Myths About Israel: The Palestinians Are the Original Inhabitants

Are the Palestinians the original inhabitants of Israel?

Dr. Reagan: The Jewish people hold the title deed to the land of Israel via three legal means. Not only can the Jewish people claim an eternal covenant to the land of Canaan given to them by God in Genesis 13-17, but when they came back from exile to the land in the late 1890s and the early 1900s, they actually bought the land back from the Arab absentee landlords who had laid claim to the land under the Ottoman Empire.

The third legal claim derives from the United Nations. In November of 1947, the UN voted to establish the nation of Israel under Resolution 181. So, under international law, Israel exists legally as a nation.

Nathan Jones: All too true! As a matter of fact, the Arabs to this day tie the UN resolution to what they call Nakba Day. Held on May 15, the day after Israel declared their nationhood on May 14, 1948, those who call themselves Palestinians express this as a day of mourning and regret. On this day they emphatically reject the idea that the UN granted Israel the land and opportunity for nationhood.

Who are these Palestinians then? Were they kicked out of their homes and off their farms the day after Israel declared its nationhood, with tens of thousands wandering displaced? The answer is no.

Handfuls of the few native inhabitants were displaced, yes, but the Palestinians of today are in truth the descendants of invaders. They are comprised of the Syrian and Jordanian peoples who invaded Israel as soon as Israel declared its nationhood in May of 1948. The day after Israel became a nation, the surrounding Arab nations attacked the infant nation of Israel. To the world’s shock, the united Arab armies lost to a ragtag bunch of kibbutz farmers.

What we call the Palestinians today in truth began as Syrians and Jordanians who were promised Israel’s land during the War of Independence, but once defeated, were left behind by their own peoples. Surprisingly, the invading settlers were not allowed to return to their countries of Jordan and Syria, and so became stuck for decades in refugee camps. What a crime that the Muslim world to this day has kept their own people in refugee camps and not allowed them to return to their native countries, all for the purpose of being political pawns.

Dr. Reagan: In November of 1947, the United Nations voted to take that little sliver of land that was left to the Jews and divide it in half between the Jews and the Arabs. On the very day that the Jews declared their state, the Arabs could have also declared a second state within the boundaries that had been established by the United Nations. Instead, the Arabs decided they wanted all of the land. And so, five Arab nations attacked with the intention of destroying the reborn nation of Israel, promising free land to their people once victory was achieved.

Nathan Jones: The Nakba event is remarkably similar to the great Oklahoma land rush, when Indian territory was opened up to American settlers. The would-be settlers lined the border just waiting to ride into Oklahoma and claim land that up to that point wasn’t legally theirs.

What most don’t realize is that there is an official Palestinian state today, and that is the state of Jordan. Those Arabs who call today themselves Palestinians already have a country. Jordan stands three times larger in land mass than Israel.

Dr. Reagan: Two-thirds of the people living in Jordan are Palestinians. A Palestinian state already exists!

Nathan Jones: Also, the designation Palestinian is a modern day contrivance, coined by the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) leader Yasser Arafat in order to create nationality for the refugees. Never has there historically been a Palestinian until recent times. The branding was Arafat’s genius stroke, for so much of the world today remains confused, believing a historical background actually exists for this non-existent people group.