Palestinians waiting to cross the border during the 1948 escalation. (image : United Nations, The Question Of Palestine
The Palestine, earlier known as Ottoman Syria, have been under the radar of the Zionist settlement for a long time now. But why? What is the exact reason behind a place, which do not “exist” now, being continuously looked over and neglected since ages? What could be the reason for the bloodiest of “wars” every now and then and nobody pays two hoot about it?. The answer begins from 1799. Right after the French Revolution. From the era of Nepolean Bonaparte.
When the “political mastermind” of French army invaded the Arab world, he offered the land of Palestine, the “holy land” nestled between the Mediterranean Sea and Jordan River, to the Jews as their homeland. This was his master plan to ensure the French prowess in the Palestinian soil and thus in the Middle East. Though his plan did not yield the expected result, the “first emperor” of French’s idea did not die. Later, the Britain took up the charge to ensure the western presence in the Arab land.
After the Ottoman Empire plummeted during the World War I, the British started to revive Nepolean Bonaparte’s move to establish a Jewish land in the Palestinian soil. It was during the same time Zionists, those who follows Zionism – a nationalist movement to ensure the establishment of a “Jewish homeland” in the land of Palestine, which the Jews believe is actually theirs since ancient times – started garnering Western supports to establish their said “homeland”. Until then, the Jews had been scattered around the countries, mainly Western. The time period between 1800 to 1900 was a pillar to post shuttling of powers between the Ottoman Empires and the French.
During 1917, British announced the Balfour Declaration, and thus accentuated their aim of establishing a “national homeland” for the Jews in the land of Palestine. The declaration was issued through a letter which was written by Arthur James Balfour, the then Foreign Secretary of Britain. The letter was green signaled by then Prime Minister of Britain, David Lloyd George, who was a Zionist.
And there started the “illegal occupation” of Israeli settlement in Palestine. Visibly backed by the “colonizer” Britain, the Zionists started to “purchase” land in the “holy land”, which “originally” belonged to them as per “tradition”. This move was met with a massive resistance from the Palestinians. Thousands of Palestinians were displaced in an attempt to make way for the “settlers”.
Syrian Leader, Izz Al-Din Al-Qassam, who was living in Haifa, a region in Palestine called for an armed “resistance” against the settlers and the British in 1922. He was killed in 1935 by the British but his legacy remained and an Arab rebellion erupted in 1936. The rebellion was solely against the British mandate, which was an “offspring of imperialism”.
Later in 1939, British toppled the rebellion and the Palestinians found themselves fighting off two forces, the Zionist settlers and British. As an attempt to call halt from the Arabian attacks, the British, who had been posing green flag for the “ illegal” settlement started to restrict the number of Jews who were “allowed” in to the land of Palestine. This move was not welcomed well by the Zionists and started an array of “terrorist attacks” on the British as a method to drive them out from the equation. As the attack from both Arabs and Zionists started to pour in equally, the British “handed over” the “responsibility” of Palestine to the United Nations, which was founded then (1945).
The Zionist movements to attain their “dream” homeland was a slow process from there on. An Israeli historian, Ilhan Pappe, said to Al Jazeera that the leaders of Zionists and military commanders met continuously for a whole year (1947-1948). A “perfect plan” to execute an “ethnic cleansing” of the Palestinian was achieved through that consistent meetings, it is said. In 1947, UN came up with a “solution”. That was to part the Palestine” between the Zionists and Palestinians and form a Jewish state and an Arab state. But the “hypocrisy” of the said solution was that, 55 percentage of the land was for the Jews who constitute one third of the total population of the Palestinians. The plan was blatantly rejected by the Arabs. But the Zionists agreed for this but refuse to take up the allowed borders. They continued to expand their “map”. By 1948, several of Palestinian lands started to “recognize” as the land of Israel. The Zionist motto was crystal clear, “Palestinians should leave the land or be killed”. It is said the capture of Palestinian land was acquired through “massacres”.
As the British mandate came to an end in May 1948, the Zionists fastened their pace in concreting their homeland in Palestine. In April, 1948, David Ben-Gurion, who was the master mind of the Zionist agency declared the State of Israel and the “holy land” of Palestine disappeared within a dusk-to-dawn time frame. The “major powers” of the world that time, Soviet Union and the United States “recognized” the State of Israel.
As a move to alleviate the tensions that raised from the neighboring Arab countries and “wars” started breaking out, the United Nation decided to step in and appointed Folke Bernadotte, who was a Swedish diplomat, to mediate the conflict. But the hope of diluting the growing tensions went to wind as he was murdered by the Zionists in the September of 1948. The UN continued to push for an “armistice” deal between the countries who were at war. By the year,1949, nearly 700,000 Palestinians were turned to homeless and around 13,000 had been murdered.
As to continue the “mediating” the rapidly escalating war between the Middle East, UN chose Ralph Bunche, who was the deputy of Mr. Bernadotte. The result was, the newly formed State of Israel was recognized as a member of UN in the same year. Thus 78 percentage of land of Palestinians become the officially “recognized” land of Israel. Remaining 22 percentage is recognized as West Bank and Gaza Strip, which has been “painted by blood ever since”. The happenings of 1948 is known as “Nakba” which mean “catastrophe” in Arabic language. The Israeli settling continue till date and so does the never-ending resistance. For the past 15 years, Israel has blocked all the way out for the Palestinians in Gaza Strip, i.e. the air, land and sea, except one, the Rafah border. This was a result of Hamas, a resistance group in Gaza politically taking over the region. As a method to “prevent” attacks from the Hamas, the borders were blocked, Israel claimed. UN “condemned” the blockade.
Today, the “bloodiest” of the war erupted as Hamas unleashed an “unprecedented” attack on Israel as an answer for the “extreme provocation” caused by the Israeli settlers in the holy mosque of Al Aqsa and the occupied land of West Bank. World remains divided with escalating war with “super powers” “strongly condemning” the resistance group Hamas and rooting for Israel’s right to defend. Around 2500 individuals from both the sides were reported to be dead and thousands injured and displaced.
It is pertinent to note that not all Jews support Zionism. As the “war” escalated, several Jewish groups, who identified themselves as “original Jews” declare themselves against the formation of Israeli State and call for the retreat of Zionists from the Palestinian land. Religiously speaking, they claim that Jews are not supposed to have a “State of their own” until the “Jewish Mesiah” descends.
(Disclaimer: The views and the details expressed above are the writer’s analysis.)
