The Mudcat Café TM
Thread #111301   Message #2344418
Posted By: Emma B
19-May-08 - 12:03 PM
Thread Name: BS: Palestinian 'facts'
Subject: RE: BS: Palestinian 'facts'
pdq
I refer to the Palestinians, not as an ethnic group but as residents of Palestine**; this is fairly 'normal practice' I believe - nowhere I have ever heard it postulated that anyone 'elevates' the English to an ethnic group by referring to them by that term and indeed the word usage would be to precisely distinguish them from the neighbouring citizens of France or Scotland etc.

** or "Occupied Palestinian Territory", as used by the UN

But, you are right, it is difficult to conduct any discussion with someone unable to make this obvious distinction.

Your remark
'Since WWII, many Arab countries have sent their most worthless people, the bottom of Arab society, to the area around Israel for the specific purpose of disrupting the Jewish state.They have been told that when Israel falls, the property and wealth the Jews enjoy will be theirs. These people are so radicalized after years of daily propaganda, where the Jews are held responsible for nearly all the Arab's problems, that thse people are no longer welcome in any Arab country because they most are no longer capable of productive work. They are only trained to protest and to fight Israel.'

is too offensive to genuine refugees to even consider; I have no wish to even converse with someone who resorts to such malicious misrepresentation


As for history…

The Arab political status in the Mandate

'The British however made acceptance of the terms of the Mandate a precondition for any change in the constitutional position of the Arabs. For the Arabs this was unacceptable, as they felt that this would be "self murder". During the whole interwar period the British, appealing to the terms of the Mandate, which they had designed themselves, rejected the principle of majority rule or any other measure that would give an Arab majority control over the government of Palestine.

Immigration

'During the Mandate the Yishuv, the Jewish community in Palestine, grew from one sixth to almost one third of the populations.
According to official records, 367,845 Jews and 33,304 non-Jews immigrated legally between 1920 and 1945
It was estimated that another 50–60,000 Jews and a small number of non-Jews immigrated illegally during this period. Immigration accounts for most of the increase of Jewish population, while the non-Jewish population increase was largely natural. These figures have been supported by later studies, though estimates of Arab immigration have been disputed.

Initially, Jewish immigration to Palestine met little opposition from the Palestinian Arabs. However, as anti-Semitism grew in Europe during the late 19th and early 20th centuries, Jewish immigration (mostly from Europe) to Palestine began to increase markedly, creating much Arab resentment.
The British government placed limitations on Jewish immigration to Palestine. These quotas were controversial, particularly in the latter years of British rule, and both Arabs and Jews disliked the policy, each side for its own reasons

The Peel Commission

In 1937, the Peel Commission proposed a partition between a small Jewish state, whose Arab population had to be transferred, and an Arab state to be attached to Jordan. The proposal was rejected by the Arabs and by the Zionist Congress (by 300 votes to 158) but accepted by the latter as a basis for negotiations between the Executive and the British Government.

In the wake of the Peel Commission recommendation an armed uprising spread through the country. Over the next 18 months the British lost control of Jerusalem, Nablus, and Hebron. British forces, supported by 6,000 armed Jewish auxiliary police, suppressed the widespread riots with overwhelming force.
The British officer Charles Orde Wingate (who supported a Zionist revival for religious reasons) organized Special Night Squads composed of British soldiers and Jewish volunteers such as Yigal Alon, which "scored significant successes against the Arab rebels in the lower Galilee and in the Jezreel valley" by conducting raids on Arab villages. The squads used excessive and indiscriminate force

The Jewish militias the Stern Gang and Irgun used violence also against civilians, attacking marketplaces and buses.

The Revolt resulted in the deaths of 5,000 Palestinians and the wounding of 10,000. In total 10 percent of the adult male population was killed, wounded, imprisoned, or exiled The Jewish population had 400 killed; the British 200. Significantly, from 1936 to 1945, whilst establishing collaborative security arrangements with the Jewish Agency, the British confiscated 13,200 firearms from Arabs and 521 weapons from Jews.

N>B This perspective of 'history' is even handed, does not minimise the not very honourable role of the British and can be found (with references to the facts quoted) at wikipedia