A Short History Lesson

This is the text of the Balfour Declaration::

Foreign Office,
November 2nd, 1917.

Dear Lord Rothschild,
I have much pleasure in conveying to you, on behalf of His Majesty’s Government, the following declaration of sympathy with Jewish Zionist aspirations which has been submitted to, and approved by, the Cabinet:
“His Majesty’s Government view with favour the establishment in Palestine of a national home for the Jewish people, and will use their best endeavours to facilitate the achievement of this object, it being clearly understood that nothing shall be done which may prejudice the civil and religious rights of existing non-Jewish communities in Palestine, or the rights and political status enjoyed by Jews in any other country”.
I should be grateful if you would bring this declaration to the knowledge of the Zionist Federation.

Yours sincerely
Arthur James Balfour

The Balfour Declaration declared the intention of Great Britain to establish a Jewish state in Palestine.  In 1920, the League of Nations drew up the map to establish the Jewish state.    In 1920, at the League of Nations Conference of San Remo, the boundaries for the new state of Israel were drawn up.  That state included land extending west to the Mediterranean Sea and east through what is now known as Jordan.  At the same time, Arab statehodd was granted to Syria, Iraq, and Saudi Arabia.  That land was referred to as (Eastern) Palestine.  On January 4, 1919, Feisal ibn-Hussein, representing the Arab Kingdom of Hedjaz, and Chaim Weitzman, representing the Zionists, signed a formal agreement establishing the Jewish homeland.  Feisal ibn-Hussein agreed to abandon all claim of his father to (Western) Palestine if he secured Iraq and Eastern Palestine as Arab territories. 

 

In 1921, Britain reneged on the original agreement and give away 75 percent of the land it had promised to Israel.  The country of Transjordan was given to Abdullah, brother of Feisal ibn Hussein.  Abdullah, a Hashemite, was in Transjordan because the Wahabi Muslims had driven the Hasemites out of Mecca and Medina, where they had been custodians of the holy sites for centuries.  Transjordan was set up as a Palistinian-Arab state.

This short history lesson is in response to a statement by reporter Helen Thomas at the White House Jewish Heritage Celebration on May 27, 2010.  When asked to make a statement relative to the Jewish Heritage Celebration, Ms. Thomas stated, “Tell them (the Jews) to get the hell out of Palestine.” and went on the claim that the Jews were occupiers and needed to go home to Germany, Poland, and the United States.  It is really sad to see that kind of ignorance and bigotry in someone who is supposed to objectively report news.  If you would like to see the YouTube video of her statements, go to YouTube, put “Helen Thomas tells Jews to go back to Germany” in search, and you will find the entire statement.  I refuse to post the link here.

 

Historically, Israel is Jewish land.  Jerusalem was the capital of ancient Israel.  The Arabs are in charge of the vast majority of land in the Middle East, but for some reason, they want to destroy the Jewish state.  It makes no sense.  The amount of land in the state of Israel is the equivalent of a matchbook cover on a football field.

 

The best quote I have heard on the problems the Arabs have with Israel is from Walid Shoebat, who said, “Why is it that on June 4th 1967 I was a Jordanian and overnight I became a Palestinian?”

 

There was never even a concept of a Palestinian state until the Arabs lost the 1967 war.  At that time they began a propaganda war that there needed to be two states in Israel.  The goal has always been for the destruction of Israel.  Until that goal changes, there will never be a peaceful solution.

 

UPDATE:  Ms. Thomas evidently is having second thoughts.  Her website now has the following statement:

 

“I deeply regret my comments I made last week regarding the Israelis and the Palestinians. They do not reflect my heart-felt belief that peace will come to the Middle East only when all parties recognize the need for mutual respect and tolerance. May that day come soon.” 

 

No comment.

 

NOTE:  The maps above came from the Israel Ministry of Foreign Affairs website.