It might be worth revisiting some of what the Arab essayist and historian Joseph Farah wrote a couple of decades ago in *Myths of the Middle East* – that Palestine is a political invention serving only tactical purposes, and that the establishment of a Palestinian state is merely a tool in the struggle against Israel.
The Arabs control 99.9 per cent of the Middle East. A Palestine governed by Palestinians has never existed. Nor is there any language called ‘Palestinian’, nor any distinct Palestinian culture. Palestinians are Arabs who cannot be distinguished from Jordanians (another recent invention), Syrians, Lebanese, Iraqis, etc.
The Arabs control 99.9 per cent of the Middle East
– Remember that the Arabs control 99.9 per cent of the land area in the Middle East. Israel accounts for one-tenth of one per cent of the landmass. But that is too much for the Arabs.
Farah writes that, for Islam, there are no holy sites in Jerusalem:
– It is not politically correct to say so – it is claimed that the Al-Aqsa Mosque and the Temple Mount are holy sites for Islam – but that is not true. The Qur’an says nothing about Jerusalem. It mentions Mecca hundreds of times. It mentions Medina countless times. It never mentions Jerusalem, and for good reason. There is no historical evidence that Muhammad ever visited Jerusalem.
There seems to be a consensus that the Qur’an does not mention Jerusalem directly, but it does mention ‘the Holy Land’. There appears to be disagreement as to what this means in purely geographical terms:
– It could be Damascus, Palestine, Jerusalem and Elia, Jordan and elsewhere, writes Islamwebnet.
In his book *Myths of the Middle East*, the Arab essayist and historian Joseph Farah writes…
‘There has never been a land known as Palestine governed by Palestinians.
Palestinians are Arabs, indistinguishable from Jordanians – another recent invention – Syrians, Iraqis, etc.… pic.twitter.com/YLK1dJMiKm— Peter Baum (@baum_p) 13 January 2024
Farah also quotes what Muslim authorities have said:
Ibn Taymiyyah, who lived from 1263 to 1328 and remains one of Islam’s leading scholars, said that ‘in Jerusalem there is no place that is called holy’.
Yousef Diya al-Khalidi, the Ottoman mayor of Jerusalem, asked in 1899 who could dispute the Jews’ rights in Palestine:
– Historically speaking, it is their land.
A natural part of Syria
Auni Bey Abdul-Hadi, a Syrian-Arab diplomat, said in 1937 that, historically speaking, there is absolutely no such thing as a country called Palestine. It is a natural part of Syria. Palestine is a concept invented by the Zionists. Nor is there any mention of Palestine in the Bible.
Syria’s dictator Hafez al-Assad (1971–2000) sent a clear message to PLO leader Yassir Arafat:
– You do not represent Palestine – there is no such thing as a Palestinian people.
Zuhair Muhsin, once the PLO’s military leader and a member of the PLO Executive Committee, put it even more plainly:
– There are no differences between Jordanians, Syrians and Lebanese. We are all part of one nation. It is solely for political reasons that we carefully emphasise our Palestinian identity … the existence of a separate Palestinian identity serves only tactical purposes. The establishment of a Palestinian state is a tool in the struggle against Israel.
Joseph Farah emphasises that since 1947 there has been absolutely no real progress in the so-called peace process between the Arabs and Israel. The Arabs want everything. No matter how many concessions Israel makes, it will never be enough.
The core of the conflict
The ‘Palestinian cause’ was not created to grant a people independence, but to deprive the Jews of their land, their independence and their lives. As long as this tactical invention continues to be treated as a sacred and inviolable truth in international politics, there will rather be no lasting peace – only new demands, new rejections and new violence.
