The Two-State Solution: A recurring nightmare (Part Two)

Inspired by The Jewish History Podcasts, with Rabbi Yaakov Wolbe. 

(Original graphic montage by author. All components in the public domain WikiCommons and GalGal copyright, expired 50 years after publication).

On May 14^th, 1948, the State of Israel declared its independence.

Immediately, the armies of Iraq, Syria, Lebanon, Egypt, and Jordan attacked. The Secretary General of the Arab League stated, “…this will be a war of extermination and a momentous massacre which will be spoken of, like the Mongolian massacres and the Crusades.”

(Montage by Gary Branfman. Elements of montage  WikiCommons/Public Domain)

At the recommendation of the invading armies, 700,000 Arabs fled the Holy Land, in anticipation of returning to a Jew-free Arab theocracy.

Israel had no tanks, no artillery, and no air force. Israel had 600,000 citizens, many of whom were Holocaust survivors, facing off against 45 million Arabs. The Arabs had planes, tanks, and a massive cache of weapons. The Jews had not a single tank and its air force consisted of nine obsolete airplanes.

With a massive Arab alliance threatening a sequel to the Holocaust, the Hagenah, the Irgun and the Stern Gang formed a coalition of combatants.  The Arabs underestimated the destiny of this ferocious fighting force.

David Ben Gurion flanked by the members of his provisional government reading the Declaration of Independence.  (Photo manipulation/montage by author) Original photo by Rudi Weissenstein – National Photo Collection of Israel Public Domain.

The Arab war to destroy Israel failed. Israel’s rag-tag revolutionaries prevailed but the cost to Israel was astronomical. Six-thousand three-hundred and thirty-three Jews were dead. Israel’s fields and citrus groves were destroyed. Military expenditure exceeded $500 million. Yet in the aftermath of the devastation, the State of Israel was born.

Arabs who had not fled were granted Israeli citizenship. Their brethren who flocked to Arab lands serve as pawns in the perpetual struggle against Israel.

“Use of The New York Times headlines with links back to the articles located on NYTimes.com.are permitted”.

During the years that followed, over 850,000 Jews who lived in Arab lands were stripped of their possessions and expelled. Many found a survivor’s spiritual sanctuary in their ancestral homeland.

Jordan, agreeing to allow Jewish access (as per the Armistice Agreement ) was granted control of Judaism’s Western Wall and the most important cemetery, on the Mountain of Olives.

Jordan lied. They forbid Jews to enter these holy sites.  Tombstones were toppled.  The Jordanian army used Hebrew headstones to build a military camp and to pave roads.

Original photomontage by Gary Branfman. Components are WikiCommons Public Domain and licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 )

On March 20, 1964, the Inter-Continental Hotel was built on ancient hallowed ground. Prior to this time, there were no, “Palestinians.” There were Jews, and there were Arabs.

On May 28, 1964, a new weapon of war was introduced: The Palestinian Liberation Organization whose stated objective was the elimination of the Jewish State.

In September of 1964, representatives of Jordan, Tunisia, Algeria, Sudan, Iraq, Saudi Arabia, Syria, Egypt, Yemen,  Kuwait, Lebanon, Libya, Morocco, and the PLO, convened for the second Arab summit in Alexandria, Egypt.

A main focus of the conference was the common goal of eliminating Israel. ….and the PLO was off to a good start. In 1965 they conducted 35 raids against Jewish civilians; in 1966, 41; in the first four months of 1967, 37 brutal attacks were launched.

These well-orchestrated onslaughts were conducted by a new identity: “Palestinian Arabs.” They infiltrated from Jordan, the Gaza Strip, and Lebanon.

On April 7, 1967, Syria attacked Israel from the Golan Heights with fighter planes. Israel shot down six. Syria asked Egypt’s Nasser to come to its aid.

On Israeli Independence Day, Egyptian and Syrian troops amassed along their borders with Israel. On May 30, King Nasser announced: “The armies of Egypt, Jordan, Syria, and Lebanon are poised on the borders of Israel… standing behind us are the armies of Iraq, Algeria, Kuwait, Sudan, and the whole Arab nation. “

President Aref of Iraq proclaimed, “Our goal is clear — to wipe Israel off the map.”

While the Soviet Union was supplying unlimited armaments to the Arabs, the US State Department formally announced: “Our position is neutral in thought, word and deed.”

On the morning of June 5, 1967, the Arab pilots were having breakfast while preparing to exterminate Israel.

(Original graphic by Gary Branfman)

At 7:14 a.m. the entire Israeli Air Force bombed the Egyptian airfields. By 11:05 a.m., 180 Egyptian fighter planes were destroyed. By the end of the first day, Israel destroyed 302 Egyptian, 20 Jordanian, and 52 Syrian aircraft.

In Six Days, Israel achieved a stunning victory.

