“If you tell a lie big enough and keep repeating it, people will eventually come to believe it.” —Joseph Goebbels (Nazi Minister of Propaganda)

On Monday, May 15^, the day after Jewish Independence Day, the Muslim world will commemorate a day known as Nakba Day, or “Catastrophe” Day. Nakba Day commemorates the “catastrophe” that the establishment of the State of Israel was to the Muslim world in 1948.

In 1988, Palestinian Authority President, Yasser Arafat decided that whilst the Jewish State was celebrating its Independence with joy and gladness on May 14, the Palestinian people the next day should also mark the occasion formally and solemnly. They therefore began the commemoration of their own anniversary, the Nakba. To this end he declared May 15^th, the day after Israeli independence in 1948, as Nakba Day.

Nakba Day has been commemorated and noted ever since by the Palestinians, and increasingly by the wider world. Some years pass more peacefully than others, some years see an explosion of extreme violence. But with each passing year, the demand for the establishment of a Palestinian state grows and grows. It is a pressure that, I believe, will be pivotal in Israel finally sealing an agreement God describes as “a covenant with death” and “an agreement with Hell” itself (Isaiah 28:18).

But why is it that the Palestinians do not have their own state? It is a genuine question. The truth, unknown by most, is that the Palestinians should have their own state by now. In 2017, the Palestinians should have their own fully functional, autonomous state. Yet they don’t, and they are nowhere near attaining it.

Why is this? The answer most give is as basic and simple as it is wrong: it is because of Israel. The perception many wrongly have is that Israel prevents the Palestinians from attaining their own statehood. It is inaccurate, it is perverse and it is entirely uninformed.

Yet this lie persists, and grows stronger with each passing year. It is the same old lie often stated by diplomats and politicians alike, and it goes something like this, “…if Israel just allowed the Palestinians to have their own state, there would then finally be peace in the Middle East.”

Yet this lie is as subtle in its trickery and deceit as it is dangerous to the state of Israel. If one follows this line of argument through to its logical conclusion then it means that the fault, and all the blame for the lack of a Palestinian state, and consequently for a lack of general and widespread peace in the Middle East, rests exclusively with Israel.

Not with Syria or Bashir al-Assad, not with IS, not with radical Islamism, not with Russia and her blatant expansionist aspirations, not with Saddam Hussein when he was still alive, not with the Muslim Brotherhood, nor with Iran or her proxy Hezbollah, not with Hamas or the Palestinians – but with little Israel. All the historical and current problems in the Middle East can be laid exclusively at the feet of Israel.

It is a lie from the very depths of Hell itself. It is heinous, it is untrue, it is factually incorrect and pushed exclusively by one of two types of people; the ignorant and historically uniformed or by anti-Semites. There is no third category here.

The simple and irrefutable truth is that the Palestinians should have a state of their own right now. Israel have already offered the Palestinians statehood on no fewer than five separate occasions, and on each occasion the Palestinians turned it down.

On the evening before the first Nakba Day, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu commented that “Israel was not responsible for the Palestinian tragedy, their leadership is.” He was right. The long and difficult history of the Palestinian quest for statehood, and the failure thereof, can only rightly be blamed on, and apportioned to one group, the corrupt, illegitimate leadership of the Palestinian people.

Facts simply do not lie, nor does the historical record.

The Palestinians have rejected offers for the creation of their own statehood on five distinct occasions. On a number of those occasions Israel even conceded to each and every Palestinian precondition they set for a state. Yet they still refused the deal that would have seen the establishment of their own state and homelands.

History verifies it, past U.S. presidents have attested to it, world leaders know it, yet the masses—including many within the church, are wholly uninformed and unaware of it. So let’s take a minute and actually examine the historical record, without comment and without judgment and let it tell us what actually happened.

Opportunity One – 1930s

Beginning in 1918, with the break-up of the Ottoman Empire, Britain took control of most of the Middle East region, including the area we now know as Palestine and Israel. In 1936, the Arabs living under this British mandate rebelled.

As a result of this rebellion, the British formed a task force known as the Peel Commission. Its aim was to understand the causes of this rebellion and seek solutions for the future. The conclusion of the commission was simple. The Peel Commission concluded that two separate people, the Jews and the Arabs, both wanted and were intent upon ruling the same land. The Commission therefore recommended a simple solution; a two state solution.

Two states living side-by-side, one a Jewish state, the other an Arab state. The two state solution is nothing new, it’s older than most of our grandparents. The Jews jumped at this chance to establish their own state in the 1930s, even though the land they were being offered was miniscule compared to the offer forwarded to the Arabs. The Arabs were offered 80% of the disputed land, the Jews a mere 20%. The Jews said yes, the Arabs gave a resounding no.

Opportunity Two – 1947

In 1947, the United Nations came to the conclusion that the only way to resolve the ongoing animosity between the Jews and the Arabs was to divide the land formally. The UN therefore voted to formally create two states, living side by side – another two state solution.

