May 9, 2023
Palestinians suffer the greatest political and economic oppression from
fellow Arabs. (Is that a problem?)
Dear Friend of Israel, Friend of FLAME:
Palestinians are one of the most downtrodden ethnic groups in the Middle
East, suffering from political and economic hardship—overwhelmingly
at the hands of their fellow Arabs.
Palestinians living in most Arab countries are treated as second-class citizens often restricted to living in squalid refugee
camps . . . and most are simply not granted citizenship at all.
For example, some half a million Palestinians have been consigned to
refugee status in Syria since they emigrated there upon Israel’s
independence. Another nearly half a million Palestinians live as refugees
in Lebanon. Both groups are denied citizenship, both are restricted
from professional employment, and neither receives government benefits.
In Jordan, about two million Palestinian residents are registered as
refugees, more than 600,000 do not hold citizenship, and about
370,000 live in Jordanian refugee camps.
Of course, Palestinians living in any Arab nation are subject to severe limitations on civil rights, low standards of living and
diminished economic opportunity that are endemic to the region.
Palestinians living under the Palestinian Authority (PA) and the
Hamas-ruled Gaza Strip don’t fare better—they endure the same
political abuses and economic depression found in other Middle East
dictatorships.
Ironically, despite regular press attacks on Israel for its treatment of
Palestinians, the best place in the Middle East to be an Arab of
Palestinian descent is Israel. Indeed, Arab Israelis are first-class citizens who enjoy broad civil rights equal to those in
Western countries. Likewise, Arab Israelis can take full advantage of one
of the world’s strongest economies and highest standards of living.
The shame is that Western media coverage obsessively focuses on alleged
offenses of the Jewish state, while ignoring the cruel, inequitable
treatment almost universally suffered by Palestinians in Arab countries.
Similarly, Western media show almost no interest in the impressive economic
and professional accomplishments of Israel’s Arab citizens.
Palestinians have been disenfranchised or banished in many Arab
nations.
Arab countries, with the exception of Jordan, have refused to give
Palestinians citizenship, depriving them of many rights and privileges that
nationals enjoy. They are instead treated as foreigners who can be
expelled at will.
Accordingly, Arab states have orchestrated mass expulsions of
Palestinians. The largest of these took place following the 1991 Gulf War,
when Kuwait expelled some 200,000 Palestinians because PLO Chairman Yasser
Arafat supported Saddam Hussein’s invasion of their country.
Both Jordan and Lebanon have expelled Palestinian guerrillas for bad behavior at various times.
Despite such deportations, no protest movements ever arose to defend
these Palestinians.
In Jordan, where Palestinians comprise the majority of the population, the
Jordanian parliament is rigged to deny them democratic power. The Hashemite
rulers—installed by the British—also slaughtered an
estimated 15,000 Palestinians during the 1970-71 Black September rebellion.
As a justification for excluding Palestinians from participation in Arab
societies, leaders of Arab nations have disingenuously claimed they
want the Palestinians living among them someday to return to their
“homes in Israel.”
Again, no international outcry has ever been mounted to condemn this refusal to resettle their Arab Palestinian brethren.
Perhaps the worst treatment of the Palestinian people occurs where they are
ruled by Palestinian masters—namely leaders of the PA in Judea
and Samaria (aka the West Bank) and Hamas in the Gaza Strip.
Both ruling groups are dictatorships, which have cancelled elections since
2006. PA President Mahmoud Abbas is now in the 18th year of his
four-year term. Both dictatorships have full administrative and civil
control over their citizens, yet both deny them civil liberties,
such as free speech, freedom of assembly, rule of law and the right to
vote.
In addition, the Palestinians face severe economic inequality.
In Lebanon, Palestinians like 25-year-old Nirmeen Hazineh live in slumlike refugee camps surrounded by segregation walls and barbed
wire. Hazineh is a sociology graduate, but is not allowed to practice in
that field.