Original Montage by Gary Branfman. Components: WikiCommons. Nassar Image, is in the public domain per Egyptian copyright laws. Article headlines when used verbatim in reporting and education fall under the US Fair Use Doctrine.

Israeli soldiers in front of the Kotel after liberating the Old City of Jerusalem, June 7, 1967. Source: Israel Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Photo: David Rubinger

Once again, déjà vu prevailed, and the recurrent nightmare recurred. Israel relinquished control of the Temple Mount to the Muslim religious authority and the Sinai to the Egyptians.

After the war, “Palestinian nationalism” grew. These “Palestinians” were Jordanians, Egyptians, and Arab refugees who had fled Israel decades earlier. Under the command of Yasser Arafat, they declared their endgame: the elimination of Israel.

While in Jordan, the PLO terrorized the Jordanians. On 17 September 1970, the Jordanian

Army surrounded cities with a significant PLO presence, which culminated in the death of 25,000 Palestinians. After regrouping in Lebanon, the Palestinians assassinated Jordanian prime minister Wasfi Tal. They preceded to spearhead the worst terror attacks in history including the Munich Massacre of Eleven Israeli athletes at the 1972 Olympic Games. On this occasion, Arafat solicited finances from Libyan leader Muammar Gadhafi. 

On October 6, 1973, the Arab states formed a coalition to avenge the humiliation of their recent defeat. The Palestinians followed suit, fighting alongside the Egyptians and Kuwaitis. On Yom Kippur, — Egypt and Syria launched a coordinated surprise attack against Israel.

On the Golan Heights, 180 Israeli tanks faced 1,400 Syrian tanks. Along the Suez Canal, 500 Israeli military with three tanks faced over 600,000 Egyptian soldiers with 2,000 tanks and 550 aircraft. Jordanian artillery batteries conducted assaults with 100 tanks. Libya, Sudan, Algeria, Tunisia, Saudi Arabia, Sudan Kuwait, Iraq, and Morocco provided tens of thousands of men, tanks, aircraft squadrons, and armored brigades. Lebanon allowed Palestinians to shell Israeli civilians from their land.

Since it appeared that Israel’s annihilation was imminent,  UN secretary-general Waldheim showed no interest in initiating peacemaking efforts.

On October 22, Israeli forces encircled the entire Egyptian Third Army’s 100,000 soldiers and were in position to make thousands of wives, widows.

Article headlines when used verbatim in reporting and education fall under the US Fair Use Doctrine.

Suddenly, the UN Security Council called for, “all parties to the present fighting to cease all firing and terminate all military activity immediately.”

Later that year, Palestinians took control of a school in northern Israel. The Ma’alot Massacre, concluded with the murder of 25 hostages.

Photomontage by Gary Branfman. Components: Fair Use;  Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0, Government Press Office (Israel), and David Rubinger/Corbis via Getty Images.

“Palestinians” loved satisfying the media’s insatiable thirst for drama.  They did so with Entebbe,  Black September, and the Italian cruise ship the Achille Loro, where they shot, killed, and threw overboard a wheelchair-bound American Jew, Leon Klinghoffer.

In 1978, Palestinian terrorists hijacked a bus, murdering 38 Israeli civilians including 13 children. The following year, Arafat met with Khomeini in Iran, and left with financial backing for his future atrocities.

Despite their savagery and partnership with Iran, The United Nations granted the terrorist organization, “special observer status,” at the UN, proving that terrorism works.

In 1988, the PLO rebranded themselves as the “Palestinian Authority”. While Arafat spoke of peace from one side of his mouth, from the other side of his mouth, (as quoted in the Norwegian paper Dagen) he said, “We will replace Israel with a Palestinian Arab state. I have no use for Jews, they are and remain Jews.”

On August 9, 2001, a Palestinian suicide bomber strolled into a Jerusalem pizzeria injuring 130 and murdering 16 including seven children and a pregnant woman. Those responsible are honored by the Palestinians as heroes.

Vince Musi / The White House (WikiCommons/Public Domain)

In 1993, the recurring nightmare resurfaced as  The Oslo Accords.  Clinton and Rabin shook hands with Arafat and posed for a photo-op on the White House lawn.  They got their Nobel Peace Prize. They again legitimized this terrorist.

Whether you call it the PLO, or the PA, they subscribe to the same “PAY FOR SLAY”  ideology, providing rewards to Palestinians terrorists who murder Jews.

Yitzhak Rabin (photo credit: REUTERS)

A tragedy transpired in 1995. Yigal Amir, a radical Israeli assassinated Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin. He believed that The Oslo Accords was another mechanism for rewarding terrorists. He is serving a life sentence.

PhotoMontage by Gary Branfman

In his early years, Rabin served in the Hagenah’s elite fighting force, Palmach. Two decades later , under his command the IDF achieved victory in the Six Day War. Following his death he was replaced by Shimon Perez, but very soon Netanyahu won a stunning victory over Perez. Why?  Israel needed an unapologetic protector to stand up to the Arab’s diabolical plans for Israel locally, and Jews internationally.

