Partition of Palestine Anniversary: Free The Oppressed
Arabs
1 December 2009By Mazin Qumsiyeh
[Quote of the day] "The last thing that should
interest us is the Palestinians' concern. Before the
Palestinian issue, what should interest us is our
friends in the world. We spoke to them and most said
'help us to help you'." Avigdor Lieberman speaking to
Israel Radio about a 10 month "slowdown" of settlement
growth (contrary to Road Map Commitments)
The UN General assembly voted 29 November 1947 to
recommend partition of Palestine to give the Zionist
movement control over 55% of Palestine and leave the
Palestinians with 45% of Palestine. The Palestinian
natives were then more than 2/3rd of the population
and owned 93% of the land. Jews constituted a third of
the population (most of them illegal new immigrants)
who had land ownership of less than 7%. In the planned
"Jewish state", there would be almost an equal number
of Christian and Muslim Palestinians as Jews. The
Zionist movement accepted the idea of a Jewish state
but rejected the other parts of the proposal: borders
designated, Internationalization of Jerusalem,
economic union, and no ethnic cleansing. There were no
viable local leaders of Palestinians (decimated by the
British between 1936-1939 and sold-out by dictatorial
Arab regimes). The people (and here we are talking
about Christians, Muslim, and Jewish native
Palestinians) were however largely against partition
of their country. The illegal "vote" at the UN
(illegal because it violated the UN charter) succeeded
because of significant pressure from the US
government. President Truman pushed and pressured
governments to adopt it because of his need for Jewish
support in elections (see http://www.wrmea.com/backissues/0994/9409074.htm
). Other factors sometimes cited are sympathy for the
Zionist movement following the genocides of WWII and
perhaps a way of getting rid of the “Jewish problem”
in the West by dumping it on Palestine. There was
however strong collaboration by the Zionist movement
with both the Nazis themselves and the Nazi goals (see
Lenni Brenner "51 Documents: history of the
Nazi-Zionist collaboration and look at books and
articles written about the successful efforts of the
Zionist movement to prevent opening migration doors in
Western countries to European Jews).
James Forestall, US Secretary of Defense at the time
described in his diaries that “the method that has
been used to bring coercion and duress on other
nations in the General Assembly bordered on to
scandal”. The power politics machinations that led to
this infamous resolution (which violated the UN
charter itself) were captured by an Arab diplomat of
the time:
“The Arab delegations had tried actively to convince
other delegations to vote against partition by
appealing to logic, justice and law. Their efforts
were successful with delegations who had a living
conscience end an independent judgment. But some
delegations were compelled to change their stand when
they saw power end the material interests of their
countries on the other side. We remember how the
delegate of Haiti shed tears when he was forced to
change his country's vote to one in favour of
partition. We recall how General Romulo of the
Philippines left the U.S.A, because of Zionist
threats. Dr Arce of the Argentine, who had stood
against partition, came to me and said that he was
sorry that he had to abstain rather than to vote
against partition, but this was the result of pressure
on his government. These are a few of the several
delegates who were forced to vote against their
convictions. Sometime before the vote was taken I was
talking with Lester Pearson, then Minister of Foreign
Affairs of Canada and later Prime Minister. I said, "Mr
Pearson, do you believe that the act of partitioning
Palestine against the will of its inhabitants is an
act dictated by conscience and law?" He answered me
frankly, "Dr Jamali, politics doesn't know conscience
or law unless they are supported by power. As for us
today, we are obliged to comply with the policy of the
U.S.A. in what she decides on Palestine." Thus Lester
Pearson remained a strong supporter of Zionism, not
because of conscientious conviction or for legal
reasons, but because power and political interests
required it of him. The same held true for the
representative of Czechoslovakia who also said that
the legal aspect of the Palestine problem had been
ignored and that the politics of the Great Powers
decided the issue and that the U.S.A. had the last
word in the matter of Palestine.”
(Experiences in Arab Affairs 1943-1958 by Mohommed
Fadhel Jamali, Former Prime Minister of Iraq Web
published http://physics.harvard.edu/~wilson/Fadhel.html)
The CIA predicted accurately the meaning of Truman's
push to partition Palestine (in order to ensure he
would be elected) despite the wishes of its inhabitant
and despite the UN charter and they wrote in a now
declassified document (ORIGINAL November 28, 1947):
"Armed hostilities between Jews and Arabs will break
out if the UN General Assembly accepts the plan to
partition Palestine into Jewish and Arab states....The
Jews are expected to be able to mobilize some 200,000
fighters in Palestine.. The Jewish armed groups in
Palestine are well equipped and well trained in
commando tactics. Initially they will achieve marked
success over the Arabs because of superior
organization and equipment....The US by supporting
partition has already lost much of its prestige in the
Near East In the event that partition is imposed on
Palestine, the resulting conflict will seriously
disturb the social, economic, and political stability
of the Arab world, and US commercial and strategic
interests will be dangerously jeopardized. ..The
poverty, unrest, and hopelessness upon which Communist
propaganda thrives will increase throughout the Arab
world. (and later in the document, p. 6) US prestige
on the other hand has steadily decreased with each new
indication that the US supports the Zionists. The good
will enjoyed by the US at the time of the Rosevelt-Ibn
Saud Conference and following backing of Lebanese and
Syrian claims for independence was short lived as a
result of President Truman's support of Jewish
immigration to Palestine and of the Anglo-American
Committee report. Because of the long standing
cultural ties between the US and the Arab world, the
friendly role that the US played in the achievement of
Syrian and Lebanese independence, the partial
dependence of certain Arab states on oil royalties
from US companies, and the promise of increased
royalties in the future, the Arab states would like to
maintain friendly relations with the US. ... Little of
this (positive) development will be possible, if the
US supports a Jewish state in Palestine."
As time showed, catering to Zionist greed for someone
else's land only brought death and destruction and not
just on the native Palestinians themselves.
Ramifications included many wars (most lately Lebanon,
Gaza, Iraq, and Afghanistan) that still try to feed
the greed of the created apartheid regime and protect
its loot. The UN has tried to make-up for the
injustice by humanitarian aid and by designating
November 29 as an international day of solidarity with
the Palestinians people. For us, solidarity means
boycotts, divestments, and sanctions on Israel until
it complies with International law and basic human
rights (staring with the internationally recognized
basic right of Palestinian refugees to return to their
homes and lands).
Where next for Palestinians?
http://www.odsg.org/co/index.php/Articles/31-general/1561-where-next-for-palestinians.html
(Amazing story) A teenager's quest for justice
http://www.amedtrust.org/component/content/article/321-2009-november/6365-defying-israeli-genocide-at-home-in-school-and-abroad-in-court.html
Mazin Qumsiyeh, PhD A Bedouin in Cyberspace, a
villager at home
http://www.qumsiyeh.org http://www.pcr.ps
©
EsinIslam.Com
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