However, a UN veto by one of the Security Council's five permanent members, which includes the … Originally published at The Conversation. Because on November 29, 1947, the Arab Palestinians flatly rejected the proposed United Nations Partition Plan for Palestine - Wikipedia of the Holy Land into Israel and Palestine. Jews constituted a majority of the small population of Jerusalem at the time. The only real land thefts from 1880–1947 were the result of Arab riots in which Jews were slaughtered and their houses were seized, for example as happened during the 1929 pogroms against the Jews of Hebron. Countries are for real nationalities with a real history: not for those like the Palestinians who have no history. Leila Abdelmeguid says. Has sovereignty. Peace will also require the total defeat of Hamas and other rejectionist factions who won’t be satisfied with a state either. We’re asking readers, like you, to make a contribution in support of … "Palestine Is Not a Country." It is only for political reasons that we carefully underline our Palestinian identity… yes, the existence of a separate Palestinian identity serves only tactical purposes. Non-Member Countries of the United Nations, U.S. Policy in the Middle East: 1945 to 2008, What Is Colonialism? What the Deal of the Century needs to do is to give the Palestinian Arabs an attractive offer with economic incentives, sufficient but limited sovereignty, and adequate homage to their wounded pride to let a clear majority accept something less than a state they don’t really want. 24 July, 1922. — Mark Twain, “The Innocents Abroad”, 1867. Whatever those criteria are, they would apply to also deny the Palestinian claim. ThoughtCo, Aug. 27, 2020, thoughtco.com/palestine-is-not-a-country-1435430. Name me a single country where there isn't. The country would cease extraction of the West Bank’s natural resources, including water, lose profits from managing Palestinian customs and trade, and … Jordan is and was the Palestinian state, in all but name, at least for all the Palestinians living outside Gaza. There are eight criteria accepted by the international community used to determine whether an entity is an independent country or not. The two parts of "Palestine" are entities that, in the eyes of the international community, have yet to obtain full have international recognition. Why isn't Palestine a state? Statehood with such divisions makes no sense. Rosenberg, Matt. Published on 5/21/2015 at 1:00 AM. The lands under PA control on the West Bank are disputed territories. Unlike Palestine, however, the United Nations does not favor a two-state resolution and has subsequently not offered non-member status to Taiwan in order to avoid offending the People's Republic of China, which is a member state. The Palestinian Arabs should be given a livable future in which there won’t be an independent country of Palestine, at least not until the Tibetans, … No other State should have power over the country's territory. 2. The state of the Dome of the Rock in Jerusalem in this picture from 1875 speaks volumes. But this idea is truly ridiculous: both countries would be small and scarcely viable as nation states. 6. Rosenberg, Matt. Each has a long history and has claimed the right to be independent nation. 2. However, one can argue that Gaza and the Palestinian Zone A of the Oslo accords are already two semi-autonomous regions: thus, a partial version of this extra partition plan has already become reality. Another key problem is lack of requisite Palestinian unity. Rosenberg, Matt. Over time many Arab nations are reluctantly but realistically starting to see the value of a tacit alliance with the Jewish State in stopping Iranian Shia expansion and in fighting the terrorism and wars spawned by ISIS and Al Qaeda Islamist fundamentalists. Therefore, it is not surprising that in modern times the name ‘Palestine’ or ‘Palestinian’ was applied as an adjective to all inhabitants of the area between the Mediterranean Sea and the Jordan River – Palestine Jews and Palestine Arabs alike. After hearing Syria, Iraq, Afghanistan, and Palestine six or seven times a day, they can pronounce each word. They are not the indigenous people. They did, however, include the West Bank and the Gaza Strip. As for the Arabs who did not flee, they became Arab citizens of the state of Israel. They own land, they have bank accounts. Here's what the U.N.'s own charter, and international law have to say on the matter: "The recognition of a new State or Government is … Meanwhile a slightly greater number of Jews were kicked out of Arab nations at the same time and were resettled in Israel. No. Mathematician, Statistician, Businessman, and Academic. Because Israel (backed by the United States) is against it. Has a transportation system for moving goods and people. Medium is an open platform where 170 million readers come to find insightful and dynamic thinking. Syria, Libya, and Yemen provide concrete examples of what a new country of Palestine could quickly become. But is there anyone who supports a Palestinian state who can enunciate a set of neutral principles that explain why the Palestinians should get a country and the Kurds, Tibetans, and Catalans should not? Israel is a fallacy. Learn more, Follow the writers, publications, and topics that matter to you, and you’ll see them on your homepage and in your inbox. No. Almost every other country is ready to recognize Palestine. The leader of the Palestinian Liberation Organization, Yasser Arafat, was born in Egypt, like many other Palestinians of his generation. A sovereign state. Many were not allowed to bring all their property or were forced to sell at rock bottom prices. (2020, August 27). Both entities utilize the new Israeli shekel as their currency. A civil war between Arabs and Jews broke out after the UN General Assembly voted on Nov. 29, 1947, to partition Palestine into two states. While dozens of countries recognize Palestine as independent, it has not yet attained full independent status, despite