The Hell with the Narrative

“Our Land shall fall without one shot being fired. Our Land shall fall in a printing house where maps carrying the name “Palestine” will be printed.” – Ronen Tzafrir

I say, our Land shall fall because of one word, “narrative.”

We have all fallen victims to a lie, a lie called the Arab narrative.

Last Friday, I had breakfast with my dear friend, Dr. Mordechai Kedar who is by far one of the foremost experts on the Arab world. We are both disturbed by the embracing of the Arab narrative by  many of our own.

“Write an article and call it, ‘The Hell with the Narrative,’” Dr. Kedar  suggested.

So here I am.

The narrative that the world has been indoctrinated to accept without taking the time to examine it was encapsulated in a clear crystal manner by Zuheir Mohsen:

“Between Jordanians, Palestinians, Syrians and Lebanese there are no differences. We are all part of ONE people, the Arab nation. Look, I have family members with Palestinian, Lebanese, Jordanian and Syrian citizenship. We are ONE people. Just for political reasons we carefully underwrite our Palestinian identity. Because it is of national interest for the Arabs to advocate the existence of Palestinians to balance Zionism. Yes, the existence of a separate Palestinian identity exists only for tactical reasons. The establishment of a Palestinian state is a new tool to continue the fight against Israel and for Arab unity.” (In a March 1977 interview with the Dutch newspaper Trouw).

It is clear that this narrative was deliberately fabricated. It was invented for “tactical reasons” as a tool to justify the eradication of the Jewish state.

“In a world that is subject of Relativism,” Dr. Kedar explained to me, “there is ‘your’ truth and ‘my’ truth. The debate,” he insisted, “ instead of being between ‘Right’ and ‘Left,’ should be between ‘right’ and ‘wrong.’ “

For far too long, we, Israelis and Jews, have allowed the world to be subject to a lie created by the Arabs and perpetuated by the Left. We have become an accomplice to spreading that lie by using the Arab narrative and its terminology. We have allowed their tale, a fabricated tale, as opposed to our historical and factual truth, to prevail. By repeating their terminology of lies and half truths, we have legitimized it and helped it succeed in controlling the minds and hearts of an infantile world, a world that cannot distinguish between right and wrong.

How do we change that reality?

Firstly, we stop using their wrong lingo, their made up lexicon. We need to disassociate ourselves from it.

Secondly, we adopt, not invent, the already existing and right terminology.

We stop using the term ‘narrative,’ which has become associated with their twisted and made up tale. The term “narrative” is wrong because it has resulted in fueling Arab terrorism, hatred, anti-semitism and European guilt. Instead, we use historical, archeological and legal facts.

We stop referring to Eretz Yisrel as ‘Palestine’ (a name that is derived from the root word of “invaders”). We stop referring to Judea and Samaria as “The West Bank.” And we stop treating towns and residents of Judea and Samaria as “settlements” or “settlers.”

We stop using the term “occupation”;how can a nation occupy its own land?

We stop calling the Arabs in Eretz Yisrael “Palestinians” just as the other nations which ruled this place in the past, Turkey and Jordan, did. They are Arabs, their language is Arabic as are their culture and heritage. We should, instead, refer to them as “those that call themselves ‘Palestinians.'”

We cannot fight for what is Right by using and employing the vocabulary of that which is Wrong!