The Jews who lived there were given the same name - Palestinians. Those Jews who fought in the Jewish Brigade were called Palestinians too and they had a badge on their uniform sleeves with the word “Palestine”. They fought with the British army against the Germans. At the same time the Arabs from Palestine were recruited by the Mufti to fight with Hitler in the German army. In 1942 the Mufti also came to Tunisia and tried to recruit Tunisian Arabs, but in vain. 

Today no one tries to understand the meaning of a “two-state solution” be it its historical base, or be it its origin. No one could justify their intention for this suggestion. In reality, no single country in Europe, North and South America or among the Arab countries knows exactly what they mean, when they say “two-state solution” - not even Bush. I believe that U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry has not thoroughly thought about what a two-state solution would mean. I believe that President Bush or his advisors did not know exactly the meaning of this suggestion, “side-by-side” having to deal with three areas - Gaza, Israel and the West Bank. No one could explain how to divide these three pieces of land into two contiguous - side by side parcels.

This suggestion of a side by side two-state solution is completely absurd, because it is not practically feasible. The two people are completely different in their thought, their aspirations, their culture, their religion and particularly in their history! One should keep in mind that the Jews who came from Europe or any other countries derive from the same ancestors for thousands of years.

Not to go far, our cultivated President Obama during his Cairo speech showed a lack of knowledge about Judaism and its history. Every civilized country tries to be nice to the so-called Palestinians, because everyone wants to be good to the oil sheikhs, knowing very well that this suggestion is completely without any basis. Now U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry is wasting his time with his forth and back travels to the Middle East, Israel and Ramallah.

In 1948 there was no Palestinian state. Israel conquered the West Bank from the Jordanians, who in the six day war of 1967, together with other Arab nations attacked Israel.  Israel did not take any land from any other Arab state. After a fierce combat with the Jordanian Legion, Israel took back the West Bank, which was a part of Palestine during the British occupation and was originally called Judea and Samaria in history. If the Arabs wanted to help their Palestinian Arab brothers, they could have invited them to their own vast lands. Everyone knows how large the Arab lands are, be it in Syria, be it In Egypt, Iraq, Saudi Arabia etc, etc. After they refused to accept the UN offer in 1948 or to negotiate with Israel since then, I believe that now it is too late. Israel cannot wait for any negotiation anymore.

In this sixty year time span, the Arabs could have built and developed the land they had at their disposal like the Israelis did. If the Arabs lack the funds for re-settling, I am sure that Jews from everywhere in the world could help out, as they did when the Jewish refugees settled in Israel.
Mr. John Kerry, with all due respect, you should not waste either your time or the American money for a dream which has no basis. Obama who is an intelligent man should have known this. There is enough land in the Middle East to develop. Don’t waste your time and our money. The so-called Palestinian cause is a false pretext and you know it. If the United States has to resolve the thousands of problems in the world we will never finish. As for Israel, they should annex their settlements and not waste their time either.

We should not forget that millions of Jews left Europe and millions have been expelled from Arab lands and they have left billion worth of property, without any compensation or right to return. They left their businesses and their thousands of years of history. The Jews resolved their problems without bothering anyone. Nor did they revolt or resort to force.

Copyright 2013 Emile Tubiana