Effectively, this partition could have and should have satisfied any Balfour Declaration or League of Nations proviso that rights of non-Jewish Palestinian inhabitants not be unfairly compromised. The overwhelming majority of the land promised to the Jews was given to the people who are today referred to as "Palestinians." Jordan now is a Palestinian state. Any land rights that they may have had were more than fairly respected.

A Jewish homeland was not intended or designed to be a tribute to American-style democracy or to be a replica of America's great melting pot society.

Consequently, the entire remaining portion of land, some 11,000 square miles, should have been reserved exclusively for Jewish control or occupation. It was the responsibility of the British government and the League of Nations to guarantee it.

The plans for the Jewish homeland were universally known and accepted, even by the entire Hussein family who represented the Arabs on the battlefield against the Ottoman Empire and at the peace conferences at the end of the war. There was no surprise sprung on unsuspecting Arabs: The Jewish homeland was going to be restored. If any Arab didn't like what was happening, or didn't want to live amongst Jews, then all they had to do was not move from Damascus to Hebron, or from Cairo to Jerusalem, or from Beirut to Haifa -- which tens of thousands of Arabs did in search of a better life working at Jewish businesses and farms. For the relatively few Arabs that already lived within the remaining 11,000 square miles of land, if they couldn't tolerate living and working within a Jewish state they should have picked themselves up and relocated to Transjordan or any one of the other new Arab states.

In 1946, when the League of Nations was officially dissolved, the new United Nations adopted all the articles and resolutions that the League had accepted with regard to the establishment of a Jewish homeland in Palestine. Unfortunately, in their efforts to satisfy the problems in the Middle East, the UN Commission's Partition Planners overlooked the League of Nations original resolutions and forgot, or disregarded, the fact that Palestine had already been partitioned, with extreme favor to the Arabs. Therefore, when they recommended partitioning the remaining 11,000 square mile Palestine, it was the rights of the Jewish people that were (again) being unfairly compromised.

The 1947 partition plan further whittled away what was once 45,000 square miles to less than 8,000 square miles (versus the more than 1.2 million square miles of land that was given to the Arabs from the Ottoman Empire).

In any event, an overwhelming majority of the Jews in Palestine and the nations of the world agreed with and accepted the UN Plan. The Arab nations and people did not; they rejected it. They condemned the very notion that an independent Jewish State could and should exist in the historical land of the Jewish people. The Arab nations went to war against the Jewish people and State, several times. In addition, they sent terrorists across Israel's borders to attack and kill women, children, the elderly, and the defenseless. Arab leaders sent terrorists around the world to commit equally despicable acts against people of all ages, races and religions. And, as we all know, this terrorism continues nearly unrestrained up to this very day.

When an athlete rejects an offer he or she forfeits the rights and benefits contained in the offer. The athlete can't just show up on game day and expect to go out on the field to play. The athlete can't just show up at the Paymaster's window on Friday and expect to receive some compensation. Likewise, when a renter or home buyer rejects or abrogates the terms of a contract, that person forfeits any of the rights and privileges granted by the acceptance and adherence to the contract. If you don't sign the lease and you don't agree that you won't raise cattle in your apartment, then you cannot move in. This is very simple stuff.

The Arabs took, and took, and took. They used the authority of the League of Nations and other sanctioning bodies to provide for them, but time after time they rejected and rebelled against any other idea or deal that might provide some improvement to the condition of others. In their rejection of the UN Partition Plan, and by their continuous war against the Jewish State and people, Arabs have forfeited the right to live as a distinct nation anywhere in the region bounded on the east and west by the Jordan River and Mediterranean Sea, and on the north and south by the Lebanese and Egyptian borders. The only illegal settlements that exist within that boundary are Arab.

Joseph Farah recently wrote, "The (illegal Jewish) 'settlement' issue is a canard. It's a propaganda ploy to suggest that only Jews are newcomers to the region."

Of course, Farah's comment is correct, and in actuality the land of Israel holds no particular historical, biblical or religious significance to the Arabs, aside from it

Outpost               - 6 -               February 2003