How does the slogan “Free Palestine” translate into plain language of common understanding?
Enough is enough. After countless conversations and crash course explanations to acquaintances of mine, I figured that it’s time to produce a universal text suitable for everyone.
Many a resident of affluent democratic countries happily embrace this slogan, which isn’t all too bad (it would actually be nice to rid the territory of former “Palestine” of hatred and terrorism). People are fully convinced that it’s about freedom, democracy, human rights, historical justice, law and order. For all that is good and against all that is evil.
So who is the villain in this outlook? It goes without saying — it’s Israel. Being simply put, in their minds, there is some good, liberal country called “Palestine” and there is a bloodthirsty anti-democratic Israel that has usurped the freedom of these lovely humanistic folks who sing beautiful songs and make delicious hummus, who are incredibly caring towards hostages and are wonderful guys all around, who would like to become footballers and astronauts. But it’s the evil anti-democratic Israel that has forced them into this murky business which they don’t enjoy but rather have to maintain.
How does a Westerner understand freedom? Freedom of choice, freedom of religion, freedom of personal life, freedom of movement, freedom of views, and so on. All the thing our neighbors hate with passion.
For instance, did you know that for a trip from Gaza to Egypt, a “peaceful” Gazan must pay tribute to Hamas? And are you aware that officially, the laws of the PA (racist laws apply equally to the “West Bank” and Gaza) prohibit Jews and citizens of Israel from entering their territory? Non-Jews can enter, but Jews are forbidden.
But it’s Israel and Zionists that you call racists. Israel, which provides jobs, water, electricity, internet, free medical care to those very Arabs of “Palestine” who hate it, deny its right to exist, and dream of destroying all Jews (not just in Israel, as recent events have shown). Not to mention the 2 million Arabs who are citizens of Israel, who enjoy all rights and freedoms even more than Jews themselves and have the highest standard of living in the Middle East.
Yes, they have special quotas in universities, they have the right to pray on our Temple Mount in our capital Jerusalem, while we do not, for example.
Freedom of religion? How many synagogues are left in the territory controlled by the PA? What is going to happen to an Arab-Palestinian who changes his religion? Have you even heard about honor killings (when a father kills his daughter on suspicion of promiscuity, and a text message will easily be a sufficient evidence for that)? “They just lack their own state to become free”, come on, seriously?
These cute and kind Europeans and Americans, activists of pro-Palestinian movements assure you that as soon as Israel gives half of its territory, including half of its capital (Jerusalem), to the oppressed “Palestinians” and creates a state for them at their own expense, all the atrocities will immediately vanish. They will stop dismembering Jewish children, baking them in ovens, setting fire to women’s genitals, taking old women and infants hostage, and generally behaving like animals. And they will even clean up their dumps, which make up their cities and villages.
How disrespectful must one be towards those they cheer to accuse them of lying and distorting their transparent and honestly declared goals? To all these gentlemen, I recommend to ponder on an answer for a simple question: why does the State of Israel exist de facto and de jure, while the “Palestinian” state does not (and never existed before, but that’s beside the point we’ll leave it for another time)? The answer is also simple: no “Palestinian” state next to Israel is needed or has ever been needed by the Arabs. They just need a substitute state instead of and in place of Israel. What it will be called is irrelevant, “Palestine” is just a code word.
Egypt and Jordan, for example, did not want any “Palestinian” state, they just wanted to divide this territory between themselves, consensus on that is practically achieved in this matter. And the “Palestinians” will go ahead no matter the cost. It never mattered for a long time. That’s why in 1948, when the UN General Assembly resolution required Britain (the sovereign of “Palestine” at the time) to divide split the territory in two, on which Jews could create their own state and Arabs could also create their own state “Palestine”, the Arabs did not create any state. By the way, prior to that, Jordan, Lebanon, Syria, Iraq, Egypt, etc. had also been created in the same fashion. These are all new post-mandate states that emerged as a result of World War I.
In 1948, Arab leaders, regardless of cost, caused a huge portion of Arabs to lose their homes and become refugees, promising them a quick “cleansing” of “Palestine” from Jews. Judenfrei. Neither Jews nor Arabs agreed to such a division. Both Jews and Arabs wanted more than they were allowed. Let’s not delve into the historical justification for such claims now, let’s just mention that at that time both Jews and Arabs (and Armenians and Circassians and many others) lived in this territory. And many Arabs, Kurds, Gypsies, and everyone else had resettled here in an accelerated manner in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, at the time of Jewish Aliyah (wave of repatriation to the Holy Land). That was exactly the reason for the inflow of Jewish money, brains, technologies and hardworking hands into this territory, life and infrastructure started to emerge. Nonetheless, the Jews created their state on the same very day (May 14, 1948) and within the framework that the UN had allocated to them, while the Arabs refused. Those were the borders of 1948. Not even 1967, which all advocates of “Palestinian” terrorism now hypocritically point to. They simply did not need a state next to the Jewish one. Therefore, instead of creation, on the same day, 10 armies of the Arab and Muslim world decided to attack the Israeli “start-up”.
