The WSJ Doesn’t Understand the Difference Between ‘Why’ and ‘What’

The Wall Street Journal ran a lengthy article entitled “Why Arab States Hate Trump’s Plan to Relocate Palestinians” (Feb 1. 2025). It opens with an absolute correct observation: “The Arab world is pushing back, ostensibly because it would undermine efforts to create a Palestinian state. But Arab leaders have another reason to oppose providing safe haven to millions of Gazans forced from their homes: past experience. Palestinian refugees have been a headache for Arab governments since the creation of the state of Israel in 1948.”

Even though the headline asks “Why”, the writers answered “What” to do with the Palestinian refugee problem? Yes, the question should be “Why is there a Palestinian refugee problem?” After all, from the tens of millions of refugees from World War II, there are none remaining. In addition, there are no Jewish refugees after the shocking expulsion of 850,000 Jews from Arab lands in the early 1950’s, where Jews had lived for over one thousand years.

The answer to the Palestinian Refugee problem can be found in the different objectives of the UN Refugee Agency and UNRWA. The former is focused on caring for and settling refugees to become productive citizens of the countries where they and their descendants take refuge. However, the latter’s objective is to use the unique generational refugee status (where 3^rd and 4^th generations later are still considered refuges) as a tactic to achieve the Islamic Jihadist goal of world religious domination and rule. Arab nations say they care about the “Palestinian” refugees, but action speaks louder than words, and they let them squaller in camps in their countries rather than offering them citizenship, like other refugees throughout history and the world.

Proof of UNRWA’s complicity in this violent objective can be found at UNwatch.org. It is surprising that the editors allowed the writers to almost exclusively use UNRWA, a proven haven for Hamas and holding pen for the inhumanely treated hostages, as their data source for the article.

Furthermore, the subhead of the article reads: “A history of violent conflict is among the reasons that regional neighbors are opposed to providing a haven for war-weary Gazans.” Again, the answer to the missing “Why” is the violent history of Arab and terrorist invasions. Not the peaceful and repeated outreaches of the modern State of Israel (see the Israel Declaration of Independence, repeated two-state solution offers, and more.) Therefore, Hamas (and Iran) is also the “Why” there is so much devastation in Gaza, not Israel.

The foundation of good Journalism is to answer objectively: Who, What, When, Where, Why, and How. Period.

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About: David S. Levine, MBA, is the author of the recently released “Revolutions: In Their Own Words, What That Really Says About Their Causes”.