in an Israeli jail while being touted as the Palestinian Mandela. Instead, Nababta was slated for execution, not a cushy job ruling his people. Nababta’s death is an example of the mindset of the Palestinian leaders: no cooperation with Israel, no sharing with Israel, no state of Palestine “living side by side in peace” with Israel.
The Fatah party, ostensibly in charge of the PA, is ridiculed by Gaza’s rulers, Hamas, for even minimal cooperation with Israel. However, should Israeli troops leave Judea and Samaria (West Bank), Hamas would quickly rout President Abbas and his Fatah party, repeating Fatah’s overthrow in Gaza after Israel withdrew in 2006.
Why is Shuafat called a refugee camp in the first place? It’s administered by UNWRA, a unique United Nations agency which is tasked solely with caring for the refugees from Israel’s 1948 War of Independence (Jewish name) or Naqba “catastrophe” (Arab name). Unlike the UNHCR, which cares for ALL of the world’s OTHER refugees, the Palestinian Arabs under UNWRA protection inherit refugee status, so the children, grandchildren, etc. of the 1948 refugees are themselves classed as refugees. Consequently, UNWRA has ever more people to take care of and, since it is a major employer of the self-same refugees, no reason to ever complete its task of resettlement.
It must be understood that the United Nations’ constituent agencies such as UNWRA and the misnamed Human Rights Council exist only to vilify and ultimately destroy Israel. UNWRA doesn’t help Palestinian Arab “refugees,” it makes sure that they remain that way. The Human Rights Council spends most of its time condemning Israel, as if there are no other countries whose human rights might be questioned. In general, the UN is an organ that has been hijacked by enemies of Israel and which has been enabled by the cowardly acquiescence of its Western member countries in many instances. The most recent example is from April 15: France, Spain, Slovenia, Sweden, Russia and Slovenia were among those countries that supported the UNESCO resolution erasing Israel’s ties to the Temple Mount, the Western Wall, and the Tomb of the Patriarchs, naming them solely Palestinian sites. (jihadwatch.org)
Palestinian Arabs remain pawns for their leaders, nationalist or Islamist, who themselves lack neither money nor luxuries. These “leaders” are content to throw away generations of Arabs to achieve the goal of a Jew-free Palestine/Middle East. The West, enablers for the Arabs, are played for fools by left-wing NGOs, the UN, and left / right wing anti-Semites/Zionists.
Israel’s task, so far unaccomplished, is to awaken Europe and America to the reality that the idealized 2-state solution is a non-starter, for more than a few reasons. Both Arab nationalists (a dying breed) and Islamists which include non-Arab Turkey and Iran), want to abolish Israel, not live alongside of it. And, a “de-militarized” State of Palestine is a chimera. Demilitarized “states” cannot be expected to remain demiliatarized. This idea has never worked and won’t work here. We mustn’t forget that Germany’s demilitarization after WWI’s Versailles Treaty failed, ultimately resulting in WWII.
So, what is the solution for the Palestinian Arabs, if not 2-states? A potential solution might be a confederation with Israel and Jordan, or a limited autonomy within a bigger Israel, or a new national entity including the Palestinian Arabs, emerging after the Islamist bloodbath ends. Or, the status quo may remain.
Until the Palestinians consider choosing leaders like Naha Nababta, instead of murdering them, they will remain in their self-imposed situation, which they nevertheless insistently deplore. Perhaps if a Palestinian “Mandela” appeared, his followers might understand that compromising with Israel is absolutely necessary to find a way out of their self-imposed status. For starters, stopping incitement against Jews, stopping the worship of “martyrs,” and spending money on improving its citizens’ lives (spend on butter, not guns) would be expected.
Israel can’t wave a magic wand and materialize a Palestinian State, nor can the West. What the West must do is to face reality, support its one true ally in the region, Israel, and give it strong support. For example, the next American president could immediately authorize construction of the US Embassy to Israel in Jerusalem, which has been mandated by Congress since 1995 (Jerusalem Embassy Act). That might possibly jolt our Arab neighbors to realize that Israel cannot be defeated and is the stalwart ally of the United States. Once the Muslims digest the certainty that the Jewish State of Israel cannot be replaced, they can dream about some sort of viable entity for Palestinian Arabs.
A HAPPY INDEPENDENCE DAY FOR ISRAEL AND ITS SUPPORTERS!
