Yom Ha'atzmaut and The Nakba: Navigating Two Narratives

 

While many Jews and some non-Jews throughout the world celebrate the birth of the State of Israel this week, Palestinians, along with people from around the world think of it’s creation as a disaster. In fact, those who take the Palestinian point of view call the creation of the Jewish state the Nakba, the Arabic word for catastrophe. 

Nakba is the term used to describe the rise of the state of Israel throughout the Arabic speaking world, and by world-wide news networks with millions of viewers and readers such as Al-Jezeera. It is the term used by most anti-Zionists around the world when speaking about the establishment of the Jewish state.

Most Jews and supporters of the State of Israel disagree most strongly with how the Palestinian people narrate this part of history.  Yet if you support the state of Israel you must know what the Palestinian people claim.   Knowing the Palestinian view of the events that led to the establishment of the State of Israel does not make us poor allies of Israel; rather, it helps us to better understand what those who oppose and condemn Israel teach and preach around the world.  It is crucial to learn this information for facing and fixing the flaws of Israel as a nation,  as well as for defending Israel against hideous accusations that have little or no basis in fact.

Only if we explore how Palestinians view this part of history, can we begin to ask questions about their choices as a people: Why have they so often embraced terrorism or fanatic leadership such as Hamas?  Why do they deny the archeology that shows the roots of the Jewish people in the land of Israel from 3000 years ago?  Why have Palestinian leaders rejected peace proposals for so long?  If we do not explore how Palestinians view history, the answers to these questions will provide no insight for the future.

Once we have explored the view of Palestinians, only then can we raise questions about the past and the future-  only then can we really begin to figure out how a lasting peace might be made with  a people who blame the state of Israel for a disaster they say is ongoing.   Only if we explore this view can we ask why they still claim to be victims of Israel’s creation.

1.     How do Palestinians look at the Jewish claim of being the descendants of the Israelites who lived in the land of Israel for centuries?

a.      They acknowledge the ancient history of the Jews, but say that since they left, the land belongs to the Palestinians now.

b.     They acknowledge the ancient history of the Jews, but say that the land must be shared with the Palestinians now.

c.      They claim that true Judaism is Judaism is a religion of revelation, like Christianity, and has no inherent tie to a particular land. Any Jewish claim on the land of Palestine is political, not religious.

d.     They deny that there is any legitimate Jewish claim to the land by history or by religion.

2.     Most Jews see Zionism as an authentic Jewish reaction to persecution and a long held desire to return to the homeland of the Jewish people.  How do Palestinians view Zionism?

a.      It is a legitimate expression of Jewish desire for the land, which they oppose.

b.     It is a European enterprise, a colonialist project whose main goal is  to rob native Arabs of their land and resources.

c.      It is an idea based on religious ideas, but those ideas are all myths with no proof behind them.

d.     It is a misuse of a religious idea,  and religion mixed with politics is always a mistake.

 

3.     Most Israelis will admit that no small land was taken away from Palestinians during the 1948-1948 war and beyond, but that no small amount of the land Israel occupies was either state land owned by the British, or bought and paid for by Jews.  What do Palestinians say about these claims of state or purchased lands?

a.      That the land was sold by absentee Ottoman landlords in Turkey, and such sales were criminal.

b.     That the land was sold by desperately poor Palestinians threatened with violence by Jews, and such sales are invalid.

c.      That the land was transferred illegally by the British to Jews at the end of the mandate, but when the British had no right to transfer the land, and that the ownership of all state lands belongs to the Palestinians.

d.     That  any land claimed to be owned by Jews  as a state or as individuals is evidence of war crimes committed by Zionist forces again and again, while the world has done nothing.

