From the moment the United Nations General Assembly adopted a Partition Plan for Mandatory Palestine in November of 1947, the neighboring Arab countries refused to accept the creation of an independent Jewish state known as Israel. When David Ben-Gurion, (head of the Zionist Organization and president of the Jewish Agency for Palestine), declared “the establishment of a Jewish state in Eretz Yisroel, to be known as the State of Israel,” neighboring Arab armies invaded the former British mandate and fought the Israeli forces. Several wars have been fought since Israel’s victory in its war of liberation.
During the course of the ensuing wars, Israel won the battles and controlled land it won in those battles. The Judea/Samaria region (known to some as the “West Bank”) was won in the 1956-57 battle and the Gaza Strip was won in the 1967 war.
Those who know little about the history of Israel often suggest that Israel surrender land for peace. In 2005, Israel unilaterally surrendered the Gaza Strip only to have it used as a base for attacks on Israeli civilians by Palestinian Muslims.
The more modern western part of Jerusalem is controlled by Israel and allows for Jews, Christians and Muslims to all live side-by-side. For the most part, this has worked out well.
Israel has, also, controlled the eastern part of Jerusalem (which includes the historic “Old City”). The Palestinian Arabs populate much of the eastern part of Jerusalem, as well as parts of Judea/Samaria. Because this particular area is known as a “disputed territory,” Palestinian Arabs demand that no Jews should be allowed to build or live in there, suggesting that this territory is part of a future Palestinian state. The Palestinian charter employs the concept that no Jew should be allowed to live in “Palestine.” Some might refer to this as an “ethnically cleansed state.” At the same time, the Palestinian Authority demands that Palestinians should be allowed to live as equals in Israel and have always refused to recognize Israel as a “Jewish state.”
Imagine an American city divided by an east side and a west side. One side allowed for all people to live within its confines while the other side mandated certain races be excluded within its territory. That kind of an unofficial discriminatory policy existed in the United States until it was declared unconstitutional in 1968.
The world should recognize the Palestinian charter for what it is: a bigoted plan not much different from the KKK heyday in the USA.