By the year 2000, Israel became complacent, imagined peace on the horizon and Ehud Barak was prime minister. Clinton, Barak, and Arafat convened in Maryland for the Camp David Summit to renew the recurring “Two State Solution” nightmare.

LET’S MAKE A DEAL

Prime Minister Ehud Barak, President Clinton, and Yasser Arafat on the grounds of Camp David, 7/11/2000. (Public Domain, WikiCommons)

Arafat was told, “You want a Palestinian state?”  You can have all of the Gaza Strip and 95% of the West Bank and we’ll give you land connecting them. We’re going to keep 5% of the West Bank. Everything else will become the State of Palestine, and we can divide Jerusalem. Barak agreed to allow some Arab refugees who had fled, back into Israel to become citizens. Others would become citizens of the new Palestinian state. The deal included $30 billion dollars for the refugees.

What was Arafat’s response? He walked away. No counteroffer, nothing. He just left. He didn’t want a Jewish state. Period.

Arafat returned to his old tricks, launching morbid massacres in restaurants and butchering in buses. That’s what terrorists do. They terrorize.

In 2004, Arafat died, leaving an estate worth billions of dollars he had stolen from funds earmarked for the “Palestinian people”. His investments included the Coca-Cola bottling plant in Ramallah, a Tunisian cell phone company, and venture capital funds in the U.S. and the Cayman Islands.

He also invested millions in the Greenwich Village hipster hangout, Bowlmor Lanes.  Founded in 1938, today, their locations stretch from Long Island to San Francisco. Among Bowlmor’s frequent joyous festivities are bar and bat mitzvah celebrations. So much for Arafat’s BDS Compliance!

Upon his death, Arafat was replaced by his equally radical militant lieutenant, Mahmoud Abbas Abu Mazen. In the mid-1950s, Abbas joined an underground group of Palestinian Arabs exiled to Qatar. In 1961 he joined Arafat’s Fatah.

Israel’s Ariel Sharon was dreaming of a peace when he orchestrated the exodus of nine thousand Jews from Gaza. The “Disengagement Plan Implementation Law” was approved by the Knesset in February 2005. Those Jews left farms, greenhouses, businesses, and buildings. The Palestinians destroyed them all  because they had belonged to Jews. Shuls were bulldozed.

Ehud Olmert meets with Mahmoud Abbas in Jerusalem, November 2008. (photo credit: Moshe Milner GPO/Flash90)

In 2008, the peace process was resuscitated by Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert. Abbas, was offered over 98% of the land and a corridor connecting Gaza to the West Bank. Jerusalem would be a shared capital and Israel agreed to accept 40,000 additional Palestinians back into Israel.

“The Palestinian side will only accept a Palestinian state… with holy Jerusalem as its capital.” said Abbas as he and the Palestinians walked away from the deal.

In 2019, another “deal of the century” was presented to the Palestinians. The plan, officially titled “Peace to Prosperity: A Vision to Improve the Lives of the Palestinian and Israeli People”, proposed a $50 billion investment fund for infrastructure and business. In June, the plan was unveiled at a U.S.-led, “Peace to Prosperity” conference in Bahrain. The Palestinian leadership boycotted the entire event.

Trump, who had managed to broker peace between Israel and Morocco; UAE; Sudan; and Bahrain, failed with the Palestinians. The Palestinians made it clear that any existence of a Jewish state is unacceptable.

Israel is not the only country getting sick and tired of the Palestinians. Israel has peace treaties with Egypt, Jordan, the UAE, Bahrain, Morocco, and Sudan. Israel and Saudi Arabia are discussing peace and cooperation. .

Before October 7, Gaza had no Jews and billions of dollars. They have a magnificent Mediterranean coastline. They could have become the the Riviera of the region. Singapore did it. So did Tokyo.

Instead, on October 7, the Palestinians celebrated the binding, burning, and beheading of Jewish babies; the gang-raping of Jewish teens and the torturing, murdering, and kidnapping of entire families.

The “Two-State Solution” is like an award-winning ground-breaking psychological horror film. Its sub-standard sequels continue to plague the horrific nightmares of children on both sides of the great divide.

(Original graphics by Gary Branfman)

On April 13, Iran unleashed hundreds missiles at Israel. While Palestinians cheered in celebration, a miracle unfolded before our very eyes. A coalition of unanticipated bedfellows including Saudi Arabia, Jordan and the United Arab Emirates chose the side of good in the battle of good versus evil. It seems they too are growing tired of the Palestinian’s failure to seek peace.

Will those whose rallying cry echoes blaringly, “From the River to the Sea,” ever accept the existence of a Jewish State?

If not, it is time for the rest of the world to extinguish the blazing flames of this recurring nightmare.