Indeed, Palestinians living in Lebanon are banned from 39
professions, including areas of medicine, dentistry, pharmacy and law. They
are also prohibited from owning property. The poverty rate among Lebanese
Palestinians is 93%.
Yet, media criticism of Lebanon for its unjust rule over
Palestinians is virtually non-existent.
The same can be said for the Hamas dictatorship in the Gaza Strip, where
65% of the population lives below the poverty line and 60% of the workforce
is unemployed.
None of this has stopped Hamas from confiscating foreign aid
intended to improve the lives of ordinary Gazans. Hamas also heavily taxes
its impoverished population and uses most of its funds to enrich its
leaders and buy weapons to launch terror attacks on Israel.
Clearly, the greatest enemies of the Palestinians are their Arab
brethren.
While the media, NGOs and politicians constantly clamor for Israel
to stop its “occupation,” never did they agitate for Jordan to
give the Palestinians independence between 1948-1967, when the Arab
Hashemites occupied that territory.
In fact, when Jordan lost “the West Bank,” after its failed
invasion of Israel in 1967, the Arab nation promptly cancelled Jordanian citizenship for all Palestinians living there,
making them again stateless.
Of course, it’s axiomatic that the press and antisemites have no true
concern for the plight of the Palestinian people unless they can attack
Israel. If the Jews can’t be named and blamed, there’s
no story, no motivation, no sympathy.
Likewise, mainstream journalists have little interest in the inspiring
achievements of Arab-Israelis. Don’t hold your breath for stories
about Israel’s Arab citizens dominating medical professions in
Israel or Arab-Israelis’ home-ownership rate exceeding that of Jewish
Israelis. Unlikely you’ll see features on Israel’s Arab
citizens reaching high ranks in the Israel Defense Forces or having more
freedoms than their counterparts anywhere in the Middle East.
Above all, journalists or others dedicated to helping the Palestinian
people would do best to expose Arab rulers who are overwhelmingly
responsible for the Palestinians’ plight. Indeed, their first target
should be those most immediately responsible—the disgraceful
Palestinian leaders themselves.
Please make the point when speaking with family, friends,
colleagues—or in letters to the editor—that the real
persecution of Palestinians is executed at the hands of fellow
Arabs—not Israel. Please also emphasize that it is Israel, and only Israel, that provides its Arab citizens the freedoms and opportunities that Palestinians living under the rule
of Arab dictators can only dream of.
I hope you'll also take a minute, while you have this material front and
center, to forward this message to friends, visit FLAME's lively
Facebook page
and review the P.S. immediately below. It describes FLAME's new hasbarah campaign—“Demand Justice for Jewish
Students”—which exposes rising attacks on Jewish college
students’ identity and how these acts of antisemitism can be
defeated.
Best regards,
James Sinkinson, Publisher
Facts and Logic About the Middle East (FLAME)
P.S. |
You’ve surely seen headlines describing increasing attacks on
Jewish students—in the classroom and in the public square—by
radical anti-Zionist students, as well as faculty members. So far,
university administrators have failed to prevent this kind of antisemitism
on campus. At the heart of this discrimination, Israel’s enemies
outrageously claim that Zionism is not part of being Jewish. No
wonder more and more Jewish students are hiding their Jewish identities on
campus. I think you’ll agree that we supporters of Israel need to
speak out. FLAME’s new hasbarah—explanatory message—“Demand Justice for Jewish Students”—tells how recent law suits based on Title VI anti-discrimination
laws are putting pressure on college administrators to protect Jewish
students from such attacks. I hope you'll review this convincing,
fact-based editorial, which FLAME recently published in the Wall Street Journal, Washington Post, New York Post, Chicago Tribune, Houston Chronicle, Star Tribune, Los Angeles Times and Newsmax. This piece will also be
sent to all members of Congress, Vice President Harris and President Biden.
If you agree that this kind of public relations effort on Israel's behalf
is critical, I urge you to
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