Saturday, November 29, 2014

The Palestine Problem Simply & Directly Explained

The two blackest dates in the Palestinian calender fall in November.

The first is November 2, the day in 1917 when the British government - in the infamous Balfour Declaration - promised Palestine to the Zionist movement.

On that day, Britain paved the way for the coming eviction of the Palestinian people from its ancestral homeland.

The second is today, November 29, the day in 1947 when the UN General Assembly, in the infamous Resolution 181, proposed the partition of Palestine into 'Jewish' and Arab states.

On that day, the UN gave its blessing to the eviction of the Palestinian people from its ancestral homeland.

When the next smug Zionist propagandist reminds you, as he surely will, that but for their intransigence, the Palestinians could have had their own state in 1947, remember these words:

"I recall a visit to our house by Dr Ralph Bunche [1903-1974], then deputy chairman of the UN Special Committee on Palestine. He had arrived as member of a commission and I said to him, 'Would you permit me to explain the problem simply and directly? I do not wish to enter into the political intricacies nor to review the history and consequences of the problem. All I want to say is this: 'I own this house and cannot understand why I should renounce or surrender it; nor can I be convinced that any law in the world or any international resolution can make me me consent to hand it over to foreigners, even if they have no house. I do not understand my responsibility in this regard. This is my house, I am here, and I do not wish anyone to share it with me.' With a pained expression Bunche answered, 'Believe me, dear lady, this simple statement of yours is more convincing to me than the great pile of documents stacked on my desk'." (Memoirs of an Early Arab Feminist: The Life & Activism of Anbara Salam Khalidi, 1978/2013, pp 144-45)

In 1977, the United Nations (in belated recognition of its role in evicting the Palestinian people from its homeland 30 years earlier?) designated November 29 the International Day of Solidarity with the Palestinian People.

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