A guest blog from All Israel News, February 26, 2024
by Cookie Schwaeber-Issan
“Palestinian” Authority police officers walk past a mural of late “Palestinian” Authority President Yasser Arafat, in the West Bank city of Hebron, Nov. 12, 2022.
One of the top claims, which has been repeatedly used by pro-Palestinian sympathizers has been that they are the true indigenous people of Israel (Palestine, to them) and that their roots go back thousands of years to that piece of land to which Jews also lay claim.
But are they a distinct people with their own language, culture and other unique characteristics which set them apart from other Arabs?
The notion of there being a “Palestinian” people, whose land was stolen by the Jews, began with Yasser Arafat, the chairman of the “Palestinian” Liberation Organization (PLO). Arafat, born in Egypt, under the name Mohammed Abdel Rahman Abdel Raouf Arafat al-Qudwa al-Husseini, proclaimed that “Palestinians” were a “dispersed people who had been deprived of their home and national identity as well as the most basic rights and rudiments of normal human life.”
But given the fact that he was born into a prominent Egyptian family which was related to Amin al-Husseini, the grand mufti of Jerusalem, it’s clear that his own roots were not from the strip of land that today is known as the country of Israel.
Some Arabs acknowledge that the whole concept of a “Palestinian” people is not exactly what we have been led to believe, and to hear it from them only serves to lend credibility to what has become a very politically-charged subject, but it’s worthwhile hearing another account, especially from an unbiased party, such as another Arab, because its legitimacy is not so easily disputed.
When Muhammad Ibrahim Hussein, a former school teacher had been asked, “Are most Palestinian families originally from Palestine?” He answered, “No. My ancestors originate from near the Iraqi/Jordanian border.” Hussein attributes the PLO for having created a “national lunacy that spread like wildfire throughout the West Bank… waging a bloody war of attrition against Israel but publicly calling for the overthrow of Jordan’s Hashemite Monarchy.” He says, “Palestinian leaders have never been interested in peace with Israel or the West for that matter. They will always and forever turn down every single offer, regardless of how generous it is, unless it includes the destruction of the State of Israel and the exodus of all Jews.”
Hussein’s assertions that most “Palestinians” never came from Palestine (today Israel), is confirmed by the following YouTube clip where agitated Fathi Hammad, Hamas Minister of the Interior and National Security made an impassioned pitch on Egypt’s Al-Hekma TV back in 2012 stating that Egypt has not come to the aid of the 2 million people in the Gaza Strip by helping them do away with the Israel. Encouraging them to partake in Jihad (holy war), he reminds them that “Palestinian” roots go back to Saudi Arabia, Yemen and Egypt. In other words, he says that they were not born in Palestine but, rather, in other Arab lands. He goes so far as to say, “We are Egyptians, we are Arabs. We are part of you.”
Ironically, he undercuts his credibility by making a case that there is no such thing as the “Palestinian” people who claim to be the indigenous natives of the land of Israel, once called Palestine. It is, with this backdrop, that he not only requests financial help but also encourages them to join the fight to rid Israel of its Jews in order to take over the land, the true agenda of these so-called “Palestinians.”
Of course, that malevolent agenda cannot be revealed as the authentic aspiration, because it is predicated upon the destruction of another people in order to realize its goal of total Muslim dominance in the Middle East, so it has to be cleverly camouflaged to first create a victim, as Yasser Arafat did, by depicting individuals born in other lands as those who were dispersed, although he never says when that took place.
Then he creates the illusion of suffering – “having been deprived of their home and national identity,” although how could that be substantiated, especially when he, himself hailed from such a well-heeled family which suffered no lack?
Once he managed to convince others that his claims were plausible and even valid, it wasn’t long before the sympathizers emerged to help right the wrong he promoted. Now, 20 years after his death, the fabricated story has really taken off and been adopted by an entire generation who believes that all “Palestinians” came from Palestine and are the rightful heirs of the land of Israel.
What we know is that many who immigrated to Palestine, when it was ruled by the Ottoman Empire, in the 19th Century, came from Egypt, Sudan and many other countries.
