This is one of the most controversial subjects plaguing the Middle East, Academics, Politicians, Clergy, the United Nations and the world in general.
I shall first state the obvious and then prove it:
Prior to 1964, there is not a single mention in 6000 years of recorded history of a state called Palestine and its people Palestinians.
Three of the greatest tragedies of humanity are ignorance of facts, the refusal to learn from the best teacher of all time: History and invariably, the escape of the simplest truths from their attention.
Most of the Peoples that we know of, such as the Sumerians, Babylonians, Assyrians, Greeks, Persians, Romans, Egyptians, Aztecs, Mayas, Chinese, Indians, Jews, etc have left their mark on history with their writings and their monuments. The Palestinian people obviously, if they ever existed, should also have left their mark.
If our Academics, Historians, Politicians and others are so sure that ‘Palestine and its people’, go back throughout most of recorded history, one would expect them to be able to answer a few basic questions about that country of Palestine and its people:
When was Palestine founded and by whom?
What language did the Palestinians speak?
What writing did they use?
What manuscripts have they left?
What was their religion?
Where are their temples?
What monuments attest to their existence?
What were Palestine’s borders?
What was the name of its capital?
What were its major cities?
What is the name of the currency that Palestinians used?
What was its form of government?
What achievements have Palestinians accomplished?
What other peoples did Palestine interact with?
Where can one find any records where in the name of the country of Palestine and its people Palestinians are mentioned?
What Archaeological sites can one name?
Where can one find the recorded history of these people?
Whom did they conquer or were conquered by?
Was Palestine ever recognized by a country whose existence, at that time or now, leaves no room for interpretation?
Can anyone name at least Five Palestinian leaders before Arafat?
What caused Palestine’s demise and when did it occur?
Those who are lamenting the ‘low sinking’ of a ‘once proud’ nation called Palestine, please tell us, when exactly was this proud nation brought down? Also, what was it so proud of?
And here is the least sarcastic question of all:
If the people arbitrarily and mistakenly calling themselves ‘Palestinians’ are anything but generic Arabs collected from all over the Arab and Muslim world, if they really have a genuine ethnic identity that gives them the right for self-determination, why did they not declare their independence between the years 1948 till 1967?
After all, during this long period of 19 years, there were no Israelis in the West Bank or Gaza; there were no settlements and there was no so called Jewish occupation.
Why did these Palestinians not declare their independence after 1948 but allowed themselves to be OCCUPIED by the Jordanians in the West Bank and by the Egyptians in Gaza?
Why did the Media and Academia in the West not mention that occupation and oppression not even once during the whole of its 19 years?
Why did not the UN have a single resolution about it during 19 whole years?
Why did this allegedly proud and ancient people wait until after the Arabs suffered their ignominious and devastating defeat in the Six Days War at the hands of Israel did they, all of a sudden and miraculously, find their alleged people hood and nation hood?
I hope that everyone should avoid the temptation to trace the modern day ‘Palestinians’ to the Biblical Philistines: because substituting etymology for history won’t work.
The truth should be obvious to everyone who wants to know it. Arab countries have never abandoned their dream of destroying Israel; they still cherish it today.
Having time and again failed to achieve their evil goal by military means, they decided to fight Israel by proxy. For this purpose, they transformed the Arabs of Judea, Samaria and Gaza into an ad hoc group and cynically called it ‘the Palestinian people’.
The so called ‘Palestinians’ have only one publicly and repeatedly declared motivation: the destruction of Israel, and that as far as any decent and fair minded person is concerned, is not a good enough reason to consider them a nation.
In conclusion, can anyone show the world any proof to indicate if there ever was an entity called Palestine and its people the Palestinians?
And if not, why not?