BLOG 403 September 24, 2018
WISE ON THE MIDDLE EAST Each week Robert L. Wise, PhD, explores the Middle Eastern situation, ranging from Egypt through Jordan, Syria, Lebanon, Israel and the surrounding area. Wise first traveled to Israel and the neighboring countries in 1968. Two his sons taught in Jordan and Lebanon universities. Wise presents an objective view of the behind the scenes situation in these countries.
On August 24, American President Donald Trump ordered the State Department to redirect the funding for programs in the West Bank and Gaza Strip to unspecified projects elsewhere. The Palestinians screamed!
PLO Secretary-General Saeb Erekat denounced the loss of funds as “disgraceful” and accused the USA of meddling in the internal affairs of the West Bank and attempting to impact their national options. The Secretary-General claimed the funds were not a gift to the Palestinians, but a duty of the international community because of the continuation of occupation that blocks the development and growth of the Palestinians.
Senior PLO official Hanan Ashrawi accused America of “cheap blackmail as a political tool.” He said further, “there is no glory in constantly bullying and punishing a people under occupation.”
The constant surfacing of the word “occupation” represents a new strategy the Palestinians have been using to present themselves as a conquered people. Of course, this is not true, but makes good propaganda. People with short memories or no information on the past are bound to take pity on their plight.
The truth is that immediately after the United Nations gave Israel the right to become an established nation on May 16, 1948, the Arab states attacked Israel. Many Arabs fled Jerusalem and other cities at the direction of Muslim Mufi Husseini (often pictured talking with Hitler). Al-Husseini opposed King Abdullah of Jordan’s plan to annex the Palestinians into Jordan (which would have solved the problem). The Arabs started a fight they could not finish. Eventually Israel erected a wall around their country because of Arab Muslim suicide terrorism inside Israel. Ever since, the PLO has been a struggling organization that will not negotiate for a settlement of boundaries because their ultimate objective is the obliteration of Israel.
That’s hardly occupation!
American Jews opposed moving the American Embassy to Jerusalem because they saw this ending any neutrality the US might have had and halting their role in bringing a peaceful settlement to the Palestinian-Israel chaos. They have been proven right to this point as America no longer has any role in negotiating peace between these two fractions. Trump’s arbitrary actions have greatly pleased Prime Minister Netanyahu at the cost of destroying any relationship the US had with the Palestinians.
Dr. Robert L. Wise 