By Ted Belman
Ahmad Samih Khalidi, Guardian, argues that Siding with the Palestinian struggle is not antisemitic. He writes,
“Jeremy Corbyn has no need to apologise for being the first Labour leader to oppose Zionism on moral grounds. Jeremy Corbyn’s choice of words about Zionists may be open to criticism. But his, and anyone else’s, right to oppose Zionism is not.
“Zionism is the assertion of the primacy of the Jewish claim to Palestine over the expressed will of the 70% Arab majority before 1948, and at its continued expense since. Israel, as a Jewish majority state, could not have been established other than on the debris of Arab Palestine, the destruction of its society and the dispossession and disenfranchisement of its indigenous population.”
Yes, “Zionism is the assertion of the primacy of the Jewish claim to Palestine” regardless of the number of Arabs living there. All this according to the Balfour Declareation, the San Remo Resolution and the Palestine Mandate.
For the sake of argument, I accept that at the time of partion (1948) there was an Arab majority of 70% but that fact was immaterial. It was only so because Britain had violated the terms of the Mandate which provided that “the Mandatory should be responsible for putting into effect the declaration originally made on November 2nd, 1917, by the Government of His Britannic Majesty, and adopted by the said Powers, in favour of the establishment in Palestine of a national home for the Jewish people,” Had Britain honoured the Palestinian Mandate, Jews would have been in the majority in 1948. Besides, the Madnate had the goal of restablishing the Jewish National Home, not an Arab one. So even if the Arabs were in the majority that would not have vitiated the purpose of the Mandate.
In addition, The Mandatory government was required to facilitate Jewish immigration and “close settlement” in Palestine by Jews, not Arabs.
Furthermore there were other Mandates created to estable a number of new Arab states. Britain violated the Mandate by severely restricting Jewish immigration, even during the holocaust and after the end of the war. It also supported Arab terror.
Many Arabs were attracted to the land due to the prosperity that Jewish industry created. Thus they were economic migrants which doesn’t entitle them to citizenship or a state.
Jordan is Arab Palestine with 78% of the Mandate while Israel is Jewish Palestine with 22%. What to argue about?
@ Shlomo2000:
Arabs accepted the Mandate System it divided up the Ottoman Empire and created the countries of the middle east. It was approved by the League of Nations and then incorporated into the UN Charter.
“The Weizmann-Faisal Agreement” in 1919 Agreed that there would be an Arab state and Palestine (which was to be the Jewish State). Arabs are just not very good at keeping agreements. Forgetting about them or lying about them. Or like the former Jordanian Prime Minister says if we get strong enough we will take Haifa.
So basically Arabs have been rejecting or trying to destroy Israel with wars, terrorism, lies, distortion of history, ……..etc. What works for Israel is simply that we are stronger. So the weak among the Jews who fall for the Arab lies or propaganda (like Peace Now) hurt the fight of the Jewish in strengthening and protecting Israel.
@ Shlomo2000:
That’s true. So let them make the case that the Mandate was illegal rather than to suggests any rights due to their larger numbers.
But the Arabs never accepted the Mandate either so in their eyes it is also immaterial.