Rafah Today
daily journal
Awards
Mohammed completed his MA degree in International Political Economy and Development from Erasmus University Rotterdam in The Netherlands with distinction in his research paper. His research paper has been nominated for ISS Best Research Paper Award 2010
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Thank you for your reply Dahlia,I looked and the site you rrereefd me to and the numbers are devastating. I understand what you are saying about the Palestinians not having the ability or weapons to fight back.I wish we could all live in peace but it seems to elude us at every turn.I’d like to get a clearer understanding of how this all got started in the first place, and ponder how peace between these two groups can occur because I believe that in order to find peace one must first understand how a situation that created a war initially evolved.You stated “The Palestinian people have been denied self-determination since at least 1948, when more than 750,000 men, women, and children were displaced from their homes to establish an exclusively Jewish state (though we almost never hear about this in the US)”.According to my limited understanding this issue dates back to Biblical days almost 3000 years ago, and personally, I am fascinated because Jerusalem is such a controversial issue and people have been hurt on both sides of the fence.My research indicates that when the Jews, were scattered all over and came back to what is now called Israel…it was nearly deserted and a worthless piece of land that no one wanted, and the Jews begin to drain swamps and made the desserts bloom and the Arabs followed. I read that initially the Jews offered the Arabs jobs.I read that in 1936 the Muslims in Palestine wanted to rule and remove the Jews and rule an Islamic regime all over Palestine and that is when the first bloodshed occurred as two Jews were murdered in Tol-Carem by Muslims. Also, that this is when terrorism became an inseparable part of the rebellion and Jews began defending themselves?Also, that in 1947 the United Nations proposed two states in that region one Jewish and one Arab, and the Jews accepted but the Arabs rejected it declaring war? But my research indicates that the animosity to Jews predated the establishment of the state of Israel.I read that Arab leaders urged the Palestinian Arabs to leave so they wouldn’t be in the crossfire and were told they could return after the Jews were destroyed, but the Jews won the war instead…and that is the initial reason why the Palestinians left the country. Is this true at all?Now 54 years later some Palestinians are still living in refugee camps and are possibly being used as a political tool of the Arab powers… I also read that since then the Arabs claimed that the land belongs to them and committed attacks against the citizens of Israel, and that it is the radicals on both sides that keep this going…According to Deputy Assistant Secretary of State Harold H. Saunders, “We have also repeatedly stated that the legitimate interests of the Palestinian Arabs must be taken into account in the negotiation of an Arab–Israeli peace. In many ways, the Palestinian dimension of the Arab–Israeli conflict is the heart of that conflict…. No one, therefore, seems in a position today to say exactly what Palestinian objectives are . The issue is not whether Palestinian interests should be expressed in a final settlement, but how. There will be no peace unless an answer is found.”I am not sure what is true or not, but what do you believe is the answer to peace in this situation Dahlia?