>The West Bank and Gaza were to be the Palestinian's independent state. The Palestinians were to get the shitty half of what had been Palestine. Thanks to the Six Day War, the Israelis believe they can dictate the terms.
What? You really don't know the history that well. Do you know what Palestine was? Not only did it include modern Israel, the West Bank, and Gaza, but also all of what is now Jordan. The Jews were promised all of that by the British, who controlled it at the time, in 1917. After the leader (King Abdullah's grandfather) of the Hashemites helped suppress an Arab uprising in the '20s, the British gave him what became Jordan as a reward (roughly 70% of Palestine). Soon after that, after the Arabs in Hebron massacred the Jews there, the British confined the Jews to only the western part of what was remaining. By the time all was said and done in 1948, the UN gave the Jews about 10% of what they were originally promised, and the Arab inhabitants were given the remainder for another state (they soon after were given the name 'Palestinians'). The Jewish land was pretty much just the Negev desert. The Arabs weren't happy with the deal, however, and declared war the second Israel became an independent state. Israel captured some land in that war, and that plus the Golan heights is modern Israel. After the Arabs lost, they still could've taken the West Bank and Gaza and given the Palestinians a state, but did they? No. Jordan took the West Bank and Egypt took Gaza, and put the Palestinians in refugee camps. They weren't insterested in helping the Palestinians, they just wanted to destroy Israel.
-Z |
