Why Isn't There a Palestinian State?

A history lesson in under five minutes.

A more nuanced narrative from eight years ago.

Is there an historian in the house?

Comments

[james soriano]

If the question is, “Why isn’t there a Palestinian state,” then Ernest Bevan gave as good a reply as any in 1947.

Bevan was Britain’s post-war foreign secretary. In February he gave a speech in parliament in which he announced the government’s decision to end the mandate and to turn the Palestine issue over to the UN. Two sentences have stuck with me. He said:

“For the Jews the essential point of principle is the creation of a sovereign Jewish State. For the Arabs, the essential point of principle is to resist to the last establishment of Jewish sovereignty in any part of Palestine.”

The passage could describe the nature of the Arab-Israel conflict throughout much of the past century.

One party seeks to build a state; the other seeks to prevent it from succeeding.

One side is saying, “We cannot fully realize our potential as a distinct people indigenous to the land unless our aspirations are embodied in a state of our own.”

The other side is saying, “We cannot fully realize our potential as a distinct people indigenous to the land unless the other side is first stopped; then we’ll get around to building a state of our own.”

That’s why there isn’t a Palestinian state.

Beneath this attitude is the spirt of Islamic supremacy, the idea that if only Islam were on top then all would be right in the world. Mostly it’s disguised and kept out of sight, especially when Westerners are in the room with their “peace process” proposals. But Hamas has never worn a mask. Its exterminationist intent has always been in plain view.

[Dmitri]

The Praeger clip is very short and, of course, it has major omissions -- for example, it does not mention Oslo Accords from 1993 at all. Oslo Accords are the major cause of the Oct 7 massacre.

The Vox clip is, indeed, more nuanced indeed but it explicitly downplays the religious basis of the conflict -- the most important cause for it IMHO. In a typical left leaning liberal way, the clip makes the conflict to be mostly about the fight of two people for the same land. Whereas "people" and "the same land" are both inconceivable concepts in the context of this particular Middle Eastern conundrum without the necessary background of Islamic and Jewish religious beliefs.

It is not possible to comprehend the deep hostilities from short clips. It is difficult enough to understand it from books and documentaries...