ISRAEL BELONGS TO THE PALESTINIANS

At least this is what Chief Palestinian Negotiator, Saeb Erekat says! He refuses to recognize Israel as a Jewish Homeland claiming, it forces him “to change my narrative.”

Narrative?  According to Miriam Webster, a “narrative” is a representation of a story. Stories, we all know, can be FACT or FICTION. So, in this case, which is it?

 

 Erekat’s “narrative” says that his ancestors were descendants of the Canaanites and lived in the area for “5,500 years before Joshua son of Nun came and burned my hometown, Jericho.”

 Hmmmm….this would be a powerful narrative if it had any truth in it.

 

Let’s investigate Erekat’s “narrative” and test its validity.

It’s important, as we explore this “narrative” to investigate the terms and names of places and people and their history.

We will begin with “Palestine” and “Palestinian”.  Every historian will agree, there has never been a “Kingdom of Palestine” or a “Palestinian” King or Ruler. There has never been a “Palestinian” language. So who exactly are the “Palestinian people”? Are they Canaanites? Arabs? Egyptians?

 The name “Palestine” was given to the area in 135 AC by the Roman Empire in an attempt to destroy connections with Judea and the Jewish people. It is the Latin name referring to the Philistines. (whom Arafat claimed to be a descendant of even though he was born in Cairo) Simply by changing the name of a geographic area, the Romans did not create a new nation.

If “Palestine” was a “sovereign, independent” nation (before the Jews stole it), when was it first founded?

Where was “Palestine’s” capital?

What was its government like?

What was its economic structure? What was its currency?

What was the popular religion?

If a “Palestinian” is someone from the land of Palestine, are they Arab? Canaanite? Muslim? …..and…..How do we explain this?

This is the leading Palestinian Newspaper owned by “Palestinian Jews” who, at the time, were simply Jews living under the British mandate in the territory referred to as “Palestine”. Today it is known as the Jerusalem Post since there is no longer a British Mandate and territory called “Palestine”.

Israel became a nation in 1948. Why did it take until 1964 (sixteen years)  for the Arab League to form the Palestinian Liberation Organization? And why did the Arab League form the PLO and not the “Palestinians” themselves? Why didn’t the “Palestinian” exiled government begin immediately to reestablish their government?

The answer to this question can be found in 1977. Zahir Muhsein a PLO Executive Committee Member said, “The ‘Palestinian people’ does not exist. The creation of a ‘Palestinian’ state is only a means of continuing our struggle against the state of Israel for our Arab unity.  In reality today, there is no difference between Jordanians, Palestinians, Syrians and Lebanese. Only for political and tactical reasons do we speak today about the existence of a ‘Palestinian’ people to oppose Zionism.”

In case you may think Zahir’s quote was made-up or  invalid,  in 1946, before 1948, before Israel even became a nation, a well respected Arab-American historian from Princeton University, Philip Hitti, testified the following before the Anglo-American Committee: “There is no such thing as “Palestine” in history, absolutely not.”

WHAT? Palestine is not a nation? The “Palestinian” people are a “made up” people group?

Used for the purpose of defeating Zionism?

But wait! Erekat’s narrative says “Palestinians” are long lost Canaanites who had their hometown, Jericho, destroyed by Joshua Son of Nun! His “narrative is quite different from Yasar Arafat’s.

Arafat claimed the “Palestinians were Philistines! Philistines were not   Canaanites! Judges 3:3 says “the five rulers of the Philistines, all the Canaanites, the Sidonians and the Hivites living in the Lebanon mountains…” Each group is referred to separately as distinct people groups. 

The Philistines were also crushed and ruled by the Assyrians, Babylonians and Persians in the 8^th-5^th centuries BC. They were, over time absorbed by the local populations and entirely disappearing from history. They pretty much ended as a people and culture 2,500 years ago. So, Arafat’s “narrative” was a failure!

So now, the new “narrative” is Canaanite, the “Palestinians” are Canaanites, and more specifically, Canaanites from Jericho! In fact, not modern Jericho, but the one Joshua son of Nun destroyed! Yep, he destroyed it!

And they utterly destroyed all that was in the city, both man and woman, young and old, and ox and sheep and ass, with the edge of the sword
                                                                                                                    Joshua 6:21

So, with the exception of Rahab the Harlot and her family, there were no descendants left to trace back to……..

Unless, of course Erekat is a descendant of Rahab, in which case, he would be in Jesus’ lineage and should stop all his complaining. What an honor to be related to one of the most famous Jews in all time!

At this point we must ask:

WHAT IS IT THE ARABS WHO CALL THEMSELVES “PALESTINIANS”  REALLY WANT?

Up until 1948, the land called Israel today was ruled by foreign governments from foreign lands. According to statistics kept by the British, under their mandate, more than 70% of the land that later became Israel was NOT owned by Arabs! It belonged to the mandatory British government.

When exactly did the push for a “Palestinian” state in Israel begin?

When Israel was recognized as a nation, May 15, 19948, five Arab armies (not “Palestinian” armies) immediately attacked her. The fighting did not end until January 1949, at which time Gaza became “occupied” by Egypt  and Judea and Samaria was “occupied” by Trans-Jordan.  Eygpt had actually captured Gaza during the fighting, however, Trans-Jordan annexed their land in 1950 calling it the “West Bank” as a connector to the rest of Trans-Jordan on the east side of the Jordan River.  This annexation was only recognized by Britain and Pakistan.

The situation with the land remained like this until 1967.  During the month of May 1967, troops began to mobilize against Israel. On June 5, Israel led a pre-emptive strike against Egypt and was able to once again occupy the Gaza Strip as well as occupying the Sinai Peninsula. Israel appealed to Jordan to not get involved, however, Jordan did not listen, led a strike against Israel and lost control of the “West Bank” and the eastern section of Jerusalem. In addition, Israel was able to capture the Golan Heights from Syria.

To sum this up: In 1967 Israel won back territory from Egypt and Trans-Jordan and captured the Golan Heights from Syria. It did not take any territory from the nation of Palestine.

A former terrorist from Jordan, Walid Shoebat, sums it up like this, “Why is it that on June 4^th 1967 I was a Jordanian and overnight on June 5^th I became a ‘Palestinian’?”

Hamas and the PLO both have written in their charters , “the complete destruction of Israel”.

Could it be that a “Palestinian” state is not the real desire of the people who have taken the name, “Palestinians”?

Could it be that the real purpose in creating this “man made people group” is to destroy the nation of Israel? They simply want the entire land for themselves?  Why?

There are 21 distinctly Arab nations and 1 tiny nation for Jewish people that has Arabs who are full-fledged citizens with the same rights as Jewish citizens.  What is their grievance?

After all these facts are presented why does Chief Palestinian Negotiator Saeb Erekat really refuse to recognize Israel as a Jewish Homeland?