Friday, March 29, 2019
Elder of ZiyonWhen you hear people saying things like there is no such thing as Palestine or Palestinians, or some variation of this, what you are hearing is a celebration of ethnic cleansing and the continued denial of a peoples' rights.— (((YousefMunayyer))) (@YousefMunayyer) March 28, 2019
I ended up writing an article-length thread, slightly modified for this post.
I wrote:
To be precise, before the middle of the last century, there was no such thing as a Palestinian people that identified as such (outside of Jews before 1948.) They really are a recently made-up people. Feel free to prove me wrong with links to articles/books about them before 1940.
I understand how saying these facts makes you angry, but I consider falsifying history to be a pretty big problem as well.
I've spent hours researching Palestinian history and culture. Outside Nablus soap and Bethlehem costumes - which were local, not national - almost nothing.
And yes, I've seem more modern re-writings of history to find a unique Palestinian cuisine, etc. It's a joke and you know it. There was Levantine culture, Egyptian culture and so forth, but no Palestinian culture.
Obviously there were Arabs living in Palestine. No one claims otherwise. But they identified more with their clans and towns than with anything called "Palestine."
Of course, most prominent Palestinian families proudly trace their family trees from elsewhere, especially Arabia.
So while Yousef Munayyer rants and raves, he knows what I am saying is true. So his only defense is anger, because most Westerners cringe when Arabs freak out and they'll agree to anything to avoid a fight.
But I'm Jewish and I know my history. I'm not cowed that easily.
Just like the modern myth of how well Arabs treated their Jewish neighbors, the myth of an ancient Palestinian people is just that - a myth.
Nowadays, I admit they exist - mostly because their Arab "brethren" treated them like crap and didn't let them become citizens after 1948. As Munayyer knows, most weren't "expelled" from Israel but fled out of fear, thinking that they could integrate with their Arab neighbors like they had so many other times in history. This time was different - the Arabs decided to "other" them, supposedly for their own good.
Yeah, right.
Has there ever been a poll of how many Palestinians would happily accept citizenship in the UAE or Lebanon or Egypt if they could? No, because people like Munayyer don't want the truth to be known. They'd rather they remain stateless.
For the good of a made-up peoplehood.
I don't hate the Palestinian Arabs. They are a tragic example of how the honor/shame culture would rather use people as pawns against Israel (the ultimate source of shame. weak Jews beating strong warrior Arabs so decisively) rather than treat them as human.
Why are Palestinians the only seven decade old refugee problem in history? Because Palestinian "leaders" and Arab leaders decided that it was in their interest to keep them stateless forever or until Israel is destroyed. No other refugee group in history existed for this long because no other group was denied basic rights for so long in their adopted countries - countries supposedly ruled by their advocates.
That thinking persists today.
Keeping the Palestinians in misery is a conscious Arab strategy since the 1950s. Everyone knows this. But mentioning it publicly is practically taboo. Luckily, the primary sources are still easy to find.
Arabs like Munayyer all know this, but shame forces them to push the issue to the Jews. His job is literally to deflect the topic away from Arab responsibility and onto Jews.
I don't expect Munayyer to respond with any facts, because he knows I'm right. And that the facts are his enemy.
But I'm not going to stop telling the truth, and backing them up with evidence.
Thanks for reading.
