Western Myths About Palestinians vs. What They Say And Do

Well-meaning liberal Americans sympathize with the Arab-Palestinian cause because of the group's determined, decades-long struggle against Israel's superior military might. Recently, that favoritism among Democrats for the first time shifted to a majority who support the Palestinians over Israel.

But if supporters of the Palestinians knew the whole truth, as the Palestinians tell it, they might reverse their sympathies. Indeed, when we listen to what the Palestinians say, and what they do, their underdog image is betrayed by belligerent goals, cruel methods and values anathema to Western civilization.

Understandably, liberals sympathize with the Palestinians out of "humanitarian" instincts. To them, the Palestinians are an oppressed group fighting bravely for their freedom. These defenders see Israel, the Palestinians' foe, as having, for 78 years, tried to deny innocent people self-determination and their rightful share of a Middle East homeland.

But this sympathetic portrait of Arab-Palestinians is purely the product of Western projection--an imagined assignment to the Palestinians of motives, goals and values characteristic of a Western mindset. Western liberals are often shocked when they're exposed to the portrait Palestinians paint of themselves--as Arabs and as Muslims--which embodies characteristics in direct contradiction to peace-loving Western values and aspirations.

Perhaps the most significant reason the Palestinians are still fighting is that Israel and its Western allies continue to offer what we think the Palestinians want--or should want--rather than what they actually do want. Westerners have steadfastly believed that Palestinians want a state and to live in peace with Israel, and that Israel is preventing the Palestinians from achieving this goal.

The problem turns out to be ours. Palestinians tell us what they want and pursue what they want, but we ignore their message. We prefer our enlightened translation. To gain insight into this contradiction, it helps to highlight exactly what the Palestinians tell us--and what they tell themselves--about their goals and values.

To get a handle on this disconnect, let's compare Westerners' two greatest myths about Palestinian goals and values with what Palestinians say and do regarding the major issues affecting peace in the Middle East.

Myth #1: Palestinians want their own state, living in peace beside Israel. The Palestinians flatly reject any Jewish rights to sovereignty in "Palestine," because they reject the Jews' historical connection to the Land of Israel. For example, Palestinian Authority leader Mahmoud Abbas, in 2018, bizarrely called Israel a "colonial project" having no basis in history and disconnected from Judaism.

During the Camp David summit in 2000--an attempt by President Bill Clinton to resolve the Israeli-Palestinian conflict with a two-state solution--former PLO chief Yasser Arafat asserted that "Solomon's Temple was not in Jerusalem, but Nablus." Clinton was flabbergasted at this outright lie, but Arafat refused to back down, just as he refused the Israeli and American offer of statehood.

Hamas, still the Palestinians' leading political and military force, maintains in its charter that "The land of Palestine is an Islamic Waqf (endowment) consecrated for future Muslim generations until Judgment Day." The concept of waqf in Islam implies that it belongs to Muslims exclusively and cannot be shared with infidels, especially Jews.

Furthermore, recent polls show that most Palestinians reject a two-state solution, preferring a single, Arab-ruled state.

Given this religious and political opposition to a Jewish state, it's no wonder Palestinians teach their children from birth to hate, conquer and kill Jews. Many videos exist on social media that show children saying they want to fight and defeat the Jews.

In short, the notion that Palestinians want a peaceful state next to Israel is betrayed by countless statements from Palestinian political and religious leaders, as well as curricula at every educational level.

Myth #2: Israel is preventing the Palestinians from forming their own state. The United Nations and Israel, with America's backing, have offered the Palestinians many opportunities to achieve statehood, but the Palestinians and their fellow Arabs have flatly refused every time. 

They rejected the 1947 U.N. partition plan. Following the 1967 Six-Day War, Israel offered land it had seized in exchange for peace with its Arab neighbors. The Arab reply? The three "no's": no recognition of Israel, no negotiations with Israel and no peace with Israel.

In 2000, 2001 and 2008, Israel again offered the Palestinians statehood--in all of Judea and Samaria (AKA the "West Bank"), with a capital in eastern Jerusalem--but again, the Palestinians said no. Later attempts by U.S. Presidents Barack Obama and Donald Trump were also rejected.

Israel has also attempted numerous programs to assist and build trust with the Palestinians, including inviting hundreds of thousands of Palestinian workers into Israel and providing medical care, water and electricity to Palestinians.

Unfortunately, no Palestinian leader has arisen who advocates prosperity for the Palestinian people and peace with Israel. There is no Gandhi, no Mandela, no peace movement. Rather, Palestinian leaders focus on what they call the "resistance"--the codeword for continued terror, whose goal is the conquest of Israel.

Claims that Israel stands in the way of a Palestinian state are contradicted by a 78-year history of generous offers from Israel to help the Palestinians create one. However, while Israel has never started a war with the Palestinians, it has been forced to defend itself from countless attacks--from terrorist murders to outright wars--by an opponent determined to destroy it.

The liberal West would be smarter to believe what the Palestinians say and do, and not our naive projections. We want to believe that the Palestinians want a state that will exist peacefully alongside Israel. However, the Palestinians themselves tell us they reject Jewish sovereignty in what they view as exclusively Arab-Muslim land.

Westerners also assume that Israel is preventing the Palestinians from achieving self-determination. But history proves otherwise. Israel has made many offers to the Palestinians, who said "no" to each one. Indeed, more often than not, they and their Arab brethren followed up their rejections with violence and bloodshed, forcing Israel into 76 years of defensive actions.

Originally published at JNS.org