Ryan ChartrandOne of the main criticisms of Israel is the myth that Jews stole the land from the Palestinians. Never mind that there was no official nation called Palestine before Israel declared independence in 1948. Never mind that there were Jews living in the region far before the great migration after the holocaust, or that much of the land was bought by Jews since 1880.
Arabs immigrated to the region during the British Mandate in the early 20th century to take advantage of the higher standard of living, education and jobs. Therefore, if the Jews really had a policy to expel the Arabs, then the policy was a miserable failure.
In 1947, UN resolution 181 declared a partition plan to declare a state to Jews and another to Arabs, which Jews accepted and all Arab states rejected. If Arabs accepted the plan, a Palestinian and a Jewish state would be living side by side today. Occupation is a result of wars started by Arabs and the refusal of Palestinians to live in peace with Israel. If Palestinians want a state, they must demonstrate that they oppose the harsh terrorism tactics threatening Israel since 1948.
Today, it’s the extremist Muslim ideology of hate being supported by the Arab community that threatens the only democracy in the Middle East. This ideology opposes Israel’s freedom of speech, religion, human rights, women’s rights, the high standard of living in their green and clean cities, and their development of cutting-edge technology.
Benjamin Nejathaim
landscape architecture senior