The diligently cultivated scenario is
in place. The black and white hats have been put in
their proper places. It runs something like this:
The Palestinians, a homogenous and
prosperous culture onto themselves, were brutally
expelled from their homeland as an integral part of the
master plan of the West; partly to assuage guilt for the
Holocaust, partly to maintain control of a strategic oil
rich region.
After the expulsion, the rationale
goes, the remnants of the Palestinians were treated like
second class citizens in their own land, powerless to
protect their rights from the oppressor, who stole their
property and, through various machinations, usurped
their birthright.
The epic continues. As a result of
the manifest injustices done they formed the Palestine
liberation Organization [PLO], a democratic, secular,
popular movement dedicated to restoring Palestine. Said
restoration would result in a secular, democratic state,
where all citizens would have equal political and
religious rights. For the West, this so-called
Palestinian question was not a major source of
international concern until the 1974 Arab oil embargo.
But a lie is still a lie.
Lie No. 1: The Palestinians were a
sovereign people and nation until they were "expelled"
in 1948.
Facts: The area known as Palestine
was a province of the Ottoman Empire from the 16th
Century until the British took control in 1917. From
1917 until 1948, the area was under British operational
control and, later, mandate.
There was never a Palestinian nation.
Further, the population of the entire
area, according to a 1879 Encyclopedia Britannica, was
never substantial and was ethnically diverse. Any
inhabitants there were concentrated in two cities,
Jerusalem and Jaffa, and in the nomadic Bedouin tribes.
There was also a constant Jewish
community. From the time of the first census in 1844 to
the present, there have always been more Jews in
Jerusalem than Moslems. Large-scale Jewish immigration
during the Ottoman period made the Jewish community.
From the time of the first census in 1844 to the
present, there have always been more Jews in Jerusalem
than Moslems. Large scale Jewish immigration during the
Ottoman period made the Jewish community a significant
presence.
It was only after the Jewish settlers
bought land and made the area economically productive
that the Arabs returned in significant numbers. Between
the World Wars, the Arab population in predominantly
Arab towns rose only insignificantly, e.g. 16,000 to
23,000 in Nablus. The population trends in the three
major Jewish cities show a different story. The Arab
population increased in Jerusalem by 97 percent, from
28,500 to 56,400, in Jaffa by 134 percent, from 27,400
to 62,600 and in Haifa by 216 percent, from 18,400 to
58,200.
The massive Arab immigration into
Palestine during the Mandate period accounts for roughly
75 percent of the supposedly "Palestinian" population
present at the time of the partition in 1948.
Lie No2: Israel occupies historical
Palestine.
Facts: Israel only covers roughly 25
percent of what used to be the province of Palestine. In
1922, the British government violated its League of
Nations Mandate over Palestine by partitioning the
territory into a truncated Palestine and a nebulous
entity called "Transjordan."
In 1947, the United Nations voted to
form two states out of what was left of Palestine, and
the Jewish leadership pledged to abide by the borders.
The Arab world refused and invaded.
As the world knows, Israel won its
war and the ensuing armistice lines resulted in Israeli
sovereignty over 20 percent of the land within the 1917
borders of Palestine. The remainder, the so-called West
Bank, was grabbed by the Bedouin King Abdullah. For 19
years, he and his successor and grandson, Hussein,
controlled the territory; at any time during that period
either could have returned this so-called birthright to
the Palestinians. They did not, and since none of the
other Arab countries would grant full refuge to the
refugees, they were dumped into policed camps.
Meanwhile, Jordan (the name was
changed In 1950 is more than 75 percent Palestinian in
population. Palestinians are prospering in that
nation-in-an area comprising most of historical
Palestine.
Lie No. 3: The PLO is a
freedom-seeking, democratic organization.
Fact: Anyone who witnessed the
tragedy of Lebanon from 1975 through last summer's
invasion by Israeli forces saw the true face of the PLO.
At best, it is a shadow organization in chaos.
The Lebanese gave refuge to the
Palestinians and the PLO, and in "gratitude," the PLO
established a state within Lebanon, mocking its
sovereignty, murdering its citizens and slashing its
social fabric.
The Lebanese have suffered enough
from PLO democracy and freedom. They consider themselves
somewhat lucky-a few more years of PLO freedom and
guarantees and Lebanon might not have survived.
An American wit once said, "Trust
everyone, but cut the cards yourself." Through all of
the lies, the truth is coming out, and right will
triumph.
By Sister Margaret Ellen Traxler:- is
director of the Institute of Women Today and founder and
a member of the board of the National Coalition of
American Nuns, both based in Chicago.
