By: Mary Mostert, Analyst, Banner of Liberty (www.bannerofliberty.com)
June 18, 2003
Almost exactly a year ago, on June 24, 2002, in the Rose Garden at the White House President George W. Bush outlined a bold new doctrine on the conflict between the Israelis and the Palestinians: “It is untenable for Israeli citizens to live in terror. It is untenable for Palestinians to live in squalor and occupation. And the current situation offers no prospect that life will improve. Israeli citizens will continue to be victimized by terrorists, and so Israel will continue to defend herself.”
A lot has happened since that day and most people have forgotten, or never actually hear what he said about the doctrine called the “road map” for peace. Questioned about his comments a couple of days later, on June 26, 2002, he outlined the “road map” for peace:
“Under the Bush doctrine I said we’d use all resources, all available resources to fight off terror. And that includes working with our friends and allies to cut off money, to use diplomatic pressure, to convince – to convince those that think they can traffick in terror that they’re going to face a mighty coalition. And sometimes we use military force and sometimes we won’t.
“In the case of the Middle East, obviously, the road map I’ve laid out is one that calls upon all our friends and allies to join and bind together against terror; it calls upon the Arab nations to step up and firmly reject terror. If you remember in my speech, I said they need to get on their public airways and denounce terror; they need to work on Syria and Lebanon, to prevent Hezbollah from creating chaos in the Middle East. We all have responsibilities and in this case the tool I’m using is diplomatic pressure to work with our friends and allies to convince all parties they have a responsibility to bear.” However he also said: “I’m never ruling out military. All options are available.”
In January of 2003, six months after Bush announced the road map to peace in the Middle East, Hamas leader Al-Aziz Al-Rantisi, called on Iraq to establish a suicide army to halt the threatened Operation Iraqi Freedom. Al-Rantisi, who was recently targeted by Israel, stated: “I think that the West's arrogance will lead it to its sure end if it is determined to act with aggression and terror against the Islamic nation, and that its first defeat will be in Iraq.” He bragged about the Iraqis “army of martyrs” and pronounced “the enemies of Allah and the enemies of this people are cowards. They crave life, while the Muslims crave martyrdom. …There is no other way than to establish thousands of squads of martyrs, in a secret apparatus, who, from now, have at their disposal the capability, as well as thousands of sophisticated explosive belts, with powerful explosive [capacity] to cause great damage."
On Sunday June 15, 2003, outside Cape Arundel Church in Kennebunkport, Maine, President Bush was asked to assess the most recent developments in the Middle East.
“The message is clear,” he responded. “Prime Minister Abbas wants peace; Prime Minister Sharon wants peace; America wants peace; the European Union wants peace. But there are clearly killers who don't. And for those of us who are interested in moving the process forward, we must combine our efforts to cut off all money, support for anybody who tries to sabotage the peace process.” He went on to say: “My objective as the President, is to move the process forward so a state is established; it will be a peaceful state, a free state, a prosperous state, so people have hope. And in the meantime, before that state is established, it is clear that the free world, those who love freedom and peace, must deal harshly with Hamas and the killers. And that's just the way it is in the Middle East.”
Remember that Bush says HIS goal is a “Peaceful, Free and PROSPEROUS” Palestinian state.
On the other had are groups like the Council for the Advancement of Arab-British Understanding, which claims there are over 5 million Palestinian refugees. They (describe these refugees as “indigenous Arab inhabitants of historic Palestine, i.e. the areas now comprising Israel and the Israeli-occupied West Bank and Gaza Strip” who have the “right” to return to their homes in Israel.
It is true that a vast movement of people has taken place, but it is both Arab and Jewish. In 1900 when the area was part of the Turkish Ottoman Empire, the population of the City of Jerusalem was 46,500 of which 28,200 were Jews, 8,760 were Christians and 8,600 were Muslims.
The area that is now Israel, the Gaza Strip, the West Bank (Samaria) and Jordan fell to the British Army in World War I when the Ottoman Empire sided with Germany and was called the “Palestinian Mandate.” In 1946 the British proposed dividing the area into an “Arab” and a “Jewish” State, with all of the West Bank or Samaria part of the Jewish State. In 1947 the United Nations voted on a much smaller “Jewish State”, which was 75% desert, giving most of Samaria on the Sea of Galilee to Jordan.
While the Jews accepted the much smaller state, the Arabs didn’t and five Arab nations promptly invaded Israel. The Palestinians were advised by their leaders in 1948 to leave their homes until the armies of the surrounding nations killed or drove out all the Jews. This brought about a massive movement of people with about 720,000 Arabs fleeing Israel to neighboring nations and another 600,000 Jews fleeing persecution in Arab States to move to Israel.
According to my 1955 World Book Encyclopedia, “Hundreds of years of neglect had turned a great part of Israel’s soil into wasteland” but by 1954 the population of Israel was 1,554,000. My 1961 World Atlas says by the late 1950’s the Jews had caused “the desert to bloom” and built “giant irrigation projects that more than doubled Israel’s cultivated land.”
And where are the 720,000 Arabs who were urged to leave Israel? For more than 50 years most of them have not been assimilated into other Arab nations but have lived in refugee communities with little or no economy off donations from the United Nations. In effect, they have been on world state welfare while the Jews have been building cities and a viable economy. The 720,000 Palestinians have magically become 5 million Palestinians that Israel is supposed to “absorb.”
I suspect that the real problem involved in this once almost completely forsaken piece of land has a lot more to do with greed than religion. Rather than to help their Palestinian brothers create a viable economy in the West Bank, which is the best and most arable land in the old Palestinian Mandate area, oil rich Arab nations have chosen to keep the “Palestinians” down, deprived them of citizenship, and have given them money to blow themselves up
With friends like that, the Palestinians don’t need enemies.
To comment: mmostert@bannerofliberty.com