In fairness, the lack of resolution of the refugee problems till about 1990 or so was tied to the old East/West conflict. The Soviet Union wanted to create a hot spot near the oil resources of the west. Initially, the Soviet thought they might even have a "satellite" state in Israel. Thus they recognized Israel in 48 "de Jure" (the US and the rest of the west gave the Israeli only a "de facto" recognition). Chechoslovakia was the main supplier of arms to the nascent state in 48, allowing the young state to hold its ground against the massive invasion from all sides. The Soviet misunderstood the Israeli socialist leadership of the time (Ben Gurion and the movement of collective farms , one of the main engines of the independence movement) as leaning to the soviet side. But in the early 1950, Stalin (just before he expired in 53) once more showed his xenophobic paranoia, with a major staged trial of a large number of Jewish physicians, and in Chechoslovakia there were other monkey trials, including that of a very leftist kibbutznik (Mordechai Oren) as, of all things, "spies". That put an end to any pro soviet movement in the nascent state.
By 1956, the Soviet were supporting Nasser in his effort to nationalize the Suez canal, and supported other revolutions (in Iraq and Syria, partially in response to their own supporter Mouussadek in Iran being taken out by the CIA to be replaced by the Pahlawis, if memory serves). They made a very concerted effort not to find a solution to the refugee problem, to keep the "pot boiling" and at the start of the 1956 conflagration, Bulganin issued a nuclear ultimatum to the Brits the French and Israel. Eisenhauer, unfortunately, told his allies, you cooked that soup, you eat it. That led to De Gaule not wanting to rely on the US for nuclear umbrella and to a very close relationship between Israel and France (which then became a major supplier to Israel). During all these years since (and until the demise of the soviets), they kept their "client" Arab states armed and kept them from solving the refugees problem. Only Jordan (one non Soviet leaning state) made a major effort of "absorbing" Palestinians, both in their "occupied territories", what today is the west bank, and within Jordan itself. Palestinian, and particularly Jordan born Palestinians, are Jordanian citizens, the only Arab country making an effort with its meager resources to lend a helping hand to their brothers.
The history is complex, and the fact that Arafat has raised a generation of children on an impossible dream (the whole of Israel as a Palestinian Arab state) and fed the children through books in school venomous hate for Jews in general and Israeli in particular, even after the Oslo agreement specifically forbade the use of such inciting teaching books, will not help solve the problem. Someone will have to tell the Palestinians the truth, they can have a modest state, much less than what they could have gotten in 48, yet an expression of independence, but only after the generation of haters has past away.It reminds me of Moses taking the free nation of Israel through 40 years in the desert until the last of the slaves generation passed away and the nation was ready to accept freedom. Someone should also tell them that the longer they wait, the lesser of a state they will have.
Zeev |
