Palestinian sovereignty would lead to the extermination of the Jewish state
Western political elites endlessly keep pushing for two sovereign states, one for Jews and one for Arabs, in a region the Roman invaders named Syria Palestinia during their short-lived conquest (63 BC to 66 AD). The main conquered people, most of them later exiled, were indigenous Jews divided into two independent states, the Kingdom of Israel (Samaria) and the Kingdom of Judah.
This never-forgotten history formed the basis for an endless yearning among diasporic Jews to return to their ancestral homeland, a hope fulfilled with the UN-sanctioned establishment of the State of Israel in 1948.
The name Palestine was an obvious choice for this reborn state because the Jews living in what is now the State of Israel, the West Bank, and the Gaza Strip were called Palestinians until 1948. But it was rejected by Jewish officials because “It is likely that the Arab state that will be established in the Land of Israel will also be called Palestine in the future, which could cause confusion.” In the end, the most straightforward option was selected: Israel.
The Palestinians and most of their surrounding Muslim nations have always refused to accept the 1947 UN partition resolution. The aftermath of Israel’s independence has been 10 wars of extermination against the reborn Jewish state, including the one that began with its invasion by Hamas terrorists on Oct. 7, 2023.
Still, none of this 75-year history of chronic warfare and associated intermittent terrorist attacks have prevented many Western leaders from repeatedly arguing that the establishment of a sovereign Palestinian state should follow an end to the hostilities.
On Jan. 18, Prime Minster Justin Trudeau opined that “Canada’s position is crystal clear. We believe the only way forward for the region, indeed the only way forward for a safe and secure Israel, is to have a Palestinian state that is also safe and secure with internationally-recognized borders. We believe in a two-state solution.”
Such “crystal clarity” is difficult to discern, especially given that the Palestinians already have a state of their own – the Kingdom of Jordan – a newly created post-Ottoman nation where they form most of the population and where it is illegal for Jews to live.
None of the bombastic oratory about a two-state solution has given recognition to the threat Palestinian sovereignty would pose to Israel’s survival or that neither of the two main combatants is demanding a two-state solution: countless political polls, including very recent ones, show most Israelis and Palestinians seek only a single state of their own from the Jordan River to the Mediterranean Sea.
For example, a Nov. 14 survey by a West Bank polling firm showed that 75 percent of Palestinians in Gaza and the West Bank favoured a “Palestinian state from the Jordan River to the Mediterranean Sea with no State of Israel in between.”
The other important issue diplomats and politicians are ignoring is how Palestinian sovereignty, whether based on legitimate cultural grounds or not, could ever prevent some other Muslim Brotherhood affiliate from continuing to control Gaza in the unlikely event that Hamas were eliminated.
Moreover, given the existing border with two countries, Lebanon and Syria, either hosting or occupied by Iran-backed militant terrorist groups openly calling for a judenrein Islamic waqf – an inalienable land of greater Palestine cleansed of its Jews – adding a third one with a Palestine state would only reduce Israel’s already tattered security system.
Also ignored is that Arab opposition to a two-state solution was key to the founding of Hamas.
The words of its 2017 charter show that claiming Hamas only wants to see the creation of a Palestinian state separate from Israel is false:
“Palestine is a land that was seized by a racist, anti-human and colonial Zionist project that was founded on a false promise (the Balfour Declaration) … Hamas believes that no part of the land of Palestine shall be compromised or conceded, irrespective of the causes, the circumstances and the pressures and no matter how long the occupation lasts. Hamas rejects any alternative to the full and complete liberation of Palestine, from the river to the sea.”
With enemies like this, it is difficult to come to any conclusion other than the following one: statehood for the Palestinians would only strengthen the call for Jewish liquidation by legitimizing it with political independence.
Hymie Rubenstein, a retired professor of anthropology at the University of Manitoba, is editor of REAL Israel & Palestine Report and REAL Indigenous Report.
For interview requests, click here.
The opinions expressed by our columnists and contributors are theirs alone and do not inherently or expressly reflect the views of our publication.
© Troy Media
Troy Media is an editorial content provider to media outlets and its own hosted community news outlets across Canada.