the UN resolution. The narrative that the land was stolen from the Palestinians is also a complete falsehood. First, most basically, the concept of a historical Palestinian people is a blatant hoax. Reply. As for Gaza, it was ruled by Egypt from 1948 -1967. No, British mandatory Palestine was never a country – it was a Mandate that was awarded to Britain so that Britain could help the Jewish people in that region to establish a Jewish National Home. Has the power of social engineering, such as education. Somewhat. Western European and Leftist parties can’t see this as they have a stronger attachment to the idea than the Arabs themselves at this point. The problem is both territorial and political. Surely there are some individual inequities that occurred, but there is a rough balance overall and one could see the outlines of financial settlements that could be negotiated to compensate individuals. Going further to full statehood with such a serious split risks civil war and degeneration of the new country into the status of a failed state. ... and its government continues to pursue recognition as a country today." Europeans should work to strengthen and expand Israel. They’ve offered the Palestinians their own state 5 separate times. Ask the Kurds, the Tibetans, and the Catalans. So, is Palestine now a State? Having a state seemed a lower priority for them than continuing the campaign for destruction of the Jewish state. The economies of both the Gaza Strip and the West Bank are disrupted by conflict, especially in Hamas-controlled Gaza only limited industry and economic activity is possible. Jordan once ruled over large parts of Judea and Samaria from 1948–1967, land many now think should be part of a Palestinian state. In the 1947 war, some Arabs did leave their homes and villages in many cases at the behest of Arab leaders who wanted a clear zone in which their armies could operate. January 24, 2017 at 2:05 am. Recognition of a Palestinian state is consistent with the EU’s long-standing support for … "Palestine Is Not a Country." Splitting the city, on the other hand, invites perpetual unrest which ultimately does no one any good. Israel may lay claim to Judea and Samaria, but it inherently has no larger territorial ambitions in the wider Arab or Muslim world. The founding of a Palestinian state is a new tool in the continuing battle against Israel. Jewish economic activity helped spark Arab migration to the area and Arab population in the villages increased. Possibly the key point. The truth is the Palestinians have few of the attributes of legitimate national identity these other peoples have. How exactly did Palestinians lose their land? The answer to the question of whether there was a Palestinian 'nation' before Zionism, isn't an argument that 'Yes there was', its 'Who cares!' The Palestinian Arabs should be given a livable future in which there won’t be an independent country of Palestine, at least not until the Tibetans, Kurds, and Catalans have countries of their own. They in turn sold some of their least desirable land to the Jews. Instead the response of the Palestinian Arab leadership to peace plans has been to step up the violence, to begin wars, or start intifadas. A country need only fail on one of the eight criteria to not meet the definition of independent country status. It’s easy and free to post your thinking on any topic. Israel is a country. Mark Twain described the land as desolate: “There is not a solitary village throughout its whole extent (valley of Jezreel, Galilea); not for thirty miles in either direction… One may ride ten miles hereabouts and not see ten human beings. It does not want to rule Gaza, much less Jordan, Yemen, Syria, Lebanon, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Egypt, Libya, Qatar, or any other Middle Eastern or North African country. Game Theory: A Unique Strategy To Deliver Brexit At Last. What is notable about the Palestinian rejection of these peace plans is that there were no public counter-offers. https://www.thoughtco.com/palestine-is-not-a-country-1435430 (accessed May 11, 2021). To her detractors, of whom there are many worldwide, the mantra remains the same, ad nauseam. Yes; both entities have roads and other transportation systems. Palestine Is Not a Country. There are no differences between Jordanians, Palestinians, Syrians and Lebanese. Despite the super-majority of United Nations members approving United Nations General Assembly resolution 67/19 on November 29, 2012, giving Palestine non-member state observer status, Palestine is not yet eligible to join the United Nations as an independent country. "She omitted doing that." All along, it was not that the Palestinians wanted a state of their own so much as the Arabs needed the Palestinians to come into existence as a weapon in their fight against the Jewish state. Elsewhere there were Bedouins who used public lands, but they seldom had actual title to specific plots. Israel has offered the Palestinians their own state in exchange for peace on five separate occasions; however, … The UN General Assembly passed a resolution in 1974, recognizing the right of the Palestin Write on Medium, The Tories Rejection of a Universal Basic Income is Short-Sighted, Climate Refugees Have Rights, UNHRC Announces, Saudi Arabia Spies on Its Citizens in America but the FCC Won’t Fix the Problem, Syrian Army Advances in Idlib, Thousands Flee to Turkey. The myth that there once was a people, the Palestinian people, who were the indigenous people living happily on their own land for thousands of years, is just that: a myth. Those who left chose incorrectly and many ended up refugees after their side lost the war. Of the Palestinians? By John Broich, Associate Professor, Case Western Reserve University. Has people who live there on an ongoing basis. Finally, a key factor becoming more relevant over time is that the invention of a Palestinian people no longer serves much of a useful purpose to the Arab nations. There is no Arafat plan, nor Abbas plan for peace.