By Rabbi Dov Fischer, Israel Hayom
In the aftermath of the recent uproar over the Ben & Jerry’s ice cream company announcing it would boycott the “Occupied Palestinian Territory,” it is worthwhile to look closer at that term: “Occupied Palestinian Territory.”
In 1964, Ahmad el-Shukairy convened a conference at which he created a terror movement called the “Palestine Liberation Organization.” The PLO undertook to perpetrate terror acts against civilians to “liberate Palestine from the Israelis.” At the time Jordan occupied Judea and Samaria (the “West Bank”), and Egypt occupied Gaza. Yet, none of the PLO’s terror campaign was aimed at driving Jordan or Egypt out of those illegally occupied lands. Rather, to liberate the newly fabricated “Palestine,” all PLO terror aimed instead at driving the Jews out of Tel Aviv, Haifa, Ra’anana, and other cities, towns, and villages in pre-1967 Israel and “into the [Mediterranean] sea.”
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It always has been Arab Muslim Orthodoxy that “Palestine” actually is the entire country of Israel, not merely Judea and Samaria. Just contemplate the emblems of the “Palestine” terror groups, including the PLO, Fatah, Hamas, and the Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ).
That is their “Occupied Palestine Territory” – not the “West Bank” nor Gaza but all of Israel. It is as clear as day — on their flags and banners. It is their logo. There is no need to gain fluency in Arabic to grasp what is on their minds and in their attack plans.
To the degree they claim they want “back” their “Palestine territory” from which they claim they were “expelled,” anti-Zionists’ demands would not be resolved by telling Arabs who claim their families once lived in Akko (Acre) or Yafo (Jaffa) that, in satisfaction of their aspirations, they now may have Jenin in Samaria or Beit Hanoun in Gaza. People claiming Akko or Yafo lineage do not want Gaza. It’s like a real estate agent telling a Chicago-based Midwestern American Jew seeking to relocate to the Brooklyn, NY of his childhood: “I know you have a cultural longing for Brooklyn, the sights of Flatbush, old Ebbets Field where the baseball Dodgers played, Boro Park and Crown Heights, and Irv’s Knishery of Canarsie. Unfortunately, I cannot offer you that, but here is something that is basically identical: I have a listing in Chubbuck, Idaho and another in Waterloo, Iowa. Believe me, you won’t know the difference.”
Of course, the difference is palpable. Likewise, with supposed “millions of Palestinians” demanding a “right of return,” Gaza and the “West Bank” never will address the demands for “Occupied Palestinian territory.”
In the end, when Israel’s enemies speak of the “Occupied Palestinian Territory,” they are not thinking “Gaza and Judea-Samaria.” Rather, their slogan is “From the River to the Sea, Palestine will be free.” This map shows what lies between that Jordan River and Mediterranean Sea: the entirety of the country of Israel.
How else to understand why so many “Palestinians” living in Gaza ruled by Hamas and in the “West Bank” Palestine Authority ruled by Abu Mazen (Mahmoud Abbas) live in “Palestinian refugee camps”? If those Arab Muslims truly are a “Palestinian” nation, and if “Palestine” and the “Occupied Palestinian Territories” truly are the regions of Gaza, Judea, and Samaria – then why and how can those Arabs who have been living there for decades call themselves “refugees” and demand – and receive – billions in international handouts from the United Nations, the European Union, and even the United States through agencies like the UNRWA as though living displaced from their own land?
Who heard of “refugees” residing in their own land? Rafah Refugee Camp has 125,000 residents in Gaza. Khan Yunis Refugee Camp has another 87,816 there. Nuseirat Refugee Camp has another 80,000 there. Balata Refugee Camp has 27,000 in the “West Bank.” Shu’fat Refugee Camp has 24,000 there. Askar Refugee Camp has 18,500 there. In all, the Gaza Strip has eight official refugee camps and 1,221,110 registered refugees. The “West Bank” has 19 official and four unofficial refugee camps, and 741,409 registered refugees. That makes two million “Palestinian refugees” in “Palestinian refugee camps” all living under “Palestinian” sovereignty in supposed “Palestine,” with Hamas sovereign in Gaza and Abbas’s Fatah reigning in the “West Bank” Palestine Authority.
For those who speak of a “Two-State Solution,” as though Israel’s enemies will be prepared to live alongside her in peace someday if only Israel withdraws from Judea and Samaria, it is important occasionally to glance back at Arab terror logos. If “one picture is worth a thousand words,” six pictures of Palestinian terror logo banners are worth 6,000 Hamas rockets and missiles aimed at Jewish civilian population centers and Israel’s survival.