The Real Palestinian Catastrophe

Palestinians mark ‘Nakba Day’ on 15 May; ‘Nakba’, meaning catastrophe, is the day they commemorate the exodus they suffered in 1948 after the first war of the Arabs against Israel. This year, in addition to the protests in Jerusalem, there have been attempts to penetrate Israeli territory from Syria, Lebanon and Gaza. The world has immediately reacted because of the attempt’s final death tally. But there is more than meets the eye here and it has to do much more with the real Palestinian catastrophe than with political mythology.

For a start, the commemoration is not a tradition and its roots are not to be found in the history of the Palestinian soul. It is one of Yasser Arafat’s artificial creations: engaged in full negotiations with Ehud Barak and blessed by Bill Clinton, he wanted to have at hand a further means to exert pressure. ‘Nakba Day’ started in 1998 with the aim of serving as an obstacle.

Secondly, as usually emphasised, the Palestinians want to vindicate a precise date, 15 May 1948, that is to say, one day after the creation of the State of Israel when all of Israel’s Arab neighbours –and the occasional third party– launched a war of aggression and extermination against the Jewish state. Many of the 700,000 Arabs and Palestinians who left their homes did so, not because they wanted to avoid war, but because they were inspired by their leaders of the moment, who promised them a swift victory over the fledgling State of Israel. Something that, as we all know only too well, never occurred.

Third, although it is very sad to lose one’s properties, it is still surprising to see that when people speak about exodus in the region they only think of the Palestinians.

More than 800,000 Jews had to leave their Arab countries of residence, incited by the leaders of the moment, who were unable to accept their defeat in a war in which they had everything going to win. And, in any case, in terms of contemporary history, the total figure of one and a half million refugees for both sides pales in significance compared to the more than 7 million Germans relocated after the end of World War II –not to mention the Poles–. And all that was at the hands of democratic powers.

No, the Palestinian catastrophe is not due to the existence of Israel. It is because of the irresponsibility of the Palestinian leaders who, when push comes to shove, prefer to choose hatred against Israel over the well-being of their own people. And it is also the responsibility of Arab leaders who also have chosen to have Israel as their external enemy first, before really helping the Palestinians –refugees or not–. If you don’t believe me, just ask any of the one and a half million Arab residents in Israel. A recent survey showed how the majority of Palestinians living in East Jerusalem prefer to be ruled by the Jewish government than by the Palestinian Authority –and that was before Hamas became part of the government–. So why would that be?