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Why have the United States,
the Soviet Union, the U.N. or
any other power been unable
to untangle the Mideast knot
for over a quarter of a century?
More importantly, is there
real/y a solution in the fore–
seeable future?
F
OR OVER
a quarter of a cen–
tury, sorne of the world's best
brains in the U.N. and else–
where have been engaged in trying
to find a solution to the explosive
Mideast.
But thus far, no one has come up
with any real solutions - with any
lasting, workable means of putting
an end to the deep-seated hatred
and suspicions which, like a heavy
cloud, hang orninously over this
troubled part of the globe.
Why?
World Ieaders have repeatedly
warned that the world's most dan–
gerous trouble spot is the volatile
Mideast! The tragic October war
has served to underscore just how
correct tbey were in their analysis.
That three-week war cost the lives
of thousands of Arabs and Israelis.
lt left multiple thousands of widows
and orphans and much anguish and
bitterness. The total cost in property
loss and military hardware was
many billions of dollars.
But have the protagonists learned
their lessons? Have they yet come to
see that the way to peace, prosperity
and happiness is not through war?
Seeds of Strife
Wbo bears the responsibility for
sowing the Middle East discord
which has borne such an abundant
crop of suspicion, hatred and blood–
shed for over a quarter of a century?
Many think the real seeds of
today's Mideast strife go back to a
British promise made in 1917 for
"the establishment in Palestine of a
national borne for the Jewish
people." This declaration - or as
the Jews look upon it , this promise
- was made by the British foreign
secretary, Lord Balfour, in the now
PLAIN TRUTH
January
1974
famous (or infamous, as viewed by
most Palestinian Arabs) "Balfour
Declaration" of 1917.
At the end of World War I, Brit–
ain obtained a mandate over Pales–
tine. But the local Arabs, wbo had
for many centuries constituted the
majority of the population, were
soon alarmed by the Balfour Decla–
ration. Many felt that tbe carving
out of a national borne for the Jews
in Palestine could
only
be at their
expense.
Between World Wars I and II, a
small trickle of Jews continued ar–
riving in Palestine. Mainly, they be–
carne business people and farmers.
From the contributions of world
Jewry, they bought up more and
more land.
Then the horrible nightmare of
World War II settled over Europe
like a heavy, suffocating London
fog. All Europe - and the world -
was plunged into its most night–
marish war.
Nazi Germany's aggressive pol–
icies wrought bavoc on many peo–
ples, but none were so abused and
butchered as the Jews. A stunned,
disbelieving world finally carne to
accept the awful truth of the Nazi
attempt to erase the lives of as many
European Jews as possible.
Prior to Hitler's merciless purges,
the Jews were often denied entry
and shelter by other countries. Per–
haps it was this glaring fact staring
many of the world's leaders in the
face that caused a wave of sympathy
to go out to the Jews at the close of
World War 11. This sympathy was a
widespread, if not a worldwide, phe–
nomenon.
By 1947, enough sympathy could
be found in the U.N. to pass a reso–
lution in favor of establishing a na–
tional borne for the Jews in what
was, till then, called Palestine. On
November 29, 1947, the U.N. Gen–
eral Assembly voted to partition
Palestine between Jews and Arabs.
Both Russia and the United States
voted for partition and for the birth
of Israel. The Arab members of the
U.N. bitterly opposed the resolu–
tion, but they were outvoted.
The U.N.-created state of Israel
was born on May 14, 1948. The Zi–
onists' dream of a national borne for
Jews in Palestine had at last been
realized. The Jews were jubilant
worldwide.
Arab Objectives
Many Arabs looked upon this
fletlgling Jewish state as an entering
wedge in their midst - "an isolated,
Western-oriented outpost of expan–
sionist Zionism." They feared that
in time, "Zionists" would deprive
more and more Arabs of their land
- pushing them further back into
the inhospitable deserts.
On May 15, 1948 - the day after
Israel was born - the Arab armies
of Syria, Egypt, Jordan, Lebanon,
Iraq and Saudi Arabia attacked the
infant nation. Their avowed goal?
The annihilation of this intruder!
The fl.edgling Israelí army repulsed
the Arab armies. A U.N. truce was
arranged on January 7, 1949. By
mid-1949, the Arabs agreed to an
arrnistice, but by then, Israel's bor–
ders were enlarged by more tban
one third beyond the territory the
U.N. had originally allocated it.
The Arabs have repeatedly said
they don't mind Jews living
within
the Arab nations, but they do object
to "Zionism" - the idea that the
Jews have the right to reestablish
national sovereignty in Palestine.
The late President Nasser mir–
rored Arab feelings toward "Zion–
ism." He said, "The Israelis have
said many times their country
stretches from the Nile to the Eu–
phrates." When asked
if
he person–
ally believed this was the Israelí
objective, he answered, "Of course!"
Nasser concluded: "They are set–
tling lsraelis in the Sinai, on the
Golan Plateau in Syria and in He–
bron in Jordan. So it is very hard to
escape the conclusion that their
raí–
son d'etre
ís expansion/'
Time has not changed this view.
Egypt's Presídent Anwar Sadat
has warned Israel: "We have fought
and we will go on fighting to líber–
ate our land, which was seized by
Israelí occupation in 1967, and to
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