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perate, and I wouldn't be surprised if
one day they sank one or two super–
tankers in the Strait of Hormuz to
force the world to do something
about their pl ight and lsrael's obsti–
nacy. This would block the channel
through which pass 19 to 20 míliion
barreis daily. This would make the
present [energy] cr isis seem like
child's play."
This is just one of many possible
ramifications of the still unsolved
" Palestinian question," the subject of
current negotiations by Israel, Egypt
and the Uni ted States. Fa r from be–
ing a remote concern of only regional
significance, the Pa lestinian dilemma
could well become in the near future
an issue which wiH impact in a very
real way on the daily Iives of millions
the world over.
The emotional, highly charged is–
sue is seen by many as the·crux of the
Middle East conflict, and possibly
the most explosive issue in the world
today. Experts agree that no genuine
peace will be seen in the Middle East
until the question is somehow re–
solved.
Who are the Palestinians? What
do they want? What lies behind the
decades-old controversy? An under–
standing of the Palestinian question
is vital toa full comprehension of the
Middle East situa tion.
Two Natlonallsms
At the heart of the conflict is the
clash of two intense nationalisms
over the same territory. And both
sides are certain they are "right."
Palestine- so named by Roman
Emperor Hadrian a fter the Philis–
tines who lived there in biblical times
-was the homeland of the ancient
Israelites. The Jews or " House of Ju–
dah"-the tribes of Judah, Benjamín
and Levi-inhabited territory only in
the southern portion of the region,
with capital at Jerusalem. The ten
northern Israeli tish tribes, headed by
Ephraim, were called the " House of
Israel," with capi tal at Samaria.
Israelis commonly refer to the dis–
puted 2000-square-mile West Bank
of the Jordan River as " Judea and
Samaria," the biblical names for the
region. Despite the fact that the an–
cient Jews never occupied "Samar–
ia," religious Jews today consider the
8
Bible to be their title deed to
al/
of
Palestine, their " Holy Land." Sorne
60 Israelí settlements with a com–
bined population of over 8,000 have
been established on the West Bank.
These settlements are bitterly re–
sented by the native Arab inhabi–
tants of the arca, who see them as
"imperialism" by "expansionist" Is–
rael. Israelí settlers and Palestinian
Arabs frequentl y clash over the es–
tablishment of new settlements.
The Pa lestinian Arabs also have
religious a nd historica l interests in
the area. The Palestinians are those
Arabs who are native to the West
Bank and to much of the territory
which is now the State of Israel. Pa l–
estine has been Arab in language and
culture for sorne 1300 years, having
been wrested from the Byzantine
~~
At the heart of the
conflict is the clash of
two intense nationalisms
over the same territory.
And both sides are
certain they are "right.,
' '
Empire in A.D. 640 by the Moslem
armies of Caliph Ornar. Many Pa les–
tinian families can trace their lin–
eages back for over a millennium on
that soil, their forefathe rs having
farmed it for dozens of generations.
Yet Palestine has never been a sep–
arate, independent Arab entity.
From being a province of the
Omayyad and Abbasid caliphs, the
region passed into the hands of vari–
ous invaders, ultimately becoming
part of the Ottoman Empire until
Turkey's defeat in World War
l.
From 1922 to 1948 the inhabitants
of Palestine-both Jew and Arab–
were ruled under British mandate.
Following the failure of the 1947
U.N. Pa rtition Resolution, which
would have divided the Holy Land
into a Jewish state andan Arab state,
Jordan seized the West Bank and
East Jerusalem wi th the stated pur–
pose of defending the Palesti nia n
Arabs, large numbers of whom were
displaced from their traditional
bornes during the Jew-Arab fighting.
West Bank Palestinians lived under
Jordan rule until 1967, when Israel
seized t hat regioh, a long with Syria's
Golan Heights and formerly Egyp–
tian Gaza and the Sinai Península.
Today there are sorne 3.5 million
Palestinians throughout the Middle
East, rougbJy haJf of them in Israel and
theoccupied territories and halfofthem
in nearby Arab nations, many in often
squalid refugee camps. Sorne 700,000
Palestinians live in the Israeli-occupied
West Bank alone, 450,000 in the Gaza
Strip on Israel 's opposite tlank, and
500,000 in Israel itself.
Most Palestinians are Moslems,
but a siza ble number-between 15
and 20 percent-are Christian. Pa l–
estinians a re considered the most in–
dustrious of the Arabs, and have an
educational leve! far above the Arab
world's average. They fill key profes–
sional and administrative positions in
many Arab countries.
Aut<?nomy o r Sovereignty?
The framework for peace negotiated
at Camp David in September 1978
stipulated that the Palestinian people
must be able to take part
in
the deter–
mination of their own future. Egypt,
Israel and the United States agreed
that negotiations on self-government
for the
1
.2 million Palestinians living
in the Israeli-occupied West Bank
and Gaza were to be completed with–
in a year, beginning last May. The
Camp David accords call for a fi.ve–
year period of Palestinian self-rule
and negotiations to determine t he
fi–
nal status of the region after the peri–
od comes to an end.
But just wha t "self-rule" means is
hotly disputed by the parties in–
volved. The contradictory interpreta–
tions are at tbe heart of the ongoing
controversy.
Egypt-negotiating for the Pales–
tinians, but without their authoriza–
tion- wants a firm política! commit–
ment from Israel that the West Bank
and Gaza will attain true self-gov–
ernment, leading eventually to the
creation of a sovereign Palestinian
state.
The
PLAIN TRUTH October/November 1979