A Tangled Web

WHY PALESTINIAN "LAND" IS A MYTH.



I've noticed a few posters making the assertion that whilst Israel has the right to exist (how generous), it has no right to "occupy" Palestinian land. This, of course, is nonsense.



Let's consider the facts.



What is Palestine? When the Romans conquered Judea, they renamed it Palestine. Since then, no occupying power ever made it an independent state or established a capital in Jerusalem. Under the Ottoman Empire, it was part of the province of Syria.



After World War I, the area was mandated to Britain to establish a Jewish national home. Instead, in 1922, Britain split off 75% of Palestine to establish the Emirate of Transjordan, as a throne for the Arabian Hashemite family.



The UN decided to split the rest of Palestine between Jews and Arabs.



In 1948, five Arab armies attacked the newborn State of Israel. Transjordan annexed the area intended for an Arab state, and renamed itself the Kingdom of Jordan, calling the annexed area the West Bank. Egypt took over Gaza. No Arab suggested making the West Bank and/or Gaza into yet another Arab state until 1967, when Israel was again attacked by the Arabs and took these areas.



Whether or not she choses to exercise the right, Israel owns the West Bank by right of conquest. Before 1967, the last previous legal owner was the Ottoman Empire. And Turkey, heir to the Ottomans, has never asked for it back.



From whence does the "Palestinian" right to this land come? Answer, propaganda.