The following statements, made by Arabs reinforce the claim of no real “Palestinian” people:
“It is common knowledge that Palestine is nothing but Southern Syria.” Ahmed Shukairy, 1956
“The Palestinian people does not exist. The creation of a Palestinian state is only a means for continuing our struggle against the state of Israel for our Arab unity… There is no difference between Jordanians, Palestinians, Syrians and Lebanese. Only for political and tactical reasons do we speak today about the existence of a Palestinian People.” PLO spokesman, Zuheir Mohsen, 1977
“Before the Balfour Promise, when the Ottoman rule [1517-1917] ended, Palestine’s political borders as we know them today did not exist, and there was nothing called a Palestinian people with a political identity as we know today.” Abd Al-Ghani, Historian, 2017
History records that Syria-Palestina was merely a name chosen by the Romans but which “has nothing to do with the modern-day Palestinian state, either geographically or ethnically.” The “Palestinians” are a mixed people and while the majority descend from recent economic migrants, who flocked to the area between 1850 and 1950, very few “Palestinian” Arabs are indigenous (unsurprisingly, they originate from Arabia).
To recap, the necessity to create a “Palestinian” people was a prerequisite in order to fulfill the agenda of replacing the Jewish people in what is their historical, biblical and legal homeland. Most present-day “Palestinians” came from other Arab lands but used the claim that they were a distinct people, different from other Arabs. Yet, given their identical language, culture and religion, there is no evidence to support those assertions.
Consequently, their goal is not, nor has it ever been, to establish an independent state, able to peacefully co-exist side by side with Israel. Their singular objective is what they say, “From the river to the sea,” meaning no more Israel and just one state, which is yet another Arab territory.
While it’s not likely that these facts will move the needle as it relates to the insistence of many nations to force peace, as a solution upon people whose sole aim is Jewish genocide, all bets are on the fact that they will keep trying to beat the dead horse of two states regardless of the historical evidence which is available for all to see for themselves.
Cookie Schwaeber-Issan
A former Jerusalem elementary and middle-school principal and the granddaughter of European Jews who arrived in the US before the Holocaust. Making Aliyah in 1993, she is retired and now lives in the center of the country with her husband. You can contact her at itscook7@gmail.com to receive regular updates on her articles.
[My notes: The historic land of Israel goes back to Joshua’s leadership in c.1400 BC to take the land YHWH had promised to Jacob some 450-500 years earlier. The only “Palestinians” of the day were the city-states of the Canaanites, Philistines, Hittites, Amorites, Amalekites and Jebusites. These were societies that celebrated infant sacrifice and such debauchery that YHWH called on the Israelites to at times kill even the animals; you can guess why.
All of these were subsumed into Israel as they conquered the land, until David established the Kingdom of Israel in c.1000 BC.
Even Al-Jazeera, in an article about the Balfour declaration notes that the so-called “Palestinians” are actually Arabs, one of the few truths in the article.
Population reports for Israel prior to the Balfour Declaration of 1917 vary widely, mostly dependent on the source and whether the authors are pro-Israeli or pro-“Palestinian.” The best estimate, compiling from several sources, is that of 750,000 in what is now Israel: 10% Jewish, 90% non-Jewish immigrants from other Muslim countries; there were no “natives”. Do not trust Wikipedia on Israel news, formerly headed by CEO Katherine Maher, an alleged antisemite and left-wing elitist.
Following the Declaration and due to European persecution, a tremendous influx of Jewish immigration occurred so that by 1948, the population was approximately 2,000,000, 33% Jewish. Since the formation of the State of Israel, the population now stands around 9,000,000 of which 80% are Jews. “Palestinian” territories, including the West Bank and Gaza, have a population of roughly 4,800,000, with virtually no Jews; only Arabs, Egyptians, Jordanians and Syrians. It is popularly ignored that the West Bank and Gaza are part of what is historically the Jewish homeland of Israel.
The absurdity of the “two-state solution” is how do you coexist with a society that maintains your annihilation as part of its charter for existence?]
It’s been a great two weeks from Fire Valley State Park in Nevada to Palm Desert, CA, to Scottsdale, AZ, (more in pics to come of amazing sights of sites), but it’s left me unprepared to present the blog I wanted to on EMPs. So that will come next Saturday. Lots to read and digest to understand this threat to our nation and to the world on top of all I have already researched.
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The Spirit's Call 