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rain Arab !eaders for rhe lasr two de–
cades. Keep che refugees helpless and
wretched as a "tesrimony ro the
world of what Israel did ro che
Ar::bs." Obviously chis policy hasn ' t
worked. The refugees are srill dis–
placed and Palesüne is now history.
The problem is that the Arabs are
having a war wirh rheir own tor–
menred vision of rhemselves.
It
is not
Israel rhar rhe Arabs hace so mucb,
and far
less
rhe Jews because rhey are
Jews. Bur che facr rhar rhe Arabs be–
lieve rhat the West, acting from guilt
after rhe extermination of six million
Jews in Nazi Europe between
1941
and
1945,
imposed Israel on them and
rhen abandoned rhem in admirarion
for Israel. What che Jews broughr ro
Israel rhat was offensive ro rhe Arabs
was nor rheir Jewishness. Ir was rheir
W esrernizacion and rheir abiliry ro
succeed. This infuriares rhe Arabs.
A Positive Aspect
While mosr of che Arab counrries
refused ro grane citizenship ro the
Palestinians, King Hussein of Jordan
granred citizenship to all Palesrinians
who wished ro live in his kingdom.
Even though there are camps, Jordan
- with whar 1ittle resources it has -
has tried ro improve che lor of che ref–
ugees and has succeeded. A crademark
of the camps, such as those found in
Gaza, is filth and misery, but not so
in sorne camps in Jordan where renes
have been replaced with permanent
dwellings. Health clinics, vocacional
training and many services have en–
abled sorne refugees ro
become
self–
supporring. The reason che refugees
in Jordan - unlike rhe Gazires - are
more willing ro improve rheir loe is
che facr rhat rhey are rreared as ciri–
zens.
While Gaza was under Egyprian
adminisrrarion prior ro Israelí occupa–
rion in
1967,
it was held under siege ;
rhe refugees had to have a special per–
mit ro travel ro Egypt proper and
every opportunity ro become self-suf–
ficient was denied them. They were
always rreated as aliens and nor fellow
Arabs.
26
Sorne Palesrin ians are realistic
enough ro place che blame where ir
belongs. They are not blinded by pro–
paganda that whirewashes rhe errors
of che pase and covers up che real
facrs. Ir rakes courage on rhe pan of
Palesrinians ro "say
it
like it is." The
rhen secrerary-general of rhe Palesrine
Arab Higher Commirree was one
who did. He said in
1948:
"Our lead–
ers teld us ro ger our so rhar we can
get
in. ...
the facr that rhere are refu–
gees is che direcr consequence of rhe
acrion of the Arab states in opposi ng
parrition and che Jewish state. The
Arab stares agreed upon chis policy
unanimously and rhey
must share in
the solutúm of the problem. "
Bold N ew Plan for P eace
Vinually no progress has been
made roward peace becween Israel and
its Arab neighbors since the Six-Day
War of June
l967.
(Peace wouJd un–
doubredly usher in rhe beginning of
che end of che plight of che refugees.)
In March
1972,
King Hussein out–
lined a bold , ambitious plan that
might conceivably be a basis for nor–
malizing, in pan, relarions berween
Jordan and Israel .
In a speech at Basman Palace in
Amman, King Hussein addressed
500
of his subjects, including representa–
tives of che Israeli-occupied West
Bank of che Jordan River. The king
proposed che creation of a new auron–
omous region of Palescine, consisting
of che Wesr Bank wirh irs
620,000
Arab residenrs. Jordan and chis area
would form a política! enrity caHed
rbe Unircd Arab .Kingdom. The Pal–
estinian capital would be in che o ld
sector ofJerusalem; foreign affairs, de–
fense and the economy would be con–
rrolled by a federal government in
Amman.
Israel 's official response was under–
srandably negative, as were rnost of
che responses of che Arab govern–
ments. However, in a troubled area
where sralemare and hostiliry repre–
sent che status quo, rhere was a mea–
sure of hope in che fact rhar someone
at Jase had made a differenr move.
What About J ewish Refugees?
There are many Jewish refugees set–
tled in Israel from Yemen, Egypt,
Iraq, Syria and Morocco. These coun–
rries have expelled large porrions of
rheir Jewish populations, ofren with–
our allowing them to carry any prop–
erry with them. The rotal number of
such refugees could run as high as
475,000,
depending upon what one
acceprs as rhe definicion of a refugee.
The wealth left behind by these refu–
gees was considerable.
There are two sides ro che srory,
and iris only fair ro presenr both. W e
are nor atrempting ro be judges; we
neirher praise nor condemn. Ir would
acruaUy cake a superhuman judge, a
merciful, all-knowing, all-powerful
Being to settle chis complex and, at
times, illogical quescion.