Again, the Jews jumped at this opportunity, the Arabs Muslims responded by launching war against Israel, and were joined by Jordan, Egypt, Iraq, Lebanon and Syria. They were soundly defeated. Critically, it was at this point that the land set aside for the creation of an Arab state by the United Nations, mainly the West Bank and east Jerusalem, become for the first time occupied territory.

This was not an Israeli occupation though, the land was occupied by Jordan, not Israel.

Opportunity Three – 1967

It was in 1967 that the Arabs, who had just begun referring to themselves as “Palestinians” sought to destroy Israel, alongside Egypt, Jordan and Syria. Israel soundly defeated all comers and found itself at the conclusion of conflict controlling additional large amounts of territory, all of Jerusalem, including the Temple Mount, the West Bank and Gaza.

This amazing Israeli victory provoked widespread discussion within Jewish society. Many wanted to give this land back in exchange for peace, many more wanted to give this land to the Arabs, now calling themselves “Palestinians,” so that they could fashion and build their own state, in exchange for what Israel hoped would be a lasting peace.

This offer led to the infamous “three no’s” of the Arab League, who met in Sudan to discuss Israel’s magnanimous offer; “No!” to peace with Israel, “No!” to any recognition of Israel and “No!” to any future negotiations of Israel. The longed for Two State solution was now well and truly dead and would remain so for over thirty years.

Opportunity Four – 2000

In the year 2000 new leaders and new optimism abounded. There was genuine hope from Israel and Western leaders that either peace, or some other form of wider agreement was genuinely within reach. To that end, Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak met with Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat at Camp David to conclude a new agreement between Israel and the Palestinians.

At Camp David, Prime Minister Ehud Barak offered the Palestinians a deal that had never been on the table before. It was such an offer that US President Bill Clinton, quite understandably, believed there were genuine prospects for a negotiated and permanent settlement between the two peoples. Clinton believed history was beckoning.

Barak offered Arafat a Palestinian state in all of Gaza and 94% of the West Bank and, crucially, east Jerusalem as its capital. Clinton was sure the Palestinians would jump at the chance. But he was wrong. Arafat refused every concession and every offer tabled by Barak. He said no to everything. So intransient was Arafat that afterwards, Clinton went on record as saying that Arafat was, “here fourteen days and said “no” to everything.”

The Palestinians responded to Israel’s generous offer by launching an intifada against them, and over 1,000 Israelis died as a consequence.

Opportunity Five – 2008

Despite serious misgiving, in 2008 Israel so eager for peace with the Palestinians that they went even further in their offer than they had in 2000. This time, the Jewish State, confirming the terms of the 2000 negotiations were still on the table for the Palestinians (including having east Jerusalem as their capital), also adding the extra promise of ”additional lands” as an incentive for the Palestinians to finally say yes.

Mahmoud Abbas, like all of his predecessors, flatly refused all the tabled offers, to the utter amazement of all.

So why is it, in 2017, that the Palestinians still do not have their own state? Is it, as Nakba Day portrays, because the Israelis are oppressing and denying the Palestinian people their rights or the opportunity for their own state, up until this present day? Or could there be a different reason?

The simple truth of the matter is that Israel have offered peace and statehood to the Palestinians on five occasions. On each occasion they have been met with abject rejections and often extreme violence in return.

Looking at the historical record I can only conclude that the Palestinians do not have a state of their own because they do not want one. This opinion seems to be verified by Ismail Haniyah, Hamas’ own Prime Minister of Gaza. Haniyah is an outspoken critic of Israel, and of peace with the “illegal Jewish entity.” On January 15^th, 2014, Prime Minister Haniyah said the following about the Palestinians under his leadership with regards to the peace process,

“This is a generation which knows no fear. It is the generation of the missile, the tunnel and suicide operations.”

Later, on March 23 of the same year he said, “Stop negotiating with the enemy. We will not recognize Israel.”

The acquisition of a state is not the end game the Palestinians seem to be seeking. The ultimate end game for the Palestinians is not two states, living side by side, but rather a Middle East that exists without Israel in it.

The Palestinians do not have a state for one very simple reason; it is not a state they seek, it is the destruction of Israel. And this is why, short of the arrival of the Messiah Himself, there will never be a genuine or lasting peace in the Middle East.

wardmatt1977@gmail.com

Each year, on May 15^th, the Muslim world commemorate a day known as Nakba Day, or “Catastrophe” Day. Nakba Day commemorates the “catastrophe” that the establishment of the modern State of Israel was to the Muslim world in 1948. Nakba Day represents, according to the popular and developing western narrative, the biggest crisis of modern Palestinianism to date; the establishment of the modern State of Israel.

This day, inaugurated by Yasser Arafat in 1988 as a day of solemn remembrance, mourning and protest, is the day in 1948, one day after Jewish Independence was declared, when Egypt, Syria, Transjordan and Iraq collectively invaded the fledgling Jewish State with the intention of wiping her from the map.

The Arab world was determined to carry out a “war of extermination” and follow through with the threatened “momentous massacre” declared for the newborn Israeli State by then Arab League Secretary General, Azzam Pasha. In this attack, the Arab Muslim world had nothing short of another Jewish Genocide on their minds.