By the way, why do these kind and freedom-loving Western supporters of Hamas and all, keep harping on about the 1967 borders? If we’re going to roll back to some random point, I prefer 930 BC. Oh yes, those were the days. Sure, let’s roll all the way back. But seriously, is there even one example in history of such rollbacks?
By the way, has anyone seen slogans calling for a rollback to the 1967 borders at rallies in Gaza? No? Neither have I. There are swastikas and urges to destroy Israel and Jews. So what made you think that the 1967 border issue is relevant to them and is capable of solving the problem and finally making Israelis safe and bringing happiness to “Palestinians”? How did all of Israel’s previous concessions to “Palestinians” end? In 2005, Israel unilaterally withdrew from Gaza, dismantled flourishing settlements and kibbutzim, forcibly evicted Jews from their homes. It was another tragedy for the Jewish people. We were promised paradise and complete security in return. And what did we get? ISIS and missile launches, plus the genocide of October 7, 2023. Does it actually work that way? Nope, it does not.
So, Arabs refused to have their own state next to the Jewish one within the broad borders of 1948. Now they tell us that if “Palestinians” are given a state within the narrower borders of 1967, everyone will be happy, and Israel will be able to live peacefully without terrorism, raping, looting, and missile attacks, while Hamas, Islamic Jihad, and Fatah will retrain as makeup artists and couturiers and enter the labor market.
Has anything changed now? Have “Palestinian” leaders recognized Israel’s right to exist? Have they condemned their terrorists and ideologies of past? No. They are honest and consistent in their goals and beliefs. Those who lie are European and American left-wing activists, fighters against “imperialism,” and so on. And in essence, they are simply anti-Semites who disrespect the same “Palestinians” so much that they completely devalue all their bravado and “heroism” and are only interested in their fate to the extent that it harms Israel, which, naturally, is a thorn in the eye of any anti-Semite.
Is the issue about borders? 1967, 1948, or any other? These forces never wanted a Jewish state, neither small nor big, neither with its capital in our Jerusalem nor devoid of it completely. That’s why there are 23 Arab states in the world and only one Jewish state, which kind, cute, enlightened and progressive Westeners dream of destroying. Without them (and without the USSR, of course), there would be no Hamas, Fatah, PLO, and slogans like “Free Palestine” and “Palestine from the river to the sea.” No, Russia is not that far from the West in this regard, it just has fewer opportunities to influence processes over here. There are no rational reasons for this. Antisemitism is irrational. It does not depend on Israel, Jews or their actions. It is a thing in itself, a disease of the soul.
So, if “Palestine” is not a country but a former name for a territory that includes modern Israel and the slogan «Free Palestine» means only one thing — the extermination of all Israelis- and the destruction of Israel in any borders — then the “Palestinian” state is already a very secondary question. It is only needed as long as Israel exists. Without Israel, it loses all meaning. And not only because the “Palestinian” state already exists in Jordan and certainly not because someone is interfering with them, but because it is a fiction, a myth, a golem, a hallucination, if you will.
The only role of the entire “Palestinian” movement is to harm Israel and try to destroy it. The entire history of the last 100 years confirms this. Those who want to build their own state — build their own state. Israel practically had done it by the time of the UN declaration. It created its own schools, universities, hospitals, political system, police, built roads, drained swamps, and built gardens on lifeless land, on the land that was purchased.
Those whose only goal is to harm Israel and Jews commit terrorist acts and dig tunnels, teach children to cut and rape, rob and explode.
By the way, “Palestinian” Arabs began committing acts of genocide long before the date of creation of the State of Israel. The absence of a state did not prevent Arab pogromists from arranging massacres in Safed and Hebron in 1929, for example. It’s not about a Jewish state, but about banal Arab provincial Nazism and a huge mystification of the 20th century called the “Palestinian people” and the “Palestinian state.”
So, don’t delude yourself, my dear lovers of the slogan “Free Palestine.” You are not rooting for freedom of the “Palestinian people,” you are supporting the destruction of the State of Israel and Jews, the “cleansing” of the territory of former “Palestine” from Jews. In other words, you are ideological descendants of Nazis, and by all means you aren’t on a high horse you think you are.
Igal Vulfovich with fond regards from Rishon LeZion (Israel).
