The Palestinians ' existential struggle

By Hasan Afif El-Hasan

U.S. media intentionally missed the opportunity to provide the public with insightful analysis in the essence of the Palestinian refugees peaceful demonstrations to commemorate the Nakbah "disaster". U.S. media reported thousands of Arab protesters marched on the borders with Syria, Isræls Lebanon and Gaza endorsement clash, left at least 15 people died in "an annual Palestinian ritual mourning the anniversary of the birth of Isræls." Many journalists echoed the isrælske accusations, Damascus and its ally Iran orchestrated unrest. U.S. media and the majority of the US public does not seem to take account of the situation for the Palestinians during the Nakbah when isrælske fighters expelled 750,000 Palestinians from their homes. Israel has been depicted as David, when it had been Goliath since its creation. And for us Christian right believe that Jews are presumed to have the Holy Land to fulfill God's promise in the Bible before bringing on Armageddon, which will cause Jesus to return.

The media failed to inform the public that these demonstrators are Palestinian refugees and their descendants, who had been purified by the Jewish military in 1947-48 from their homes in Palestine, where they, their fathers and grandfathers fine for centuries. And, unfortunately, the Palestinians have taken control of their own national narrative. Murdered Palestinians on May 14 of isrælske Sharpshooters were unarmed disparate refugees seek justice, and Isræls lived up to his brutal attacks. About third countries-the 60th anniversary of the Palestinian catastrophe has the story about ethnic cleansing of Palestinians from their ancestral home-soil to know again, because its victims still await justice while the world looks other way.

In 1947-48 ethnic cleansing in Palestine is a crime that has not been treated in the legal area, but it is rooted in memory and consciousness of the Palestinians; and the perpetrators are the Jewish leaders of the "war for independence". The first Prime minister of Israel, Ben-Gurion, said in a speech to the 3 December 1947 Mapai:

"That is not 40%-Jews [Palestinians] in the area allocated to the Jewish State Such demographic balance questions. our ability to maintain Jewish sovereignty.Only one State with at least 80% of Jews are a viable and stable state. " He wrote in his book, rebirth and destiny, "Haganah … liberated Tiberia, and Haifa, Jaffa, and Safad.So on the day of fate [May 14 1948] as part of Palestine which the Haganah could operate was almost clear of Arabs [cleaned]. "

The cleaning was discussed, planned and optimized in David Ben-Gurion home. The isrælske historian, Simcha Flapan, wrote that "ad hoc cabal assembled for the sole purpose of image and design the fixed network of the Palestinians." This group, which included top-ranking leaders of the future state of Israel, Yigael Yadin, Moshe Dayan, Yigal Allon and Yitzhak Sadeh, drew the ethnic cleansing plans and supervision of their execution.

According to historian Meir Pail was military orders sent on 10 March 1948 to the Jewish units on the ground to prepare systematic expulsion of Palestinians from large areas of the country. Orders came with a detailed description of the methods used to remove the power of the people. These included large-scale intimidation, about the siege and bombard villages and population centres, setting fire to houses, property and goods, expulsion, demolition, and finally, planting mines among rubble to prevent any of the expelled inhabitants back.

Military units led by Moshe Kalman cleaned area of Safad Moshe Carmel, who later served as Minister for transport, uprooted most of Galilee, and future Prime minister Yitzhak Rabin cleared Lydda, Ramla and West jerusalem area from their original Palestinian people. Shimon Avidan, Commander of the Givati Brigade cleaned hundreds of villages and towns in the South. The perpetrators, which is called by isrælerne as "war of independence Heroes" not only cleaned but also committed some of the worst atrocities, accompanied by systematic weakening of the Palestinians.

From Isræls first days, its leaders are not acting according to the human ethics seeks compromise and peace. After the triumph in the 1967 war was Prime minister Golda Meir on the Palestinians ' rights. Her response was "what are you talking about? There are no Palestinians. "

International treaties have designated ethnic cleansing as a crime against humanity, which require special international tribunals to judge those accused if they have planned and carried out acts of ethnic cleansing. A special international criminal court was created in Håg against the former Yugoslavia leaders to prosecute the offenders and criminals and also in Arusha, Tanzania, and Rwanda.

The majority of the Palestinians today are refugees and will never be a solution to the Palestinian issue without addressing their right to return, but all the isrælske parties position is clear, "not the right of return for Palestinian refugees".
The ongoing Palestinian struggle with isrælerne is existential. The Palestinians wasted decades pinning hopes for achieving peace with justice in Washington without realizing that there is no moral political leadership in the United States when dealing with the Palestinian question. Israel has gotten his way to commit serious violations of international law and shall be screened by the U.S. veto any UN Security Council's condemnation. United States has defended Israel, while it has engaged with slow ethnic cleansing of Jerusalem, the colonization of the West Bank, the destruction of the Gaza Strip and hunger of the population is 1.5 million.

United States has the power to promote and enforce specific proposals for changing the Palestinians ' situation peacefully. But it is painful, there is no hope that comes along an American President who actually means to use his immense power, not because it will do him no political gains or get him votes, or new friends among the ultra-rightwing isrælske followers or the American Christian rightbut just because it is the right thing to do.

-Hasan Afif El-Hasan is a political analyst. His latest book, is the two-State solution already dead? (Algora Publishing, New York). He contributed this article to PalestineChronicle.com.