Why? Because those areas were already controlled by Arabs, so Palestinian "nationalism" did not apply.
The Palestinian Arab national movement has, from its start, been geared towards denying Jews a state, and not towards building a Palestinian Arab state. This simple fact has eluded generations of politicians, pundits and pseudo-peacemakers.
More evidence comes from the latest accusation that the PLO has hurled at Hamas and the Muslim Brotherhood.
Mahmoud Habash, Minister of Awqaf and Religious Affairs, revealed the existence of a deal between President Mohamed Morsi and Hamas to give up her part of the Sinai in order to expand the [Gaza Strip] sector and the establishment of a Palestinian state in Gaza.The accusation is, of course, fiction. It is merely part of the war of words between Fatah and Hamas. But the fact that a PLO official is making such an accusation is important.
Why should the PLO be against expanding Gaza into the Sinai?
It is crowded. It is tiny. It will never expand into Israel. So if Morsi is willing to give land for a Palestinian Arab state for free, why is this a terrible idea? The illusionary plan was not a land swap, it didn't involve Israel gaining anything - it was a gift. And the PLO would be dead-set against it.
Even if you argue that it would have allowed a separate Hamastan, separated from Fatahstan, why would that be different from the situation today? Both Hamas and Fatah will continue to pretend to talk about "unity" and practically no one would recognize Gaza as a state.
To the PLO, free land is anathema - if that land is not controlled by Jews.
Which proves, yet again, that the PLO has little interest in the welfare of its people, but simply uses them as pawns - just as all Arab leaders do. Their very existence as a people has only one purpose - to destroy Israel.
But the idea that anyone could be so cynical and callous towards their own people is incomprehensible to the West, no matter how much evidence there is. It is much easier to accept fantasies of "Palestinian nationalism "and their ancient desire for a home that never existed than to face the truth that an entire people was created to deny the Jewish right to self-determination.