4.     Most Israelis acknowledge that Palestinians have been living in what is now Israel, Syria, and Jordan for as long as since 1400CE, but reject Palestinians have lived there since ancient times.  What do Palestinians acknowledge when it comes to Jewish claims of Jewish ancestors (Israelites)  living in the region?

a.      Palestinians reject the idea, and  say that their  ancestors were the Jebusites and Cananites mentioned in the Bible, and that they, not Jews,  are the true Israelites and have lived in the land for thousands of years.

b.     That there is archaeological evidence for Jews living in the land since ancient times,  which may mean they have the right to live in the land, but they have no right to a state or political power today.

c.      That while there is archaeological evidence for Jews living in the land since ancient times,  that evidence is irrelelvant since the ancestors of the Jews decided to leave.

d.     That perhaps Sephardic Jews can prove they had ancestors in the Middle East, but Ashkenazi jews from Europe can make no such claim.

5.     Israelis acknowledge that Palestinain Arabs came to farm the land under the Ottoman Empire centuries ago, but  claim there  never was an independent Palestinian nation or unique Palestinian people. How do the Palestinian people see themselves?

a.      As part of the Arab peoples, sharing many foods and cultural ideas with Arabs in neighboring areas (The Levant).

b.     As a branch of the Arab peoples with some unique cultural ideas and some shared ones.

c.      Palestinian identity and nationality differ fundamentally from other Levantine Arab people  and are unique in terms of food, dress, language, and even approach to Islam.

d.     That there was not only a unique Palestinian  people and culture, but a Palestinian royal family, national assembly (The Majlis Umara’i), and supreme court ,  most of whom were all murdered by the Ottomans and the British, and the last by the Zionist Jews.

6.     The British favored whom during their Mandate over Palestine? The Palestinians or the Jews? 

a.      The British were always pro-Arab, revoking promises to the Yishuv (Jewish settlement in Palestine) and standing  aside when Arabs murdered Jews. Ask Any Israeli.

b.     The British were always pro-Zionist. They allowed illegal immigration,  suppressed Palestinian self rule, trained Zionist soldiers,  and punished Palestinians brutally.  Ask Any Palestinian.

c.      The British were clumsy administrators,  paralyzed with self doubt and argued constantly, distracted by uprisings in India; some favoring Jews and some favoring Arab residents of Palestine. This led to overall favoring of the Yishuv if only by accident. Ask Any Brit. 

d.     The British played Arabs and Jews against each other as to keep their rule of Palestine unchallenged.  Anti-Semitism in British government and a fear of Political attack from oil-rich Arab nations led the British to regularly  lean in favor the Arabs in Palestine. Ask any historian.

7.     The Israeli narrative of history says that war in 1947-1949 happened because despite the UN resolution to accept a Jewish state, the Arabs rejected the plan, vastly outnumbered the population of Yishuv, and that Arab leaders promised slaughter of the Jews, urging Arabs to flee as the armies of seven Arab nations wiped the Zionists out.  How do Palestinians view the outbreak of war in this time?

a.      As a disaster, for had they compromised, and followed the UN plan instead of waging war,  Palestinians  would have had a state with resources and borders and their people would be equals in the modern world to the Israelis and other Arab states.

b.     It was an embarrassment of overconfidence ; nobody believed the Jews were able to fight better than the Palestinian warriors who once were mercenaries all over the middle east.

c.      It was the implementation of a detailed and long planned  act of  ethnic cleansing of Palestinian people from their land, who were basically pacifists with neither weapons nor infrastructure to wage war.

d.     It was a punishment from God;  had the Palestinians declared Jihad on the Jews from the moment they started arriving in large numbers,  the land would have remained in their hands until this day.

8.     Israelis today are facing accusations that actions by many Jewish groups in the effort to create a Jewish state include some horrific events such as expulsions at gunpoint and even some massacres. It is a difficult discussion for Israelis to have. Are Palestinians having similar difficult discussions about massacres, anti-Jewish riots, and terror attacks in that same pre-State period?

a.      Yes, and they are far more open about these violent incidents than Israelis.

b.     Yes, and it is as difficult for them as it is for the Israelis.

c.       No,  but younger Palestinians are starting to ask some of these difficult questions.

d.     No.  They believe that disturbances that led to loss of life were justified and spontaneous actions by the Palestinian people against the British/Zionist alliance, and are acts of heroic resistance.