Early Zionists sought to "obliterate" Palestinians; Israel remains "the most oppressive occupation in history"
PA daily columnist Yahya Rabah:
“November is upon us again, with its painful memories… In the beginning of the month Balfour made his ominous declaration in which someone with power, an oppressor who did not own [this land] or have any rights to it, made a promise to undeserving others (i.e., the Jews) who had been making capital out of its history (i.e., by claiming it was the ‘promised land’) in order to obliterate the Palestinian people’s very existence, its life and its land – all for the benefit of the Zionist movement that was to establish a state called ‘Israel’.
Later in November, the ominous signs continue. The Partition Plan was adopted [in that month], and the eternal Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat passed away after the attempt on his life with slow-acting poison. So whenever the November winds blow, Palestinian memory recalls wounds that still bleed and cause pain…
On the 15th of this month, we shall renew the promise we made, the promise to break free from the claws of this occupation, the most oppressive occupation in history.”
Note: The Balfour Declaration of Nov. 2, 1917 was a letter from British Foreign Secretary Arthur Balfour to Baron Rothschild stating that “His Majesty's government view with favour the establishment in Palestine of a national home for the Jewish people” and is seen as the basis for later international commitments to establish the State of Israel.
On Nov. 19, 1947 the UN General Assembly adopted the Partition Plan to create a Jewish State and an Arab State in Palestine after the termination of the British Mandate.
“November is upon us again, with its painful memories… In the beginning of the month Balfour made his ominous declaration in which someone with power, an oppressor who did not own [this land] or have any rights to it, made a promise to undeserving others (i.e., the Jews) who had been making capital out of its history (i.e., by claiming it was the ‘promised land’) in order to obliterate the Palestinian people’s very existence, its life and its land – all for the benefit of the Zionist movement that was to establish a state called ‘Israel’.
Later in November, the ominous signs continue. The Partition Plan was adopted [in that month], and the eternal Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat passed away after the attempt on his life with slow-acting poison. So whenever the November winds blow, Palestinian memory recalls wounds that still bleed and cause pain…
On the 15th of this month, we shall renew the promise we made, the promise to break free from the claws of this occupation, the most oppressive occupation in history.”
Note: The Balfour Declaration of Nov. 2, 1917 was a letter from British Foreign Secretary Arthur Balfour to Baron Rothschild stating that “His Majesty's government view with favour the establishment in Palestine of a national home for the Jewish people” and is seen as the basis for later international commitments to establish the State of Israel.
On Nov. 19, 1947 the UN General Assembly adopted the Partition Plan to create a Jewish State and an Arab State in Palestine after the termination of the British Mandate.