A Palestinian State Would Be a Disaster for the World

I finally am grateful to William Carlotti [Making Scapegoats of the Palestinians, July 26]. Many previous writers have said that the Palestinians have been in the land for thousands of years (somehow ignoring the fact that the Arab conquest wasn't until 635 C.E.), but Mr. Carlotti has set the record straight. He writes that the Palestinians have occupied the land "for centuries." And since the presence of Palestinians in the area was originally due to Arab military conquest, I hope that it can finally be acknowledged that the Palestinians are indeed on illegally "occupied land."

The land has changed ownership countless times since then, until it was conquered and occupied by Jordan in 1948. In 1967 Jordan attacked Israel (a bad mistake) and in the subsequent fighting the Jordanians were thrown back across the Jordan River. So legally (and experts in international law have so stated), the West Bank (the ancient Jewish kingdoms of Judah and Israel) were "liberated," not "occupied," by Israel fighting a defensive war, and the only true "occupiers" are today's Palestinians. Since Jews have lived in the land for over 3,000 years (there has always been a Jewish presence there since the time of Moses) they certainly do have a claim. So let’s call the West Bank and Gaza "disputed territories" and leave it at that.

Mr. Carlotti's assertion that Palestinians have been there for "centuries," however, is also subject to question. The original Arab conquerors came and went. There was always a movement in and out of the country. One thing that is certain is that never in history was there a separate Palestinian state, as the Arab residents considered themselves part of the general Arab nation, but there was no nationalistic feeling among Palestinians until well after 1967.

In the 1800s hardly anyone was there. The land was desolate, a wasteland, and could not support a large number of people. Palestine (the land) was considered worthless and nobody wanted it except Jews everywhere, who always conclude the most solemn religious holy days with the words "next year in Jerusalem." Mark Twain visited in 1867 and wrote how desolate the land was, given over wholly to weeds. On a trip between two cities, he wrote how he never saw a human being on the whole route. In 1913, the British Palestinian Royal Commission inspected the Mediterranean coast and reported dismal conditions. No orange groves or vineyards were to be seen until they came to the village of Yavneh. Schools did not exist, and the villages were few and far between. Many villages were deserted. The supposed "great Palestinian nation" of many writers simply did not exist.

So where did the Palestinians come from? About 1880, Jews fleeing persecution in Europe began returning to Israel, purchasing worthless land at exorbitant prices from absentee landlords, draining malaria swamps, and building up the land. As conditions began to improve, Arabs from the surrounding countries began emigrating to escape poverty in their own countries. At least they could find work among the Jews. This emigration eventually became a flood, and this is where the great bulk of the people known today as Palestinians come from. They are Syrians, Jordanians, Lebanese, Saudi Arabians, and so on. (The young man who suicide-bombed the Sbarro pizzeria in Jerusalem was actually a Jordanian who had come to the West Bank to find employment only two years previously.)

One other topic I would like to consider is the so-called Saudi Peace Plan. It is a plan, but to call it a peace plan is stretching things. It would leave Israel with totally indefensible borders, only nine miles wide at its narrowest point, depending on the good will of its Arab neighbors, and on the promise of Western intervention if it was attacked. This would be a totally ridiculous situation. Hatred of Israel is endemic to the Arab world. The Saudis claimed recently that Jews kill Arab children and use their blood to make holiday cookies. Preachers on official Saudi TV repeatedly call for the death of Jews (and usually Christians too), and children's textbooks describe Jews as pigs and apes. It would be ridiculous for anyone to rely on any Saudi "peace plan," which would be just a subterfuge to put Israel in a disadvantageous position. In the event of an actual Arab attack, could Israel rely on a promise of Western intervention to defend it? When Iraq invaded Kuwait it took over six months for the U.S. to finally respond. By that time Israel would be long dead and buried.

The Palestinian state, urged by President Bush, the UN, the EU, the Arab states and Mr. Carlotti, would be a disaster for the whole world. Why would anyone want to see another corrupt terrorist state come into existence? Despite all sorts of assurances and promises, how long will it be before the new Palestine enters into alliances with Iraq and Iran? Any promise of demilitarization will be quickly ignored, and a ship like the Karine A will arrive every day in Gaza loaded with all sorts of modern weapons. Terrorism against Israel will flourish. Statehood would give Arafat, or his successor, control of an airport, and Palestinian aircraft could reach Tel Aviv within three minutes, before Israel could scramble its own interceptors. The scenario of a Palestinian state at the present time is a guaranteed prescription for the start of a major area war, one that could easily spread to the rest of the world. The Palestinian state can only come into existence when the Palestinians are truly prepared to live at peace with Israel, a situation that does not appear likely in the immediate future.