18rael v8. Arabi8tan

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RICHARD PATfEE JF.RUSAIIM Before dfr ioni8t claiw or the "Jewiih *eribing perion•l •xperienc hornelind" ts loins to convlnc• and 8ubJective irnpreuions of a Palestiniln Arab that he w thii somew'hi( bewildering Jand not unjustly Ind eruelly depriv. of lirael.

I •d ol wb•t had been hii lor 13 eenluries. think it may in be useful lir••ll C•nl•ntl•n order io point From Ihe first day in Ibrael, UP Ihe iourees one begins to let the opposit• ot the lension pieture.

Here one hears con- that divid stantly that the Jeth's Mere al. thij ¢ountrv 'ays present in Palutlne Irorn Irom its Arab the dayyJ before Titu5 captured meizhbori and deslroyed J.Salern. that re£er to the el'en though Ihe community elaimi or the 'as much reduced. il neverth •u on which le&q lurvived in a symbolic way the ariuments and that Ibe Jekn8 el8eM'hei'e of the two have never •b4ndoned their his• sides rest. torital claim io this country.

Durini the rniDy week• in Under Ihe Ottoman Empir• l*banon, Jordan and Syri•. Jewi were allow'ed to seltje in I lot about every angle ol the Palestine and. Irequenlly. Ar. Arab caje, not onte but a dozen abs were the lii'st to sell them time8 ffi'•r. It li • eonvincini land •nd larms.

Nor did they cue in many ways Ind one thal raibe obstacles lo the Lollstruc• nukes £alrly good sense. In Is- tion 0£ Jewibh L'ommunilie& riel. il seemed to me a duty to bolh collective farms and ur- find out •s quickly u possible ban eenlers. such as Tel Aviv. the Israell attitude, and on The Arabs M'ere pot expejled what b•sii the verbal wirf4re.

In 1948, say the Israelis. but 'ith what one locil writer calls Iled when badly adi'i*d by bistan," mosl elleclively "Ar Ibeir leader5: the proof that repo8 Israel had no inteDtsOll ol mi The diflieull thlng 51 thit Irealing or ousting them IJ th• presence witkn'n it5 frontiers l( bolh cases involve not only co•- day ol J70,(KKY Arab citizen• temporary hiltory but Ihe rfr ho live unmole5ted In th• mote pist.

David and Abrabam midst of predominantly Jew. Ire by no mean8 eloudy, vague ish eommunii ies. figures ol • past Ihit Is more Tbe problem now is not th• or le•8 forgotte They are p•rl Ai'ibs wbo Jt•yed or roiiht an utsendini *nd unint•r- hai'e il4yed but tbe reenlranc• rupted tradition that Is Ihe ab- of thole N'ho Iled.

Thij, uy •olule reason for beini ol thi• the Isr•eli#. is impossible ai eOUDtry. tblD8S Stand, lor it M'ould mean the total di6ruplion ol tbe pres I Ihink 11 be said quit• ent soLial and economie order honejuy that the Arab position is th•t tbe Jewg Ire intruders Ind would serve no zood pur• who hive arrived over the pajt pose, but rather exaLerb•te Ib• already bitter hatred of tb• years.

Fho bil'e Ihrouzh tiio. I'he Israeli5 0rgue tbat for the purcblw •1 land 4nd other eenlurieib Iheir relativns wer• lormj ol coloniutioD iradually ereAted • •ubstanti*l Jewish Zood M'itb the Arabs: that ther• is notbinll of file or inevitabl• eommuDlty ID tbe midjt ol In destiny in ttr pi'ebenl b05tility. eJJenli•lly Ar•b P•Jestine.

U der the Briti Hdle thts Wilh a million and • h•ll Jewi In 151'ael. Ihere ean be oo ques• mwation Continued until Ibt tion 91 reti'eating.

Tbe die hi• dramatic events 01 1944 wbe Briti•h *uihority ceued and been ctst and 1sr•el muyt eA• ther remain oi. be de5lroy¢d. r•el w'as proclaimed an Ande- there e•n be n• going b•ck Ior ' pendeDI •t•te. there is DO longer any Pla to Immigratioll increued enor. M'hich to so. mously at thal time. Within ihe Moreover, deplorable •8 m•y space of three ye•rJ.

Isr•el dou. be tbe Situation of the miltson bjed the number of ils inhabi. Arib refet5. the 1sr•eli5 tinti. Ar*bJ liv5 P•le4tiDe eitber lelt Or w•re forced lo Ao need to defer for year5 its lutions since the Arab coun. nee durin8 the w•rfir• 011941. trAes have Ibundant land aDd a capaeily to absorb them.

Th• All of thls addj up to the 131'aelis insist that Ihe Arab fict thal the Arabj con- leaders prefer thal the problem Jider tbemselves ai expeleei.

DN•r be 1Ved io as to majn• deprived 0£ horne •nd property lain ht •• a Ialkinz poinl by i lot ol Dewcomeri who have 110 Artual cl•im to the Jand. ve Iiaiubt Israel. not th• d•yeend•Dt¥ of those Tbis li very l•r Irom an ex- ther• ID BAblJ'cal dayi. and wb• haujtsve siitement ol the two would not be ther• today were eases.

I b•ve mer•ly trMd t• 11 not lor th• itit•rv•niloo that the two viewpoints ot the Llnit•d sta Ar• u nearly irrecon¢ilabl• N• amount ol About It li pouibl• lor ihem io b•.

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Cite this item

"18rael v8. Arabi8tan," The Catholic Times, 7 October 1955. Covering Palestine archive, CP-1955-006. https://coveringpalestine.org/archive/cp-1955-006