The article by the Washington Post on Saturday “Israeli politics making for strange partners” was quite informative but one point needs to be clarified. “Many Palestinians fled or were forced from their land following Israel’s creation in 1948” is misleading. It was not the creation of Israel that brought about the crisis, but rather the belligerence of neighbouring Arab states. Because of a war begun by those states, who all opposed UNGA Resolution 181 which sanctioned the creation of a Jewish state six months earlier, the one Jewish state had no choice but to defend itself. It was the resulting conflict which perpetuated the refugee problem. Often Palestinian Arabs chose to flee, egged on by their Arab leaders who promised them a soon return not just to their own homes, but also to the plundered properties of all the Jews. The Arab dream which would have meant a Jewish nightmare never came to pass. Israel did not create the “Palestinian Problem”; Arab belligerence did.
- Nigel Woodley, Dominion Post, 27 March 2021
