John R Houk
© July 20, 2011
Israel's Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Danny Ayalon explains the reality of the non-existence of an Arab nation known a Palestine. The area called the West Bank by geopoliticians did not exist prior to 1967. The area was part of the British Mandate for Palestine which originally included present day Israel, Jordan, Gaza and the Golan Heights in 1917. The reason for the existence of the British Mandate for Palestine was to provide the return of Jews to their homeland according to the Balfour Declaration and the now defunct League of Nations.
Between 1917 and 1948 Jews came back to the land they were ejected from their home by the Romans. Arabs originally could care less about returning Jews until the influence of the Grand Mufti Amin el-Husseini infected the area with a combination of Arab Nationalism, Hitler’s Nazi principles toward Jews and a bit of the return to purist Islam of the Muslim Brotherhood. By 1939 el-Husseini Muslim Arabs were stirred into becoming hostile toward the Jews returning to their homeland.
The year 1939 was the beginning of WWII for the British. Rioting between Jews and Arabs was not a pleasant thought to judge by the British. The British were counting on the Arab allies that had been made during and after WWI to keep Nazi Germany from acquiring the then increasingly important oil that was just beginning to flow toward the West. The Brits would have completely sided with the Arabs of the Mandate for Palestine had not el-Husseini became the voice of Nazi Germany to the Arab World during WWII as well as organizing European Muslims of the Balkan area to fight for Germany and kill Jews.
Great Britain’s (United Kingdom) National Interests became more important than the promises made to Jews. The math was simple: There were more Muslim-Arabs in strategic areas necessary for Great Britain and the Allied Nations to have resources to defeat Hitler’s Germany as well as to prevent the Nazis from using those same strategic areas. The 2000 years of guilt for Western oppression of Jews was overcome by the necessity of keeping evil from ruling a large chunk of the world.
Then facts began to arise that were too great for the Allied victors of WWII to keep from their citizens. Jews were exterminated to the tune of nearly SIX MILLION by Hitler’s Final Solution. After WWII tons of Jews wanted to move back to their homeland. The British continued with the halt of Jewish Aliyah (moving back to the Land of the Jews) that began just after 1929 to appease Muslims now in full swing toward Jew-hatred. When it became apparent that the British would now not support a Jewish State, Jewish militancy went on the rise to meet Muslim terrorism with Jewish terrorism. The Brits became fed up with the scenario and left their Mandate for Palestine arbitrarily in the same year that Jewish leaders managed to unite the various Jewish militants together and unilaterally declare Israel as a sovereign nation in 1948. The same year Muslim Arab nations in the British orbit of influence invaded the new nation of Israel with the intention of killing all the Jews and splitting the rest of the British Mandate of Palestine between each invading nation.
It didn’t work out that way though. The undermanned and under gunned Israel Defense Forces (IDF) managed a defeat all of the invaders except Transjordan (now Jordan). Transjordan’s army was called the Arab Legion and was British trained and British led. That means a British general led the Arab Legion to the gates of Jerusalem’s Old City in which laid the then immense Jewish Quarter. I am not clear if the IDF stalled the Arab Legion advance or if the British Officers chose not to proceed further because of the losses of the other Arab invading armies. In either case Transjordan was in possession of part of the British Mandate of Palestine. Soon after an Israeli-Transjordanian armistice Transjordan formally annexed the area they captured and renamed their nation Jordan. The reasoning being Jordan was in possession of both sides of the Jordan River with old Transjordan being on the East Bank and newly conquered areas of the old British Mandate on the West Bank. Hence there is the name West Bank.
There were several wars between Muslim nations and Israel all to exterminate the Jewish State. In 1967 the Muslim Arab nations were again massing their forces in an attempt to drive Jews into the sea. The 1967 war is called the Six-Day War. Egypt began a blockade of Israel’s Red Sea port as well as massing of troops along the Israel border. Syria also began to mass forces but added shelling toward the Israeli side of its border. Jordan was reluctant to be a part of the hostility against Israel but felt they had to engage against Israel as a show of Arab-Muslim unity against Israel.
The sliver of a nation known as Israel was watching as its enemies were about to begin an invasion by Egypt and Syria that was meant to be a genocidal war against Jews. Should Israel play the waiting game of defense in which the odds were heavy that Israel would cease to exist? NO!
Israel attacked Egypt and Syria preemptively laying waste to their air forces. Egypt called for Jordan to start a front with the lie that the Egyptian army had successfully began their invasion and Syria was to follow suit. Against Jordan’s better judgment coupled with some bad Intel Jordan began their invasion. Israel spanked Jordan’s army forcing a retreat across the Jordan River acquiring back the Old City of Jerusalem (aka East Jerusalem) and the area Jordan termed as the West Bank.
So one has to ask: How can the area renamed as the West Bank by Jordan become called an occupied area when that part of the Mandate of Palestine was itself occupied by Jordan’s British led army?
Most Israeli citizens call the area Judea and Samaria as relative to Biblical Scriptures. Deputy Defense Minister Danny Ayalon claims at worst the area should not be designated as occupied but rather as disputed territory.
JRH 7/20/11 (Hat Tip: Milonga De Una Mora Judia)
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