By Steve Kramer
ALFE MENASHE, Israel — Numerous times over the past 17 years our town of Alfe Menashe has hosted members of the large Wisconsin church, Christ the Rock. Every two or three years the church, under the leadership of Bill Lenz, brings a busload of congregants to the Holy Land. The wife of our mayor, Smadar Kattan, has had the responsibility of organizing the home hospitality which our community provides to the group, some of whom have returned more than once.
Usually, each host provides a home-cooked meal to our guests (including the guide and bus driver) as well as “bed and breakfast.” Then, before their bus leaves, we all go to the town’s panoramic viewpoint overlooking nearly two-thirds of Israel’s population. Our mayor, Shlomo Kattan, explains the strategic location of our town, noting that during the 1948 War of Independence, Jordan had powerful artillery placed at this viewpoint aimed at Tel Aviv, just 18 miles distant.
Shlomo further informs the group that while Alfe Menashe is only 11 miles from the Mediterranean, the nearby Palestinian Arab city of Kalkilyah is just 8 miles from the sea. During the 1948 hostilities and later, the Arab strategy to cut Israel in half at its incredibly narrow “waist” was thwarted. Following the 1967 Six Day War, Israel pushed the Jordanians out of all the territory west of the Jordan River, allowing the IDF to end the Arabs’ ability to locate soldiers and materiel near Jewish communities.
This year, as I’ve done in previous years, I picked up the narrative where Shlomo left off, explaining to the group some of the facts that I related to our guests the previous evening. It is worthwhile repeating these comments, not only for those who have not heard the Israeli side of the story, but also to those who may have forgotten some of these salient points.
After the 1949 armistice lines were set by the United Nations, with permanent borders to be defined by negotiations, there was no demand by the Arab residents of Palestine for a state. (The 1947 United Nations Partition Plan called for a Jewish state and an Arab [not Palestinian] state; the Jews accepted the plan while the Arabs rejected it and immediately began attacking Jews.) Egypt kept the Gaza Strip for itself while Jordan annexed the land it controlled west of the Jordan River. (That year Transjordan – meaning across the Jordan River – changed its name to Jordan and soon named the area it occupied, the “West Bank”.)
I asked the group, “Who were the Palestinians during the first half of the 20th century?” Answer: the label “Palestinian” was applied to Jews who were born in the Yishuv (pre-state Israel). No Arab would have called himself a Palestinian then. The Jews used the Bank of Palestine, read the Palestine Post, etc. The label “Palestinian” as applied to Arabs was created by the Soviets in 1964 when they created the Palestinian Liberation Organization (PLO), soon to be headed by Yasser Arafat.
I further explained that the name “Palestine,” of Roman origin, was of more recent vintage (70 CE) than the two Jewish kingdoms of Judah and Israel, which predated the Roman conquest by a thousand years. The Romans had taken revenge on the Jews for revolting against Roman rule by erasing the historic Jewish names and renaming the region Palestine (alluding to the extinct Philistine-Sea Peoples). The term Palestine was itself superseded during the Ottoman Turk control of the region (1517-1917) and even before that, under Arab rule.
The British revived the name “Palestine” after overthrowing the Ottoman Empire during WWI.
As noted above, in 1964 the Arabs began to appropriate the mantle of “Palestinian” for themselves and to dream of establishing a State of Palestine. The movement gained momentum after the Arabs’ catastrophic defeat in the 1967 Six Day War. With increasing attention from the global media focused on Palestinian terror attacks, the Palestinian Arabs became identified as a separate Arab nationality. In addition, Palestine was falsely “remembered” as a former country and the West Bank became the politically correct name for what had long been called Judea and Samaria. Thus is history rewritten by the media!
The other topic that I spoke about is the current American pressure for “peace negotiations” between the Palestinians and Israel. In my opinion, there is no chance for a worthwhile peace treaty in the indefinite future despite the Western fixation on Palestinian statehood, because the Palestinian leaders refuse to enunciate even a hint that compromise on their part is necessary for meaningful negotiations.
This unpleasant reality endures because the Arabs are encouraged to continue their obstinacy by the Israeli proclivity to give in on what were once never-to-be-crossed “red lines.” I explained that what would have been shunned by the left wing a few decades ago has now become the policy of Israel’s leading party, the right wing Likud: the two-state solution. While Israel has allowed itself to be a “swinging door” which the West pushes on, the Palestinians steadfastly refuse to give in on anything.
Imagine that all the demands of the Israelis are contained in a large circle, corresponding to a large circle of Palestinian demands. Because the two circles do not overlap in even one important aspect, there is no chance that an agreement will be reached. Couple that scenario with the fact that Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas’ presidential term has long expired and that he fears retiring (or being assassinated) as a “traitor” to the Palestinian cause. Then remember that Gaza, ruled by the terrorist Hamas organization, is a separate entity that would never even dream of sitting at a “peace conference” with Israel.
Though one might be excused for thinking that I have painted a depressing picture, it is an accurate depiction of the rapidly disintegrating peace initiative. As for me, I believe that the status quo is better than a bad agreement. For this reason, we are happy to live in Israel and happy that supporters of Israel, such as the church group from Wisconsin, continue to return.
*
Steven Kramer is a freelance writer based in Alfe Menashe, Israel. His works may also be read on the website, www.encounteringisrael.com This article was previously published by the Jewish Times of South Jersey.
Steven Kramer is a freelance writer based in Alfe Menashe, Israel. His works may also be read on the website, www.encounteringisrael.com This article was previously published by the Jewish Times of South Jersey.
San Diego Jewish World seeks sponsorships to be placed, as this notice is, just below articles that appear on our site. This is an ideal opportunity for your corporate message or to personally remember a loved one’s contributions to our community. To inquire, call editor Donald H. Harrison at (619) 265-0808 or contact him via donald.harrison@sdjewishworld.com