In the war that immediately followed, and despite being horrendously outnumbered and outgunned, the tiny Jewish State managed to push the invaders back and establish the countries provisional boundaries. This came at quite some cost. 6,373 Israelis were killed in the act of defending their new country, the equivalent of about 1 percent of the Jewish state’s population at that time. This would be the equivalent of about 3 million American dead today.

Israel had decisively won its first major war for survival; but it would be the first of many. It was in this first war with Israel that the Arab Muslim world learnt something important. These Jewish men and women, many who had limped lame, bent double, starving and lice ridden from Dachau, Treblinka, Bergen-Belsen and Auschwitz just two years before, were not the same broken men and women in 1948 that they were in 1945. They were united by a single desire and goal, one summed up in two short words, “never again.”

They had meant it.

Since that first fateful war in 1948, Israel’s existence has been one of almost continual war, battle or asymmetric conflict. To date, Israel have been dragged into no less than thirteen significant conflicts or wars, all against implacable enemies whose only motivation is her utter destruction.

Each war that Israel faces is a war of annihilation; if Israel lose just once, they will lose everything for all time. There would be no magnanimity shown to Israel in defeat, only wrath and destruction.

None of us, in 2017, should be under any illusion about the threats Israel face. The wars and conflicts Israel finds itself frequently contesting, the barrage of condemnation Israel continuously fields from the United Nations and its various organizations within, the harsh unending criticism Israel absorbs day after day from the mainstream media, and the vilification of groups like BDS; they are but for one reason only, these groups and organizations want Israel to be no more.

The perceived end game these groups have in mind for Israel is not to carve out a Palestinian state from Israeli land, it is to carve Israel out from the face of the Middle East.

After the 1948 Israeli War of Independence, Israel was quickly plunged into war once again in the Sinai War of 1956 with Egypt. This war resulted in the demilitarization of the Sinai, thus enhancing the fledgling Israel’s southern border and creating a buffer zone between Israel and Egypt.

Eleven years later Israel was to face another existential threat to its existence in the Six Days War of 1967. This war pitted Israel, standing all alone, against the full forces of Egypt, Syria, Jordan, Iraq and Lebanon. The result of this war was nothing short of miraculous. By its conclusion, Israel had gained full control of the Gaza Strip, the West Bank, the remainder of the Sinai and the Golan Heights.

Crucially, Israel once again, after two thousand years, had gained control over Jerusalem, her ancient capital city. God was blessing Israel and despite being completely surrounded, without help and grossly outnumbered, they were expanding and solidifying their territory.

This war led to the four year War of Attrition (1967 – 1970), which saw the rise of the infamous Black September group who were responsible, amongst other atrocities for the Munich Olympics Massacre of Jewish athletes in 1972.

The Yom Kippur War, just three years later in 1973, represented perhaps Israel’s biggest threat to date and was without question the closest Israel has come to losing a major fixed war in the modern era. Catching Israel completely by surprise, on the Holiest Day of Judaism – Yom Kippur, a coalition of eight nations simultaneously attacked Israel. Egypt, Syria, Iraq, Jordan, Algeria, Morocco, Saudi Arabia and Cuba all moved at once with the singular intent of bringing the Jews to their knees and removing Israel from the Middle East.

In the 1982 First Lebanon War, Israel faced for the first time a combination of nation states and transnational terrorist entities within the context of the same broad war. They faced attack from Syria and the terrorist groups Hezbollah, the PLO, the Lebanese National Resistance front and the Amal Movement of Lebanon.

This war continued for many years and eventually drew to an official close in or about 2000. It was during this time that Israel also had to face both the First Intifada (1987-1993) and the Second Intifada (2000 – 2005). Both these Intifada’s saw intense uprising and violence through general and wide scale Palestinian violence and homicide bombings.

In very recent times, between 2008 and the present day Israel have been involved three wars, all against Hamas in the Gaza Strip. Operation Cast Lead, (2008-2009), Operation Pillar of Defense, (2012) and Operative Protective Edge, (2014). All were victories for Israel, but at a cost of international vilification for Israel.

Israel has never enjoyed real or lasting peace. Since the very first moments of her existence, Israel has been fighting for her life. That Israel has simply survived the past seventy years is miraculous.

Yet, surprisingly, contesting war for her survival has not been Israel’s biggest challenge to date. Israel’s biggest threat today is posed by one simple, baseless and false lie, one which Nakba Day seeks to promote. This lie has been so successful that it threatens the legitimization of Israel itself. It is one that we hear repeated often, especially on the anniversary of Nakba Day, or Catastrophe Day.

It is the ever so subtle lie that the reason the Palestinian people still do not have a state of their own, and therefore why there is no peace in the Middle East more generally, is not because of their own intransigence, or the blatant corruption and violence of their own leaders, but because of Israel.

It is a lie from the pit of hell itself and next time, in the week commemorating the birth of the modern state of Israel, we will examine the facts of the matter, and see where the blame for the lack of peace really lays.

We will try to answer the question that has baffled all comers to date as to why, in 2017, do the Palestinians still not have a state of their own in my follow-up article.

wardmatt1977@gmail.com