For the Sake of Israel, Admit that a Palestinian Identity Exists

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Ah, but you say, their only reason for coalescing was to prevent Jewish sovereignty, not a genuine sense of nationality.

That logic would invalidate Canada. For much of its history, the only thing Canadians could agree on was they they didn’t want to be American. This astounded us Americans since much of Canada (the English speaking areas) is culturally all but indistinguishable from the United States. Anti-Americanism was Canada’s chief or major raison d’être. That has changed, but only recently.

Yet, Canadians exist.

The Palestinians, at that time, wanted to remain an Arab people. Resisting immigration is not necessarily wrong. Israel does it today.

And there was the Palestinian Congress in 1919, long before 1964, and the supposed Soviet invention of Palestinian identity.

A photo from the New York Public Library collection titled “A Palestine peasant girl showing beautifully embroidered costume”

Dated 1900 – 1938  (public domain)

Ah, but you say, the Palestinians only wanted to join Syria.

Well, Texas had a unification with America in mind in 1835, when it asserted a Texan identity. No one would say that Texans do not exist.

The case of Texas is particularly instructive. Prior to 1835:

There had never been a state called Texas. (Just part of recent Mexican administrative zone: Coahuila y Tejas)

There had never been a Texan language.

There had never been a religion unique to Texas.

There had never been a Texan currency.

There had never been a Texan capital.

There had never been a people called Texan … (Texian, or Texican. It took a while to decide a demonym.)

There was no prior history of Texas.

And the people tended to call themselves Anglos or Americans, identifying with America.

Almost all of the Texans were born outside Texas at that time.

Yet, Texans exist.

The Palestinians exist … maybe unfortunately, but they exist; and the cause of Israel is not helped by trying to deny their identity, which makes Zionism look delusional.

Ah, but a lot of the Palestinians are recent arrivals, you say.

Not all of the Palestinians, and even most of the recent arrivals made it to the Holy Land a generation or two before most Jews returned from Europe or the Arab world. Check Texas again. Most Texans were recent arrivals in 1835. Some of them showed up, just to fight.

“You may all go to hell and I will go to Texas.” Davy Crockett

Ah, but the Palestinians cannot even pronounce the letter P. They mispronounce the name of their own country.

And Texans could not pronounce Tejas, which is why it took a while for their demonym to fix itself. Texican and Texian were other contenders.

As for the Arabic language not having the letter P, Hebrew does not have the letter J, yet Jews exist.

Like it or not, the Jewish return to their patrimony mimicked a colonial endeavor, and even the early Zionists admitted this. They saw no other way to accomplish their project. They used the terms.

Colonisation of Palestine

Agreement with Arabs Impossible at present

Zionism Must Go Forward

… They feel at least the same instinctive jealous love of Palestine, as the old Aztecs felt for ancient Mexico , and their Sioux for their rolling Prairies.

… We cannot offer any adequate compensation to the Palestinian Arabs in return for Palestine. And therefore, there is no likelihood of any voluntary agreement being reached

— The Iron Wall, by Jabotinsky, a right wing Zionist founding father.

Ze’ev Jabotinsky did not deny their identity.  And Herzl? He wanted European protection.

The Society of Jews will treat with the present masters of the land, putting itself under the protectorate of the European Powers, if they prove friendly to the plan. — The Jewish State

Some early Jewish pioneer communities were funded by the Jewish Colonisation Assocation. They did not shy away from the term.

And to be clear, the official Zionist Mandate marched in under the British Army.

Zionism is still valid, and the Jews have a better claim to the land than the Palestinians, but those Palestinians cannot be denied existence as a collective. Doing so will only make Zionists look delusional and irrational.

I am not advocating for a two-state solution, as the Palestinians want to destroy Israel. Neither am I advocating for a one-state solution which would enfranchise hostile Muslims.

But I am asking pro-Israel advocates to stop making ridiculous arguments.

The argument has to be framed why the Jews have a better case, and a more moral cause. This is what the founders of Zionism presented to the world. In fact, it is what the Bible advocated when the Lord told Abraham that he would not give him the land until the sins of the locals had been filled. In other words, until they become corrupt enough to forfeit title.

In the fourth generation your descendants will come back here, for the sin of the Amorites has not yet reached its full measure. – Gen 15:16

In today’s woke culture, the idea of people groups becoming thoroughly decadent is considered Western racism, but the concept seems to have begun with the Jews, not Europeans.

The Palestinians exist; it is just that the Jewish claim is better, much better.

I do not know how to solve the Palestinian problem, since no solution agreeable to the Jews will be embraced by the Palestinians. I am still in favor of a degree of voluntary re-imbursed relocation, but the Arab states refuse to naturalize the Palestinians, leaving only South America as a possibility. Beyond that, who will pay for it?

So what is a Palestinian?

The non-Jewish, Arabic speaking, inhabitants of the Holy Land, west of the Jordan River, who resist Jewish sovereignty.

This does not lionize the Palestinians. It merely admits they exist.

Difficult problems are solved by hard answers, not irrational statements.

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