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The Nakba Was a Self-Inflicted Tragedy

(Ha'aretz) Moshe Arens - Are there really two narratives to the history of Israel's War of Independence? Would anyone suggest that in American schools the "Japanese narrative" of World War II be taught alongside the "American narrative"? Is the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor no more than the American version? Or how about teaching in Russian schools the "German narrative" of the German invasion of the Soviet Union in June 1941? Yes, there is a "Palestinian narrative" of the 1948 war called "Nakba." But as every student of that war and the still-living witnesses know only too well, the Nakba version is no more than a pack of lies. One percent of the Jewish population fell fighting against the Arab attack by local Arab militias and regular armies of the neighboring Arab countries, plus Iraqi forces, which attempted to destroy the Jewish state in a war they started immediately after the UN resolution dividing western Palestine into Jewish and Arab states in November 1947. Six thousand Jews - soldiers and civilians - fell in that war fighting against the Arab onslaught. Where the Arabs were successful, the Jewish population was killed or deported, and all Jewish property was destroyed. What happened in the Jewish Quarter of the Old City of Jerusalem and in the Etzion bloc in May 1948 when they fell to the Jordanian Legion was a portent of the fate that awaited the entire Jewish community had the Arabs won this war. It is true that the Arab population of Palestine suffered grievously during that war. But it is also beyond doubt that this tragedy was brought on them by the decisions taken by the Arab leadership. If true peace is ever to reign among Israel and its Arab neighbors, it is important that the Arabs recognize that what they call the Nakba was a self-inflicted tragedy. The writer served as Minister of Defense three times, as Minister of Foreign Affairs, and as Israeli ambassador to the U.S.
2010-11-03 10:34:24
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