PA newspaper admits Arabs responsible for "naqba"

Palestinian Media Watch caught a column by Mahmoud Al-Habbash for the PA newspaper Al-Hayat Al-Jadeedah where he blames the Arab leadership squarely for the Palestinian Arabs leaving their homes in 1948.

“…The leaders and the elites promised us at the beginning of the “Catastrophe” [[the establishment of Israel and the creation of refugee problem] in 1948, that the duration of the exile will not be long, and that it will not last more than a few days or months, and afterwards the refugees will return to their homes, which most of them did not leave only until they put their trust in those “Arkuvian” promises made by the leaders and the political elites. Afterwards, days passed, months, years and decades, and the promises were lost with the strain of the succession of events…" [Term "Arkuvian,” is after Arkuv – a figure from Arab tradition - who was known for breaking his promises and for his lies."] ”

I found the column in Arabic (autotranslated) and the writer uses the 1948 experience as a springboard to describe how Arab leaders continue to lie to the Palestinian Arabs even today.

He brings examples:

• Arab leaders promised to lift the embargo against the Palestinian Arabs and didn't follow through.
• The Arab governments and Iran promised to give hundreds of millions of dollars that didn't materialize.
• The PalArab leaders themselves promise to find the murderers of many within the territories, including the murderers of the three kids last week, and nothing ever materializes.

It is a very bitter column that is noteworthy not only in how it portrays 1948 but in the matter-of-fact way it is mentioned, as if every Palestinian Arab knows the real facts behind what happened then - it is only one paragraph in this article and if this was a novel concept for most Palestinian Arabs he would have adduced some proof.