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Jewish World Review August 29, 2000 / 28 Menachem-Av, 5760
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http://www.jewishworldreview.com --
LISTEN TO the Palestinians talk about Jerusalem; these days, they sound a lot
like Zionists.
Here is Yasir Arafat's top religious official, declaring that the
Palestinians "will never accept any piece of land as an alternative to
Jerusalem." Then there is the "Jerusalem Pledge," signed by many
Palestinian personalities, which promises "to G-d and to the Arab and Muslim
states that Jerusalem will remain in our hearts, our feelings and our minds,
and we will not cede its sand." It sounds eve more Zionist in the next line:
"We pledge to G-d to remain holders of Jerusalem's flag until we hand it
over to our children and our grandchildren."
On occasion, Palestinian words exactly echo Israeli ones. Thus, when
Jewish and Muslim leaders met with Pope John Paul II in March 2000, both
claimed Jerusalem as their "eternal capital." (For good measure, so did the
Israeli president and Yasir Arafat.)
The Palestinian love of Zion is not just talk; Yasir Arafat's demands
for sovereignty over eastern Jerusalem led to the collapse of the Camp David
II summit in July.
Why do Palestinian feelings about Jerusalem so closely resemble the
Jewish ones? Because Palestinian nationalism is a new phenomenon, dating
back only to the year 1920. Lacking prior roots, it has in almost every
important area - not just sentiments for Jerusalem - imitated its Jewish
prototype. A few examples:
-- Zionists base their claims on the Bible - so Palestinians do too.
Arafat once told a journalist, "You must read the Bible, because it contains
abundant historic references that demonstrate the existence of a cultural and
geopolitical Palestinian identity for many thousands of years."
-- Just as Zionists created a "state in the making" during the Mandatory
period (1917-48), so the Palestinians are doing so now. What the Jewish
Agency was, the Palestinian Authority has become. This distinguishes these
two movements from virtually all other anti-colonial efforts, which simply
inherited the colonial state.
-- The Jewish National Fund buys land from Arabs for Zionist settlement;
Pol Dict of St. of Isr, 188 starting in 1995, the PLO has been in the
business of buying land from Jews. JP 18 Jun 95 #40
-- The Zionist practice of planting trees has since 1994 also become a
Palestinian practice, and both have the same goals (to enhance a moral claim
to the land). Further, the Palestinian planting takes place one day before
Tu B'Shevat, an ancient Jewish festival of trees.
-- The PLO's declaration of a Palestinian state in November 1988 echoed
Israel's 1948 Proclamation of Independence in subject matter, organization,
and even specific phrasing. For example, David Ben-Gurion called on "the
Jewish people all over the world to rally to our side" and Arafat called on
"Arab compatriots to consolidate and enhance the emergence and reality of our
state."
-- The "Law of Return" holds that every Jew has an inalienable right to
live in Israel and underpins the whole Zionist venture. Palestinians
proclaim a "Right of Return," asserting that every displaced Palestinian has
the prerogative to repossess lands left in 1948-49.
-- Like Zionists, Palestinians rely heavily on foreign subventions.
Zionists looked initially to fellow Jews for support, then to Western states.
Palestinians also began by depending on coreligionists then expanded to
foreign governments.
-- Zionist terminology does double work for the Palestinians. The latter
now call the land they seek "the promised land" and actually sometimes use
the term "Eretz Palestine."
Muslim thinkers are perfectly aware of this emulation. Sadik J. Al-Azm,
a Syrian analyst, calls Palestinian agencies "carbon copies" of their Zionist
originals. Khalid Duran, a historian of Moroccan origins, finds that "the
importance of Jerusalem to Jews and their attachment to it is now usurped by
Palestinian Muslims." Kanan Makiya, an Iraqi writer, observes that "the
hallowed status of Palestinian dispossession in 1948 . . . has become for
Arab politics what the Holocaust is for Israeli politics: mirror images of
one another."
Palestinian imitation has two major consequences. First, it assures
maximum conflict, for if something (e.g. Jerusalem) is intensely valuable to
Jews, it must therefore be intensely valuable to Palestinians. Compromise
would be much easier if, say, Ramla were the object of Palestinian ambitions.
Second, imitation turns every disagreement into a battle of wills. Who
can plant more trees or raise more money abroad? Which side can make a more
convincing case for its "return"? Who loves Zion more? A combination of
Palestinian vigor and Israeli fatigue make the answers anything but
predictable. At this point, strange as it sounds, Palestinian Zionism may be
more vigorous than its Israeli
By Daniel Pipes
JWR contributor Daniel Pipes is director of the Middle East Forum and the author of several books, most recently Conspiracy: How the Paranoid Style Flourishes and Where It Comes from. Let him know what you think by clicking here.
